Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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Change is coming to Lake Wales. Are you worried? If so, your concerns are shared by thousands of your friends and neighbors. Ours is a growing community. This special place has been "discovered" by ever-larger numbers of people who would like to share in the unique qualities the city offers. As the agricultural basis of our economy is changing, so is the land use. Unproductive citrus groves decimated by disease are being offered for sale. Savvy developers are snapping up...
A 600-acre solar farm on the north side of Lake Wales containing some 170,000 to 200,000 solar panels has passed the 50% completion mark and is expected to come online before the end of the year. According to a press release issued by Tampa Electric Media Spokesperson Cherie Jacobs at the time of the application, the project will generate 74.5 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 11,500 homes. Jacobs noted that the project will produce no emissions and generate virt...
A new bicycle and pedestrian trail will continue the expansion of a growing network connecting neighborhoods across Lake Wales following city commission approval of an interlocal agreement with Polk County on Wednesday. Creation of a functional network of trails is a repeated recommendation contained in the Lake Wales Connected plan, cited as a significant contributor to the health and well-being of residents. The Ridge Scenic Highway Trail segment will extend 3,975 feet and...
An attempted traffic stop by a Highlands County deputy sheriff near Avon Park Thursday evening ended in a chase to Frostproof, an exchange of gunfire, the wounding of a deputy sheriff, and the death of a shooter. The shooter, identified as Ramon Martinez, 37, had an active felony warrant for his arrest for violation of probation, and a criminal history that included 16 previous felonies and 13 misdemeanors. According to police reports, the deputy attempted to stop a car...
Two large residential developments proposed by the same developer recently met with very different responses from the Lake Wales city commission. After unanimously approving a 930-lot single-family subdivision known as the Grove at Orchard Hills, the commission's 3-2 vote rejected a neighboring 300-unit project brought by the same developer. David Waronker of Celebration has been the developer of record for several large subdivision projects in Lake Wales, including the expans...
Two employees of a popular Lake Wales pizza outlet found themselves arrested Thursday after police alleged that pizza was not the only thing people were buying at the restaurant. According to a statement issued by the Lake Wales Police Department, detectives from the department's Crime Suppression Unit launched an undercover investigation after they received a tip that drugs were being sold by an employee of Pizzano's Pizza. A phone call to restaurant restaurant manager Leon...
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...
Vaughn Cofer of Babson Park passed away Saturday, June 17, 2023 at George G. Forsythe Hospice House in Auburndale. She was born October 14, 1928 in Glade Hill, Virginia to the late Ulis and Nannie Powell; she moved to Babson Park from Frostproof in 1958. Vaughn worked as secretary, environmental teacher, and substitute teacher for the Polk County School System for 10 years. She then worked for 10 years as a staff writer and family news writer for the Daily Highlander where...
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...
A new market analysis by a prestigious firm has identified a large measure of demand for Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) residences in Lake Wales and Polk County. The study indicates that there is a potential market for new housing units within new traditional neighborhoods in Lake Wales which would amount to more than ten percent of all new housing demand in Polk County. Some developers have expressed doubt that they could sell "traditional" neighborhoods here. The...
A vision for the long-term future of the Lake Wales region that shifts away from the contemporary development style toward "traditional neighborhoods" was the subject of discussion at the Lake Wales Breakfast Rotary Thursday morning. "Most towns are already 100 years old when they decide what they want to be when they grow up," city planner Victor Dover told more than two dozens in attendance, explaining that Lake Wales has a huge head start due to the efforts of the city's...
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...
The second phase of the city's annual street resurfacing project will begin in coming days as seven new streets are addressed by contractors. Portions of eleven streets are included in the overall resurfacing effort, which is being performed by Asphalt Paving Systems of Zephyrhills at a total cost of $593,144.32. Four streets were addressed earlier this fiscal year. "Our multi-year pavement management program, created in 2019, is fully funded for the first time," said City...
A ribbon-cutting event celebrating the Circle of Friends new location is planned to include a ribbon-cutting and reception co-hosted by the Lake Wales Area Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Council, according to an announcement by the non-profit group. The organization serves an adult disability community from their new home at 333 Lime Ave, Lake Wales. The public reception will take place on June 22 beginning at 11:30 am with a program following at noon.. "We have...
A fire in a mobile home in a remote location nearly took the life of a Polk County resident early Sunday. Polk County Fire Rescue firefighters responded to 2:20 am medical call in Babson Park that was quickly escalated into a structure fire with a trapped victim. Rescuers responding to 1562 Pfundstein Road, southeast of Babson Park, found a mobile home in flames, and at least one resident who had managed to flee the structure with injuries. After unsuccessfully attempting to g...
