Category: News Roundup

HURRICANE RECOVERY: FEMA has awarded the city of Lakeland $2.4 million in one of 28 requests totaling $18.2 million in reimbursement for funds spent in recovering from Hurricane Irma 2 1/2 years ago. POLY: In the wake of scandals elsewhere involving foreign influence on academic research, Florida Polytechnic University has responded to federal and state […]

TEACHERS: Scores of teachers and their supporters are attending today’s Polk School Board meeting (5 p.m., Bartow High School auditorium), and many are expected to speak in support of letting voters decide on a one-mil property tax for salaries | News Channel 8 coverage | Facebook event McCAUSLAND: A Hillsborough judge ruled that former Lakeland […]

TOWNSEND: Discussing a bill calling for term limits for school board members in Florida counties, state Rep. Melony Bell seemed to be talking about Billy Townsend when she said there’s a Polk School Board member “that most likely needs to be removed” from office for being disruptive “and the governor has not removed him.” When […]

ROADS: Wabash Avenue will extend northward to Kathleen Road, taking pressure off Harden/Sykes Boulevards and Florida Avenue, now that the city has agreed to spend $380,050 for the last bit of land needed. PRESCHOOL: A couple planning to open a Montessori preschool is still looking for a suitable site, having decided to no longer pursue […]

CITY: In his annual presentation to the City Commission, the head of the non-profit Lakeland Economic Development Council presented an ambitious list of goals for the city and an audacious series of suggestions for replacing city revenue without raising property taxes or utility fees. Potential revenue sources include a hospitality tax on food and beverages, […]

SCHOOLS: Anticipating a large turnout of teachers who want to talk about public education funding, the Polk School Board is looking for a larger venue for its Jan. 28 meeting, Superintendent Jacqueline Byrd said in a meeting in which board members accepted her apologies for the handling of a state email warning that teachers could […]

THE JOINERY food hall just north of Lake Mirror soft opens this week | Joinery website MLK PARADE: Photo gallery MONUMENT: A lawsuit seeking to return the Confederate monument to Munn Park will be heard by a federal appeals court in late April. Source: The Ledger

BYRD APOLOGY: If she had it to do over again, Polk Schools Superintendent Jacqueline Byrd said in an email apology to her staff, she would have let teachers know why she forwarded a letter from a state lawyer and assured them they wouldn’t be fired for attending a statewide rally in Tallahassee on a school […]

METHODISTS: As the United Methodist Church faces a potentially divisive split over LGBTQ issues, the pastor of Lakeland’s First United Methodist Church expressed hopes for unity Sunday and said his church’s “inclusive” approach will keep it aligned with the denomination. DISABILITIES: It will cost the city of Lakeland an estimated $45.5 million over 25 years […]