LOCAL NEWS

WORDS Barry Friedman/LkldNow.com

A DOG PARK IS PLANNED FOR THE GROWING CORRIDOR NEAR LAKE MIRROR

The dining and entertainment district that’s developing north and east of Lake Mirror is getting a dog park. The park will be built in a gently sloping dry retention pond at the southeast corner of Main Street and Rose Street. The land, which is midway between The Joinery and The Poor Porker, was donated to the city by the Florida Department of Transportation. Just around the corner: the new Velazquez Cigar Co. and La Imperial Bakery. The $150,000 that the city plans to spend on the dog park — part of it from a nearby land sale and part from impact fees — is well under the $400,000 price tag of a dog park that was planned nearby but never built.

INTRODUCING LAKELAND’S SEMIPRO BASKETBALL TEAM AND ITS 21-YEAR-OLD OWNER

Lakeland has a new semipro basketball team, and the mover-and-shaker behind it is a Southeastern University student. At 21, Amy Rhodes is the youngest and only woman team owner in the Florida Basketball Association. The Lakeland Royals become the ninth team in the league, which was founded in 2012 and starts its 2022 season in March. Their coach is Charles Jeune, who played at the College of Mount Saint Vincent and Southeastern University before coaching for seven years in the Hudson Valley. Games will be streamed live and viewable on the team’s website as well as on Facebook and YouTube.

THE JOINERY IS PLANNING TO EXPAND PARKING AND ADD A NEW BUILDING

The founders of The Joinery, Lakeland’s artisan food hall across from Lake Mirror, are planning an expansion. Jon and Sarah Bucklew are still in the early conceptual stage, but they are contemplating a smaller building that would contain a full-service restaurant, event space, and morning coffee. The addition would take up part of the venue’s parking lot, but parking will be expanded into land to the east that the city of Lakeland is selling to the property’s owner, Wesley Beck. Beck promises the expansion will be “cool … What he (Jon) has done with The Joinery is too fabulous for our community to just put a little metal building there.”

UPCOMING AIRPORT RESTAURANT AIMS TO FILL DINING GAPS IN SOUTHWEST LAKELAND

It’s been nearly three years since a restaurant has operated at Lakeland Linder Airport, but that’s about to change. Michigan aircraft CEO Sven Lepschy is planning to invest $3 million to renovate and expand the dining area in the airport’s mezzanine. The Waco Kitchen he plans to open there will be modeled after his restaurant with the same name at Battle Creek Executive Airport in Michigan. In addition to airport staff and travelers, Lepschy hopes to serve the thousands of people moving into new subdivisions in southwest Lakeland who have few nearby dining options.

LAKELAND VOTERS RETURN INCUMBENTS MUTZ, MCCARLEY, MUSICK TO CITY OFFICES

Lakeland voters returned three incumbents to office in November’s city elections. Mayor Bill Mutz defeated challenger Saga Stevin by a decisive 2-to-1 margin. First-term City Commissioners Sara Roberts McCarley and Mike Musick — both of them previously elected to partial terms in special elections — were both re-elected to full four-year terms. Mutz told reporters that by returning three business-friendly incumbents to office, “Lakeland feels well established with the existing commission.” Asked at a LkldNow candidate forum whether he would seek higher office when his term ends, Mutz gave an unequivocal response: “Absolutely no.”

PLANS ARE BEING MADE FOR A MULTI-USE TRAIL ALONG LAKE HUNTER’S WESTERN SHORE

Imagine walking, jogging, or biking along a wide trail overlooking the west side of Lake Hunter. Plans are underway to turn that into a reality. The city of Lakeland and the Florida Department of Transportation are discussing a 10-to 12-foot multi-purpose trail stretching 1.4 miles along Sikes Boulevard between Ariana and Lime streets. Where possible, the trail would veer away from the busy roadway. For places where the space between the road and the lake is narrow, planners are contemplating several alternatives, including a wooden boardwalk, retaining wall, cantilevered path, or adding fill dirt and a grassy slope.

NEW MONUMENT AT VETERANS PARK HONORS AFRICAN AMERICAN WORLD WAR II SOLDIERS PROMINENT PASTOR JAY DENNIS STARTING A NEW CHURCH IN A LAKE MORTON-AREA LANDMARK

Veterans Day was marked in Lakeland by the dedication of a new monument at Veterans Park. The monument honors Polk County’s African American soldiers who served during World War II. One of those veterans attending the ceremony was Herman Jenkins of Lakeland. At age 102, he stood unassisted near the monument during the ceremony. Jenkins grew up in Lakeland and during the war was part of a quartermaster unit that guarded a supply depot in Normandy and later guarded German POWs. Also attending was J.J. Corbett, 99, of Bartow, a former Polk County School Board member. Jay Dennis, the 62-year-old retired pastor who oversaw tremendous growth during 21 years at Church at the Mall, is launching a new church in a landmark building in the Lake Morton area. He describes City Central Church as a non-denominational congregation for the unchurched and de-churched. Starting in January, it will meet at 310 Frank Lloyd Wright Way in a tall-steepled sanctuary that was built for Southside Baptist Church and later became part of St. Joseph Academy. The structure is now owned by Florida Southern College, which is renovating the adjoining classroom building for its graduate nursing program.

LPD RECRUITING TRIP YIELDS 13 TRAINED OFFICERS FROM NEW YORK CITY

A Lakeland Police Department recruiting trip to New York City has resulted in 13 trained officers moving here to join the force. Some of the officers said they were drawn to Lakeland because it lacks the anti-police sentiment they experienced in New York. One recruit said he was sold when he was told he could park his police cruiser in front of his house. “To me, that was mind-blowing,” former NYPD officer Matthew Spoto said. “I used to lie about what I did. I used to tell people I was a bartender. I was ashamed to be a law enforcement officer.” Because the new recruits are already certified, the training should take half the normal time and they’ll be ready to hit the street.

BOOKSTORE GOES MOBILE WITH A RESTORED VINTAGE METAL TRAVEL TRAILER

The family that founded Lakeland’s Little Bus Books last spring recently debuted the namesake little bus that makes their bookshop mobile. It’s actually a restored vintage metal travel trailer: a 1953 Va-ka-shun-ette. The bookstore on wheels was founded by Lakeland residents Lynsey and Michael Pippin. “Our mission started with the realization that we needed to broaden our own cultural perspectives,” Lynsey said. “Books provide a simple, unobtrusive way for individuals to gain knowledge and experience a variety of cultures.” The selection is curated by Lynsey and includes books by local authors.