NewsTalk 730

Highlands County evidently likes early voting – nearly five percent of the County’s eligible voters showed up to cast votes for the November 5th General Election yesterday on the first day of the County’s ten-day early voting window. Three locations will be available until November 2 for voters who want to avoid the crowds on…

The sentencing phase of the Joseph Ables murder trial begins today. Ables was found guilty of the 2018 murder of Deputy William Gentry Tuesday after less than an hour of jury deliberations. Today, the sides will argue for and against the death penalty for Ables. Judge Angela Cowden is also expected to impose an additional…

It was a short deliberation – about an hour – but the jury yesterday convicted Joseph Ables of first degree murder in the death of Sheriff’s Deputy William J. Gentry Jr. Gentry was responding to a dispute in Lake Placid in May 2018, when Ables shot and killed him. Ables, who was 69 at the…

Closing statements will begin this morning in the murder trial of Joseph Ables of Lake Placid. The prosecution in the case rested after lunch yesterday after showing forensic details of the gunshot wounds that killed County Deputy William Gentry in May of 2018, and the pellet that allegedly killed the neighbor’s cat and set off…

An early Sunday morning crash claimed the life of a pedestrian trying to cross Highway 27 just north of the SFSC campus. Highway Patrol units were dispatched around 2:30am to the corner of Marble Avenue and Highway 27 where a vehicle travelling north by a Kissimmee man struck a male pedestrian evidently trying to cross…

The Capital Murder case against Joseph Ables saw the State calling Nick Sotherland to the stand as the first witness on Thursday. Southerland, a HCSO deputy at the time of the May 6, 2018 incident, responded to the scene shortly after Ables shot Deputy Sheriff William Gentry Jr. Gentry later passed away from his injuries…

Operation Blue Roof is now accepting applications for Highlands County Residents affected by Hurricane Milton. The program is providing free temporary tarping while residents work to repair their roof. Applications can be submitted at BLUEROOF.GOV or by calling 888-766-3258. The program is being offered throughout Florida through November 5th and includes 24 counties in total.…

Tuesday saw the end of a tedious 3 week long jury selection in the State vs. Joseph Ables. Ables is accused of shooting and ultimately causing the death of Highlands County Sheriff’s Deputy William Gentry Jr. in May of 2018. Ables is facing the charges of first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer and felony…

A 17-year-old Avon Park High School student was arrested and charged Monday after making a school shooting threat. The student admitted to using a school issued laptop to write the threat message on a Google Document that was then shared with students from another school. The threat was flagged by the school district system that…

A special meeting will be held this afternoon by the Highlands County School Board to discuss the agenda from the October 8th meeting that was cancelled due to Hurricane Milton. One thing up for discussion will be the purchase of metal detectors for a pilot program at Lake Placid High School and the Academy at…