Going back to school in August is as intimidating for some students as it is exciting for others. Polk State College understands the challenges faced by many families in our area and the trepidation so many young students and their families feel, and they've come up with a way to help. On July 29, 2023, Polk State College will be hosting an event called "Start Right." The goal of this program is to reduce bullying, enhance students' success rates in the classrooms, and...
Charmayne Turner Marston of Babson Park passed away Wednesday, May 17, 2023 at AdventHealth Lake Wales. She was born July 5, 1947 in Fort Thomas, Kentucky to the late Frank and Martha Turner. Charmayne lived in Kentucky before moving to Lake Wales where she has resided for the past 38 years. She was a homemaker and a member of First United Methodist Church where she taught Sunday School. Charmayne was a volunteer at the Little Theater, was named volunteer of the year at...
Polk County Emergency Management has release the "Polk County Public Shelters" maps for 2023, revealing that there remains only a single shelter to serve the nearly 100,000 residents of Southeast Polk County. Spook Hill Elementary, at 321 Dr. J. A. Wiltshire Ave East in Lake Wales, is the only shelter in a broad area that Includes Dundee, Frostproof, Babson Park, Nalcrest, and other area communities. The 2023 map includes 47 shelters, including three "Special Needs Shelters"...
Westgate River Ranch, just east of Lake Wales, was named the No. 1 Glamping Spot in the nation in the annual USA Today 10 Best Readers' Choice Awards. The largest dude ranch East of the Mississippi River, Westgate River Ranch is rooted in the history of the nation's first cowboys and lies on 1,700 lush acres in the heart of Florida's cattle lands. The location offers cowboy-themed accommodations ranging from tent camping and a lodge to luxurious two-bedroom cabins, Glamping...
An apparent medical incident that left a driver partially incapacitated ended with a fatal rear-end crash on US 27 at Washington Avenue. The Medical Examiners investigation revealed Mr. Wulff died from a medical episode unrelated to the crash. This was not a traffic homicide as no other persons, to include Mr. Wulff, died as a result of the crash. According to police reports, at approximately 1:18 p.m Monday a 2008 white Chevy panel van driven by Thomas Wulff, 75, of Lake...
An annual "celebration of music, community, and nature" is returning to Lake Wales for a ninth year and is expected to draw crowds of music-lovers to town for the early December festival. The Orange Blossom Revue is a two-day event featuring a lineup of top musical acts in a wide range of genres ranging from "R&B to country to folk to jazz," according to festival organizer Rusty Ingley. Ingley and Reid Hardman have been running the concert since its inception. "it was an...
Two Haines City men are dead and a third hospitalized following an early morning crash on US Highway 27. Lake Wales Traffic Homicide Investigators determined that a car driven by Aljerume Brooks, age 40 from Haines City failed to stop for the red traffic light while traveling North on Highway 27. Also in the vehicle was Gary Faniel Jr, age 24 and Javarcea Morton, age 23, both of Haines City. Both Faniel and Morton were pronounced dead at the scene. Brooks was transported to...
Arthur R. Falconer, 79, died peacefully at his home in Lake Wales, Florida on May 8, 2023. He was born on October 5, 1943 in East Orange, New Jersey. Art was a teacher at McLaughlin Middle School for 32 years, from 1973 until 2003, before retired. After retired from the Polk County School Board, he taught Geography at Polk State College and Warner Southern University. Art was passionate about sharing his love of geography and the natural world and helping students find their...
May 13- An argument and poor judgement led to the death of an Orlando woman Saturday night, only some three hours after the traffic death of a Lake Wales man nearby. According to Lake Wales Traffic Homicide Investigators, Lataysha Rene Kelly, 27, of Orlando had been driving west on Chalet Suzanne Road just west of Dinner Lake Shores in Lake Wales, at approximately 10:55 pm, accompanied by Donald Dixon 34, also of Orlando. Police reported that the two were having an argument...
A Lake Wales man died in a head-on crash on US 27 just before sunset Saturday evening after driving his motorcycle northward in the southbound lanes of the six-lane highway. The 7:58 pm crash took the life of 60-year-ol Gary Restifo of Lake Wales. There was no explanation of why he was driving on the wrong lanes of the busy highway. The Polk County Sheriff's office is investigating the incident. Restifo was passing north of Dundee Road (CR 542) when he was struck by a...
