Today was Commission Day! It is an annual special meeting of the City Commission to take a tour of Auburndale, led by the city manager and city staff. The tour features updates related to the projects highlighted in the proposed budget (see link below) for the upcoming fiscal year.
Today’s tour featured the following highlights:
An update on developing plans for the new Auburndale Civic Center at Lake Ariana Park and a look at a (relatively new) boat, donated from Polk County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO), for the Auburndale Police Department’s marine program.
There were two ribbon cutting ceremonies at the Lake Myrtle Sports Park for the Championship Event Lake and the Lake Myrtle Soccer Stadium. Thank you to our Polk County Commissioners for attending. Thank you to Visit Central Florida Sports and Cypress Gardens Water Ski Team for their help in putting the ceremonies together.
Two PCSO officers were waiting for the City Commission on Lake Mattie Rd to take them away… on a quick overlook tour of the newly acquired property along Lake Mattie, planned for a future city park.
A presentation was given by the team over at Circuit Florida about the future of their property, a private motor club, featuring condominiums and an expertly designed asphalt road course.
We wish to thank Citrus Connection for once again providing an excellent tour experience on one of their mainline buses.
If you wish to view the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2023/24, please visit https://www.auburndalefl.com/public-notices/
Blackburn’s BBQ Receives AED from Culpepper Cardiac Foundation
by James Coulter
The worst thing Blackburn’s BBQ expects from your heart is heartburn from their barbecue. Otherwise, in case of a worse emergency involving your heart, the Eagle Lake eatery is well-prepared with a new defibrillator.
Culpepper’s Cardiac Foundation donated and installed their 15th automated external defibrillator (AED) in July at Blackburn’s BBQ in Eagle Lake.
The AED was sponsored by Bill Roe with WM.G.Roe & Sons, Inc. in Winter Haven. He selected Blackburn’s BBQ as the location for the new AED, not only because the eatery is a busy and popular location, but also the most visited in the small town of Eagle Lake.
“If you ever can get the chance to help save someone’s life, he’s happy to be a part of it,” Roe said. “Culpepper’s Cardiac Foundation works hard to do the right thing for our community and we need more people to help support doing this for our society.”
Brandon Blackburn opened the eatery six years ago after spending three years running his food truck. Blackburn has been a loyal supporter of his community through sponsorships, donations, fundraisers, and food vouchers for local teachers, healthcare workers, firefighters, and law enforcement.
Blackburn feels honored to have the AED donated to his eatery. He hopes he never needs to use it, but in case the need arises, he is grateful to have something to help him and his staff meet that need.
“I feel having an AED at the restaurant donated from Bill Roe is a privilege, [as] he is a great customer and good man I have known for a long time,” Blackburn said. “I feel like the Foundation has created awareness of so many people who are unaware of cardiac episodes. If having it in my facility saves a life from a preventable death, it’s worth it to me.”
Melanie Brown Culpepper started Culpepper Cardiac Foundation two years ago following the untimely death of her late fiancée, Michael Culpepper, who passed away from cardiac arrest. Since then, she has donated several dozen AEDs and raised proceeds to assist local EMTs and other first responders.
“Brandon cares for his customers and the community,” Melanie said. ” Brandon had heard a lot about the cause & awareness with Culpepper’s Cardiac Foundation and thinks it’s good that CCF is giving out the awareness & proper equipment as the main goal is to save a life if needed.”
Culpepper’s Cardiac Foundation will be hosting its annual fundraiser, Saving Lives Matter, at Tanner’s Lakeside in Winter Haven on Sat. Sep. 16. For more information, visit their website at: https://honoringculpepper.com/
More Than 500 Students Start New School Year at New School at SouthPointe Elementary in Winter Haven
by James Coulter
Kathryn True escorted her two daughters, Aria, 8, and Layla LeDuc, 6, to the front door of their new school Friday morning on the first day of school.
Both of her little girls were dressed in their best clothes with their pastel-colored lavender backpacks and Aria with a pink cat ear headband.
Both girls, as with most children their age, were nervous about attending a new school, having transferred from Chain of Lakes Elementary two miles down the road, but their mother was relieved they would finally have room to learn (and breathe) in a proper classroom.
“The Chain of Lakes is overcrowded,” Kathryn said. “My daughter spent four years in a portable. So, we are looking for a fresh start. We are expecting good expectations with this being a Cambridge school.”
Aria and Layla were two of the 500 students who attended the first day of school on Friday at SouthPointe Elementary in Winter Haven. At approximately 127,000 square feet, the new school has the capacity to serve nearly 1,000 students.
Located at 9525 State Highway 653 in Winter Haven, the campus is built at the southernmost point of Winter Haven near Bartow, hence the name, SouthPointe Elementary. Their school mascot is the osprey.
SouthPointe Elementary cost approximately $47 million to construct and features state-of-the-art amenities such as interactive white boards. It also includes science labs, a TV studio/classroom, media center, two playgrounds, and a paved play area.
The school was built to help meet the needs of a growing community. Polk County is quickly becoming the fastest-growing county in Florida and the seventh fastest-growing in the country, according to a study by the Givewell Community Foundation.
The neighborhood across the street from the new school has 500-plus homes. With so many new people moving into the city and county, the new school will help facilitate new students, explained Principal Dart Myers.
The principal previously served at Frostproof Ben Hill Griffin Jr. Elementary. He will be serving alongside Assistant Principal Maude Frazier, who previously served at Horizons Elementary in Davenport, and was the 2021 Polk County Teacher of the year.
Myers’ main priority is ensuring the safety and security of his students. He hopes they will have a routine day with everyone arriving at campus, going to their classrooms, having breakfast and lunch, and leaving later that day and arriving at their homes safely.
