Welcome, World Travelers! TMNT: Mutant Mayhem Brings Turtle Power!
by James Coulter
I was born in 1987. The original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtlescartoon was released in 1987. So, I’ve been a fan of the Turtles ever since I was born. I had a toy bin filled with Turtles action figures. I even had the Technodrome playset. (Though I always wanted the Turtles sewer playset as well!) So, if anyone should be excited to watch the new TMNT movie, it’s certainly me.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has had many incarnations over the years, including cartoons, comic books, video games, and movies. The latest theatrical adaptation, Mutant Mayhem, comes straight from the mind of “perpetual teenager” Seth Rogan. But will this new movie bring Turtle Power? Or is it time for the Turtles franchise to go back to the sewer?
IMDB Poster
Mutant Mayhem starts off with the same familiar backstory: four turtles and a rat get covered in ooze, transform into mutants, and learn the art of ninjitsu. However, this time around, the Turtles’ sole desire isn’t simply to become superheroes. Rather, they want to venture out of the sewer and into the human world to live as normal teenagers, but their rat father, Splinter, forbids it because he doesn’t trust humans.
Eventually, the Turtles sneak out of the sewer and rescue a human girl named April O’Neil, a high school reporter who’sinvestigating a string of robberies being carried out by a criminal gang, not lead by the Shredder, but rather a mutant named Superfly. Will the Turtles solve this crime spree?
Like Into the Spider-Verse and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, this computer-animated film takes on a unique highly-stylized animation style. While Into TheSpiderverse felt like a comic book come to life, and The Last Wish felt like a storybook, Mutant Mayhem feels like a notebook of children’s marker drawings come to life its vibrant colors and uneven designs.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles themselves are real fun. They act and talk like actual teenagers rather than young adults—and it helps that they’re performed by teenagers themselves. They have a very close, fun camraderie with one another with conversational talking-over-each-other dialogue that sounds exactly how other teenagers talk with each other.
The story itself isn’t anything new. The Turtles want to be part of the human world. Their father forbids it. They disobey them anyway. They meet other mutants that make them feel less alone, but discover these mutants are led by a villian who wants to destroy the human world so they can stop being oppressed. Essentially, it’s The Little Mermaid meets X-Men.
Despite its run-of-the-mill story, the movie itself is fun to watch with its vibrant art style, dynamic action scenes, and quick-witted conversational dialogue. Overall, the movie isn’t as good as the original 1990 live-action Turtles movie, but it’s way better than the Michael Bay movies that were released last decade. If you and your kids love the Ninja Turtles, you’ll love this movie. It’s a fun film that’ll have you screaming “Cowabunga!”
Bartow, Florida – Polk County motorist traveling S.R. 60 last Friday (August 11th at 4:22pm) got a show. The show consisted of a clearly disturbed or impaired Juan Roman Jr. walking back and forth in the roadway and median fighting with deputies, being tasered and still standing after being tasered twice.
The following is an excerpt from the arrest affidavit by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. It should be noted that this is an unedited, but redacted report of facts by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. These facts are up for question and everyone is entitled to question the validity of facts by law enforcement in a court of law. The Daily Ridge does not rewrite these facts as some meanings or interpretations could be in error and change context. We hope readers appreciate being able to read the information and come to their own understanding and conclusions)
“On 08/11/2023, at approximately 1622 hours, I was requested by supervision to respond to the area of Highway 60 and Hankin Road to conduct a follow-up investigation regarding a person throwing rocks at passing vehicles and attacking a responding officer. I made contact with dayshift supervision and learned the following:
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) received two calls from passing motorists along the eastbound lanes of Highway 60 near Hankin Road. The first reportee, REDACTED, called at approximately 1533 hours and stated that a white male was standing very close to the roadway talking to himself, and she was concerned for his safety and the safety of passing motorists. REDACTED stated he wore blue shorts, a red shirt, and a black beard. The second reportee, VICTIM called at approximately 1544 hours and stated a man in the same area, with the same clothing and physical description, was throwing rocks at passing vehicles and that one of the rocks struck her vehicle.
