Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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A new 30-day closure of West Park Avenue will begin this Monday, September 16 to allow construction crews to enhance the stormwater drainage system and remove and reinstall the brick pavers on Park Avenue between Wetmore Street to First Street, starting Monday, September 16th. The work will include modifying a drainage system design that proved inadequate during heavy rains earlier this year, while also addressing problems with pavers "crawling" out of alignment on the...
County Manager Bill Beasley has accepted the resignation of Hezedean A. Smith, DM, effective Monday, September 30, 2024. Smith’s resignation follows release of a report commissioned by the Board of County Commissioners that reviewed management of the Fire Rescue Division (PCFR). “After meeting twice with Fire Chief Smith and Deputy County Manager Joe Halman, I have placed Chief Hezedean Smith on two weeks of Administrative Leave, which will precede his resignation,” said...
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...
After a surprisingly quiet August ion the tropics, forecasters are watching several systems as the historic peak of the Atlantic hurricane season arrives. The formation of Tropical Storm Francine in the Gulf of Mexico has coastal residents on alert, but that system should leave Florida unscathed as it moves generally northward, potentially impacting Louisiana at hurricane force, For Florida, attention is directed to the distant Atlantic, where a parade of tropical waves and a...
Construction of the first homes on the expansive Hunt Club North development is under way. Teams of masons are laying concrete blocks to raise the walls of the first homes along newly-constructed McKinley Drive in the subdivision on the near south side of Lake Wales. Hunt Club North will include a mixture of 600 townhomes and single family homes east of 11th Street and south of East Lake Plaza. The townhomes are planned for the northern part of the site closest to SR 60,...
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...
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...
Several area construction projects continue to affect traffic circulation in southern and eastern Polk County. A four-block stretch of State Road 17 (Scenic Highway) remains closed in Lake Wales at Hillcrest Avenue, forcing traffic from the state road onto the city's 4th Street in front of McLaughlin Middle-High School adding to school-hour traffic and congestion there. The project, begun in June, was announced as a 30-day effort to correct drainage Issues adjacent to Lake...
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...
One man is hospitalized with a gunshot would and a second is under arrest and charged with attempted first degree murder after a shooting which took place late Thursday night. Lake Wales Police officers responded to an 11:14 p.m. report of a dangerous shooting and found the victim, an adult male, laying in the alleyway with a gunshot wound to his chest. Officers rendered aid and the victim was airlifted to a trauma center where he is currently in critical condition, according...
A Lake Wales mother was arrested after leaving her three-year-old child unattended in a vehicle while she kept an appointment at the Central Florida Health Care clinic on Thursday morning. Jykerria Allen of Lake Wales was told by clinic staff that she couldn't' keep the child with her during her appointment. She told staff she would have a relative retrieve the child, but allegedly simply left the child alone in the vehicle. A witness reportedly heard the child crying and...
Lake Wales City officials and residents gathered Friday morning at the intersection of Florida Avenue and F Street in the Northwest Neighborhood to celebrate the upcoming sidewalk and street-tree planting project with a groundbreaking ceremony. The effort is expected to beautify the long-neglected area, coupling with the ongoing Community Redevelopment Agency housing rehabilitation and affordable home construction programs. The groundbreaking followed only hours after a Thursd...
A new high-tech three-dimensional laser scanner is promising to speed traffic investigations being conducted by the Lake Wales Police Department, assuring quicker re-openings of intersections and crash sites after incidents. The new $63,969.42 laser scanner will be used to help investigate major crime scenes and traffic crashes resulting in serious bodily injury or death, enabling one officer to map out millions of geographic measurement points in under an hour, rather than...
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...
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...
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...
A nimble move from the City of Lake Wales has brought a contract to purchase the newly-vacant offices of Family Elder Law on East Tillman Avenue to host additional space for the over-crowded Lake Wales Police Department. City Manager James Slaton brought the purchase of the 5,500 square-foot structure before the City Commission at Wednesday's workshop as a signed contract. The $775,000 purchase price, Slaton said, was well below the $870,000 appraised value of the building,...
The Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency board Tuesday rejected a proposal to reconsider higher-density development at a site near Lake Alta Park. Area residents had battled a previous plan for months earlier this year. City Commissioners, sitting in their roles as the CRA board, voted 4-1 against the concept, brought before the board by Chairman Robin Gibson. Gibson made a lengthy pitch to fellow commissioners to draw support but came up empty. The concept plan would...
Family Elder Law owner and attorney Jason Penrod has 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. The petition, filed by Penrod's attorney Richard Allen Greenberg, states that Penrod admits his violation of the strict rules governing attorney practices, and pledges to "reimburse the Client Security Fund (CSF) for any and all funds CSF has paid or may pay out...
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...
A long-awaited effort to add sidewalks and street trees throughout the Northwest Neighborhood is set to begin in coming weeks, and city officials want to make certain that residents of the area are prepared for what's to come. Most of the streets in the area will see some impact during construction. An August 22 public meeting at the B Street Community Center will give residents an overview of the project and a chance to ask questions. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m....
A list of more than 100 residents and businesses are eligible to claim funds now held by Polk County, according to Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller Stacy M. Butterfield, Each of the checks listed is worth $100 or more. The list of individuals with unclaimed checks issued during court-related activities is published annually. Funds must be claimed by September 1 or be forfeited to the county. "We hope to inform people so we can return these funds to their rightful...
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...
