Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 495
The long construction project to turn the once-desolate Park Avenue in downtown Lake Wales into an attractive pedestrian magnet is apparently approaching a conclusion. Once completed, the entire length of Park Avenue will be open for two-way traffic for the first time in nearly two years. Traffic on Scenic Highway has been detoured around the construction site since late October. The project timeline suggested a 90-day closure, but that schedule may be surpassed if progress...
If your club or organization is hosting or promoting a special event in our area there's no better way to get it on the radar that posting it on the free Community Events Calendar on Lake Wales News.net.. Our Calendar is the go-to source for news of what's happening in the area, and has already received more than 90,000 views by area residents! The calendar allows you to upload your poster in a simple step, and add your own description of what's happening. Fill in the time and...
Weather-exhausted Floridians are casting a weary eye back at the tropics this week as yet another tropical cyclone is expected to threaten the state next week, even as Hurricane Rafael, briefly a Category 3 storm, fizzles in the Gulf. The National Hurricane Center in Miami has identified a new area of disturbed weather south of Cuba that is expected to drift to the west across the Caribbean as it slowly becomes better organized. Forecasters there are currently giving it an 80...
An attractive renovation of the historic Crystal Lake Apartments was unveiled in Lake Wales Tuesday, showcasing a development which will contribute to ongoing efforts to increase residential uses in the city's downtown area. The two-story building at 282 East Park Avenue offers eight fully-remodeled one and two-bedroom apartments. Officers and directors of the Lake Wales Care Center hosted some 100 guests who toured the like-new facility and enjoyed refreshments following the...
Ridge-area residents will find a changing weather pattern over the coming week as the tropics become active once again. The western Caribbean's "Central American Gyre" that has already spawned two destructive hurricanes is once again the source of potential trouble. The National Hurricane Center in Miami is tracking a few disturbances already, and models are suggesting that others may follow. A broad circulation, still devoid of significant storms, is being given an 80...
After suffering through the most destructive hurricane season on record, will Florida face yet another bout of severe tropical weather in November? That is the question being considered by forecasters as long-range models are suggesting that scenario. Several models monitored by Lake Wales News as well as meteorologists at the National Hurricane Center and elsewhere are predicting the formation of yet another cyclone to our south. If it reaches tropical storm force winds...
The $11 million Park Avenue reconstruction project is entering its final phase with the reconstruction of the intersection of Scenic Highway with the important downtown street. The work will require the closure of Scenic Highway at that location for approximately 90 days, according to construction plans and officials. A statement issued by the City of Lake Wales says that the closure will begin Tuesday, October 22. Once this final phase in completed, the entire length of Park...
Nature is trying to make up and be nice after a few harrowing weeks of extreme events across central Florida. Autumn is arriving at last, much to the delight of Ridge-area residents fatigued from rounds of hurricane preparation, clean-up, and power outages. Forecasts for the coming week include the first solid wave of cool weather, building upon the welcome break in the heat that followed the passage of Hurricane Milton. Early-morning temperatures are expected to dip into the...
Friday dawned as another day without power for thousands of residents of southeast Polk after the area after Hurricane Milton raked the area with 100 mile-per-hour winds and heavy rainfall before dawn Thursday. Shattered or uprooted trees, some punching holes in roofs, along with damage to signs, sheds, utilities and fences were visible across the area. Flooded roads and intersections delayed responses to the disaster, a common scene as hurricanes increase in both frequency...
The latest update from the National Hurricane Center in Miami has raised the stakes for a direct strike upon southeast Polk County and the Lake Wales area. Residents are strongly urged to rush preparations to completion. The 11 a.m. NHC report said that with sustained winds of 155 MPH, Hurricane Milton is continuing to approach Florida. Continued intensification is expected, and Milton should be at Category 5 this afternoon with sustained winds of 160 MPH or more, accompanied...
The latest computer model runs have placed Polk County directly in the crosshairs of a potential major hurricane. Residents may wish to begin preparation for a storm. The Nat According to the 11 a.m. statement from the National Hurricane Center in Miami, the area of disturbed weather in the western Gulf of Mexico is now a tropical depression, and will begin intensifying as it moves slowly northeastward over the next 24 to 36 hours before accelerating toward Florida. Arrival...
As predicted here last week, a new tropical cyclone is becoming organized in the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to bring heavy rains to Florida and the Lake Wales Ridge this week. The storm is generally developing in line with the super-computer models closely followed by Lake Wales News. Those same models are now predicting the improving organization of the potential cyclone this weekend as it moves eastward toward the Florida peninsula from the western Gulf. The National...
The Lake Wales market area will be losing yet another grocery option in November as the Winn-Dixie store on SR 60 East is closed to be converted to a second Aldi location. The move comes less than a year after the store was completely remodeled and updated with new products. The Lake Wales location is the latest to be converted to Aldi, and employees have been notified that they will be laid off effective November 17. Some of them had only recently been transferred to the...
