TAMPA Kim Scheeler, the longtime leader of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, is leaving that post in August to lead the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce in Virginia. ...more

June 20, 2008

How can a pastor who only has lived here for 20 months help a church to renew and grow? ...more

June 7, 2008

PLANT CITY Patsy Brooks, the longtime general manager of the Florida Strawberry Festival, retired Monday. ...more

June 6, 2008

PLANT CITY Patsy Brooks, the longtime general manager of the Florida Strawberry Festival, retired Monday. Brooks' festival career began 33 years ago as a secretary - one of only two full-time employees at the time. Two years later, she was promoted to assistant manager, a job she held for 18 years. She occupied the top slot for the past 13 years. ...more

June 6, 2008

AVON PARK — The police chief search committee has thinned out its field of applicants, leaving 14 candidates out of the 61 who sent their resumes to then-city manager C.B. Shirey to seek Avon Park's top police job. Highlands Today confirmed that the field includes at least four applicants from Highlands County and at least two from the Fort Meade area. City officials provided a list of the 14 candidates with titles for the last positions they held, but more details on the candidates were not released. Interim City Manager Sarah Adelt said the committee originally trimmed the field to 15 candidates, but one of them removed himself from consideration after he was hired elsewhere. Eight of the 14 candidates last held high-ranking positions in local police departments, with three of them being current or former police chiefs. Adelt said that all 14 entries on the "short list" have law enforcement experience. Adelt said she's hoping the committee will narrow it to "no more than five candidates, hopefully three" within the next two weeks. ...more

February 5, 2008

On a normal game day here, a parking space outside the Donald L. Tucker Center is about as easy to find as an empty seat inside. ...more

February 3, 2008

SEBRING — A DeSoto County administrator has been hired to head Highlands County's housing department. Mandy Hines, one of 12 applicants to replace Penny Phillippi, who left for a job in Collier County, will take over as director of county housing. ...more

January 23, 2008

SEBRING — The public is welcome to attend Thursday's inaugural meeting of the Highlands County commissioners' latest citizens advisory board, which will help select the county's next administrator. Sixteen people have been appointed to what county officials are calling the "Search Committee," created to help commissioners pick long-time county Administrator Carl Cool's replacement. Cool will retire on July 1 after nearly 17 years as the county's top administrator. At the Search Committee's first meeting, set for 6 p.m. Jan. 10 in Conference Room 2 at the Highlands County Agri-Civic Center, the 16 members will select their chairman and set the ground rules for how they will work with the county's consultant. ...more

January 6, 2008

Bill Stewart didn't need an actual job interview. His performance in the 2 1/2 weeks since Rich Rodriguez resigned, punctuated by West Virginia's resounding victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, was enough. ...more

January 4, 2008

When faced with a major decision, learning how others decided is valuable input that can often save a lot of time and effort. For example, I believe I read that over 5,000 communities wrestled with whether its school superintendent should continue as an elected position and only 30 (.04 percent) determined that it should. To me, that means that absent some unusual circumstances unique to this community, Highlands County will not be number 31. ...more

November 29, 2007