Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
Sorted by date Results 1 - 14 of 14
Crews from Gomez Construction have made substantial progress on a block of West Park Avenue between First Street and Wetmore Street. The reconstruction is part of the $11.5 million transformation of that street and, eventually, the adjoining eastern blocks and the adjacent MarketPlace. The Lake Wales Post office and adjacent businesses are being served from a parking lot accessible from Orange Avenue, one block to the north. Signage has been placed to direct traffic to the...
Fourteen new Southern Live Oaks and ten Florida Holly trees were planted last week as the latest landscaping contribution toward recreating the "City in a Garden" ideal of Lake Wales founders. Lake Wales Heritage, an Olmsted Conservancy, undertook the plantings as part of their city-wide efforts. The trees in the Druid Hills neighborhood are the latest step by the Heritage organization toward completing the landscape design of Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., who planned both the...
The first new development to adopt the "Traditional Neighborhood Design" principles adopted by the Lake Wales City Commission has been approved. The concept lies at the heart of the Lake Wales Envisioned plan currently under development by planning consultants. The adopted plan for the 18.66-acre site includes the mixed residential types, rear parking, sidewalks leading to nearby commercial services, a "green street," and other features advocated in the city's adopted set of...
A week of wet weather is ahead for Florida as forecast models show a strong upper-level low persisting over the area all week. Waves of strong storms are expected to propagate from the Gulf of Mexico as southwest winds draw up deep tropical moisture. Forecast models are showing as much as five inches of rain over portions of the peninsula, but local totals can vary widely. The winds 15,000 to 20,000 above the surface feet will be circling in a strong counter-clockwise spin,...
Construction is moving at a rapid pace at a new subdivision being built north of Chalet Suzanne Road. Leoma's Landing will feature 336 single-family homes in a mix of one and two-story designs. Paved streets are already in place, along with underground utilities, but without sidewalks. The surge in construction has come after years of pause on the part of the developers, who began to advance the project only last year after gaining preliminary approval several years ago....
Representatives of thirteen area charitable organizations were smiling Thursday evening as they assembled to receive grant awards resulting from the efforts of the Lake Wales Mardi Gras. The event, hosted at Wales Pointe Restaurant, saw the awarding of a total of $26,000 to the groups. The $26,000 raised and donated by the Lake Wales Mardi Gras Committee represents funds raised in donations by sponsors, vendor fees, and sales during the event. The annual charitable donations...
The conversion of the former McLaughlin Academy of Excellence, a middle school, into McLaughlin Middle/High School is moving ahead with the construction of a new gymnasium, the first of several new facilities that will be added to the school's 38-acre campus in coming months and years. The new gymnasium will serve the full line-up of athletics anticipated for the McLaughlin Phoenix teams. The 28,300 square-foot gymnasium will host a variety of athletic programs, including...
Homeowners should "beware and to proceed with caution" when approached with 'PACE' agreements to pay for energy-efficient and storm-hardening features on their property tax bills, according to Polk County Tax Collector Joe G. Tedder. Some contractors are offering Polk homeowners a variety of home improvements without provisions for billing, saying that all they need to do is sign a "PACE" agreement. Property Assessed Clean Energy, or PACE, offers a loan program to property...
The interconnectedness of the Lake Wales Ridge and surrounding public and private lands will be the focus of an online "Deep Dive" presentation Wednesday afternoon from 4:00 to 5:00 pm. Those lands are the subject of detailed study as part of the Lake Wales Envisioned planning ongoing, which will address "Olmsted's Garden City in 10, 25, and 50 Years," The in-depth discussion of the draft "Big Green" and "Little Green" land conservation and open space concepts under...
A family Father's Day celebration tragedy took the life of a 17-year-old Frostproof resident, who drowned in Lake Clinch after a boating crash. Jose Torres was reportedly the driver of a vehicle, described as "a waverunner," that tumbled out of control about 200 yards off shore just after 8:00 pm Sunday, throwing him and a passenger into the water. According to reports, the Frostproof Fire Department was notified at 8:19 pm and responded to the scene, calling local fisherman...
Tommie B. Snow passed away Tuesday, June 13, 2023. He was born September 5, 1926 in Dudley, GA to Seronia & Jonnie Snow, He served in the US Army. Tommie was a Bulldozer Operator in the Phosphate industry. He was a member of Wildwood Baptist Church in Bartow where he served as a Deacon for many years. He is survived by his wife of 69 years Annie Snow of Bartow, four daughters Deborah Collinsworth & husband James of Plant City, Sharon Snow of Bartow, Cynthia Leonard of...
Arthur St. Clair McKinstry, 90, peacefully passed away June 8 at Cates Hospice House in Ocala, Florida. Arthur was best known to all that knew him as "Mac" and was born in San Antonio Texas in 1932. He graduated from Holderness School and then attended Washington & Lee University. He had been a resident of Lake Wales FL for 56 years, where he spent most of his career at The Vanguard School. He was an instrumental member of the team that established the Lake Wales campus in 196...
The sale of five lots owned by the Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency will spur the development of new affordable housing for workers and retirees. An agreement for the sale of the five properties for a total of $34,157.00 to Florida Development Corp, Inc. (FDC) will allow the company to develop five two-bedroom rental units on the lots, located on Sessoms Avenue, D and E Streets. Although a staff report lists the units as having a single bathroom each, an attached floo...
Close on the heels of the recent discovery of a black bear hiding in a tree on the Lake Wailes Trail, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is sharing the reminder that juvenile black bears are starting to leave their mothers' home ranges in search of new homes of their own. Between the ages of 1½ -2½ years, juvenile or yearling bears start dispersing in spring and summer, with spring marking a return to activity for bears after limited...
