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Three new food and beverage businesses are about to open in two vacant buildings at the corner of South Florida Avenue and East Belmar Street in Dixieland. One of them – By the Chef Pizza – begins its soft opening at noon today at 1212 S. Florida Ave. That is the building that previously housed […]

A surprise guest showed up on stage Saturday night at LkldNow’s “Candid Conversation with Gilbert King” event: Leo Schofield, the central character in King’s acclaimed true-crime podcast, “Bone Valley.” The podcast presses the case for exoneration of Schofield, a former Lakeland resident who is out on parole after serving 35 years in Florida prisons; he […]

A Lakeland teen who didn’t learn English until elementary school has received a four-year scholarship to Duke University through Questbridge, which connects high-achieving students from low-income backgrounds with top colleges. Alexander Andrade, an 18-year-old senior at the International Baccalaureate School at Bartow High School, is also one of two students who will represent Polk County […]

Polk County’s Loyce E. Harpe Park, which a lot of people still call Carter Road Park, will reopen on weekends only starting Jan. 4. The park at 500 W. Carter Road has been closed since Hurricane Milton in October and is still being used for storm debris, so hours will be limited to 8 a.m. […]

Drivers can expect delays on seven Lakeland roads during the next three months as the city repaves them. First up: All of Lake Morton Drive, where work starts Jan. 10 and is expected to be completed Jan. 15. The roads will be reduced to a single lane and flaggers will direct traffic, according to Kevin […]

2-minute read The city of Lakeland’s Gandy Pool at the Kelly Recreation Center, the site of many swim meets, is closing for resurfacing starting Jan. 2; the pool is projected to reopen in April. The $433,000 project will include a new quartz aggregate finish, along with the removal and replacement of pool tiles, including wall […]

A 36-year-old Polk County Public Schools employee was arrested Wednesday and charged with lewd conduct against a student by an authority figure, a second-degree felony. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release that Donald Mitchell of Lakeland had an inappropriate relationship with a student, who is now 19, starting in October 2023. […]

For generations, Lakeland residents facing serious medical emergencies had one place to go: Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center. Within a few years, they might have nine.  Local dignitaries cut the ribbon Wednesday on HCA Florida’s second standalone emergency room in Lakeland, at the northeast corner of Carpenter’s Way and U.S. Highway 98 North.  The 11,570-square-foot […]

7-minute read The local arrest of a Lakeland woman on a charge of threatening a Blue Cross Blue Shield Florida insurance worker has made national and international news and has raised questions about free speech, but two area experts say the charge is warranted. Supporters have rallied around the 42-year-old mother of three, contributing more […]

2-minute read A portion of State Road 33 that still looks like a two-lane country road is about to be reconstructed to accommodate nearly two decades of growth that includes Florida Polytechnic University, the Bridgewater community and a mushrooming of warehouses. The roadway will be four-laned between Old Combee Road and Firstpark Boulevard South (see […]