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Articles from the April 3, 2024 edition


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  • Thousands of New Career Openings in Field of Renewable Energy

    Special to the News, NAPSI|Updated Apr 10, 2024

    (NAPSI)-Addressing climate change is an all-hands-on-deck undertaking. It requires a smarter, stronger, and cleaner energy grid that provides affordable, reliable power when and where people need it. The grid of the future will have to be at least twice the size of what it is today-most likely even bigger. That means jobs-thousands and thousands of them across a wide variety of industries, from manufacturing technology, such as batteries and wind turbines, to electric vehicle...

  • Frostproof Teacher Murdered by Her Own Son in Stabbing Attack

    News Staff Reports|Updated Apr 9, 2024

    UPDATED The horrifying murder of a second grade teacher has shocked residents of Frostproof and the surrounding area. Elvia Espinoza, who taught second grade at Ben Hill Griffin Elementary School in Frostproof, was stabbed to death by her own son after he returned home from college for a family gathering. Espinoza, 46, was attacked after opening the door to her home in the Sun Ray neighborhood her son, 21-year-old Emmanuel Espinoza, who had just arrived after driving from...

  • Holiday Trips Ended in Tragedy as Three Killed in Head-on Crash on SR 60 Near Indian Lake

    News Staff Reports|Updated Apr 8, 2024

    The dangerous two-lane stretch of SR 60 east between Indian Lake and Yeehaw Junction claimed three lives Saturday in a high-speed head-on crash. A child strapped into a car-seat was the only survivor of the impact, escaping with only minor injuries, according to officials. The crash took place about 9:30 p.m. just east of the intersection of CR 630. Investigators reported that Hannah Weiser, 22, of Winter Haven, was heading westbound and attempted to pass a slower vehicle....

  • Florida Poly Breaks Ground on New Engineering Building

    Lydia Guzman|Updated Apr 8, 2024

    Ground has been broken for a new $15-million, two-story building at Florida Polytechnic University that will house research and development labs for a variety of engineering disciplines, staff and faculty offices, collaboration spaces, and a conference room. Florida Polytechnic University leaders were joined by state and community officials on April 4 to celebrate the groundbreaking of the Gary C. Wendt Engineering Building, a cutting-edge 40,000-square-foot academic facility...

  • Hispanics, African Americans at Higher Risk of Eye Disease

    Special to the News, NAPSI|Updated Apr 6, 2024

    (NAPSI)-If you think you'd know if you were losing vision to an eye disease, you might want to think again. The symptoms of glaucoma can start so slowly that you may not notice them. That's why half the people with glaucoma don't even know they have it. The good news is that regular eye exams and timely treatment can preserve your sight. But, the only way to find out if you have glaucoma is to get a comprehensive dilated eye exam. The American Academy of Ophthalmology recommen...

  • City's Trail Network to See Major Expansion

    Robert Connors, Managing Editor|Updated Apr 5, 2024

    The popular network of walking and biking trails weaving through Lake Wales is about to grow a great deal better, thanks to grants received by the city. New planned segments include the Ridge Scenic Highway Connector Trail that will connect the western end of the Lake Wales Trailway to the new Park Avenue Trail near Crystal Lake. It will run south along Third Street from a point just west of the Lake Wales Little Theatre, thereby also accessing the Lake Wailes Trail. That link...

  • One-Vote Margin as Alvarado-Williams Race Heads to Likely Recount, Possible Coin-Toss

    News Staff Reports|Updated Apr 5, 2024

    The startling result of the District 2 City Commission election as tabulated by the Supervisor of Elections is expected to result in a careful examination of a handful of rejected and provisional ballots that could tip the election, according to sources reached Tuesday night by Lake Wales News. The unofficial results left incumbent Daniel Williams leading challenger Brandon Alvarado by one vote, 939 to 938. A second challenger, Crystal Higbee, ran a distant third, gathering...

  • Lake Wales Growth Manager Autumn Cochella Resigns

    Frank Butler and Howard Davies|Updated Apr 5, 2024

    Lake Wales' Interim Growth Management Director Autumn Cochella has announced her decision to step down from her role effective April 12. Her announcement may have come at an inopportune moment as the city commission is currently contemplating the adoption of new ordinances governing Planned Development Projects and Traditional Neighborhood Design. Cochella was appointed to the interim position in January 2023 after the resignation of former director Mark Bennett. A...

  • Williams Defeats Alvarado by Four Votes After Recount

    Robert Connors, Managing Editor|Updated Apr 5, 2024

    City Commissioner Daniel Williams has won a new three-year term after escaping a strong challenge by political newcomer Brandon Alvarado by a four vote margin, leaving Williams reelected with 42.3 percent of the votes cast. A third candidate, Crystal Higbee, took 347 votes. Following a machine recount and a manual recount of "outstacked" ballots, the final margin of William's win was 943 to 939. Alvarado conceded defeat immediately after the conclusion of the recount, and...

