At 6:45 a.m. this morning, February 14, 2023, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and Polk Fire Rescue were dispatched to a traffic crash at C.R. 547 North and Sophie Lane just north of Davenport School of the Arts in Davenport.
This investigation is in the early stages. The following is preliminary information:
A 15-year-old girl was walking with other teens who crossed C.R. 547 in a marked crosswalk from the east side of the road to the west side of the road. Northbound traffic on C.R. 547 was stopped. There was no traffic in the southbound lane. There are no traffic lights at this intersection.
The 15-year-old was the last person in the group to cross the road. When she was in the marked crosswalk, a box truck traveling south, struck the teen. The driver of the truck stopped and is cooperating with deputies.
The teen was airlifted to a hospital and is in critical condition. The parents of the teen have been notified.
This investigation is on-going.
15 Yr Old Struck On Her Way To School In Davenport
Citrus Center Kiwanis Flips Out for 64th Annual Pancake Festival
Citrus Center Kiwanis Flips Out for 64th Annual Pancake Festival
by James Coulter
Hundreds of pancakes were flipped and served on Saturday during the annual Flipping for Charities Pancake Festival, presented by MIDFLORIDA and hosted by Citrus Center Kiwanis of Lakeland at Joker Marchant Stadium.
Attendees were able to enjoy fresh-griddled pancakes along with other traditional breakfast staples like bacon, sausage links, coffee, and orange juice.
They could also meet and greet costumed characters like Spider-Man, Batman, and Frozen’s Queen Elsa, check out demonstrations by the Polk County Sheriff’s office, and peruse several vendors by local charitable organizations.
Proceeds from the event went towards eight local charities including Parker Street Ministries, Big Brothers Big Sisters, kidsPACK, and the Early Learning Coalition of Polk County.
Since 1951, the annual pancake festival has remained one of the oldest and longest-running non-profit charity events. Hosted by Citrus Center Kiwanis, the fundraiser had previously been held in Downtown Lakeland but has since moved to its current location at Joker Marchant Stadium.
Kathryn Koch, the past president of Citrus Center Kiwanis, loves how the annual tradition brings people together to enjoy a great breakfast, have fun, and overall support local charities.
“I think it is fantastic,” she said of this year’s event. “It is the same crowd as every year. It is getting bigger and better…We gave a facelift four years ago, and slowly and surely, it is coming back. We recreated it and gave it a facelift. We are grateful for our sponsors, and we could not do it without them,”
Ron Myers, Director of Florida Operations for the Detroit Tigers, owes the event’s long-running success to the people involved, both the attendees who participate and the volunteers who help put it on.
“The people have allowed it to be successful,” he said. “This is a tradition where people have been coming for decades. Before, this was all the Kiwanis Club of Polk County. But they decided it was too much work. This Club took it on by themselves, and that is why it continues.”
Writers on the Ridge: “Keep It Magical: Wanderlove” by Melony & Kevin Kiloren
An Open Book
by Melony Kiloren
Those of us who believe in love, and aren’t afraid to speak, often become targets of those who doubt,
and are accused of being weak. Some claim that strength is only found, in the solitary life, and that doing everything thing alone,
is not a source of strife. Yet even though in solitude,
I found my inner worth. I knew alone was not the way,
God planned my life on Earth. After healing, after growth,
and after letting go. The ability to trust again,
was the next thing I felt grow. A trust in life, a trust in fate,
and a renewed trust in me, led to me believing I’d find a love, with reciprocity. Every step I took and choice I made, showed me the way to go. The path He’d clearly paved for me, was suddenly aglow. On it I found a love so deep,
that I knew it with one look. Another soul unafraid and willing, to be an open book.
Again and Again
by Kevin Kiloren
I decided after giving it all and losing it all to give it my all once again and again. I didn’t care how many times I lost or failed I was never going to lose my best friend.
That friend I found in the mirror every time I looked around and no one could be found. That friend I found when I was on my bended knee praying answers would come around. That friend got me through everything I had been through I was always right there. Deep inside I still longed for a love story I could live out a beautiful life to share. Step by step I wrote away the pain and the hardships I healed through written words. I went and chased my dreams to most who knew me it seemed so ridiculous and absurd. Sometimes I’d take baby steps forward then bigger steps then I’d get knocked back. My dreams started all coming true after I was saved after dying from a heart attack. Those little steps led me to better places every failure was one new beginning. That’s when we stepped into each other’s lives Keeping It Magical now we’re spinning. It’s the choices we make along the way that paved the road for our story to unfold. I’ve found my forever lover chasing my dreams along the winding beautiful broken roads.
