LOCAL NEWS

WORDS Barry Friedman/LkldNow.com

BODEGA MARKET REPLACING SILVER RING IN DOWNTOWN LAKELAND

Goodbye Silver Ring. Hello bodega Market. Downtown is getting a food market to serve the growing number of people living there (think NoBay and Mirrorton) and working there (think Summit). Yohansi and Amaury Santana plan to open bodega Market (with a lower-case b) next to their Divicious Cafe at the corner of Main and Tennessee by Thanksgiving. They said they want to partner with local producers to provide Lakeland bread and produce at their convenience-style market. Silver Ring will continue serving Cuban sandwiches and other goodies in the spot until their lease runs out at the end of August, and they are looking for a new location in the downtown area.

CITY NEGOTIATING WITH AN UNNAMED AIRLINE FOR PASSENGER SERVICE

The folks at Lakeland Linder International Airport offered a ray of optimism that passenger air service may be coming to Lakeland soon. City officials confirmed that interim Airport Director Kris Hallstrand is negotiating with an unnamed airline for commercial service. Mayor Bill Mutz cautioned that the initial deal may not be as robust as some are hoping for but said he fully expects a second, larger deal to follow. Consultants Voltaire Aviation of Indiana are continuing to work with the city on its airline search at a cost of $37,500 for a six-month period ending in September; Polk County Tourism & Sports Marketing is footing half the costs.

PUBLIC WILL GET A CHANCE TO COMMENT ON THE ROAD DIET

It seems that everybody in Lakeland has an opinion on the South Florida Avenue “road diet” test, which has reduced the road from five lanes to three through Dixieland. They’ll have a chance to air their opinions through a Florida DOT survey tentatively scheduled for later this month and a public meeting being held at the RP Funding Center on July 11 from 5 to 7 p.m. Those comments will contribute to DOT’s decision on what to do next along the Florida Avenue corridor. Initial data from the lane reduction test show that travel times have stayed the same for some time periods and increased for others. Most types of crashes have been reduced. Rear-end crashes increased, but they are typically less severe, transportation officials say.

NEW PLAN DIVIDES LAKELAND INTO THREE U.S. HOUSE DISTRICTS

Lakeland is divided among three different U.S. Congress districts, under a plan proposed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and approved by the Florida Legislature. Most people who live west of Florida Avenue and U.S. 98 are in District 15, which extends toward Tampa. People living north of I-4 and east of U.S. 98 are in District 11. And those living south of I-4 and east of Florida Avenue are in District 18. U.S. Rep. Scott Franklin, R-Lakeland, will seek re-election in District 18, where he lives. A crowded field vying for the Republican nomination in District 15 includes two well-known Lakeland politicians: former U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross and departing state Sen. Kelli Stargel. Like most of the candidates in the Aug. 23 primary, neither currently lives in the district.

VIDEO OF DRIVER’S ACT OF KINDNESS GOES VIRAL ON TIKTOK

After Amazon driver Asani Anderson delivered a package to a Kathleen home, he stopped to write a message on the sidewalk in chalk: “Amazon is praying for Aubrey. Luv you.” The message was for 8-yearold cancer patient Aubrey Hutson, and it touched her mom’s heart. She posted doorbell camera video of Anderson writing the message to TikTok, and it went viral, getting 300,000 views in just a few hours. Anderson was surprised by how far his message spread. When he wrote it, he thought, “I know this is going to warm somebody’s heart today, and that’s all I thought about. I wasn’t thinking that it was going to go anywhere,” he said.

PASSENGER-TURNED-PILOT: ‘THE HAND OF GOD WAS ON THAT PLANE’

Lakeland’s hometown hero last month was Darren Harrison. He was relaxing on a Cessna Caravan returning to Florida from a fishing trip in the Bahamas when the pilot lost consciousness and the plane started diving toward the Atlantic Ocean. Harrison, 39, had no flight training but he sprang to the front of the plane, grabbed the controls and figured out how to right the aircraft. He then took over the radio and contacted Air Traffic Control, where a flight trainer talked him through a safe landing at Palm Beach International Airport. Harrison, vice president at Sunshine Interiors on Drane Field Road, was interviewed for NBC’s TODAY show and told co-host Samantha Guthrie he knew that “the hand of God was on that plane.”

MASK RULING PUTS LAKELAND-BRED JUDGE IN NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT

Lakeland also made national news when a federal judge who grew up here issued a ruling that ended mask requirements on airlines, buses and trains nationwide. Kathryn Kimball Mizelle was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida by former President Donald Trump in 2020. The 35-yearold Lakeland native was the 2005 valedictorian at Lakeland Christian School. She ruled in April that the U.S. Center for Disease Control exceeded its authority in mandating masks on public transportation in an effort to check the spread of COVID-19. The Transportation Security Administration immediately ceased enforcing the regulation and airlines made masks optional. In Lakeland, the Citrus Connection also made masks optional on its buses and other vehicles.

AS SHORT-TERM RENTALS INCREASE, NEIGHBORS SEEK REGULATIONS

The growth in Airbnb, VRBO and other short-term rentals in central Lakeland is emerging as a contentious issue drawing debate on Facebook and an upcoming workshop by the City Commission. Billy Townsend, president of the Lake Morton Neighborhood Association, told city commissioners that the nearly 200 short-term rentals in the 33801 and 33803 ZIP codes are changing the nature of neighborhoods around Lake Morton, Lake Hollingsworth and Dixieland. He asked whether the city has the power or appetite to issue regulations. Commissioners want to learn more about the issue and asked their staff to set up a workshop. Stay tuned.

SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT: CHALLENGED BOOKS WILL RETURN TO LIBRARY SHELVES

The 16 books that had been challenged as inappropriate for youth should be returned to Polk public school library shelves, schools Superintendent Frederick Heid has determined. But several of the books will not go back to elementary or middle school shelves, based on the recommendations of two committees that reviewed the books. The books will not be re-shelved until the school district develops an opt-in, opt-out system, which is expected to be finalized this summer. County Citizens Defending Freedom, which called for the books’ removal, has said it will consider taking legal action.

RENTS WERE UP 16.3% IN APRIL OVER A YEAR EARLIER

Residential rents in Lakeland rose an average 16.3% during the last year, according to information compiled by Rent Hub; the organization compared changes in median rents between April 2021 and April 2022. The lowest median rents — $1,620 per month — were in the central city ZIP code of 33801, which includes downtown and areas to the east. The highest were found in the southside ZIP codes of 33811 and 33813, where median rents were reported at $2,049 and $2,050 per month respectively.