Attention yard salers, bargain hunters, and those who love to thrift: get your rest now.  Before you know it, November 2 will be here, and with it, the widely anticipated 17th Annual 39- Mile Scenic Highway Yard Sale.
The route will run from Frostproof to Haines City along Hwy. 17., with official locations in Frostproof, Lake Wales, Dundee, and Lake Hamilton.
If you’re interested in becoming a vendor, you can choose one of the five locations and contact them directly to register.
Route map
If you’re more interested in shopping till you drop, take a look at the map and start to plan your route. While there are five official locations, many local residents will take the opportunity to set up tables in yards and parking lots to take advantage of traffic going by on the route.
BE READY POLK COUNTY SUNDAY, AUGUST 25, START AT 12 NOON ✔️70 AWARDS
TOP 50
CATEGORIES FOR CARS AND MOTORCYCLES FROM 1900 TO 2024 ✔️ROUND TRIP RAFFLE TO INDIANAPOLIS 500 MUSEUM ✔️FREE CIRCUS FOR ALL AGES ✔️50/50 RAFFLE ✔️MORE THAN 300 STORES ✔️REGISTRATION $20 ✔️FREE ADMISSION FOR SPECTATORS **NO LOUD MUSIC **NO BURNOUTS
COME AND ENJOY IN FAMILY
ADDRESS: INTERNATIONAL MARKET WORLD 1052, US-92, AUBURNDALE FL
Interested in serving your community and making a positive difference? Join the Explorers Program! We will be hosting an informational meeting on Saturday, August 24th, at 12:00 P.M. in the Auburndale Police Department Community Room. We are excited to see you there!
Please read below for requirements to apply:
Ages 14 through 21
Maintain a 2.0 GPA
No prior convictions
No active investigations
No serious traffic offenses
Tobacco and alcohol free
Maintain good standing in school
Pass a successful background check
For more information, please email [email protected] or call (863) 965-5557.
The property at 1230 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Three Parcels of Land Being Considered by Lake Wales CRA for Affordable Housing
by James Coulter
The Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) voted unanimously to table the discussion of donating three parcels of land for redevelopment into affordable housing.
At their meeting on Tues. Aug. 13, Lake Wales CRA board members discussed a request to sell three parcels of land to a non-profit housing agency for redevelopment into affordable housing.
The property at 315 Dorset Ave.
The three parcels of land considered are located a 1130 Dr. M. L. K. Jr Blvd., 315 Dorsett Ave., and 517 B. Greenview Terrace.
Had the request been approved, the land would have been donated to The Real Estate Foundation, a non-profit housing agency and affordable housing developer whose mission is “to create wealth and abundance for all.”
“Established in 2022, the Real Estate Foundation has provided families in Hillsborough and Polk County with housing counseling, credit counseling, down payment assistance, and affordable housing,” wrote City Manager James Slaton.
CRA Board members voted 4-1 to table discussion of the donation and to have Jeff Bagwell, Executive Director of the Keystone Challenge Fund, which had partnered with the city to provide affordable housing, coordinate with the Real Estate Foundation in an advisory capacity.
The property at 517 B. Greenview Terrace.
Alexis Monroe, Executive Director of the Real Estate Foundation, has been working with her organization and the city over the past two months to make sure they can build affordable housing.
Furthermore, she and her organization have been reaching out to the local community through speaking engagements and involvement with real estate and Bible studies. She has also worked to help improve the credit of a few residents.
“We can all work together to help with the affordable housing crisis,” she said. “We have built 31 homes. We have wealth and abundance, and if we continue with that mission, it will be done.”
Earlier that evening, the CRA Board voted 4-1 to increase the down payment assistance (DPA) for affordable housing from $20,000 to $40,000 to match increased construction costs and interest rates. That agenda item led to a discussion about whether the city should focus on assisting current residents over potential residents moving to the city.
Pristina Keybold, another representative with the Real Estate Foundation, took umbrage with these negative comments. She claims she wants to help the Lake Wales community, even to the point of moving there with her family. That is how much she cares about the city, she said.
“When we say we are here to serve the community, we mean the state of Florida,” she said. “The state of Florida is in a crisis, and Lake Wales is in the state of Florida. We do have the capacity to love more than just the people we see daily. That is what makes us human. That gives us the capacity to care.”
“I had the ability to house more than 250 homeless people in the area,” she said. “It did not matter where they came from. It only mattered that every citizen had a home. We will still continue to provide services in Northwest Lake Wales because we care.”
City of Lake Wales to Use County Website to Post Public Notices, Decision Receives Unanimous Vote from City Commission
by James Coulter
Public notices from the City of Lake Wales will be uploaded onto the Polk County website, now that the City Commission has voted unanimously to do so.
At their regular meeting on Tues. Aug 20, Lake Wales City Commissioners voted unanimously 5-0 to approve an ordinance that would permit the city to post public notice on Polk County’s publicly-accessible website.
The city’s decision is compliant with Florida’s HB 7049 (2022), which, according to City Manager James Slaton, who wrote in the city agenda memo on this item, “empowers municipalities to utilize county websites for public notices.”
