Two Sebring Police Department officers were recognized Wednesday as the 2008 Police Officers of the Year. ...more

March 27, 2009

Over the weekend, City Pier Beach was struck by thieves who made off with 14 signs, warning beach-goers that swimming was not allowed. ...more

October 28, 2008

Unless another tropical storm visits Highlands County, City Pier Beach may remain closed for the rest of the summer. ...more

September 13, 2008

SEBRING — They didn't vote on whether to fill the dredge hole in Lake Jackson, and they didn't table the matter. Instead, the council simply didn't act. Bobby Clark, 23, drowned June 11 in the hole, which was probably created in the 1960s to fill a park area behind the Civic Center park, then-City Manager Bob Hoffman told the council. Fire Chief Brad Batz said Clark crossed the football field sized hole just a few yards off Pier Beach several times that day, but got a cramp during his last swim. After Clark died, the city councilors asked what they should do. ...more

July 2, 2008

SEBRING — Last week when Clell Ford and Erin McCarta measured the width, length and depth of a dredge hole at City Pier Beach, where a drowning took place June 7, they realized it was a whole lot bigger than originally estimated. In fact, it's about 10 times bigger, and it's going to take twice as much sand to fill it as can be easily found in Lake Jackson: 10.000 cubic feet, 6,800 cubic yards. So the bottom line, said Ford, who is Highlands County's lakes manager, is that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection won't be able to grant an emergency permit to fill the football-field sized hole a few feet off the beach. ...more

June 18, 2008

SEBRING — There will be no swimming at the city pier until a dredge hole is filled where a drowning took place Saturday, City Manager Bob Hoffman said Thursday. Highlands County Environmental Health Director Frank Kruppa, who grants public bathing permits, has closed swimming at the beach "until further notice," Hoffman said. On Saturday, Bobby Clark, 23, developed a cramp and drowned while swimming over the hole. The beach was cordoned off by police tape on Monday. ...more

June 12, 2008

Saturday's drowning of a 23-year-old man at the City Pier Beach should alert us to the potential dangers lurking in our lakes due to their present low lake levels. ...more

June 12, 2008

SEBRING — When Bobby Clark, 23, drowned at 3 p.m. Saturday, he stepped from shallow water into a 12-foot deep dredge hole, diver Preston Colby told city, county and state officials in a meeting Tuesday morning at city hall. Fire Chief Brad Batz, who was asked to investigate the Lake Jackson incident, said the hole used to be in a no-swim zone several hundred feet from City Pier Beach. The lake has lost so much water from two years of drought, however, the hole is now a few dozen feet from the beach. The hole was probably dredged in the 1960s to fill a park area behind the Civic Center park, City Manager Bob Hoffman said. "I think it's a man-made hole." Batz said Clark knew the hole existed. ...more

June 10, 2008

SEBRING — The City Pier Beach remains closed today following the drowning Saturday afternoon of a 23-year-old man. Bobby Clark swam beyond the marked swimming area at the park and experienced a cramp before going under, police said. His body was recovered around 3 p.m. by emergency personnel divers. "It was a tragic event that happened this weekend," City Administrator Bob Hoffman said Monday. "We are still learning more about it and our hearts and prayers go out for the victim and the victim's family." ...more

June 9, 2008