Lakeland School Of Music Opens New Location
by James Coulter
The Lakeland School of Music is tuning up for the new music lessons being provided at their new location.
Located near the Southgate Shopping Center in Lakeland, their new location offers twice the square footage of their former location, with eight lesson rooms rather than five.
Also included at their new facility is a separate apartment that will be utilized for jam band sessions, which had previously required them to go off-site for at their old location.
The school celebrated the grand opening of their new location with a ribbon cutting ceremony hosted by the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce on Thursday afternoon, which included light refreshments from the Publix next door.
Having served the community for the past ten years, and with their new location being centrally located in the heart of the city, the school will hopefully continue to serve the local community by giving it the gift of music, explained Sandra Sheets, Chamber Board of Directors Member.
“On behalf of the city and mayor and the Chamber, I want to thank you for sharing the wonderful gift of music…and we look forward to continuing our partnership with the chamber,” she said. “This is a fabulous location, and we look forward with working with them in the near future.”
Shane Butler and his wife opened the school ten years ago as Lemon Street Music, which inevitably was renamed to its current name, Lakeland School of Music.
He and his wife, along with the 15 other instructors, offer music lessons on every and any instrument imaginable, including piano, violin, guitar, drum, ukulele, saxophone, and voice.
“Pretty much any instrument you can think of, we offer,” Butler said.
Their music lessons are customized to each individual students and their needs, to the point where they can accommodate entire families so that they can receive the same lesson within the same class.
“We customize each lesson for each student based on what they want to learn,” Butler said. “So if they are in a certain type of music or band, we can help. We will try to find that connecting point in their life, as well as the basics of music theory.”
Currently, 260 students are enrolled at the school, and hundreds more have graduated to move onto fulfilling musical careers, with some students moving on to the local Harrison School of the Arts, and with others attending college music degree programs.
One reviewer on Facebook mentioned how her own daughter managed to become accepted at Harrison School of the Arts due to the lessons she received through the music school.
“My daughter took voice lessons there and piano lessons,” she wrote. “Love it. Great people and great results!”
Being able to see his former students, some of which have been with him over the past ten years, excel within their musical talents and careers have been nothing short of a blessing for his musical academy, and he hopes that the new location will continue to offer the same level of success.
“[I love] getting them to succeed in it and watching that process of seeing them from the very beginning, not knowing anything, and being in it for that long,” he said. “We have kids who were with us at 6 or 7 years old, and now they are 18 and they are doing something proffesional with it.”
Lakeland School of Music is located at 115 West Oak Drive, Lakeland, FL, 33803. For more information, visit their website at: http://lakelandschoolofmusic.com/
Suncoast Credit Union Opens Second Branch In South Lakeland
by James Coulter
A second branch for Suncoast Credit Union in South Lakeland celebrated its grand opening with a ribbon cutting on Wednesday morning.
Suncoast Credit Union, one of the largest credit unions in Florida, had originally opened its first location in Lakeland at 919 Lakeland Park Center Drive.
Its newest branch, located at 6405 S. Florida Avenue, features new state-of-the-art technology to help better meet the need of its members through more efficient service.
Such innovations include Interactive Teller Machines (ITMs), which utilize video chat technology to combine the convenience of automatic teller machines with the hospitality of a real-life human teller.
Located outside the building, these ITMs allow members to converse with a live human teller via a two-way video chat to help them with their bank transactions, especially before or after normal bank hours.
“Picture an ATM that comes to life!” its website states. “You get the same wonderful, caring service from our tellers in a secure and easy to use format.”
The new location and its state-of-the-art facility opened to the public during a ribbon cutting ceremony hosted on Wednesday by the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce.
With Veterans Day right around the corner, the ceremony started appropriately enough with the pledge of allegiance led by members of American Legion Post 72 in Mulberry.
Following the cutting of the ribbon, guests could partake in a barbecue lunch provided by Mission BBQ, which included pulled pork and chicken, cornbread, macaroni and cheese, baked beans, and cole slaw.
Fittingly enough, Suncoast Credit Union will be sponsoring and headlining the upcoming Suncoast Credit Union Plant City Pig Jam later this month.
The credit union has been contributing to the local community in similar ways, having previously sponsored the inaugural Swantoberfest in Lakeland and sponsoring the Lakeland Tropics indoor soccer team.
Such commitment to the local community has been a driving force for the credit union, which seeks to serve the community in more ways that simply serving as a place for local residents to save their money.
“We wanted to give back to the community,” said Sheri Eaton, Vice President of Service Center Operations. “We are happy to be here in Polk County, we will continue to grow, and we look forward to you all becoming members here today if you aren’t already today.”
