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More Than 3,000 Children Given School Supplies And Groceries At Summerpalooz

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More Than 3,000 Children Given School Supplies And Groceries At Summerpalooz

More Than 3,000 Children Given School Supplies And Groceries At Summerpalooza

by James Coulter

Many low-income residents in Lakeland now have book bags filled with school supplies for their children and refrigerators filled with fresh food for their families after attending Summerpalooza on Saturday.

Hundreds of children and their families lined up in the Jenkins Arena at the RP Funding Center for a chance to fill up grocery carts filled with fresh produce and other groceries donated by local organizations and businesses such as Publix.

Young attendees that day could also prepare themselves for their first day of school with free haircuts, hair designs, nail polishing, and even massages provided by volunteers. They and their families also received a free meal including a hot dog and drink.

More than 3,000 local residents pre-registered for the annual back to school event hosted by New Beginnings High School in Winter Haven, with more than 3,500 attendees turning out that day, explained CEO Ashlee Wright. Such a huge turnout was a major increase of last year’s event, which saw more than 1,000 families attendee.

With so many people attending this year, it was fortunate that the event was being hosted within the RP Funding Center, a much larger venue than last year’s location at Simpson Park Community Center.

For Wright, there’s nothing she loves more than seeing local families, especially with young children, walk away with food and supplies that they otherwise would have done without. Being able to make a big difference in her community like that is always worth it, she said.

“It is great to service the community and make sure we are showing love,” she said. “I love seeing the little babies when they get these groceries and the backpacks. There is nothing like it in the world…We look forward to next year and more community support to make it bigger and better.”

More than a dozen local organizations participated with booths set up within the arena, allowing attendees to peruse their many services. Participating that day were such organizations as the PACE Center for Girls, the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program (VPK), and even the Aerospace Discovery at the Florida Air Museum.

Carol Cali, Director of Marketing for Sun N’ Fun, and her colleauges attended the event for the first time that year to offer children an opportunity to hop inside the cockpit of one of their planes and talk with local pilots and mechanics. As her organization is dedicated to youth education, she felt that the event was an ideal opportunity to provide outreach for their museum and youth programs.

“We think it is absolutley fantastic, we love to have it be the start of many opportunities to work together with the community at large,” she said. “I think when talking with the different parents, they seem to be very happy…for us getting the word out about the opportunities we have in the community.”

Jesikynn Pfeiffer, Outreach Coordinator for PACE Center, attended that day with her organization to offer encouragement to young girls with their mirror, which included inspiring words etched in the corner.

As her organization helps at-risk young women pursue an education within a safe learning environment, they had a great opportunity to reach out to many prospective students, with at least ten people expressing interest, she said.

“We have been coming to this event since it started, and it is a great way to reach the community,” she said. “We already received ten referrals. So we might be able to change the lives of then more girls in the county.”

Help Winter Haven Police Department Identify Walmart Thief

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Help Winter Haven Police Department Identify Walmart Thief

Release by Winter Haven Police Department

Do you know anyone with a new Vizio 36″ Speaker? This guy took one from Walmart (7450 Cypress Gardens Blvd.)… you guessed it, without paying. Grabbed the speaker and walked out of the auto area without a glimpse at the cash register.
If you recognize him, call Heartland Crime Stoppers at 1-800-226-TIPS (8477) Callers are guaranteed anonymity and could be eligible for a CASH reward.

Elderly Kissimmee Man Arrested In Death Of His Elderly Wife

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Elderly Kissimmee Man Arrested In Death Of His Elderly Wife

PCSO Press Release:

On Monday, August 5, 2019, PCSO detectives arrested 85-year-old Jose Tavera of Kissimmee (the mailing address is Kissimmee, but the residence is on the Polk side of Poinciana) and charged him with first degree murder in the death of his 90-year-old common-law wife.

The PCSO Emergency Communications Center (ECC) received a call around 5:50 a.m. on August 5th, in reference to a suspicious person standing in the middle of the roadway at Marigold Avenue and Bell Tower Crossing in Poinciana. The person was described by the caller as an older male wearing a white T-shirt.

