Gary Pinnell's informative article of Dec. 2 points out that the good old boys on the County Commission want to tax your Internet purchases made in other states, increase your license plate fees and curtail your homestead exemptions. What a shock! The County Commission has been riding a tax and spend gravy train consisting of double digit annual spending increases for years. This has funded years of very generous annual pay raises for all employees, $3,000 bonuses for the Sheriff's Office, the elaborate unnecessary ball park, the road to nowhere (also known as the Sebring Parkway or Carl's Catastrophe), a new layer of top level bureaucrats and thousands of dollars worth of stolen, lost and/or misplaced taxpayer funded property, etc. ...more

December 7, 2009

An audit of the Highlands County Road & Bridge Department found several problems, including a $4,300 invoice that was paid twice, work that should not have been performed, a lack of inventory controls and a lack of internal controls. ...more

November 4, 2009

Residents in a tornado-ravaged community took advantage of clearing skies Thursday to collect family keepsakes and begin cleaning up from a storm that left 28 injured and dozens of homes and businesses flattened. ...more

March 27, 2009

Some girls want dinner out, roses and jewelry for Valentine's Day. I asked for - and received - a Black & Decker Alligator Lopper, an electric pruner I've had my eye on for months. ...more

February 20, 2009

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear has called up all of his Army National Guard troop and some Air National Guard units to get the state back on its feet following a crippling ice storm. ...more

January 31, 2009

contemporary Mediterranean-style home on Gulfwinds Circle. Currie said his storm preparations so far had amounted to bringing in the patio furniture and other odds and ends from outside the home, which sits right on the Gulf. ...more

August 19, 2008

Say they're not too worried. ...more

August 19, 2008

NOKOMIS — James Lykins spent most of his adult life as a tree trimmer, a high-wire balancing act of chain saws and great heights that sometimes claims lives. ...more

May 8, 2008

Fire officials say an electrical short sparked the Saturday night blaze at a city maintenance building at Lowry Park, causing an estimated $2 million in damage. ...more

February 18, 2008

They knew they couldn't set this little country community right in a day - the storms had been too brutal for that. But at least, they figured, they could clean it up. ...more

February 8, 2008