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 development. Petitioner Vanessa Mesell, as Center Points Solutions, LLC, already has positive recommendations for that change from the Lakeland Planning and Zoning Board and from city staff. More
Should the city of Lakeland trim the number of polling places for municipal elections from 25 to 12? Mayor Bill Mutz says the cost-cutting idea makes sense in an age when a growing majority of voters cast ballots by mail. But Commissioner Justin Troller says plentiful polling places prompt participation. 
Emily Colon, a 32-year-old program administrator with Pasco County and adjunct public affairs professor at the University of South Florida, has been named Lakeland’s assistant city manager, City Manager Tony Delgado announced this morning. 
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.
With a federal court challenge behind them, the Lakeland City Commission today directed City Manager Tony Delgado to proceed with plans to move a 109-year-old Confederate monument from the center of Munn Park downtown to its new home, a gentle slope overlooking Veterans Park and Lake Beulah. 
Lakeland’s next assistant city manager will be a woman who currently works in the Tampa Bay area and has spent her professional career in Central Florida. That profile fits both remaining candidates after the other two finalists dropped out of consideration today. 
On a day when City Manager Tony Delgado announced he was promoting from within to fill the position of police chief, he revealed the names of four finalists — all from outside of Lakeland — for the No. 3 position in city administration: assistant city manager. 
The much-debated city saga of the fate of the 109-year-old Confederate monument in Munn Park continues to drag on: most recently, a U.S. District Court judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by groups and individuals who want it to stay put.
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