Avon Park city council members have agreed to work on a lease with the Avon Park Historical Society for a building they use on Museum Avenue. But it won’t be for quite as long as had been requested.
Council members instructed city attorney Gerald Buhr to work on 21-year agreement – less than half the 50-year pact that Historical Society officials wanted. Council members agreed that two decades is about as long as they want to go before review.
Historical Society officials are beginning a fund raising drive to get money to build a baseball museum adjacent to the current depot museum in the City of Charm. They say they need the long term agreement to apply for grants.
Residents in the northern part of Highlands County reported smoke hanging in the air yesterday. Officials of the Highlands County Sheriff’s office attributed the conditions to the more than 400 acres of controlled burns that were being conducted.
It was unclear about the level of the local smoke dispersion index for the area yesterday.
A concerned parent came before Highlands County school board members this week, expressing concerns about a Lake Placid school teacher, who was sporting a "mermaid makeover" complete with makeup during class. Jesse Sapp noted the same educator had worn a dress in the past. After asking the school’s principal about the issue, He said he was told the principal himself had worn a tutu around the school previously.
Sapp called on school board members to codify measures against the process, saying that dressing in drag was not appropriate.
A subsequent speaker, noted that teachers are role models and such garb could be confusing to students.
Board members had no immediate comment.
Two Polk County men are facing charges for a mass shooting in Lakeland. Federal prosecutors announced yesterday that two men from Lakeland have been indicted for last month’s drive-by shooting that hurt eleven people. Two victims are still in the hospital.
Thirty-two-year-old Nicholas Hanson and 22-year-old Marcus Mobley, Jr. are facing charges that include possession of ammunition by a convicted felon. A 15-year-old boy had already been arrested, and two other suspects remain at large.