Lakeland FL

Tongue Tinglin Meats, a “daddy and daughter” food truck, will soon be purveying barbecued items in Lake Wales. Jessie Durrance and his daughter, Alexis Durrance, plan to hold a grand opening Jan. 17 starting at 11 a.m. at 18643 U.S. 27, near the Lake Wales Inn. The elder Durrance will handle the cooking, while...

A Marion County man died Jan. 10 in an all-terrain vehicle crash in northern Polk County. Travis Sneden, 32, of Fort McCoy was driving a 2018 green Kawasaki ATV at about 3:30 p.m. and attempted to travel down a steep cut with an approximate 24- to 30-inch vertical drop, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said in a...

Atlanta-based real estate firm Quinn Residences has delivered its first residential community in the greater Tampa Bay area, adding new rental housing in one of Manatee County’s fastest-growing corridors. The company completed Quinn Residences at Moccasin Wallow in Parrish, a purpose-built rental community with 284...

Good morning, Tampa Bay. Here's what you need to know today. Morning temperatures will be near 50 around Tampa Bay to near 40 for the Nature Coast. The breeze in the morning will make it feel colder. High clouds will continue to stream across the state making for partly sunny...

Florida may be known for beaches and theme parks, but another era quietly thrives here. Across the Sunshine State, neon signs hum softly while grills stay busy from open to close. These classic drive-ins preserve the rhythm of a simpler, slower kind of living. Burgers arrive wrapped in paper, fries...

BARTOW, Fla. — The former mayor of Bartow loves passing on his passion for the power of words. Steve Githens has been delivering thousands of special dictionaries to third-grade students in Polk County for many years. On a recent morning, Githens was loading up a dolly with boxes of...

Conditions are chilly and slightly breezy to start your Monday with wake-up temperatures in the 40s and low 50s across the Tampa Bay area. Expect partly to mostly cloudy skies throughout Monday afternoon with below-average high temperatures in the mid-and-upper 60s. Tampa will top out around 68°, only a couple...

This Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Here are a few ways to celebrate the civil rights icon across the Tampa Bay area. MLK Jr. Day of Service: The nonprofit Friends of Rivercrest is organizing a volunteer event this Saturday. Activities include a paint project at the Tasker Beal Jr. Service Center and a cleanup...

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — An Orlando man is facing racketeering charges and five life sentences after authorities said he is the leader of a Bloods-related gang that ordered an attempted murder, among other criminal acts. During a news conference Monday morning, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd and Florida Attorney...

BARTOW, Fla. — The Florida Education Association (FEA) is calling it a “retention crisis at a breaking point,” after reviewing the number of teacher and instructional staff vacancies at schools across the state. FEA reviewed county-by-county vacancy data as of January, and with 412 vacancies, it lists...