Workers have already begun building Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center’s satellite site at Kathleen Road and Interstate 4, but now Polk County’s first hospital got a green light from city commissioners Monday to double the square footage to add an emergency room and possibly a nursing home on the 20-acre site. More
The Anti-Defamation League has documented more than 20 hate, extremism, anti-Semitism, or terrorism incidents in Polk County — 10 of them in Lakeland — that occurred between 2016 and 2021, The Ledger reports. Most involve distribution of propaganda; two involved schools: an anti-Semitic, conspiracy-filled letter faxed to a Florida Southern College department and two Jewish students being harassed at a tabling event at an unnamed school. | ADL’s H.E.A.T. map
Fifty is an important number in Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd’s life this year. In addition to 2022 marking his 50th anniversary at the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, on Sept. 16, Marisa and Grady Judd will celebrate 50 years of marriage. More
Earlier this morning, we inadvertently sent out an outdated page from our 2022 Primary Voter Guide as a news alert. Our apologies. By way of explanation, the article was part of archiving an earlier version of our Voter Guide before updating it for the upcoming general election. As we update other Voter Guide pages, we are making sure the archive pages do not go out as emails. Thank you for understanding.
The ramp from the west end of Polk Parkway onto I-4 westbound was closed part of this morning but is now partially reopened after a dump truck overturned around 5 a.m., News Channel 8 reports. Drivers are urged to seek alternative routes. Crews are cleaning up the scene. There’s no word yet on whether anybody was injured or whether other vehicles were involved. More
A small group of people at Monday morning’s Lakeland City Commission meeting waited for an hour following a proclamation by Mayor Bill Mutz, which recognized June as “LGBTQ Pride Month,” so they could voice their opposition to what several called “an abomination” and “sexual perversion.” More
Polk County Public Schools is proposing a major change in its hiring practices after a special education teacher and basketball coach was hired at Haines City High School more than a year after he was found not guilty of sending a sexually explicit image to and kissing a student at Poinciana High School.
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Lakeland Police search for a man they say is possibly connected to a Sunday night shooting in Webster Park that left one person dead.
Detectives are attempting to locate 32-year-old Quinton Lakeith Owens. They believe he may have information related to the case. Owens is described as 6’1″ and weighing approximately 250 pounds.
Police spokeswoman Robin Tillett said officers responded to the park in the 900 block of West Sixth Street just after 8 p.m. after receiving information about a shooting. They found a 46-year-old man in a vehicle suffering from bullet wounds.
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Cat cafés, where adopting a feline becomes a social experience, are becoming popular in Lakeland. Botany Cats, a mobile cat lounge, already opened, and two more cat cafés, Purrology Café and Kitty Cat Lounge, are in the works.
“We all intend to get as many cats off the streets as we possibly can,” said Cindy Skop, 54, owner of Kitty Cat Lounge.
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