Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
Sorted by date Results 1126 - 1150 of 1184
There's just something inherently wrong about people who clearly don't understand social media trying to regulate others' use of it. Lake Wales City Manager Ken Fields, through the city's HR director, proposed a social media policy that required not only employees, but also city officials to get approval prior to posting on social media. At 72, Fields is at the upper end of the Baby Boomer generation. According to a 2018 Facebook demographic study only one in four people over...
A "City in a Garden" with landscaped streets, a redeveloped Grove Manor featuring a mix of housing types, and a new "town square" were among the ideas presented to Lake Wales citizens Friday evening to cap a week of intensive study by the planning firm of Dover Kohl. Most of the 100 in attendance were excited by the possibilities. The week-long effort, sponsored by Lake Wales Mainstreet and funded by local businesses, included gathering ideas and suggestions from the public,...
Misused prescription drugs contribute to addiction and even death, so the Lake Wales Police Department will join others as a drop-off location for National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on Saturday, April 27. According to StandUP Polk, the organization sponsoring the event along with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, people can get rid of any unwanted human or pet medication, including pills, liquids and syringes. Just drive up, hand the officer your medication...
Congratulations to "Team Planktons," winners of the third annual Big Kahuna Paddle Challenge on Saturday April 6 at Webber International University. Team members Jennifer Nanek, Richard Moody, Dan Hurst and Webber students, along with Bill Redmon at the helm, were victorious, but gave the winning prize to their competitor, The Vanguard School of Lake Wales. It's the third year for Nanek, Lake Wales city clerk, to compete in the event. "The secret to success is teamwork,...
Good food and fun are drawing crowds into the popular Crooked Bass Grill and Tavern, but there's also a fascinating bit of Babson Park history behind the success. Featuring a large and diverse menu and a full bar, the Crooked Bass is already a familiar dinner-time destination for folks in Babson Park and Frostproof, but as its reputation grows, people are making the drive from Lake Wales, Avon Park, Winter Haven, Haines City, and surrounding towns. The project of Tammy and...
The City of Lake Wales has undertaken an aggressive program to spend about $500,000 per year to repair roads throughout the city. A large portion of the funding was freed up when the City Commission adopted a new stormwater fee in February. Work began March 25 on 13 city streets and Phase one should be completed within about three weeks, according to Assistant City Manager James Slaton. Slaton said within six years the city should have repaired 50 percent of its roads. The cit...
A 12-stop walking tour of Lake Wales is included in a free mobile application produced by the Florida Humanities Council. The Florida Stories application can be downloaded at the Apple Store or Google Play. The Lake Wales tour includes stops at the Atlantic Coast Line Depot, the Woman's Club, Lake Wales State Bank, J.T. Rhodes Building, Rhodesbilt Arcade, Post Office, Dixie Walesbilt Hotel, Lake Wales News, Bullard Building, Scenic Theater and Lake Wales City Hall. Each stop...
Do YOU have an interest in the future of Lake Wales? In how our city grows, and the services and lifestyle we will enjoy? Then this is your moment to speak up. (See the outcome of a week of planning by clicking here) More than 100 of your fellow citizens have already shared their ideas and energies by participating in a Monday evening "charrette" at the Austin Community Center, organized by Lake Wales MainStreet and the planning firm of Dover Kohl and Partners. MainStreet...
The Rockin' on the River fundraising event April 5-6 moved to a new location this year on the shores of Lake Pierce at the Florida FFA Leadership Training Center. The event kicks off at 6 p.m. Friday, April 5 with music by The Nathan Baldwin Band and then Darryl Worley hits the stage at 7:30 p.m. Worley will be signing autographs while BURN sets up to start their 10 p.m. performance. Saturday's festivities will start with opening ceremonies at noon with a special guest...
Four representatives of the urban design firm Dover Kohl and about a dozen interested citizens took a walking tour Wednesday morning of the northwest business district in Lake Wales. Dover Kohl planners are in Lake Wales all week obtaining citizen input on how to revitalize and connect the historic downtown and northwest section so they can design a plan for the next 20 years. Local attorney Sara Jones, chairperson of the Northwest Advisory Committee, and former city...
By 2 p.m. on election day Tuesday, April 2, more than 1,800 City of Lake Wales voters had cast ballots. With five hours to go, the number of votes cast was already 20 percent higher than in the most recent city election in 2017. Nearly 1,500 vote by mail ballots had been received by the supervisor of elections office, and additional ballots would be accepted up to the 7 p.m. deadline. City Clerk Jennifer Nanek said voting was going smoothly and turnout was definitely up. In 20...
Jean Scott of Lake Wales passed away Sunday, March 31 at her residence. She was born May 8, 1930 in Dania, FL to the late Richard Edgar and Etta Clarke (Barnhill) Hansen. She has been a resident of the area since 1941 coming from Fort Lauderdale. She was the Superintendent of the Highland Park Golf Course. Jean was the President of the VFW Auxiliary for two terms, Voice for the city of Lake Wales, and a Lake Wales City Commissioner. She held the key to the City and was Citizen...
