Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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The Citizens and Police Community Relations Advisory Board will hold its first public forum at 6 p.m. Monday Oct. 26 at the B Street Center. Due to the COVID-19 virus, attendees must wear masks and have their temperatures checked upon entrance. About 20 seats will be available to accommodate social distancing, so participants may be rotated into the meeting to offer five minute comments. The Lake Wales City Commission re-established the committee in August with the following...
Allan W. Gauss, 87, passed away at Water's Edge of Lake Wales on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020. Al was born in Albion, Michigan on February 27, 1933 to Russell and Muriel Gauss. He grew up in Albion and graduated from Albion High School in 1951. He graduated Michigan State University in 1955, the first year Michigan State College became a University. Upon graduating, Al joined the Army and was on active duty for two years. He married Betsy Sturm of Deerfield, IL on Aug. 2, 1958. Duri...
Rodney Theodore Krueger, 85, passed away at home surrounded by his family on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020. Born on Sept. 1, 1935, in Wayne County, MI to Almer and Marie (Wanemacher) Krueger, Rodney grew up to become a businessman after working alongside his father throughout high school at his business, Anrod Screen, developing and producing filters and screens. Rodney took over the business upon his father's retirement. After a successful career, Rodney retired at the young age of...
This is the twelfth installment in the Lake Wales Renaissance series. Lake Wales City Commissioner Robin Gibson serves as Deputy Mayor and Chairman of the city's Community Redevelopment Agency. Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. is recognized as the founder of the profession of landscape architecture. In the late 1800s he set a standard of excellence that continues to influence landscape architecture today. His two sons carried on and expanded the legendary work of the Olmsted firm wel...
Clergy or religious leaders in the greater Lake Wales area can now volunteer to give the invocation prior to a city commission meeting. City Clerk Jennifer Nanek is compiling a list of volunteers with congregations in one of the three Lake Wales zip code areas – 33853, 33898 and 33859. The city commission recently appointed Dr. James Moyer as its official chaplain. Clergy volunteers on the city's list will be called on a first come, first serve basis to give the invocation w...
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. is a community conscious, action oriented organization. The Gamma Phi Zeta Chapter of Polk County, through service within the community and the international initiative of Zetas Helping Other People Excel (Z-HOPE), have identified five (5) schools for their Adopt-A-School initiative. • Zone 1 – Greater Lakeland – Kathleen Middle School • Zone 2 – South Lakeland/Mulberry/Bartow – Gibbons Street Pre K Center • Zone 3 – Davenport/Haines City – Sandhil...
It was 1934. Emil Jahna Sr. had recently moved his family and small company from Venice, FL to Lake Wales. The company was Ridge Stone and Tile Co., which produced decorative floor tile and roofing tile as well as other concrete products that had a market at the time. Sand was plentiful in Lake Wales so the company was able to self-supply sand over many years and eventually supplied outside customers with high quality construction sand. Growing up and working around concrete...
City commissioners will be getting a bump in pay next year after a salary increase was approved at the group's meeting Sept. 22. It is the first raise in commission salaries since the last one was approved in the fall of 2013. Currently commissioners are paid $4,917 a year, while the mayor's post pays $7,310. The new annual salary will be $6,323 for commissioners and $9,484 for the mayor. The raise brings salaries in line with what other local cities of similar size pay their...
Lake Wales City Commissioner Curtis Gibson got tired of seeing trash along Burns Avenue when he took his morning walk. So he obtained city support and enlisted sponsors for the first Crown Jewel Cleanup starting at 7 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 26. Rotary on the Ridge will staff a volunteer check-in tent outside Grace Healthcare at the corner of Burns Avenue and U.S. 17/Scenic Highway. Grace is allowing volunteers to park in their lot. Keep Polk County Beautiful is providing trash ba...
Walter Squire Williams, 44, passed away Aug. 29, 2020 at Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. He was born Nov. 3, 1975 in Bartow and spent his entire youth in Lake Wales. He graduated from Lake Wales High School then went on to graduate from Culinary School in Lakeland. His love of cooking was a passion of his and it travelled with him wherever he went. Walt loved his family and friends and had a dry sense of humor that would send everyone into hysterics. Walt lived a life...
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was updated by Executive Editor Chevon Baccus after the Sept. 16 CRA meeting. City commissioners agreed to invest $460,000 to help finance a proposed redevelopment of the 140-unit Grove Manor public housing complex. Pantheon Development, which in 2018 formed a partnership with the Lake Wales Housing Authority to do the work, requested the money from the city's Community Redevelopment Agency as part of a plan to help finance the construction of six...
Deputy Mayor Robin Gibson in July voted against raises for himself and his fellow commissioners, but he's apparently had a change of heart. At the commission's Sept. 16 workshop Gibson asked for the issue to be reconsidered. Interim City Manager James Slaton quickly placed the item on the Sept. 23 agenda to meet a fast approaching deadline. Commissioners have the power to raise their salaries, but any action must be at least six months prior to the city election. The window...
