News Update for 5/11/20

More tests for the Coronavirus have been administered in Highlands County. Officials of the Florida Department of Health say there now have been three new positive cases of the virus and 39 new negative tests.
Since records started being kept, 93 people in Highlands County have tested positive for the virus with 1,516 testing negative. In all, 1,610 tests have been administered here.
31 people have been hospitalized at some point during their illness. Eight people now are listed as victims of the corona. Under guidelines, anyone who has the virus, or who was presumed to have had the virus when they expire, are listed as a Corona-related fatality.

Highlands County is one of seven counties put under a red flag warning for burning activities. The National Weather service issued the edict, noting that humidity could drop below 25-percent for several hours. The condition means that any fires they might develop could likely spread rapidly.
They caution that outdoor burning is not recommended. Highlands County currently is under a burn ban. However, county commissioners have been considering lifting those restrictions.

A 19-year-old Lorida man has been arrested and charged in connection with a May 6 shooting incident. Richard James Buckner jr has been implicated in a case where a man and a woman were shot at. According to reports, the two were towing a broken down ATV near the interscection of Varsity Lane and Umber Court in Lorida, when a man drove by and opened fire.
Buckner has been charged with attempted second degree murder and discharging a weapon from a vehicle. He was booked into the Highlands County jail.

Brian Howe, the former lead singer of the British rock band Bad Company, has died after suffering a heart attack at his Highlands County home. He was 66.
Howe’s friend and manager, Paul Easton, confirmed the rocker’s passing in a statement. Howe was found suffering from cardiac arrest at his Lake Placid home and later expired.
The Portsmouth, England, native began his U.S. career with Ted Nugent’s “Penetrator” album. Howe joined Bad Company in 1986 after the group’s original singer, Paul Rodgers, left. Howe left Bad Company in 1994 to pursue a solo career.