Unconfirmed reports indicate that Alain Hyppolite, the West Palm Beach resident who was struck by lightning Thursday at Spring Lake Golf Resort, has died. ...more

June 11, 2009

One mobile home caught fire, and it burned the roof off a second house before firefighters could control the blaze. ...more

March 14, 2009

The importance of good neighbors can't be denied. When Dottie Hackett found out that Todd and Ellen Tillman had lost tools worth $20,000, along with family heirlooms, in a fire March 2 that destroyed two outbuildings, she got busy. Hackett and her neighbors donated a total of about $200 to Bagwell Lumber Co. ...more

March 10, 2009

AVON PARK - Avon Park Fire Department Chief Terry Feickert announced Monday evening that he will end his 10-year tenure Aug. 24 as the city's top firefighter. "It's been a hoot," the outgoing chief told the city council and City Manager Sarah Adelt as they gave him a standing ovation. ...more

August 11, 2008

SEBRING - Several Highlands County Sheriff's Office dispatchers were moved out of their second-story room in the Sheriff's Office building Tuesday evening after "an odor of smoke" began circulating around the room, Sebring Fire Chief Brad Batz said. Batz said a smoke alarm went off in the Sheriff's Office radio room as a burning electric odor spread from a utility room through the air conditioning and into the dispatcher's room. Despite the severe storm and reports of six other alarms caused by the storm in Sebring, he said he could not determine what set off the alarm. No fire or burned equipment was found. ...more

July 10, 2008

I read Friday that City Pier Beach will be closed for at least a month to fill in the offshore dredge hole. The recent tragic drowning accident at this dredge hole has made this a notable priority. I never knew, and suspect many never knew of this hole. There is another 30-foot deep hole just south of the channel between Lake Jackson and Little Lake Jackson (on the Little Lake Jackson side.) ...more

June 16, 2008

An off-duty Tampa police officer with 20 years on the force was killed Thursday when a county-owned pickup turned into the path of his motorcycle on U.S. 41 in Pasco County, the Florida Highway Patrol said. ...more

May 2, 2008

AVON PARK — Even though the Avon Park City Council voted 4-1 to continue its police chief search, a budget crunch anticipated after Amendment 1 passed last month has prompted city officials to consider merging the police and fire chief positions. ...more

February 13, 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 — Apparently, a lot of cops want to live here. In the six weeks since the police chief's job has been advertised, 58 officers have applied, and they are qualified. "I have applications from three who claim they have law degrees," said City Manager C.B. Shirey. "Two have Ph.D.s. I have a lot who have been in the education side or the administrative side of law enforcement, or who have had special duties." One, a United Nations police officer, is an expert knife fighter, Shirey said. "Some are retired already, and some are overqualified," Shirey said. "It makes you wonder why they want to come to Avon Park. Some may just have the moving-to-Florida syndrome." Advertisements were placed in local newspapers, on the city's Web site, with the Florida League of Cities and the International Police Chief's Association. ...more

November 17, 2007