AVON PARK — It may have been a long holiday weekend, but Avon Park used a suffocating defense and a balanced offense to make short work of Okeechobee by a score of 67-31 in girls basketball on Saturday night. The Class 4A Red Devils, who improved to 3-1 with the win, used their athleticism and quickness to force 23 Brahman turnovers to break the non-district game open in the second half. "We played our game tonight," junior guard Daija Barrett said. "We played as a team, ran the floor well and played as one. "Our offense was clicking, our defense was solid and this is the kind of effort we need to bring every night." ...more

November 26, 2007

Clewiston enters Friday's regional final contest against Tampa Catholic sporting a 5-6 record. ...more

November 22, 2007

Heed ye these words with the coming of fall Step up to adventure, bid farewell to all ...more

November 2, 2007

SEBRING — Time to run. The boys and girls cross country teams from the Heartland compete today and Friday in the Class 3A district meets. Avon Park and Sebring run today in the District 5 meet at Lake Park in Tampa, while Lake Placid runs on Friday at the District 6 meet in Naples. Only the top six teams advance to next Saturday's regional competition in Estero, and Avon Park's boys squad has the talent and desire to be one of those teams. ...more

November 1, 2007

This week, the Florida Senate passed legislation to place a constitutional amendment before the voters that would change how property taxes are calculated across the state. ...more

October 21, 2007

The weather early this morning is closer to the necessary variables needed to cause fish to migrate in larger numbers for longer periods — something that hasn't occurred very often lately. Get to the lake as early as possible and there is a very good chance you might catch the larger fish at the tail end of their feeding spree. The barometer should be near the bottom of the drop that happened Tuesday night, or already starting to rise — but only slightly. For this reason, start your presentation in close to the vegetation, or in the shallows working your way out. There's a great possibility of a "top-water" bite, so give that a try before switching to other methods. I prefer working top-water retrieves at top speed at first, then gradually slowing it down if it doesn't produce any strikes. ...more

October 17, 2007

SEBRING — When Jean and Larry Lindemer heard Craig and Mary Romney were coming to town, they gathered up the family photo album. Craig Romney is the son of the presidential candidate from Massachusetts. The Lindemers are from Michigan, where Larry was the chairman of the state Republican Party when Mitt's father, George, was governor. When was that? ...more

September 28, 2007

SEBRING — Heading in the right direction. After overcoming some early season adversity, the Sebring High School football team is on the right track. Last week's come-from-behind 13-12 road win over a talented Okeechobee squad was just the start of something big happening for the Blue Streaks this season. Sebring, which lost quarterback Jamarle Fletcher to an ankle injury in the first quarter, trailed the entire game until Sam Robinson booted a 21-yard field goal on the last play of the contest. "The kids hung in there, came together as a team and overcame a lot of adversity against a good Okeechobee squad on the road," Blue Streak fourth-year coach Jared Hamlin said. "This is a huge win for us and gives us a lot of confidence." ...more

September 21, 2007

football wrap up ...more

September 16, 2007

Talk about a challenge. The Sebring High School football team is coming off a 21-7 win over Pasco last week, but the good feelings from that win are long gone as a road game against Okeechobee is next on the schedule for the Blue Streaks. ...more

September 14, 2007