HIGHLANDS NEWS-SUN Thursday, August 8, 2019 VOL. 100 | NO. 220 | $1.00 YOUR HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER SINCE 1919 An Edition Of The Sun Memorial roundabout opens Another road to close soon By PHIL ATTINGER a parade of cars, as when Sebring section of road to avoid now: STAFF WRITER Parkway Phase 1 opened almost 20 Sebring Parkway will close on years ago. Aug. 19 — one week after schools SEBRING — Motorists who’ve It is just as well, since the open- restart — and will stay closed into had to avoid Memorial Drive or ing was followed by a storm that and possibly through November, detour through the Ridge Area Arc would have rained on that parade. County Engineer Clinton Howerton property to get to South Florida It didn’t stop motorists from taking Jr. said to county commissioners COURTESY PHOTO/HIGHLANDS COUNTY State College need not do either of turns on the circle, finding their on Tuesday. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSION He told the Highlands News-Sun those things any longer. way around to make right or left A drone photo of the Memorial Drive roundabout shows how The Memorial Drive roundabout turns to and from Memorial and that eastbound traffic will detour traffic took to it at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday when Highlands opened Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. College Drives. at Ben Eastman Road to Lakeview County Road and Bridge Department crews removed the detour It didn’t have a ribbon cutting or Motorists will have another PARKWAY | 8A signs from all the approaches. Counting down MARC VALERO/STAFF Sears Holdings announced Monday it will be closing 21 Sears and five Kmarts, including the Sears in the Lakeshore Mall, Sebring. MARC VALERO/STAFF Sears closing Parents receive information Tuesday about transportation and other services in the Fred Wild Elementary School cafeteria during the school’s open house. Elementary schools welcome students at open house Lakeshore By MARC VALERO STAFF WRITER Mall location SEBRING — The countdown to the new school year had an important By MARC VALERO stop at the elementary schools, which STAFF WRITER held their open house Tuesday eve- ning where students and parents met SEBRING — The Sebring Sears store the teachers and staff in preparation in the Lakeshore Mall will be closing for Monday’s start of classes. for good in October in the latest round First-grader Trevor Bass met his of store closures announced by Sears teacher, Adele Smith, who is starting Holdings. This latest round of closures her second year teaching and first includes 21 Sears and five Kmarts. year at Fred Wild Elementary School. A statement from the retailer cited She taught one year in Fort Myers. “a number of challenges returning our Bass’s mother, Samantha Curtiss, stores to sustainable levels of produc- asked about the list of school tivity,” including a generally weak retail supplies. environment, as reasons for the closures. Smith explained the teachers MARC VALERO/STAFF “We believe the right course for the decide what is needed so every grade From left: Robert Beagles (uncle) and Samantha Curtiss and her son, Trevor Bass, meet Fred company is to accelerate the expansion is different. She advised to check the Wild Elementary School first-grade teacher Adele Smith during the school’s open house of our smaller store formats, which school’s website. Among the usual Tuesday afternoon. includes opening additional Home & pencils, erasers and notebooks, the Life stores and adding several hundred first-grade list includes three reams of but she did have a particular positive house session, Smith said 11 of her Sears Hometown stores after the Sears white copy paper and the other grade motif. 18 students had shown up with their Hometown and Outlet transaction closes. levels require two or three reams of “Colorful, bright, happy,” she said. parents. “We have made the difficult but nec- copy paper. “I just wanted to make it an inviting Among the information provided essary decision to close 26 large-format Smith’s classroom didn’t have an place for them, and I know colors to parents at Fred Wild Elementary Sears and Kmart stores in late October,” animal theme or other theme that make me happy.” is typical of elementary classrooms, Near the end of the two-hour open SCHOOL | 8A SEARS | 8A Commissioners help more with insurance Vote unanimously to put in $795 per person, with reserve funding By PHIL ATTINGER Management Agency contribution, Commissioner Don road access to “land-locked” Silver Fox STAFF WRITER will get the remaining Elwell said he would like to see ad- residents and the purchases, construc- $4.4 million reimburse- ministration and OMB raise the fund tion and hiring needed to upgrade fire SEBRING — County commission- ment in their hands balance contribution to $5 million, services. ers voted unanimously Tuesday to before the new fiscal giving the county leeway to “buy- The insurance issue, given