Polk County Utility customers will see an increase in their cost of water and sewer bills starting today. Water and wastewater rates have been increased by 6% beginning Oct. 1. According to county spokesperson Jeff Foley, "the surcharge assessed on water usage and reclaimed water usage also will increase, as will connection fees. The increases are necessary to allow the county to meet its current and future water demands." The increase is the first that Polk County Utilities...
Polk County and the Ridge will escape the worst effects of Hurricane Helene, but area residents should still be prepared for a blow, according to specific forecasts. Heavy rains and winds gusting to near hurricane force are also possible as the storm passes to the west. Helene, currently entering the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, is expected to charge north and northeastward as it rapidly intensifies to become a major hurricane, reaching Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale,...
Florida residents are urged to be alert and prepared as Hurricane Helene is likely to form rapidly and bring the threats of high winds and flooding to Florida this week. National Hurricane Center forecasters are suggesting a 90 percent chance of a cyclone growing from an area of disturbed weather over the Caribbean by Tuesday. That system is then expected to move northward through the eastern Gulf of Mexico, where rapid intensification is possible. The NHC has been predicting...
According to officials of the Polk County Road and Drainage Division, Canal Road in Lake Wales will be closed beginning today, Thursday September 19 from Porter Road to Black Road. The closure is one of several that has impacted motorists across Polk County in recent weeks and months. The stretch of road is being reconstructed through a process called "full-depth reclamation" that restores the roadbed to a like-new condition, after which it will be finished with a new asphalt...
Three residents of Water's Edge in Lake Wales are celebrating landmark birthdays as they reach the century mark of life's grand adventure. All three hail from the Midwest and are active in their community. Esther Shelton was born August 18,1924 in Indianapolis Indiana. Esther moved to Florida in 1990 and has been a resident of Waters Edge of Lake Wales for eight years. Esther worked at Western Electric for 28 yrs making telephones. She was married and raised two children....
UPDATE: The Media Relations Department of the Polk County School System has released a letter from McLaughlin Principal Diameshia H. Williams addressing a decision by "the administration" to remove the Exceptional Student Education Farm from the school campus. The entire text of the letter is reprinted below. A valued program that allows special needs students to participate with others in an agricultural program at a Lake Wales school is reportedly being terminated, to the...
Thousands of copies of a political tract containing what many would consider virulent anti-American propaganda have been delivered to the offices of the Lake Wales Charter Schools to potentially be distributed to students. Some 45,000 of the "patriotic" pamphlets were printed, intended for delivery to schools, according to information shared on a Facebook post by the City of Lake Wales. Among the materials they contain is an "essay" that paints a highly-dystopian picture of...
A controversial high-density development involving Lake Wales Country Club and Oakwood that was nixed by city planners earlier this year is returning with new designs even as new information emerges about Falgun Dharia, the principal behind the project, who had introduced himself last year as Frank Ghandi. (See our stories below.) The new conceptual site development plan still combines the two golf courses but relies more heavily on single-family home sites. Many residents at...
Winter Haven attorney Jason Penrod, owner of Family Elder Law, was arrested this week on a charge of Grand Theft after confessing to a client that he had stolen from a trust fund. His firm was closed abruptly in July, leaving employees and clientele without explanations for weeks. Penrod subsequently filed a petition with the Florida Supreme Court acknowledging the misuse of client living trust funds and requesting the disciplinary revocation of his law license. That matter...
The Circle of Friends, a valued community-service program serving the Lake Wales area, has hit a crisis after expected grants failed to materialize, forcing the sale of a new campus acquired only last year. The nonprofit Circle of Friends, founded in 2002, has relied on grants, sponsors, and donors to invest in the lives of special needs students who have aged out of regular school programs. A Tuesday night board meeting was attended by a group of parents and a wave of...
Park Avenue in downtown Lake Wales has become one of the "coolest" places around with the opening of yet another ice cream parlor. The Pink Flamingo is the third location where residents and visitors can grab a frozen treat. The new shop, located within the Arcade at 230 East Park Avenue, is the project of Lynette and Gene Hofferber. The couple are recent arrivals, having moved to the city from Nebraska in the footsteps of their daughter, Brittany Gregg, who fell in love with...
The long-awaited opening on a second stretch of a reconstructed Park Avenue in downtown Lake Wales is a reality after construction crews removed barriers, allowing traffic to flow on the newly-bricked street. Along with the new travel surface comes a lush new landscape of oaks and ornamental plantings and new wider sidewalks designed to accommodate sidewalk dining. Still to come are new streetlights to create the proper evening ambiance. Merchants have struggled during the...
