In a response filed this week to Preston Colby's public records lawsuit against Highlands County officials, Ross Macbeth, county attorney, admitted to one allegation in the lawsuit. ...more

January 29, 2009

Highlands County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to seek a court ruling that will clarify the longstanding dispute over the election of the five-member board of supervisors at Sun 'n Lake of Sebring. ...more

December 10, 2008

Highlands County Attorney Ross Macbeth's law firm will file for foreclosure on a vacant home at 1511 Wellington Drive because the Orlando man who owns it has two liens against the property for code violations. ...more

September 1, 2008

Local businesses are likely to get an advantage over out-of-county businesses in getting Highlands County government contracts. ...more

August 24, 2008

SEBRING – The appeals of the firings of ex-county employees Treasa Handley and Jarod Lee will be heard by new Highlands County Administrator Michael Wright. But the informal hearing process won't be scheduled until after Handley's and Lee's attorney takes depositions from at least four and possibly more county employees. Attorney Jim McCollum, representing the two Office of Management and Budget employees who were fired for sending thousands of personal and inappropriate instant messages on their county computers, has not yet requested a hearing date. Their firings go back more than three months, but McCollum is not rushing to schedule the appeals hearing in front of Wright. Before any hearing is scheduled, McCollum said, he needs to get sworn statements in depositions from several high-ranking county managers and from one ex-county employee, Carl Cool. ...more

June 6, 2008

SEBRING – The Highlands County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to support the Sun 'N Lake of Sebring residents who filed a lawsuit to have their five-person governing body elected by residents. If the judge rules for the plaintiffs in the suit, the decision would take control of the Sun 'N Lake governing board away from the companies that own the thousands of vacant lots and, under the current rules, hold a 3-2 majority on the board. At the urging of county commissioners Andy Jackson and Barbara Stewart, the commissioners passed a resolution saying they support the lawsuit filed by the association representing Sun 'N Lake residents. The county also might enter this legal fight on the side of the residents seeking to put control of the governing board in the hands of residents. ...more

June 3, 2008

SEBRING — Preston Colby, local public watchdog, was recently in court seeking public records. Colby seeks a release of public records from meetings of the Florida Heartland Rural Economic Development Initiative (FHREDI) committee. Colby maintains the the committee held visioning sessions with volunteers in 2006 that violated the Florida Sunshine Law. ...more

May 11, 2008

SEBRING — Highlands County Commissioner Don Bates feels confident the county will get the right deal to get Mike Wright. Wright, currently an assistant city manger in Tallahassee, was the unanimous choice of the five county commissioners to replace retiring Carl Cool as the county's top executive. ...more

May 5, 2008

SEBRING –– Two of the three county budget office employees fired for sending sexually explicit instant messages on their county work computers during work hours are threatening state and, if that doesn't work, federal legal action. Those threats were made by Jim McCollum, attorney for Treasa Handley and Jarod Lee, who were fired for sending several thousand "inappropriate" instant messages during work, many of them described as "sexually explicit." ...more

February 21, 2008

SEBRING — A proposed state law, introduced for the Legislature's new 2008 session, would shut down most of Highlands County's road building projects, and severely limit the cost-effectiveness of the county's new asphalt plant. That is the assessment of House Bill 683 by Ramon Gavarette, Highlands County Engineer, and Ross Macbeth, attorney for the Highlands County commissioners. The county asphalt plant, which is scheduled to start production this spring, would be the first asphalt plant owned and operated by a local government in Florida. Commissioners have borrowed $3.3 million to build the plant, based on Ken Wheeler, director of the county solid waste department, estimating it will save $700,000 per year on road work. House Bill 683 apparently was pushed by the Asphalt Contractors Association of Florida, which tried unsuccessfully to talk the county commissioners out of building the first county-owned asphalt plant in the state. ...more

January 26, 2008