Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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Area boaters, fishers, environmental advocates, and other stakeholders in the area's natural resources are being invited to attend a public meeting that will influence future management of the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has announced a public meeting to discuss aquatic habitat management in the chain on Wednesday, Sept.18. The meeting will be held from 6-8 p.m. at the UF/IFAS Extension Office, 1921 Kissimmee Valley Lane,...
After a long lull that has stymied forecaster's predictions of a hyper-active hurricane season, the tropics are once again heating up. A new disturbance heading westward across the central Atlantic is expected to pass across the Windward Islands and potentially threaten the United States. According to forecasters, the system is presently poorly-organized but has been given a 40% chance to develop into a tropical cyclone by the National Hurricane Center. If it does it would be...
Robert Lee Johnson of Lake Wales passed away Tuesday, August 27, 2024 at his residence. He was born April 25, 1968 in Lake Wales; he has been a lifelong resident of the area. Robert was an Asset Management Specialist for Polk County for 16 years and worked for the City of Lake Wales in the water department for 17 years. He was an avid bowler and loved Star Trek. He was a big fan of the Miami Dolphins. Robert was preceded in death by his father, George Johnson; daughter, Amber...
Florida's award-winning state parks are a unique and irreplaceable resource for our state and its tourism economy, a delight for visitors and residents alike. They offer our burgeoning population affordable places to "get away" from urban crowding without an airline ticket. State park usage has grown in recent years, even as the state's population has swelled past 22 million. They have also proven invaluable in efforts to protect and conserve natural resources and...
A bit of color and history will soon be added to the skyline of Lake Wales as new graphic murals designed to reflect the city's heritage gradually replace block lettering on all four city water towers. City Utility Operations Manager Holly Britt, who is overseeing the project, says improving the water towers will better "show the character of our city." The water tower adjacent to the Eagle Ridge Mall has already been painted with artwork recognizing the Lake Wales High...
Site work has begun on the site of Belle Lago, an 84-home subdivision on Lake Belle on the south side of Lake Wales. The project is one of several housing projects now underway across the city. The city Lake Wales City Commission approved preliminary plans for the project in July, 2021 after it received the nod from both city planners and the Planning and Zoning Board. The project is immediately south of and adjacent to a portion of the Ridge Manor subdivision, an enclave of...
The storm came in a destructive rush, defying predictions, and caught most Polk residents completely off-guard. When it had passed, Hurricane Charley had left a trail of incredible destruction in its wake. It was a Friday, the 13th of August, twenty years ago this week that the first hurricane in 44 years struck southeast Polk. It's a date that many who experienced the storm will never forget. In a matter of about two hours the fast-moving storm damaged virtually every...
A new road closure will require long detours for yet more motorists in eastern Polk County, while other projects extend well beyond their announced completions. Drainage upgrades will close Timberlane Road just south of the intersection with Canal Road northeast of Lake Wales beginning Thursday, August 8. The work is scheduled to take two weeks. The cross drains beneath the roadway leading to Lake Pierce are being replaced ahead of a county project to resurface Timberlane...
The Ridge area and southeastern Polk generally escaped damage during the passage of Hurricane Debby to the west of the peninsula, but the tropics remain active, with yet another disturbance following in the path of the recent storm. Unlike areas along the coast that saw serious flooding from both heavy rains and storm surge, the local area generally avoided problems with high water. Rainfall totals across the area generally fell in the six-to-eight inch category during the pas...
Heavy rains southeast Polk and the Ridge area may be accompanied by gusty winds on Sunday and Monday as Tropical Storm Debby. currently located near Cuba will affect Florida's weather. The current forecast keeps the center of newly-designated Tropical Storm Debby away from the Tampa Bay area over the Gulf, reaching the coast only in the Big Bend area. The National Hurricane Center in Miami is projecting that the Debby will reach hurricane strength as it passes over the very...
In a feel-good success story about the rebound of one local native species, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and partners have released their 1,000th captive-bred Florida Grasshopper Sparrow. Florida Grasshopper Sparrows live only in central Florida's grasslands and are federally designated endangered. To preserve the species, the allied teams began a captive breeding program in 2015. According to Adrienne Fitzwilliam, assistant research scientist at the...
Ridge cities are facing a challenging and expensive future effort to obtain water supplies for a growing population, according to officials from the Polk Regional Water Cooperative. PRWC Executive Director Eric DeHaven joined a team of engineers at a forum this week to explain the status of an ambitious project that expects to extract brackish water from a depth of more than 1,000 feet, substantially lower than the Floridan aquifer that currently supplies water to area...
Skyrocketing development pressures are colliding with dwindling supplies of water across Florida. Those same forces are now causing angst for elected officials along the Ridge, who are wrestling with increased costs and possible building moratoriums, even as the collapse of the citrus industry along the Ridge in eastern Polk has caused many former citrus growers to offer their huge tracts of land to developers. The Town of Dundee, which has grown to 6,000 residents in recent...
