On Thursday, April 10th, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrested 44-year-old Christopher Lee and 43-year-old Shari Conard, both of Lakeland, in connection with an alleged burglary that occurred on April 5th. The incident reportedly involved the theft of a trailer, a go-cart, and two kayaks from a Lakeland property.
Detectives linked the crime to a silver Dodge Ram allegedly used during the burglary. A similar vehicle was located on Winchester Drive, less than 1,000 feet from the crime scene. Investigators observed an item, similar in size to the stolen go-cart, under a blue tarp in the truck bed. A trailer, also partially covered, was seen on the property and resembled the one reported stolen.
When deputies surrounded the property, both suspects allegedly attempted to flee from the back of the house but were quickly apprehended, thanks in part to Deputy Holley and his K9 partner, Buck.
Lee and Conard allegedly confessed to the crime. Deputies recovered the stolen property, including the trailer, kayaks, and go-cart.
Lee and Conard were transported to the Polk County Jail and charged with burglary, grand theft, conspiracy to commit burglary, loitering and prowling, and resisting arrest without violence. Conard was additionally charged with providing false identification to law enforcement and had an outstanding warrant from Citrus County for failure to appear on charges related to possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.
Lee has 13 prior felony convictions, including aggravated assault, armed burglary, and sale of methamphetamine. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Hey there, music lovers! The weekend of April 11–13, 2025, is set to bring some incredible tunes to Winter Haven and the surrounding Central Florida spots. From rock shows and acoustic sets to karaoke and music bingo, there’s something for every vibe. Grab your friends, check out these events, and let’s make it a musical weekend to remember! 🎶✨
Friday, April 11, 2025
🎶 Music Bingo – Totally ’80s! (Lake Wales)
When: 6:00 PM
Where: 229 E Stuart Ave, Lake Wales, FL 33853
What’s Happening: Get ready for a blast from the past with 80s Music Bingo! One person’s confirmed—join the fun and test your retro song knowledge in Lake Wales.
🎸 Josh Baldwin in concert for Refuge on the Ridge (Lake Wales)
When: 7:00 PM
Where: HighPoint Church, Lake Wales, FL
What’s Happening: Worship with Josh Baldwin live! Seventy-seven people are interested in this inspiring concert at HighPoint Church—just a short drive from Winter Haven.
What’s Happening: Guitar legend Phil Keaggy takes the stage! Twenty-seven people are interested in this nearby Lakeland show—don’t miss this masterful performance.
What’s Happening: Dance the night away with Grupo Bomba Tropical! Fifty-five people are interested in this lively Latin music event in nearby Haines City.
🎸 Swemo Night (Emo Night Taylor’s Version) (Lakeland)
When: 8:00 PM
Where: 1023 Florida Ave S, Lakeland, FL 33803
What’s Happening: Emo fans, this one’s for you! Forty-nine people are interested in this Taylor Swift-inspired emo night in Lakeland—bring your feelings and your voice!
🎸 B.Haven Live at Camp Margaritaville (Auburndale)
When: 7:00 PM
Where: Camp Margaritaville, Auburndale, FL
What’s Happening: B.Haven brings the party to Camp Margaritaville! Ten people are interested in this nearby Auburndale show—perfect for a tropical music escape.
What an incredible weekend of music in Winter Haven and beyond! Whether you’re into rock, country, acoustic, or a good old band battle, there’s something for everyone. Which event are you most excited to catch? Drop a comment below, and I’ll see you out there enjoying the tunes! 🌟🎉
HAINES CITY – Target is making its way to Haines City, marking the first of many retailers set to join the Crossroads Village Center (CVC), a major new mixed-use development currently under construction. Officials are calling the center a key part of the city’s economic growth.
Located at the intersection of U.S. Highway 27 and Highway 17, the 120-acre CVC is being developed by Blue Mountain Group (BMG). The center will feature a combination of retail spaces, residential areas, and more, serving as a central hub for the region.
At today’s groundbreaking ceremony, Syed Raza, Director of BMG, shared that there is intense competition among major retailers to secure space in the development. “We have more Letters of Interest (LOIs) than available space,” Raza said, emphasizing the demand for this project.
The center will offer a total of 400,000 square feet of retail space, with Phase 1 covering 300,000 square feet. Target will anchor the development, taking up half of this space, while other junior retailers will fill the remaining area.
Phase 1 is slated for completion in Fall 2026, with both Target and the junior stores set to open in October 2026. Following that, Phase 2 will begin in early 2027 and will include additional retail stores, condominiums, hotels, and possibly an assisted living facility.
“We are building a power center that will generate hundreds of jobs and millions in trade,” Raza said.
The project faced significant challenges during its early stages. In 2017, securing approval from the Department of Transportation and the Southwest Florida Water Management District was a lengthy process, but the project eventually gained approval, just in time for the pandemic. “We’ve overcome a lot to get here. After the pandemic, we had to start over, but we had a great team behind us. This is truly a team effort,” Raza reflected.
