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Highlands Today

Some 2007 Stories That Will Affect 2008

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Highlands Today Staff

Published: January 1, 2008

So how does one remember 2007 now that 2008 is officially upon us? Certainly not with great joy even though we in Florida did not have much of a hurricane season.

Like the rest of the nation, Floridians convulsed under the grip of a tanking real-estate market, marked by record foreclosures. In Florida, high property taxes and insurance premiums made things worse for homeowners – and snowbirds, among some, promised to go elsewhere.

It looks like some have kept their promise. A slower migration of new Floridians will be one of the lingering after-effects of 2007 this year. In Florida, they like to say that almost 1,000 new people move in the state every day. Not so, according to latest figures. A story in the Tampa Tribune reported a decline in the number of new Floridians for the first time in a decade. Even school enrollment statewide has been going down after rising for several years. How the state and Highlands County deal with this reversal – if it does affect us locally this year – will be one of the stories of 2008.

Locally, Harder Hall seems destined to stay in the news. Plan on seeing more Harder Hall stories this year even though it is entirely possible that the city of Sebring may just relax on trying to find a buyer and let Harder Hall be until a more opportune time to sell it presents itself. Trying to sell a project like Harder Hall in a slow real-estate market is no joke and that's one of the factors dragging it down.

One of 2007's stories that will also spill over into 2008 – perhaps as this year's bigger natural calamities – will be the drought. Many Highlands County's lush lawns are not seeing the adverse effects of our county's severe drought conditions. But should lake and aquifer levels go down further, stricter water restrictions may be in the offing.

Of course, this year's biggest story – and one that has been lingering for what it seems like ever – is the culmination of the presidential campaign. After countless soundbites, billions of dollars in campaign money, and tons of promises, America will finally elect its next president. We could well make history in choosing the country's first woman, black or Mormon to lead the nation. The front-runners from both parties will be established in a few more weeks after the primaries. Hopefully, the stink that Florida Democrats raised last year when told that the state's delegates will not be seated may not come to pass this year. That would bring one calamitous 2007 story to a happy ending in 2008.

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