Controlled Explosive Demolition at Lakeland’s McIntosh Power PlantClosing East Lake Parker Drive for Several Hours on Saturday Morning
Lakeland, Florida – Specialty contractors demolishing structures at the McIntosh Power Plant in Lakeland on Saturday morning January 14 will close East Lake Parker Drive for about two hours to maintain a prescribed exclusion zone. The City of Lakeland Police Department will block and or redirect traffic from 6:30 a.m. to 8:05 a.m. or until the “all clear” has been given.
In January 2021, Lakeland commissioners unanimously approved Lakeland Electric’s plan to begin decommissioning the McIntosh plant on March 31, 2021 – three years ahead of the prior timeframe of Fall 2024. According to Joel Ivy, Lakeland Electric’s general manager, the utility had spent significant money fixing various issues with Unit 3, causing the coal plant to be frequently offline. Lakeland Electric has estimated it can save US$13.1 million by decommissioning the plant early.
Christmas may be long over, but for many Catholics, especially in the Hispanic community, the holiday season is not over until January 6. That date is Epiphany, the day when the Three Wise Men were said to have arrived to visit the Baby Jesus.
Last Friday, the local Hispanic community, along with the entire Lakeland community, celebrated this festive occasion with the seventh annual Three Kings Block Party in Munn Park in Downtown Lakeland.
Hosted by Just Cares, Inc., and promoted by the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Polk County, this annual tradition allows the local Hispanic and Catholic communities to celebrate the festive occasion of Epiphany as well as share these traditions with the rest of the community.
The family-friendly evening featured many activities including bounce houses, food trucks, and local arts and crafts vendors. Tito Puentes Jr., Mambo/Latin Grammy artist and
son of the Legendary Rey Del Timbal (King of Timbales), also performed a free concert.
As with Christmas, gift-giving is a major tradition of the holiday. At last year’s event, several hundred toys were donated to local children. This year, the donated toys were distributed during the Southeastern University Concert Event, the Pasa Polk Christmas Show, on Dec. 3.
Ana Riviera, Chamber President and Founder, started the annual event to help spread awareness of the holiday culture and traditions of the local Hispanic community. Coincidently, Jan. 6 is the same date as her birthday, which gives her double the reason to celebrate.
The inaugural Three Kings Block Party started in Lakeland and has since been hosted in other cities across Polk County. This year’s event was hosted with help from Just Cares, Inc., a local non-profit organization that, according to its mission statement on its Facebook page, “provides educational, fine arts, and cultural programs to our community.”
Kevin Rios started Just Cares shortly after starting his dance studio 12 years ago. His organization hosts these types of community events, usually free of charge, to allow people in the community to have a good time. This year’s Block Party drew in more than double the number of attendees since last year’s event, which was hosted in Central Park in Downtown Winter Haven.
“We were completely packed in Munn Park,” Kevin said. “There were people in and around the park area, which [the attendance] is double from what we did last year…I could not be happier. Everything was absolutely fantastic.”
More than simply an excuse to continue celebrating Christmas long into January, the Three Kings Block Party helps highlight the diversity of Polk County, allowing residents both Hispanic and non-Hispanic to celebrate vibrant festivities and long-standing cultural traditions.
“It brings forth a great multicultural awareness…and shows how Lakeland became more diverse as years have gone on,” he explained. “It brings forth cultural awareness into the heart of where the community is, where they would not have the access to get to. So having it downtown makes it special for that reason…Overall, I thought it was a really good event to highlight the Lakeland community and how diverse it actually is.”
From Winter Haven to Lake Wales, from Lakeland to Plant City, everyone in Polk County loves barbecue, and most cities host their own competition.
This year, Bartow will be hosting its first ever barbecue event with Blues, Brews, & BBQ to be held on Sat., Jan. 14 from 11 AM – 6 PM in Downtown Bartow.
