Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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A surge in readership and community reach is being celebrated as a reflection of the growing awareness and trust of LakeWalesNews.net among residents of the Ridge area. The expansion of readership and advertising is powering an expansion of news coverage as well as the News increases coverage of events in Frostproof, Babson Park, Indian Lake, and surrounding communities through the hiring of new staff and correspondents. In addition to a substantial base of readers who...
A Frostproof woman died after being struck by a pickup truck on US 27 near the Camp Inn Resort early Tuesday morning. The location is north of Frostproof, and about three miles south of Warner University. The Polk County Sheriff's Office is investigating the fatal crash. Janie Barnett, 43, of Frostproof was transported to a local hospital but died from her injuries shortly after arriving. Evidence and witness statements collected by the Traffic Homicide Unit revealed that Ms....
Christopher Allen Eismon of Frostproof, faces numerous criminal charges including vehicle theft, fleeing to elude, resisting an officer, trespass in a citrus grove, driving while license suspended, attaching an unassigned license plate, possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia after he was arrested following a short chase by local police. Sometime during the night of December 5th someone entered the locked city wastewater plant located at 840 Henry St...
Downed trees, power outages, and significant flooding were the primary impacts of Hurricane Ian locally. No deaths or injuries were reported to local authorities. The storm weakened enough on its trip inland that it had weakened to a Category One hurricane by the time it made its closest approach. A limited number of buildings sustained wind damage, but it was largely limited to screen enclosures, fences, sheds, and mostly minor roof damage. More than 21 inches of rain was rec...
The steady expansion of city limits is expected to continue at Tuesday's Lake Wales city commission meeting when the board will consider the annexation of 67.73 acres of land south of Lake Bella Road and east of US Highway 27. The property lies at the extreme southern tip of the municipal limits, and will bring those limits into contact with Blue Lake for the first time. Property owners and applicants for the annexation include Rama Food Mart LLC, Mckenna Brothers Inc, Hunt...
A popular and long-running community event returns this year, and organizers are offering plenty of advance notice to those wishing to participate. The 15th annual 39-mile Yard Sale will be held on Saturday November 5, 2022. The event runs from 8:00 am until 3:00 pm. and sees thousands of shoppers descend upon the route of State Road 17 between Frostproof and Haines City. With its central location, much of the activity focuses on the Lake Wales area. The Ridge Scenic Highway...
Private investment in the Lincoln Avenue commercial district, one of the goals of the Lake Wales Connected plan, seems to have begun even before the first spade of dirt is turned. In a presentation before the Community Redevelopment Agency on Tuesday, representatives of restaurant operator Whadda-Wing LLC and NuJak Construction described their plans to construct a new restaurant building on a parcel at the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and A Street. It's the third new...
No sooner has work been completed on the railroad that caused the closing of Hunt Brothers Road this week than crews will move south to begin work on the grade crossing at the Golfview Park Road at Bryan Road in Babson Park. Work there will take place on Thursday and Friday. Detour signs will be erected at SR 17 in Babson Park, requiring traffic to bypass the shortcut leading to the east side of Lake Wales. Crews working for Florida Midland Railroad Company, Inc. will require...
A portion of Hunt Brothers Road will be closed on close on Monday and Tuesday, February 14 and 15 for a repair project. The closure will be at the rail crossing west of Lilly Street and near the Hunt Brothers Citrus Growers Cooperative in Lake Wales. The two-day long repair project will be the first of six that will eventually be conducted along nearly nine miles of tracks between Lake Wales and Frostproof by Florida Midland Railroad Company, Inc. The railroad operates trains...
In a year where a shortage of Christmas trees is a looming nationwide problem, hardy individuals are fortunate to have another affordable solution available: cut your own at the Walk-in-the Water tract of the Lake Wales Ridge State Forest. In a program offered annually at the nearby public lands, Lake Wales area residents are able to cut their own tree, but they have to use a hand-saw to do the work. No power tools are allowed in the forest. A tree-cutting permit costs only...
Mary Arline Shirey of Lake Wales passed away Tuesday, November 23, 2021 at AdventHealth Lake Wales. She was born February 9, 1959 in LaGrange, Indiana to Richard and Effie Jones; she has been a resident of the area, moving here from Angola, Indiana, since in 2013. Mary was a manager for Pizza Hut and loved to do mandala drawings. She was a sweet and loving person that would do anything for anybody. She grew up tough and was known as mean Mary, Donald brought out the best in...
Jeremy Alan Palmatier of Frostproof passed away Wednesday, September 29, 2021. He was born June 30, 1976 in Westchester, Pennsylvania to the late Randolph German and Karen Palmatier; he moved to Frostproof as a child and has been a lifelong resident of the area. Jeremy is survived by his daughters, Chloe Palmatier of Frostproof, and Chelsie Palmatier of Frostproof; sons, Jeramiah Palmatier of Frostproof, and Cody Palmatier of Haines City; sisters, Rebecca Miller (Mike) of...
A Polk County bridge replacement project is keeping Walk In Water Road east of Lake Wales closed until early November. Crews are working to complete the new span over Tiger Creek and rebuild the roadway approaches, Polk County officials said today. The $1.63 million project was originally scheduled to be completed this month. Residents of the area are finding the blockage to be a major inconvenience, and adding many miles to commutes for those working or shopping on the opposite side of the bridge project. Residents south of...
