Polk County Government Florida
Hiring Event!
Would you like to make a difference in Polk County? Polk County is hosting a Hiring Event on Thursday, March 30, from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. It will be held at 1702 Hwy. US 17 S. in Bartow, FL.
*Get hired on the spot! $1,000 sign-on bonus!
For questions or more information, please contact Kenzie Ralston (email: [email protected].)
Notice of Proposed Certification
This Notice shall be published once a week for two weeks starting February 28, 2023.
(Week 2)
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has received a request from the Polk Soil and Water Conservation District (District) for the issuance of a certificate determining that the continued operation of the District is not administratively practicable and feasible under the provisions of chapter 582, Florida Statutes.
The territory included in the Polk Soil and Water Conservation District is the same as the jurisdictional boundaries of Polk County, Florida. This Notice shall be published once a week for two weeks. Any comments or objections to the proposed certification, or any claims against the assets of the District, must be filed with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Agency Clerk, Don Hockman, 600 South Calhoun Street, Holland Building Suite 254, Tallahassee, Fl 32309; phone: (850)617-7641; email: [email protected] not later than 60 days after the date of last publication.
Update 10pm: Polk County Sheriff’s Office investigators are confirming that four people have been located who were in the two planes that crashed. All four are deceased. Three of those are:
Faith Irene Baker, 24, of Winter Haven, a pilot/flight instructor with Sunrise Aviation (Cherokee Piper 161)
Zachary Jean Mace, 19, of Winter Haven, a student at Polk State College (Cherokee Piper 161)
Randall Elbert Crawford, 67, from Carlisle, Pennsylvania (Piper J-3 Cub)
Deputies are working to confirm the identity of a fourth deceased person (Piper J-3 Cub). Once a positive identification has been made, and next of kin notification has been made, we will release the identity.
All four located persons are the only occupants of the planes. It is no longer a search and rescue operation, but a recovery operation.
“My heart goes out to the families and friends of those who were killed in today’s crash. The NTSB and FAA will be investigating the cause and circumstances of the collision. Please keep the families in your prayers during this difficult and stressful time.” -Grady Judd, Sheriff
Update 8pm: Polk County Sheriff’s Office Update:
Polk County Sheriff’s Office investigators are confirming that the two small airplanes involved in the mid-air crash over Lake Hartridge in Winter Haven have been positively identified:
1 A Piper J-3 Cub sea plane operated by Jack Brown’s Seaplane Base in Winter Haven
2 A Cherokee Piper 161 fixed wing plane operated by Sunrise Aviation (Ormond Beach) on behalf of Polk State College
Investigators have not positively identified those who were on the planes. Once positive identification has been made and next of kin notification has been made, we will release their identities.
At this point in the search and rescue operation, two deceased bodies have been located.
Update: Winter Haven Police and Winter Haven Fire have responded to Lake Hartridge where two small planes have collided. Assistance is also being given by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and Polk County Fire Rescue.
At this time the water is being searched and there is also an air search being conducted.
Winter Haven, Florida- The Winter Haven Fire Department and the Polk County Fire Rescue is currently on scene of a reported plane(s) crash into a Winter Haven lake. According to 911 calls a plane or planes crashed into Lake Hartridge.
Crews are currently working on the North West side of the lake in the Hartridge Hills Ct. area. This is a very active scene with 11 crews on scene and another 9 crews headed to the scene.
We believe injuries are involved. This is a developing story. We will update as more information becomes available.
PCSO investigates fatal motorcycle crash in Lake Hamilton
Polk County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Homicide detectives are investigating a motorcycle crash that occurred on Saturday, March 4, 2023. The driver died at the scene.
Based on the evidence so far, PCSO detectives determined that at around 11:00 p.m. the driver of a 2008 Honda Sport motorcycle was traveling northbound on Scenic Highway at a very high rate of speed. The driver failed to negotiate a right hand curve just south of the intersection with West Bryant Avenue. The motorcycle then exited the road and onto the west shoulder.
The motorcycle continued north, where it struck a drainage culvert at West Bryant Avenue and became airborne. The motorcycle and rider crossed over West Bryant Avenue and over a seven foot tall fence before it struck a large group of plastic citrus boxes on the northwest corner of Scenic Highway and West Bryant Avenue. A fire began and totally engulfed the motorcycle, driver, and citrus boxes.