Hosted by Main Street Bartow, and sponsored by Meeks Real Estate LLC, this barbecue competition will have nearly a dozen vendors and food trucks to line Summerlin and South Florida Avenue.
Participating trucks in this year’s inagural event will be Bad Dog Barbecue, Cultivated Pig, Legacy Craft Barbecue, PJ’s Barbecue, and Uncle Bucky’s Barbecue.
These trucks and vendors will be serving old-fashioned barbecue and competing in the best ribs competition for the chance to win the honorary title of—well—best ribs!
Along with barbecue, attendees can also enjoy live musical performances with local bands and dance troupes performing bluegrass, country, and even clogging!
Front Page Brewery will also be participating in the event, serving sweet craft beer to help wash down the even sweeter barbecue selections.
Johnnie Levin, owner of Front Page Brewery, loves when Downtown Bartow hosts events like this. She loves having her brewery participate in them even more. With a name like “Blues, Brews, and BBQ”, she was sure in to lean into the celebration.
“It is especially fun for us to be a part of this event. There’s great music and fantastic BBQ on deck,” she said. “We are excited to be a part of bringing a BBQ festival back to downtown, especially with the recent opening of our neighbor, White Oak BBQ Supply & Mercantile. We hope that everyone comes out and enjoys a beautiful day with lots of music, BBQ and….of, course, beer made right in the heart of downtown!”
Linda Holcomb, Executive Director of Main Street Bartow, said that attendees can expect, “great music, great food, great entertainment, and a beautiful day to come out and enjoy.”
Blues, Brews, and BBQ was started to provide Bartow its own hometown barbecue competition. Other cities in Polk County host their own, so it was only natural for Bartow to start one for itself, Holcomb said.
“We are always looking to add fun new events and we do a lot of craft type of events, but we have not done a barbecue event,” she explained. “So, we decided to add one to our calendar.”
With good barbecue, music, and vendors, this event is expected to draw in many visitors and locals and hopefully keep them coming back for years to come, Holcomb said.
“We are hoping people come out to enjoy the blues music, the bluegrass music, and the dance groups, along with eating some wonderful barbecue,” she said. “There will also be some local vendors that the community can shop with.”
Blues, Brews, & BBQ will be open free to the public. The event will be located along Summerlin and South Florida Avenue in Downtown Bartow. It will be held on Sat. Jan. 14 from 11 AM – 6PM, with the awards ceremony hosted around 5 PM.
For more information, visit: https://mainstreetbartowfl.com/
A crash involving two vehicles east of Lakeland Wednesday morning, January 11, 2023 resulted in the death of one of the drivers.
Deputies from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, along with Polk County Fire Rescue, were dispatched at 7:02 am, to the crash scene on North Combe Road at Saddle Creek Road.
Upon arrival of first responders, a female adult was found deceased. She was the driver of a
Nissan sedan.
The driver of a white 2008 Chevy 2500 pickup truck and his two juvenile passengers were uninjured.
Based on evidence and interviews at the scene, Traffic Homicide investigators determined that both vehicles were travelling in opposite directions on North Combe Road, when the Chevy truck made a left (east) turn to Saddle Creek Road into the path of the oncoming Nissan.
None of the people involved in the crash were wearing their seatbelts.
Deputies closed a small part of North Combee Road for two hours during the on-scene investigation.
No criminal charges are anticipated, but civil citations are pending completion of the investigation
Looking to start a new business but don’t know where to start? Becoming a new entrepreneur can be tough, especially in this post-COVID economy. Innovative organizations like COhatch can help get you started in the right direction.
COhatch is a shared coworking space and business incubator that offers essential space and amenities to entrepreneurs to help them jump-start their new businesses. As their website states, it’s “a new way to think about coworking and office space for flexible work close to home.”
Their new Lakeland location, located at 211 E. Main St. between Nineteen61 and Linkster’s Taproom, provides three floors of 30 private offices, five meeting rooms, a 40+ seat event space, a podcast room, and phone booths, as well as free beer, wine, and coffee.