The County website (https://polkcounty.column.us) was created through an ordinance (Ordinance 2024-041) adopted by the County Commission in July. The website was created through a partnership with D-R Media (Polk News-Sun), according to the city memo, “to ensure accessibility.”
Currently, the City of Lake Wales spends approximately “$30,000 annually on legal ads in declining print media,” Slaton wrote. As such, the city would be saving time and money by posting their public notices through the county website.
Moreover, this change will allow the city’s public notices to become more accessible to residents, especially since the county website is “ADA compliant” and “allows for email notifications tailored to user preferences.” As such, the city’s ongoing developments and decisions would become more transparent.
City Commissioner Carol Gillespie, who voted in favor of the ordinance, made a tongue-in-cheek comment that the City of Lake Wales is “moving into 2004…with the rest of the county” with this ordinance approved.
In 2021, the PCSO began using a program called Live911, which allowed deputies to hear live 911 calls through their laptops as the calls are being answered by dispatch. The technology allows for quicker response times by deputies during emergencies, and has led to numerous lives being saved. It also aids in the quicker apprehension of criminals too. Such as this case:
On Sunday, August 18th, just after 3 am, PCSO deputies heard a Live911 call regarding a retail theft at the 7-Eleven store at 420 Magnolia Avenue in Auburndale.
As luck would have it (good luck for the deputy, bad luck for the thieves), deputies Maynard & Colon had just driven past the store and heard the 911 caller say that the suspects’ vehicle left the parking lot and turned onto the street RIGHT BEHIND the deputies.
The deputies then got behind the suspects, and when they stopped, the two men were taken into custody.
The men were identified as 64-year old Willie Lott (the driver) and 47-year old Frank Gainers, Jr.
Willie is from Bartow, and Frank is an Auburndaler.
The two men were found with one case of Modelo and one case of Miller Lite. The cases of beer were returned to 7-Eleven, and the theft case and suspects were turned over to Auburndale PD (the theft occurred within the city limits).
Willie also got a couple of criminal drug charges from the deputies. During their interaction, the deputy discovered a blue pen that contained cocaine in it. Willie said he got the pen from the bank. Willie didn’t want to say where the cocaine came from though.
Speed Limit Being Reduced from 30 MPH to 25 MPH at Whispering Ridge Drive and 10 Other Lake Wales Roads
by James Coulter
Are you planning on driving through Whispering Ridge Drive as a shortcut between 9th and 11th Street?
Well, slow down! Because the speed limit for that road and 10 others in Lake Wales will be having their speed limits reduced to 25 MPH.
At their regular meeting on Tues. Aug. 20, Lake Wales City Commissioners approved its consent agenda. One of the items was to modify the Official Traffic Map, reduce the speed limit for 11 city roads, and install the appropriate signage for those roads.
Whispering Ridge Drive, along with 11 adjacent roads, will have its speed limit reduced from 30 MPH to 25 MPH. The other 10 roads include:
• North Miami Street
• Marci Drive
• Sally Road
• Roberta Road
• Lancelot Drive
• Joyce Road
• Corinne Drive
• Susan Drive
• Naes Lane
• Tobie Street
The speed limits for these roads are being changed to match the existing speed limits of surrounding and adjacent roads, which are 25 MPH, according to the city memo written by Lt. Emmanuel Figueroa.
As such, reducing the speed limits would permit safer driving conditions, as well as increased pedestrian safety, Lt. Figueroa wrote.
“The volume of pedestrian and vehicular traffic on these roadways increases significantly in the mornings and afternoons, creating a safety concern as residents are walking throughout the neighborhoods and children are playing in the area,” he wrote.
The city is estimated to spend $1,365.32 through the Streets Department to install new signage to reflect this change in speed limits.
Shortly after the Victim’s wallet was stolen from Hobby Lobby on South Florida Avenue, the two suspects pictured used credit cards from the wallet at Target (Harden Blvd) and GameStop (Lakeside Village).
Anyone with information which could help identify these fraud and theft suspects please contact Detective Colton Thompson at (863) 834-6974 or [email protected].
Persons who wish to remain anonymous can contact Heartland Crime Stoppers:
Call 1-888-400 TIPS (8477)
From a cell phone, dial **TIPS
Visit the website www.heartlandcrimestoppers.com and click on “Submit A Tip,”
Or download the free “P3tips” app on a smartphone or tablet. Tipsters will always remain anonymous when they send a tip through Crime Stoppers, and they are eligible for a cash reward of $5,000 if their information leads to an arrest.
On August 21, 2024, a call came in for a possible fire near Crystal Lake Middle School in Lakeland.
The call came in around 9:00 a.m. this morning and several units were dispatched to the scene.
Upon arrival, crews found that there was an illegal burn south of the middle school and the fire was blowing smoke toward the school.
Polk County Fire Rescue PIO confirmed that there was no fire at the middle school itself and that the fire from the illegal burn was quickly extinguished. There is no threat of fire to the school.