PCSO Deputy Sheriff (D/S) Wells #8900 responded to the call and arrived at the scene in his marked agency-issued patrol vehicle at approximately 1549 hours. D/S Wells was wearing his agency-issued green patrol uniform with a Sheriff star affixed to the front of my uniform. Both sleeves of the uniform contain a patch that reads “Sheriff Polk County”. When D/S Wells arrived, he attempted to detain the suspect, later identified as Juan Roman Junior, to investigate throwing deadly missiles at passing vehicles.
D/S Wells advised Roman that he was being detained and ordered him to put his hands behind his back. Roman then began resisting his commands by walking onto the roadway of Highway 60 in the eastbound lane. D/S Wells followed him into the roadway, and Roman stopped briefly. D/S Wells attempted to grab Roman’s left arm, and Roman pulled away from him, running south across the eastbound lane. D/S Wells began a foot pursuit into the outside lane of eastbound traffic. Roman then turned toward D/S Wells, balled up his fists, and assumed a fighting stance. This action placed D/S Wells in a well-founded fear of imminent physical violence.
D/S Wells then attempted again to grasp Roman and take him into custody. Roman then struck D/S Wells with his left fist making contact with D/S Wells’ right cheek near his right temple. Roman again struck D/S Wells several times, knocking off his radio communications and depriving him of his ability to transmit radio communications. D/S Wells deployed his agency-issued Taser cartridge, but the weapon did not affect Roman. D/S Wells retreated in an attempt to grab his radio microphone and call for backup. Roman then walked north, crossing the eastbound lanes, and attempted to flee.
At that time, D/S Alexander #3909 arrived and stopped traffic in the westbound lane. D/S Alexander exited his agencyissued marked patrol vehicle and ordered Roman to stop, get back, and get on the ground. D/S Alexander was wearing the same style uniform as D/S Wells. Roman walked aggressively toward D/S Alexander while ignoring D/S Alexander’s commands, placing him in a well-founded fear that violence was imminent. D/S Alexander was able to maneuver out of Roman’s path and deployed his agency-issued Taser, which also had little to no effect on Roman. During this time, Roman completely disregarded D/S Alexander’s commands to get on the ground and walked to the passenger side of D/S Alexander’s occupied patrol vehicle and attempted to enter it with negative results.
Roman again crossed the westbound lanes of Highway 60 and entered the median with Deputies chasing him. Roman was eventually taken into custody while attempting to cross the eastbound lanes again.
I contacted reportee two, VICTIM, and obtained a sworn recorded statement. In her statement, VICTIM advised that Roman threw rocks at several passing vehicles and struck her vehicle with a rock.
Polk County Fire/EMS transported D/S Wells to receive treatment for his injuries.
Through my investigation, I determined probable cause existed to place the suspect, Juan Roman Jr., under arrest for the following violations of Florida State Statutes:
790.19 Roman wantonly and maliciously threw a stone at an occupied vehicle traveling at highway speeds that could produce death or great bodily harm.
F.S.S. 843.02 (2 counts) – Roman intentionally and illegally refused to comply with the Deputies’ orders, inhibiting them from carrying out their lawful duties.
F.S.S 843.01: Roman knowingly and willingly opposed an officer during the lawful execution of his legal duty.
F.S.S. 784.07 (Two counts) Roman intentionally and unlawfully threatened, by act, to do violence to D/S Wells and D/S Alexander. At the time, Roman appeared able to carry out the threat. The act of Roman created in the mind of (victim) a well-founded fear that violence would occur. D/S Wells and D/S Alexander were law enforcement officers at the time. Roman knew D/S Wells and D/S Alexander were law enforcement officers. At the time of the assault, D/S Wells and D/S Alexander were engaged in the lawful performance of their duties.
F.S.S. 784.07 (2)(D) Roman actually and intentionally touched or struck D/S Wells against his will and intentionally caused bodily harm to D/S Wells. In committing the Battery, Roman intentionally or knowingly caused great bodily harm to D/S Wells. D/S Wells was a law enforcement officer. Romanm knew D/S Wells was a law enforcement officer. D/S Wells was engaged in the lawful performance of his duties when the battery was committed against him.
F.S.S. 843.025: Roman deprived a law enforcement officer of his radio, disallowing the officer to defend himself or summon assistance.
