Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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Truck drivers and other travelers on U.S. 27 in south Lake Wales will have a new place to eat, get fuel, service, rest and hot showers 24 hours a day as the new Love's Travel Stop opens Thursday, Aug. 29. The store at the intersection of U.S. 27 and Hunt Brothers Road will house a Subway, Godfather's Pizza and Chester's Chicken and employ an estimated 50-60 people. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, Love's has more than 490 stores in 41 states, including 16 others in Florida....
The prospective developers of the historic Seminole Hotel shared conceptual site plans with Lake Wales city officials Tuesday, Aug. 13. South Florida architect Rick Gonzalez produced the drawings in partnership with local developer Ray Brown. Gonzalez has more than 30 years' experience restoring historic buildings and serves as vice chair of the Florida Historical Commission. City Development Services Director Kathy Bangley said she was pleased with the conceptual plans and lo...
Joyce Annette Rushing, 73, of Lake Wales, passed away Monday, August 12, 2019 at her residence. She was born March 8, 1946 in Lake Wales to the late Teener and Josie (Warren) Skinner. She has been a lifelong resident of the area. She was a member of the Golfview Church of God. She spent her time loving and playing with grandchildren and loving her brothers and sisters in church. She is preceded in death by her brother James E. Skinner. She is survived by her daughters Valerie...
Lake Wales City Commissioners got their first look Tuesday at a proposed balanced budget for 2019-20 that includes a slight reduction in the property tax rate. Finance Director Dorothy Abbott told commissioners that the city is in good financial shape and staff feels comfortable recommending a millage rate of 6.9339, or approximately $6.93 for every $1,000 of taxable property value. This is considered the "rollback rate" that based upon anticipated growth can be expected to...
Two new primary care providers have joined the Heart of Florida Physician Group and will be practicing together in Lake Wales. Rodolfo S. Fernandez, M.D., an internal medicine physician and Amber Y. Shepard, M.D., a family medicine physician will be seeing patients at their office located at 1255 SR 60 E., Suite 500 in Lake Wales. "We are very excited to welcome these two physicians to our group,'' said Sabrina Robinson, director for the physician group. "Dr. Fernandez had...
Urban planner Victor Dover was man of the hour Tuesday, receiving applause and high praise after presenting a draft Lake Wales Connected plan for redevelopment of the city's downtown and northwest business district. About 75 interested persons, including numerous downtown merchants and community business leaders, listened attentively as Dover described the potential to turn Lake Wales into a popular destination, returning to city founders' concept of a city in a garden, as des...
Steve Koruschak Jr., 89, of Lake Wales passed away Saturday, August 3, 2019 at his residence. He was born February 19, 1930 in Cairnbrook, PA to the late Steve and Fannie Koruschak; and has been a resident of the area since 1960. Steve was a retired letter carrier for the United States Postal Service and retired after 20 years from the United States Navy serving in Korea and Vietnam. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Lake Wales and a lifetime member of the V.F.W....
Lake Wales City officials are reviewing the 100-plus page draft "Neighborhood Plan for the Core of Lake Wales" in preparation for its official presentation Aug. 13 by urban planners from Dover, Kohl & Partners. "Lake Wales Connected is more than just a plan for improvements to a single street, district or neighborhood; it is a strategy for revitalization of Lake Wales' historic Downtown and one of its most important close-in neighborhoods. Together, the Downtown and Northwest...
Lake Wales City Commissioner Curtis Gibson blasted City Manager Ken Fields Tuesday for questioning his intelligence, embarrassing, humiliating and disrespecting him. "I'm here to tell you, we don't work for you, you work for us," Gibson told Fields during commissioner's remarks at the end of the Aug. 6 commission meeting. Gibson returned from a recent National League of Cities Conference in Jackson, Mississippi, eager to share information with his colleagues about a National...
Lake Wales pioneer and historic preservationist Mimi Hardman may soon have a city building named in her honor. The Lake Wales History Museum will be seeking donors to help restore and rehabilitate the historic 1916 Seaboard Airline Freight Depot, and repurpose the interior of the building as the new permanent Mimi Hardman Collections & Research Center. Items in the city collection date back to 1852, when the original government survey of Lake Wales was completed. A project of...
Lake Wales City Commissioner Curtis Gibson may be bucking for a new nickname: Robin Hood. It wasn't exactly robbing the rich to give to the poor, but at the July 16 commission meeting Gibson did propose giving the higher paid city staff members smaller raises this year in order to give more to the city's lower paid workers. Commissioner Terrye Howell immediately supported the idea, but other commissioners said they would withhold judgment and wait for further analysis and a...
ALSIM, one of the world's premier manufacturers of flight simulators, has announced plans to locate a new North American assembly and support facility at the Lake Wales Commerce and Technology Park. The company announced it will be hiring multiple staff for the Lake Wales location, which beginning in September will house technicians and items like spare parts. "Lake Wales is extremely proud to be part of the growing aerospace industry in Polk County," said City Manager Ken Fie...
An act of kindness by a Lake Wales police officer didn't go unnoticed by a little girl whose family recently was involved in a car crash. The child named Abby took the time to create a special thank-you card and to visit the police department to thank Officer Edgar Claros in person. At the July 16 city commission meeting Lake Wales Mayor Eugene Fultz read a commendation letter from Police Chief Chris Velasquez, which detailed the recent incident. "What stands out is the...
