LOCAL NEWS

from LKLD May 2020

POLK STATE CLASS OF 2020

WORDS Barry Friedman/LkldNow.com

FORMER MAYOR FIELDS LEADING DRIVE FOR HISTORY, CULTURE CENTER

Former Mayor Gow Fields will lead a drive to place a Lakeland History and Culture Center inside the main library on Lake Morton. Fields is heading a committee that will seek at least $150,000 in private funds and donations. It will also work with the library staff to solidify plans for the 3,358 square-foot center, whose aim is to spotlight the various ethnic groups that have contributed to Lakeland’s growth. Fields said he agreed to lead the charge because “This is an effort to build much-needed bridges of awareness, bridges of understanding.”

JAGUAR, LAND ROVER DEALERSHIP EYES SITE NEAR I-4

Plans are being made for a Jaguar and Land Rover dealership along I-4 east of Kathleen Road. A corporation tied to Elder Ford of Tampa plans a 27,358-square-foot auto sales and service facility and a 2,960-squarefoot car wash and detail building at 2550 Interstate Drive. It’s a neighborhood that’s home to several other car showrooms. Dealerships representing Toyota, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW are located along I-4 for easy access to customers from the Tampa and Orlando areas.

FSC HIRES NEW DEAN FOR ITS BUSINESS SCHOOL

Two years after being hired to launch the University of Maine’s graduate business program, J. Michael Weber is moving to Lakeland to become dean of the Barney Barnett School of Business and Free Enterprise at Florida Southern College. Weber, 53, starts his new position July 6. “We’ll work with local businesses, chambers, and the startup community to provide our students with experiential learning opportunities that will also benefit Lakeland and Polk County,” he said. He replaces James Fenton, who was hired in 2017.

LOCAL GROUPS HELPING WITH PROTECTIVE GEAR

Several local businesses and other organizations are helping supply extra protective gear needed by health care workers and public safety officers to respond to the coronavirus threat. Among them are Tampa Bay Fisheries of Dover, which donated around 20,000 masks and 33,000 gloves to Lakeland Regional Health and Lakeland police and firefighters. A team at Florida Poly is using 3D printers to make face shield components. And on at least two teleconferences, Mayor Bill Mutz has said a local manufacturer is gearing up to make several million masks; so far, that manufacturer hasn’t wanted to discuss their efforts publicly.

U.S. HOUSE: FRANKLIN AMASSES CAMPAIGN CHEST

City Commissioner Scott Franklin raised $266,786 — $160,000 of it in personal funds — in the first two weeks of his campaign to unseat fellow Republican Ross Spano in the U.S. House of Representatives. The majority of donors are from Lakeland — many of them well-known in business and political circles. Incumbent Spano’s campaign reported $219,501 for the three-month period ending March 31; his cash on hand on that date was $292,573. While Spano’s first-quarter report listed 21 Lakeland donors, only two of those donations were listed after Franklin announced he was running.

FLORIDA HOUSE: BARROW SEEKS TO UNSEAT REP. BURTON

Three-term Republican state Rep. Colleen Burton has a challenger for her job. Jan Barrow, 57, has filed as a Democrat to unseat Burton from the District 40 seat in the Florida House of Representatives. Barrow became an activist in the aftermath of the election of President Donald Trump and in 2017 co-founded the Democratic Women’s Club of Lakeland. A veteran of the tourism industry, she’s casting herself as a moderate Democrat and says environment and education are two of her top priorities.

SCHOOL BOARD: ALLEN SEEKS TO UNSEAT TOWNSEND

A professor at Florida Southern College wants Billy Townsend’s job. William Allen, 45, has filed to run for the Lakeland-based District 1 seat on the Polk County School Board currently held by Townsend, 48. Allen is a tenured associate professor of interactive and game design at FSC who has directed a documentary about the No. 2 pencil and invented an iPhone/ iPad game app, Area51 Launch. Allen says he’ll bring positivity to the School Board and strongly supports school choice initiatives. Townsend has been skeptical of school choice plans that offer little oversight.

‘AMERICAN IDOL’ SHOWING KIMMY GABRIELA LIVE FROM LAKELAND

George Jenkins High School senior Kimmy Gabriela had exciting news to share with Lakeland on the week she turned 18: She made the cut for the ‘American Idol’ Top 20. She seemed surprised when the judges told her because they first suggested she needs to choose better songs to display her stellar vocal technique. The show had to abandon live performances from its Los Angeles stage that had been planned for April because of coronavirus. But starting April 26 the show resumed with singers performing live from their homes. So if you see Kimmy on TV in the near future, it will be live from Lakeland.

HUGE BUSINESS PARK PLANNED NEAR POLK PARKWAY

Next time you take a ride on the Polk Parkway, check out the forested area to the north around the large turn between Airport Road and Clark Road. In a few years, you may see office buildings and warehouses there. They’ll be part of Lakeland Central Park, a 5-million-square-foot business park on 730 acres being planned by Parkway Property Investments LLC. The company has hired Whit Duncan, an experienced commercial real estate pro from Orlando, to manage the project.

NOTED PASTOR KARL STRADER DIES AT 91

Karl Strader, who became pastor at Lakeland’s First Assembly of God in 1966 and expanded it into the multi-thousand-member Carpenter’s Home Church, died recently at age 91. “I saw the church grow during the heyday of the charismatic movement and Jesus movement,” recalled Lakeland native Steve Strang, the founder of Charisma News. “Back in that era, it was one of the largest and most respected churches in the Assemblies of God.”