F.S.S. 810.02: Roman illegally attempted to enter an occupied conveyance with the intent to commit a crime within the conveyance.
F.S.S. 877. 03 Roman committed acts that outraged the sense of public decency and affected the peace of the persons who witnessed the acts. Roman fought in full view of the drivers and passengers on the highway during this incident.
F.S.S. 856.021- Roman loitered in a place, at a time, or in a manner not usual for law-abiding individuals. Such loitering was under circumstances that warranted justifiable and reasonable alarm or immediate concern for the safety of persons or property in the vicinity and took flight upon the appearance of a law enforcement officer.
Video footage of the incident was obtained, and I observed several pedestrian traffic violations committed by Roman. Roman was issued Florida Uniform Traffic citation numbers AHQ98CE, AHQ98DE, and AHQ98EE for the violations”
Juan Roman Jr. is no stranger to law enforcement or the court system. Roman has previous arrests for is a convicted felon with three prior convictions for Aggravated Battery on an LEO/Firefighter/EMT, two convictions for Disorderly Conduct, and other convictions for Robbery, Possession of Controlled Substances, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Exposure of Sexual Organs.
Unedited Updated Press Release From Polk County Sheriff’s Office
“ In response to your inquiries, here is the information from the traffic crash report on Friday night:
11:43 p.m., August 11, 2023
South Florida Avenue and Patterson Street East in Lakeland
Vehicle 1 (2018 ambulance belonging to Polk County Fire Rescue) was traveling southbound on S Florida Ave with lights and sirens responding to a call for service. While V1 was traveling southbound an unknown vehicle was unable to yield to the right due to the concrete medians and V1 turned into the middle lane of S Florida Ave to pass the unknown vehicle when V1 saw a center concrete median and attempted to maneuver around but struck the median with the front left tire and began to lose control.
After striking the center median V1 continued in a southbound direction on S Florida Ave and struck the right shoulder median with both right front and rear tires causing V1 to be redirected towards the northbound lanes in a south east direction of S Florida Ave. V1 struck the west side wall of the business located 700 S Florida Ave in Lakeland where it came to a final rest.
Witness 1 (W1) stated V1 was traveling southbound with lights and sirens on S Florida Ave when W1 observed an unknown vehicle that was unable to yield for V1. W1 stated V1 went around the unknown vehicle and struck the center median and then V1 struck the right shoulder median losing control and colliding with the business. The unknown vehicle that was unable to yield was not on scene and continue driving southbound on S Florida Ave.
Polk County Fire Rescue responded to the scene and transported Driver 1 (D1), passenger 2 (P2), passenger 3(P3), and passenger 4 (P4) to Lakeland Regional Health.
D1 was treated on scene for minor injuries.
P2 was seated on the front right passenger seat and was treated for a minor hand fracture.
P3 was seated in the front middle seat and was treated for fractured ribs and tibia.
P4 was seated in the rear seat located in the back compartment and was treated on scene for minor injuries.
Polk County Fire Rescue contacted a wrecker and Stepp’s Towing responded to the scene. I determined V1 to be the violator vehicle.”
————Initial Article ———-
Polk County Fire Rescue Ambulance involved in single vehicle accident late Friday night. The accident occurred when the ambulance ran into and partially through the old Proud Gators store.
The call was received at 11:50 p.m on Friday, August 11, 2023 regarding an ambulance that crashed into a building. Polk County Fire Rescue unit MR002 was involved. The location is South Florida Avenue at Patterson Street East. South Florida from Moss Wood Road to Palmetto was shut down. One crew member of that unit reported an injury to an arm, the other member reported injuries to face and arm. We can confirm that there was actually 4 Polk County Fire Rescue employees transported for medical care. This is an increase of two occupants compared to our earlier reporting. We have not had any confirmation at this time, but believe one may have been a trauma alert and suffered more than minor injuries.
This occurred in the city of Lakeland but due to the fact that the ambulance is a county vehicle, the county requested that PCSO respond. Lakeland Fire/EMS transported patients.
PCSO cleared the scene at 3:38 a.m. this morning.
