SEBRING For 15 minutes every hour, Clearwater police officers are encouraged to turn off their patrol car engines. And in Tampa, Capt. Stephen Hogue has memoed his officers: Limit the time that engines idle. Lake Placid Police Chief Phil Williams wants to save gasoline, too, but he isn't buying those solutions. "I can't tell an officer, on a 90-degree day, to sit in a car, without the air conditioning running, in a bullet-proof vest," he laughed. ...more

July 9, 2008

SEBRING — A Sebring man remained in Highlands County Jail in lieu of $80,000 bail Wednesday, charged by Sebring police with armed robbery of a Circle K store and pistol whipping the clerk. ...more

February 7, 2008

SEBRING — Two Sebring men remained in Highlands County Jail in lieu of $10,000 each, charged with burglary, grand theft and felony criminal mischief in connection with a burglary at the Habitat For Humanity store. ...more

February 4, 2008

SEBRING — Two suspects were cooperating with Sebring police investigators Friday in its investigation into 13 burglaries in the downtown Sebring area. The two suspects, Lamar F. Wilcher Jr., 19, of Sebring, and James L. Gardner, 21, of Sebring, were riding around town Friday morning with Sebring police detectives helping to recover some of the stolen merchandise, said Sebring Police Cmdr. Steve Carr. The detectives have obtained confessions from both suspects and were in the process of obtaining arrest warrants, Carr said. ...more

February 2, 2008

SEBRING — Two suspects are cooperating with Sebring police investigators in an investigation into 13 burglaries in the downtown Sebring area. ...more

February 1, 2008

AVON PARK — The Avon Park City Council hired an attorney that will begin acting as the city's code enforcement magistrate by March. Avon Park Fire Department Chief Terry Feickert said that the code enforcement office already has 10 cases lined up for C. Parke Sutherland, a Bartow-based attorney who became the special magistrate. The new magistrate could dole out daily fines to people with dilapidated homes and other major offenders, an action the city previously couldn't do by taking offending property owners to court. "It just gives us a little more teeth," Feickert said. ...more

January 30, 2008

SEBRING — Police released the names Tuesday of a Jahna Concrete employee who died Monday afternoon and a coworker who was shocked trying to save him when a cement pumping boom struck some power lines. ...more

January 15, 2008

SEBRING — A Sebring man remained in Highlands County Jail in lieu of $66,000 bail Monday after Sebring police say he was arrested while walking down Roseland Avenue with a sword and a large knife. ...more

December 18, 2007

SEBRING — The 2007 rainy season, which ends in November, didn't alleviate the ongoing water shortage, so South Florida Water Management District's staff recommended last week that its governing board increase watering restrictions at the Dec. 13 monthly meeting. Southwest Florida Water Management District will also discuss watering rules at its 9 a.m. Monday, Nov. 26 meeting at Quorum Hotel Westshore, 700 N. Westshore Blvd., Tampa. ...more

November 23, 2007

SEBRING — Police were still investigating Thursday a fatal motorcycle crash that occurred late Wednesday afternoon on southbound U.S. 27 in front of Alan Jay Automotive Network's corporate office. ...more

November 8, 2007