A law firm representing a former city police officer is threatening to sue the city for more than $200,000 because officials have not rehired or reinstated him. Kenneth Fong, whose allegations of payroll discrepancies ignited a scandal that led to the resignation of former police Chief Russell Barnes in August, is seeking lost pay and compensatory damages from the city, according to a letter sent to City Manager Steve Spina. Tampa attorney Steven G. Wenzel also asserts in the letter that Fong was not reinstated or rehired by the department as retaliation for whistle-blowing activities that led to Barnes' resignation, the reassignment of a city detective and embarrassment to city officials. By Wenzel's calculations, the city should pay "well in excess of $200,000," even if Fong is reinstated as a police officer ...more

December 22, 2008

Sebring City Attorney Mike Swaine said as of Friday his firm Swaine and Harris P.A., had dropped Southern Oaks as a client to avoid a conflict of interest with his other client, the city of Sebring, in a possible deal by Southern Oaks to sell its Hammock Road property to a hospice. ...more

December 20, 2008

The city council will consider on Jan. 6 whether an in-patient hospice facility is allowable under its R-3 zoning or if rezoning a 6.3-acre property at 1110 Hammock Road would be necessary. ...more

December 19, 2008

Last-minute negotiations between representatives of a neighborhood group and two advertising companies forced the city council on Thursday to postpone a vote on a settlement aimed at reducing the number of billboards that can be put up across the city. ...more

December 19, 2008

A proposed settlement between the city council and two advertising companies will allow the city to maintain aesthetics in heavily traveled areas, city officials say. ...more

December 18, 2008

Sebring City Council heard a request from Darin MacNeill, funeral director at the Stephenson-Nelson Funeral Home and Crematory, to consider an amendment to the city's cemetery ordinance allowing them to store about 50 cremains (cremated remains) in one vault at the city cemetery. ...more

December 18, 2008

TAMPA -- A proposed settlement between the city council and two companies will allow the city to maintain aesthetics in high-view areas, city officials say. But several council members, who are expected to vote on the proposal Thursday, say it would mean a proliferation of digital billboards — which look like massive television screens and display multiple advertisements — that will ruin the city's landscape and create public safety issues. ...more

December 16, 2008

SARASOTA - For the past century it has been illegal to spit on the streets, sidewalks, floors or stairways of any public space in the city limits, but no more. ...more

December 16, 2008

The CRA here hasn't had a public hearing since March 2007, but it's possible that a public hearing wasn't required, said the deputy mayor, a city councilman and the city attorney. ...more

December 11, 2008

The city's Public Nuisance Abatement Board reemerged from oblivion earlier this year, vowing to crack down on the owners of blighted, crime-ridden properties. ...more

December 6, 2008