Lakeland FL

Four companies have registered their interest in restoring the Walesbilt Hotel in Lake Wales. The city received four bids from developers by the extended deadline of July 25, Lake Wales said in a news release. The companies responding to the city’s request for qualifications are Blackmon & Andoniades Families; Newco...

Temperatures in the Tampa Bay area are expected to reach sweltering levels today, with the National Weather Service issuing a Heat Advisory for a portion of west central Florida. According to the NWS advisory, residents can expect heat index values to climb up to 109, prompting concerns for potential heat illnesses....

POLK COUNTY, FL – The Polk County Sheriff’s Office has arrested eight individuals in connection to a wide-reaching fraud operation that stole nearly $8.8 million from 235 victims nationwide, most of whom were elderly. The scheme, which spanned multiple states, involved stolen banking information, illegal money...

In the heart of Lakeland, Florida, where modern entertainment options abound, the Silver Moon Drive-In Theatre stands as a glorious throwback to a bygone era that refuses to fade into the sunset. When was the last time watching a movie felt like an adventure rather than just another evening of...

POLK COUNTY, Fla. – William Quattlebaum, Jr., has been located safely, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies say he was found safe on property off of FireTower road. ORIGINAL REPORT: The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s assistance in locating 77-year-old William Quattlebaum,...

The Hillsborough County Conservation and Environmental Lands Management Department has ignited a planned fire at the Blackwater Creek Nature Preserve, a procedural move aimed at ecological site maintenance. The controlled burn, which is to unfold over the course of a single day, is set against the consummate Florida...

Fabric Warehouse occupies a squat one-story building with a hunter green roof and a bright red door. Once inside, customers wander the meandering spaces that seem to extend beyond what the building’s footprint would allow. That’s not unlike the business itself, which has changed through decades of family ownership,...

The notion of college students perching poolside during their summer break might seem utterly ordinary. For a trio of undergraduates from Florida Polytechnic University, though, that recent experience was extraordinary. In early June, the students traveled to Houston to participate in the Micro-g Neutral Buoyancy...

Bartow, Fla. (July 25, 2025) — Polk County Parks and Natural Resources staff are launching a volunteer program at Bone Valley ATV Park to assist with monitoring riding activity at the park’s motocross facilities. Volunteers are needed to help oversee the multipurpose T-Raxx track at Bone Valley South...

When the world remembers Hulk Hogan, they’ll think of the red and yellow. The signature handlebar mustache. The larger-than-life persona that helped define professional wrestling in the 1980s and beyond. But to many in Florida, especially in Clearwater, Hulk Hogan wasn’t just an icon. He was a neighbor. A...