Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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Lake Wales area customers of both Duke Energy and TECO can expect to pay significantly more for their electricity use if proposed rate hikes are approved. Both companies are among a group of Florida utilities seeking rate increases and extra funds for storm recovery expenses from the Florida Public Service Commission. Both companies have reported increased profits. Duke has two separate rate requests pending, including one to recover the company's 2022 fuel costs, as well as...
An invitation to view and assess potential community investment opportunities in Lake Wales drew representatives from financial institutions looking for opportunities to invest in the community. Several banks and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency responded to the invitation to participate in a tour of the city, which was led by staff of the Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency and the Main Street organization Thursday. Several reportedly left impressed with...
U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle has sentenced James Wesley Buchanan, 47, of Lake Wales to 8 years in federal prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised released for possession of child sexual abuse material and destruction of evidence in a federal investigation. The court also ordered Buchanan to register as a sex offender for life and pay restitution to the victims of his offense. Buchanan had pleaded guilty on October 25, 2022. According to court...
Enjoying the beauty of art and accomplishing an important social work at the same time is more than enough to draw a crowd to the annual Empty Bowls Action, and the 2023 edition is likely to prove that the success of the effort continues. The event is free and attendees can taste local soups and bid on bowls hand-painted by local artists and community "celebrities." Empty Bowls is a nationwide program begun in 1990 by an art teacher wanting to teach his students about...
Eric Edwards has been appointed General Manager at Alfa Romeo FIAT of Winter Haven, according to a statement issued by Mike Mahalak, president of the Mahalak Auto Group. "We are very pleased to have Eric assume this position at our dealership.," said Mahalak. "He started working with us over twenty-five years ago. His experience in all areas of the automotive industry including customer service, It, training and sales makes him the perfect person to assume the general manager...
Ideal weather and a special anniversary celebration will make this weekend's Lake Wales Car Show an extra draw. The monthly show of antiques, classics and hot rods of all sorts and descriptions is celebrating 13 years of shows. Each month scores of cars line Stuart Avenue for the fourth Saturday Lake Wales Car Show. Local show organizer Larry Bossarte is eager to present the prizes and awe the fans with the colorful array of restored and maintained vehicles representing the...
Polk County Utilities (PCU) will host a Crooked Lake Park neighborhood community meeting to discuss the future of the wastewater collection and treatment system that serves that area on Monday, January 30, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. The county will present an overview of the proposed improvements and preliminary construction schedule for the wastewater facility. The meeting will be held at the South Lake Wales Church of God, 210 President's Drive in Lake Wales. In March 2021, the State...
A special presentation by noted urban planner Bruce Stephenson will take place at Bok Tower Gardens at 2:00 pm on Saturday, January 28. Stephenson is a consultant and a professor at Rollins College. Stephenson will discuss the life and impact of John Nolen, who studied at Harvard as a student of Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. Nolen prepared the first biography of Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. for his honor's thesis. Both Nolan and Olmsted Jr. defined new visions of park design and...
Lake Wales Police are working a traffic investigation as a result of a crash on Scenic Highway. The location of the incident is within a school zone for McLaughlin Middle-Senior High, but the zone was not believed to have been active at the time. A driver attempting to make a left turn from north-bound Scenic Highway to Winston Avenue early Wednesday afternoon was struck from behind by a Honda SUV and pushed more than 200 feet into a streetlight. The streetlight support pole...
Reida Hansford Keen of Lake Wales passed away Wednesday, January 25, 2023 at her residence. She was born August 22, 1952 in Lakeland to the late Henry and Eleanor Hansford. Reida was a retired teacher and a lifelong resident of the area. She was a member of The Church on the Hill and previously attended First Baptist Church of Lake Wales. Reida was the Senior Regent of Lake Wales Chapter 1974 Women of the Moose and a member of the Lake Wales Moose Lodge. She was the secretary...
Polk County Public Schools (PCPS) and Varsity Tutors have launched a new online tutoring partnership that brings live instruction and lessons to 40,000 students across the district. The first-of-its-kind program enables district educators to schedule online, face-to-face personalized tutoring for any student. The services will be available across 43 Polk County schools and utilized by both teachers in the classroom and families at home. "This program was designed to serve as a...
A population of non-native aggressive, air-breathing fish known as the goldline snakehead (Channa aurolineata) was documented for the first time in the Gulf Coast region, according to a recent study. The fish were discovered in a freshwater pond in Manatee County, Florida, about 250-km from the only other known population of this species in the United States, which has existed in Broward County, Florida, since about 2000. Native to Asia, snakeheads have been introduced to the...
"One of the most stressful parts of getting married is planning the wedding," according to Polk County Clerk & Comptroller Stacy M. Butterfield. Now Butterfield is offering a way to remove that stress on one special day. Registration is now open for courting couples wanting to tie the knot on the most romantic day of the year. On Valentine's Day at noon, Butterfield plans to is host the 10th annual group wedding on the steps of Polk County's historic courthouse, which is now...
Four $1,200 scholarships will be offered to Florida students in 2023 by Polk County Supervisor of Elections Lori Edwards. Edwards has offered the scholarships each year for a number of years, part of her effort to encourage higher and engagement with government by Polk students. The scholarship will go to those currently enrolled in a senior college of university in Florida. Those students are typically not eligible for scholarships, which often go to those entering college...