  • Complex Ballot Review Involved in Determining City Election Results After One-Vote Difference

    Robert Connors, Managing Editor|Updated Apr 5, 2024
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    A one-vote margin in a Lake Wales election between incumbent Commissioner Daniel Williams and challenger Brandon Alvarado has cast a bright light upon the processes required in the situation by city ordinance and Florida statutes that Deputy Mayor Robin Gibson called "unbelievably complicated." The three-way race for a new three-year term on the District 2 seat of the city commission ended Tuesday with Williams and Alvarado as the top two vote-getters collecting 939 and 938...

  • Recount to Happen Today in City Commission Election

    Robert Connors|Updated Apr 5, 2024

    Four voters who had provided incomplete information when voting on election day were able to "cure" their ballots through contact with the Supervisor of Elections ahead of Thursday's canvassing board meeting. Their effort has moved the needle in the District 2 city commission election between incumbent commissioner Daniel Williams and challenger Brandon Alvarado, but not enough to avoid a machine recount, which will take place today (Friday, April 5). The canvassing board,...

  • Gillespie Defeats Krueger After Hard Fought City Election

    News Staff Reports|Updated Apr 3, 2024

    Carol Gillespie has defeated incumbent City Commissioner Danny Krueger in the race for Seat 4. In an unofficial tally of all votes, Gillespie collected 1,325 votes to Kruegers' 983, or a winning total of 57.41 percent., In the second race for Seat 2, Daniel Williams collected an unofficial total of 939 votes, to Alvarado's 938 votes. The results are certain to trigger an automatic recount. A third candidate in the race, Crystal Higbee, won 347 votes, of 15.6%. There is no...

  • Social Security Administration Offers Respite From High Overpayment Costs

    Special to the News|Updated Apr 2, 2024

    Accidental overpayments of Social Security benefits sometimes occur due to certain incorrect data entered into computer databases. Although rare, those situations have sometimes been devastating to recipients who found themselves owing hundreds or even thousands of dollars to the Social Security Administration. When a person has been overpaid, the law requires the agency to seek repayment, which can create financial difficulties for beneficiaries. Recognizing the extreme...

  • Climate Change Driving "Scary" Hurricane Season Predictions

    News Staff Report|Updated Apr 1, 2024

    If forecasters are correct, Floridians should expect and prepare for a very active and threatening hurricane season for 2024. Reports from private forecasters are already sounding alarms about the sharply-elevated water temperatures in the waters of the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico. That heat, released as steamy air, is condensed and cooled in the heart of hurricanes, falling as torrential rain and creating the lowered pressure that drives the intensity of the...

  • Movie Review: A Delightfully Subversive Romp in "Wicked Little Letters"

    Jennifer Nanek, News Film Critic|Updated Apr 1, 2024

    This movie, Wicked Little Letters, starring Olivia Coleman and Jesse Buckley, is absolutely hilarious. The film is a 2023 British black comedy/mystery, directed by Thea Sharrock and written by Jonny Sweet, set in 1920s small town England. When a conservative spinster named Edith, played by Olivia Coleman, starts getting these really offensive letters, her brash, vulgar next door neighbor from Ireland, Rose played by Jessie Buckley, is accused. All of the performances are...

  • Dorine Estelle Bullock, 1928-2024

    News Obituary Service|Updated Mar 31, 2024

    Dorine Estelle Bullock was born on December 2, 1928 in Rohrersville MD. She was the first daughter of Margaret Rohrer and John Thomas Geltmacher. The town was named after the Rohrer family. On March 8, 2024, Dorine graduated to her incorporeal fullness at the age of 95, peacefully in her sleep at her home in Lake Wales, Florida. In 1949, at the age of 21, she married Joseph Bullock Sr. in Philadelphia. They raised two sons, Joseph Jr. and Robert, and were very happily married...

  • Only Two of Five Candidates Show for Final Election Forum

    News Staff Report|Updated Mar 30, 2024
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    With an election only three days away, three of five candidates seeking to occupy seats on the Lake Wales City Commission skipped a last chance to meet and hear from voters. Both incumbents skipped the chance to interact with voters, just as they had a March 4 forum hosted at the Lake Wales Woman's Club theatre. At an outdoor forum hosted in perfect weather at the B Street Center in the city's Northwest Neighborhood, only Carol Gillespie, seeking Seat 4. and Brandon Alvarado,...

  • William Newton "Bill" Mitchell, Jr., 1961-2024

    News Obituary Service|Updated Mar 30, 2024

    William Newton "Bill" Mitchell, Jr. of Lake Wales passed away Wednesday, March 27, 2024 at his residence. He was born February 18, 1961 in Hollywood to the late William and Aldean Mitchell. Bill loved his job as a maintenance technician for Water's Edge and was a veteran of the United States Air Force. He was an avid crocheter, scuba diver, sky diver, orchid gardener, mechanic, and surfer. He was a Disney fan and especially liked Jiminy Cricket. Bill is survived by his wife...