This weekend Winter Haven is the place for the 32nd Annual Central Park Art Festival. Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 4pm downtown features fine art and craft items, local vendors and talent. Also, don't miss the 2010 Florida Outdoor Sculpture Competition winners stationed around Central Park. photo credit: Tom Hagerty for Metro I4 News
For the second year, over 200 NCAA Division I, II & III, NAIA, Junior Colleges and High Schools baseball teams are converging on Central Florida. From February 20 to April 24, 2010, teams come to Florida to take on others in their division. Playing primarily at the Chain of Lakes Park in Winter Haven, the teams also use fields at Lake Myrtle Park, Henley Field, Polk Community College, Southeastern University, Webber International University, Warner University, Pat Thomas Stadium and some of the area's top high school fields. It's well played Spring baseball without major league prices and Metro I4 News photographer Tom Hagerty has attended many of the games. Here are a few shots...
Eligible residents of Bartow, Dundee, Frostproof, Haines City, Lake Alfred, Lake Hamilton and Mulberry who want to vote in their April 6th City Elections or who desire to change party affiliation must do so by March 8th. “It is important to complete your registration by March 8th,” said Lori Edwards, Polk County’s Supervisor of Elections “any person submitting a form after that date will not be eligible to vote in the City Election.” You can download a voter registration form at www.polkelections.com. Your always-helpful public library has forms on hand. Each city hall and numerous local businesses have copies, but a visit to the library is fun for the whole family. If you're already registered, you can use the opportunity to update your information with the election office. For further information regarding the Book Closing deadline or any other election related questions please contact the elections office at 534-5888.
The Polk County Sheriff's office spends considerable time training officers. Just before the Thanksgiving holiday the department added a tool to improve that training. Imagine a room with a wall size video screen. Like a videogame on steroids, videotaped actors move through scenarios, responding or not to a live trainee's commands and weapon fire.
The Polk County School system chooses their Spelling Bee champion February 24th. Starting at 6 pm, 39 middle school students from 23 schools will compete in the McKeel Auditorium at 1810 West Parker St in Lakeland. Last student standing is the county champion. Attendance is free, but if you have more questions call 863.519.8798 for more information, but you can only ask for the definition, part of speech, or language of origin.
POLK COUNTY COMMISSION – DISTRICT 2 This district covers the southern half of the county including the cities/towns of Bartow, Fort Meade, Frostproof, Highland Park, Hillcrest Heights, Lake Wales, and Mulberry, as well as areas of southern Lakeland. The winner will replace Republican incumbant Randy Wilkinson, who is term-limited. — DEMOCRAT — Jacquelyn Smith: (Lakeland /Retired Federal Employee; Real [...]
GOVERNOR The winner will replace Republican incumbant Charlie Crist, who is running for the U.S. Senate — DEMOCRAT — Joe Lancelot Allen: (Key West / Retired Teacher) - Campaign Web Site - Michael E. Arth: (DeLand / Landscape & Urban Designer, Author) - Campaign Web Site – Facebook Page - Phillip J. Kennedy: (Crestview) - This candidate currently has no online [...]
Tuesday, January 12, the whole world was informed and quickly learned about a horrendous event, which has now claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, leaving hundreds of thousand more injured and/or homeless. A 7.1 earthquake leveled the majority of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital. Wednesday, January 20, a second quake shook the already destroyed country creating even more [...]
I’ll be writing about this one for a while I think. That’s because LandSouth’s sale of Cypress Gardens to Merlin Entertainments Group is a biggie. Merlin is the British owner of Legoland and other attractions, my personal favorite being Madame Tusaaud’s Wax Museum. My Grandfather took me to Madame Tussaud’s in London when I was [...]
I was sorry I couldn’t attend the opening of the soccer complex at the new Lake Myrtle Park complex in Auburndale at the end of December. When I told my mom about the excitement over at Lake Myrtle Park, she replied: “What’s Lake Myrtle Park?”. I figured I’d better start typing. As you’ve probably seen [...]
Another group that I am actively involved with — the Dick Pope/Polk County Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association — is working with several local charities on a really great opportunity to do something good for children in Polk County and around the world. The Chapter is looking for sponsors who will purchase a pair [...]
Lakeland, Fla. - "There are 1.02 billion undernourished people in the world today," according to the World Food Programme (WFP) organization. Today-together-we will be able to help some of these unfortunate persons from all over the world.
For two decades, the Center for Urban Transportation Research has advised Florida policymakers on how to spend billions of taxpayer dollars to improve the state's overwhelmed transportation system. The University of South Florida think tank says every transportation option it examines undergoes a rigorous and objective analysis. It says it plays no favorites. But a St. Petersburg Times analysis shows CUTR has often criticized one type of travel — passenger rail — while promoting alternatives it is paid millions to study. -- One of rail's biggest critics gets millions to study and promote alternatives A question unasked is why DOT believes that CUTR can do better studies than DOT can in-house? If they want opinions and studies from different sources, are they spreading around the wealth to other "think tanks?" • Hit tip to Sticks of Fire - cutr’s anti-rail stance questioned
Bio: The short line? Father, husband, writer. My online presence is primarily through as the editor, writer, and occasional photographer for the news sites, Lakeland Local, a sampling of the news, concerns, and events for Lakeland, Florida, and Metro i4 News, which covers the Interstate 4 corridor in Central Florida. Both sites feature the work of myself and other contributors. As a hobby, I manage a forum and some web sites that feature a pulp fiction series written by Lester Dent -- Doc Savage Organized, Doc Savage Info, and Flearun.