News Update for 9/2/20

The latest Coronavirus test numbers released by the Florida Department of Health show that there have been 8 additional positives, and 33 negatives added to Highlands County’s ongoing count.
Of the 18,846 tests administered locally – 16,833 have been negative with 1846 positive cases recorded.
There have been 197 people hospitalized at some point during their illness and 69 deaths have been tied to the corona virus since numbers started being kept.

The Avon Park city council continues to work on policies and procedures for collecting property leins assessed by their code enforcement department. Council members agreed they have been too lenient in the past on forgiving such fines.
They discussed separating the violations into major and minor categories – to decide how much of the fines to try and collect. City officials say they will continue to refine the progam.
Reportedly, there are millions of dollars in outstanding leins in the City of Charm.

There were no injuries, but Phase III of the Sebring Parkway was closed for a time when a large piece of machinery overturned at the north traffic circle there.
Units from the West Sebring fire department were called in to help deal with the situation, which did damage to the roadway and caused a hazardous materials spill.
The road was closed as the industrial lifter was uprighted and repairs were made. Florida Highway Patrol officials have released no names or details on what caused the machinery to tip over.

The Highlands County chapter of the FFA has been nationally ranked for the first time ever. Reportedly, they have been declared a 3-star chapter. That means the local organization has provided activities that meet National FFA Award Program pillar requiremsnts.
They were cited in the areas of Building communities, Growing Leaders, and Strengthening Agriculture. This year only 15 chapters across the state of Florida earned a 3-star rating.