Lake Wales voters re-elected both incumbents Tuesday and approved a charter change that extended commissioner terms from two years to three. City Commissioner Curtis Gibson coasted to victory with more than 63 percent of the vote, beating political newcomer James Tucker by 1,110 votes to 637. Mayor Eugene Fultz had a closer race winning 55 percent of the vote to claim his third term over challenger Bob Wood, with a final vote of 995 to 818. Nearly 59 percent of the voters...
Lake Wales City voters have their final opportunity to vote for the mayor and one city commissioner from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 2. Voters also are being asked to change the City Charter to increase the mayor's and commissioners' terms from two years to three. Incumbent Mayor Eugene Fultz is being challenged by Bob Wood, who ran unsuccessfully for a city commission seat in 2016. Political newcomer James Tucker is challenging incumbent Commissioner Curtis Gibson for...
CORRECTION TO PREVIOUS STORY: An earlier story underreported the total projects to SEMCO, citing $1.1 million, but incorrectly stated all projects were awarded without bids. The City did put out requests for proposals on hurricane-related projects, but only one other company bid on one project, the water plant repairs. SEMCO met the stricter FEMA requirements and was awarded the contracts. For the downtown trail project the City received four proposals. One firm retracted...
The City of Lake Wales is holding a curbside cleanup Saturday, March 30. Republic Services will pick up general junk, box springs and mattresses, unusable furniture and appliances and other items you normally can't put out for pickup. Acceptable items include unusable desks, chairs, tables, lamps, and tires without rims. They will not pick up construction debris such as fence or remodel materials or hazardous waste items such as paint, batteries, chemicals or solvents. The...
For its third exhibit since opening in October 2018, the Gallery at Melange is bringing together two artists who have never met, but have a great deal in common. Both majored in the arts in college, and both have enjoyed long careers as teachers. Both have simultaneously created art for most of their adult lives, and have each chosen a similar approach to blending reality and fantasy with an emphasis on re-imagining and intertwining the flora, fauna and common elements of the...
Wilson Daniel "Danny" Davis of Lake Wales passed away Monday, March 18 at his residence. He was born August 23, 1944 in Tampa to the late Wilson L. and Wilma (Howard) Davis. He was a Dock Master for Gulf Tampa and a member of the Sun City Christian Center. Danny was a veteran in the United States Army serving in Viet Nam. He is survived by his wife of 38 years Derine Davis, daughters Melia Matties (John) of Riverview, FL, Tammy White (Kevin) of Middleburg, sons Danny Davis of...
Vice Mayor Robin Gibson floated an idea at the March 19 Lake Wales City Commission meeting he admits some people might find "nutty." Gibson proposed renaming First Street, the major North-South road through the City. He wants to call it "America Avenue." "It shows the diversity of our community and the diversity of our City as well," Gibson said. Gibson noted First Street is a long road that connects many neighborhoods. Commissioner Terrye Howell reminded him that the NAACP...
The Lake Wales City Commission at their March 19 meeting shot down a proposed city policy that attempted to regulate their ability to comment freely on social media. City Commissioner Curtis Gibson said he supported a clear social media policy for employees but said he felt including elected officials was "out of bounds." "Frankly, as the youngest member of the commission and the one who uses social media the most, I feel targeted by this proposed policy," Commissioner Gibson...
Urban planners from the Miami firm Dover Kohl will be in Lake Wales the first week of April to get citizen input on a neighborhood plan for the core of Lake Wales. Dover Kohl is leading the development of a Town Design Strategy for the City of Lake Wales, being called Lake Wales Connected. Phase one of construction should begin soon after completion of the plan, which is expected to determine community needs not for the short-term, but for 20 years out, according to Lake...
The City of Lake Wales Parks & Recreation Department will be hosting Lake Night Cinema Friday, March 22 on the shores of Lake Wailes. Activities will begin at 5 p.m. and the Disney movie, Ralph Breaks the Internet, will begin at dusk. This family friendly evening is free to the public. The movie is the second in the "Wreck-it Ralph" series. It is about video game bad guy Ralph and fellow misfit Vanellope von Schweetz must risk it all by traveling to the World Wide Web in...
When Lake Ashton resident Al Goldstein became the only candidate to qualify for April's District 4 City Commission election, he won automatically, leaving plenty of Lake Wales residents wondering: "Who is Al Goldstein?" In a rambling two-hour conversation, Goldstein revealed much about himself and his strong opinions about several pending issues but left plenty hidden as well. Critical of some proposals before the Commission, Goldstein offered his respect for the positions...
Lake Wales Vice Mayor Robin Gibson gave City staff a stern lecture Tuesday on the importance of full disclosure to avoid the appearance that they are "gilding the lily or hiding something." His concerns stemmed from the fact that a March 5 agenda item omitted important details: the leased Ford Explorer was for City Manager Ken Fields' use and the monthly cost was nearly double what they had approved for Fields the previous month. In February Fields asked to use a City car "in...
If we at the Lake Wales Area Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Council were to survey people who travel through and around greater Lake Wales, I think we would be hard pressed to find even a fraction of them pleased with driving conditions here. If we were to narrow down the survey to a discussion only about U.S. Highway 27, the area's major north-south route, the fraction of pleased motorists likely would be even smaller. The issue here really isn't about road...