These spaces are designed to accommodate new business owners and leaders, thus helping to spur economic development in local communities. Last year, as LAL Today reports, “COhatch donated over $700,000 to startups, nonprofit organizations, entrepreneurs, and community leaders through the Impact Program, and hopes to exceed that number in the future as it expands.”
They currently operate seven locations nationwide in cities like Pittsburgh, Clevland, and Indianapolis. They are opening four new locations in Florida including Lakeland.
“Together with the sunshine and sand, our Lakeland location makes for the perfect space to work, meet, and live in,” their website states. “We’re excited to build the COhatch community to Florida and can’t wait to have you be a part of it.”
Chris Watkins of COhatch recalls visiting Lakeland and driving passed the building along Main Street. He immediately fell in love with it and found limitless potential in starting a new COhatch location there.
“That is the core of what we do,” he said. “[We] take old buildings, bring them back to life, bring them back to their original intent of being a lighthouse in the community. That is why we chose this particular location…that is why we are here.”
Brian Sanders, Market Leader for COhatch, likewise saw potential in Lakeland. He considered the city as the perfect “Goldilock zone” that struck the perfect balance between hospitality and innovation.
“You love each other but you are not afraid to grow and there is room for others,” he said. “That really fits COhatch with who we are, what we want to be, to strike that balance between a place where you belong [and] where you can be supported as a whole person, not just as an owner or an entrepreneur, but as a mother, a father, a brother. This is what we are trying to build, and it feels like the perfect relationship, the perfect partnership, the perfect place. Thank you for growing and that courage and for making a home for us, and we want to return the favor for a generation.”
On Friday afternoon, COhatch celebrated its grand opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony hosted by the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce. The event allowed visitors to take a tour of the facility, as well as enjoy free refreshments.
Mayor Bill Mutz commended COhatch for not only serving as a potential catalyst for new local businesses, but also a public space for potential events, especially in tandem with upcoming developments to Munn Park across the street.
“[COhatch] is serving as an example for each of us on the kinds of promoting we can do to bring the things here that we want to bring,” Mayor Mutz said. “That is the kind of space that you love to be able to find a corner to work in and be able to grow your business as an opportunity to get started or get an extra part of your team.”
Amy Wiggins from the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce was excited to welcome COhatch to the Lakeland community to help spur further economic development by facilitating local business owners and entrepreneurs.
“I am especially thrilled that COhatch has chosen Lakeland to help us to continue to build our entrepreneurial ecosystem,” she said. “That is something we have been so intentional about with your leadership and those before you to make sure that not only are we making space around the park wonderful…but we are also building up people into successful entrepreneurs and business people so they can grow and continue to employ people and continue to grow Lakeland, and I am thrilled we are able to stand here and celebrate that today.”
Welcome, World Travelers! Avatar: Way of Water is Brilliant But Way Too Long!
by James Coulter
Nearly 13 years ago, James Cameron released Avatar, one of his most ambitious film projects. The movie took nearly a decade to make, as new technology had to be invented to film it. Upon its release, the average moviegoer was awe-struck by the stunning visuals, while most critics derided it as overemphasizing style over substance, with some even ridiculing it as “Dances in Wolves” in space.
None of that mattered, of course. Avatar earned $2.97 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing release in history—a world record that remains to be surpassed. The movie became quite a cultural phenomenon. Even Disney invested $400 million in transforming 12 acres of its Animal Kingdom park in Disney World into Pandora.
However, while Cameron planned several sequels to his box office world record setter, as of now, nearly 13 years later, only one sequel has been released (with the rest planned to be released in the near future). Despite the fear that the hype for the original movie had since died out, the sequel has since exceeded $1 billion at the box office. But the question remains: Was Avatar: Way of Water really worth the 13-year wait?
