Local News Headlines 11-23-23

Happy Thanksgiving! That may be a reminder to folks with trash cans out waiting for County pickup … this one of those relatively rare holidays when the County’s contractor does NOT do routes. Thursday schedules this week move to Friday, and Friday moves to Saturday.

Your local firefighters remind you to stay safe around hot stuff today – especially hot things you don’t use all that often, like turkey fryers. Keep it outdoors, off wooden deck materials, and PLEASE don’t try to deep fry a frozen turkey. It almost never ends well, and when it doesn’t it’s never pretty.

Word is, the old Wachovia Bank Building on North Ridgewood in Downtown Sebring is a step closer to being usable again. The Downtown CRA is paying for almost $264,000 in mold and asbestos remediation work in advance of transferring the building to Carolee Blackmon, who has plans for office space, conference areas, a restaurant and other amenities. Closing the deal is expected in early January.

Two people on board a plane that made an emergency landing in Lakeland on Wednesday have a little more to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the agency received word that a plane had disappeared from radar shortly after 8 a.m. Deputies say they found the aircraft, which reportedly suffered engine failure, in a field outside town. Investigators say nobody was injured during the emergency landing and the plan does not appear to be damaged. The FAA is responding and will be conducting an investigation.