increases increase the county’s monthly health year starts. back” some of the deferred positions in rates and the difficulty many em- insurance contribution from $625 to That way, the county that are merely “critical” to operations. ployees would have absorbing a rate $795 per employee. can have 2.5 months of Vosburg had also said county staff increase, took almost two hours alone. It’s the highest amount the county VOSBURG operating reserve — as used to budget 95% of projected The end result has the county could contribute and still get enough much as 2.79 months. revenue, but had raised that to 97% in covering half of rate increases and revenue back from premiums to pay Vosburg told com- recent years. He had planned to shave passing along increases only to those for projected claims in the coming missioners he and Nitz had gotten that by a half percent, but rescinded employees in mid-level and high-level year. them there by retaining only the on that plan to create more revenue. service plans who also have depen- To do that, the county will have to most necessary new positions — two Elwell said he wanted to see if the dents covered on the plan: Spouses, put in an additional $1.5 million in Emergency Medical Services person- county could start rolling back the children and/or their families. fund balance, along with the $3.2 mil- nel and a purchasing officer — and amount of revenue anyway by using Employees on a base rate plan, with lion already in the Fiscal Year 2019-20 hold all other proposed new employee up to $5 million in fund balance, as no dependents, get their insurance budget, for a total of $4.7 million. positions to the 2020-21 fiscal year. long as the county has at least 2.5 paid for by the county. All others have However, County Administrator “We are at the point where ‘critical months of operating funds in store. to pay something and will see some Randy Vosburg and Office of critical’ is what we can do,” Vosburg Commissioners spent almost an changes for their plan of choice. Management and Budget (OMB) said. “Not just ‘critical.’” entire day on the dais Tuesday, first Commissioner Ron Handley, liaison Manager David Nitz feel confi- However, when making his motion handling “housekeeping” items, and dent that the Federal Emergency for the higher county health insurance then discussing proposals to provide VOTE | 8A Classifieds .................... B6-10 Money Market ..................A10 Viewpoints ....................... A9 Good morning To Comics ..................... B11-14 Sports ............................ B1 Weather .........................A14 Bessie Smith Lottery ........................... B2 TV Listings ......................A13 facebook.com/ twitter.com/ Thanks for reading! newssun.com newssun TheNewsSun A2 | HIGHLANDS NEWS-SUN | August 8, 2019 www.highlandsnewssun.com Traffic stop leads to narcotics arrests By ROBERT MILLER powdery, crystal-like NEWS CLERK substance was found in Nichols’ front left SEBRING — A Sebring woman was pocket. The substance in found to be in possession of meth- the baggy tested positive amphetamine during a traffic stop for methamphetamine. Tuesday. The methamphetamine Jaime Denise Crivello, 42, of Sebring, weighed less than one and a passenger, Steven Edward CRIVELLO gram, according to Nichols, 39, of Sebring, were pulled reports. over in a vehicle Crivello was driving Crivello and Nichols around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday by members were taken to the of the Highlands County Sheriff’s Highlands County Jail. Office Tactical Anti-Crime Team at the Before processing, intersection of Heron Street and Ibis Crivello was asked if she Avenue in Sebring, according to reports. had anything else illegal During the traffic stop, a K-9 unit on her person. Reports arrived and conducted a review of the NICHOLS said Crivello told law vehicle and gave a positive alert of the enforcement she did not vehicle for the presence of narcotics. have anything illegal on Detectives searched the vehicle and her. found four syringes in a black purse on According to reports, deputies found the driver’s side of the vehicle, reports an orange syringe cap as well as a clear COURTESY PHOTO said. plastic baggy on Crivello that contained Cracker Trail Elementary School has two large banners displayed in front of its campus from the A white and green purse was also a powdery crystal-like substance that Embracing Our Differences display in Sarasota. found during the search. Reports said field-tested positive for methamphet- that purse contained two syringes amine. The baggy of methamphet- and two scales. Several of the syringes amine weighed less than one gram. from the black purse tested positive for Crivello told law enforcement that A banner new school year methamphetamine. none of the paraphernalia or meth- Reports said a syringe was located on amphetamine was hers, and that it the passenger seat of the vehicle where belonged to her passenger, Nichols.