As of this time details are still coming in regarding the accident. We will update as more information is available
Bartow, Fla. (Aug. 11, 2023) – Polk County Fire Rescue (PCFR) is now offering a $10,000 sign-on bonus and additional incentives for qualified single-cert Paramedics and Firefighter/Paramedic applicants.
Last month, a two-year wage and benefit agreement was finalized between Polk County and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) Union 3531, and PCFR is working to recruit a diverse and skilled pool of qualified candidates.
To qualify for the sign-on bonus, applicants must be nationally registered or have completed their State of Florida equivalency certification requirements. Applicants must be certified in the State of Florida as a paramedic and Firefighter/Paramedics must possess a Florida Firefighter Bureau of Fire Standards Certificate of Compliance.
Additional incentives include:
Firefighter/Paramedic’s from a “career” fire department (lateral transfers) with at least two years of experience are not required to complete a Candidate Physical Ability Test (CPAT).
Every year of experience equates to one step in advancement up to Step 5.
Additional pay steps will also be provided to:
U.S. military veterans who have been honorably discharged
Applicants with a two or four-year college degree
Special Ops “Technicians” (Collapse, HazMat, Trench and VMR)
“Polk County Fire Rescue is excited to invite qualified candidates to join a progressive, EMS-based fire department with 49 stations,” said Fire Chief Hezedean A. Smith, D.M. “We want to attract a diverse and skilled pool of candidates, and we have adopted a forward-thinking approach in recruiting those who are ready to become part of the lived-experience in PCFR, which serves the four largest county in the state.”
Those interested in applying for a position with PCFR, please contact Recruiter Betzi LaCounte via email at [email protected] or call (863) 519-7350.
Vice detectives from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrested two men Thursday, August 10, 2023 for exposing themselves at Lake Hartridge Nature Park in Winter Haven.
“Parents take their children to this park and other parks like it for quality family time, and to make memories. The memories they don’t want is seeing people being lewd and obscene. I have a tip for anyone wanting to behave this way in public places—Polk County is not the place to try it.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff
Arrested during two separate incidents Thursday morning were: 35-year old William Allen, Jr. of Aurburndale and 42-year old Joseph Vollman of Astor, Florida.
Both men were charged with: Unlawful Exposure of Sexual Organs (M1) and Engaging in a Lewd or Lascivious Act (M2).
Even despite one of her horses receiving a minor injury, Hayleigh Rodgers still managed to win the National Barrel Horse Association (NBHA) Youth and Teen World Championships in July.
The 14-year-old Frostproof Middle-Senior High student was named the 3D Youth World Champion. Her awards included a championship belt buckle, two finalist buckles, a customized leather jacket, a new saddle, three checks, $2500 in cash, and an electric bike.
Rodgers traveled seven hours to Georgia with her family and two horses, Reba and Diesel, to compete in the NBHA Youth and Teen World Championships, in which she has been competing for the past five years.
Her two horses performed so well that they both qualified for the finals. Diesel qualified in the first round, and Reba qualified after placing first in round two for 4D. Diesel was unable to perform in the second round due to a minor injury, requiring him to rest and heal for a few days, Rodgers explained.
“In the finals, both Reba and Diesel had amazing runs. And my run [with] Diesel, even after his minor injury, won me the 3D Youth World Champion title,” Rodgers said. “I am so proud of my horses for their amazing performances. Every run we made was clean with no knocked-down barrels. I could not have asked for a better outcome from that week.”
Rodgers has been horseback riding since she was six years old. Her grandmother brought her along to watch a rodeo her friend was participating in. Rodgers had an opportunity to ride her friend’s horse. Ever since then, she had fallen in love with horseback riding and has been perfecting her skills over the past eight years.
The hardest part about riding is the pressure to perform well. That pressure makes her feel anxious before a show; yet with her father standing by her side to console her, she is able to calm herself and help her to gain focus.
She practices every week to fine-tune her riding skills. She has remained busy with bake sales to raise proceeds for her trips, and her competitions have allowed her to travel across Florida and Georgia.
“I feel like competing with riders my age or even older than my age allows us to coach each other through our runs and help each other to do better and lift each other [and] support each other,” she said. “For the most part, I am pretty confident, but I do have my doubts because not all rounds are going to be perfect.”