The driver has not yet been identified. This investigation remains on-going.
On Sunday, March 5, 2023, at approximately 5:38 p.m., officers responded to a traffic crash in the 2800 block of US 98 North involving a bicyclist and two vehicles. Officers learned that just prior to the crash, a 2019 BMW SUV was traveling in the southbound lane of US 98 North. At the same time, a bicyclist was traveling northbound in the southbound bike lane. A 2005 Honda sedan, also traveling southbound directly behind the SUV, entered the right turn lane that led into a private business and struck the bicyclist. After hitting the bicyclist, the Honda swerved, striking the SUV, and then spun out, crossing the center median, and entered the northbound lanes of US 98 North, where it was struck by a 2015 Dodge truck that was traveling in the northbound lane. The Honda continued across 98 North, hitting the curb before coming to a final rest in a grassy field. All drivers came to a stop and remained at the scene.
The Lakeland Police Department Patrol Unit, Polk County Fire Rescue, and the Lakeland Fire Department all arrived on scene to provide life-saving measures. The bicyclist, a 64-year-old man from Lakeland, was pronounced deceased by medical personnel at the scene. The driver of the Honda and the passenger of the truck were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The roadway was shut down while the scene was photographed for the follow-up investigation.
The driver of the Honda was identified as:
Daniel Eli Viana
Age: 36
Beverly Hills, FL
The driver of the BMW was identified as:
Cody Allen Dawson
Age: 25
Lakeland, FL
The driver of the Dodge was identified as:
Adam Richard Chandler
Age: 44
Zephyrhills, FL
The victim’s name is not being released at this time, as officers continue to attempt to locate and notify the next of kin. This remains an open and active investigation.
Welcome, World Travelers! Gov. DeSantis Repeals Disney’s Special District
by James Coulter
On Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law that gave the state control over the special district formerly known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the self-governing district of the Walt Disney World Resort.
“Today, the corporate kingdom finally comes to an end. This is what accountability looks like,” Gov. DeSantis said upon signing the law, which was signed, ironically enough, at Reedy Creek Fire Station No. 4 on Disney World property.
I had previously discussed the Reedy Creek district and the situation surrounding it in a previous column last year. If you want to learn more about it in detail, read the whole piece here: https://dailyridge.com/2022/05/18/welcome-world-travelers-what-is-the-reedy-creek-improvement-district/
In summary, the Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID) was a special taxing district created in 1967 that granted Walt Disney World the same authority and responsibilities as a county government. Through it, the resort could fund and build its own roads and utilities and move forward more easily with new construction projects.
However, following Disney’s denouncement of Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill (commonly referred to as the Don’t Say Gay bill) and its announcement to pause political donations to Florida lawmakers, Gov. DeSantis fired back at the company by threatening (and later, succeeding) to revoke its “special corporate privileges” including the Reedy Creek Improvement Act.
The new law renames the former Reedy Creek district as the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. The new district will now be controlled by the state with a new board with members appointed by Gov. DeSantis. As Axios explains:
“The new legislation will create a new state-controlled tax district that will oversee the 25,000 acres surrounding Walt Disney World.
The new district — renamed the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District — will have a five-person board overseeing it, with members appointed by DeSantis and approved by the Florida Senate.
The legislation removed parts of the district’s power, including the ability “to build a nuclear power plant and an airport, but those powers had never been used,” according to Variety.”
Gov. DeSantis claims the new law will end “Disney’s special privileges” and bring forth “a new era of accountability and transparency.” However, many critics have argued the law was created in retaliation to the Disney Company speaking up against the Governor’s discriminatory “Don’t Say Gay” legislation.
As State Rep. Anna Eskamani mentioned in a statement: “Disney still maintains the same tax breaks — but their First Amendment rights have been suppressed, and it sends a message to any private individual or company that if you don’t purport to what the governor wants, then you’ll be punished.”
Many other critics have argued the new law will also, as Axios reports, “make it harder for the company to operate its parks as efficiently.” Furthermore, the tax burden for local services would be shifted to the taxpayers of Orange and Osceola County. That tax burden amounts to at least $105 million in general revenue, $280 million in property taxes, and nearly $1 billion in bond debt, CNBC reported.
