Apparently there may be some bad weather brewing. The National Weather Service says significant rain may be headed our way over the next couple of days, and a flood watch has been issued which runs through Friday in both Highlands and Hardee counties.
Busses at the Lake Placid Middle School were held up for a time yesterday afternoon due to inclement weather.
Highlands County school officials have released preliminary first day attendance numbers and they are down incrementally from last year. There were 11,480 youngsters counted on the first day of classes on Monday, That’s 279 fewer than the same time last year.
School officials caution that those are not the final numbers, adjustments are expected over the next few weeks as students filter back into class.
It appears the city of Avon Park still is trying to cobble together enough grant money to pay for a proposed water and sewer extension that would go to the Highlands County line. The $970,000 grant facilitated by the Highlands County Economic Department is less than half the projected $2.4 million dollar price tag for the effort.
City officials say another $720,000 grant currently is under review. They might also be eligible for $4 million in grant money as well. They plan to discuss the problem again at their August 26th session.
A Florida sheriff says a new state-of-the-art surveillance center will play a pivotal role in rapid crime response in his county, where 17 people were killed in a school shooting last year. Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony announced the opening Tuesday of a new 2,600-square-foot (240-square-meter) strategic command and intelligence center. It’s expected to monitor live video feeds at more than 260 public schools and administrative buildings, as well as some county offices.
Enrollment is booming at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and other Florida flight schools as pilots at major airlines are hitting retirement age. The school’s assistant dean Kenneth Byrnes tells The Daytona Beach News-Journal “there’s jobs like there hasn’t been in a long, long time.” When classes begin Aug. 26, the school’s residential campuses in Daytona Beach and Prescott, Arizona, are expecting a 20% increase in enrollment over 2018.