I attended the City of Lakeland budget hearing last night. Fairly uneventful, though long. Like most budget hearings, it drew sparse attendance from citizens without a vested funding interest
You read about it on Twitter and Facebook, and just maybe at TBO.com: Lakeland makes blog's 'least educated' cities list. If you look deeper, that wasn't the story...
Former Lakeland resident, Suleima Salgado was contacted by CNN writer Elizabeth Landau regarding H1N1. While in Polk County, Salgado worked for the Polk County Health Department as a Public Information Officer. She now resides in Georgia as the Public Information Officer Risk Communicator for the East Metro Health District. Landau quoted Salgado in a recent cnn.com article. Keep reading for more. This small town girl has made it to the big league. Congrats! From cnn.com - Frustration looms as H1N1 vaccines run out...
There are boxes to get your movies, outside boxes to store your extra junk, and now a box to get bagged ice. Keep reading to see the pics.
For a few weeks I'm volunteering for NFocus, a Lakeland company making an independent film here in town. It's my job to handle writing for their official "behind the scenes" site, Endure. I'm also tweeting what I can at @enduremovie. I'm shooting a lot of photos for the production, though some can't be published. C'est la vie. The crew shoots from at 7am to 7pm, so I can't be on the set at all times. The other day I was visiting a friend who lives near one set and spotted those young women watching production. With Devon Sawa in the film, they've had quite a few bystander scenes like that one. photo credit: Chuck Welch for Lakeland Local
This homemade “Kitten Found” poster caught my eye and I just had to share. Have you seen this kitten?
I am always challenged when people ask where I am from. I moved ten times before attending college at Florida Southern. The technical answer should be Arizona since I graduated from Cactus High School in Glendale, a suburb of Phoenix, especially since my parents reside there. Every visit I am mostly amazed by what is [...]
The great philosopher Joe Jackson once sung, "You can't get what you want till you know what you want." That's what Lakeland Vision is doing. Helping the residents of Lakeland codify what we want for our city. It's easy to sit in the back seat and and complain about our politicians, companies, and media, but the complaints fall on deaf ears if we citizens aren't driving the car. Through boundless imagination, focused planning, and cooperative effort, caring citizens can drive Lakeland. At least until it's time to hand the keys to our children. [...]
When the Lakeland City Commission begins talks on its proposed 2008-09 budget soon, one item up for discussion will be whether to fund a study on the feasibility of switching to once-per-week garbage service. Making the change would require some up-front costs, but could save the city money in the future. Residents would be provided [...]
The Lakeland SPCA will celebrate its 29th birthday on Sunday, Sept. 14, Noon to 4 p.m. and they will celebrate with a special- $29 adoption fees for cats and dogs. The deal is only good that day, so don’t drag your feet on taking advantage of this offer. The Birthday Bash is open to the [...]
Make plans to meet with other area professionals tomorrow night. The Downtown Lakeland Partnership is hosting Downtown at Dusk, a free networking event at the Lake Mirror Tower from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. The DLP promises you’ll get to “mingle with friends and fellow downtown professionals with cocktails, appetizers & door prizes.” They had [...]
I’m heading over to a “a home dealership in Lakeland” that I understand has a lot of pretty new flags on the grounds. Evidently it also has numerous police cars and a pair of Orlando TV station vans parked nearby. Pictures to come if I can.
I first read about this as a result of my new membership in the Barefoot Gardeners group, but I’ve since confirmed it: Grass Root Organic Restaurant is opening a Lakeland location in August. Grass Root is a vegan/raw food restaurant that started in Tampa. Check out their Web site for more information, which I’m sure [...]
Poor, poor CSX. It seems they just don’t undestand why citizens don’t want to be fed garbage politely with a spoon… If Floridians thought we were the only ones suffering from CSX trying to shove liability down our throats for this commuter rail project, fret no more. They’re doing it in Massachusetts, too. Downtown Lakeland [...]
When I think about Publix, I think about this: The Publix in Ocala where my mom shopped when I was a child had one of these murals. I always associated Publix with the murals- and the S&H Green Stamp store next door. Recently I rode my bike over to the Lakeland Wabash Publix and took [...]
In my routine perusal of local blogs this morning, I came across Julie Townsend’s post on the Downtown Lakeland Partnership blog. This particular post is a response/clarification to a recent article that appeared in The Ledger about the future of the CSX project. In my opinion, there are few people outside of government officials who [...]
I know the title is rather cliche, but perhaps if it keeps getting repeated, we’ll all eventually take it to heart. In honor of Earth Day, I’m sharing some of the things I do to make every day Earth Day. I live inside the Lakeland city limits, where recycling is almost too easy. Here’s what [...]
Bio: 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.
