Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
Sorted by date Results 1176 - 1200 of 1227
There's just something inherently wrong about people who clearly don't understand social media trying to regulate others' use of it. Lake Wales City Manager Ken Fields, through the city's HR director, proposed a social media policy that required not only employees, but also city officials to get approval prior to posting on social media. At 72, Fields is at the upper end of the Baby Boomer generation. According to a 2018 Facebook demographic study only one in four people over...
Just four months ago the Lake Wales City Commission leased a 2019 Ford Explorer XLT for the police department. That vehicle apparently wasn't good enough for City Manager Ken Fields. Instead Fields wanted the 2019 Ford Explorer Limited, which comes loaded with luxury, comfort, power and cosmetic features not included in the XLT. It also comes with 60 monthly payments of $773.17 – about $227 more per month than what the XLT costs. The Limited is a really nice vehicle. It comes...
Wow! It's hard to believe our Lake Wales online news site is almost 1-month-old. We did a "soft launch" with little fanfare Feb. 13 so we could load the site with great content before most people even got their first look. Our online readership is growing daily and many more are accessing the highlights on our Facebook page. In the last five days our posts reached more than 2,000 people, and more than half engaged in some way. We're the "new kid on the block," but we're...
A 12-stop walking tour of Lake Wales is included in a free mobile application produced by the Florida Humanities Council. The Florida Stories application can be downloaded at the Apple Store or Google Play. The Lake Wales tour includes stops at the Atlantic Coast Line Depot, the Woman's Club, Lake Wales State Bank, J.T. Rhodes Building, Rhodesbilt Arcade, Post Office, Dixie Walesbilt Hotel, Lake Wales News, Bullard Building, Scenic Theater and Lake Wales City Hall. Each stop...
Do YOU have an interest in the future of Lake Wales? In how our city grows, and the services and lifestyle we will enjoy? Then this is your moment to speak up. (See the outcome of a week of planning by clicking here) More than 100 of your fellow citizens have already shared their ideas and energies by participating in a Monday evening "charrette" at the Austin Community Center, organized by Lake Wales MainStreet and the planning firm of Dover Kohl and Partners. MainStreet...
Four representatives of the urban design firm Dover Kohl and about a dozen interested citizens took a walking tour Wednesday morning of the northwest business district in Lake Wales. Dover Kohl planners are in Lake Wales all week obtaining citizen input on how to revitalize and connect the historic downtown and northwest section so they can design a plan for the next 20 years. Local attorney Sara Jones, chairperson of the Northwest Advisory Committee, and former city...
By 2 p.m. on election day Tuesday, April 2, more than 1,800 City of Lake Wales voters had cast ballots. With five hours to go, the number of votes cast was already 20 percent higher than in the most recent city election in 2017. Nearly 1,500 vote by mail ballots had been received by the supervisor of elections office, and additional ballots would be accepted up to the 7 p.m. deadline. City Clerk Jennifer Nanek said voting was going smoothly and turnout was definitely up. In 20...
Lake Wales voters re-elected both incumbents Tuesday and approved a charter change that extended commissioner terms from two years to three. City Commissioner Curtis Gibson coasted to victory with more than 63 percent of the vote, beating political newcomer James Tucker by 1,110 votes to 637. Mayor Eugene Fultz had a closer race winning 55 percent of the vote to claim his third term over challenger Bob Wood, with a final vote of 995 to 818. Nearly 59 percent of the voters...
Lake Wales City voters have their final opportunity to vote for the mayor and one city commissioner from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 2. Voters also are being asked to change the City Charter to increase the mayor's and commissioners' terms from two years to three. Incumbent Mayor Eugene Fultz is being challenged by Bob Wood, who ran unsuccessfully for a city commission seat in 2016. Political newcomer James Tucker is challenging incumbent Commissioner Curtis Gibson for...
CORRECTION TO PREVIOUS STORY: An earlier story underreported the total projects to SEMCO, citing $1.1 million, but incorrectly stated all projects were awarded without bids. The City did put out requests for proposals on hurricane-related projects, but only one other company bid on one project, the water plant repairs. SEMCO met the stricter FEMA requirements and was awarded the contracts. For the downtown trail project the City received four proposals. One firm retracted...
The City of Lake Wales is holding a curbside cleanup Saturday, March 30. Republic Services will pick up general junk, box springs and mattresses, unusable furniture and appliances and other items you normally can't put out for pickup. Acceptable items include unusable desks, chairs, tables, lamps, and tires without rims. They will not pick up construction debris such as fence or remodel materials or hazardous waste items such as paint, batteries, chemicals or solvents. The...
For its third exhibit since opening in October 2018, the Gallery at Melange is bringing together two artists who have never met, but have a great deal in common. Both majored in the arts in college, and both have enjoyed long careers as teachers. Both have simultaneously created art for most of their adult lives, and have each chosen a similar approach to blending reality and fantasy with an emphasis on re-imagining and intertwining the flora, fauna and common elements of the...
