Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
Sorted by date Results 201 - 225 of 3217
The oldest business in Lake Wales is celebrating yet another significant date. On May 15 the venerable Yeoman's Feed and Seed marks its 111th year and its first year under the ownership of John and Chuck Elam, who purchased it from Richard Jahna. The company has remained in continuous business in Lake Wales since 1913. The Orange Avenue operation is receiving high marks from area residents for the many improvements the brothers have brought to the operation. The business...
Toni Kronyak Le Lievre of Freeport passed away Thursday, May 2, 2024 at HCA Florida Hospital in Gainesville. She was born September 20, 1966 in Miami; she moved to Freeport from Lake Wales 27 years ago. Toni was the owner and operator a floor covering company. She was a free spirit with a crazy and goofy personality. She enjoyed bartering and going to the bay to go mullet fishing. Toni loved her dogs, Tootsie and Speckles. Toni was preceded in death by her father, Nicholas...
A recent volunteer effort to clean trash, tires and debris from the tiny Lake Alta Park resulted in the recovery of a huge mound of garbage, but the spilling of gallons of used motor oil, apparently by a city crew. Resident Alex Clemons has lived on nearby Wiltshire Avenue his entire life and has conducted cleanups a half-dozen times. "I grew up in that park," Clemons said. "I've seen all kinds of wildlife there. There's a gopher tortoise burrow about a hundred feet away from...
After perhaps the closest election in Lake Wales City Commission history, the city's governing board seems poised to propose a change to the Lake Wales Municipal Charter that will provide for run-off elections beginning in 2026. If approved by the commission, the charter change requires voter approval and will appear on the April 1, 2025, ballot along with the election for mayor. The change is under consideration after two three-way races in the most recent cycles left both a...
An affidavit released by Lake Wales Police and the District State Attorney’s office Monday afternoon contains new details in the case that has resulted in the arrest of Charles Young, CEO of BizLinc, a city-funded business incubator in Lake Wales. Young was arrested on two felony counts by Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Deputies at a Lithia residence on Saturday, to be transferred to Polk to face the charges. Young was a partner in Florida Development Corporation. FDC rec...
Charles Young, the chief financial officer of the BizLinc business incubator in Lake Wales, has been arrested at a residence in Lithia in Hillsborough County on an active Polk County warrant, Lake Wales News has confirmed through multiple sources. Available online information shows that Young has been charged with grand theft of $100,000 or more, and a second count of obtaining property by fraud, grand theft, $50,000. After his arrest on Saturday morning, he was transferred...
Speed and reckless driving were the reported cause of a fatal crash that left a Davenport man dead and Scenic Highway blocked for several hours early Saturday. According to Polk Sheriff's investigators, 50-year-old Edgar Peneloza was driving a black 2005 Toyota Tundra southbound near Hickory Hammock Road in the Lake of the Hills community when his vehicle struck the rear end of a silver 2020 Honda Civic. The driver of the Civic, who was not identified by investigators, lost...
Eleven local non-profit organizations benefitted from grants distributed recently by the Lake Wales Mardi Gras Committee. Several dozen representatives and community members gathered at the Lake Wales Arts Center for the annual check presentation. The Lake Wales Mardi Gras Committee and Lake Wales Mardi Gras President Joshua Curchy presented a total of $20,000 from proceeds raised in the 2024 Mardi Gras event. The Mardi Gras celebration, now planning for its 41st year, draws t...
Lake Wales City Manager James Slaton is on a short list of finalists under consideration to serve as city manager of New Smyrna Beach. Two Lake Wales city commissioners reached by Lake Wales News were unaware, and withheld comment. Slaton, 46, has managed the city for almost four years after the prior city manager, Ken Fields, was forced to resign by unhappy commissioners. Slaton was offered the job in October 2020 after having served as an interim manager for over five months...
Lake Wales Municipal Airport was among stops on a multi-county tour hosted by the Central Florida Regional Planning Council for Florida's Secretary of Commerce Alex Kelly. The multi-county tour was conducted in partnership with cities, counties, and economic development partners over two days on April 8th and 9th. The visit aimed to showcase rural communities, aviation, and the work of the many economic development agencies in the region. Lake Wales City Manager James Slaton...
Mary Ann Mangrum, Age 79, of Bartow, FL, passed away at home on April 20, 2024. She was born on July 30, 1944, in Elizabethton, TN. Mary Ann was a homemaker and a member of Resurrection Catholic Church. She was preceded in death by her parents Earl and Sarah Fletcher and niece Mariann Midkiff. She is survived by her husband of 60 years Bob Mangrum; daughter Heather Frey (Ted) of Bartow, FL; grandchildren, Taylor Akins (Dalton) of Lake Wales, FL, Cole Frey (Vallon) of...
Daniel Lee of Lake Wales passed away Thursday, April 18, 2024 at AdventHealth Davenport. He was born October 14, 1955 in Lake Wales to the late Gerald Lee and Sara Vest; he was a lifelong resident of the area. Daniel was a retired truck driver and of the Baptist faith. He was very good at playing the guitar. He enjoyed drawing and feeding the squirrels. Daniel was preceded in death by his parents, Gerald Lee and Sara Vest; and brother, Mike Lee. He is survived by his sister,...
