Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
Sorted by date Results 76 - 100 of 1173
Ridge cities are facing a challenging and expensive future effort to obtain water supplies for a growing population, according to officials from the Polk Regional Water Cooperative. PRWC Executive Director Eric DeHaven joined a team of engineers at a forum this week to explain the status of an ambitious project that expects to extract brackish water from a depth of more than 1,000 feet, substantially lower than the Floridan aquifer that currently supplies water to area...
Major Richard (Dick) S. Kenney, 73, of Lake Wales, FL, passed away peacefully on July 2nd, 2024, surrounded by loved ones. Born in Lorain, Ohio, on July 31, 1950, to Jim and Dorothy (Stanley) Kenney, Dick was a lifelong adventurer. He attended Lake Wales High School and was a proud member of the JROTC. After earning an associate's degree from Polk County Community College, he continued his studies at Northeast Louisiana University, majoring in game management and ecology. Dick...
With Florida's Primary Election day fast approaching, Polk Elections officials are reminding every voter to check their registration status. The last day to register to vote for the August 20th Statewide Primary Election is Monday, July 22nd. The Polk County Elections Office will be offering voter registration services around the county to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to register before this important deadline. Mobile registration units will be visiting multiple...
Dual-enrollment of Lake Wales Charter School students in STEM courses at Webber International University will result from a a $10,000 Impact Polk grant from the George W. Jenkins Fund within GiveWell Community Foundation. The grant will provide greater access to students pursuing careers as registered nurses or occupational therapy assistants, according to Dr. Nelson Marquez, President/CEO of Webber. STEM refers to concentrations in the areas of science, technology, engineerin...
A 40-year-old Lake Wales man is dead after a kayaking trip on a local lake. A death investigation is underway following the recovery of the body of an adult male from Lake Annie, a 407-acre lake in the Waverly area of Lake Wales early this morning. Shane Park of Magnolia Street in Lake Wales had set out on the lake about 3:30 p.m. Sunday in a kayak. Weather at the time was fine, but thunderstorms began moving into the area a short time later. When he failed to return to shore...
The closure of SR 17 (Scenic Highway) at Hillcrest Avenue, originally announced as a 30-day project, is expected to continue well after the beginning of the school year, forcing additional traffic onto South 4th Street past McLaughlin Middle-High School. Crews closed Scenic Highway from Grove Avenue to Hillcrest Avenue in June to begin installing new drainage structures. Sidewalks in the area are also detoured. According to the Florida Department of Transportation, the...
Twelve "Safe Zones" under the monitoring of the Polk County Sheriff's Office are now available to all Polk County residents for the purposes of custody exchanges of e-commerce sales, according to officials with the sheriff's office. The locations offer 24/7 continuously-monitored video surveillance with recordings retained for at least 45 days. They also provide adequate lighting and signage for safety. The Florida Legislature recently passed a law which requires count...
After a year of interim managers, Fort Meade has at last settled upon a new leader to manage city affairs, and he is arriving just in time to face a "problem" some wouldn't mind dealing with. On a 4-1 vote, city commissioners had offered the role to Edward Walker Dean last month, and his signing of the deal was reported during Tuesday's meeting of the board. His immediate challenge: trying to salvage an unused $5 million grant. Fort Meade was the only Polk County city to...
Cities across the county are seeing significant rises in property tax income, according to the preliminary tax roll published by Polk County Property Appraiser Marsha Faux. Despite the recent surge in home prices and the value of new construction, however, property values in most Ridge-area municipalities have seen only modest increases so far. The valuations have significant impacts on city budgets, since local shares of the taxes are based upon the millage rates set by...
One person was killed and two injured in three-vehicle crash that left two lanes of southbound US 27 closed for approximately four hours. Northbound lanes were closed for approximately 4.5 hours. The crash took place on US 27 near Morrison Ranch Road, south of Haines City, Wednesday afternoon, at about 3:45 p.m. First responders found 64-year old Katrina Moore of Haines City deceased. Moore had not been wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from her vehicle. According to a...
A long-vacant space in the Orange Grove Shopping Center in Lake Wales will soon be home to a large new Ollie's store amid a burst of new residential development in the area. Ollie's is a discount department store with 521 locations, and more opening this month in other states. There are several locations in central Florida, including one adjacent to the Lakeland Square Mall. Other nearby Ollie's locations include Avon Park and Kissimmee. Ollie's stores feature more than 20 sep...
A series of "Back to School Bashes" sponsored by the Polk County Sheriff's Office will offer essential school supplies to thousands of children across Polk County, including those in the Southeast District. This community-focused event aims to support local students by providing essential school supplies and book bags as they prepare for the upcoming academic year. All the supplies were donated through private donors and Polk Sheriff's Charities, Inc. The local event will...
Thanks to an increase in rain, Polk County has repealed the active burn ban effective July 1. That permits the outdoor burning of brush in controlled circumstances, but extreme caution should still be exercised as plentiful dry vegetation remains. The Polk County Fire Chief had declared a burn ban throughout Polk County on May 28, due to dangerous fire conditions throughout the county. All of Polk County experienced an unusually dry spring, which followed a dry 2023. The...