When deputies arrived on-scene, they made contact with the man, identified as Jose Tavera. He had blood on his shirt and hands, and could not tell deputies where he lived, and was not making sense. While PCFR transported him to a local hospital, deputies responded to his home on Martin Lane in Kissimmee.

When deputies arrived at his home, they found the garage door up, and the door leading into the home partially open. Deputies announced their presence but received no response. They entered the home and found Hilda Roman deceased in the master bedroom. There were no signs of forced entry.

Hilda was laying on her back, wearing a nightgown, with obvious trauma on her face, head, arms, and wrists. There was a wooden side table on top of her. She had bruising and lacerations consistent with being beaten. According to family members, Hilda and Jose are not legally married but have lived together for over 60 years.

Detectives interviewed Tavera and observed dried blood under his fingernails on both hands, and he appeared to be shaken and upset.

During the interview, Jose told detectives he was not under the influence of any medications, was healthy, and that he knew what day it was. He said he didn’t have a home and just walked the streets. He also said he did not have a phone or a car. He said he did not know Hilda Roman. When he was asked what was on his fingernails, he said it was paint and explained a guy called him to do a painting job in Orlando. When he was asked what phone the guy called him on, he changed his story and said the guy ran into him on the street. Jose could not provide any further details regarding the painting job. Jose was shown photographs of Hilda and the residence located on Martin Lane in Kissimmee – he said he had never seen Hilda before and he did not know the residence. Jose then said that detectives were trying to accuse him of something happening at that residence. When asked what detectives were trying to accuse him of he said, “I’m not a murderer.” Jose then stopped responding to questions.

Tavera was arrested and charged with first degree murder and booked into the Polk County Jail.

Tavera has been Baker Acted and is in a local medical facility, and as such, he does not have a mugshot.

Tech tuesday: How the Cloud allowed Hacker to obtain sensitive consumer information from Capitol One and How you can protect your organization

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Tech tuesday: How the Cloud allowed Hacker to obtain sensitive consumer information from Capitol One and How you can protect your organization

How the Cloud allowed Hacker to obtain sensitive consumer information from Capitol One and How you can protect your organization.

It is no surprise that many organizations are moving their on premise data infrastructure to the cloud. With ease of management, lower costs, and less infrastructure overhead it just makes financial sense. Reading headline news you will see that the latest data breech exposed the personal information of approximately 106 million of Capitol One’s customers. It is reported that this data was accessed from Capitol One’s Cloud instance of AWS web services by utilizing an exploit that was caused by a misconfigured firewall. The question is how or could this breech have been avoided?

Executives and Information Technology leaders have recognized that there is financial and operation advantage of moving server infrastructure offsite and into the cloud. The simple fact that you no longer have to manage hardware such as process servers, storage infrastructure, and the dreaded backups is reason enough for most to leverage cloud infrastructure. To further drive the decision, the cloud has enticed organizations to make the move by making it appear overall cheaper and creating a win/win for the business.

Because of the reduced overhead of managing on premise physical infrastructure many organizations are able to reduce staff or redirect staff to work on automation projects that will streamline business process and increase overall profitability. While on the surface this appears to be a win for the organization it can ultimately have negative impacts on the business.

The harsh reality is many Information Technology professionals simply do not understand how cloud infrastructures work. Most see it as this great pie in the sky that can reduce operational duties, which it can. However, if your cloud infrastructure is not setup properly your organization could be exposed to greater cyber risks. This is exactly how Capitol One suffered a cyber-breech.

The Cyber attacker took advantage of a misconfigured open-source web application firewall in Capitol One’s AWS instance. The misconfiguration in the web application firewall allowed the attacker to take advantage of a vulnerability that allowed the attacker to trick the firewall into executing metadata scripts to request data from the server. This led to the exfiltration of data that affected customers. Reported so far are 140,000+ social security numbers and 80,000+ account numbers of US based customers.

