It’s the first Thursday of May, and that means it’s the observance of the National Day of Prayer. This will be the 29th ceremony to be held here in Highlands County. It will commence this morning at 11am on the East Lawn of the Highlands County Courthouse in downtown Sebring. There will be music and remarks by local pastors and elected officials.
The ceremony will run about a half hour. Residents may bring their own chairs, or use some of the seating already set up at the site.
Following the observance, the First Church in Sebring will hold a Prayer Luncheon. That will be held at the church home on Pine Street in Sebring. Highlands County Sheriff Paul Blackman will be the guest speaker there.
For those who miss this morning’s observance, the Hardee County Ministerial Association will have a ceremony this evening at 6pm in Heritage Park in Wauchula.
The City of Frostproof also will hold a Community Observance of the National Day of Prayer – that will be conducted at the Frostproof City Hall. It’s also at 6pm.
A man wanted in connection with a Lake Wales murder is dead. Al Joseph Stenson was shot by officers in Seminole County.
The 38-year-old Stenson was killed yesterday morning in Sanford after a six-hour standoff at the Slumberland Motel.
Stenson had been sought in the death his girlfriend and her three children Tuesday in Lake Wales.
Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma says SWAT team negotiators got Stenson to come out of his motel room, but as they were taking him into custody, he reached for a gun and was shot by four officers.
The victims have not been identified, but police say the woman is 40-years-old, and her children are 21, 17 and 11.
A pair of Frostproof correctional officers have been arrested in connection with an investigation into a hit & run incident. According to reports, officers 26-year-old Michael Granger and 29-year-old Leila Chaney were arrested as was Granger’s father, 63-year-old Michael Granger.
Apparently, the elder Granger was at the wheel of a car that flipped and rolled into an orange grove off South Lake Patrick Road.
The vehicle is co-owned by Chaney and the younger Granger. Chaney is charged with lying to officers about the accident. Both Chaney and the younger Granger work at the Avon Park Correctional Institution.