News Update for 10/15/24
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 monitors communication on the devices and resulted in the student being charged with a second degree felony for transmitting the threat of violence.
On Monday, The Lake Placid Police Department announced that Lake June Park In Lake Placid will be closed until further notice. The closure is the result of downed power lines in the park along with storm debris from Hurricane Milton. The park will reopen for public use once all issues have been resolved.
A reminder for Highlands County residents that Collection services for Waste Connections customers are delayed by one day this week. Waste Connections will pick up yard waste again this week putting off bulk waste pick up until a later date. Bulk Waste pick up is scheduled to resume the week of October 28th. Waste Connections will continue to collect up to 2-3 unbundled yards of tree limbs and branches for residents and yard waste must not be longer than 6 feet and 6 inches wide. Small leaves, branches and Spanish moss must also be bagged. Starting Monday October 21st, Waste Connections will be back on a normal schedule for yard waste pickup and will only pick up yard waste that is bundled, bagged, or in a can. A start date for all remaining unbundled debris to be picked up by the Disaster Debris Contractor is yet to be determined.
There are signs of life returning to normal in Polk County. The county announced yesterday it’ll reopen most of its parks and boat ramps today. Others will reopen tomorrow or Friday, but over a dozen others remain closed indefinitely. You can see the full list at Polk-County.net. Meanwhile, the county is opening an insurance village in Lakeland at the RP Funding Center on West Lime Street from 10:00 to 5:00. Residents can get help filling out insurance claims. Starting tomorrow, it’ll be open seven days a week from 9:00 to 5:00 until further notice.