At the end of the day it is a little unknown fact that setting up cloud infrastructures require intimate knowledge of how cloud infrastructures function. Information Technology professionals that work with cloud infrastructure typically have direct knowledge of how cloud security works, what services/systems are exposed to the internet, and how to protect the environment.

The best method to ensure your systems are safe and secure in the cloud is to have someone with specialized cloud infrastructure knowledge. If you are looking for support or would like someone to take a second look at your cloud infrastructure, please feel free to reach out for a free consultation.

You can reach me at [email protected] or 863-734-8060.

 

Convicted Felon Behind Bars After Leading Authorities On Wild Ride Through City

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Convicted Felon Behind Bars After Leading Authorities On Wild Ride Through City

Release by Winter Haven Police Department:

On 8-5-19 at approximately 10:30 p.m., Winter Haven Police received information that a vehicle with convicted felon 22 year-old Jaquel Fleming (Bentley Oaks Blvd, Auburndale, FL) had fled an earlier traffic stop that was attempted by the Auburndale Police Department. Officers had been made aware that the occupant was Fleming, a convicted felon, and had a warrant for his arrest on Aggravated Battery and Armed Burglary charges from Auburndale.

Winter Haven officers spotted the black Nissan Juke traveling at a high rate of speed entering the city limits of Winter Haven at Hwy 92 and Hwy 17. Officers kept a safe distance while keeping a visual on the vehicle as he traveled south on Hwy 17 with speeds exceeding 90 mph. As the vehicle approached the intersection of Havendale Blvd. and Hwy 17, the light was red for southbound traffic. Fleming jumped the curb driving erratically around vehicles and ran the red light continuing south on Hwy 17. There were no crashes at this location.

Fleming then turned right at Ave. L SW, traveled down 8th St and then to Lake Howard Dr., when numerous officers in the area activated emergency lights in another attempt to initiate the traffic stop. At this point, Fleming turned off his headlights while continuing to travel at a high rate of speed through the intersection of Ave. D and Hwy 17 and on through the City. With the assistance of the Polk County Sheriff’s Officer air unit, the pilot continued to inform officers on the ground of where Fleming was traveling and also reported the traffic conditions ahead. Fleming continued speeding through red lights and stop signs where he struck a vehicle at 6th St NW and Central Ave. There was minor damage and no injuries to the other driver. Fleming then continued driving erratically throughout the City until he crashed into a fence and a fire hydrant at 3rd St NE and Ave Q NE.

Fleming, the sole occupant of the car, ran from the vehicle ignoring all commands to stop. Inside of the vehicle on the driver’s seat officers found a loaded Smith and Wesson 40 caliber handgun.

A perimeter was set up with Winter Haven and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and with the assistance of K-9 Bane and his partner Officer Doyle, Fleming was located inside of another vehicle at a residence located on 2nd St NE. Fleming was then taken into custody without further incident.

“This is a perfect example of how cooperation between agencies helped to capture the bad guy,” said Public Safety Director and Police Chief Charlie Bird. “With our agencies being on the same radio channel, there was no time lost trying to decipher where the vehicle was. Auburndale, PCSO and our officers were all communicating together, which was paramount to the successful outcome.”

Fleming, who is a convicted felon, was booked into the Polk County Jail on Winter Haven charges of Possession of a Firearm by Convicted Felon (F.S.S. 790.23(1)(A) F2; Fleeing to Elude LEO with Lights/Sirens Activated (F.S.S. 316.1935(2) F3: Resisting Arrest W/O Violence (F.S.S. 843.02) M1; Knowing Driving While License Suspended/Revoked (F.S.S. 322.34(2) M2; and Reckless Driving 1st Offense (F.S.S. 316.192(2)(A) M2

Hope Equine Rescue Celebrates Ribbon Cutting In Winter Haven

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Hope Equine Rescue Celebrates Ribbon Cutting In Winter Haven

Hope Equine Rescue Celebrates Ribbon Cutting In Winter Haven

As seen in Winter Haven Daily Print Publication

by James Coulter

Approximately 6,000 to 10,000 horses are housed by rescue services at any given time in America, according to data by the Unwanted Horse Coalition. One such rescue in Winter Haven is doing its part to ensure that their horses are given a good home.

