Bok Academy, located at 13901 US Hwy. 27 was placed on heightened security earlier today, December 6, 2024, after an off-campus situation, made it necessary to do so.
The school’s Facebook page offered the following message just after 11:30 this morning:
Meghan Petty, Public Information Officer for Polk County Sheriff’s Office, has advised on the cause of the increase in security:
“Bok Academy in Lake Wales was put on heightened security for about 20 minutes. The heightened security level was activated out of an abundance of caution, because we got a call that someone thought they heard gunshots in the area. The students are in no immediate danger. Deputies are checking the area out as we speak.”
The heightened security level has been released and students have resumed a normal schedule as PCSO continues to patrol the area.
The Florida Highway Patrol is reporting that on December 5th around 6:30pm a single vehicle accident occurred on SR 400. The crash resulted in the death of a 76 year old man.
According to Sergeant Steve Gaskins, Public Affairs Officer, with the FHP the following occurred:
Vehicle 1, a Toyota Tundra, driven be a 76-year-old Polk City man, was traveling westbound on SR-400, west of SR-557 and near the 47 Milepost. The driver suffered a medical emergency, lost control of the vehicle and entered the center median. Once in the median, the vehicle struck a cable barrier and came to final rest. Transported to an area hospital, the driver later expired.
The Florida Highway Patrol does not provide names of crash victims per their interpretation of Marsy’s Law. We will have no further details on this crash
The Frostproof Christmas Parade will take place Saturday, December 7, 2024, beginning at 6 pm. the theme is Lights! Camera! Action! Christmas At the Movies!
The parade STAGING route this year has changed for the parade. For those who have a float/vehicle in the parade: Parade entrants will turn onto West 9th Street from Scenic Hwy. and make their way West to Clinch Lake Blvd. where they will turn right to head North toward West 3rd Street. There will be a check-in desk near the Clinch Lake Boat Ramp area. Please stop to get your parade number and give our staff your entry name.
Barry Foster with WWOJ will again be announcing the parade this year. The parade route will still be North from 3rd Street to F Street; it will turn left on F Street towards Palm Avenue and it will disburse from there.
In the past, many entrants have used the First Baptist Church, located between West B Street and West A Streets, parking lot as a place for parents to pick up children who have walked or ridden on floats in the parade. Others have traveled from F Street back toward the staging areas where vehicles may have been left before the parade.
Either way, you can eventually make your way to Henderson Field for the Holly Jolly Christmas Party at Henderson Field 2024 where there will be music, food vendors, snow hills, bounce houses, trains and of course, Santa Claus will be on hand for pictures and gifts.
On December 5, 2024, a 911 call came in at 5:03 p.m. for a vehicle vs bicycle crash at the intersection of Archaic Drive and Clovis Pass in Winter Haven.
We reached out to Polk County Fire Rescue Public Information Officer, Nathaniel Gale and he confirmed that they transported one patient by ground.
We reached out to Polk County Sheriff’s Office as well and they advised the bicyclist was awake and alert according to the person who called 911. The cause of the crash is under investigation. The scene is now clear.
Soccer teams can expect to play on resurfaced fields and spectators can expect to sit at new picnic tables and under new lights now that the City of Lake Wales has approved a grant agreement for enhancements to its soccer complex.
At their regular meeting on Tues. Dec. 3, 2024, Lake Wales city commissioners voted unanimously to approve its consent agenda. One item included a grant agreement for $200,000 for the Lake Wales Soccer Complex.
The Department of Environmental Protection (EPA), through the Florida Recreation Development Assistance Program (FRDAP), awarded a grant for $200,000 to help finance enhancements to the city’s soccer complex.
Stephanie Lutton, Parks & Recreation Director, wrote in the city agenda memo that the City “will be required to match the $200,000 for a total project cost of $400,000.”
The renovations to the complex will include “soccer field resurfacing, playground equipment, lighting, trash receptacles, and added picnic tables for the enjoyment of the community.”
We would like to welcome the slingshot family of Polk county back again for another fun night of meet and greets with the Grinch and Santa. This is always one of our biggest nights of the season.
Location: 4314 Shadow Wood Trail in Winter Haven, FL.
We will be running the display our regular Saturday hours from 6:00 – 10:00 p.m.
We’re having our annual Grinch night Saturday 12/7 at 7:00 p.m., Santa, the Grinch and more characters appearing! Hope to see you there.
Approximately 14 market-rate apartments are planned to be built above 15,098 square feet of ground-level commercial property now that the city has approved the annexation, zoning, and land use designation change of 2.75 acres of land.
At their regular meeting on Tuesday, December 3, 2024, Lake Wales city commissioners voted unanimously to approve the second reading of three ordinances about nearly three acres of land located along Harding Avenue.
The first ordinance would annex the property into the city, while the other two ordinances would amend its future land use to Neighborhood Activity Center and its zoning to Village Center.
The property, according to Autumn Cochella, Director of Growth Management, is located “in unincorporated Polk County, west of US Highway 27 and south of Harding Avenue, adjacent to an existing residential neighborhood in the County, and opposite Highway 27 from McKibben Powersports.”
The proposed development will be a two-story mixed-use development, with more than 15,000 square-feet of commercial property and nearly 14 market-rate apartments on the second floor. It will also offer outdoor patio space for both residential and non-residential use and to “connect the two [proposed] buildings.”
“The building has been designed with a reduced front setback so as to hide the parking at the rear of the building, creating a better building-to-street relationship along US Highway 27,” Cochella wrote. “A roundabout is designed at the northern end of the parking lot for emergency apparatus turnaround. The highway is separated from the building front due to a large FDOT storm water retention pond along the roadway.”
No comments from the commission or the public were given about any of the three ordinances. City commissioners voted unanimously on each ordinance.
A crash at the intersection of Havendale and Hwy 17 has blocked the intersection. Drivers will find delays in the area. Officers are on scene directing traffic around the crash. Consider alternate routes if possible.