Rodgers was recently interviewed for the Chattin on the Ridge podcast. Listen to her full interview on the latest episode on Spotify: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/fIJoGvNo8Bb
A 40-year old Davenport man was killed Wednesday evening, August 9, 2023, after he lost control of his motorcycle and crashed into an oncoming vehicle.
Deputies from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to the crash at about 7:35 pm, on Lake Marion Creek Road, north of Canal Road, between Haines City and Poinciana.
The victim was transported to a local hospital by Polk County Fire Rescue, but he passed away at 9:14 pm.
The other driver, identified as 34-year old Sasha Ortega of Poinciana, suffered no injuries.
PCSO detectives from Traffic Homicide Investigations responded and began taking witness statements and examining evidence at the scene.
The preliminary investigation determined that Ms. Ortega was traveling north on Lake Marion Creek Road in a white 2021 Nissan Altima, while the victim was driving a white 2022 Harley Davidson motorcycle southbound.
Witnesses said the victim was driving at a high rate of speed as he approached the sharp curves of the road. The motorcycle slid into the northbound lane; the victim came off of the bike and went under the Nissan. He was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash.
A portion of Lake Marion Creek Road was closed for about three hours.
Welcome, World Travelers! The Haunted Mansion? More Like MEH-nsion!
by James Coulter
If there’s one Disney Park attraction with the potential for a good movie, it’s the Haunted Mansion. Even award-winning director Guillermo del Toro himself planned to write and direct a Haunted Mansion film, but sadly those plans never fell through. And, sadly, the only theatrical adaptation of the ride was the critically-panned 2003 live-action movie starring Eddie Murphy.
The good news is that, 20 years after that critical flop, a new live-action Haunted Mansion movie has been released. The bad news is that the film was made by the director of Dear White People and the screenwriter for Ghostbusters 2016. Yeah, it’s as appealing as it sounds! So, will this new Haunted Mansion film please 999 happy haunts with room for a thousand? Or will the chilling challenge be to find a way out of the theater?
The movie follows LaKeith Stanfield, who plays a jaded tour guide for New Orleans. He’s hired by a mother and her son to use his spectral photography to inspect a mansion that’s purportedly haunted. Turns out the haunted mansion really is haunted, and it’s up to him to round up a group of paranormal experts to unravel its haunted mystery. Will they succeed? Or will they die trying?
I’ll cut to the chase here: this movie is not good. I’ve mentioned this fact in previous reviews: the worst thing a movie can be is boring. At least bad movies have something worth talking about, while boring movies like this don’t. I kid you not when I say I am only scraping the bottom for something worth discussing about this movie because I’m being paid to do so. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even bother writing anything.
Say what you want about the 2003 film. That movie was terrible, but at least it was memorably terrible. For as poorly-cast as he was, at least Eddie Murphy had some on-screen charisma and the occasionally funny quip. At least the scenery looked appealingly creepy and somewhat fitting for a Haunted Mansion movie. At least it had some genuinely funny and creepy moments. None of that saves the film as a good movie, but at least it was so bad it’s good.
This movie, on the other hand, isn’t even that bad enough. It was just bland and unmemorable—and considering it’s based on one of the most memorable Disney attractions, that makes it a crime.
The movie has a star-studded cast of otherwise great actors like Danny DeVito, Tiffany Haddish, and Owen Wilson; but while some of their characters had good-enough performances, good enough simply wasn’t enough to justify them.
And the jokes? What jokes? The only joke I can remember that nearly got a chuckle out of me was at the very beginning. It’s when the mother is trying to console her son that the haunted looking mansion isn’t as bad as he thinks it is. Then a possessed suit of armor appears behind her with axe raised. “Nah!” she says. “We leaving.”
That’s it. That’s the only joke that works. Everything else are just the characters throwing out random dialogue at the wall to see what potential joke sticks with nothing landing. If you didn’t
tell me this movie was written by the same person who wrote Ghostbusters 2016–a movie with a running gag about wonton soup and dumplings!—I could have easily guessed.
