A congressional report shows the Secret Service is investigating more threats against government officials, including President Barack Obama, than ever before, according to The Boston Globe. ...more

October 25, 2009

A plan to help disabled veterans created controversy Tuesday when a Senate committee combined it with one to expand term limits for state lawmakers. ...more

March 25, 2009

A new elected official will represent state House District 56 come January. ...more

October 19, 2008

The coming years will, perhaps, be the most difficult in Highlands County government history. Major cuts loom for next year's budget, if projections are accurate, and we believe they are. Deciding where those cuts come from and how to protect essential services vital to the county will require strong leadership, good judgment and an inherent understanding of the direction our county needs to go. ...more

October 10, 2008

The news is bad all over. And if you're in the newspaper industry, you're not just reporting about it. You're living it. ...more

July 5, 2008

We've all heard the phrase "no one is irreplaceable," and it's true. It's also true that some people carry so much institutional knowledge of an operation that while they may be replaceable, it's going to hurt. Sometimes the pain subsides quickly, and sometimes it lasts a long time, but either way, it hurts. When Sebring City Manager Bob Hoffman and Highlands County Administrator Carl Cool call it a career in a few weeks, we're losing important resources for one of our cities and county. The good news is that they are being replaced by extremely capable people, but the loss still is there. Hoffman and Cool have been on the job a long time around here. It's unusual for people in their professions to last so long in one place. Industry wide, city managers and county administrators often make enough enemies over the course of five years or so that they move on. The decisions they have to make ruffle feathers, no matter how well they do their jobs. It says a lot that they held their positions for so long. ...more

May 10, 2008