The site also presented substantial environmental hurdles. Over 50 acres of wetlands, with muck up to 25 feet deep, had to be excavated. In addition, hundreds of truckloads of sand were brought in, including sand from a 14-acre man-made lake on the property.
“Our vision is to create a village-like environment where people can live, shop, and enjoy walking around the lake,” Raza added.
City officials are equally optimistic about the development’s potential. Haines City Mayor Omar Arroyo said, “This project represents more than just new buildings — it reflects our commitment to listening to residents and responding with transformative growth. We are excited about the economic impact, job creation, and the sense of community pride this development will bring.”
AdventHealth is advancing plans to establish a comprehensive medical complex on approximately 218 acres near 3838 Harden Boulevard in South Lakeland. The Altamonte Springs-based healthcare system acquired the land for $14 million in November 2024.
The proposed development includes a 400-bed, 10-story hospital equipped with a helipad for medical air transport. Adjacent to the hospital, plans feature a free-standing emergency department, a 200,000-square-foot medical office building, a rehabilitation facility, structured parking, and a central energy plant.
Beyond medical facilities, the project envisions 204,000 square feet of retail and commercial space, as well as a 250-unit apartment complex, aiming to create a mixed-use environment that integrates healthcare services with residential and commercial amenities.
In September 2024, the Lakeland City Commission approved the necessary zoning changes to facilitate this development. This decision followed discussions addressing potential traffic impacts on Harden Boulevard, a concern raised by both commissioners and local residents. Commissioner Sara Roberts McCarley expressed reservations about increased congestion, noting the area’s existing traffic challenges.
To mitigate traffic concerns, plans include conducting updated traffic studies and coordinating with the Florida Department of Transportation for necessary roadway improvements. The development also designates 61 acres for conservation, preserving natural habitats and addressing environmental considerations.
Site Area Map (Provided by Drummond Company)
AdventHealth aims to commence construction with the free-standing emergency department, targeting operational readiness within three years. The broader hospital complex is anticipated to open by 2027, enhancing healthcare accessibility for South Lakeland and surrounding communities.
This initiative reflects AdventHealth’s commitment to expanding its presence in Polk County, where it has operated since 2019. The new Lakeland facility will complement the system’s existing network of hospitals, freestanding emergency departments, and other healthcare services throughout the region.
As the project progresses, AdventHealth plans to engage with local stakeholders to address ongoing concerns and ensure the development aligns with community needs and expectations.
Neurodivergent Diversions: A Column about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
by James Coulter
For nearly 25 years, Arthur has been a ground-breaking animated show that has touched upon challenging topics including trauma, cancer, death, and even social disorders like dyslexia and autism.
In the case of the latter, the show explored and discussed autism in the episode, “When Carl Met George (or “George and the Missing Puzzle Piece”), which premiered on PBS on Dec. 3, 2010.
The episode introduced the bunny character of Carl, one of the first characters with Autism in a children’s animated show. Even 15 years later, this episode offers one of the best explanations of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ADS), allowing anyone to better understand the social disorder.
When Carl Met George
The episode begins with the moose character George meeting Carl at the community center. George sees Carl putting together a puzzle, which George initially mistakes for a spaceship.
Carl corrects him, explaining it’s a bullet train, not a spaceship. He then begins talking about how fast the train travels, how it rides on magnets, and how the picture in the puzzle is inaccurate to how the train appears in real life.
Here, Carl is “info dumping”, which is when someone (usually a person with Autism) shares a large amount of information about a topic of interest, often in great detail, and sometimes unprompted. George never asked anything about trains. He only said the train in the puzzle looks nice. But Carl was more than willing to share everything he knew about it.
George introduces himself and extends a hand for a shake. Carl continues assembling his puzzle, almost as if he is ignoring George. He rarely, if ever, makes eye contact.
When George asks if they can hang out together, Carl asks, “Hang out of what?” George then asks if Carl is pulling his leg. Carl answers that he’s not because he’s putting together a puzzle. George then says goodbye, but Carl does not reply.
This interaction shows how people with Autism often struggle with “pragmatic language”, which is the ability to use language appropriately in social situations. In other words, it’s knowing what to say, when to say it, and how to say it.
As such, people with Autism often struggle to make eye contact, interpret social cues, and understand figurative language like idioms or metaphors. It’s why Carl acts the way he does toward George.
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Arthur’s Awesome Autism Analogy
However, George doesn’t understand. He thinks Carl was acting “strange.” He even feels Carl is ignoring him because he doesn’t like him.
Later, George visits another friend, Brain, at the ice cream shop. Upon telling him how Carl was acting, The Brain explains Carl has Asperger’s Syndrome (an outdated term for Autism Spectrum Disorder).
