Tensions are flaring between the city of Lakeland and the union representing around 26 Lakeland Electric workers who are being laid off today in connection with the closing of the city’s coal-fired electric plant. Bob Mahoney of Utility Workers Union of America told The Ledger he has several objections to an agreement workers are being […]
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 inBusiness, Consumer
Study: Metro Lakeland’s Housing Market Is Florida’s Most Overvalued
Houses in the Lakeland metro area are the most overvalued in Florida and 21st most overvalued in the U.S., according to a new Florida Atlantic University study. Home prices here are 31.39% higher than would be expected based on trends of the last 25 years, the study concluded. One of the professors conducting the study […]
Posted inHealth
Polk Schools Preliminary Data: 1,170 Students, 297 Staff Reported Positive for COVID-19
A preliminary report of COVID-19 cases in Polk public schools released Friday shows that 1,170 students and 297 staff have been reported as positive for the virus since Aug. 2. In addition, 8,228 students and 223 staff have quarantined after exposure to infected individuals.
Posted inSchools
High School Football Scores
Check results of Friday night’s high school football action:
Posted inHealth
Polk Adds a Record Number of New COVID-19 Infections for a Fifth Straight Week
Polk County added 7,510 new COVID-19 cases this week, setting a new record for a fifth week in a row, according to the weekly update from the Florida Department of Health. The average positivity rate of tests in Polk dipped to 23.2% this week from last week’s record of 28.9%, but still significantly above the […]
Posted inConsumer
Unlike Orlando and Tampa Bay, Lakeland Water Is Unaffected by Liquid Oxygen Shortages
Unlike neighbors in Orlando and three Tampa Bay area counties, Lakeland residents don’t need to worry about COVID-19 treatments affecting municipal water supplies or the taste of drinking water.
Posted inNews Roundup
Read It in the Morning Paper, Public Officials Edition
OLIVER GREEN, retired appeals and circuit judge and decorated Korean War veteran, died Wednesday at age 88 of a disease unrelated to COVID-19. | ALSO: Family-placed obituary in LkldNow U.S. REP. SCOTT FRANKLIN holds town hall meetings differently than nearby colleagues. Instead of announcing them in advance, Franklin issues invitations by automated telephone calls to […]
Posted inNews
COVID Patients Increase at Lakeland Regional While Some Other Hospitals See a Possible Peak
Some Central Florida hospitals say they’re seeing signs that the surge in COVID-19 patients is leveling off, but that’s not the case at Lakeland Regional Health. The hospital’s snapshot of patient load at 10:30 a.m. today showed that 443 patients had tested positive for the virus, the highest number reported yet.
Posted inCity Hall / Local Gov't
26 Layoffs Expected As Lakeland Electric Completes Plant Shutdown
At the end of the five-month transition period after Lakeland Electric’s coal-driven McIntosh 3 power plant was taken offline, 26 employees are slated to be laid off Sept. 4, The Ledger reports. Initially, 60 were told they would be laid off when the utility announced it would shut the plant earlier than the previous 2024 […]
Posted inHealth
Polk School Board Takes No Vote on the Mask Issue
Masks remain optional in Polk public schools. Polk School Board members heard passionate debate from both sides of the mask debate on Tuesday, but did not vote on the issue. Vice Chair Kay Fields tried to make a motion for an emergency mask mandate, but Chair Lori Cunningham ended the meeting without calling for a […]