Jim Otterman likes to use kitchen appliances to describe economic development. ...more

July 13, 2008

U.S. Sugar Profile Founded in 1931 by Charles Stewart Mott, U.S. Sugar is one of the largest producers of sugar and citrus in the country. The privately held company employs 1,700 people and owns and farms more than 187,000 acres in Hendry, Glades and Palm Beach counties. In addition to sugar and citrus, the company owns a short-line railroad called the South Central Florida Express. The railroad includes 159 miles of track and 14 locomotives that transport lumber, paper, citrus and sugar. ...more

June 25, 2008

SEBRING — Area high school students will encounter a new set of classes when they go back to school in August. The set of 12 classes will not be on social studies and math but alcohol prevention. The new program is being funded through a grant totaling more than $432,000 to prevent alcohol abuse among high school students in the Florida Heartland, a top local education official said Wednesday. Frank Gibbs, the executive director of the Heartland Education Consortium based in Lake Placid, said it would be up to the Highlands County School Board to determine how the courses will be inserted into the high school curriculum. ...more

June 11, 2008

SEBRING – The search for an executive director for Florida's Heartland Rural Economic Development Initiative will contine Monday, June 2 when the selection committee meets in Sebring. Six candidates for the position are scheduled to be interviewed, according to Roger Hood, who is a member of the committee. The FHREDI board of directors' regular meeting will be held Monday, June 16 at the Agri-Civic Center in Sebring. A recommendation will likely be made from the committee to the board at that time. Following the retirement of Lynn Topel earlier this year, the board advertised the position. The committee chose three candidates to be interviewed and offered the position to the top two, but both declined. Salary might have been an issue with those two individuals, according to Hood, who is also a member of the board. ...more

May 31, 2008

Highlands County officials have every right to be upset with Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. That's because he's apparently broke his promise to Highlands County and every other "fiscally constrained" county in Florida that will take a big tax hit. The citizens of Highlands County should be just as upset and make sure the governor's office knows about it. ...more

February 21, 2008

SEBRING – Before last weekend, it had been four years since Lynn Topel had taken a bike ride. Topel also loves gardening but there has been no time for that either. However, that will soon change for the executive director of Florida's Heartland Rural Economic Development Initiative (FHREDI). Topel will be leaving her position after four years in leading the organization that covers six counties – Highlands, Okeechobee, Glades, Hendry, DeSoto and Hardee – as well as communities in Palm Beach and Collier counties. In the first two years on the job, 80-hour weeks were the norm for Topel because of the devastating impact from the hurricanes – especially Charley – had on the region. "I can tell you that those weeks were long," she said. "Now it's gotten much better. This past year has been much more normal – 40 to 50-hour weeks. But it also took those two years to create those relationships all through the state that are important to the region." ...more

January 13, 2008

An issue that apparently has baffled educators in the Heartland is going to be addressed. The high schools in Highlands, Hardee, Okeechobee, Glades, DeSoto and Hendry counties have posted numerous "C" and "D" accountability grades for the past nine years, but few "B" grades and no "A" grades. There is an apparent disparity in the performance of middle school and elementary students compared to high school students, according to the Heartland Educational Consortium. In one recent year, while the elementary and middle schools received primarily "A, B or C" grades, about one-fourth of the high schools received "D" or "F" grades. ...more

January 2, 2008

LAKE PLACID — School superintendents in the six-county Heartland area agree there is a need to review educational practices at the high school level. ...more

January 1, 2008

This is a thank you to all members and guests of VFW Post 4300. On Dec. 16 they held a benefit for my great grandson, Hayden Hunt. Hayden's mom, Jamie, my granddaughter, was killed in a tragic auto accident in Illinois on Oct. 19. Being the great Post that it is, they got together and put on a benefit for Hayden's education fund. They had an auction and 50-50, donated music by Frank-E and Billy Glades, and of course, lots of food. My family, 11 of them, flew from Illinois for the weekend and they were all overwhelmed by the turnout. It really was awesome. ...more

December 28, 2007

SEBRING – John Tallent told the Highlands County commissioners last week he "didn't want to be the skunk at the church picnic." ...more

December 25, 2007