Leroy Foster, an Air Force veteran whose tales of spraying Agent Orange defoliant over Guam during the Vietnam era are disputed by the government, has died of diseases he says were caused by the toxic chemical | Background
Two years after philanthropist Carol Jenkins Barnett revealed she had been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s, she still has a good memory but is struggling with some motor skills and vision issues, son Wesley Barnett tells Bay News 9 at a Lakeland “Walk to end Alzheimer’s” that attracted nearly 1,000 people.
The organization, which aims to use the power of group purchasing to get its members good deals on solar power installation, has scheduled an information session for 6 p.m. Oct. 25 at the main Lakeland Library. The group has 225 slots; sign-ups go through Christmas | Solar United website
Two Lakeland leaders with a passion to reduce homelessness shared their visions for the paths forward with a crowd of 450 tonight at a Gospel Inc. “friend raiser.” For Mayor Bill Mutz, it was a goal of a city government working alongside social service agencies to lead the transitional homeless into housing and productive lives. For Brian Seeley, founder of Gospel Inc., it was a night to introduce his vision of Gospel Town, a tiny-house community supporting the chronic homeless.
Two thirtysomething friends teamed up to help solve a problem for girls who might be embarrassed when they experience their first period at school. Laura Davis, The Ledger’s social media maven, had an excess of decorative makeup bags, and her friend Amelia Hart, a middle school teacher at Blake Academy, has long kept a supply of pads for students who might need them in an awkward emergency. They’re now collecting more Ipsy bags and pads so other teachers will have an unobtrusive way to get them to girls who need them | Learn more: Hello Flo! on Facebook
Michelle Johnson and Delta Ryan quit their jobs as an assistant principal and emergency room nurse respectively to start “Take Heart,” a shop at 248 N. Kentucky Ave. that sells fair-trade, hand-made goods from Africa. The shop is part of a non-profit organization that assists women and orphans in rural Kenya.
MORE: BN9 video | Facebook |: Registrations: Nonprofit, LLC
A GoFundMe account set up by Keller Williams Realty Lakeland has raised more than $50,000 for the four young children of their colleague Samantha Keithley, who was killed by her husband in a murder-suicide. In addition, a Texas Keller Williams office raised $24,000, the company’s Chris McLaughlin tells The Tampa Bay Times | GoFundMe campaign
Shelley Thayer (LinkedIn) faces big challenges as new executive director of Lakeland’s SPCA Florida: stabilizing the organization’s finances and working with other agencies to make Polk a “no-kill” county. That would require bringing the county’s live-release rate for shelter animals from 51 percent to at least 90 percent.
LEARN MORE: ABC Action News talks with Gregory Fancelli, who is driving the save-the-mural effort.