Since his appointment June 2, Interim City Manager James Slaton has worked closely with Lake Wales Police Chief Chris Velasquez to address commissioner and city concerns. Slaton recently emailed an update to commissioners along with a more detailed report from Velasquez, which he said described "positive changes and improvements that are now taking place." Slaton also said he would in the near future be bringing forward for commission consideration an agenda item with costs an...
The newly recreated Citizens and Police Community Relations Advisory Committee held its first meeting Monday, Sept. 21 to organize and get acquainted. The Lake Wales City Commission re-established the committee in August with the following purposes: - Providing a forum for citizens to express their opinions about police procedures and to receive informal information from the police department regarding police procedures. - Providing a forum for citizens and the police...
Al Goldstein didn't realize being a Lake Wales city commissioner would be so time-consuming, but he's eager to sign up for another three years. He was elected without opposition in April 2019 after incumbent Commissioner Tonya Stewart failed to qualify to run for re-election. He has already started campaigning for the District 27, Seat 4 that will be filled in the April 2021 municipal election. "I'm finally understanding the job of a city commissioner," Goldstein said....
The Lake Wales Charter Review Committee is holding a public forum at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24 to ensure citizens have an opportunity for input into proposed charter changes. The five-member committee has been meeting twice monthly since July, but most of the suggested changes have come from city commissioners, not the public. Interested people may attend in person at the city administration building, 201 W. Central Ave. or can register to participate online at...
Henry Kebabjian wants to redevelop the historic Seminole Hotel in downtown Lake Wales, but his timing may be a little off. Kebabjian bought the three-story hotel Aug. 19 at a bargain-basement price of $10,500, two months after the city's Code Enforcement Board voted to foreclose on the property. The city in 2017 declared the building unsafe, emptied it of tenants and condemned it for multiple code violations. Recent owner Cardiff Howell of Orlando was unable to submit an...
Lake Wales City commissioners by a 4-1 vote Sept. 9 approved an invocation policy that appoints an official chaplain and develops a list of volunteers from local congregations to fill in as needed. Two atheists who live outside the city and one city resident who described herself as non-religious failed to convince commissioners to abandon the invocations or replace them with a moment of silence. Lake Wales resident Charlene Bennett said the policy "pretty much guarantees you...
Marking the occasion of his 36th birthday, Lake Wales City Commissioner Curtis Gibson on Sept. 11 announced the start of his re-election campaign. Gibson plans to qualify for the April 2021 ballot, seeking a 3-year term to continue his service as the District 19, Seat 2 commissioner. Before announcing his candidacy in a live online video, Gibson paid tribute to those killed or impacted by the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack, reading out details of the historic day's events. "N...
For the first time in almost a decade, Lake Wales is proposing a small increase in its development impact fees. City commissioners have approved a first reading of a new fee structure, which not only includes an overall impact fee increase of just over $95 per new residential household, but also significantly reallocates in which category those fees will be collected. That's important because those funds can only be spent on projects for which they are specifically...
Lake Wales Interim City Manger James Slaton says if your grocery store has an outbreak of COVID-19 among its employees you can always go to another store. But he says there's no alternative if the pandemic impacts a large number of city employees. That's how Slaton justifies keeping city buildings shut down to visitors, when so many other businesses and government offices are opening. "There's no replacement for what we do," Slaton said, noting the city is taking a...
Lake Wales City Commissioner Al Goldstein has been tapped to chair the Florida League of Cities Land Use and Economic Development Committee. FLC President Tony Ortiz, an Orlando city commissioner, appointed Goldstein, who also is currently serving on the league's Federal Action Strike Team, which visits Washington, DC to discuss legislative issues at the national level. Ortiz said Goldstein will be responsible for working with other committee members to discuss the many...
The Lake Wales Charter Review Committee is ahead of schedule and looking for public input on changes that can make city government operate better. The next Committee meeting will be at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10 at the city administration building, 201 W. Central Ave. People can attend in person or join online by registering at https://www.lakewalesfl.gov/Register The current Charter, which was last reviewed in 2010, can be found online at http://lakewales.e...
Bienvenido "Benny" Fernandez, Jr., 70, of Lake Wales passed away Thursday morning, Sept. 10, 2020 at his residence. He was born October 11, 1949 in Yabocoa, Puerto Rico to the late Bienvenido and Edelmira Fernandez, Sr. He moved to Lake Wales from Winter Haven six years ago. Benny was a retired housekeeper for the Metropolitan Hospital in New York City and was of the Pentecostal faith. He loved cars, birds, his plants, his tools, and cooking. Benny is survived by his wife of...
Lake Wales Deputy Mayor Robin Gibson said he would prefer city commission meetings begin with a moment of silence, but the mayor and other commissioners agreed at their Sept. 2 workshop to go forward with a new invocation policy that appoints an official chaplain and sets up a rotation list of local clergy volunteers when he is not available. Commissioners will consider adopting a resolution formalizing the new policy at their Sept. 9 meeting. The resolution appoints Dr....
