13

AVON PARK -- A man and a woman from Babson Park were jailed on felony drug charges after a traffic stop in Avon Park Thursday, Oct. 12. When members of the Tactical Anti-Crime (TAC) Team pulled over the car on U.S. 27 near Lake Byrd Road north of Avon Park around 7 p.m., they were able to smell marijuana. A K-9 review confirmed there were drugs in the car. The driver, 24-year-old Ashley Lynn Crispin, was searched and found to have less than one gram of marijuana, four Alprazolam pills, two

October

2017

11

SEBRING -- A Tampa man who has already served three short prison terms for fraud-related convictions is facing a much longer stay behind bars after being charged with 140 felonies in connection with stealing checks out of mailboxes in Highlands County. The information from the checks was then used to commit fraudulent transactions at Walmarts in 10 counties. Chedrick Lavelle Oliver, 36, was arrested Tuesday, Oct. 3, by the Tampa Police Department and was brought to the Highlands County Jail on

October

2017

10

SEBRING -- The Department of Children and Families (DCF), in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), will implement the Food for Florida Disaster Food Assistance Program (also known as D-SNAP) in Highlands County to assist individuals and families impacted by Hurricane Irma. The D-SNAP site will be at the Highlands News-Sun Center at the Highlands County Fairgrounds Saturday-Monday, Oct. 14-16. The center will be open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. To qualify for the Food

October

2017

04

Highlands County residents have already experienced the newest method of communication government officials are using to push important information to the public. The Alert Highlands system powered by Everbridge got a trial by fire when Hurricane Irma came barreling up the state last month. The text message alerts proved to be a vital method of getting details out to the county in the aftermath of the storm when many normal lines of communication were impacted. More than 10,000 people signed up

October

2017

25

Now that we have survived the worst Hurricane Irma could throw at us and most of us have gotten at least mostly back on our feet, I just wanted to take a minute to tell you how proud I am of Highlands County. Even before the hurricane arrived, we witnessed neighbors helping neighbors prepare, whether it was helping get hurricane supplies, boarding up windows, or offering a more secure place to ride out the storm. As I traveled around the county in the hours and days after Irma passed, I saw

September

2017