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.
Category: News
Posted inCrime / Justice, News
Detectives Search for Man Possibly Connected to Fatal Shooting Sunday
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 […]
Posted inBusiness, News, People
Pawsitive Impact: Cat Café Trend Finds Its Way to Lakeland
Cat cafés, where adopting a feline becomes a social experience, are becoming popular in Lakeland.
Posted inNews, People
Reporter Kimberly C. Moore Joins LkldNow’s Staff
LkldNow is growing. Kimberly C. Moore, a skilled and experienced reporter with deep Lakeland roots, is joining our staff as a full-time reporter. During the last four years, Kimberly has covered Lakeland city government and then education for The Ledger, and local readers have witnessed the curiosity and passion for her hometown that drives her […]
Posted inNews, News Roundup
Read It in the Morning Paper: Judicial Elections, Rehab Hospital
JUDGES: Brenda Ramirez, a Lakeland lawyer, will become a circuit judge in January as she was the only candidate who filed for an open seat on the 10th Judicial Circuit. In addition, 11 incumbent circuit judges have been re-elected since nobody challenged them by the deadline. On the county bench, three judges were re-elected and […]
Posted inNews
Negotiated Agreement Would Replace Oak Street Parking Lot With 200+ Apartments, 424-Space Garage
It’s taken six years and on-and-off negotiations with developers, but the city is close to securing a deal that could see a seven-story apartment complex with more than 200 units on a 1.5-acre city-owned parcel on Oak Street in downtown Lakeland. The project plans also include 2,000 square feet of street-level retail and a six-story, […]
Posted inNews
Read It in the Morning Paper: Population Growth, School Board
POPULATION GROWTH: Polk County added 24,287 new residents between July 1, 2021 to July 1, 2020, bringing total population to 753,520, according to the U.S. Census Bureau; that’s the nation’s seventh-highest number of new residents. Looking at percentage growth, the Lakeland-Winter Haven metro area also ranked seventh in the nation with a growth rate close […]
Posted inNews
Lakeland Girls Academy Closes; Parents of Teen Who Died Plan to Sue
Lakeland Girls Academy, a residential facility for troubled teens, has closed nearly two years after the death there of 17-year-old Naomi Wood of Vermont. A 2021 DCF report found administrators declined Woods’ requests to see a doctor about chronic stomach pains. Wood’s parents told News Channel 8 they plan to file a wrongful death negligence […]
Posted inNews
Proposal to Reshape Appeals Court Districts Could Affect Efforts to Retain a Lakeland Headquarters
A new proposal to realign Florida’s appellate court districts could sway the decision on whether Lakeland remains the home of the 2nd District Court of Appeal.
Posted inNews
Girl, 11, Wounded in North Lakeland Shootings is Resilient and Recovering, Family Says
The 11-year-old girl who survived with wounds as four others died at the hands of a gun-wielding stranger on Sunday morning in two north Lakeland houses will remain at Tampa General Hospital for several months, family members tell Fox 13 News. She has undergone four surgeries for her 10 wounds, but she is awake, talking, […]