“That is our main objective for today, as well as for the teachers to bring the children together as a family in the classroom with positive relations through all our procedures and routines,” Myers said.
“Our expectations for the new year, as a new school, as we implement new routines and procedures, [is that] we will be flexible and fluid, and some of those things will need to be tweaked as we see how things are operated,” he further elucidated. “Other than that, [we] welcome the kids and help them to learn to get ready by the end of the year for the next grade level.”
For more information, visit their website at: https://southpointe.polkschoolsfl.com/
Polk County Fire Rescue and Winter Haven Fire Department responded to a two-alarm commercial structure fire on Snively Avenue.
Crews were dispatched at 7:02 p.m. on Aug. 10, and the first crews were on scene at 7:07 p.m. In the combined effort, PCFR and WHFD had the fire under control at 8:15 p.m.
Two firefighters were transported to a local area hospital as a precautionary measure.
The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.
Can you help identify this person? She is wearing what appears to be a Walmart vest, but none of the stores can identify her as an employee. She arrives at Walmart (7450 Cypress Gardens Blvd.) in the newer model Ford F-150 (pictured) and puts the vest on while in the truck. She proceeds through the store selected multiple items totaling more than $923. She leaves through the opposite side of the store from where she parked, and walks to the back of the parking lot before walking back up to the handicap spot where she parked. Somewhere along the way, she took off the vest. If you recognize this suspect, please contact Detective Wile at 863-662-0392. If you wish to remain anonymous, you can contact Heartland Crime Stoppers:
Call 1-800-226 TIPS (8477)
From your cell phone, dial **TIPS
Or visit the website www.heartlandcrimestoppers.com and click on “Submit A Tip,”
Or download the free “P3tips” app on your smartphone or tablet. You will always remain anonymous when you send a tip through Crime Stoppers and you are eligible for a cash reward if your information leads to an arrest.
A Winter Haven man is facing a host of charges including two counts of Attempted First Degree Murder following a violent event that resulted in two men suffering stab wounds.
On Aug. 9, 2023 at approximately 2:10 a.m., Winter Haven Police responded to a 9-1-1 call at [redacted] (Abbey Lane Apartments) in Winter Haven. Two stabbing victims were located and they were both rushed to Lakeland Regional Medical Center with serious injuries where they both remain.
Twenty-five year-old William Lee Smith (DOB 7-16-98) shares an apartment with a family member and they were in the apartment when Smith got into a confrontation and attempted to strangle the victim. He stopped when two males and a female came to the apartment and knocked on the door. Smith went to the bedroom while the other three entered the apartment and sat down talking with the family member.
Smith attempted to get the female visitor to come to the bedroom to talk to him, but she said he needed to wait. He continued to ask her to come to the bedroom and became more and more upset when she told him to wait. A short time later, Smith came out of the bedroom with plastic wrapped around various parts of his body. He started attacking both males and a dog with a large knife with a rigid blade. The dog was brought by one of the victim’s.
As the attack continued, the victims were able to run out of the apartment through a back door and Smith ran out of the front door of the apartment. When officers arrived, they located Smith still wrapped in plastic and found the knife hidden in a bush just northwest from where he was located.
The two male victims were taken to Lakeland Regional Health in serious, but stable condition where they remain. We are sad to report that the dog, a two year-old Pit Bull named “Bruiser” will not survive.
Initially, Smith refused to identify himself to officers. Smith was ultimately placed under arrest and transported to the Winter Haven Police Department.
Smith was transported to the Polk County Jail and charges with:
Attempted Felony Murder w/Weapon (2) Counts FL
Tampering with Evidence (1) Count F3
Aggravated Assault with Deadly Weapon (2) Counts F3
Animal Cruelty-Torment (1) Counts: M1
Domestic Viol-Battery (1) Count: M1
Resist Officer without Violence (1) Count M1
*Recent bookin photo not available at this time. Bookin photo from 2020 arrest
“A Winter Haven man is in custody after he attacked two other men with a knife at Abbey Lane Apartments around 2:10 this morning. The suspect, 25 year-old William Smith (DOB 7-16-98, [redacted]) is in custody and will be booked into the Polk County Jail later today.
Both men are being treated at Lakeland Regional Health for non-life-threatening injuries.”
In 2015, work began on restoring land once used for runoff into natural wetland and green space on the Southern tip of Winter Haven near Wahneta, Florida. Standing on that space today, just off 135 Ave. A East south of Winter Haven, is Lake Gwyn Park, located at 137 Avenue A East in Winter Haven. The 120-acre park features basketball courts, fields, picnic shelters and tables, a playground, multiple walking paths and trails, and a lakeside observation pier for wildlife viewing.
In 2020, the Park was approved for the addition of new amenities including a grand pavilion for events and full lighting for the parks playing fields and basketball courts, and continues to see development today!
You asked, and we listened! We’ve heard concerns from citizens about Avenue K. We’re happy to announce the Avenue K Complete Street Improvements Project is officially funded and underway, and we can’t wait to share the fantastic transformations to come!
This complete street project isn’t just about road paving – it’s about creating a safer, more accessible, and more beautiful community space for everyone. Picture pedestrian-friendly infrastructure, effective traffic calming measures, and optimized intersection layouts. Add in some landscape enhancements, improved drainage, and general roadway improvements, and we’ve got a recipe for a stunning, functional corridor that everyone can be proud of.
Yes, there will be some road closures and detours along the way, but trust us when we say the end result will be absolutely worth it!
For details on the project, budget, and detour maps, head to the site. You can also sign up to receive updates on the project while there. https://ow.ly/QcCR50PrYjb
Together, we’re not just improving a street; we’re enhancing our community.