Brain knows about the disorder because his uncle also has it. His uncle is a professor who’s brilliant about physics but awkward in social situations. “He has a lot of trouble being around people,” Brain says. “His brain just works differently. What’s normal to us can seem really strange to him.”
The brain then goes on to offer the following analogy, which does an excellent job explaining Autism:
Imagine you crashed landed on an alien planet. It looks like Earth, but there are a lot of differences.
For one, a lot of people seem to talk extremely loudly. And even though you speak the same language, you sometimes have a hard time understanding what they mean. And things that seem hilarious to you aren’t funny at all to them.
You wish the scientists on Earth had given you a guidebook to this strange planet, but they forgot to pack one. So you have to try to learn things all on your own. Maybe there’s one thing in particular that captures your interest, and you study just that.
Hopefully, the people on the planet get to understand you a little better. And you might even learn to fit in, but you will always feel a little bit different.
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Still A Great Episode
This episode aired nearly 15 years ago, and its analogy for Autism still holds up. It’s a great way to explain Autism to other people, and it teaches them how to better empathize with people with Autism and to understand that autistic people aren’t acting “strange” or “rude”, just different.
In fact, the only aspect of the show that hasn’t aged well is that ASD is referred to as Asperger’s Syndrome. The term is no longer used, as the physician it was named after, Hans Asperger, was discovered to have actively assisted with the Nazi’s euthanasia program.
Even then, the episode still holds up, and it serves as a great tool to help people without Autism better understand people with it.
Victory Ridge Academy, a public charter school for special-needs children, is opening up a new campus in Davenport.
A campus already exists in Lake Wales, but the population growth of Polk County in general has precipitated a need for expansion. The school’s executive director, Steve Whitaker says “We have such a need in the Davenport area. Not only do we have about 70 kids that we’re busing…They’re on the bus for so long, but just the population growth in general.”
“So I would just drive around all the time, finding, like, churches and then happened to find a grove that was not even for sale. Called the owner, and he was like, ‘Yeah, why not?’ So we ended up getting it for about 50% of the price.” The new campus covers 9 acres and is designed to be more intimate than the spread-out buildings in Lake Wales. To Whitaker, this smaller size is an advantage as the wealth of students and the hands-on assistance they need can be more efficiently accommodated.
An aerial of the Davenport site, under construction.
To parents of disabled children, it may be something to look into. The school accepts children who require level 4 or level 5 assistance with their education and there is no cost for admittance. With the included behavior programs and therapy services, the idea is to help kids through their education and eventually transition them to the larger world as teenagers. That transition period specifically is key to Whitaker’s aspirations for this new campus.
The campus’ spacious gym under construction. Planned to be multi-purpose.
Funding for Victory Ridge is covered by the state and voluntary donations. This new campus’s gym, Whitaker speculates, could be a one-two punch for extra funding and furthering teens’ development. “It’s just a large building itself. It doesn’t have the bleachers like a traditional gym, so it’s spread out so you can do other events. But then our students can work parking, they can work food service, they can work helping clean up, they can be there.” Whitaker notes that while other schools close on the weekends, Victory Ridge can use this space to rent out events to the community, and have students in their transition program work those events to develop job skills. He elaborates, “We have partnerships with Publix, Hampton Inn, Care Center, AdventHealth. A lot of these groups where our kids are getting internships and getting skill sets to be able to go into the workforce.”
But as Victory Ridge’s staff works tirelessly to prepare students for the future, what of the school’s own future? The plan, as it stands now, is to cover all four corners of Polk County. If the Davenport campus succeeds, perhaps we’ll see more, but how many is determined most importantly by one thing: “the need from the families.” Whitaker says. “If we can help people and we can figure out the means to do it, then why not do it? Why not us do it?”
Detectives from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrested a Lakeland man and interrupted his apparent crime spree, on Tuesday, April 8, 2025 after a swift investigation.
50-year old Michael David Reading was recently arrested and bonded out of jail in February 2025 for drug and paraphernalia charges. His April 8th arrest marks 21 total bookings in the Polk County Jail.
This most recent investigation began on April 1, 2025, with the report of a theft of tools from a construction site in Winter Haven. The construction crew working at Simmers Young Park locked up their tools for the evening (March 31) in an enclosed utility trailer, and when they returned to work on April 1st, discovered that a generator and several Milwaukee brand power tools were missing.
While that investigation was underway, the PCSO received a report that a 1989 Ford Bronco was stolen from a Shell gas station in Auburndale. On April 6th, the victim left his Bronco locked and parked at the gas station after it broke down. The next day, two men showed up at the scene and towed it with a grey pickup truck that had distinctive white letters on the back window. This was captured on video surveillance.
