NEW RULES SET TO AFFECT SIXTH-GRADERS AT HERNANDO'S K-8 SCHOOLS IN FALL ...more

July 19, 2008

The Rev. Lavern Franzen, former bishop of the Florida-Bahamas Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, will be guest speaker July 13 at Lord of Life Lutheran Church, 2104 Mud Lake Road. ...more

July 5, 2008

Business Briefcase ...more

June 29, 2008

Aunt Marci, Grandpa Tom, Grandpa Jack and Great-Great-Great Uncle Gary will be remembered forever in a little girl's heart. ...more

June 25, 2008

LORIDA –– Friends that ride and rope together will always be friends. That sage advice was never more true than for two Sebring Middle School students on the crest of the biggest junior rodeo competition in the country. For 14-year-old Bailey Vickers and 12-year old Loni Damboise, the dream of competing on the biggest rodeo stage has come true, as the two friends, along with Hardee resident Dalton Boney, will represent Florida in the Wrangler Junior High Rodeo Finals in Gallup, NM beginning June 30. "I'm so excited that Loni and I get to go to nationals together," Vickers said. "The competition is going to be intense, and we'll both have to be on the top of our game. "I'm so honored to be and proud to represent Florida at nationals." ...more

June 16, 2008

AVON PARK — Volunteers, students and prison inmates are finishing up two new Avon Park Future Farmers of America barns at 1180 E. Winthrop St., which are now "90 percent complete," according to FFA Alumni Association members. The new structures would allow Avon Park high and middle school students to hold their pigs and cattle without having to borrow a spare acre from friends outside of the city. Even though all three high schools have agriculture students who raise farm animals for show at events such as the Highlands County Fair, Avon Park never had its own barn. Before August, when the students need to weigh in their animals for the next Highlands County Fair, they will have 24 hog and 12 cattle pens for those who don't have enough land to raise the livestock. FFA Alumni President Sally Perry said the cattle barn will have its first steers and heifers June 22, the day of the planned ribbon-cutting ceremony. ...more

June 8, 2008

A Volusia County teen has been sentenced to probation for his role in a murder plot against his classmates. ...more

June 8, 2008

THEATER Today-Saturday "The Sleeping Beauty"; America's Ballet School takes you on a journey through enchanted lands filled with wondrous characters, including Princess Aurora, Puss 'n Boots, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella and more; 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday; $12 to $15; The Center for the Arts at Wesley Chapel, 30651 Wells Road, Wesley Chapel; (813) 558-0800 ...more

June 6, 2008

The tension was evident as Highlands County's students squared off Saturday for school bragging rights. And it had nothing to do with athletics. It was all about brains and our top middle school students did a wonderful job answering questions that many adults wouldn't know. Academic teams from all Highlands County middle schools competed at the Sebring Middle School auditorium in an annual event measuring students' all-around knowledge. Each grade level battled to beat the buzzer and then the day was capped off with a "varsity" contest with each school's top students vying for a title. Sebring's Hill-Gustat won the varsity contest and the sixth-grade contest. Sebring Middle School won top honors in seventh and eighth grade contests. But the points separating all the schools was small, and every school had a strong showing with top students representing from throughout the county. ...more

June 2, 2008

EVENTS SKIN CANCER SCREENINGS: The Skin Cancer Foundation's Road to Healthy Skin Tour will offer free full-body skin-cancer screenings by board-certified dermatologists from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at Beall's, 11201 Park Blvd. N., Seminole. ...more

May 30, 2008