Many Republicans like DeSantis claim to believe in “limited government” that allows businesses to more easily grow and flourish in the “free market” with low taxes and limited government oversight. Ironically, DeSantis’ new law will force more government oversight over Walt Disney World and increase taxes for Florida taxpayers. So much for the “free market”!
But what do you think? Was Gov. DeSantis right to strip Disney World of its special district? Or will this move only hurt Florida economically by killing the goose that lays the golden egg? Leave your comments on Facebook.
Ryan’s Ride Hosts 5th Annual Memorial Event
by James Coulter
Ryan was a fun-loving, free-spirited, loyal yet sensitive lad whose life was tragically cut short by Fentanyl. In Dec. 2018, his young life was snuffed out by a drug overdose.
One month later, the friends of his mother organized a bike ride in his memory. Five years later, that bike ride has transformed into a movement to preserve the memories of the lives cut short by drug overdoses and to spread the word about the dangers of Fentanyl and other opioids.
The 5th Annual Ryan’s Ride Memorial Event was hosted last Sunday at the Haines City Moose Lodge along Highway 27. The event started early that morning with participating cyclists starting their route from the lodge.
The ride concluded around noon back at the lodge, where a barbecue dinner was served and several local vendors were set up selling merchandise and raising proceeds for the event.
Ryan’s mother, Mary Beth Moore-Zocco, started the event five years ago through The FRoM Project Inc., a local non-profit organization that, according to its website, sends “free personalized handmade cards to parents who have lost a child to a substance use disorder.”
The ride itself is an annual event commemorating our loved ones taken too soon by the opioid and fentanyl crisis. By the third year, the ride transformed into a larger event. This year was the first it was hosted in Polk County, as Mary Beth lives in Davenport.
“We decided to host it in my backyard for local businesses,” she said. “We found that there was nothing like this offered in Polk County…This is not an advocacy thing. This is not a rally. This is for local support. Support for grieving families and friends that come.”
One of her closest friends, Michelle Pepin, has been attending each year to demonstrate how to use Narcan to stop the symptoms of a fentanyl overdose. She lost her son in 2018 to Fentanyl poisoning, so she has grown close to Mary Beth and joined her cause through the event.
“Stop saying, ‘not my child,'” she said. “It [overdose] does not discriminate. It hits all walks of life. Education is a must. We need to get the word out. Tough love does not work. It doesn’tmean you are enabling them. So be there for your kid.”
Mary Beth likewise wants other people to know the potential harm of opioids, and she wants other people to take the opioid addiction crisis seriously.
“Addiction is a disease,” she said. “A treatable disease. There is help out there. Stop the stigma behind opioid use disorder. The worst thing you can go through is losing a child like this because you are left with a stigma like this, but we want to let people know they are not alone.”
To learn more about Ryan’s Ride and The FRom Project, visit their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/thefromproject/
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a traffic crash that occurred in Davenport last evening that resulted in the death of a pedestrian. Preliminary information is as follows:
Around 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 28, 2023, the PCSO ECC received a 911 call from U.S. Hwy 27 at the intersection with Holly Hill Grove Road 2 (to the west) & Cottonwood Road (to the east) in Davenport. When first responders arrived they found 40-year-old Vishmatee (female) Saroop of Davenport deceased at the scene. She and her husband and their two children (ages 20 and 13) were at the Dollar General Store on the corner of Cottonwood Road and U.S. 27 and were walking across U.S. 27 heading home (the house is located on Vervain Avenue, west of Holly Hill Grove Road). There are no crosswalks or pedestrian-related traffic aids at the intersection. There is a flashing yellow caution light on U.S. 27 for north and south bound traffic. There is one streetlight on Cottonwood Road at the intersection. It was dark at the time.
Saroop’s husband and children made it across U.S. 27, however, Saroop was struck by a 2021 silver Kia Sorento that was heading southbound and being driven by 68-year-old Hayden Tabb of Davenport. He immediately stopped. He and his passenger were not injured. Tabb did not show any signs of impairment.
The southbound lanes of U.S. 27 were closed for approximately three hours during the investigation, which is ongoing.
The Light Prince: Grail – Tyler’s Journey
by J.C. Alexandre
Tyler doesn’t have an easy life living in a family of success stories. His mother is a doctor. His father is a lawyer. His older brother went to college on an athletic scholarship. And his younger brother always makes the honor roll. Yet the only success Tyler ever had was with video games.
