The man who put the “international” in Lakeland Linder International Airport is moving from the airport’s north side to its south side in April when he assumes his new position as president/CEO of the Aerospace Center for Excellence at Sun ‘n Fun’s Expo Campus and Florida Air Museum.
Author Archives: John Haughey
Posted inCity Hall, Neighborhoods
Hotly Contested Lake Miriam Apartment Plan Set for Tuesday Hearing
A controversial proposal to build 244 apartments next to the Lake Miriam Square Shopping Center goes before the Lakeland Planning & Zoning Board on Tuesday.
Posted inDining, Downtown
Silver Ring Cafe Must Vacate 35-Year Downtown Space by Sept. 1
Silver Ring Cafe has been pressing Cuban sandwiches and dishing up its signature chicken and yellow rice meals from its Tennessee Avenue perch on downtown Lakeland’s Munn Park for 35 years. Come Sept. 1, the restaurant will need to find a new space to lease or cease to exist.
Posted inBusiness, City Hall
Lakeland Paid 13 Firms $363K for Legal Help in Last Quarter of 2021
The city of Lakeland paid $363,000 in legal fees and expenses to 13 outside law firms and individual attorneys during the last three months of 2021, according to the city attorney’s office.
Posted inBusiness, City Hall
With Lakeland Airport Spaces Filled, City Won’t Link Leases to Inflation
Space is getting increasingly rare – and, therefore, increasingly valuable – at Lakeland Linder International Airport with all 100-plus warehouse/office sites rented to private businesses and government agencies at the city-owned airport.
Posted inDining, Downtown
Downtown Restaurants Expand Outdoor Dining Through Parklets
Harry’s Seafood Bar & Grille and Frescos Southern Kitchen & Bar have added more than 50 outdoor dining seats on Kentucky Avenue in downtown Lakeland as part of a pilot program to expand sidewalk cafes.
Posted inCity Hall
Lakeland Electric Looking to ‘Exit the Pipeline Ownership Business’
A long-sought project to widen State Road 33 and rebuild its obsolete 60-year-old interchange with I-4 has had a side effect of convincing Lakeland Electric it’s time to get out of the pipeline ownership business.
Posted inCrime / Justice
Neo-Nazi Leader with Lakeland Roots Faces Arizona Charges
A former Lakeland man who is the “commander” of a neo-Nazi group called the National Socialist Movement will appear in an Arizona court Thursday to answer three charges, including one felony, related to a 2021 incident in which he is accused of pointing a firearm at Black men in a hotel parking lot.
Posted inCity Hall, Neighborhoods
Tempests in Teapots and a Dixieland Hedge Row
Lakeland’s seven-member Code Enforcement Board convenes the fourth Tuesday of each month to assess repeat violations of municipal codes and ordinances lodged against land owners by city code enforcement officers.
Posted inBusiness, People
Brandon Clark Named as Third Leader of The Ruthvens in 64 Years
Joe P. Ruthven came to Lakeland from South Carolina in 1957 with his bride, the daughter of a prominent local family whose brother would someday be governor of Florida, and opened an OK Tires store on Memorial Boulevard with a partner.