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

September 13, 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