Former Lakeland Mayor Gow Fields lambasted two Polk County School Board members Tuesday night at a board meeting, comparing them to the police accused of killing George Floyd.
Author Archives: Rick Rousos
Posted inTransportation
Amtrak Reduces Lakeland Train Service
Citing a dearth of passengers because of the impact of the coronavirus, Amtrak will reduce its train service in much of America on Oct. 1. But Lakeland was included in a small number of regions where service has already been rolled back.
Posted inCrime / Justice
Michael Dunn’s Stand-Your-Ground Hearing Postponed Indefinitely
The second-degree murder trial of former Lakeland City Commissioner Michael Dunn is being delayed by the coronavirus-driven lack of in-person juries in the Polk County Courthouse.
Posted inHealth
Order Banning On-Premises Alcohol Stuns Bar Owners, Employees
Lakeland bar owners and their employees said they were caught off-guard by today’s announcement that they would have to immediately suspend on-premises consumption of alcohol.
Posted inCity Hall, Health
Commissioners Again Resist Mandating Masks
Mayor Bill Mutz may be feeling a little lonely these days. Mutz didn’t fare any better today than he did on Monday in getting support from the six other city commissioners for an order requiring people to wear masks inside public spaces in Lakeland.
Posted inDining
Chef T’s Garden Grill Reopens With Italo Casini as Chef
When Chef Terry Doner closed his Gary Road fine-dining restaurant in October, he left the door of reopening barely cracked. The door at Chef T’s Garden Grill is now wide open. This time he is cooking with his decades-long friend, chef Italo Casini.
Posted inPolitics
Barrow Challenges Burton for State House Seat
Three-term Republican state Rep. Colleen Burton has a challenger for her job. Jan Barrow, 57, has filed as a Democrat to unseat Burton from the District 40 seat in the Florida House of Representatives.
Posted inCrime / Justice, People
Roddenbery Is Asked to Step Down as Circuit Judge
Circuit Judge Neil Roddenbery is being asked to retire because of Alzheimer’s disease, state records show. Roddenbery, 63, serves the Family Division of the Bartow-based 10th Judicial Circuit.
Posted inPolitics, Schools
William Allen Challenging Billy Townsend for School Board
A professor at Florida Southern College wants Billy Townsend’s job. William Allen, 45, has filed to run for the Lakeland-based District 1 seat on the Polk County School Board currently held by Townsend, 48.
Posted inActivism, Obituaries, People
Nancye Thornberry, Polk Senior Games Founder, Dies at 89
Lakeland has lost one of its matriarchs. Nancye Thornberry, who founded the Polk Senior Games and helped start Mayfaire-by-the-Lake when she led the Polk Museum of Art, died Tuesday night after a long illness, She was 89.