A new county boat ramp is being constructed to provide public access to Lake Buffum in un-incorporated southern Polk County. According to county officials, the new boat ramp "will include a walled channel to provide entry to the lake no matter the water level." The annual fluctuation of water levels in the 1,268 acre lake have often caused problems for launching boats. While the new boat ramp is under construction, the old boat ramp is open for public use. The new ramp is...
With a growing traffic volume and a significant rate of deadly crashes, a stretch of State Road 60 in eastern Polk County that is restricted to two-lanes has been a visible target of transportation planners for years. Now, tangible plans are afoot to correct the dangerous stretch of highway by widening it to four travel lanes. The project was included as a priority in the Transportation Planning Organization for Polk County. The TPO board, consisting of representatives from mu...
A Lake Wales woman has been arrested after she allegedly intentionally drove over her husband, who was holding an infant, injuring them both on Monday afternoon. The 16-month-old child remains hospitalized with serious injuries. The incident followed a domestic argument between Aaliyah Ross, 27, of Lake Wales, and her husband, Devin Ross, 25, during which he reportedly walked out of the house carrying the child before throwing a concrete block onto her car. As the argument...
Less than two years after Polk County voters approved a renewal of the county's conservation lands program knownpreserve site has as CLASAC, yet another newly-acquired site has opened to the public. The Bellini Preserve, located on the eastern shore of Lake Marion adjacent to Poinciana, is largely comprised of undeveloped scrubland, according to county officials, The seven miles of trails on the preserve lead visitors through a variety of terrain and habitats, culminating in...
After a serious months-long drought that saw falling lake levels and withered lawns and shrubs, southeast Polk and the entire region are finally expecting to see the start of the normal summer monsoon rains. Forecasts are calling for as much as 2" to 3" of rain in some locations on a daily basis this week, with areas that see repeated rounds expected to incur localized flooding. A saturated atmosphere and light steering winds will lead to the development of thunderstorms...
With the threat of a "long, expensive, and distracting" lawsuit looming, the Lake Wales Charter School board will have an opportunity to reconsider their June 7 decision to summarily fire Superintendent Dr. Wayne V. Rodolfich "for cause," according to an attorney representing him. The board agreed without objection to place the issue on their July 22 agenda after hearing from attorney Kemp Brinson, who is representing Rodolfich. Brinson, in a special presentation that was the...
Lake Wales City Manager James Slaton finds his relaxation, he recently told Lake Wales News, by fishing, typically on salt water far from the ring of a telephone. It's an understandable outlet. Slaton has demonstrated that he can play just as well on dry land, whatever the game. The job of city manager is undoubtedly one of the more interesting and challenging careers in the modern workforce. Charged with running a government as an appointed, rather than elected, official,...
UPDATE: An argument between two young men who had known each other since high school near a recently-constructed county football field led to a shooting that left one dead around 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday evening in Lake Wales. The incident happened outside city limits near a county-owned sports park on W. Northside Drive, about 200 feet north of Washington Avenue. According to a preliminary report from Polk Sheriff's investigators, Vincent Thomas, Jr., 21, arrived in a car at a...
Terry Ronald Myers, 83, passed away in Tallahassee on Saturday, June 15th. From Terry: "If I made one person laugh, a few people smile, then life down here, it was all worthwhile." He was born March 2, 1941, in Indianapolis, Indiana to the late Charles Robert and Virgie Bea Barker. Terry worked as a salesman (Warner Candy Company, Wonder Bread, Merita Bread, Snyders and Archway Cookies) but he also worked for the Polk County Sheriff's Office as a detention officer. He was very...
Tommy C. Gaffney, age 63, passed away June 14, 2024, at Bartow Regional Medical Center in Bartow. He was born on May 16, 1961, in Haines City, FL. He worked in Records Management for Polk County Board of County Commissioners. He was a Representative for the Florida Mobile Homes Organization, former Teamster Representative and former Moose Lodge Governor. He enjoyed spending time with family, traveling and playing jokes. He was preceded in death by parents Raymond Gaffney &...
The Florida Department of Health in Polk County (DOH-Polk) is once again cautioning the public about the presence of blue-green algae in several area lakes. Although none has been reported in Ridge-area lakes, not every lake is tested, so boaters, swimmers, and fishers should be aware of the potential and take precautions. Water samples taken from Scott Lake, Lake Van, Lake Hancock, Lake Gibson, and Lake Conine on May 23 detected blue-green algae that have the potential to...
After over two decades serving the Lake Wales community, Montella's Fish Market is closing its doors for good. Owners Lisa and Mike "Junior" Montella have decided that they will retire after running successful fish markets in Florida for 37 years. The property at 1341 SR 60 East may be in for a big change. "The buyer is going to lease it," Montella stated. "He's an investor." Lake Wales News sources indicate that the purchaser of the property scouts, purchases and leases...