Following the events of the original movie, Jake Sulley has assumed the role of the leader of the Na’vi tribe. He and Neytiri have settled down to start a family and have several children together. Unfortunately, their new life is interrupted when a new space fleet arrives with the intent of colonizing the planet.
Arriving with them is a Na’vi clone of Colonel Miles Quaritch, who intends to take his revenge by hunting down Jake Sulley and killing him. Now Jake and his family are forced to retreat and hide away with a tribe of sea-dwelling Na’vi. Will his family fit into their new environment and community? And will they evade the capture of the Colonel’s clone?
Undoubtedly, Way of Water’s biggest draw, as was the case with the original Avatar, is its visuals. James Cameron clearly wants to immerse his viewers into the lush vibrant world of Pandora, and he wants to show us every little detail of it. The first few scenes reacquaint the viewers with Pandora’s natural splendor, reminding them why they loved the original movie and why they will love this movie, from its diverse flora and fauna to the breathtaking flights of the majestic banshees.
Way of Water, true to its name, further expands the worldbuilding by shifting focus away from the familiar floating mountains and deep rainforest to the new location of the reef tribe with their sandy beaches, turquoise waters, and enchanting reefs. The scenes involving the ocean, both above and under the water, prove simply enchanting. Cliche though it may sound, the underwater scenes amidst the colorful reef and vibrant ocean life truly make one feel like you’re under the water.
Way of Water focuses less on the main protagonists from the previous film, Jake and Neytiri, and more on their children, both biological and adopted. Each of them has an arc that is thoroughly explored through the film’s narrative, especially during their time getting acquainted to their new seaside home and tribe.
The oldest son, Neteyam, struggles to protect his new siblings and desperately aspires to become the next leader of their tribe. The younger son, Lo’ak, feels like an outcast among his family and finds solidarity by befriending a lone whale-like creature. Kiri, the adopted daughter born inexplicably from Grace’s avatar, struggles to learn more about her late mother and discover her inexplicable spiritual connection to the goddess, Eywa. And then there’s Spider, an adopted human boy who grows up alongside the Navi and yearns to be just like them.
Each of these young characters experiences their own arc that develops and unfolds throughout the movie, leading to very charming scenes from Neteyam defending his younger siblings from bullies, to Lo’ak befriending and bonding with a whale-like creature, and Kiri learning more about her identity and special connection to the world of Avatar and its goddess by bonding with an underwater tree.
Unfortunately, where Way of Water falters is with its runtime. The movie is ten minutes over three hours long. And while the first act provides an excellent setup and the third act ends with an enthralling action-filled climax, the remaining 90 minutes in between feel like a real slog.
While there are plenty of captivating scenes showcasing the film’s visual majesty and highlighting its various characters in charming vignettes, as a whole—well, watching a three-hour movie makes you feel those three hours drudge along. As with The Eternals, this is a movie that would have worked better as a mini-series spliced into separate episodes—but then Cameron wouldn’t be able to break another box office record by making more than a billion dollars.
Overall, if you were captivated by Avatar’s visual splendor 13 years ago, you’ll certainly be equally captivated again by its sequel. If you have more than three hours to spare, you’ll certainly love the opportunity to sit back, relax, and turn your brain off while the film immerses you in a fantastical world. Otherwise, as with the original Avatar, Way of Water has much in the way of style but very little in substance.
Deputies from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office were involved Tuesday evening, January 10, 2023, in a pursuit of two fleeing felons in a stolen vehicle.
It began at around 5:09 pm in the Polk City area.
The vehicle fled west into Hillsborough County and eventually into Tampa where the vehicle crashed at around 5:39 pm, but there were no significant injuries reported.
There was no PIT (Precision Immobilization Technique) maneuver attempted by the deputy on the stolen vehicle.
This is an ongoing investigation, more information will be released.
A 19-year old Lakeland woman riding a stand-up scooter was hit by a vehicle Saturday morning, January 7, 2023, and the vehicle left the scene.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office and Polk County Fire Rescue were notified of the crash at about 6:27 am, and responded to the crash scene on Reynolds Road at Lisa Lane in Lakeland.
