Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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Thirteen area residents completed their 9-month program June 6 and became graduates of Leadership Lake Wales Class 23. After enjoying a pasta dinner at the American Legion at Eagle Ridge Mall, the classmates talked about learning many new things about Lake Wales and forming bonds that will last well into the future. The Leadership Lake Wales group held an opening retreat in September and a closing retreat in May and met monthly for a daylong session devoted to a particular top...
Maria Tovar just achieved two major milestones: she obtained her high school equivalency diploma (GED) and became the 100th person to accomplish that goal with the help of the Lake Wales Family Literacy Academy. Cleaning houses for a living and taking care of her 5- and 8-year-old children kept her so busy that there were times she thought about quitting. She dropped out of Lake Wales High School her junior year and wasn't sure she would ever be able to earn a GED or go to...
U.S. President Donald Trump will be kicking off his 2020 re-election campaign about 50 miles from Lake Wales with a rally June 18 at the 20,000-seat Amway Center in downtown Orlando. The location highlights the importance of Florida and the I-4 corridor to the president's re-election efforts. Trump lost Orlando's home Orange County in 2016, but beat Hillary Clinton 48 to 47 percent statewide to collect all 28 of Florida's electoral votes. Trump won nearly 55 percent of the...
As a business and estate planning lawyer, I have represented Lake Wales and Polk County residents and businesses for nearly 30 years. I find that local residents have a misperception that identity theft only hits individuals. Thieves are targeting businesses like yours for quick and easy profit, with devastating consequences. With consistent survey estimates of 8 to 12 million identity theft victims annually, there is no question that criminals have found consumer identity...
A 73-year-old Lake Wales man is in the Polk County Jail accused of strangling to death his wife of more than 50 years. Ronald Strouse of Harte Drive in Walden Shores east of Lake Wales was charged with one count of first degree murder after allegedly killing 72-year-old Susan Strouse during a physical altercation. The dispute reportedly started the night before when Mrs. Strouse announced her plans to take their money and leave him. After receiving a 911 call around 4:30 p.m....
Osubi Craig, a multi-talented higher education administrator, traditional African percussionist and arts advocate, joins the University of Florida College of the Arts as its inaugural director of a new center focused on arts, migration and entrepreneurship. (Before becoming a special assistant to the president of Virginia State University, Craig served as director of arts and cultural affairs for Polk State College in charge of the Lake Wales campus.) The new center, which wil...
The Lake Wales Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Council is hosting a power breakfast Wednesday, June 19 to share information on the U.S. 27 Mobility Study currently underway by the Florida Department of Transportation. Lake Wales Medical Center is sponsoring the breakfast, which will start at 8 a.m. at Christ's Church on the Move, 2039 SR 60. Project Manager Sara Catala will provide an update on the project, which encompasses 32 miles of U.S. 27 from SR 60 in Lake...
More than 30 volunteers, members and patrons enjoyed a buffet dinner during the Lake Wales Little Theatre's open house and annual meeting at Monday, June 3. In addition to good food and good friends, there was plenty of good news, including a sneak preview of productions planned for Season 42. "We're thrilled to that all our board members except one agreed to remain on the board of directors," reports Leslie Grondin, LWLT president. "I started here 32 years ago as a child and...
Vice Mayor Robin Gibson issued a proclamation Tuesday, June 4 designating the week of June 8-15 as LGBTQ Pride Week in Lake Wales. Lake Wales members of PFLAG were on hand to accept the proclamation. Local PFLAG leader David Jones said 60 percent of Floridians had human rights protections, but they are not in force in Polk County. He asked the city commission to consider adopting a local human rights ordinance to protect all citizens from discrimination. Commissioners did not...
The 2019 Atlantic hurricane season kicks off Saturday, June 1, so the state of Florida is encouraging residents to stock up on supplies during a special sales tax-free period May 31 through June 6. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting a "near normal" hurricane season with a total of nine to 15 named storms. NOAA predicts four to eight could become hurricanes and two to four could become major hurricanes. Storms are named when their winds reach 39...
The Polk County History Center, in cooperation with local playwright Gretchen Suarez-Pena, concludes the lecture series on Race and Culture with a stage reading of Suarez-Pena's piece, "Conversations in Bed." The show follows four couples and the comical and universal conversations they have before going to sleep. The state read will begin at 6 p.m. Friday, June 7 at the History Center, 100 E. Main St. in Bartow. Admission is free. The Polk County History Center has regular...
Stephen Cornelius recognizes that the proud tradition of the Lake Wales Marching Highlanders is still embedded deeply in the community. He understands what he faces as the new band director for Lake Wales High School, and says he's ready for the challenge. Reflecting on his new position, Cornelius wrote: "It was Theodore Roosevelt that said 'far better it is to dare mighty things...even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy...