*****
About The Authors
Melony lost her sister to suicide. Kevin lost his son to a drug overdose. Both of them suffered abusive relationships, divorce, and heartbreak. Both wrote poetry to communicate and cope with their feelings. Their writing brought them together, and now they have combined their collective work into “Keep It Magical: Wanderlove”, a story about finding love after a life of depression and heartbreak. For more information about “Keeping It Magical”, visit their website at: https://keepingitmagical.com. Or visit their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/keepingitmagical
Two Local Authors Share Poetry About “Keeping It Magical” After Rocky Pasts
Two Local Authors Share Poetry About “Keeping It Magical” After Rocky Pasts
by James Coulter
She lost a sister to suicide. He lost a son to a drug overdose. Both went through divorces and abusive relationships. But then they found each other. Now they want to share with others their experiences about loneliness, heartbreak, and the love they found through it all.
“Keeping It Magical: Wanderlove” is a collection of poems and letters written by author duo Kevin and Melony Killoren. Both have written poetry their whole lives. They have combined their collective works to provide their shared story of how they discovered love after living separate, broken lives.
“It is a book of poetry and letters for our readers, documenting what we went through before we met, and how things began changing from our first conversation,” Melony said. “It is a story about overcoming heartbreak and hardship and finding true love.”
Kevin is a veteran who retired after building military aircraft for Boeing. After his son died from a drug overdose, he moved to Florida and started writing every day over the past four years. He has written more than a thousand poems since.
He shared his poetry with other people worldwide through his Facebook groups. His followers inspired him to publish his poems in a book. And so, he did, self-publishing an 86-page collection of his poetry.
It was through his writing that he met Melony. She was a teacher for 17 years. She now works as a behavior therapist with a disability advocacy business. Like Kevin, she also wrote poems, though never published them.
The two of them met and it was love at first sight. They married only four weeks after meeting, and nine months later, they published their book, “Keep It Magical: Wanderlove.”
“When we found each other, we discovered that our story is that of many people,” Melony said.
“There are a lot of people in our society and around the world who have been through similar life experiences that culminate in this moment of you wanting to give up and assuming you will never find true love.”
After having suffered heartbreak through abusive relationships, divorce, and the suicide of a loved one, Melony was able to find love again, but only after she was able to love and accept herself.
“The secret behind our success is really to take time to get quiet with yourself and be conscious of who you are surrounding yourself with and allowing into your life…to not be afraid to be alone, and to listen to your inner voice, and love and value yourself, and [that you] are making choices true to yourself before you find someone else,” she explained.
The title of their book, “Keeping It Magical” interestingly enough, was inspired by the initials of their names, Kevin and Melony. Both brought up the idea during their first phone conversation. They wanted to combine their works to share their shared experiences with others.
Melony had written plenty of poems and prose but never published anything. She had experience editing and formatting books for publishing, and she used that experience to help Kevin with their books. After editing and revising several drafts, they eventually decided to self-publish.
“We each realized there is not a perfect book out there. So, we got to a point where it was beautiful,” he said, “We manifested each other. We both knew what we wanted in life. We manifested each other by writing about our wants and desires.”
They started their own Facebook page and gained over 3,500 followers. They also launched a YouTube channel, a website and other online communities. Through their social media, they have shared their story with others across the world, and they hope others discover that the story is less about them and more about our collective humanity.
“It is about things everyone has experienced and gone through,” Melony said. “It is a celebration
of shared human experiences and how going through them can lead to an exciting, amazing life. It expands outside of our own experiences to our world as a whole, it is about finding joy and peace and love.”
Kevin insists that people should give it a read even if they’re not into poetry. After all, everyone loves music, and poetry is essentially music without a melody.
“People who do not like poetry are attracted to it. It is because they love music,” he explained.
“The more people read poetry, the more they can realize it is a song that plays inside the writer’s mind…I do believe that if people read this poetry, they will be enthralled with our story, and in it find hope.”
Melony and Kevin will be hosting a book signing on Sat., Feb. 18 at the Winter Haven Public Library, located at 335 Avenue A, NW, Winter Haven, FL 33881.
For more information about “Keeping It Magical”, visit their website at: https://keepingitmagical.com. Or visit their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/keepingitmagical
Fatal Crash Closing Deen Still Rd. In Polk City
PCSO is investigating a 2-vehicle fatal crash at the Y intersection of Deen Still Rd & Rockridge Rd. in Polk City. One person is deceased. The roadway at the crash & at the intersection of Moore Rd & Tom Costine Rd are closed in both directions. Please avoid the area.
