Marcelo Gouts, a tennis instructor at Oak Street Community Park, provides to 6-year-old Jordan Balembo, of Poinciana, a sample of the  kind of instruction available.

By Marvin G. Cortner
Editor

Kissimmee voters Aug. 24 ap-proved all proposed charter changes except the one giving their commission the authority to waive the requirement that the city manager live within city limits.

Almost 59 percent of city voters rejected the ordinance relating to the city’s top administrator, on a vote of 1,824 to 1,276.

By Rick Madewell
Assistant Editor

Businesses and their employees can be made safer from burglars, vandals and other culprits if owners or managers make a few adjustments. The same can be said for residents and their homes.

Community Service Officer William Eustace, a Kissimmee Police Department crime prevention practitioner and crime prevention specialist, said a degree of preparation against thieves, thugs and other miscreants can be the difference between safety and bodily harm.

By Fallan Patterson
Staff Writer

Osceola County’s Clerk of Court's Finance Director April Reynolds was terminated Aug. 17 after an investigation found she had allegedly taken $1,000 from an employee holiday fund.

A 47-year-old St. Cloud man, who allegedly made several bomb threat calls to the St. Cloud Walmart as well as other false reports through the 911 emergency number, has been arrested.

John E. Lawrence faces charges of making bomb threats and multiple counts of filing false reports.

By Brian McBride
Associate Editor

Two Osceola County law enforcement agencies certainly got some bang for the buck after taking more than 130 unwanted guns off the street by offering people monetary incentives to surrender them.

The Osceola County Sheriff's Office and the Kissimmee Police Department collected 74 and 64 guns, respectively, Aug. 20, by offering $50 gift certificates over a 12-hour period during the Kicks 4 Guns program. Sheriff's Office officials offered free gas cards, while Kissimmee police gave out Walmart and Target gift cards with no questions asked.

The recent campaign was the third year the Sheriff's Office took part in the program coordinated by Crimeline, having collected 262 guns the past two years.

It was the second year for the Kissimmee department. Last year, it took 77 guns and two explosive devices off the street.