Located in Winter Haven, Equine Hope Rescue operates a 10-acre ranch where it keeps at-risk horses and donkeys of all breeds and sizes, taking care of them and helping them find a good and loving home.

The organization had been in operation for nearly a decade. Upon outgrowing its original Auburndale farm, they moved to a new location off of Dundee Road in Winter Haven, where they currently house 40 horses.

Having been at their new location for more than a year, Equine Hope Rescue celebrated its ribbon cutting last Thursday during an open house hosted by the Northeast Polk Chamber of Commerce. Guests could take a tour of the facility, as well as enjoy light refreshments and participate within raffle drawings.

Dani Horton, President of Equine Hope Rescue, has been raising horses with her family all of her life, and has been a breeder and national competitor for several years. Nearly a decade ago, her family had been contacted by concern citizens about horses that were mistreated and need of a new home.

“I started doing some research, and found that there was no place in this area for those horses to go,” she said. “There wasn’t anything here to take care of those horses that were unwanted or abused or neglected. So I think I would do a horse rescue.”

Her rescue started with a couple horses, and now currently takes care of nearly 40 horses. Helping her organization are a dedicated team of 180 volunteers, all of whom go above and beyond to help care for the horses. All of their operations are funded through private donations, with no state or federal government funding.

“We have an amazing team,” she said. “We work really, really hard to do the best that we can for the horses in our community…We take the resources that we have, and utilize the best that we can with them, so I am glad that you are done with us tonight, to see what you do, to see our team, and see our horse.”

Many of the horses at their facility are sent to them through the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. Sometimes these horses are lost or abandoned, while other times they are retrieved through a criminal case, explained Deputy Sheriff Laurie Smith.

Without Hope Equine Rescue, these horses would be placed in auction. By taking in these at-risk horses and helping find them new homes, the rescue provides a valuable service to the local community, Smith said.

“Dani is always accommodating and takes in the horses that we take in, whether it is a criminal case or a lose animal or just an abandoned animal,” she said. “The program is absolutley amazing, and we really appreciate everything equine does for Polk County.”

Helping ensure that these horses get a second chance is Adoption Director Cat Madden. She goes through the applications to ensure that the homes and horses are right for one another, she said.

Whenever they receive horses from the Sheriff’s Office, the animals are often underweight and mistreated with severe issues. Fortunately, her organization helps take good care of them to make sure they are healthy once again and ready for adoption.

“I love it all,” she said. “I love coming out here to clean the stalls, and water buckets so the horses have clean stalls to stand in, also the grooming aspect, training, and also contacting the people who are looking to adopt them. We have a nice facility that is unbelievable, it is awesome.”

Hope Equine Rescue is located at 3805 High St NE, Winter Haven, FL 33881. For more information, call 863-287-7503, or visit their website at: https://hopeequinerescue.com/

Officer Involved Shooting in Winter Haven While Suspect Flees Custody

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Officer Involved Shooting in Winter Haven While Suspect Flees Custody

WHPD Press Release:

On August 4, 2019, at approximately 2:07 a.m., Winter Haven officers responded to a suspicious vehicle call at Cambridge Square Apartments (208 Cambridge Sq. SE, Winter Haven). When officers arrived, they located a silver Volkswagen Passat with four occupants inside.

One officer approached the driver’s door while another officer was standing at the front of the vehicle. As the officer at the driver’s door attempted to make contact with the driver, 23 year-old Douglas Davis, Jr. (DOB 9-21-95,115 Ave. E SE, Winter Haven) started acting strangely and reached down under his seat.

The officer attempted to get Davis out of the car when he hit the gas forcing the car into the path of the officer standing at the front of the vehicle. Fearing for his life, the officer fired through the windshield striking a backseat passenger in the shoulder.

