Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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More than 80 community leaders and interested citizens were present Thursday night for the premier showing of the documentary film "Lake Wales Envisioned," which lays out the case for changes to development codes that may redefine future development in the rapidly-growing community. The film is among the final work products of the city-funded project known as Lake Wales Envisioned, an effort to guide the city through a future fraught with both opportunities and perils. The...
Major improvements are underway at the Lake Wales History Museum that are expected to make the facility a center of community activity as well as a draw for residents and visitors alike, according to Executive Director Melissa Stoller. The ongoing project includes needed repairs to the 98-year-old building as well as reimagined and refreshed exhibits. The non-profit museum is seeking volunteers with carpentry skills to help with the ongoing reconfiguration. Stoller promises...
A new "circulator" bus route that will serve the city six days a week on a frequent schedule began this week, making getting around town without a car a much simpler task. Lake Wales should be very proud of the new service, according to Tom Phillips, executive director of Citrus Connection, which operates the buses. "This is only the second city [in Polk County] to have a real circulator route," he told Lake Wales News.net. The circulator will stay within the city limits,...
Winners of the first week of a 13-week contest sponsored by Lake Wales News.net and Pizzano's Pizza and Grinderz have been have announced, and tasty awards await, ideal for that football gathering, birthday party, or other get-together. Susan Coyne and Samantha Bourke were chosen as winners of a large pizza of their choice, enough to feed a family of four. The winners gained entry simply by sharing a story from LakeWalesNews.net on their social media. To be sure that we don't...
Only 100 years ago the young town of Lake Wales was kept up-to-date by stories shared on the pages of The Highlander. This week the buzz was about a pair of men who had made the drive all the way from Indiana in only five days, covering a distance of 1,214 miles on "fair" roads, "with the exception of over the mountains," where no doubt things remained rather sketchy for automobile traffic, since most locals there preferred mules at the the time. In other local news, local res...
The Lake Wales area in 1923 was a bustle of activity as the Great Florida Land Boom took serious hold of the imaginations of investors from across the nation. Land speculation in the state was beginning to be a major driver of rising property values as properties were flipped from investor to investor without hesitation, always at a profit. Locally, Roger Babson, a noted statistician, was laying the groundwork for his community of Babson Park, with plans afoot to build a new...
We love contests, and we love prizes, so we're giving two lucky families free dinners from Pizzano's! Best of all, we're doing it EVERY WEEK! Win the large pizza of your choice, including the works if you like, just by sharing the important stories we publish about our community. Pick something from our sections about Schools, Fun, Ridge Life, Business, it's all up to you! Just know that you could very well be enjoying one of our delicious prizes. Two winners will be randomly...
Thursday afternoon travelers on Hesperides Road found themselves caught in a lengthy backup after three vehicles tangled at the intersection of Ninth Street. Emergency responders worked to investigate and remove vehicles from travel lanes to clear the street, but no major injuries were reported. The crash was apparently triggered by an illegal right-turn attempt from a left-hand travel lane. A vehicle with two occupants driven by an employee of Edgewood Landscape crossed into...
The vast Peace Crossing development long-planned for a large tract of land between US 27 and Lake Ashton is now moving forward under new ownership following the sale of the property by Winter Haven Corporation. The 1,943-acre Master Development Plan (MDP) Lake Wales Mixed Use Project was approved by the city commission in 2021. The site has long been used as pasture and consists of a mix of uplands and wetland areas spanning the Peace Creek Drainage Canal. With 6100...
Editor's Note: This guest Commentary, offered by two distinguished scholars of the works of the father and son who shared the honored name of Frederick Law Olmsted, is the first of a series of guest editorials that will address the effort known as Lake Wales Envisioned. A century ago, Lake Wales was in the news: The most famous landscape architect in America, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., was transforming one of Florida's highest points into Bok Tower Gardens, today a National...
New details are slowly emerging after the huge pileup crash Thursday evening at the intersection of US 27 and Chalet Suzanne Road in Lake Wales. "Several people were injured" in the crash, according to police, with at least one with injuries described as "life-threatening." The intersection remained closed for several hours as investigators and emergency medical personnel worked the scene. According to investigators and eyewitness accounts, a Chrysler 300 attempted to make a...
Pathways leading to college or directly to highly-paid careers are open to students at Lake Wales High School thanks to the seven "Career Academies" offered at the school. Assistant Principal Jasmine Ansley heads the career academy program and was happy to report that 1,039 of the school's students are now enrolled in one of the pathways. The program helps keep students engaged in what they like to do at school, resulting in a lower drop rate, she said. A recent special...
As the City of Lake Wales faces an onslaught of development proposals totaling more than 14,000 residential units, a responsive city government is making the needed adjustments to meet the challenge. Veteran planner Brian Herrmann has recently been hired to head the city's Growth Management division, a department formerly known as "Development Services." The department name change is reflection of the determination of city leadership to cope and direct the unstoppable pressure...
