- RICK OLIVO, who founded the troupe that evolved into Lakeland Community Theatre, taught generations of visual artists and created the model for Lakeland’s Swansation sculptures, died Saturday at age 74.
- COVID-19 cases in Polk County declined for a seventh straight week to the kinds of levels seen in the weeks before the omicron surge; testing positivity last week was 3.7%, marking the first time in nearly three months it dipped below 5%. | Polk charts
- HUBBELL EYE CLINIC is rebranding as Clarkson Eyecare. Gerard Hubbell, who founded the South Florida Avenue clinic in 1977, is retaining the doctor’s office and will continue serving patients, but has sold clinic ownership to Clarkson, a Missouri-based business with more than 300 ophthalmologists in 11 states. | Clarkson website
Source: The Ledger