LAKE PLACID — Highlands County farmers and gasoline consumers got estimates for the first time Thursday on the bottom-line economics for them if the proposed biofuels plant at U.S. 27 and State Road 70 is built. There was good news for farmers: Preliminary estimates are that they'll make well over $300, and probably between $400 to $500, per crop on every acre they commit to sweet sorghum production for the ethanol plant. ...more

May 17, 2008

Some of today's events. ...more

February 25, 2008

When the Florida Strawberry Festival opens its doors Thursday for its 73rd year, the highlights will include numerous competitions for young, old and in-between. ...more

February 23, 2008

SEBRING — Public access to the county's most popular lake will be restored next month as Highlands County officials tear down the concrete-and-chain-link-fence barriers that have kept the public out of Lake Denton since mid-September. Vicki Pontius, county parks and recreation director, said the only stumbling block to reopening access to this exceptionally clean and clear lake is hiring a part-time worker to collect weekend user's fees. ...more

February 14, 2008

SEBRING – The Highlands County Agri-Civic Center was opened as an emergency shelter at about 6:30 p.m. Monday to shelter people who had to evacuate the Henscratch Road area due to a wildfire. Gloria Rybinsky, county public information officer, said she did not have a count of how many families came to the shelter. "We do not know how many people will use this shelter," Rybinski said. "It was not a mandatory evacuation. It was a voluntary evacuation and we opened the Agri-Civic Center for people who might need this option." ...more

February 11, 2008

SEBRING — Green isn't the only color cultivated and prized by Highlands County groundskeepers. Eileen Beck, groundskeeper supervisor, oversees a crew of three county employees who trim, plant, irrigate, mow and maintain the 40 county-owned building sites, from nearly end-to-end. "We like to have color," Beck said, "and something is always in bloom." All three municipal libraries, the health department, the courthouse and the Agri-Civic Center are just a few of the rotating stops the crew hits at least once a week, or sometimes twice weekly during the rainy summer months. The landscaping around the sign at the Highlands County Government Center recently got a sprucing up from the crew. Marigolds, croton plants, Indian hawthorns and crepe myrtles, separated by mulch, surround the county marker. ...more

February 10, 2008

Like many in the audience before him Tuesday, Dade City Mayor Hutch Brock envisions a connected system of trails throughout the city and the rest of Pasco County. ...more

February 7, 2008

Recent newspaper articles have referenced plans to expand the Highlands County Jail in downtown Sebring and build a new sheriff headquarters facility on George Boulevard behind the Agri-Civic Center south of Sebring. These are extraordinarily important and costly budget items. While these issues have been discussed in the newspaper, jail expansion is not in the 10-year capital improvement budget plan, according to county Engineer Ramon Gavarrete. ...more

January 31, 2008

The northwest end of the main runway at Peter O. Knight Airport is too close to the shipping channel. Federal rules encourage the Aviation Authority to add a 175-foot buffer, and the only way to do that is to shift the usable portion of the runway 175 feet to the southeast, which puts the end of the runway closer to waterfront homes. ...more

January 25, 2008

We early "snowbirds" arrived during the months of October, November and December. We anticipated the many craft fairs prior to Christmas, as in years past. ...more

January 23, 2008