Cedric Wilson spent years on the wrong side of the law, but now owns a promotional business in North Lakeland and directs music videos, including a new version of local rapper Stephon’s “Ducking Grady” that features appearances by Polk County’s sheriff. Judd tells Bay News 9 he agreed to appear in the video because “it’s the right thing to do” and will strengthen ties between law enforcement and the community.
Two Lakeland teens, including one who used the CPR he learned at Kathleen Middle School, rescued another teen from the bottom of a pool and revived him. For that, they were honored for heroism Monday by the Lakeland Fire Department. More
Jian Zhang, 31, learned discipline and customer service from his parents when he worked at their China 1 restaurant in Highland Plaza while attending Lakeland High School. In recent years, he has opened several businesses in the plaza, including Jade Fox, a full bar/dance club celebrating its first anniversary in December.
Carol Erkes didn’t imagine she would go from being a dancer to an impresario, managing an arts organization instead of creating art. “I never had any intention of getting to where we are today. It snowballed,” she said.
Erkes retired in June as the executive and artistic director of Florida Dance Theatre, the professional dance company she founded in 1993 as a ballet school. More
Friends of recent Lake Gibson High School graduate Stephanie Carroll describe her as bubbly and likable and say they were devastated to learn she died in a roll-over crash on I-4 Saturday that injured four others | GoFundMe page
Lakeland is represented by at least a dozen business leaders in Florida Trend’s new Florida 500 list of business executives whom the magazine’s editors deem “most influential.” Organizations represented include AgAmerica Lending, Florida Polytechnic University, Lakeland Regional Health, Publix Super Markets, Saunders Real Estate, The Ruthvens and Watson Clinic. More
Random acts of kindness were reported as evacuees from Florida’s east coast filled the Hilton Garden Inn at Lakeland Linder Airport and other area lodgings.
Nicole Travis, the city of Lakeland’s community and economic development director, tells Tampa Bay Business Journal that she is motivated by her family: her mother’s success as a government minister in the Virgin Islands inspires her, as well as her desire to be a role model for her daughters. She also reveals the not-well-known info that she can play steel drums. Travis is one of the newspaper’s 2019 BusinessWoman of the Year honorees.
Lakeland native Tanner Halbert, a 22-year-old groundskeeper for the city, won championships in televised competitions in Pennsylvania and Las Vegas for the bag toss game known as cornhole.
Leadership Lakeland, a Lakeland Chamber of Commerce program to develop community leaders, tonight introduced the 30 members of its 37th class. The members will devote one day each month for the next nine months to learning about different segments of community life, such as government, health care, education, economy, human services, criminal justice, art and media. More
