SEBRING — Bubba Latimer and the Bub-ba-Q team from Jasper, Ga. is the Grand Champion at the 12th Central Florida BBQ Festival. Latimer was ecstatic after his team beat competitors from all over the Southeast in the weekend-long barbecue festival, also called the "Pig Fest." He has been competitively barbecuing for only the past year and a half. He already knew where his prize was going when another competitor suggested mounting his trophy wooden pig statue. ...more

January 14, 2008

SEBRING-Check out what's cookin at this year's Central Florida Barbecue Festival at Firemen's Field in Sebring. ...more

January 12, 2008

SEBRING — Smells of barbeque will be wafting through the air this weekend at Fireman's Field as cooks fire up their grills for the annual Central Florida Barbecue Festival. "If you drive by here with your windows down, the smell is enough to make your mouth water," said Skip Adams, co-chair of the barbecue festival. "The smell alone will be enough to draw you in." About 40 teams will set up tents and grills at Firemen's Field for the competition, with the main contests Saturday in ribs, chicken, brisket and pulled pork. ...more

January 10, 2008

SEBRING –– After starting the season off struggling to score goals, the Sebring boys soccer team has turned into a veritable scoring machine. The Blue Streaks continued their outstanding recent play on Thursday night, as senior Daniel Grimaldo scored two goals and Nick Peters and Gilberto Santos added a goal to spark a 4-1 win over Palmetto in a key Class 4A-District 10 match at Firemen's Field. "This is one of the best feelings I've had all season," said an elated Grimaldo. "We've come so far and we're a different team from the beginning of the year. "Our defense is anticipating passes and playing great, and our offense is on fire." Sebring, which is unbeaten in its last 10 matches, improved to 10-4-2 overall and 6-1-1, while the Tigers suffered their first district loss and dropped to 10-2-1, 7-1-1. ...more

December 22, 2007

I have missed a number of commission sessions, but I do read the papers and watch television for news of local and state issues. One of them is the issue of state officials using pension funds for questionable investments. A short time before Enron went under, along with $7 trillion of the national market, the state administration bought $300 million of Enron stock with pension funds of the teachers retirement fund and $300 million from the firemen and police funds. They became worthless. Nothing happened; it was just a blip on the assets and liability charts. Just recently, it came to light that administration had also bought risky stock with other portfolio funds that affected local governments. When a rush to withdraw half of those portfolio funds occurred, the state closed those funds to preclude further erosion of that portfolio. As I understand it, Mr. Stepanovich, a significant member of that committee, has resigned. The question remains: Who will be held accountable for making those risky investments? ...more

December 22, 2007

TAMPA - This morning, Tampa firefighters from Fire Station No. 12 along with some teachers at Egypt Lake Elementary School spread some holiday cheer to a family devastated by a recent apartment fire. ...more

December 17, 2007

SEBRING — After playing their best soccer on the road, the Sebring boys team finally broke through to earn their first home win of the season with a 3-2 decision over Braden River on Thursday night at Firemen's Field. "Finally, a home win," said junior Jazan Jimenez. "We were doing fine on the road ,but we couldn't win at home. "Now that we've got that first win out of the way, we've got to make sure we don't lose at home for the rest of the season." The Class 4A-District 10 victory improved the Blue Streaks to 5-4-2, 2-1-1, and came after Sebring had blown a two-goal lead late in the second half. "We made it hard on ourselves," said Blue Streak coach Paul Brown. "We had a nice, comfortable two-goal lead and then lost our concentration and allowed two silly goals on individual mistakes.We've talked about not making errors, but at least we were able to overcome them and get the win. ...more

December 8, 2007

SEBRING — The holiday season will kick off this weekend with two events in downtown Sebring – the Christmas parade and the Carousel of Lights. ...more

December 6, 2007

SEBRING — Sebring coach Steve Ashley said the driving rain that soaked Firemen's Field in the first half of the Blue Streak girls soccer team's meeting with Palmetto on Thursday night didn't have much of an effect on the game. Junior Molly Blackman, on the other hand, gleefully disagreed. "It made it a lot more fun," Blackman said. "I think everyone enjoyed it." ...more

December 1, 2007

SEBRING — There's something about the home whites that doesn't agree with the Sebring boys soccer team so far this season. Winless at home and undefeated on the road, the Blue Streaks continued their cold play under the hot lights of Firemen's Field on Tuesday with an uninspired 2-0 defeat to Hardee, the same squad Sebring defeated in a double-overtime thriller last year in the Class 4A-District 10 semifinals. "When we go out on the road, we're hoping to win," said Sebring senior captain Nicholas Peters. "When we're here, we expect to win, and that's what kills us." ...more

November 29, 2007