Amazon is planning to build a major jet cargo operation at Lakeland Linder International Airport that’s expected to cost $100 million and employ 800 to 1,000 workers. Amazon Services Inc. is the long-held-secret negotiator for an intermodal center on the northwest side of the airport, City Attorney Tim McCausland announced this morning during a City […]
Author Archives: Marilyn Meyer
Posted inHealth
Hospital Legislation Worries Local Officials
City and Lakeland Regional Health officials are bracing for the unknown financial impact of the Florida Legislature’s expected repeal of the Certificate of Need process. That process, established more than 45 years ago, has protected the market for Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center, ensuring it is the only general hospital in the community.
Posted inFood & Dining
Food Truck Park Readies for a May 9 Groundbreaking
The Yard on Mass food-truck park and beer hall easily jumped a hurdle this morning on its way to an expected May 9 groundbreaking and fall opening. Two churches near the site at North Massachusetts Avenue and Parker Street sent no representatives to object, so the Lakeland Board of Adjustments and Appeals quickly approved an […]
Posted inCrime / Justice
Troller: City Shouldn’t Pay School Officers’ Salaries
The city of Lakeland plans to hire four more school resource officers to ensure someone is providing security against the possibility of a gunman while the officer usually assigned to the school is investigating a crime on campus or is out sick or on vacation. The city is negotiating with the Polk School Board to […]
Posted inNeighborhoods
Watson Clinic Seeks Rezoning at Main Campus
A rezoning request that goes to the City Commission today would allow five- to six-story buildings in a nearly 19-acre area on the Watson Clinic main campus.
Posted inCity Hall / Local Gov't
CarMax Eyes a Lakeland Site Near I-4 and U.S. 98
CarMax, a nationwide retailer of late-model used cars with a no-haggle approach, may open its first Polk County dealership on a now-vacant lot on U.S. 98 just south of Interstate 4. To accommodate a car dealership, the 6.13-acre parcel at 3223 N. U.S. 98 would need to be rezoned from commercial highway use to planned unit […]
Posted inBusiness
LEDC Asks City to Change New-Business Incentives
The city of Lakeland is taking a close look at how much it spends to incentivize business growth and where the dollars come from, after an economic development group suggested changes. Following a recent presentation by Steve Scruggs, president of the private, non-profit Lakeland Economic Development Council, city commissioners expressed willingness to consider a tactic […]
Posted inCity Hall / Local Gov't
Commission Updates: Police Protest, Vacancies, Voter Turnout
Lakeland city commissioners got updates this morning on a range of subjects, from a march planned for next weekend to protest police activities to the latest on the searches for a new police chief and new assistant city manager.
Posted inCity Hall / Local Gov't
Neighbors Voice Concerns About S. Florida Ave. Emergency Room
While the Hospital Corporation of America sees an opportunity to hop into the local health-care market by building Polk County’s first free-standing emergency room, some residents say the planned site on South Florida Avenue signals danger for their quiet neighborhood.
Posted inCity Hall / Local Gov't
City Commissioners Delay Garden District Building Height Vote
City commissioners delayed a decision Monday afternoon on whether to allow up to 60-feet-tall multi-family buildings in portions of the Garden District of the historic Lake Morton neighborhood.