Communication Builds Our Community

Articles from the January 10, 2024 edition


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  • Minister and Coach Arrested on Separate Molestation Charges

    News Staff Reports|Updated Jun 17, 2024

    Two instances of molestation of children by adult authority figures, a minister and a coach, have resulted in the arrest of two individuals by the Polk County Sheriff's Office. In an incident that took place in Frostproof, 20-year-old Skylar Ready of Fort Meade was charged with four felonies related to an illegal and inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-old student at the school, whom he allegedly threatened to kill is she had sex with anyone else. Ready had served as a...

  • US 27 and SR 60 Travel Lanes to Open Soon as Massive Project Enters Home Stretch

    Robert Connors, Managing Editor|Updated Jan 22, 2024

    Driving around and through the Lake Wales area is expected to become much easier soon as the massive bridge replacement project at US 27 and SR 60 nears completion. Construction teams are preparing to apply the new "friction" pavement surfaces to both roadways and adjacent parts of Central Avenue. New traffic signals, signage, and street lighting is already installed and began functioning in recent weeks, easing the formerly-confusing passage through the darkened construction...

  • Martin Luther King Jr. Events Fill the Weekend

    Special to the News|Updated Jan 19, 2024

    Four days of observances will be part of the annual observances surrounding the birthday of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in Lake Wales, according to organizers of the events. Monday, January 15 is a national holiday, and will see the closing of banks and most government offices. Many events will take place at the James P. Austin Center, 315 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. in Lake Wales. Also on Monday the MLK parade will wind through the streets of Lake Wales...

  • Carol Gillespie Announces Run For City Commission Seat 4

    News Staff Reports|Updated Jan 19, 2024

    A second candidate has announced her intention to seek a seat on the Lake Wales City Commission in the Tuesday, April 2 election, which will see two candidates elected to new three-year terms. Carol Gillespie, a resident of Lake Ashton, will seek the north-side seat 4 currently held by Danny Krueger. Candidates must live within their district but are chosen in non-partisan, city-wide votes. If elected, she would be the only woman on the five-person commission. Gillespie's...

  • More Public Parking Downtown is Goal of CRA Purchase

    Robert Connors|Updated Jan 13, 2024

    More convenient public parking downtown, the subject of repeated merchant requests, will be addressed soon, according to city officials. Converting a private parking lot to a city-owned facility is on the agenda of the next meeting of the Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency The board will consider the purchase of the privately-owned lot at the corner of Park Avenue and First Street at their January 9 meeting. The move is viewed as part of the ongoing reinvigoration...

  • Dangerous Weather May Impact Area Tuesday Evening as El Nino Takes Hold

    Robert Connors, Managing Editor|Updated Jan 13, 2024

    The wild swings of weather seen in central Florida in recent days is expected to continue this week with a dash of severe threats thrown into the mixture, as the long-predicted El Nino weather pattern takes hold here. The immediate concern is for Tuesday evening, when a strong, fast moving squall line is expected to pass over the Lake Wales Ridge with the potential for damaging winds. Cloud to ground lightning and a slight risk of tornadoes has been forecast as well....

  • Lake Wales History Museum Director Departing

    Sepcial to the News|Updated Jan 10, 2024

    The Lake Wales History Museum will once again be left without a permanent executive director after this week as Melissa Stoller, PhD, will be leaving the organization on January 12. Stoller took over the reins of the non-profit organization in July, 2022. According to a board statement issued by museum President Brandon Alvarado, Stoller will be assuming a new position leading grant administration for the City of Lakeland. Stoller came to Lake Wales from Tallahassee, where...

  • 100 Years Ago: The Highlander of January 9, 1924

    News Research Staff|Updated Jan 10, 2024

    A housing boom in Lake Wales is not an unprecedented thing, as 100 years ago the young city was experiencing the same thing as 78 new homes were built in 1923, without filling the demand. During the early 1920s Florida was in the midst of the Great Florida Land Boom, a speculative bubble that eventually collapsed but left Lake Wales and a hundred other towns with an enormous inventory of new buildings, including the unique collection of masonry structures that dominate the...

  • Colonel James R. (Jim) Bell, 1938-2023

    News Obituary Service|Updated Jan 9, 2024

    Colonel James R. (Jim) Bell, 85, of Babson Park, Florida, died on December 12, 2023, after a brief struggle with lymphoma. He was a decorated Air Force fighter pilot and longtime public servant in multiple positions of civil government. Born April 25, 1938 to Tracy and Dorothy Bell and happily raised in Albany, Georgia, Jim began his flying career as a teenager, achieving his pilot's license in high school. Participating in ROTC during high school and college, he graduated...

  • Eileen Whitman, 1940-2023

    News Obituary Service|Updated Jan 9, 2024

    Eileen Whitman, of Lake Wales, transitioned to heaven on November 10,2023 at the age of 83. A Celebration of Life for her Florida friends and family will be held on Saturday, January 20, 2024 from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM at the La Casa Condominium Community Room (10 La Casa, Lake Wales, FL 33898. Please see this link for her full obituary....

  • Movie Review of "Wonka" : A Sweet Surprise (with a Few Wonky Bits)

    Jennifer Nanek, News Film Critic|Updated Jan 9, 2024

    I'll admit, I walked into the new Wonka movie bracing myself for disappointment. The shadow of Gene Wilder's iconic performance loomed large, and the more recent Johnny Depp version didn't exactly instill confidence. But, much like discovering a golden ticket tucked beneath a wrapper, I found myself pleasantly surprised by this chocolatey adventure. This movie was directed by Paul King who is known for his recent Paddington Bear movies. The cast did a good job. Timothée...