With the start of a new school year, Tyler hopes to turn his luck around. He aspires to make the team and make the grade. He even made friends with the new girl in town, Amber. Will she be able to help him achieve the same success as the rest of his family? He’ll need to overcome temptations from some real losers at school to do so.
*****
Recap: On his first bus ride of the new school year, Tyler runs across three old “friends”: Trevor (or T-Man), a real poser who loves rapping and playing drums; Katie, a preppy blonde with aspirations of being a Hollywood actor; and Hannah, a goth girl with a depressing outlook on life. None of them take the new school year as seriously as Tyler does. In fact, they rarely take anything seriously at all. They soon come to a new bus stop where a new girl named Amber boards. Tyler moves over to her seat to meet and befriend her.
Chapter 3: Meeting The Mentor
Lunch could not have arrived sooner for Tyler. After spending the morning mulling over the curriculums of history, math, and language arts class, the lunch bell rang, dismissing him and his classmates to the cafeteria.
Tyler was relieved to finally receive a brief reprieve from the first day of school—not so much by his meal of half-cooked fish sticks, still-frozen peas, and lumpy mashed potatoes with lukewarm gravy. The food heaped on his tray by the stoic cafeteria worker was about as appetizing as any state-approved school lunch, especially at a school facing severe budget cuts. At least it provided him with enough sustenance to make it through the day until he returned home for dinner.
The cafeteria was as packed as the bus earlier that morning. He advanced through the crowd of chattering students, unable to find a single free seat. Soon, a frantically waving hand
caught his attention. Sadly, that hand belonged to T-Man, who was sitting with the rest of his posse.
Tyler sighed and rolled his eyes. He begrudgingly approached their table and took a seat. T-Man performed an impromptu drum solo with his drumsticks, using his tray, plate, and cup as a makeshift drum set. Katie kept her nose in her magazine, while Hannah kept her ears covered with her headphones.
“Yo, Tyler, my man,” T-Man greeted Tyler as he took a seat. “How’s goes the battle?”
Tyler shrugged and spooned a mouthful of peas into his mouth. “Okay, I guess.”
T-Man crossed his arms and blurted out a horn sound before saying, “Wrong answer! The correct answer is that it suuuuuucks!”
Hannah threw back her headphones. “To be fair, when has a day in the school system never been a total drag?”
Katie held back a chortle with her hand. “Yeah, like, it’s a real total drag.”
“Yeah, bro,” T-Man addressed Tyler. “You sure you want to stick by your plans?”
Tyler swallowed half a fish stick and shrugged. “If I want to go to college. Graduation is around the corner, and I need to exert myself if I want to get into a good school.”
“Or, or—” T-Man raised his finger “—you can chill out, man.” He folded his hands behind his head and leaned back. “Just go with the flow and mellow out.”
Katie scoffed and rolled her eyes before glancing back at her article. “Yeah. Just thinking about college gives me wrinkles. That’s why I’m not, like, gonna bother until my senior year.”
“The corporate career ladder is a lie, anyway,” Hannah added. “It’s a carrot the wealthy elites dangle before the working class to give them the illusion that we live in a meritocracy rather than an oppressive hierarchy of consolidated wealth and institutional violence.”
“Even if that’s true,” Tyler replied, “surely, you all must have some plans for the future? Isn’t there something you want to do once you’re done with school?”
“Well, dawg,” T-Man said. “Now that you mention it, there is something the three of us have planned. Announcing,” he yelled before playing a drum roll and proclaiming, “The Katie, Hannah, and T-Man Show!”
Tyler blinked away his confusion as he watched T-Man gesturing with jazz hands. “The What-Now Show?”
“Yeah!” T-Man gave another drumroll with a rim shot against his cup. “I’m going to play the music.”
Katie set down her magazine. “I’m, like, going to be the super-beautiful, super-talented host.”
“And I’m going to write the jokes,” Hannah added.
“You?” Tyler asked. “A comedian?”
“Of course,” Hannah replied, maintaining her monotone inflection. “I’ve been working on my comedy routine. Wanna hear a joke? Organized religion.”
Tyler raised a shoulder to his ear. “Okay, I’m waiting for the punchline.”
“That is the punchline,” Hannah answered.
Katie slapped the table with a laugh. “That is funny.”
“Religion is the opiate of the masses,” Hannah said.
