As an (863) Hispanic, I am proud of our accomplishments in Central Florida and around the country. I am also proud of what the University of South Florida Polytechnic (USF Poly) and Polk State College (PSC) are doing to celebrate these accomplishments.

From Sept. 15 – Sept. 19, both colleges shared these accomplishments with their “Diversity Partnership Multicultural Week,” which was composed of the “Lakeland Multicultural Trade Show,” “The State of Diversity in Central Florida Panel Discussion” and the “Third Annual Diversity Conference.” All of these events took place at the new USF Poly/PSC campus.

Yesterday, the “Greater Lakeland Multicultural 2009 Festival” took place at the Magnolia building in downtown Lakeland.

Today, The Polk Museum of Art is closing these festivities with their annual Family Day event. This year’s theme is “Going Green,” and it will take place from 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Admission is free.

In addition to “The Diversity Partnership Multicultural Week,” PSC is having a month-long art exhibit in their Lakeland campus. The exhibit, currently in its second year, is displaying art works from past and current PSC students.

Sergio Ayala, Cristian Bruno, Jessica Jordan and Ed Nieves are current Liberal Art students at PSC. Among these great artists, Samuel Romero, a Polk Community College graduate, is a teacher assistant at Florida Southern College, and he recently received his Master’s degree in Fine Arts from the School of Art Institute of Chicago.

Although a small exhibit, the talent is far from being small. All of these artists have unique styles from photography to classic oil on canvas, and they promise to share the colorfulness and individualities of our culture.

The exhibit’s official opening night was this past Tuesday, Sept. 15, and it is scheduled to be opened until Thursday, Oct. 15. The gallery’s show time is from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

I invite you to visit the event and support local talented artists from Central Florida. And if you have a family, then I will see you today at The Polk Museum of Art’s “Family Day 2009: Going Green” event.

Like always: Be blessed, balanced and beautiful.

The Pie Championships are April 24-26 and The Great American Pie Festival will take place April 25 and 26 (right at the end of the Sun ‘n Fun Fly-in).

This seems like a pretty cool event with “The Never-Ending Pie Buffet, featuring award winning pies, ice cream, toppings and beverages featuring pies from Bakers Square, Bonert’s Slice of Pie, Edwards, Key West Key Lime Pie Co., Inc., Mrs. Smith’s Bakeries, Publix SuperMarkets Inc., Rocky Mountain Pies, Sara Lee Bakery, California Raisin Marketing Board Schwan’s Bakery, Village Inn Restaurants and Wick’s Pies. Admission to the Never Ending Pie Buffet is $10 for adults, $5 for seniors and children age 6-12.”

I may just have to check out this event for myself, after all it is practically in our own backyard!

Yes – that headline says April 15. Your tax forms must be in the mail by midnight tonight.

Apopka Cops say that the house being used for a reality show was once used to broadcast live sex acts for an adult entertainment Web site. Can’t you imagine the idiots behind this? “Hey, we got this house sitting here – we need to use it to get rich and famous!”

In Haines City, work on the North Sixth Street streetscaping project has been postponed because of paperwork requested by Florida’s Department of Community Affairs. Meanwhile in Winter Haven, Third Street between Avenue A Southwest and Avenue E Northwest is undergoing a face lift as part of that city’s continuing effort to improve the downtown. The work is expected to take the rest of the year.

Mulberry Police Deputy Chief Jody Beaudry was arrested Monday on charges of sexual battery and engaging in unlawful sexual activity with a minor. FDLE investigators say in 2004, Beaudry threatened to revoke a 16 year old girl’s probation if she did not have sex with him. Sounds like rape to me.

A Ledger editorial notes the Bush Administration’s terrible EPA record.

Compared to 2007, Sun ‘n Fun President John Burton said that daily attendance during the week was down 5 percent or 6 percent each day for the first four days of the six-day event. There was no dropoff in deaths surrounding the event.

Media General’s Florida Communications Group is offering voluntary buyouts to about half its 1,326 employees, including those with The Tampa Tribune and WFLA, News Channel 8. They are trying to reduce staff and other costs in a difficult economic environment in the Tampa Bay area, said John Schueler, president of Florida Communications Group, which oversees the operation of The Tribune, WFLA, TBO.com and other Florida media outlets.

The book The Land is about the son of a prosperous landowner and a former slave whose white father raises him openly in post-Civil War Georgia. The book includes use of the N-word. After a parent’s complaint, a committee of school administrators, parents and teachers from Turner Elementary School in northeast Hillsborough County said The Land by Mildred Taylor was “above the maturity level of elementary students” and will donate the book to a middle school, school officials said Monday.

Tampa Tribune Editorial: In scoring and hosting championship games, Tampa has been outstanding. But Orlando is investing a billion dollars in sporting venues and other facilities, and are on the way to building commuter rail. Tampa needs to stay ahead of Orlando.

That’s it for now. Feel free to go finish your taxes.