Wilson Daniel "Danny" Davis of Lake Wales passed away Monday, March 18 at his residence. He was born August 23, 1944 in Tampa to the late Wilson L. and Wilma (Howard) Davis. He was a Dock Master for Gulf Tampa and a member of the Sun City Christian Center. Danny was a veteran in the United States Army serving in Viet Nam. He is survived by his wife of 38 years Derine Davis, daughters Melia Matties (John) of Riverview, FL, Tammy White (Kevin) of Middleburg, sons Danny Davis of...
Vice Mayor Robin Gibson floated an idea at the March 19 Lake Wales City Commission meeting he admits some people might find "nutty." Gibson proposed renaming First Street, the major North-South road through the City. He wants to call it "America Avenue." "It shows the diversity of our community and the diversity of our City as well," Gibson said. Gibson noted First Street is a long road that connects many neighborhoods. Commissioner Terrye Howell reminded him that the NAACP...
Candidates for Lake Wales mayor and city commission shared common beliefs about the need for more citizen involvement and transparency in city government at a forum Thursday, March 14 sponsored by the Lake Wales Chapter of the American Association of University Women. Only about 25 people came out to the James P. Austin Community Center to listen and ask questions. Incumbent Mayor Eugene Fultz did not attend, but sent some prepared comments. He is on the Board of the Ridge...
The Lake Wales City Commission at their March 19 meeting shot down a proposed city policy that attempted to regulate their ability to comment freely on social media. City Commissioner Curtis Gibson said he supported a clear social media policy for employees but said he felt including elected officials was "out of bounds." "Frankly, as the youngest member of the commission and the one who uses social media the most, I feel targeted by this proposed policy," Commissioner Gibson...
Urban planners from the Miami firm Dover Kohl will be in Lake Wales the first week of April to get citizen input on a neighborhood plan for the core of Lake Wales. Dover Kohl is leading the development of a Town Design Strategy for the City of Lake Wales, being called Lake Wales Connected. Phase one of construction should begin soon after completion of the plan, which is expected to determine community needs not for the short-term, but for 20 years out, according to Lake...
The City of Lake Wales Parks & Recreation Department will be hosting Lake Night Cinema Friday, March 22 on the shores of Lake Wailes. Activities will begin at 5 p.m. and the Disney movie, Ralph Breaks the Internet, will begin at dusk. This family friendly evening is free to the public. The movie is the second in the "Wreck-it Ralph" series. It is about video game bad guy Ralph and fellow misfit Vanellope von Schweetz must risk it all by traveling to the World Wide Web in...
When Lake Ashton resident Al Goldstein became the only candidate to qualify for April's District 4 City Commission election, he won automatically, leaving plenty of Lake Wales residents wondering: "Who is Al Goldstein?" In a rambling two-hour conversation, Goldstein revealed much about himself and his strong opinions about several pending issues but left plenty hidden as well. Critical of some proposals before the Commission, Goldstein offered his respect for the positions...
The second Lake Wales Live event drew about 100 people for music, food and lovely evening weather March 15. Sponsored by the City of Lake Wales Parks and Recreation Department, Friday's event featured music by Warner University's Beyond Belief Jazz Ensemble and singer and acoustic guitar player Cory Greenway of Frostproof. Recreation Coordinator Stephanie Edwards said she was pleased with the crowd, which was larger than the group that attended the first Lake Wales Live event...
Lake Wales Vice Mayor Robin Gibson gave City staff a stern lecture Tuesday on the importance of full disclosure to avoid the appearance that they are "gilding the lily or hiding something." His concerns stemmed from the fact that a March 5 agenda item omitted important details: the leased Ford Explorer was for City Manager Ken Fields' use and the monthly cost was nearly double what they had approved for Fields the previous month. In February Fields asked to use a City car "in...
Lake Wales City Commissioner Curtis Gibson made his first visit to Washington, DC this week. But serving on the Community and Economic Development Committee for the National League of Cities left him virtually no time to see the sights. Instead over five days he attended various workshops for City officials and met with members of Congress to advocate for issues important to Lake Wales. "They were very receptive to hearing about our local needs," Gibson said. "We talked about...
The City of Lake Wales Recreation Department will hold its second monthly Lake Wales Live event starting at 6 p.m. Friday, March 15. This month's free event will include music by Warner University's Beyond Belief Jazz Ensemble starting at 6 p.m., followed at 7:30 p.m. with music by Cory Greenway. Lake Wales Live is held in the park across from the Lake Wales Public Library at 290 Cypress Gardens Lane. The event will include food for purchase from food trucks and a beer and...
Housing has been in high demand in the Lake Wales area, and planned single-family developments have been building out rapidly, but demand is equally strong for apartment homes. Some of that demand will soon be met as Equinox of Florida LLC moves forward with their plans to build 335 new units on the north side of town. The new complex will consist of 13 buildings on two separate parcels totaling almost 50 acres. They are located about 500 feet north of Chalet Suzanne Road, dir...
If we at the Lake Wales Area Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Council were to survey people who travel through and around greater Lake Wales, I think we would be hard pressed to find even a fraction of them pleased with driving conditions here. If we were to narrow down the survey to a discussion only about U.S. Highway 27, the area's major north-south route, the fraction of pleased motorists likely would be even smaller. The issue here really isn't about road...
