City elections: a nonpartisan refuge in hyper-partisan times Cindy Glover Editor City elections are a month away and the first of several candidate forums is tonight. “Politics in the Park,” co-hosted by LkldNow and the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce, will be Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. Unfortunately, if past trends hold true, fewer than 15% of […]
Author Archives: Barry Friedman
Barry Friedman founded Lkldnow.com in 2015 as the culmination of a career in print and digital journalism. Since 1982, he has used the tools of reporting, editing and content curation to help people in Lakeland understand their community better.
Posted inNews
Cellphones restricted in schools | New library branch
Thank you for answering our September appeal Trinity Laurino Executive Director Thank you to everyone who answered our recent fundraising call. Together, you all raised a little over $1,000. While we didn’t reach the goal of 1 in 3 readers, nearly 50 new donors stepped up to support this work of providing independent local journalism […]
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Lake Beulah roundabout | Affordable housing | Downtown dog park |
Does your $10 really matter?You bet it does. Cindy Glover Editor Although journalism has changed dramatically in recent decades, some principles are sacred. One of those is keeping a firewall between newsroom and business operations. It’s akin to “separation of church and state” and it means donors don’t get special treatment in news coverage. To […]
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Neighbors seek road safety fixes | Police: no murder charge in rapper’s death
At age 8, LkldNow strives for sustainability Trinity Laurino Executive Director LkldNow turns 8 years old this month. We’ve grown a lot in those 8 years. We are now the source for local news for 1 in every 3 Lakelanders. LION (Local Independent Online News) Publishers has been tracking the growth and success of small […]
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Bedrock Wings moving downtown | Esports coming to Coleman-Bush | Pickleball controversy
RIP: Michael Wilson, news photographer, raconteur Barry Friedman Founder and Editor-at-large When I was city editor at The Ledger back in days when people used telephones instead of electronic messages, the phone rang constantly; sometimes I felt like I had talked with pretty much everybody in Polk County. But nobody in the newsroom comes close […]
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Locals join Idalia recovery | Pita Pit closing | Judd to teens: Slow down!
Forum: K-12 Education in Polk County Trinity Laurino Executive Director We’re grateful that Idalia decided not to stop by our fair city and wish our neighbors to the north a safe and speedy cleanup. We’re thankful we can get back to normal school and work schedules by tomorrow. Speaking of school, we’re just one week […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Hurricane Idalia: Latest Updates as Lakeland Prepares for Strong Winds and Rain
Hurricane Idalia is expected to make landfall in the Big Bend area north of Tampa Wednesday morning as a Category 3 storm.
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School Board nixes proclamations | Citrus Mutual building coming down
If we miss the mark, let us know Cindy Glover Editor Journalism is a human endeavor, which is both its greatest strength and greatest weakness. At LkldNow, we do our best to get it right: to be ethical, accurate and fair. We ask questions without assuming we know the answers. To borrow from math teachers, […]
From a LkldNow Sponsor
Preparing for Hurricanes as a Dementia Caregiver
A guide prepared by the Alzheimer’s Association and USF helps caregivers prepare for weather emergencies.
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School year starts amid AC issues | City eLibrary moving
Public education affects all of us Cindy Glover Editor It’s back-to-school season in Polk County, which has dominated a lot of our news coverage over the past couple of weeks. LkldNow hasn’t always covered education as extensively as we do now. Our primary focus, since our founding in 2015, has always been efforts to make […]