As is fitting for a Haunted Mansion movie, there are plenty of references to the attraction; however, outside of the Hatbox Ghost, whose performance by Jared Leto (creep though he is) was the only other decent thing about this film, none of the references feel genuine and only feel tacked on to meet a checklist quote for a movie based on the attraction. The only “good” thing the movie does with the Haunted Mansion is flesh out some of the lore; unfortunately, that lore is supporting an otherwise underwhelming movie.
There are a few “creepy” movies that might frighten the little kiddies here and there, and the third act certainly goes insano bonkers enough at the very end to almost become worth the tedious trudge through the first two acts, but otherwise the movie is about as “scary” as it is “funny”—which is not as much.
Overall, it really says something when the best filmed adaptation of the Haunted Mansion stars the Muppets. I wouldn’t even recommend watching this movie on Disney Plus. Just watch the Muppet Haunted Mansion Halloween special. It’s more faithful to the ride and proves to be funnier and more heart-felled than whatever this film was trying to be.
A Jacksonville man killed himself Tuesday afternoon, August 8, 2023, concluding an armed standoff with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team that lasted more than four-and-a-half hours.
PCSO Crisis Negotiators tried to convince 45-year old Marquis Lynn Baker to peacefully surrender while he sat in his gray 2012 Chevrolet Impala parked in a wooded area near the Christina Animal Hospital at 6800 Church Avenue North near Mulberry.
“Our SWAT members and Crisis Negotiators have responded to armed barricaded subjects on two consecutive days. While the goal is to end these kinds of calls peacefully, the most important thing is that no deputies or innocent bystanders have been injured in either of these events—and for that, I am extremely grateful.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff.
PCSO deputies first became aware that Baker, who was wanted out of Duval County for Failure to Appear for 11-counts of Possession of Child Pornography, was in Bartow at around 10:27 am. Baker was also listed as a Missing Person based on statements he made to his defense attorney.
After locating Baker’s vehicle, deputies followed him for about five minutes until Baker turned off at the veterinarian’s office, stopped his car, and put a .40 caliber handgun to his own head.
Deputies continually communicated with Baker during the standoff trying to get him to surrender, and even provided him with a cell phone to make it easier to keep the dialogue going.
At about 3:20 pm, Baker fired a single bullet into the left side of his head. SWAT Medics immediately began life saving measures on Baker. He was transported to a local hospital but was pronounced deceased at 3:50 pm.
Politicians are infamous for their pork barrel spending. But last Friday, they managed to bring home the bacon by breaking bread with their constituents during the 41st Annual Pig Roast & Political Rally in Haines City.
For the past four decades, the Pig Roast & Political Rally has remained an annual tradition where Haines City residents can mingle with local politicians and political candidates over a traditional barbecue meal.
Despite this year not being an election year, more than 250 tickets were sold, with nearly 200 attendees being able to meet and converse with half a dozen political candidates.
The Catering Co. of Central Florida served a fabulous dinner, while country band Red Hot Rooster provided live musical entertainment. Attendees were also able to win door prizes and strike a pose in a photo booth by DJ Mini C Productions.
Aside from offering an opportunity for residents to meet and know more about their local politicians, the Pig Roast & Political Rally also serves as a fundraiser for the Northeast Polk County Chamber of Commerce.
“With it being an off year, I am super excited for the attendance,” said Lana Stripling, Executive Director of the Chamber. “It is a great time for our citizens and business members to come out and talk with the candidates about their concerns and what they would like to see when they are [voted] into office…[W]e hope to raise some funds to continue to do the great work we are doing and everyone have a good time.”
Kathryn Gates-Skipper, a local Marine veteran and political figure, always loves being able to attend the annual event. She loves meeting other politicians of every stripe and enjoying a good meal in the process.
“It is always a wonderful gathering here,” she said. “[I like] to meet our candidates that run each election and for everyone to get together and break bread [and] just have a good time.”
City Commission Roy Tyler always strives to support his local chamber and to attend local events, especially a fundraiser like this that helps to promote political causes. He appreciated being able to mingle with his constituents and learn about their political concerns.
“I myself like to be familiar with my fellow servants and the people who I, too, will be making the choice of who is the best representative of doing things for our residents,” he said. “I have learned something here as well as everyone else.”