The driver fled the area at a high rate of speed ultimately coming to a stop after the car was disabled when it jumped a curb at the corner of Ave. F SW and Fourth St SE, approximately a quarter of a mile away. Davis and two of the passengers ran from the vehicle leaving the injured back seat passenger inside of the vehicle. Officers located one juvenile female hiding in nearby bushes and a second juvenile male turned himself into the Winter Haven Police Department. Davis has still not been located and a warrant for his arrest has been obtained.

The injured male who was in the backseat was transported to Lakeland Regional Health with non-life-threatening injuries.

As per procedure, the officer is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is conducting the criminal investigation and Winter Haven Internal Affairs is conducting the policy investigation.
The officer involved is Vic Ramos, 28 years-old, and has been employed with the Winter Haven Police Department since December of 2017.


** Photos obtained from Walmart of Davis  just prior to the initial encounter at Cambridge Apartments.

More Than 500 Bags Of School Supplies Given At Inagural Blast Off Bartow Back to School Bash

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More Than 500 Bags Of School Supplies Given At Inagural Blast Off Bartow Back to School Bash

More Than 500 Bags Of School Supplies Given At Inagural Blast Off Bartow Back to School Bash

by James Coulter

More than 500 local children won’t be going back to school empty-handed thanks to the book bags of school supplies given to them during the inaugural Blast Off Bartow Back to School Bash on Saturday.

Countless children and their families gathered at the Carver Community Center last Saturday to wait in line for a chance to receive a book bag filled with donated school items. They also received a brown paper bag with a hot lunch consisting of hot dogs, chips, and drinks.

 

After receiving their free school supplies, attendees could engage in various other activities, including playing around in bounce houses, listening to live musical entertainment, playing basketball and Zumba exercises, and listening to storytellers.

More than a dozen local organizations set up booths and vendors within the gymnasium, where attendees could peruse and check out their goods and services. Participants included the Bartow Public Library and the Grant Career & Technical Education (GCTE) Center.

The event was the first collaboration between three major local organizations—Snapping Turtles, All For One, and Endless Abilities—as well as a few small local churches. As most local organizations often host a back to school event each year, these three decided to combine their efforts and provide one large community event, explained Shandrin Tollie, President of All For One.

The rainy forecast that day may have hampered their plans for grander outdoor activities, but overall, the very first event that Saturday went off without a hitch, drawing in hundreds of local residents from across the community, Tollie said.

“The rain always is an issue; but beyond that, the turnout is great,” he said. “Parents are out with the kids having fun…I am satisfied [with] this being the first one, and the future looks bright…The more we do this, the more people will get involved, and we are going to try to make it really big.”

Anthony Nettles, Polk County President of Snapping Turtles, has been hosting his own back-to-school event with his organization. Being able to team up with two other local organizations not only tripled their community outreach, but also furthered their own mission statement, he said.

“It has more than exceeded our expectations,” he said. “It is for our goal and our mission to give back to the community, and we are doing just that.”

Resheka Harris, CEO of Endless Abilities, works through her organization to further their goal of fostering community inclusion for individuals with disabilities, aiding them, their families, and their caregivers on their path for independent living.

As with the other participating organizations that day, she and her organization wanted to combine their efforts to help provide local children with school supplies and offer them a fun summer diversion before the upcoming start of the school year.

The end of July saw more than 400 people pre-register for the event, with more than 500 expected to have attended that day, Harris said.

“I am enjoying it so much so that I am not even tired,” she said. “I just feel like I am enjoying myself with everyone else. I am happy to be out here today.”

Eye Specialists Of Mid-Florida Opens New Location In Auburndale

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Eye Specialists Of Mid-Florida Opens New Location In Auburndale

Eye Specialists Of Mid-Florida Opens New Location In Auburndale

by James Coulter

Auburndale residents no longer need to drive all the way to Lakeland or Winter Haven for their eye care needs now that Eye Specialists Of Mid-Florida has opened a new location in their hometown.

Eye Specialists Of Mid-Florida opened its eighth Polk County location with its newest branch in Auburndale, located in the former location of Kerry’s Clock Resturant along US Highway 92.

Connie Richards, CEO, said that her company’s newest branch will offer the same level of quality service, excellent patient care, and a wide selection of eyewear that their customers have come to expect with overall greater accessibility through their new location.

