Circuit Court Clerk Karen Nicolai said an e-mail critical of the county administrator's information-gathering skills was designed to help him better understand her department and the proper way to communicate. ...more

November 8, 2008

A new elementary charter school will incorporate visual and graphic arts into its daily curriculum and emphasize health and fitness. ...more

August 13, 2008

Hillsborough County commissioners are considering reducing some services in rural areas to deal with deficits arising from the passage of Amendment 1, but they are not likely to raise fees or taxes. ...more

February 14, 2008

SEBRING — David Flowers, director of Highlands County's facilities management, was given a written reprimand late Thursday afternoon for his improper use of county instant messaging. ...more

January 31, 2008

SEBRING — David Flowers, director of county facilities management, is under investigation for sexually explicit, instant messages he exchanged on county computers with fired budget department employee Treasa Handley. Rick Helms, the assistant county administrator, is in charge of the investigation of Flowers, a former county commissioner who failed in his bid this week to become director of the county's new division of administrative services. ...more

January 31, 2008

SEBRING — By accident, a routine financial audit of expenditures for the 9-1-1 emergency call system uncovered voluminous sexually explicit messages sent between three Highlands County employees in the budget department. The sexually explicit messages, all public-record documents open to public inspection, led to the firings Monday morning of: Treasa Handley, former coordinator of non ad-valorem assessments; Jared Lee, former budget analyst; and Christine Edwards, former budget technician. ...more

January 30, 2008

SEBRING –– Three employees in the Highlands County budget department were fired Monday morning for "the nature of, and the volume of, text messages sent on county computers," said county Administrator Carl Cool. ...more

January 28, 2008