AVON PARK - Four of the five city council members heard enough as it voted 4-1 Monday evening to increase the fines the police can issue for those making too much noise with their stereos. Although Al Joe Hinson complained that the ordinance should have also required officers to first issue written warnings for the first offense before giving the lone dissenting vote, George Hall countered after the vote that the police could give verbal warnings if they felt that would be appropriate. ...more

July 28, 2008

Mark Caskie has a word of warning for candidates who disregard the county's ordinance on campaign sign placement. ...more

July 11, 2008

FINES RANGE FROM $100 TO $5,000 ...more

July 10, 2008

Having lost her job and her three-bedroom house, Darlene Knoll has joined the legions of downwardly mobile Americans who are four wheels away from homelessness. ...more

June 24, 2008

SEBRING — A Sebring man remained in Highlands County Jail in lieu of $85,000 bond Tuesday after he was arrested as a suspect in an armed robbery near Mandy Circle and Savannah Circle in Sebring. Jamal Shasid Daniels, 37, of 247 Mandy Circle, was charged with one count of armed robbery with a knife and petty theft first offense. At about 11:28 a.m. Sunday, Sebring Police Officer Matt Cloud was approached at Savannah Circle where a 20-year-old man said he was robbed at knife point. ...more

June 17, 2008

SEBRING — A Sebring man remained in Highlands County Jail in lieu of $15,250 bond, after sheriff's investigators say he burglarized his aunt's Leisure Lakes home three times by crawling through her doggie door. Michael Wayne Britt, 31, of 2105 U.S. 27 S., Lot 339, was charged with three counts of burglary of an unoccupied dwelling and one count of petty theft first offense. According to sheriff's deputy Michael Weed's report, between May 8 and May 26, Britt pushed his 6-foot 150 pound frame through a doggie door in the rear of a home belonging to his aunt in the 900 block of Wildflower Street in Leisure Lakes. ...more

June 12, 2008

Displays of bravado on two wheels are nearly as old as wheels. From Steve McQueen hopping the barbed wire fence in "The Great Escape" to Evel Knievel's long-distance leaps, stunts on bikes have drawn gasps from onlookers. ...more

May 11, 2008

Starting Oct. 1, the anti-motorcycle-wheelie law takes effect. ...more

May 6, 2008

SEBRING — In the old days, which were only a few weeks ago, a Highlands County deputy would cite drivers for speeding in his ticket book. The driver was handed a carbonless copy, and the original went to the sheriff's office, where it was transferred to the county clerk of courts and to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Now, the sheriff's office gives out electronic citations, said Sheriff Susan Benton. ...more

May 4, 2008

Gary Hicks' first offense, attempted sexual battery of a 5-year-old boy. ...more

January 27, 2008