LAKE PLACID – Johanne Lauchman, owner of Henscratch Farms Vineyard & Winery, announced Wednesday that the Lake Placid property will be sold May 31 at auction by a marketing and auction firm from Bartow. "I have other things I'd like to do with my time and my resources" Lauchman said in a press release. " My husband retired 18 months ago, and would like me to do the same, so I'm taking my chips off the table. I've always been a start-up gal. This is my fourth business. I don't believe I'll be at a loss for projects or employment, but don't tell my husband." United Country – Oglesby and Company Auctioneers will produce the event for Henscratch Farms. ...more

May 3, 2008

SEBRING — Highlands County Commissioner Andy Jackson said the University of Florida is still his "favorite university." But Jackson remains concerned over recent comments made by J. Bernard Machen, the president of the University of Florida Jackson, a graduate of the UF and a lifelong Gators supporter, said he does not agree with Machen's published comment that "agriculture is a dying industry in the state of Florida." Machen, who came to UF in 2003 from the University of Utah, also infuriated agriculture interests when he added that agriculture in Florida "is not worthy of the investment being made by the legislature" in the state's extension service program. Machen was quoted as saying the university's agriculture extension service should take the brunt of the $25 million in budget cuts slated for ...more

February 25, 2008