With more than 800,000 members and growing, Suncoast Credit Union is the largest credit union within Florida and the 13th largest within the country.
The secret to its success and growth has been its commitment to their local communities, going above and beyond to help serve those within it.
Part of this effort includes their annual Pay-It-Forward Day, which for the past five years, have allowed its employees to volunteer and participate within community projects.
This year, more than 781 of their employees committed 2,660 hours in one day towards volunteer work, their website states.
Corey Skeates, Lakeland Chamber of Commerce President, lauded Suncoast for its dedication to such service within the local Lakeland community, and how such service has exceeded that of other businesses.
“A lot of businesses that come to this community, it takes them a little while for them to acclimate themselves and get involved, but we have not had that issue with Suncoast,” he said. “So we are really excited about this partnership, and we look forward to a long-standing relationship with them.”
The Suncoast Credit Union South Lakeland Service Center is located at 6405 South Florida Avenue, Lakeland, FL, 33813. For more information, call 800-999-5887, or visit http://www.suncoastcreditunion.com
Bartow, Florida – A Polk County jury Thursday found a man guilty of attempted aggravated battery, shooting into an occupied vehicle, criminal mischief and burglary with a battery in a December 2017 incident. According to the original arrest affidavit Mark Jordan Childs, DOB: 04/23/1991 of Winter Haven Florida, assaulted an Auburndale man who was dating his ex-girlfriend. A sentencing hearing will be upcoming in the near future. Childs could face up to 15 years in prison.
According to the original arrest affidavit on 12/16/2017, Childs (defendant) was at an intersection on South Main Street in Auburndale and observed his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend (victim) in the boyfriends vehicle. Childs and three friends got into his truck and followed the ex-girlfriend, the victim and multiple other people in the victims vehicle. The victim parked at Walker Fence 1028 Highway 92 West in Auburndale. The defendant pulled into the parking lot, got out of his truck, and approached the driver door of the victim. The defendant got into an argument with the victim and punched the victim in his right eye causing lacerations, abrasions, swelling, and bleeding. The defendant punched victim via the open window while the victim was sitting in his driver seat. The victim had 5 passengers riding in his truck at the time the defendant punched him.
The victim started to leave the parking lot by putting his truck in reverse. The defendant broke the side view mirror of victim’s vehicle. As the victim was leaving with his 5 passengers, the defendant went back to his truck, retrieved his handgun from the center console and shot at victims vehicle.
Later a witness in the vehicle with Childs advised Auburndale Police where they could locate the weapon that Childs fired and details of what had occurred. Childs was questioned by deputies and after being read his Miranda Rights he allegedly confessed to the crime. Childs would later plead not guilty to the charges in January of 2018.
Nearly $2,000 Raised For 12-Year-Old Lake Wales AML Leukemia Survivor
by James Coulter
More than $1,800 has been raised for a 12-year-old Lake Wales boy previously diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
Autumn Taylor, 12, a sixth-grade student at Bok Academy South, had been tasked with completing a community service project for her class led by her teacher, Kari Richards.
Taylor decided to dedicate her project to raising money for Dailyn Campbell, a local 12-year-old boy and former Spook Hill Elementary School student who required a bone marrow transplant upon being diagnosed with AML leukemia.
She and her mother, Sabina, who works as a teacher at Spook Hill Elementary, ordered several hundred arm bands that they then sold to students and staff at local schools for $2 per band.
Half of the proceeds were initially planned to be donated towards Dailyn to help his family cover his medical expenses, while the other half would be donated to the Leukemia Foundation.
However, the other half of the proceeds will now go towards the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society rather than the Leukemia Foundation, as the former is based within America while the latter is based within Australia, Sabina explained.
Over the past six weeks, Autumn has been selling her wristbands by visiting several local schools, including her own school at Bok Academy South, as well as Bok Academy North and Lake Wales High School.
Since then, they have nearly sold out of their wristbands, with only 200 left by Thursday, and have raised an estimated $1,800, Sabina said.
If they sell the remainder of their 200 wristbands at $2 each, they will have raised an overall $2,200 for Dailyn and towards the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Though they plan on wrapping up sales by Friday, even if they do sell out of wristbands, they will order more if there is enough public demand for them, Sabina said.
Sabina has been more than astounded by the support that her daughter’s community project has received from the local schools, especially those where the students did not know Dailyn personally.
At the high school alone, the Seahawks football team managed to help sell enough wristbands to raise $390, she said.
