New Coronavirus numbers released this morning by the Florida Department of Health show that there have been 37 new positive results and 209 negative cases. Of the 11,540 tests administered locally over the past four months – 10,898 have been negative with 627 positives. There have been 93 people hospitalized at some point during their illness and 13 deaths have been tied to the corona virus since numbers started being kept back in February.
Highlands County Commissioners met last night for a 2-hour workshop on the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The spending plan for commissioners and the county’s constitutional officers is set at $161.2 million dollars, That’s a $6.6 million dollar increase over this year’s budget.
Staff told the commissioners that three of the constitutional offices budgets were up, while two were down from the current outlay.
Commissioners will set a tentative millage rate at their next regular budget session this coming Tuesday.
It appears that former administrations in Avon Park may have been penny wise and pound foolish. Council members in the City of Charm were told at their meeting that much of the city’s infrastructure – including water lines – are falling apart.
City Attorney Gerald Buhr told the board that there are programs that had been let go that needed to be re-instated. Staff reported that some water meters are not reading and some pipes are so clogged that workers could not drag a 4-inch camera through them
Mayor Garrett Anderson asked staff members to see if they could find money in the budget to hire some crews to get to work on the issue.
By the way, Highlands County Sheriff’s officials say if you get a text or phone call from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation saying you can get a huge grant if you pay several thousand dollars in registration fees, that’s a scam.
Their advice is – just hang up. It’s like calls on your car’s extended warranty and people claiming to be your computer repair person and asking to link up with your system.