Lakeland High School defensive end Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy, ESPN’s No. 5 football recruit nationally, has chosen the Oklahoma Sooners. The deciding factor was head coach Lincoln Riley’s personal touch. “When I first started talking to them, they were like, we’re not going to be talking football with you, we’re just going to get to know you as a person. That drew me towards them,” the LHS senior told ESPN.
A new anchor at WESH 2 News in Orlando has Lakeland roots. Luana Munoz, 39, stepped into her new role as weekend anchor on Sept. 15 at the Hearst-owned television station. “It’s been a lot of jumping around and working in other markets and locations. So being able to come back home is a big deal for me. There’s family here. I just love the feeling of central Florida,” said Luana Munoz. More
The names of two Lakeland police officers who died while on duty were added to a memorial wall during Polk County’s annual service in memory of fallen officers on Thursday. The names of Officers Ken Foley and Paul Dunn were added during a ceremony at Veterans Park in Lakeland that was delayed twice because of COVID-19, Fox 13 News reports. ALSO: ABC Action News | LPD video of the ceremony | More
Lakeland firefighter/paramedic Clay Geiger, 31, returns to work today after 16 months’ treatment for a rare form of cancer. It will be several years before he will know if he is in full remission, News Channel 8 reports. ALSO: Instagram
Don Whitworth, who served as publisher of The Ledger from 1988 to 2000, died last week in his Lakeland home at age 77. Whitworth, a graduate of Lakeland High School, is the only publisher in The Ledger’s 97-year-history who grew up here. More
Lakeland Regional Health now has a Caring Cradle, an invention by a Lakeland woman designed to assist families grieving over a stillbirth or the death of a newborn. More
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
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
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
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