The victim was taken to a local hospital with serious head and leg injuries, and deputies immediately began working on identifying the driver who fled.
From the preliminary investigation, it was determined that the victim was travelling north on Reynolds Road near the center of the northbound lane when she was hit from behind. The victim landed on the hood of the vehicle then fell into the east shoulder of the road.
Several broken pieces from the suspect’s vehicle were left at the scene of the crash, and from that, detectives were able to determine the make/model, year range, and color of the suspect’s vehicle. A Crime Analyst was able to identify 64-year old William Anderson of Lakeland as a possible suspect.
When detectives went to his home, Anderson opened the door and said, “I was waiting for y’all to come looking for me.”
Anderson confessed to the hit-and-run. His red 2016 Nissan Versa was found behind his house; Anderson said he parked it there in an attempt to conceal it from law enforcement.
“The detectives and crime analyst on this case did extraordinary work in getting this suspect locked up so fast; he was in our jail within eight hours of him leaving his victim on the side of the road to die. The victim is in critical, but stable condition, and we pray for her quick and full recovery.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff
William Anderson was arrested and taken to the Sheriff’s Processing Center and was charged with: Leaving the Scene of a Crash Involving Serious Injury (F2), Tampering with Evidence (F3), and Driving While License Suspended/Revoked with Serious Injury (F3).
On January 3, 2023 three members of the Polk County Fire Rescue received Sheriff Commendations from Grady Judd. The three assisted Deputy Darell Turner with a combative domestic abuse suspect.
On December 3, 2022, Deputy Sheriff Darrell Turner responded to Amick Loop in Lakeland in reference to a domestic battery call for service. Upon his arrival, a female was located lying on her side in the driveway, very intoxicated and having difficulty breathing. Members of Polk County Fire Rescue arrived on scene shortly after and began medically evaluating the female.
While members of Polk County Fire Rescue tended to the female, Deputy Sheriff Turner conducted his investigation. Through the investigation, Deputy Sheriff Turner determined the suspect, Brian Martinez, committed the offense of Battery – Domestic Violence. Deputy Sheriff Turner attempted to place Martinez under arrest, however, he became uncooperative and combative.
Deputy Sheriff Turner directed Martinez to the ground where a struggle ensued as Deputy Sheriff Turner attempted to handcuff Martinez. During the struggle, Martinez was able to free his right hand and began striking Deputy Sheriff Turner several times in the back of his head.
Upon seeing the struggle, Captain David Long, Firefighter Akem Poleon, and Firefighter Timothy Green immediately responded to assist Deputy Sheriff Turner. While assisting Deputy Sheriff Turner, Firefighters Green and Poleon were struck several times by Martinez. Despite Martinez’s violent actions, the assistance allowed Deputy Sheriff Turner to handcuff Martinez and safely place him in his patrol vehicle.
“Thanks to your willingness to aid Deputy Sheriff Turner, without concern for your own personal safety and well-being, this violent felon was taken into custody without serious injury to anyone on scene. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office values the partnership with Polk County Fire Rescue and deeply appreciates your actions to assist Deputy Sheriff Turner.” – Grady Judd
On behalf of the men and women of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and the citizens of Polk County, I commend you for a job well done.
Lakeland, Florida- On Thursday, January 5, a Lakeland Police school resource officer assigned to Lakeland Highlands Middle School was contacted shortly before 3 PM by a member of the school’s administration about a possible firearm in a backpack. A search confirmed a handgun was inside the bag. The bag was found to belong to a 13-year-old student who later admitted to having the gun on campus.
The student was arrested and taken to JAC (the Juvenile Assessment Center), charged with possessing a firearm on school grounds. During the investigation, it was also discovered the student had posted a photo of the gun on social media.
Additional law enforcement was on campus Friday morning in an abundance of caution.