UPDATE: A renewed boil-water order has been lifted for homes in the Country Oaks neighborhood of Lake Wales. Testing has confirmed that no contaminants are present. A boil-water notice reappeared on front doors across the Country Oaks neighborhood on the northeast side of Lake Wales after repeated interruptions in water service. A break in a 10" water line due to contractors serving the area is the reported problem. The notice says 330 customers in the area are affected. The...
A major and much-needed street resurfacing project is underway in Indian Lake Estates. The project will address nearly two miles of streets in the area. The paving project will involve milling. Remixing and relaying the top surfaces of many of the streets. Included in the project are a portion of Ponce de Leon Avenue, and the circle providing access to Lake Wales-in-the-Water and the community pier. Other streets that will receive new surfaces include portions of Toronja...
After a lull of several weeks without even a tropical depression, let alone a named storm, the Atlantic Hurricane Season is heating up again. August and September form the heart of the storm season, which peaks around September 10, according to historical records. Forecasters and computer models have alerted to the possible formation of a new cyclone this week in the vicinity of the Antilles. If the storm forms there, it is likely to track in the general direction of the...
Yet another large-scale development is being planned for the Lake Wales area, this time on the city's western edge, after the proposal received approvals from the city's Planning and Zoning board Tuesday. Lake Wales Commons could host as many as 3,200 new dwelling units, along with more than a million square feet of light industrial and warehouse space on about 558 acres fronting along SR 60 West, Old Bartow Road, and West Lake Wales Road North. The sprawling collection of 26...
It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Gloria Evelyn Schumann Penn, a respected businesswoman, devoted animal lover, cherished mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Gloria passed away peacefully, surrounded by her family, on July 11th, 2024 at the age of 87 years. Gloria was born on January 13th, 1937 in Miami, Florida. Her death was preceded by her father, Harry (Butch) Edward Schumann, her mother, Martha E Levey Schumann, and her son, William (Bill)...
A 40-year-old Lake Wales man is dead after a kayaking trip on a local lake. A death investigation is underway following the recovery of the body of an adult male from Lake Annie, a 407-acre lake in the Waverly area of Lake Wales early this morning. Shane Park of Magnolia Street in Lake Wales had set out on the lake about 3:30 p.m. Sunday in a kayak. Weather at the time was fine, but thunderstorms began moving into the area a short time later. When he failed to return to shore...
Gloria Forcke Stenger passed away peacefully on July 2, 2024 at the age of 100. She was born on September 4, 1923, to Iris Cooper and Robert Forcke in Oak Ridge, Roatan, Honduras. She spent her childhood surrounded by crystal-clear water, mountains, and dense green rainforests. She left her island to become a stewardess with TACA Airlines in 1943. In El Salvador, she met her husband, Ray Stenger, an American intelligence officer. They married there in 1947 and moved to...
With the July 4th Holiday just days away, AdventHealth emergency room doctors are now urging caution when handling fireworks. This comes as a new report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) highlights the hazards posed by consumer use of fireworks. The report reveals that in 2023, it received reports of eight deaths and an estimated 9,700 injuries involving fireworks. The report also shows that between 2008 and 2023, injuries from fireworks have increased...
Emily Shade, 85, passed away at home in Frostproof, FL on June 28, 2024. She was a longtime resident of Salisbury, MD until 2020. Emily was born in Brooklyn, NY on October 30, 1938, the same night of Orson Welles' famous "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast. Her family soon made its way to Berlin, MD, beginning her love of the Eastern Shore. Her father's work in the poultry business led her to North Carolina, Illinois, Virginia, and New York. Emily attended St. John's...
A new county boat ramp is being constructed to provide public access to Lake Buffum in un-incorporated southern Polk County. According to county officials, the new boat ramp "will include a walled channel to provide entry to the lake no matter the water level." The annual fluctuation of water levels in the 1,268 acre lake have often caused problems for launching boats. While the new boat ramp is under construction, the old boat ramp is open for public use. The new ramp is...
Less than two years after Polk County voters approved a renewal of the county's conservation lands program knownpreserve site has as CLASAC, yet another newly-acquired site has opened to the public. The Bellini Preserve, located on the eastern shore of Lake Marion adjacent to Poinciana, is largely comprised of undeveloped scrubland, according to county officials, The seven miles of trails on the preserve lead visitors through a variety of terrain and habitats, culminating in...
An upbeat message of economic progress was shared with more than 100 area business leaders during a Business After Hours event at the Eagle Ridge Mall Tuesday evening. The event was sponsored by the Lake Wales and Winter Haven Chambers of Commerce. Eagle Ridge Mall General Manager Curtis Gibson told the gathering that the mall "belongs" to the people of the Ridge, from Frostproof to Winter Haven, and touted the expansion of business that has been happening there. When he took...