The Polk County Public Schools district is recruiting bus drivers and attendants for the next school year, hoping to prevent the driver shortage that resulted in bus delays at the start of last year. The district operates a fleet of 511 buses traveling about 61,000 miles per day, transporting about 50,000 students to 121 schools, making 9,200 bus stops along 2,700 routes, according to the transportation department's website. That travel totals nearly 11 million miles per...
The Polk County Legislative Delegation earned straight A grades this year from the Florida Chamber of Commerce for being pro-business with their votes. Each year the Florida Chamber develops its Florida Business Agenda to organize and unite Florida employers. The Chamber uses the Agenda to provides state legislators with the clear, unified legislative priorities of employers across the state. Prior to this year's session legislators received Where We Stand, a report detailing...
Community Health Systems, Inc. announced Wednesday, May 22 it plans to sell Lake Wales Medical Center to AdventHealth, a faith-based, not-for-profit health system headquartered in Altamonte Springs. The corporation said the Lake Wales sale will include not only the 160-bed hospital, but also its respective assets, physician clinic operations and outpatient services. In addition to the hospital, Lake Wales Medical Center includes a Wound Healing Center, adult and geriatric...
Proud parents, grandparents, neighbors and friends came out with balloons, flowers, smiles and a few tears Friday, May 24 to celebrate the graduation of 351 Lake Wales High School seniors. Legion Field was standing-room-only for the annual celebration, marking the passage of the Class of 2019 into the "real world." Much of the ceremony was traditional. The JROTC color guard marched in and presented the flag for the pledge of allegiance. The band and orchestra played the proces...
As Lake Wales area schools are preparing for summer, we are reminded that not all education takes place in the classroom. Here is a story about students participating in experience training programs. Just like every other student at Lake Wales High School, Ellis Allanson boards a bus and heads to Highlander Hill ready to take on his daily assignments. But unlike most who spend their days in classrooms, the cafeteria and media center, Ellis spends most of his day at Sweet...
One hundred thousand tons of coal ash being hauled from Puerto Rico to a Central Florida landfill have resulted in a raging controversy that affects Lake Wales, as a candidate tied to the project seeks to represent the city in the Florida House. The coal-ash controversy led to more than an hour of agitated public comments at a recent County Commission meeting in Osceola County. At that meeting Commissioner Fred Hawkins Jr. found himself the target of much of the ire. Hawkins,...
James Ros Welborn, 63, of Quincy, Florida, passed away on Monday, May 20 surrounded by family and friends, after a long battle with cancer. Ros was born September 9, 1955, in Lake Wales to Clayton "Poncho" Welborn and Margaret "Peggy" Welborn. He attended Lake Wales High School. Ros was employed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in 1983. He worked more than 30 years with the "Game Company" as he loved to call it and retired in 2014. He previously served...
To continue focusing on its mission and to promote brand awareness the Lake Wales Museum and Cultural Center has been renamed the Lake Wales History Museum. The Lake Wales City Commission Tuesday, May 21 approved the name change, recommended by Museum Director Jennifer D'Hollander. "As an established resource in the Lake Wales community, the museum has included many different activities over the years. Today, the museum looks to the future as a focused, vibrant center focused...
As the Class of 2019 at Lake Wales High School counts down to graduation May 24, school officials are still celebrating the stellar accomplishments of the Class of 2018. Despite a nearly 71 percent poverty rate - students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch - Lake Wales High School graduated more than 92 percent of its seniors in 2018 – the third highest rate of all high schools in Polk County. The State of Florida defines graduation rate as the percentage of s...
The Polk County School Board Tuesday May 14 approved enrollment increases for Victory Ridge Academy and Bok Academy North for the 2019-20 school year and to hold the capacity at 1,650 for Lake Wales High School. Bok Academy North got approval to increase enrollment from 200 to 400, so they can roll up their 6th graders and serve grades six and seven for the next school year. Bok North presented a plan to house 200 seventh grade students at First Presbyterian Church in addition to 200 sixth graders at First Baptist Church,...
Andy Oguntola, director of the Polk State College J.D. Alexander Center, was presented with the Community Leadership Award at the Thursday, May 9 annual awards gala of the Lake Wales Area Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Council. Past winner Brian Marbutt of Citizens Bank and Trust presented the award and announced to the crowd that Oguntola had recently completed his doctorate in higher education leadership. Oguntola started out by thanking "Jesus Christ, my Lord...
City Manager Ken Fields was named Public Servant of the Year at the May 9 Annual Awards Gala of the Lake Wales Area Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Council. The award was presented by last year's winner, Kathy Bangley, the city's director of planning and development. She said when she won the award she didn't realize she'd be presenting the next one to her boss. She cited his 30 plus years' experience in government and the private sector. "To be a public servant...
Longtime local attorney Jim Weaver was named Citizen of the Year Thursday, May 9 by the Lake Wales Area Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Council. Weaver was surrounded by his wife Kay and other family members after being surprised with the award at the end of the annual awards gala held at the Lake Ashton Country Club. In presenting the award, last year's Citizen of the Year Linda Kimbrough cited not only Weaver's extensive community service and leadership but...