“We have a lot of patients in this area that we wanted to serve,” she said, claiming that their expectations are to provide “the convenience and access to our patients, for them to be able to come in and visit us, to be able to take it up a notch here in Auburndale in this building and just serve our patients and hopefully get new patients.”

Eye Specialists Of Mid-Florida celebrated their grand opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony hosted by the Auburndale Chamber of Commerce. Following the cutting of the ribbon, guests could take a look around the new facility and help themselves to some light refreshments.

For the past 50 years, Eye Specialists of Mid-Florida has been providing patients with a wide selection of eyewear, including prescription and non-prescription, as well as services for ophthalmology, optometry, and cataract surgery.

“Our eye doctors and staff are committed to providing the highest quality and most technologically advanced eye care in a compassionate, friendly, comfortable atmosphere,” their website states.

Their new Auburndale branch is built upon the former location of Kerry’s Clock Resturant, which was sold and demolished less than a year ago. Dr. Daniel Welch, Managing Partner, said that his company became interested in the location once it became available.

“We wanted to expand our service area to all of the local patients in the area,” he said. “It is a very busy spot [in a] high traffic area. People are moving in. Someone was just telling me that there are several hundred families moving in each month into this area.”

Dr. Welch has been with Eye Specialists for the past 35 years since 1980. Having worked with them for that long, he knows that his fellow staff and colleagues are committed to providing customers and patients with only the best care available.

Dr. David Loewy, who has been working with the company for 32 years, likewise attests to his company’s overall commitment towards optimal patient care, which he expects to help offer in their new location.

“We are hoping to bring our level of eye care to Auburndale and serve the community,” he said. “Our mission is to provide high quality and the most technological advanced eye care with compassion and integrity.”

As the new location resides within the former location of Kerry’s Clock Resturant, a portrait of the old restaurant, along with other local landmarks, have been posted within the office to maintain a feeling of paternity for the local community.

“The city itself is beautiful, and we thought it would be a good position for us,” Richards said. “We are very involved in the local community that we serve, so we get involved in fundraising, supporting sports event, participating within the chamber of commerce. We are very active in all that.”

Eye Specialists Of Mid-Florida is located at 202 Magnolia Ave, Auburndale, FL 33823. For more information, visit their website at: https://www.eyesfl.com/

Pedestrian Struck and Killed in Mulberry Saturday Night

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Pedestrian Struck and Killed in Mulberry Saturday Night

Pedestrian Struck and Killed in Mulberry Saturday Night

PCSO Press Release:

The PCSO Traffic Unit is investigating a traffic fatality that occurred Saturday night in Mulberry during which an adult pedestrian was struck and killed.

Preliminary information so far is as follows:

Around 9:20 p.m. on Saturday, August 3, 2019, the PCSO ECC received a 911 call from 48-year-old Joseph Lauriano of Tampa, who said he was driving his red Dodge Ram pickup truck westbound on SR 60 near Bailey Road when he struck a man who was walking across SR 60, propelling the man into the grass median. When first responders arrived, the pedestrian was deceased.

The pedestrian was 46-year-old Miguel Hernandez of Mulberry. He and a 12-year-old boy were walking across SR 60 near the intersection with Bailey Road and were in the inside lane when another driver, who was in front of the Dodge truck, swerved into the outside lane to avoid hitting them both.

Lauriano, who was behind that car and also driving in the inside lane, also swerved in an attempt to avoid hitting the pair, but was unable to avoid hitting Hernandez. After he was struck, he was propelled into the grass median. The boy was not injured.
Lauriano immediately stopped to render aid and dial 911. The first driver who swerved also stopped and gave her statement to deputies.

Hernandez and the boy are not related but both live in trailers within a trailer park nearby, and were walking to a food truck on the opposite side of SR 60.

Hernandez was wearing dark clothing. There is no cross walk where they were crossing the highway.

Impairment on the part of Lauriano is not suspected. The investigation is ongoing. The westbound lanes of SR 60 were closed for approximately four hours in that area.

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