Boice F. “Smitty” Smithers, 83, of Lake Wales passed away Saturday, July 27 at Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center in Davenport. He was born July 27, 1936 in Robbins, TN to the late George Robert and Cora Smithers; he came to Lake Wales from Tennessee in 1984. He was a retired security guard, of the Baptist faith and served in the U.S. Army. He was a history enthusiast and enjoyed reading, watching old movies on tv and going on vacation. Survivors include his wife of 63 years, Myrtle “Mickey” Smithers; daughte...
When Lake Wales commissioners were asked to envision what would produce a huge city success story by the year 2040, they enthusiastically detailed a bright future. Commissioners and senior staff came up with some big vision headlines for a "Miracle on the Ridge": "Lake Wales Annexes its Way to Prosperity and Success." "Lake Wales Restores Big Lake Wailes as Recreational Paradise." "Grand Hotel Open with Rotating Restaurant on Top." "Lake Wales Becomes Second Largest City in...
Joann Martin McKenna, 91, entered Eternal Life on Thursday, July 25 at Winter Haven Hospital surrounded by her loved ones. She was born on March 14, 1928 in Lake Wales. Joann graduated from Lake Wales High School, Marquette University (BA) and the University of South Florida (MA) and received a honorary PhD from Webber International University. Over the course of her career at Webber International University, formerly Webber College, she held 7 different titles including...
Ofelia Delgado Castillo, 84, of Lake Wales passed away July 24, 2019 at her residence. She was born February 1, 1935 in San Antonio, TX to the late Isaac and Elvira Martinez. She married Alejandro Castillo on February 14, 1959 and together they had eight children; five boys and three girls. They lived in Burnet, TX and moved to Lake Wales in 1968, as migrant workers traveled from state to state. Ofelia was a very outgoing person and cared for her kids and grandkids. She was a...
City commissioners will have a full-day workshop Monday, July 29 to develop a strategic vision for Lake Wales. The public meeting is set for 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the James P. Austin Community Center, 315 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Texas consulting firm Strategic Government Resources will facilitate the workshop. The idea developed after commissioners heard a report on a two-day training program SGR conducted for 65 city supervisory personnel or those likely to become...
Family and Friends of Albert Hawkins Jr. gathered Saturday, July 20 to honor his memory and dedicate a pavilion in his name. Hawkins died in December 2017 at the age of 79. The pavilion is located next to the B Street Community Center in Lake Wales where Hawkins spent countless hours serving the community. Alice Sanders coordinated the tributes to "Hawk," made by representatives of various churches, the Green and Gold Foundation, his Roosevelt High School Class of 1956 classma...
David H. Bohannon, 71, a lifetime resident of Lake Wales, passed away Tuesday, July 23, 2019 at his residence surrounded by his family. He was born October 16, 1947 in Lake City, Florida to the late WA (Archie) and Emma (Page) Bohannon. David retired from Lykes Brothers in 2015 after 32 years of employment. He was a 1965 graduate of Lake Wales High School and he attended Orlando Barber College in the 70's and worked for Gary Bear Barber Shop after graduating. He joined the...
Richard Anthony "Dick" Dragonetti, 91, of Lake Wales passed away Tuesday, July 16, 2019 at Lake Wales Medical Center. He was born December 7, 1927 in Brooklyn, NY to the late Richard and Mary Rose (Marcello) Dragonetti. He has been a resident of the area since August of 1990 coming from Miami. He was a mechanic for the City of Miami Beach where he retired as the lead mechanic for the Miami Beach Fire Department. Richard loved his car, hiking, gardening, Sunday family drives,...
Many doctors in their eighth decade would be golfing, traveling or just enjoying retirement. But Dr. Eusebio "Jon" Salud Jr. is spending his later years treating patients with a new procedure that he says is helping to restore their vision. According to Salud, dry macular degeneration is a leading cause of permanent blindness and for 56 years there has been no treatment available for it. He started a noninvasive, safe, simple and painless protocol about five years ago. He...
A recent article in Business Facilities called Florida an "economic super-state," praising the way our state "excels at getting people, products and services anywhere." The article went on to mention Polk County in particular the Intermodal Logistics Center in Winter Haven and the miles of railroad that far outnumber those in any other county throughout the state. We are certainly proud of those distinctions, but we would be remiss to overlook how success and growth have...
At age 32, Dr Carolyn Pass had the scare of her life. The hard-working physician was hospitalized with congestive heart failure and found herself wondering if she would live to see her three children grow up. After a lengthy recuperation period she got back into practicing medicine but with a greater appreciation for life and helping her patients focus on their own good health. Now 20 years after her own health scare Pass says she tells her patients: "You matter. You have to t...
During their second budget workshop July 9 Lake Wales city commissioners asked questions about staff spending priorities while acknowledging they still need much additional information before they are ready to adopt a new budget for the 2019-20 year that begins Oct. 1. City Manager Ken Fields twice tried to reinforce his position that commissioners need to just concern themselves with policy and the city's overall direction and leave spending decisions on how to get there to...
