Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
Sorted by date Results 501 - 525 of 1320
A written appeal for re-instatement has been sent to Governor Ron DeSantis by former Lake Wales City Commissioner Kris Fitzgerald, who was found not guilty in October of charges lodged against her only weeks after her election in April 2021. Fitzgerald faced a weapons charge after confronting a young relative who was accused of a sexual assault on her daughter. Her acquittal in an October jury trial came more than a year after her arrest. Florida Statutes 112.51.6 allows the...
The Lake Wales Highlanders have completed a perfect 15-0 season with a 32-30 win over Daytona Mainland to win their first state championship. After falling behind early by a 10-0 score, the Highlanders battled back to open a 32-23 lead late, before the Daytona Buccaneers scored to pull within two. The Highlanders defense played a major role in the game with three interceptions, including two by Phillip Davis that ended a Buccaneer drives on the Highlanders' one and two yard...
An estimated crowd of approximately 5,000 showed up in downtown Lake Wales Saturday to watch or participate in the annual Kiwanis Christmas Parade. Here are some video highlights of the festive event....
The construction of a "Single Point Urban Interchange" at the intersection of US 27 and SR 60 continues with another change in the traffic pattern, this time one that may east navigation for area motorists. According to a statement issued by the Florida Department of Transportation, traffic traveling on US 27 southbound will be shifted to the newly constructed lanes beginning Wednesday. The change is a welcome improvement for drivers who have been navigating through a maze of...
Former Lake Wales resident and NBA great Amar'e Stoudemire was arrested in Miami Saturday, only two days after speaking to students and faculty at McLaughlin Middle/High school in Lake Wales. Stoudemire is alleged to have entered the room of his teenage daughter and punched her after believing that she had been disrespectful to her grandmother. His unidentified daughter was reportedly left with a bloody nose. According to a police report, one of the responding officers "observ...
It's time to dig out the Christmas sweaters, as sharply colder weather is forecast for the week ahead of the Holidays. After a chilly dip on Sunday and Monday, bracketed by good chances for rain, the Lake Wales area is expected to feel the first wintry blast of the season on December 23rd at temperatures drop into the mid-30s for overnight lows, while daytime highs remain in the 50s. Although there is no prediction of frost or freezing temperatures at this time, the jet...
A quick end to a lawsuit over title to the Walesbilt Hotel was raised as a possibility during a meeting of the Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency on Tuesday. "There is a good chance that the city will once again have title to the hotel, and I think we should notify everybody out there...that there may come a time when that hotel will be on the market," Chairman Robin Gibson told the commissioners. The city has been locked in a legal battle with Walesbilt LLC since...
A month long extension of a road closure has been added to a roundabout project under construction at the intersection of Old Bartow Lake Wales Road and Rattlesnake Road (County Road 653) in Lake Wales. The construction project, which began in September, has required closure previously. The road will close again at the intersection for one month starting Monday morning, December 19. Local access will be maintained to the point of closure, but no traffic will be permitted to...
As the Lake Wales Highlanders take on Daytona Beach Mainland in the Class 3S Football Championship, fans have some options for viewing the game, which will be live-streamed on the internet. Those wishing to attend in person also have the opportunity to reserve a seat on a chartered bus. The 14-0 Highlanders will face the Mainland Buccaneers in a 1:00 pm start on Friday, December 16. The game is being held in the neutral grounds of DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, which seat...
Almost 10 weeks after Hurricane Ian struck Polk County on September 28, large piles of storm debris remain piled along some Polk County roads. Despite complaints, some residents' frustrations are turning to anger directed at the county. While cities have move promptly to remove the heaps of limbs and branches, Polk County has struggled to maintain service for residents. During the same time frame a break-down in service for even normal household waste resulted in the Polk...
The historic Crystal Lake will Apartments at 282 East Park Avenue are expected to undergo extensive remodeling and exterior refurbishment after their purchase by the Lake Wales Care Center. The 100-year-old building has been vacant for about three years. The purchase price was discounted to $340,000, according to Antonio Spagnolo of Bright Trust Realty, in recognition of some damage caused during the passage of Hurricane Ian in September. Both the purchase price and the...
A concerned student, a responsive parent, and quick action by Lake Wales Police may have averted a tragic ending after a student's "toy" gun was revealed to be a very dangerous, loaded pistol. Lake Wales Police Officers responded to the entrance of Dinner Lake, a subdivision on Chalet Suzanne Road, after receiving a report that a “toy gun” might be hidden in bushes near a school bus stop there. Police located a purple drawstring backpack behind one of the bushes near the ent...
