When East Bay High School's commencement takes place May 28, Kristen Zemina will address her classmates and encourage them to make their marks in the world. ...more

May 21, 2008

Following in the steps of famous Gens. Douglas MacArthur, George Patton and Dwight Eisenhower, East Bay High School's Christopher Collins is headed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. ...more

May 21, 2008

SEBRING — Leeza Freeland can add another tiara and sash to her growing collection, after she was chosen from among 13 contestants as Miss Highlands County 2008. The former Junior Miss Highlands County 2006 had at least one moment at the Highlands County Fair on Monday when she feared a small mistake might cost her a chance to again represent the county. ...more

February 13, 2008

No one ever will know if the late Megan Carpenter would have been Florida Strawberry Festival queen, but her compassion was remembered at this year's pageant. ...more

February 9, 2008

Charter members and past exalted rulers of the Brandon Elks Lodge No. 2383 are invited to a 40th anniversary celebration of the chartering of the lodge from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Feb. 13 at the lodge, 800 Centennial Lodge Drive. ...more

January 19, 2008

AVON PARK — Fred Mixon always has the last word in at least one family argument: "10-7." The final score of the Avon Park football team's stunning defeat of Hardee this past season is a bragging right Mixon's 2007 Red Devils have over a decade-full of AP teams before them, a fact Mixon doesn't mind pulling out at the dinner table. "It's amazing, all the people who came before me, who never beat Hardee," Mixon said. "I've got older cousins, so it's nice to just say: 'Ya'al couldn't do it.' " The Red Devil win over the Wildcats was more than the highlight of the team's season, it turned out to be the highwater mark for a AP defense that would ultimately give way when the Devil offense struggled to keep themselves on the field. ...more

January 18, 2008

With 21,000 volunteers working in the Pasco County school system, picking three as outstanding is no easy task. ...more

December 15, 2007

Stephanie Hull bench-pressed 140 pounds en route to winning Wednesday's weightlifting meet at River Ridge High School. ...more

December 9, 2007

Imagine a time when all sports and extracurricular activities have been eliminated altogether. Kids across Highlands County are sitting after school with ball in hand, but no place to play. With budget concerns hitting nearly every school system in the country, many sports programs are being cut or an increasing trend has emerged — pay-to-play sports. The shrinking education budgets in this country have festered this new wave of subsidy, without the total dismissal of sports and other programs that were once a free privilege to the masses, but now has many students across the country on the outside of the stadium looking in. "I would never agree to a system like that for our schools," said newly elected Avon Park city councilman Al Hinson. "[Pay-to-play] would ween certain kids out, and that goes against the grain of what high school sports is all about. ...more

November 23, 2007

More than 120 Chamberlain High School students returned to elementary school recently to help out at a school festival. ...more

November 3, 2007