The current Public Information Officer (PIO) for the Polk County Health Department has given her 2 weeks notice. The email was sent to Sheryl Cooper, Health Education Director, at approx 2am today (8/26). Suleima Salgado, MBA, has served as the Heath Department's PIO for over 3 years and has worked on issues such as TB, HIV/AIDS, environmental issues and H1N1. Salgado will be moving to Georgia to serve as the Public Information Officer Risk Communicator for the East Metro Health District. She will be managing all aspects of the East Metro risk communication plan in preparation for and response to disasters, epidemics and other emergencies. She will serve as the lead Public Health Public Information Officer for the district. Salgado will be based in Lawrenceville.
If you haven't read the story by now, the three youths who placed the explosive devices on the downtown parking garage turned themselves in Monday night. They claimed they were merely making a commercial for a Mountain Dew contest. The Lakeland Police Department released surveillance video from Sunday morning. It shows the men placing and exploding one device. I've made a few annotations to the Lakeland Florida Explosive Device Surveillance Video.
Somehow, I have become included on the email list of a major Polk Republican kingmaker, donor and general person-about-the-county. And I've started receiving blast forwards of tidbits designed to rally the troops. That's understandable. Times are about as tough as they can get for the folks who sit astride Polk County like colossuses. The development economy has collapsed, and there's a good chance the country will elect a secret Muslim, terrorist fist-bumping representative of polyglot America who may increase their taxes. And judging from some of the names included in this support list, there may be more than a few of these folks who can empathize with forgetting how many houses they inherited.
This is a little long, so bear with me – or don’t, depending on your taste. It’s more timely now with the news of The Ledger’s job cuts and religion editor Cary McMullen’s column last Saturday lamenting the demise of religion reporting and the specific layoff of well-known and respected Orlando Sentinel religion reporter Mark [...]
Local police need help finding a missing 12 year-old. Jerome D. Williams, of 1520 South Westgate Ave. was last seen by his family Thursday about 5:30 pm. He is 5'4" tall and weighs about 120 pounds. When he was last seen he was wearing a blue and white striped shirt and blue jeans. Jerome had been living with his mother in Belize, and recently moved to the United States to be with his father. He has been here for approximately two weeks and has only begun to make friends. -- The Ledger If you have any information please call Detective Andrew Powell at 863.534.6379.
Shawn Newberry was in the news again yesterday. In case you don’t recognize the name, he’s the 18 year old who first came to our attention when he wore a bullet proof vest to Life Skills Center. Then we learned he shot an AK-47 at a newspaper box and videotaped it. Then we’re told he [...]
I received this comment to my capsule review of the new design over at the ______ Ledger: Thanks for your feedback. Many people still refer to us as the Lakeland Ledger but most of our print and online products extend well beyond the boundaries of Lakeland to East Polk and the Four Corners area. We [...]
The Lakeland Ledger just launched their new site and I can finally comment on the new design… Great job! The new site, while more complicated in many ways, is much easier to navigate. The old site was narrow, which reflected the old standard width, which made everything seem pressed together like a Dagwood sandwich. The [...]
The Lakeland Ledger’s new Publisher, Jerome Ferson, started work today. The following plea is to his attention: Please stop with the “Breaking News!” As I write this entry, there are 14 items listed under the theledger.com‘s Breaking News. Most are simply not timely or important enough to be considered “breaking news.” You have a paragraph [...]
A Lakeland man is man is organizing a boycott of Starbucks. In yesterday’s World Net Daily, Ken Peck objected to a quote he found on a Starbucks cup: Heaven is totally overrated. It seems boring. Clouds, listening to people play the harp. It should be somewhere you can’t wait to go, like a luxury hotel. [...]
She returned home late last night. Her mother addressed all those who helped, “I cannot begin to thank you all for keeping me sane during this experience. Those of you who dropped what you were doing to be with me, answer the phone, babysit my ‘little ones’ pray, make fliers, web sites, I cannot begin [...]
A white male, 16 to 22, is being sought by Lakeland police for the assault of a woman in the 1000 block of Success Ave. 12:55 a.m. Monday morning. The attacker is described as a white male between 16 and 22 years old, between 5 feet 9 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall, 160 [...]
Every now and then I write a This and That column. What follows are a potpourri of tidbits that couldn’t stand on their own. Bike Trail descriptions in Lakeland Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission allows off highway vehicles on some lands. Here is where to call: Southwest Region, 3900 Drane Field Road, Lakeland, Fl [...]
Long time readers of Lakeland Local (Hi, honey!) will remember I borrowed the concept of Lakeland News Watch from Ledger honcho Barry Friedman. He had written the column for awhile at the Ledger, and simply got too busy to keep it going. Well, Barry’s back with a new online column at the Ledger. What’s New [...]
The Lakeland Ledger classified collections department will soon get busier. The New York Times Company announced today they’re consolidating much of its regional classified advertising billing and collection work to the Ledger site. Serphos said the centralization, expected to be completed by April 1, will direct most classified ad billing and collection efforts to a [...]
A 68-year-old skydiver apparently suffered a heart attack or stroke during a weekend jump in Zephyrhills, according to a report by FLORIDA TODAY news partner WKMG Local 6 News. Authorities said Johnny Gates of Lakeland made no effort to deploy his primary parachute as he fell to the ground Saturday. — Florida Today Normally I [...]
Mixing media is nothing new. We’ve had a mayor reading newspaper comics on the radio. TV newscasters showing blogs on camera. Now the Ledger has started blurring the line between TV and the newspaper with LedgerTV. Ledger Internet Account Representative Maulissa Rampersad has started producing a weekly video segment to run on The Ledger Online. [...]
Bio: Darby Dowdy 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.