AdventHealth has announced that Jewels (Julie) Stark has accepted the role of Chief Nursing Officer at AdventHealth Lake Wales, effective April 21. She will report directly to Royce Brown, President and CEO of AdventHealth Lake Wales. In this role, Stark will be responsible for all nursing services including quality of patient care, treatment and service delivered, staffing, regulatory readiness and financial sustainability. She will also partner with colleges and...
Lake Wales is bound to grow, and in the minds of many, it needs to grow. Increasing demand for city services can easily outstrip revenue. City commissioners have a tough job dealing with the pressures brought by development proposals, along with the vocal opposition some of those proposals have generated. The commission's decision Tuesday to deny a high-density development on a small parcel near Lake Alta pleased many residents of that neighborhood but drew complaints from...
A proposal that some city commissioners and staff saw as the best opportunity so far to implement the Lake Wales Envisioned plan died Tuesday night on a 3-2 vote. The concept of a 24-unit single-family community on a 1.46 acre parcel generated intense opposition from residents of the neighborhood, located around the 3.566 acre Lake Alta Park. Commissioners received a letter signed by two dozen of them asking that the proposal be denied, and multiple speakers had criticized the...
Those who are tired of keeping up with the mowing, want to find a good permanent lawn service, or just need a break from the chores now have a great new option. Lake Wales area homeowners now have an easy way to get a quick fill-in lawn service, or a year-around scheduled or on-demand service for all that green space, thanks to an on-demand service called "GreenPal.". GreenPal, which has been described as "Uber for lawn care," is now offering their service in the Lake Wales...
A community gathering drew a large group of current, future, and former city officials Sunday evening to initiate what some hope will become a new "unity" effort in Lake Wales, Current city commissioners Keith Thompson and Daniel Williams joined commissioner-elect Carol Gillespie, former commissioners Terrye Howell and Curtis Gibson, and former mayor Gene Fultz at the cookout at the city's B Street Center. The officials were greeted by several dozen citizens who enjoyed a...
Lake Wales Charter Schools Superintendent Dr. Wayne Rodolfich has spent more than two weeks "working from home" after anonymous grievances were filed, apparently by employees who had worked with him in the school district's home office on Central Avenue in Lake Wales. The charter school's human resources officer, LaQuanda Burroughs, reported to the at a special meeting on March 28 that three different grievances had been filed. After hearing of the grievances, charter school...
An afternoon or evening of entertainment with a couple of surprise twists is in store for theatre fans in "Every Little Crook and Nanny," opening today, April 12, at Lake Wales Little Theatre. A talented cast and the directorial expertise of Larry Helms combine to create a fun performance of a comedy that manages to wrap itself around a bit of a "who-done-it" mystery. The ensemble cast features its own array of surprises, with strong performances all around, showcasing the...
Mary Starling Sullivan, 91, of Babson Park, FL, died on Saturday, March 30 after a full life and quality time with family and loved ones. She was born on January 17, 1933, in Miami, FL, to Clyde and Georgia Starling. In 1950, she graduated from Miami Edison High School. Mary met Richard J. Sullivan (Dick) in Connecticut. They were married at Forest Park Christian Church of Miami, in 1952. Mary and Dick began their family in south Florida. In 1973, they relocated to Babson...
The Lake Wales Area Chamber of Commerce is inviting golf enthusiasts and local business owners to get involved in their annual outing. The Chamber will host its 2024 Golf Scramble, on Friday, April 26 and feature raffles and a variety of prizes for the "top winners", according to Lori Beyer, Services & Events Coordinator at the Chamber. The tournament take place at the Lake Wales Country Club and offers area golfers an afternoon day of fellowship and some zany fun. The outing...
Elvia Alvarado Espinoza of Frostproof passed away Saturday, April 6, 2024 at her residence. She was born July 13, 1977 in San Lucas, Michoacan, Mexico to Silvano an Herminia Alvarado. Elvia was a second-grade teacher for Ben Hill Griffin Elementary School where she loved teaching. She loved the town of Frostproof and was passionate about the needs of children. Elvia was full of life and loved her family, especially her grandchildren. Elvia truly enjoyed spending time with her...
The vision of a "Big Green Network" of environmental lands flanking Lake Wales to the east and west moved a small step closer to reality this week as Polk County's environmental lands program addressed the possibility of acquiring a large tract of land just northeast of the city. The expanse of lands totaling 1,195 acres spanning Masterpiece Road and partially surrounding the former Masterpiece Gardens tourist attraction belong to corporations or individual members of the...
The popular network of walking and biking trails weaving through Lake Wales is about to grow a great deal better, thanks to grants received by the city. New planned segments include the Ridge Scenic Highway Connector Trail that will connect the western end of the Lake Wales Trailway to the new Park Avenue Trail near Crystal Lake. It will run south along Third Street from a point just west of the Lake Wales Little Theatre, thereby also accessing the Lake Wailes Trail. That link...
If forecasters are correct, Floridians should expect and prepare for a very active and threatening hurricane season for 2024. Reports from private forecasters are already sounding alarms about the sharply-elevated water temperatures in the waters of the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico. That heat, released as steamy air, is condensed and cooled in the heart of hurricanes, falling as torrential rain and creating the lowered pressure that drives the intensity of the...
