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

AVON PARK — The police chief search committee has thinned out its field of applicants, leaving 14 candidates out of the 61 who sent their resumes to then-city manager C.B. Shirey to seek Avon Park's top police job. Highlands Today confirmed that the field includes at least four applicants from Highlands County and at least two from the Fort Meade area. City officials provided a list of the 14 candidates with titles for the last positions they held, but more details on the candidates were not released. Interim City Manager Sarah Adelt said the committee originally trimmed the field to 15 candidates, but one of them removed himself from consideration after he was hired elsewhere. Eight of the 14 candidates last held high-ranking positions in local police departments, with three of them being current or former police chiefs. Adelt said that all 14 entries on the "short list" have law enforcement experience. Adelt said she's hoping the committee will narrow it to "no more than five candidates, hopefully three" within the next two weeks. ...more

February 5, 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

AVON PARK — The Avon Park City Council decided to form a seven-member committee to recommend a new police chief from the 61 applications the city received. In creating the committee, the council decided to fill the police chief's position before they found a new city manager, using the committee's recommendations to help interim City Manager Sarah Adelt pick out Frank Mercurio's successor. The city has not begun advertising for the city manager's position. ...more

January 16, 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

AVON PARK — Police are looking for anyone with information on four men Thursday in connection with the robbery of a 27-year-old Avon Park man Saturday night behind the Village Lounge at 205 W. Main St. The victim was not a customer at the bar, but was cutting through the property to take a shortcut home when four men approached him and threatened him with a short bat. ...more

December 27, 2007

AVON PARK — The city's search for a new police chief could be put on hold if City Manager C.B. Shirey becomes the Avon Park Executive Airport's manager next month. Shirey said that the council would instead try to find his replacement before they fill the vacant police chief position. He had no estimate on how long this could take, saying it depends on how quickly the city begins advertising the open position. The Avon Park Police Department has had its police chief position vacant since late September, when then-Police Chief Frank Mercurio was forced to resign. Since then, Shirey received 60 applications for the position. APPD Cmdr. Michael Rowan, who has assumed Mercurio's old duties while the city was searching for a new chief, said he did not expect this delay to have any further impact on the department. ...more

December 21, 2007