Chris Craig is on vacation. We’re happy to run one of his columns originally published on Lakeland Local In a session not too long ago, a woman shared with me that when she was a child, her father told her that one of the reasons he and her mother were getting a divorce was how bad [...]
Central Florida band Juniper RED contacted Lakeland photographer Tom Hagerty about shooting a few photos for the band. Saturday morning Tom and the band wandered around Lakeland's Starry Way and the Polk Theater shooting a few dozen shots. Check the full article for more shots...
Some news is best delivered in bits and pieces...like our series of articles on red light cameras. Each commission meeting, each interview with the players, added a new view of the cameras and how they'd make a difference in our community. Sometimes, it's best to start with the framework and add the details later. The red light camera series was a collection of traditional news articles, analysis, and commentary. That will also be true of our coverage of the Polk Neighborhood Stabilization Program (Polk NSP). Congress passed the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 to give $4.92 billion dollars to local communities to acquire and redevelop foreclosed properties. Approximately $14.5 million was given to Polk County to purchase and rehab at least 61 homes in the county. That program became Polk NSP. This week the organization announced they were open for business. Familiar with the process to this point, we met with the two principles to discuss the project.
Cris Craig wrote 13 Religion in the City columns for our sister publication, Lakeland Local. We're offering this handy list for those who might have missed a column or two...
Tom Hagerty lives in Lakeland and is gracious enough to shoot for MI4 and Lakeland Local. We say "gracious" because he is and he, like the rest of us, does it for free. We probably get the chance to publish a tenth of what we wish we could...and nothing of early work. Until now.....
In this economy, CSX will not lightly walk away from more than $600 million in cash and system improvements, liability or no. FDOT probably still wants to hand that money over to the company. In fact, it's already done so to some degree in the form of ongoing overpass improvements in north central Florida. Buddy Dyer is out begging for $20,000 in legal expense money so lawyers can try to figure out a way around the senate. Democracy in action. (Funny that with all the money spent on John Thrasher and other uber lobbyists during the session, Dyer is reduced to panhandling for this. You would think GrayRobinson would just pick it up for him.) Anyway, this isn't over. But it's worth taking a moment for some post mortem thoughts before this deal reveals itself as the undead zombie vampire that we fear it might be...
No, probably not. But that's how many the school district would need to lay off to account for the 15 percent budget cut state officials have told Florida schools to expect next year. It comes to $95 million. The Polk district would need to cut 1,700 of its 7,000 teachers to come up with $95 million. It's more likely that every employee will receive a significant pay cut.
Yes, at just a few months old, Metro I4 News is going to get a face lift. Maybe a nose job. With all the new contributors at Lakeland Local I let my focus drift. MI4 has been carrying everything from select bloggers. As a central repository it let you have one feed instead of five. But I stopped making it easy to scan. That's going to change. I need to trim, prune, and focus. First, I'm going to stop reprinting everything from Lakeland Local. Yes, my own site. Starting tomorrow, I'll just publish select Lakeland Local columns that are more regional in nature. Then a few days of looking at better arranging the front page. After BlogOrlando, I'm going to add an every other day column on the best of Central Florida blogs, columnists, twits, and facebookers. Basically, where ever I find something interesting online. Then we start weight training.
Polk Community College has many activities in September and October for the celebration of Hispanic Heritage including a Hispanic Art themed exhibition. Vilas Tonape, PCC’s new art instructor, painted a students portrait in less than one hour at the opening of the Students Art exhibition. It was an awesome experience watching him paint (video to come soon). Many students showed up for the opening, which included food from Guava Berry Bakery. The gallery is on the Lakeland PCC Campus in the Technology Building (LTB) and open Monday to Thursday at various times. photo credit: Darby Critendon
photo credit: Tom Hagerty
Various outlets reported today that Graham Packaging will close one of two Lakeland facilities. The Pennsylvania-based company announced that it will close the McCrue Road plant on October 9. The company reported that most of the 15 employees will be eligible for severance packages and may apply at other Graham locations. Some McCrue plant employees will be transferred to the County Line Road facility. “In July, Graham Packaging disclosed an agreement to be acquired by Texas Rangers owner Thomas O. Hicks for $700 million. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.” — Tradingmarkets.com
If you’ve had some difficulty with broken links after our switch to Wordpress… They should all work now. I won’t bore you with details. Please let me know in comments if you find any other broken links. Thanks. Now back to posts on traffic cones, buses, breakfast, and socialists. And isn’t it time for another look at local main stream media?
The Citrus Connection took a big step to help the Lakeland Vision process this morning. On the evening of September 22, the company will extend the bus schedules of three bus routes to help those attending the Idea Gathering meetings held at Kathleen High School. For the 6pm to 8 pm meeting Citrus Connection will change three bus routes: • Rt. 42, West Memorial, will have extended hours until 8:45 (route pdf) • Rt. 41, Central Avenue, will have extended hours until 9:45 (route pdf) • Rt. 50, Kathleen/Providence, will have extended hours until 9:45 (route pdf) The affected routes serve those traveling to the Downtown terminal to make a connection with Rt. 42, W. Memorial, on to Kathleen High School. Routes 41 and 50 will be extended to 9:45 PM to allow those attending the meeting to travel on Route 42 back to the Downtown terminal and continue on one of the extended routes. No other routes are extended. According to Danny Ours, executive director of Lakeland Area Mass Transit District, ADA eligible Handy Bus riders attending the event can make a reservation on any of the three routes, but must do so no later than Saturday, September 20th. “From the beginning, we have hoped for the broadest possible involvement in these idea gathering meetings. Thanks to the flexibility of our friends at Citrus Connection, more people will have a chance to ‘make their mark’ in our planning process.” — Shannon Lanier, executive director of Lakeland Vision Additional Information For an article on the Idea Gathering process: Plan the Trip For more information on Lakeland Vision For more information about Citrus Connection mass transit RideCitrus or call at 688-RIDE (7433)
photo credit: Tom Hagerty
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.