On a split vote, Polk County Commissioners refused to overturn the narrow approval of a sprawling development on a rural two-lane road in eastern Polk County about ten miles northeast of Lake Wales. The Creek Ranch development required the approval of a binding site plan for the 1,289 acres of rural land to accommodate 1,876 homes plus commercial uses off Hatchineha Road. The site is mostly surrounded by conservation lands and lies north of Lake Pierce and east of Dundee. The...
The Lake Wales Highlander of 100 years ago reveals much about the history of our community. Each week the Lake Wales News will publish a front-page image of the former Lake Wales Highlander from 100 years earlier, tracking the growth of the community a century ago, when Florida was in the midst of a great land price boom and rapid population growth. The images are retrieved from the digital archives of the Lake Wales Public Library. The Lake Wales Highlander eventually became...
The Lake Wales Highlander of 100 years ago reveals much about the history of our community. Each week the Lake Wales News will publish a front-page image of the former Lake Wales Highlander from 100 years earlier, tracking the growth of the community a century ago, when Florida was in the midst of a great land price boom and rapid population growth. The images are retrieved from the digital archives of the Lake Wales Public Library. The Lake Wales Highlander eventually became...
The City of Lake Wales plans to spend nearly $80,000 on renovations of the former Family YMCA on Burns Avenue as it steps into control of operations there. The facility is being rebranded as the Lake Wales Family Recreation Center. After purchasing the facility in February 2020 for $900,000, the city had entered into an agreement with the West Central Florida YMCA to operate the center. The 25,790-square-foot recreation facility and swimming pool on 9.45 acres of property was...
All 130 school bus stops throughout Lake Wales are well-lit following the efforts of city staff. The improvements came after a thorough assessment was completed by City of Lake Wales staff who identified bus stop locations from reports provided by the Polk County School District and the Lake Wales Charter Schools system. "Staff in the streets department and police department evaluated school bus stops within the city limits and pinpointed locations that accommodated both...
The Lake Wales Highlander of 100 years ago reveals much about the history of our community. Each week the Lake Wales News will publish a front-page image of the former Lake Wales Highlander from 100 years earlier, tracking the growth of the community a century ago, when Florida was in the midst of a great land price boom and rapid population growth. The images are retrieved from the digital archives of the Lake Wales Public Library. The Lake Wales Highlander eventually became...
The Lake Wales Highlander of 100 years ago reveals much about the history of our community. Each week the Lake Wales News will publish a front-page image of the former Lake Wales Highlander from 100 years earlier, tracking the growth of the community a century ago, when Florida was in the midst of a great land price boom and rapid population growth. The images are retrieved from the digital archives of the Lake Wales Public Library. The Lake Wales Highlander eventually became...
Stephen Thomas Rodda has been charged with first-degree murder after apparently killing his own 16-year-old son on Monday. Rodda, 37, was booked into the Polk County Jail Monday after he was arrested by Polk County Deputies and charged with killing the teen with an angle-grinder, a power tool normally used to cut metal. He will have a first appearance hearing at 1:00 p.m. today, Tuesday, September 5, 2023. According to the Sheriff's office, the victim's grandfather returned...
Nighttime lane closures will require extra caution for drivers on US 27 at the signalized intersection of Washington Avenue in Lake Wales. Turn lanes will be closed to allow Polk County crews to resurface the busy cross street, which handles truck traffic for Florida's Natural Growers as well as other area industry. Drivers can expect turn lane closures from US 27 onto Washington Avenue between 8:30 pm and 5:00 am. Lane closures are expected to be nightly for approximately...
While multiple named storms have swirled harmlessly all week in the mid-Atlantic, a weak tropical wave that emerged off the coast of Africa several days ago is now the system to watch for Florida. The National Hurricane Center in Miami is now assigning the system a near-100 percent chance of development during the coming three days, during which time it is forecast to be approaching the area of the Virgin Islands. By that time it should be a powerful hurricane. Despite still...
The Lake Wales Highlander of 100 years ago reveals much about the history of our community. Each week the Lake Wales News will publish a front-page image of the former Lake Wales Highlander from 100 years earlier, tracking the growth of the community a century ago, when Florida was in the midst of a great land price boom and rapid population growth. The images are retrieved from the digital archives of the Lake Wales Public Library. The Lake Wales Highlander eventually became...
The Lake Wales Highlander of 100 years ago reveals much about the history of our community. Each week the Lake Wales News will publish a front-page image of the former Lake Wales Highlander from 100 years earlier, tracking the growth of the community a century ago, when Florida was in the midst of a great land price boom and rapid population growth. The images are retrieved from the digital archives of the Lake Wales Public Library. The Lake Wales Highlander eventually became...