“They do not even know Daylin, but they have opened up their arms to him and trying to help out in the high school,” Sabina said. “They do not know him, they have never played with him, and they heard what we were doing, and they have been selling the arm bands there.”
Seeing the whole community come together to help support a young boy, even if they never knew him personally, by helping buy and sell her daughter’s wristbands have been nothing short of inspiring and endearing for Sabina.
“I just feel that the community has come together as a whole for this family to help them out, and I am just so proud to call myself a Lake Wales resident,” she said. “I love this community and how they can take something like this for a person that they don’t even know and just come together as a town.”
Dailyn was diagnosed with AML leukemia (a more advanced and aggressive form of the bone marrow cancer) in May, and was hospitalized at St Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, later transferred to the Florida Hospital in Orlando in August.
Unable to find a local good match for his bone marrow transplant, in spite of their “Be The Match” Bone Marrow drive, his mother, Candice, transferred her own bone marrow through a transplant in September.
Since then, in spite of the slim 10 percent chance that the transplant would be successful, and in spite of him only being given three months to live, his transplant has proven successful. He is now cancer-free and is in full remission, Sabina said.
Even then, the road to his recovery has been a long and tenuous one for both him and his family, as he has required more than six rounds of chemotherapy, as well as several biopsies, feeding tubes, and other treatments.
His mother has since stopped working to remain by his bedside. He had remained within the hospital for up to five months, having only been home for a total of 10 days.
“It was a journey,” Candice said. “I took a lot of time off of work. I was out of work for five months.”
Currently, he is residing at the Ronald McDonald House in Orlando, and is set to be discharged in two weeks.
Unfortunately, his family has since been forced to re-locate, thus leaving him currently homeless and in need of a new residence.
As such, he and his family are currently seeking anyone who has a connection to help them find a new place to live.
Until then, the biggest hope for his family, especially his mother, is that Daylin remains cancer free and healthy.
“I hope that Daylin will keep staying in remission…and that he can go back to his normal life,” she said.
Pennsylvania Woman Killed In Two-Vehicle Crash Near Winter Haven
A two-vehicle crash Wednesday afternoon, November 7, 2018, at the intersection of Winter Lake Road (CR 540) and Thornhill Road near Winter Haven, claimed the life of one person, and injured two others. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office responded to the crash, which occurred at around 1:13 P.M.
90-year-old Jacqueline Rizio of 226 Lewis Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania was transported to Lakeland Regional Health Center, but died a short time later.
Injured in the crash were 91-year-old Pasquale Rizio, who is listed in critical but stable condition at Lakeland Regional Health Center, and 19-year-old Chance Shinabarker, of 7715 Chase Rd in Lakeland, who was treated at the scene for minor lacerations.
According to the preliminary investigation, Mr. Rizio was driving a gold 2017 Ford Escape, attempting to turn left (north) from the turn lane on Winter Lake Road, onto Thornhill Road. Ms. Rizio was his front seat passenger.
Shinabarker was driving a white 2010 Chevrolet 2500 Truck with an attached trailer, westbound on Winter Lake Road.
Rizio’s turn violated Shinabarker’s right-of-way, and the two vehicles collided.
All three of the people involved were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.
The accident remains under investigation.
This update sponsored by Chiroworks
Lakeland PD Release:
LAKELAND, FL – On November 7, 2018 at 8:45 P.M. the Lakeland Police Department responded to an accident on Kathleen Road at 10th Street. A 2009 Suzuki motorcycle was northbound on Kathleen Road approaching the intersection of West 10th Street. As the motorcycle was traveling through the intersection, an unknown vehicle traveling southbound on Kathleen Road turned east onto 10th Street. The motorcycle collided with the rear of a vehicle throwing the driver of the motorcycle off.
The other vehicle involved in the collision did not stop and continued traveling eastbound on West 10th Street. Based on witness statements the vehicle was Burgundy or red in color. Based on vehicle evidence left at the scene, the vehicle is possibly an unknown year/model Kia. The vehicle sustained extremely noticeable damage to the rear and it missing the rear tail lights.
The Lakeland Police Department, Polk County Fire Rescue, and the Lakeland Fire Department all arrived on scene and began to provide life-saving measures. The operator of the motorcycle was transported to the Lakeland Regional Health Center with serious life threatening injuries and is in extremely critical condition. The next-of-kin has been notified.
Members of the Traffic Homicide Unit responded to the scene and took over the investigation. This case is still open and under investigation and anyone with information should call Traffic Homicide Investigator Officer Tyler Anderson at 863-834-2553.
The roadway was shut down for approximately 4.5 hours during the investigation. The operator of the Suzuki motorcycle was identified as:
Miguel Angel Gonzalez Gonzalez, 38 years old.
