Residents on the Avon Park municipal water system remain under a boil water notice today. The order follows the break of a 12-inch main on the south side yesterday. It affected residents citywide and as far north as River Greens.
Avon Park City Manager David Flowers says at this point, it appears that there simply was a failure in the line near the intersection of Memorial and Lakeview Drives.
Crews have been taking water samples across the city for testing. The Boil Water Notice will remain in effect until testing comes back clear.
First responders were called out overnight when a car hit a pole. The mishap occurred around midnight on Fawnwood Avenue at Sun ‘N Lake South.
Authorities say there were no injuries.
Traffic was snarled for hours west of Sebring yesterday when a semi-tractor-trailer rig jacknifed on Highway 27. The incident occurred at the entrance to Sun ‘N Lake. No other vehicles were involved, but the situation was complicated when the big rig lost about 40-gallons of deisel fuel.
Firefighters from West Sebring were dispatched to clean that up.
A local official has been tapped for a statewide honor. Highlands County Commissioner Don Elwell has been named “Best Local Official of the Year” by the The Florida Commission for the Transportation Disadvantaged.
Elwell is a member of the Heartland Regional Transportation Planning Organization committee and has helped in the development of Transportation Disadvantaged Multi-County Service Area.
Highlands newest bank will be hosting their grand opening today. First Southern Bank actually opened their doors early last month, but will be conducting their official open house today.
The financial institution is on Lakeview Drive in Sebring, just across the street from the Sebring Library. The event will run from 4:30 until 6:30 and will be part of the Sebring Chamber of Commerce monthly mixer.
Polk County officials say a flatbed tow truck crashed into a guardrail at a Florida toll booth in the SunPass lane of a Polk Parkway toll plaza near Winter Haven.
Florida Highway Patrol says the transponder lane was closed for about four hours for repairs. Police say driver 28-year-old Timothy D. Johnson told troopers he thought he struck something in the roadway, looked for the item and then crashed into the railing.
A Polk County Sheriff’s detective has resigned following his arrest on charges of forgery and falsifying public records. 31-year-old Dennis Jones Jr. has been arrested in connection with the case.
An investigation reportedly has determined that Jones falsified two waivers of prosecution in a report in May.
That involved two juveniles who were involved in a relationship. In the report, officials say Jones wrote that he went to both homes and that both sets of parents requested to sign waivers.
In a follow-up to the investigation, another detective visited the parents in August and provided sworn statements that they’d neither met with Jones nor signed waivers.
The report says a similar incident also occurred during another investigation. Johnson, of Gibsonton, was cited for careless driving. This was the second crash to occur at the toll plaza in two days.