HIGHLAND CITY - Polk County deputies arrested a 31-year-old man for sexual battery after he broke into two homes, claiming to be aroused from cocaine and methamphetamine use, authorities said. James Taylor, of 5531 3rd St., was on probation for burglary of an occupied dwelling, deputies said. ...more

December 9, 2007

A 39-year-old Lakeland man had to jump ship Monday morning after his 34-foot pleasure boat erupted in flames off the northern end of Fort DeSoto Park, fire officials said. ...more

December 4, 2007

LAKE PLACID — At 8 a.m. last Thursday, paramedic John Dyess and EMT Todd Kreulen parked a Highlands County EMS ambulance at the Tomoka Heights station, unlocked the door and staffed this station for the first time since mid-April. That put county EMS back to its full daily staffing level of eight ambulances, including two in the Lake Placid area. About four hours later, Dyess and Kreulen responded to their first 911 call from the Tomoka station, a former model home just north of Florida Hospital on U.S. 27 South. They reached a patient in respiratory distress in less than five minutes, well within EMS's goal of a six-minute average response time. Steve Coltharp, acting EMS director, said reopening the Tomoka station improves response times not only in the Lake Placid area but also throughout the county. The county's recent hiring of two paramedics and three EMTs solved a manpower shortage that forced EMS to reduce its ambulance crews from eight to seven. ...more

November 13, 2007

An argument between two men escalated into one being stabbed and the other hit with a shovel, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office reported Tuesday night. ...more

October 16, 2007

President Bob Gross and the officers of the Kings and Queens Mixed League got a big surprise Sept. 19 when they gathered in the parking lot of the Thunderbird Lanes. ...more

September 27, 2007

TAMPA – A 1-year-old boy has been rushed to Tampa General Hospital with serious first- and second-degree burns on his legs, Tampa police said. ...more

September 25, 2007