2325 Onley Road
Lakeland, Florida 33801
PCSO Release: In September of 2018, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Department of Corrections Office of the Inspector General initiated a joint investigation regarding possible smuggling of contraband into the Avon Park Correctional Institution located at 8100 Highway 64 East, Avon Park. The Inspector General’s Office had developed information that a corrections officer, or officers, may have been involved in bringing in contraband into the facility. On September 13, 2018, Officer Jules Loya, 33, met a PCSO undercover detective in Frostproof, whom Loya believed was an Avon Park Correctional Intuition prison inmate’s relative. The detective provided Loya with two (2) packs of 305 cigarettes, two (2) cell phone SIM cards, and $400 in cash. The agreement was for Loya to bring these items into the prison later on that afternoon when he went into work at the prison. Further, the agreement was that Loya would keep $250 of the $400 given to him in exchange for him bringing in the remainder of the money, SIM cards, and cigarettes. When Loya entered the main unit of the Avon Park Prison later that day with the illegal contraband (currency, SIM cards, and cigarettes) on his person, he was told by supervision he was assigned to work in the work camp that day, which is a separate building on the compound. As Loya entered the work camp, the metal detector went off. Loya told staff he forgot he had something on him and he had to bring it out to his vehicle. Loya left the entrance and threw the items in a nearby trashcan outside the building, but kept the cash. Loya is charged with one count of introduction of currency to an inmate (F3) and one count of unauthorized compensation (M1). Loya was arrested in 2016 for knowingly driving with a license suspended or revoked. On 09/27/2018, a PCSO undercover detective posed as an inmate’s relative and contacted 23-year-old corrections officer Nathan Lucy about bringing in money into the prison. Lucy agreed to meet up with the detective the following day in Lake Wales. During this meeting, the detective gave Lucy $200 in cash. The agreement was for Lucy to keep $100 and bring the remaining $100 to the inmate inside the prison. On 09/28/2018, Lucy entered the Avon Park Work Camp with the money given to him by the undercover detective and gave it to the inmate. Detectives later identified currency turned over to the inmate through a matching serial number. On 10/04/2018, the undercover detective contacted Lucy again about bringing in more money into the prison to give to the inmate. Later that day, Lucy met up with the detective in Eagle Lake wearing his DOC uniform. Lucy took $160 in cash and was told he could keep $100 for himself for bringing in the money to the inmate. Lucy gave the inmate the money later that day. Currency from the delivery was later confiscated by DOC personnel. Lucy is charged with two counts of introduction of currency to an inmate (F3) one count of unauthorized compensation (M1) and one count prison employee receiving unauthorized compensation (M1). On 10/08/2018, a PCSO undercover detective met with 25-year-old corrections officer Victor Medina at the Avon Park Walmart near the customer service center inside the store. During this meeting, the undercover detective provided Medina with $600. The agreement was for Victor Medina to keep $300 and to bring the remaining $300 into the prison and give it to the inmate. On 10/09/2018, Medina handed the inmate within the Avon Park Prison the remaining $300 in cash. Victor Medina kept $300 for himself in exchange for bringing money into the prison. Later that day detectives were able to confirm the transaction through the serial numbers on the currency that the inmate had in his possession. Medina is now charged with one count introduction of currency to an inmate (F3) and one count unauthorized compensation (M1). Click here https://youtu.be/yQiEm-eCiz0 to see video of Medina meeting with an undercover detective. The flowers he is carrying are unrelated to this investigation. “The Florida Department of Corrections Office of the Inspector General did an outstanding job working with us in this investigation. It is our intent these officers are held accountable for their illegal conduct.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff Medina has posted $1500 dollars bond. Loya is still in custody and being held on $2500 bond and Lucy is in custody with a $3,000 bond. Per F.S.S. 119, the home addresses of state corrections officers are exempt from disclosure. All three officers were arrested on November 7, 2018 and booked into the Polk County Jail.
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Lake Ashton Arts & Craft Fair Helps Ushers In Holiday Season
by James Coulter
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere you go, as the classic song goes.
While Halloween recently ended, and Thanksgiving is still only weeks away, that didn’t stop Lake Ashton from celebrating the arrival of Christmas with their first annual arts and crafts fair.
The Lake Ashton Clubhouse appeared to be decorated like a toy store on Christmas with hundreds of Christmas ornaments, decorations, stockings, wreaths, and other holiday items on display, all of which were handcrafted by local residents.
Several dozen booths were set up within the main ballroom, where residents of the country club, as well as people from the surrounding area, could showcase their merchandise of handmade arts and crafts.
