Rick Rousos, a longtime reporter with The Ledger who retired in 2016, died Friday at age 73.
Rousos began work at The Ledger in 1989, relocating from Michigan. He covered a variety of beats, beginning in the newspaper’s Winter Haven bureau before shifting to the Lakeland office. He tracked city government in Winter Haven, Mulberry and Lakeland and provided coverage of crime and court news.
In the 1990s, Rousos co-wrote a 12-part series on former Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden with sportswriter Mike Cobb.
When The Ledger formed a dedicated investigative team in the early 2010s, Rousos helped uncover a major sex scandal inside the Lakeland Police Department, which led to the resignation of LPD Chief Lisa Womack. He was called to testify before a grand jury in 2013 about the department’s failure to provide public records The Ledger had requested.
Rousos also disclosed financial mismanagement by the leader of the Polk County Opportunity Council, a nonprofit with a mission of assisting poor residents. His reporting led to the firing of the agency’s director and fines for board members who violated state Sunshine Laws.