As the three friends entertained themselves with their mediocrity, Tyler noticed the new girl entering the cafeteria. She surveyed the area for a free table. Not finding one nearby, she headed to the other side of the lunchroom, where she sat at a small table with only two seats.
Without excusing himself, Tyler took his tray and carried it across the room to Amber’s table.
“You sitting with anybody?” he asked her.
She shook her head, and he accepted that as an invitation to sit opposite her.
“Amber, is it?” he asked her, receiving a nod in response. “I saw you sitting here by yourself. Didn’t want you to eat lunch alone on your first day at a new school.”
Amber craned her neck to look over his shoulder. “What about your friends?”
Tyler turned around to look at the table he had deserted. T-Man was drumming away with his drumsticks, Katie kept her nose stuck in her magazine, and Hannah put on her headphones.
“Oh, them?” He shook his head. “They’re not my friends. Well, technically, they’re not.”
Amber chewed a fish stick. “Technically?”
Tyler shrugged, shoveling a spoonful of potatoes. “We were close friends until middle school, but we’ve sort of drifted apart since then. Well, I’ve been drifting away from them.”
“How come?” Amber asked.
“Well—” Tyler washed down his potatoes with juice “—To be perfectly honest, they’re kind of losers.”
“Losers?” Amber cocked an eyebrow. “That’s not a very nice thing to say.”
“You don’t know them like I do.” Tyler rolled his eyes. “They’re always getting detention. They rarely get any good grades. They’re real slackers who don’t take anything seriously.” He shrugged his shoulder. “I don’t know. Since starting high school, I’ve taken life more seriously than they have. I can’t have people who couldn’t care less keeping me back.”
“I see what you’re saying,” Amber said with a nod.
“You have any plans for the future?” Tyler asked.
Amber had just taken another bite of her fish sticks. She rolled her eyes up to think as she chewed.
“Not yet,” she replied. “I just moved to a new town, remember? And—well, let’s just say some things have happened in my life that have been distracting me lately. I haven’t had time to think much about anything at all, let alone my future.”
“Well, I’m sure you’ll settle down and figure things out,” Tyler replied. “We have our whole lives to figure out. We need to plan big. Study hard. Pass tests. Try out for sports.”
“Like the baseball team?” Amber glanced up at the bulletin board.
Tyler beamed the biggest smile at what he saw: a poster advertising baseball team tryouts in two weeks.
“Exactly!”
###
“Tyler’s Journey” is a side-story to the fantasy novel, “The Light Prince Grail.” The story follows Tyler’s life before he and Amber ventured into the fantastical world of Arden. It details his many personal struggles and how they influenced his decisions in the novel. His story will help readers learn more about themselves as they do about him.
“The Light Prince: Grail” and “Tyler’s Journey” are available in paperback and e-book on Amazon. For more information, visit the author’s website at: jcalexandre.com
by James Coulter
For the ninth consecutive year, Jeepin with Judd allowed Jeep owners an opportunity to trek through the rock, mud, and dirt of the great outdoors of Polk County. More than 2,200 Jeep owners registered for the event, once again hosted in the untamed wilderness of Clear Springs Ranch, located outside of Bartow.
Attendees were able to drive off-road along miles of rugged terrain, kicking up dust, mud, and stones as their tires tread the otherwise un-treadable. Little children could even take the wheel of their own toy Jeep to drive through the children’s obstacle course. After spending hours off-roading, they could also visit the vendors row to grab a bite to eat from a food truck or purchase Jeep merchandise from a local vendor.
As always, proceeds from the event went to the Polk Sheriff’s Charities, the official non-profit organization of the Polk Sheriff’s Office, which, according to their website, provides “monetary support to our members who are facing significant unexpected tragic events in their lives.”
Captain Steve Horstman has been working with the PCSO for 26 years. Both he and a full team of 200 plus volunteers help to put the event on each year. Both the support of these volunteers, along with the local community, allow the event to remain as successful as it has been. This year’s event especially proved successful, with more than 2,200 Jeeps registered and an estimated turnout of 10,000 to 12,000 attendees over the three-day weekend.
“[The success] is the partnership with all of our vendors with the Orlando Jeep Club. The Sheriff’s Office. and the overwhelming number of volunteers and supporters that we have working the event,” he said. “[I love] interacting with all the folks and seeing the smiles on their faces. Being out here and seeing all of them enjoying the event.”
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