James Hodnett Walb, 93, of Frostproof, passed away in Sebring, FL. Born February, 25, 1928 to the late James George and Mary (Hodnett) Walb in Clearwater, FL, he moved to the area 38 years ago from Miami. He served his country in both the Army where he was a paratrooper in WW2 and the United States Air Force where he moved up the ranks to Captain. He was a manager of flight emergency procedures for Pan American Airlines, and a member of the First Baptist Church of Frostproof....
Following a 16-month undercover investigation, Polk County Sheriff's Office undercover Narcotics detectives and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force made 29 arrests in the Lake Wales area and obtained three arrest warrants related to the trafficking, sale, and possession of illegal narcotics. The operation was dubbed the "Bell Gang Blues." Seventeen of the suspects and two still at large were from Lake Wales. During the investigation, detectives and agents...
April Dawn Hartman, 53, passed away Monday, May 3, 2021 at Advent Health of Lake Wales, Florida. She was born June 20, 1967, in Frostproof to Danny Hartman and the late Sharon Horne; she has been a resident of the area for five years coming from South Charleston, OH. She was a caregiver in health care and loved gardening. Survivors include her sons, Nathan Finley of Frostproof, FL and Ryan French of Springfield, OH; father, Danny Hartman of Pompano Beach, FL; sister, Kim...
Rose Lanier, 68, of Lake Wales passed away Friday, Feb. 26, 2021 at Lakeland Regional Medical Center. She was born September 28, 1952 in West Branch, MI to the late Roy and Fonta Richmond; she moved to the area in 1972. Following her nursing career, she became a truck driver. She was a member of the Apostolic Church in Eagle Lake and a fan of the Tampa Bay Bucs. She loved spending time with her family, was an avid reader and enjoyed fishing, hunting, and jig saw puzzles. Survivors include her husband of 52 years, Alfred...
Shellie Lanier Castle, 50, of Babson Park passed away Thursday, February 11, 2021 at Lakeland Regional Medical Center. She was born November 20, 1970 in Bartow to James Lanier and Claire McLemore; she was a lifelong resident of the area. Shellie was a Hospice Nurse. She loved all things ocean and her family, especially being a honey to her grandchildren. Shellie was preceded in death by her father Dewey Lanier; and son, Cody Douglas Castle. She is survived by her mother, Ann...
Al Goldstein didn't realize being a Lake Wales city commissioner would be so time-consuming, but he's eager to sign up for another three years. He was elected without opposition in April 2019 after incumbent Commissioner Tonya Stewart failed to qualify to run for re-election. He has already started campaigning for the District 27, Seat 4 that will be filled in the April 2021 municipal election. "I'm finally understanding the job of a city commissioner," Goldstein said....
James Howard "Jimmy" Tillman, 65, of Lake Wales passed away Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020 at Advent Health Lake Wales. He was born December 24, 1954 in Bartow to the late James and Juanita Tillman. Jimmy was a purchasing agent for Petersen Industries, working there for over 40 years. He was a lifelong resident of the area and of the Baptist faith. He was an outdoorsman who enjoyed fishing, working on things, and loved his job. Jimmy was preceded in death by his son, John Oliver...
With a possible hurricane headed toward Florida, Polk County is offering sandbags to residents wanting to protect their homes from water intrusion. Sandbags will be provided to Polk County residents at all Roads and Drainage maintenance units and another site in Poinciana from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; Aug. 22 and 23. A maximum of 10 sandbags will be provided to each vehicle to help prevent water intrusion into the home. Beginning Aug. 22, the following locations...
Although Lake Wales leaders don't know the specifics about local COVID-19 cases, those confirmed to have been sickened by the virus are still being closely monitored. Emergency Operations Director Joe Jenkins, who is also the Lake Wales Fire Chief, said while he is not kept updated on each infected person, officials from the Polk County Department of Health monitor them on an almost daily basis. "The Department of Health has that list. They know who those people are. They...
Kaitlyn "KT" Marie Kinard, 22, of Babson Park passed away on Sunday, March 22, 2020 in Vero Beach, FL. She was born January 9, 1998, in Walterboro, SC to Stephen Todd Kinard and Ginny Marie Castle. She has been a resident of the area for 18 years, moving from South Carolina. KT was preceded in death by her father Stephen Todd Kinard, paternal grandparents, Jerry and Gale Kinard and her fur-baby, "JoJo", who passed with her. Survivors include her mother, Ginny; brother Stephen...
Arnold Hans Heinrich Riecken, 92, of Lake Wales passed away Friday, March 13, 2020 at Halifax Medical Center in Port Orange, FL. He was born November 10, 1927 in Brooklyn, NY to the late Arnold and Adele (Wittorf) Riecken and he has been a resident of this area since 1995 moving here from Long Island, NY. He was a retired traffic manager for Bulb Tronics. Arnold was a member of the First Christian Church of Frostproof, American Legion and served in the US Army and US Air Force during WWII and the Korean Conflict. He was...
Gloria Jean Hatten, 70, of Lake Wales passed away Friday, January 17, 2020 at AdventHealth Lake Wales. She was born September 30, 1949 in Kenova, WV to the late Clyde and Virginia L. (Meredith) Scarberry. She has been a resident of the area for 20 years. She was a homemaker and a member of Holy Spirit Catholic Church. Gloria loved pets, cooking for her family, fishing and Jesus. She is preceded in death by her brother Daniel J. Scarberry, sisters Loa Louise Hatten and Alisha Dare Holt. She is survived by her husband Jackie...
