Highlands County News

Once Highlands County residents have stuffed themselves full of turkey, they can stuff their shopping carts full of Christmas gifts as the holiday shopping season officially kicks off Friday.

Bad news on the weather front. Florida continues in what is now a four-year drought.

Those in the unemployment line continue to get company across the state as the jobless rate continues to climb.

Highlands County Solid Waste Director Ken Wheeler on Thursday terminated the employee that he alleges was responsible for a diesel spill at the county landfill.

Police executed a search warrant at a Fifth Street home early Thursday morning and say they found a woman sitting fully clothed on a just-flushed toilet before charging her with drug and weapons counts.

A Sebring man remained in the Highlands County Jail Wednesday under no bond following his arrest for allegedly assaulting his brother's girlfriend and snatching her cell phone.

A traffic stop on Saturday led to a former Connecticut resident being charged with failure to register as a sex offender, a third-degree felony.

The Highlands Ridge Quilters have made a unique quilt, "Homes," which will be auctioned Nov.

Tough times have left households in ruins, people living in their cars and desperately needing food.

Highlands County's unemployment rate in September was 11.6 percent, up significantly from the 8.4 percent in September 2008.

County commissioners voted 5-0 Tuesday to adopt an ordinance that allows commercial and industrial builders to defer payment of impact fees that total in excess of $25,000 for up to three years.

Highlands County Commissioners voted 4-0 on Tuesday to allow retro-fits to the Health Department and to the Bert J. Harris Agricultural Center to make them wind compliant.

A Sebring man was arrested over the weekend for allegedly stealing $6,600 worth of spools of electrical wire from Sea Hawk Industries.

The following people were being sought by the Highlands County Sheriff's Office on active warrants as of Thursday, Nov.

Myrna Spencer, accounting director for the Highlands County Tax Collector's Office, made an annual presentation to the Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday.

Fitch Ratings assigns an 'AA-' long-term rating to the following Adventist Health System Sunbelt bonds: --$125,000,000 Highlands County Health Facilities Authority hospital revenue bonds, series 2008B; --$62,520,000 Highlands County Health Facilities Authority hospital revenue refunding bonds, series 2009E.

A single-engine airplane went down Tuesday afternoon at Slough Ditch, between County Road 621 and State Road 70 in the southern part of Highlands County, according to the Highlands County Sheriff's Office.

A man and woman were arrested on burglary charges after a set of car keys belonging to the woman were allegedly found in one of the bags of stolen items.

A Georgia woman claims Sebring resident Rikelle Purcell, who died last week after what authorities describe as a murder-suicide, was set to leave her abusive boyfriend before she was shot to death.

Highlands County still doesn't have the $1.65 million asphalt plant grant that was promised by Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and county commissioners were furious because they just found out during a meeting Tuesday.