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1-minute read Wednesday morning, inside United Way of Central Florida’s Lakeland building, on U.S. 98, volunteers from Westlake Epoxy and United Way were passing flashlights, batteries, glow sticks and first aid kits down a line, readying emergency supplies for hurricane season, which was already upon us. Now it was time to prepare. Rebuilding Together Greater […]

3-minute read Big changes are coming to the Kress Building in downtown Lakeland, on the inside. The majestic, Renaissance Revival-style building has been vacant since August 2022, when the Explorations V Children’s Museum closed its doors and relocated to Bonnet Springs Park.  No longer. JB Realty Partners purchased the 100-year-old building at 109 N. Kentucky […]

1-minute read A Tampa restaurant will open its second location at the site of the former Andrew’s Coffee, on Florida Avenue South, the company announced on its website. 5-Star Seafood says it will open in Lakeland, at 3601 Florida Ave. S., “soon.” The Tampa restaurant is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to […]

1-minute read Bill Read has announced his intention to step down from the Lakeland City Commission, the city said in a news release Monday. Read, the owner of a realty group, was first elected to the commission’s Northeast seat unopposed in 2015. He was re-elected in 2019. Read was automatically re-elected re-elected to a third term […]

3-minute read In cartoons it’s easy to tell who the bad guys are. The handsome officer with his perfectly pressed shirt and tie simply needs to look for the beer-bellied guy with the five o’clock shadow and beanie. Ask the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and they’ll tell you identifying criminals isn’t that easy. Life for […]

1-minute read Polk County has launched the Polk County Behavioral Health Resources website, aimed at connecting residents to behavioral resources, including mental health and substance-user services, across the county. Why this matters: Roughly one in five U.S. adults experience mental illness each year. Among students, the need is also rising, with over 180,000 Floridians ages […]

3-minute read Several groups have festivities to commemorate Juneteenth, a federal holiday that recognizes June 19, 1865, the day Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to announce that the more than 250,000 enslaved Black people living in the state were free, signifying the end of the American Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation […]

1-minute read Florida Southern College has appointed Andrew Phillip Payne as the founding dean of its new School of Architecture, the college announced Wednesday. Payne, an experienced administrator and teacher, recently served as dean and professor of architecture at Kennesaw State University College of Architecture and Construction Management, the college said. The School of Architecture […]

3-minute read Mel’s Desserts and Delights has been a longtime dream for Melissa Johnston, 37, of Lakeland. Johnston, a Polk County native, quit her office job in 2019 to run a bakery out of her kitchen.  A little over five years later, she opened her first storefront in April, at 2080 E. Edgewood Dr., near […]

3-minute read Even in the morning, temperatures hover in the 80s and the roads are busy and dangerous in many parts of Lakeland, especially around South Florida Avenue.   I’m in Dixieland, on foot, near Cresap Street. I have $20 and I want to get some groceries. I cross a busy intersection to get to a […]