According to available information the crash occurred at 9:16am.
This is an ongoing investigation and we will update information as it becomes available.
Deputies Investigating Fiery Lake Wales Crash Friday Night
Lake Wales, Florida – The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is currently investigating a crash on Black Bass Ct. near Timberlane Rd. According to reports the accident occurred around 8:15 pm Friday night!
According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office it doesn’t appear any serious injuries or fatalities occurred.
According to a witness at the scene it appears the vehicle hit a ditch and then careened uncontrollably before bursting into flames.
We currently have no additional details at this time.
Driver of Truck Crash Front Entrance of Dollar Tree
HAINES CITY- An 86-year-old man received minor injuries Friday after driving his black Toyota pickup truck into the front entrance of the Dollar Tree. At 11:47 a.m., the man pulled into a parking space at the retailer and accidentally hit the gas instead of the brakes. Two customers inside the store were injured in the crash. The driver and two customers sustained minor injuries. A citation for the driver is pending further investigation.
A 28 year-old Winter Haven man is facing felony charges after he had multiple sexual encounters with a 17 year-old
Winter Haven Police Department Press Release:
(It should be noted that this is an unedited report of facts by the Winter Haven Police Department. 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) :
Adalberto Badillo (DOB 11/2/94, 1475 Salisbury Dr., Winter Haven) was taken into custody on February 8, 2023 at his place of employment as the result of an investigation that started when the mother of the victim reported the encounters.
Badillo first met the victim on January 10, 2023 at her fast-food job where he was in the drive-thru and began to compliment her on her looks. He asked for her social media information and the conversations started.
On multiple occasions, Badillo would visit the victim at the drive thru and he would arrive at her scheduled breaks. She would get into his car and they would go to areas behind buildings where physical encounters such as kissing ultimately led to sexual encounters. On January 16, 2023, Badillo drove the victim to his Salisbury Dr. residence where the sexual encounters continued.
The victim’s mother learned of the encounters from her daughter and contacted Badillo by phone confronting him with the information. She asked Badillo if he was aware her daughter was 17 years-old and he acknowledged that he was aware of her age, “but he liked her”.
Even after being confronted by the mother, Badillo continued to pursue the victim. On January 24, Badillo purchased a Tracfone for the victim so they could maintain communication. Encounters continued on January 26 and 27 in his vehicle, each time during the victim’s breaks.
Winter Haven Detectives were made aware of the encounters and the victim and her mother were interviewed. During the interview, detectives learned that Badillo instructed the victim to tell anyone who asks about their relationship to say they are “only friends”. He also told her that if she mentioned him to law enforcement it would ruin him since he knew she was 17 years-old and if she cared for him, she would tell law enforcement that they did not do anything.
Based on the information gathered through the investigation, detectives took Badillo into custody charging him with six counts of Traveling to Meet a Minor to Engage in Sexual Conduct (F.S.S. 847.0135(4)(A) – F2; three counts of Sexual Activity by Person 24 or Older with Victim 16 or 17 (F.S.S. 794.05(1) – F2; three counts of Lewd Battery (F.S.S. 800.04(4)(A) – F2; six counts of Use of 2-Way Communication to Commit Felony (F.S.S. 934.215) – F3; and one count of Tampering With a Witness (F.S.S. 914.22(1)(E) – F3.
He was booked into the Polk County Jail where he remains on $121,000 bond.
Celebrating Black History Month- Local Woman First Black Music Teacher In Winter Haven
City of Winter Haven – Mrs. Mildred Bennett Foster was the First Black Music teacher in Winter Haven, Florida. She always took the time to promote her enjoyment of music no matter how busy she got.
In recognition of her efforts, she won the 1996 Gold Executive Award of Excellence. Mrs. Bennett Foster’s love for music and dedication made lasting improvements to this community.
The City of Winter Haven says thank you.
BlackHistory #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackHeroes #BlackHistoryIsAmericanHistory
Free Valentine’s Dance At Eloise Resource Center February 10
Polk County Parks & Rec
Parents, youth, and families, find your favorite valentine and stop by the Valentine’s Day Dance at the Eloise Resource Center on February 10! An afternoon of music and games, the dance will feature activities geared to families, light refreshments, plus prizes and giveaways for guests.
Admission is free, families from the local community are invited to attend!
Admission is free for youths 6-12 with accompanying adult.
