The owner of a funeral home who was directed by the state last week to bring her embalming operations to a halt is holding a press conference this afternoon. ...more

January 28, 2009

Responding to complaints from two families, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink has ordered a St. Petersburg funeral home to immediately cease any services involving embalming or refrigeration. Sink issued the order last week against the Morning Glory Funeral Chapel of St. Petersburg, 3301 5th Ave. S. ...more

January 26, 2009

Military veterans and county taxpayers received good news Tuesday morning as Highlands County commissioners awarded a construction contract for the new Veterans Services building. ...more

November 26, 2008

SEBRING — Highlands County commissioners are not pleased with plans to hire three new top administrators at an extra cost of about $300,000 per year. At their meeting today, the five commissioners, three of whom must run for re-election this year, will consider hiring the first division director in the county's history. On Monday, at the county's annual "visioning session," Commissioners Don Bates, Guy Maxcy and Barbara Stewart said they were less than happy with the prospect of what Bates called "adding another layer of administration" to county government. The price tag to do that — adding three employees with the title of "division director" — will be between $190,000 at the low end, to $360,000 per year at the top end of the salary schedules. The county commission had created the new positions last year to increase efficiency. Three new people will be hired, while the fourth position has already gone to Rick Helms, who went from "assistant county administrator" to the new position of "assistant county administrator/director of the division of administrative services." ...more

February 5, 2008