About

From Chuck Welch:

Hyperlocal bloggers must make the process as transparent as possible. The idea that journalists have a completely neutral point of view is a myth. Who and what your cover is guided by your biases and concerns. Let your audience know if you have to answer to anyone. While I don’t have them listed as bullet points, here’s my personal statement:

Pertinent education and true change is accomplished only through intelligent and uncensored discourse. Governments, organizations, and relationships operate best when processes and discussions are transparent. That’s also how I operate Lakeland Local.

If you get to know me, you’ll find I sometimes have opinions and beliefs that are not shared by my family, friends or employers. While they may not agree with what I may publish, they agree that public discourse is important.

Every opinion on Lakeland Local is mine alone. Every story I decide to cover is my choice alone. I ask no friend, family member, or employer for information or opinions on what I choose to feature here. No friends, family members or employers have ever, or could ever, influence my decision to cover or not any topic on Lakeland Local.

Furthermore, I am not a member of any organization that I cover, or one that has any dealing with any organization or topic I may join. If I join something, I’ll post it here.

Finally, every link I place on Lakeland Local either is pertinent to the post or contains information useful to Lakeland residents. I may or may not agree with everything found at that link. If you’re confused which is true, post a comment and I’ll clarify the issue.

In other words, if there is something here you dislike or like, you can blame me alone.

In July 2008, Lakeland Local welcomed additional authors when Billy Townsend, Lorrie Delk Walker, and Darby Critendon brought their popular writing to Lakeland Local.

I promised all three authors I would not censor their articles. Each is willing to stand behind his or her work. In other words, even if the words are not my own, I’m confident they’re valid.

Contributor Bios:

Darby Critendon is a young professional in the community and recently graduated with a Masters of Business Admin from Southeastern University. Her college radio DJ name was “DarbySea”. She enjoys photographing nature and always hopes to catch that one perfect shot. She has a passion for videography and the local arts.

Critendon started her blogging career with the popular site DarbySea.

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This is a creative outlet and soapbox for Lorrie Delk Walker where, at times, she has stuck her foot so far into her mouth, surely she has quashed any hopes of ever being elected to public office.

Lorrie is a writer, avid recycler, small-time chicken farmer, SPCA foster parent and fan of all things Downtown Lakeland.

Posts from Delk Walker’s popular blog, Takes From the Delk Side, were added to the Lakeland Local archives and can be found here.

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Growing up in Detroit, Tom Hagerty dreamed of watching baseball in sunny Lakeland, Florida. That dream came to fruition in 1998 when he moved to Lakeland. Tom has a passion for the Detroit Tigers, the Lakeland Flying Tigers and all things Detroit. His interests include reading, writing and photography. Tom and his wife have two daughters, four cats, one dog and a guinea pig.

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Billy Townsend was a longtime government, political and general assignment reporter in Polk County and the wider I-4 corridor. He wrote extensively about Polk’s unique regional identity and the issues shaping it, including USF Polytechnic, the Heartland Parkway and the CSX rail deal.

Billy recently left professional reporting to take a corporate writing job, but he keeps close tabs on news of all stripes (especially political news) and the changes in modern journalism. Billy’s wife is Julie Townsend, executive director of the Downtown Lakeland Partnership.They live with their three children in the Lake Morton area.

His work at Lakeland Local is his first as an amateur hyperlocal writer.

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Cat Carter first moved to Lakeland in 2001 to attend Florida Southern College. After graduation, she taught Computer Science and Math in a small Virginia town. In 2006, she returned to Lakeland for a two-year stint at the Lakeland Economic Development Council.

A strong supporter of downtown Lakeland, Carter loves the Parker Street Neighborhood where she and her husband work together in the neighborhood revitalization team.

In addition to other duties for the LEDC, Carter spearheaded Y Lakeland, a program aimed at retaining Lakeland’s college graduates. The YLakeland blog quickly grew as one of Lakeland’s most respected Web sites. The experience propelled her into the world of hyperlocal blogging where she will continue to write as one of the contributors to Lakeland Local.

photos credit: Tom Hagerty