Friends Share Memories of Teacher, 24, Who Died from COVID

Sep 16, 2021 at 7:58 am News Channel 8

Friends and family are mourning D’Anthony Dorsey, a 24-year-old marine biology teacher who was infected with COVID-19 and spent three weeks on a ventilator before dying Tuesday night, WFLA reports. “He was a good player for us but just, a better human. Just a solid kid,” said Bill Castle, who coached Dorsey when he was a linebacker on the LHS Dreadnaught football team in 2013 and 2014. ““He was a gentle giant whose calm and caring presence was appreciated by everyone on campus,” read a statement from the principal of Auburndale High School, where Dorsey taught. More

People

Former Florida Chief Justice Stephen Grimes Dies at 93

Sep 13, 2021 at 4:22 pm Tallahassee Democrat

Stephen H. Grimes, a retired Florida Supreme Court chief justice who grew up in Lakeland and started his legal career in Polk County, has died at age 93. He will lie in state in the Supreme Court rotunda Wednesday, The Tallahassee Democrat reports. ALSO: The Ledger

Business/ People

Security Professional Opens Cigar Lounge on Wheels

Sep 13, 2021 at 10:31 am

Parked on the weekends on Memorial Boulevard near Ohio Street and next to the new Coney Funeral Home, the 1911 Rollin Cigar Lounge gives small groups of people a chance to gather and smoke cigars in a comfortable RV. More

People

WWII Veteran’s Family Learns of His Bronze Star After He Died

Sep 11, 2021 at 9:37 am News Channel 8

The family of Bill Bateman knew that he had served in the U.S. Marines during World War II, but they did not know until after he died Monday at age 96 that he had received a Bronze Star for heroism, News Channel 8 reported. Discovery of his heroism citation means that Bateman, who owned McDonalds franchises in Lakeland and Bartow, will be buried with full military honors. More

People

Funds Established to Help Family of Five Mass Shooter Victims

Sep 9, 2021 at 8:16 am Axios Tampa Bay

Two GoFundMe funds have been set up to assist family members of Sunday’s mass shooting victims with funeral costs for the four who died and medical costs for the child who was wounded, Axios Tampa Bay reports. The 11-year-old Lake Gibson Middle School student has had four surgeries and is receiving blood transfusions after suffering 11 gunshot wounds, mostly below the waist, and a broken leg, family members say. | Fund for child’s mother | Fund for child’s grandmother

Crime / Justice/ People

Murder Victim Justice Gleason Remembered as a Good Father With a Huge Smile

Sep 7, 2021 at 6:59 am 10 Tampa Bay

Forty-year-old Justice Gleason, one of the four people murdered in two north Lakeland homes on Sunday, was “an amazing father” whose “smile could light up a room,” the mother of his 4-year-old daughter tells 10 Tampa Bay. Now Miranda Watson is grappling with how to one day tell her daughter about what happened to her dad. | ALSO: News Channel 8 – Neighbors grapple with fate More

News Roundup/ People

Read It in the Morning Paper, Public Officials Edition

Aug 27, 2021 at 6:43 am The Ledger

OLIVER GREEN, retired appeals and circuit judge and decorated Korean War veteran, died Wednesday at age 88 of a disease unrelated to COVID-19. | ALSO: Family-placed obituary in LkldNow
U.S. REP. SCOTT FRANKLIN holds town hall meetings differently than nearby colleagues. Instead of announcing them in advance, Franklin issues invitations by automated telephone calls to a vendor’s list moments before the meetings begin, usually at 7 p.m.
POLK DEPUTY CHRISTOPHER BROADHEAD will be memorialized at 10 a.m. Monday at Victory Church. He died at age 32 after being hospitalized for several weeks with COVID-19. Both the church service and law enforcement honors that follow will be live-streamed on the PCSO Facebook page. | Learn more

Dining/ People

Don Bosko Looks Back on 30 Years of Beef ‘O’ Brady’s in Lakeland

Aug 20, 2021 at 4:51 pm

The path to Don Bosko bringing the first Beef ‘O’ Brady’s restaurant to Lakeland in 1991 began with his working for free for a month before the chain’s owner granted him a franchise. This weekend, the 74-year-old restaurateur celebrates 30 years in business. More

Politics/ People

Entertainer Eddie Geller Announces Bid to Oppose Franklin for Congress

Aug 15, 2021 at 6:51 am The Ledger

The newest candidate for the seat in Congress that represents Lakeland is Eddie Geller, a 37-year-old entertainer and activist who recently moved to Brandon to run for the seat, The Ledger reports. Geller faces Jesse Philippe in the Democratic primary that will determine who faces Republican incumbent Scott Franklin of Lakeland next fall. He said he was motivated to run by seeing Franklin “vote to challenge the election results and perpetuate the big lie.” LINKS: Tampa Bay Times article | Campaign website | YouTube announcement

People/ Politics

Potential Election Could Pose Tricky Issues for Charles and Jennifer Canady

Aug 12, 2021 at 10:34 am News Service of Florida

News Service of Florida reporter Dara Kam explores some tricky issues that could face Florida Chief Justice Charles Canady if his wife of 24 years, Jennifer Canady of Lakeland, succeeds Colleen Burton in the Florida House of Representatives. The Canadys respond that they will follow all rules and laws. “My husband has spent his entire career in public service meticulously following the law,” Jennifer Canady said. Florida News Service has allowed LkldNow to publish the full article: More