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Lakeland Plans Solid Waste Transfer Station on North Combee Road
The City Commission moved forward on Monday with plans to build a solid waste transfer station at 2700 North Combee Road. The facility will save wear and tear on the city’s garbage and recycling trucks, but at least one neighbor is concerned it will add traffic to an already-congested roadway.
Play Ball! Detroit Tigers Spring Training Games Begin on Saturday
Clear blue skies, bright sunshine and green grass go together with baseball bats, leather gloves and cleats in Lakeland between February and March. Saturday marks the start of the Detroit Tigers’ spring training schedule, a month of games that don’t count and when fans can get up close to players in the relaxed atmosphere of Joker Marchant Stadium.
Downtown Business Owners Express Concerns About Proposed Parking Changes
Owners of several Lakeland businesses have reached out to city commissioners expressing concern about proposed downtown parking changes — including the possible elimination of free parking for the first two hours and raising rates to $2 an hour for on-street spaces. A study by Kimley-Horn recommended that Lakeland simplify...
Black History Month: Lakeland’s First Black Librarian Impacted Residents’ Lives
In the mid-1930s, Washington Park High School math teacher Elsie Dunbar had a problem. Because of segregation laws that kept white and Black residents separated, her Black students could not go to the Lakeland Public Library, let alone check out books from its collections. According to Lakeland Public Library Supervisor...
Longtime Florida Southern College President Announces Retirement
After two decades at the helm of Florida Southern College, Anne Kerr will be stepping down as president this year. Kerr, 69, announced her decision to the college’s board of trustees on Friday. “It has been an honor and great blessing to serve as president of what I consider...
Lakeland’s Black History Festival Postponed to March 23 Due To Expected Bad Weather
Lakeland’s Black History Festival, originally scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 17, has been rescheduled to Saturday, March 23, due to expected bad weather. The event will still be held at Jackson Park, 1104 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be many artisan vendors, food trucks, activities, entertainment for families to enjoy.
Lakeland Commission Moves Juneteenth Discussion to April 1 Meeting
Lakeland’s City Commission will consider whether to make Juneteenth a paid city holiday at its April 1 meeting, instead of the March 18 session. City attorney Palmer Davis recommended the shift on Friday. “At the last meeting, we discussed the Juneteenth resolution and potentially having a resolution for consideration...
Lake Gibson HS Singing Telegrams Bring Love for Valentine’s Day for 17th Year
Lake Gibson High School’s chorus was out in force again this year with its annual singing telegrams. Students headed to recipients’ homes, businesses or classrooms for a $17 fee, which included one of three songs and some candy. And for an additional $3, the students threw in a teddy bear, too.
Lives Cut Short: 21 Polk County Students Have Died Since June
In the natural order of things, a child’s first experience with grief is supposed to be the death of an elderly relative or perhaps a beloved pet — not someone their own age. But in schools across Polk County this year, teachers have had to set aside lesson plans to help students grapple with shocking losses.
Kitty Cat Lounge Owner Fears Orange Street Closure Will Hurt Business
Cindy Skop had no idea the City of Lakeland planned to close Orange Street for sewer repairs until she saw a large orange warning sign in the middle of the road Tuesday morning, just steps away from her five-month-old business, the Kitty Cat Lounge. Communications Director Kevin Cook said the...
Mini Murals Brighten Walls and Spirits Around Lakeland’s Talbot House
The Lakeland Community Redevelopment Agency is looking for artists to paint a second set of murals on the concrete perimeter wall that surrounds the Talbot House Ministries homeless shelter. The Midtown Mini Murals Project is located on E. Parker Street and N. Tennessee Avenue. The theme for Phase II is...
Black History Month: Dr. David Simpson Treated All Patients During the Spanish Flu Epidemic
In the fall of 1918, after America and European powers signed the armistice that ended World War I, soldiers from the front lines began returning home. But they brought with them the most unwelcome souvenir — the Spanish flu. It was so deadly, so virulent, that a person could be well in the morning and dead by sundown.
Lakeland 8th Grader Shines at Polk County Regional Science and Engineering Fair
Zavion Felton knew he wanted to do something with computers for his science fair project. The 8th grader at Academy Prep Center of Lakeland zeroed in on QR codes, those black and white squares with random digitized patterns that leads users to a website when they hover over it with their smartphone.
No More Free Parking Downtown? Lakeland Officials Consider Charging $2 per Hour
People parking in downtown Lakeland may have to get out their wallets — or their smartphones — in a few months if city leaders take the advice in a study by Kimley-Horn. City officials are considering several phased changes to downtown parking, including eliminating the daily two hours of free street parking and raising rates for “metered” street spaces from $1 to $2 an hour. But it will only cost half that if you park in a city garage or surface lot.
Lake Gibson High School Student Nabs One of the Top Honors at 80th Annual Polk County Youth Fair
The last week in January, nearly 1,000 students converged on the Stuart Center in Bartow for the 2024 Polk County Youth Fair. Students competed in everything from cake-baking and floral arranging to raising steers and cows, along with sheep, goats and rabbits. Lake Gibson High School student and Future Farmers...
Jury Votes 11-1 for Death Penalty in Brutal Stabbing of Prominent Lakeland Couple
By a vote of 11-1, a Polk County jury recommended Tuesday that convicted murderer Marcelle Jerrill Waldon be sentenced to death for the fatal stabbings of former Lakeland Commissioner Edie Yates Henderson and her husband David Henderson three years ago. Circuit Judge Kevin Abdoney must give that recommendation great weight,...
Lakeland Commissioners Signal Support for Making Juneteenth a City Holiday
For several years, community activists Harlem Turner and Doris Moore Bailey have asked the Lakeland City Commission to give city workers a paid day off for Juneteenth — a holiday that marks when the last group of enslaved people in Texas finally learned in 1865 that they were free, more than two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
Waldon Won’t Let Lawyers Mount Defense Against the Death Penalty
When 12 Polk County jurors begin deliberating Tuesday whether to recommend a life sentence or the death penalty for convicted Lakeland murderer Marcelle Waldon, they will have almost no testimony from the defense to consider. Waldon, 39, has waived his right to present evidence supporting a life sentence. Under questioning...
City Announces 2024 MLK Parade Award Winners
Lakeland officials presented awards Monday to groups with the most impressive floats and performances in the city’s 2024 Martin Luther King Jr. Parade on Jan. 20. The theme of the 46th annual parade was “Living the Dream – It Starts with Me: Spreading Hope, Courage, & Unity.” It drew 146 participating units including marching bands, step groups and floats from local organizations, businesses and churches.
Scholarship Opportunity Aims to ‘Lift Up’ Local Black Entrepreneurs
In honor of Black History Month, two local executives are teaming up to offer a full-tuition scholarship valued at up to $61,178 to a Black entrepreneur with a local or online business. The Business Opportunity Scholarship will cover the tuition and fees for a bachelor’s degree in business administration at...
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