One such local artist, Judy Gard from Lakeland, displayed her makeshift artwork created from repurposed material she often finds lying around her own home.
Whether its message boards made from wine corks or picture frames adorned with Scrabble word tiles, Gard loves being able to get creative with whatever material she can get her hands on.
“You will see the things that have been uniquely and originally made,” she said. “So you cannot find it anywhere else. It is personalized, so that is what inspires me to do art.”
Aside from that, she also displayed and sold several pastel paintings that she created using old photographs from other people as inspiration.
She was contacted to participate within the inaugural arts and crafts fair at Lake Ashton, considering it a ripe opportunity to share her craft and sell her wares.
“It is a nicely done event,” she said. “I considered this a great opportunity to expand and present my things to other people.”
Aside from local artists within the area, the craft fair also showcased the work of many residents within the country club, including those within the Lake Ashton Woodworkers.
Fred Powell is one of the 100 members of the private woodworking club who often participates with them in various projects for the community.
That afternoon, he showcased many of the woodwork items that he had worked on including stools and checkerboards. He loves being able to work on such things with his own hands.
“It gives me something to do, allows me to meet people, and helps raise money for the shop,” he said.
The arts and crafts fair was started as a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) Relay For Life, an annual event that raises money for cancer research and awareness.
“We are raising money for the ACS so we can share more birthdays for our loved ones,” explained Rosemary Stoner, Relay for Life Chair. “I enjoy the activity that we have here, the positive feedback, and the money we are raising for the ACS for research.”
The L.A. Purple Stars, the team for the local Relay for Life, participated that day offering a silent auction on several different items and services, as well as a Christmas tree adorned with more than $1,400 worth of gift cards, she said.
Her team also helped feed many of the guests with a bake sale selling homemade goods and a food counter serving hot dogs, chips, and drinks.
So much had the inaugural event managed to exceed expectations that next year’s date has already been set, Stoner said.
“We have had nothing but positive feedback, and people have been wanting to do it again,” she said.
A Winter Haven woman faces two counts of Grand Theft after using Craigslist for rental property that she doesn’t own.
On 11/6/18, 36 year-old Nikeila Lashandra Wilson (DOB 11-10-81, 2661 Whispering Trails Dr., Winter Haven) was taken into custody after it was uncovered that she took money from two unsuspecting people who found rental homes listed on Craigslist. She was released on $1,000 bond.
In October 2017, the first victim, who resides in New York, found a rental home in Siesta Key, FL on a legitimate rental site, VRBO.com. The victim also found the exact same home on Craigslist at a cheaper price. The victim contacted the “owner” through the Craigslist email and was sent a rental agreement with instructions to send a payment of $3,500 to Nikeila Wilson at 2661 Whispering Trails in Winter Haven. The victim mailed a check to Wilson and the check was cashed. Between November 2017 and June 2018, the victim attempted numerous times to contact the “owner”, but never received a response and became very suspicious.
The victim then contacted VRBO.com directly and learned that the property was still available for rent. Local law enforcement was contacted and ultimately authorities in Winter Haven were alerted since the money was sent to a Winter Haven address.
The next victim, from Canada, found a rental property in Naples, FL listed for rent on Craigslist. The victim contacted who was believed to be the owner and was instructed to send a money order of $1,675 to Nikeila Wilson at the same Whispering Trails address. The victim wanted to extend the time of the rental for five days and was instructed to wire an additional $300 to Wilson’s bank account.
On January 28, 2018, the victim arrived at the Naples rental property to find someone already renting the home. It was then that local authorities were contacted and a report was filed in Winter Haven.
When detectives were informed of the second case with the same Whispering Trails address, a visit to the home was in order. When approached by investigators, Wilson advised that she opened a Chase Bank account when she received the money order from the Canadian victim. She then saw that $300 was transferred into her account.
Wilson claimed that her boyfriend had instructed her to open the Chase Bank account since he was out of the country on an engineering contract and had no way to deposit checks. Wilson claims that she believed the money was coming from her boyfriend.
When asked about the $3,500 check from the victim out of New York that was cashed in her name, she again claimed that she thought the check came from her boyfriend. She asserted that she didn’t notice the “rental property” notation on the check.
“Rental scams continue to be used through these elaborate schemes with unsuspecting and trusting victims losing thousands of dollars,” said Public Safety Director Charlie Bird. “Any potential transaction that is conducted over the internet should be completely explored prior to any money changing hands.”
On 11-6-18, Wilson was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with two counts of Grand Theft (F-3).
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