LOCAL NEWS

WORDS Barry Friedman/LkldNow.com

SHIPPING CONTAINERS CAN NOW BE USED AS HOMES AND BUSINESSES LAKELAND ELECTS A MAYOR AND TWO CITY COMMISSIONERS DISSENT BRINGS ITS ‘OUTSPOKEN ALES’ TO SOUTH KENTUCKY AVE. LAKELAND INVENTOR’S ‘CARING CRADLE’ FINDS A LOCAL HOME

Shipping containers can now be used in Lakeland for housing or small businesses. City commissioners approved their use as part of a package of land-use changes designed to reduce barriers to owning a home or starting a business. Container homes will be allowed on property zoned for multi-family or mobile home use; they must be built on a permanent foundation and comply with Florida building and fire codes. As for businesses, containers can be used for food service or retail when they’re an accessory to an existing building on the property. For those of you who read this magazine as soon as it comes out, here’s a reminder that Tuesday, Nov. 2, is Election Day in Lakeland. Registered voters who live within city limits will elect a mayor and two city commissioners and decide on two amendments to the city charter. Each race includes a first-term incumbent and a challenger: for mayor, incumbent Bill Mutz vs. Saga Stevin, and for city commissioner, incumbent Sara Roberts McCarley faces challenger Allyson “Al” Lewis and incumbent Mike Musick faces Shandale Terrell in a reprise of their close May runoff election. Craft beer lovers have a new brewery/taproom in downtown Lakeland. “Outspoken ales” is how Dissent Craft Brewing describes the rotating selection of pours at 125 S. Kentucky Ave. in a block with three other bars and several restaurants. Expect a selection of IPAs, sours, and specialty brews like mango habanero IPA or blueberry marshmallow sour. “Putting together beers and recipes is sort of my outlet for fun and relaxation and I just happen to turn it into a business,” co-owner Chris Price said. This is Dissent’s first expansion beyond their initial location in a St. Petersburg strip mall. Wendy Kowalski of Lakeland was pleased to learn that her invention is now in use at Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center, the hospital where her children were born. Kowalski invented the Caring Cradle after a friend suffered from the trauma associated with losing an infant. The cradles are designed to assist families grieving over a stillbirth or the death of a newborn. They look like a bassinet and have cooling capabilities, allowing families to spend a little more time with their baby in the hospital room. The cradle was donated to the hospital by the family of the late Lakeland pediatrician Dr. Miguel Angel Diaz.

SOUTHWEST MIDDLE SCHOOL WILL BE REBUILT WITH A NEW CONFIGURATION

Southwest Middle School is slated for a $50 million makeover with most of the campus being demolished and rebuilt. Construction, expected to begin around the end of the year, will be done in stages in a way that classes will remain on campus. The redesign of the campus at 2815 Eden Parkway puts the classrooms in the center of the property, surrounded by athletic fields on Edgewood Drive, a long parking lot, and a car-waiting area near Eden Parkway and bus lanes off of Lincoln Avenue. Construction is expected to be completed by August 2023.

DOWNTOWN RENOVATION UNCOVERS TRACES OF LAKELAND HISTORY

Work to renovate the 95-year-old Gore Building downtown has uncovered traces of past occupants: Monarch Market and Seaboard Service Station. The building at the southwest corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Bay Street is being redeveloped with a cigar theme to recall another former tenant: Eli Witt Cigar Co. Representatives of West Point One LLC, which bought the property for $1 million in April, said they are considering using the two-story building and two connected one-story structures for offices, residences, and maybe a restaurant.

FIREFIGHTER RETURNS TO WORK AFTER 16 MONTHS AWAY FOR CANCER TREATMENT

Lakeland firefighter-paramedic Clay Geiger, 31, has returned to work after 16 months’ treatment for a rare form of cancer. “It was a long journey, and I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for the continued support of my family and work-family,” he said. He was diagnosed with Natural killer/T-cell lymphoma and was treated at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. Then he tested positive for COVID-19 last Christmas. “I thought that was it; I had no immunity. Cancer and treatments significantly weaken your immune system,” he said. But he overcame it. It will be several years before Geiger will know if he is in full remission.

COLLABORATION PAIRS MUSIC AND VISUAL ART AT POLK MUSEUM POLK’S COVID NUMBERS HAVE DECLINED AFTER A RECORD SUMMER PEAK

A collaboration between the Lakeland Symphony Orchestra and the Polk Museum of Art resulted in an exhibition pairing musical pieces with related visual art. The show is titled “Pictures at an Exhibition” and remains on display in the museum’s Perkins Gallery through Jan. 9. LSO musicians curated the exhibit, combing through the museum’s permanent collection to find works that would complement their music. Visitors to the museum use their smartphones to scan a QR code taking them to a page where they can access the music that accompanies the art. An Oct. 14 concert of the LSO’s wind ensemble playing amid the visual art was sold out. October was the month when it was clear that the summer COVID-19 spike had finally subsided in Polk County. New infections here peaked at 7,510 cases per week in late August, which was more than twice the previous peak last January. By mid-October, the number was down to 672 cases per week, well below the weekly average toll during the pandemic. Likewise, the rate of tests coming back positive had plummeted to 4.4% by mid-October after peaking at 28.9% two months earlier. It was the fourth-lowest positivity rate this year.

GRAND HOUSE ON SUCCESS AVENUE IS BEING RESTORED

People in Lakeland have long wondered what would happen to the beautiful but dilapidated 113-year-old Queen Anne house at 1022 Success Ave. They have an answer now. The long-vacant house has new owners, a young couple that is restoring it and intends to move their family there. Michael and Annalee Mutz, both in their early 30s, plan to move into the 2,894-square-foot house with their 18-month-old daughter sometime next year. The couple already lives in the South Lake Morton district and had been looking for a larger home in anticipation of having more children. Michael owns a business that restores distressed homes, so he was ready for the challenge of revitalizing this Lakeland landmark.