Officials at the International Motorsports Association now are confirming what many had suspected. This year’s Mobil One 12 Hours of Sebring – backed by the World Endurance Championship 1000 mile race, set an all time attendance record.
Although no specific numbers have been released, an IMSA report indicates both ticket sales and camping were up by some 40-percent. It also says that merchandise sales at the track more than doubled over last year.
The GoFundMe Sebring Strong fund for the victims of the January SunTrust Bank shooting will take another step forward Monday night. There will be a public hearing held in the Highlands County Commission chambers at the government center. There a commitee will discuss the dispersal of the fund, which currently stands at just over $325,000.
Committee members also say the building itself will be torn down – no schedule for that demolition has been released.
Highlands County citizens have lost a champion. Bill Youngman, local activist and government watchdog passed away this week, he was 85. Youngman was a regular at the Highlands County commission meeting, questioning commissioners about various items.
Among other things, he was a founder of the Highlands County Tea Party, led an unsuccessful attempt to get a referendum on the tourist tax on the ballot to determine residents’ opinion on the levy and for a time was the chairman of the American Party of Florida.
The city of Sebring has cracked the top 20 in the hottest markets for secondary home sales in the United States. Officials at the web site SmartAsset have determined that better than a quarter of the mortgages in the City on the Circle are for second homes. The 26.4% figure is enough to put Sebring at 15th in the nation in that category.
Preliminary research indicate that buyers like the weather and were able to find some good deals on real estate here.