A PCSO crime analyst identified the suspect vehicle as a 2000 Ford Ranger registered to a Winter Haven man. Detectives interviewed the man, who told them he had recently sold the truck to someone named Mike, and he provided them with Mike’s contact information, who was positively identified as Reading. When detectives responded to Reading’s home, they found both the stolen Bronco, and the Ford Ranger. Between the time of the vehicle theft and the detectives responding to his home, Reading had removed the tag from the Ranger and the distinctive large white letters on the rear window.
Detectives at Reading’s home noted there was an orange Predator 5000 generator on the porch, which matched the description of the one stolen along with the power tools. The victim of that theft positively identified it; Reading denied stealing it and claimed he was in the hospital between April 1st and 2nd. Detectives obtained evidence that refuted his claim.
“Michael Reading is one of those criminals who simply does not hesitate to steal, cheat, and lie. He has lived a life of crime and has shown no remorse, nor any indication that he will change his criminal ways. It is apparent that the only way to keep him from committing crime is to keep him locked up.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff
Reading was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with:
2 counts Burglary (F3)
Grand theft of a motor vehicle (F3)
Grand theft (F3)
Conspiracy to commit grand theft (F3)
Operating unpermitted landfill (M1)
He has an extensive criminal history, including prior convictions for burglary, theft, and dealing in stolen property.
Bartow, Fla. (April 7, 2025) – Polk County Fire Rescue responded to a structure fire at 7:38 a.m. on Saturday, April 5 at 3541 Shady Brooke Drive W. in Mulberry.
Upon arrival, firefighters discovered an unconscious individual inside the residence who had been attempting to extinguish the fire using a garden water hose prior to the arrival of first responders. Firefighters quickly removed the patient from the residence ensuring that the patient received immediate medical attention. The patient was transported from the scene via Air Care.
“Polk County Fire Rescue crews demonstrated exceptional professionalism and quick thinking in locating and removing an unconscious individual from the structure,” said Polk County Deputy County Manager of Public Safety Joe Halman, Jr. “Their swift and coordinated efforts reflect their dedication and commitment to keeping our community safe.”
Thirteen PCFR crews responded to the scene. No additional injuries were reported. No additional patients were transported.
The cause of the fire is still undetermined and the incident is being investigated by the Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office. For further information, please contact the Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office.
Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) is actively searching for a suspect involved in a road rage shooting incident that occurred on Interstate 4 in Hillsborough County. The shooting took place west of Interstate 275, as a 34-year-old St. Petersburg man was driving westbound in a Honda CR-V.
According to authorities, the driver noticed a group of motorcyclists operating erratically along with another unidentified vehicle. Concerned by the behavior, the driver began filming the motorcyclists with his cell phone. As he did so, one of the motorcyclists, who was riding adjacent to the Honda, pulled out a handgun and fired several shots directly at the vehicle.
Multiple rounds struck the Honda, but fortunately, the driver was not injured in the incident. The suspected shooter has been described as a white male of medium build. He was seen wearing a jacket bearing the emblem of the “Outlaws MC,” a well-known motorcycle club.
The Florida Highway Patrol is urging anyone who may have witnessed the incident or who has any information about the suspect’s identity or whereabouts to come forward. Tips can be submitted by calling *FHP (*347) or anonymously through Crime Stoppers at **TIPS.
“This was an incredibly dangerous situation that could have resulted in serious harm or worse,” said Sergeant Steve Gaskins, Public Affairs Officer for FHP. “We’re asking for the public’s help in identifying this individual so we can hold him accountable.”
LAKELAND, FL (April 4, 2025) – A tragic accident early Friday morning claimed the life of a local motorcyclist in Lakeland. At approximately 12:56 a.m., Lakeland Police Department officers responded to a traffic collision near the 1200 block of U.S. Highway 98 North. The crash involved a 2010 red Toyota sedan and a 2001 black Honda motorcycle, both traveling southbound on the highway.
According to initial reports, the motorcycle, operated by 39-year-old Guelsy Oritz of Lakeland, collided with the rear of the Toyota for reasons that remain under investigation. The impact caused Oritz to be ejected from the motorcycle. The driver of the Toyota, identified as 24-year-old Isaiah Desir, also of Lakeland, brought his vehicle to a controlled stop and remained on the scene.
Emergency responders from Lakeland Police, Polk County Fire Rescue, and the Lakeland Fire Department arrived quickly and began life-saving efforts. Oritz was transported to Lakeland Regional Health, but despite all attempts by medical staff, he was pronounced deceased. Desir was unharmed and did not report any injuries.
The Lakeland Police Department’s Traffic Homicide Unit took over the investigation. As part of their efforts, the roadway was closed for approximately three hours to allow for a thorough examination of the crash site.
Authorities continue to investigate the circumstances leading to the collision. Anyone with information that could assist in the investigation is encouraged to contact Officer Travis Payne at [email protected].