A long-desired re-do of the aging Grove Manor housing complex north of downtown may be closer to reality if the recent actions of the city commission bear fruit. Commissioners, on a 4-0 vote, approved allotting all of the original funding, once spread over several phases of a reconstruction project, to be assigned to phase two of the 300-unit project. Commissioner Daniel Williams was absent. Housing Authority Executive Director Albert Kirkland Jr. and construction management...
The Lake Wales Highlanders defeated Columbia Friday night, and will advance to the state championship game next week. Details of the Highlanders' win can be found in our Sports Section....
Lake Wales Police and firefighters recovered the body of 31-year-old Christopher Shoemaker from Crystal Lake late Friday morning. Shoemaker, of Greeneville, Tennessee, was last seen by friends on Wednesday night, November 30, swimming in the lake, but they were reportedly uncertain if he had left the lake or experienced a problem while in the water, according to a police statement. Officers and Polk County Deputies searched Lake Wailes and Crystal Lake as well as the...
An apparent attempt to draw customers led to the wrong kind of attention for an area man as he found himself following complaints about his loud music. According to Lake Wales Police, officers responded to the area of Seminole Ave. and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. around 10:20 pm Wednesday after a resident called complaining about loud music in the Grove Manor housing complex. Arriving officers observed a minivan occupied by a man playing loud music. As they approached...
A pair of proposed apartment developments near Eagle Ridge Mall may add 824 new dwelling units to the city, but in each case developer proposals to reduce required parking created some heartburn for city commissioners. The first and most prominent of the pair is proposed for a site directly behind Shoppes on the Ridge, on the north side of Chalet Suzanne Road and across from Wawa. It would consist of six four-story buildings containing 272 units on a 12.1 acre site. Tentative...
Frustration among Polk County residents in the Lake Wales area spread this week to include the Board of County Commissioners, who have been deluged with complaints from residents about missed collections of trash. The issue is only compounded by the mountains of yard waste still remaining on area streets in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in early October. County Commissioner Bill Braswell introduced the motion to declare an emergency after hearing complaints of up to...
The Lake Wales Fire Department and the City of Lake Wales want to alert residents to some very important tips regarding "deep frying" turkeys, a popular trend in recent years. Watch the video for some dramatic evidence. Among the tips: &bull: ALWAYS USE A FRYER OUTDOORS. Keep the fryer away from flammable materials. &bull: PLACE THE FRYER ON A LEVEL, STABEL SURFACE. If a fryer can tip or be knocked over by accident, it can cause a catastrophe. &bull: ALWAYS THAW THE TURKEY...
The City of Lake Wales finished the 2021-2022 fiscal year in better-than-expected financial shape, based upon figures included in a year-end budget amendment approved by city commissioners. The fiscal year ended on September 30, but final balances were not available for a few weeks. City Budget Director Dorothy Abbott presented the documents to the commissioners, explaining that the changes in the numbers reflected the needed final look back at the year concluded. The General...
More than three miles of streets around Lake Wales are in for improved surfaces in coming months, part of the city's multi-year street maintenance program. The largest single project will be the resurfacing of 2,260 feet of Sessoms Avenue from Scenic Highway to Wales Drive. The project will use a process called "cape seal," which will extend the life of existing asphalt band and allow the budget to cover more streets, according to Division Manager Beverly Pennington of the...
One-time Hurricane Nicole passed over the Lake Wales area this morning, with the broad center of the storm positioned directly over the city at 7:00 am today. Despite gusty winds and steady rains, few serious impacts have been reported so far. Once again, forecasts from the National Hurricane Center have proven uncannily accurate in predicting the movement of the storm, from predictions of its formation three days before evidence was seen, to its entire unusual course. Nicole...
A late-evening shooting Wednesday at a local apartment complex left two men hospitalized and a suspect or suspects being sought by the Lake Wales Police Department. According to Lieutenant M. Smith of the LWPD, the two victims were sitting outside an apartment talking when they heard a series of shots ring out. They both realized they had been hit, and called for help. They also reported that there had been no prior disturbance or argument prior to the incident. At...
The solution to a missing persons case that has festered for years remains our of sight for investigators after an excavation under the floors of an aging home of Dr. J.A. Wiltshire Avenue turned up no remains. The home was the focal point of years of rumors after 24-year-old Debbie Williams was reported missing by family members in 1990. Her daughter Tamesha, then about nine years old, was subsequently raised by her grandmother. She has never had closure in the matter of her...
The Warner University Royals initiated a brand new football field on their South Lake Wales campus Saturday, hosting their first on-campus game by taking on Southeastern University in a Sun Conference game. The new facility, although still lacking the bleachers and field house that are expected parts of a college field, has a high-quality playing surface featuring artificial turf emblazoned with the Warner University Lion logo. A press box towers over the west side of the...
