Category: News Roundup

LAKELAND ELECTRIC: A recent accident has city leaders pondering the future of the McIntosh 2 power plant. FLORIDA AVENUE: City commissioners agreed to ask state transportation planners to conduct a study of altering South Florida Avenue in Dixieland and Downtown | background BULLYING CASE: Federal jurors are being asked this week to decide whether Polk deputies violated civil rights […]

SALVATION ARMY: A shift in federal funding priorities has left the two-year-old George Jenkins Community of Hope transition shelter for homeless families with a $130,000 gap, so the Salvation Army is looking to the community for support. (UPDATE: The Friday was finally posted online Monday afternoon.) DOWNTOWN: Ellen Simms, who has been active with the Downtown Lakeland […]

BOSKO’S: Restaurant reviewer Eric Pera is underwhelmed by the cautious approach that a pair of experienced restaurateurs bring to Bosko’s Clubhouse Grill at Cleveland Heights Golf Course but remains optimistic that it “may inded become a dining destination.” COMING UP:  Pedestrian bridges over downtown railroad tracks will be discussed at a forum at 5 p.m. today […]

SUPERDROMES: Reporter Chris Guinn previews plans for a manufacturing facility at Lakeland Linder Airport by Griff Aviation North America, which is affiliated with but independent from the Norwegian company that originated drones capable of lifting several hundred pounds. TROLLER: The School Board unanimously backed a recommendation to fire Justin Troller from his job as LHS athletic director, but […]

SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: SEU is renaming its ministries college for Chancellor Tommy Barnett and this fall launches its School of Worship, which will prepare students to lead contemporary styles of worship and music. COMING UP: School Board decides Tuesday if  suspended LHS athletics head Justin Troller will stay employed | Swan boat races on Lake Mirror Friday benefit Lakeland Volunteers […]

ATTRACTING JOBS: The city of Lakeland needs to step up incentives it offers to attract companies offering high-skill, high-wage jobs if it wants to compete with Florida’s larger cities, LEDC’s Steve Scruggs tells city commissioners at a planning retreat | Examples HOSPITAL: Lakeland Regional Health received its second straight B safety grade from the Leapfrog rating agency; the hospital […]

EASTSIDE ODOR: BS Ranch and Farm is not causing an odor problem and Polk County’s attempt to close it could cost the company millions of dollars and hurt efforts to fight citrus greening, a lawyer for the company wrote in a legal filing. CANDIDATE: Retired teacher and social worker Sandy Toledo has filed to run for the […]

ART SPACE: Visual artists can secure studio space at WA Studio and Gallery, being opened in Dixieland by David Collins. HOME RENTALS: Tax Collector Joe Tedder’s staff is looking for people who rent out their homes for events like Sun ‘n Fun or Spring Training but don’t pay the county bed tax. Source: The Ledger

TIGERS: An earlier start to Spring Training is one of the possible reasons per-game attendance dropped this year for the Detroit Tigers and the rest of the Grapefruit League. AIRPORT: A series of transactions topping $1 million to add a U.S. Customs office to Lakeland Linder Airport will be considered by the City Commission Monday. RALLY: A Lakeland […]

MEDICAL POT: Proposed land-use restrictions on medical marijuana dispensaries got the support of a slight majority of city commissioners in an informal vote Friday. TIGER DEAL: Polk tourism is being promoted at Detroit Tigers home games through a kiosk, ticket stubs and a centerfield banner at Comerica Park under a deal cut when local governments ponied […]