Local News Headlines 8-19-22

Quite the thunderstorm we had last night about dinner hour. All the louder because it was right over our heads. Public reports have at least two homes in Sebring hit by lightning when the thunderstorm cell passed through a little after 5pm.

Early Voting for next Tuesday’s primary election continues through Saturday for Highlands County voters – the Supervisor of Elections Operations Center, Avon Park City Council Chambers and Lake Placid Government Center are the three sites for avoiding the lines on Tuesday. So far, last night’s tally had 13.75% of eligible voters casting ballots so far, although only about 2,412 had been cast in person, compared to over 6,900 by mail. 15.5% of eligible Republican voters have cast ballots, and 17.9% of Democrats. There ARE some races that’ll be decided at the primary stage, so unaffiliated voters are also eligible to vote – only about 5.7% of them have evidently gotten the message that they’re welcome, too.

Highlands County Deputies got into a foot chase with a burglary suspect yesterday that ended up going up a little farther than normal when the suspect tried hiding on top of the Highlands Plaza Shopping Center on Highway 27 in Avon Park. Department drones spotted the alleged perp, and deputies sent K-9 officer Drax and a couple handlers up there after him. Yes, dogs can get up on roofs and once the fugitive found that out, he took a flying leap from an eight foot awning where two-legged deputies were waiting for him.

A North Dakota school district is recruiting Florida teachers upset by the passing of the Parental Rights in Education law. The letter addressing Florida teachers has been circulating on social media. “You don’t know us, so we’ll start with this important statement: We are way OK with saying gay or straight, or LGBT,” reads the letter addressed to “Florida educators” from the Fargo School District. The letter states that its purpose is to make Florida teachers aware of the chance to be embraced in Fargo. Just in case you wondered, the average overnight low temperature in Fargo in January … about zero. They did have a mild winter last year – it only got down to 25 below zero a couple times.

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