LATEST NEWS

Sumter County will close its Building Services Bushnell Annex Office effective July 10, 2023. All building services will be consolidated at the Villages Sumter County Service Center location at 7375 Powell Rd., Wildwood, FL 34785. With this consolidation, all building, planning and zoning services will be housed at one location for all customer needs. This activity is in preparation for the future relocation of building and planning services to the new Service Center in Sumterville.

Multiple firetrucks responded Friday night to a store at Rolling Acres Plaza in The Villages. The units from The Villages Public Safety Department were called at about 9 p.m. to Ross Dress for Less, which is located in the same shopping plaza as Target. Firefighters entered the store and no outward flames or smoke were showing.

A man tied to an infamous beating death at a town square in The Villages is back in trouble again. Nicholas Metcalfe, 25, of Ocala, was being held without bond this weekend at the Marion County Jail. Metcalfe had been sentenced to six months probation in the 2016 death of...

ORLANDO, Fla. - FOX 35 is looking into why a man who shot and killed another man inside a Florida Applebee's is not facing charges. Dishaun Hudson was shot and killed inside an Applebee's in Lady Lake in early March, just after 1 a.m. According to documents from the state attorney's office, "stand your ground" and self-defense applies in this case, which is why the man who shot Hudson will not be charged.

SUMTER COUNTY, Fla. – A crash along the Florida Turnpike on Friday forced part of the roadway to shut down in Sumter County, according to the sheriff’s office. In a preliminary crash report, the Florida Highway Patrol stated the crash happened in the northbound lanes of the Turnpike, south of mile marker 308, involving an SUV in the outside lane and a pickup truck traveling ahead of the SUV.

A huge Hobby Lobby store is on track to open later this year in The Villages. The 55,000-square-foot-store is under construction at Buffalo Ridge Plaza. Longstanding real estate partner, David Emihovich of Katz & Associates, worked with Hobby Lobby’s Matthew Abnet to secure the location in Buffalo Ridge Plaza.

A homeless woman was arrested Thursday after she reportedly kicked a deputy in the groin while being forcefully removed from her father’s home in Leesburg. Stephanie Lynn Armstrong, 40, was charged with trespass without warning and resisting a law enforcement officer both with and without violence after the incident, which happened Thursday morning at a home on Sunnyside Drive. Deputies responded to the residence after Armstrong’s father reported she wouldn’t leave, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office arrest report.

A man caught with a stolen gun in Leesburg is facing up to 15 years in federal prison. Eddie Lee Parks III, 24, Orlando, if facing a one-count indictment charging him with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. According to the indictment, on April 10, Parks was in...

A man was arrested after making a snack run for his pregnant girlfriend. Beon Ozar Strong, 38, of Wildwood, was driving a silver Kia SUV at 9:20 a.m. Tuesday on U.S. Hwy. 27/441 at Griffin View Drive when an officer noticed that the vehicle had a brake light that was not functioning, according to an arrest report from the Lady Lake Police Department. The officer attempted to initiate a traffic stop, but Strong drove to a home on McClendon Street.

A 73-year-old Leesburg man has died as the result of a crash on U.S. Hwy. 441. David Reno was at the wheel of a silver 2007 Chevrolet sedan at 11:39 a.m. Wednesday northbound on U.S. Hwy. 441 making a left turn onto Perkins Street when he collided with a 2011 GMC pickup driven by 22-year-old Terrin Lawson, of Leesburg, according to a media release from the Leesburg Police Department.

A painting contractor in The Villages has been apprehended on a felony charge. Jason Melville Garaway, 48, who lives in the Village of Calumet Grove and operates Garaway Painting Inc., was driving a black Chevy Silverado pickup at about 9:30 a.m. Thursday in the area of County Road 466 and Chula Vista Avenue when an officer ran the vehicle’s license plate and learned the vehicle’s registered owner has a driver’s license that was suspended last year, according to an arrest report from the Lady Lake Police Department. The officer followed Garaway’s pickup and initiated a traffic stop at Miller’s Ale House on U.S. Hwy. 27/441.

Lake County has had multiple job creation projects pop up over the past year that propose adding dozens of jobs.

A golf cart was snatched from a garage in The Villages. Kimberly Foreman of the Village of St. Catherine said her garage doors were down and the thief apparently broke in through a back door. The incident was reported to the Wildwood Police Department. Foreman said she fears the golf...

The family of a Citrus County deputy is remaining hopeful after he was struck by a 19-year-old girl while directing traffic on Tuesday.

A suspected drug dealer was nabbed with a handgun tucked under the driver’s seat of his vehicle. Terell Denard Williams, 36, of Wildwood, at about 4 p.m. Friday was driving a car that was traveling at 48 miles per hour in a 35 mph zone on County Road 44A when he was pulled over by a Sumter County sheriff’s deputy. When the deputy approached the car, the odor of marijuana was detected. Williams handed over two plastic bags containing marijuana.

The U.S. Census Bureau has announced that The Villages metro area was the fastest-growing U.S. metro area between 2021 and 2022, increasing by 7.5 percent. It’s confirmation of what everyone already knows living here in Florida’s Friendliest Hometown. Growth brings new restaurants, a new Hobby Lobby and a...

Leesburg firefighters rescued a person from a burning mobile home at the Lakes of Leesburg. The fire broke out at about 10 p.m. Thursday at the mobile home off Buccaneer Drive. When they crew of Ladder 63 arrived, they were told that one person was still in the mobile home....

Two teenagers were shot inside a Leesburg apartment complex Wednesday evening, according to authorities.

Leesburg city commissioners have unanimously passed a resolution authorizing the mayor and city clerk to execute a grant agreement between the city and the Florida Department of Transportation for an expansion at Leesburg International Airport,. The grant will provide $1.5 million to fund the Aircraft Hangar Buildings and Taxi Lanes...

Leesburg city commissioners this week received a briefing on proposed salary and wage increases for fiscal year 2024 by City Manager Al Minner. The commissioners had asked staff to conduct a salary survey to ensure that city employees wages are at a competitive level with other nearby cities. The city has had some difficulty in filling job openings for needed services including the police and fire departments.