Polk County Clerk & Comptroller Stacy Butterfield is putting the brakes on collection fees – for one day only – as part of Operation Green Light.

County staff say phase two construction of Panther Point Trail has been completed and should be open to the public soon.

Staying in touch with your school? Now there’s an app for that!

Polk County Schools Superintendent Jacqueline Byrd and her staff recently suggested school board members vote to approve a rule that would make it unethical for board members not to support a school policy once it is instated.

Supporters of the Central Florida Development Council celebrated more than $700 million in various capital investments in Polk County over the course of the past few years during the organization's annual meeting Oct. 15, held at the Polk State College Center for Public Safety in Winter Haven.

The man hired to landscape Bok Tower Gardens — Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. — was also hired to transform the City of Lake Wales into a “Garden City” back in the 1920s.

Around a dozen dogs checked out the Bartow Dog Park during its grand opening event held Saturday, Oct. 17.

Early voting began in Polk County this past Monday, Oct. 19, and more than a few county residents took advantage of that fact.

On Oct. 14, officials and staff for Citrus Connection bid farewell to Citrus Connection Board Chairman John Hall with a special ceremony prior to his final board meeting.

Starting Nov. 4, Polk County Public Schools will be able to provide meals to all children 18 and under at specific pick-up locations.

Planet Fitness opened its newest location this past Saturday, Oct. 17, in Lake Wales. The new fitness center is located at 9 Eagle Ridge Drive.

In the aftermath of an almost fatal truck versus bicycle hit-and-run accident in Frostproof on Monday, Oct. 12, many took to social media in an attempt to bring the truck driver out of hiding.

WINTER HAVEN – Years ago, as a youth pastor, Mike Jarrett — now the pastor of The Rock Church — made a discerning statement.

WINTER HAVEN – One of the city’s best-kept secrets, Mann Lake-Stromberg’s is tucked away among warehouses and commercial buildings in an industrial park on Lucerne Park Road.

WINTER HAVEN — Starting Nov. 1, the Winter Haven Garden Center will be a public asset.

Polk County Public Schools is asking parents, employees and community members to share their thoughts on what’s needed in the district’s next superintendent.

Three Polk County Sheriff's Office deputies defended themselves with lethal force Wednesday, Oct. 14, when a Polk County resident living near Frostproof rushed them while holding a machete over his head.

BARTOW – It takes five hours for Karen Campbell to make 25 face masks. Since March, she’s made nearly 5,000 of them.

LAKE WALES – According to a Lake Wales Arts Council social media page, artist Tom Freeman died recently — just two weeks ahead of his 95th birthday.

About 50 Bartow residents linked into a virtual meeting two weeks ago, participating in the first of a series of public workshops to develop a master plan to shape the city's future growth and development.

DAVENPORT– Roughly nine months after breaking ground, the $85 million state-of-the-art high school being built in the northeast area of Polk County was recently named Davenport High School.

Polk State College will hold commencement ceremonies this academic year and invites the graduates of 2020 and spring 2021 to participate on May 6, 2021. The college will host a virtual celebration on December 10, 2020, for fall 2020 graduates.

POLK COUNTY – During a Polk County Public Schools work session Sept. 29, staff said that while the district is in no imminent financial threat at the moment, next fiscal year could be a different story.

WINTER HAVEN – Legoland Florida Resort opened Brick or Treat this past weekend.

HAINES CITY – Winter Haven Police Department officers won first place in the “Hoops & Heroes” fundraiser basketball tournament, held Oct. 2 to benefit the Ridge Community High School Lady Bolts basketball team.

FORT MEADE – During a city commission meeting Sept. 22, Fort Meade City Attorney Thomas Cloud said that the city may back out of the Polk Regional Water Cooperative proposal to build two desalination plants in Polk County.

POLK COUNTY – Among other things, on Friday Sept. 25 Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended the collection of fines by local governments for those in violation of mask mandates.

BARTOW — In the wake of another police officer's resignation, this after the officer reportedly uttered a homophobic slur towards a citizen, Bartow Interim Police Chief Bryan Dorman is mandating additional implicit bias training department-wide.

FROSTPROOF – Polk County Sheriff's Office deputies arrested Amanda Lynn Brown Sept. 23 for fraudulently setting up a GoFundMe account to benefit the families of Brandon Rollins, Keven Springfield and Damion Tillman.

LAKE WALES — City commissioners will be getting a bump in pay next year after a salary increase was approved at the group’s meeting Sept. 22.

WINTER HAVEN – Two local teenagers were invited to test out the City of Winter Haven’s new skate park at Lake Silver last Friday.

In a rapid-fire public hearing last week, the Polk County Commission put it's final stamp of approval on a $1.79 billion budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year, lowered the property tax rate and, in earlier action, okayed a development in the Kathleen area — despite protests from neighboring p…

Gov. Ron DeSantis lifted state COVID-19 business restrictions Friday, Sept. 25, including limits on the numbers of people who can dine in restaurants, while also prohibiting local governments from closing restaurants and collecting fines from people who don’t wear face masks in public.

POSNER PARK — Speaking at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Citrus Connection’s Posner Park's Park-and-Ride facility, Haines City Mayor Morris West suggested that this was how things ought to work.

Lake Wales city commissioners revisited its mandatory mask ordinance during a work session Sept. 16 – and although some of the key indicators of the spread are trending in a positive direction – two commissioners are still in favor of keeping the local law in place, and two opposing its cont…

The Bartow community is taking baby steps toward normalcy by holding not one, but two events this month.

The Bartow Chapter DAR was organized 90 years ago on September 17, 1930, and continues as a service organization.

LAKE WALES – For the first time in almost a decade, Lake Wales is proposing a small increase in its development impact fees.

Bartow residents will be finding their annual tax rates and other city-levied fees about the same on their 2020 tax bills, according to the city's annual $133.8 million budget recently adopted by the city commission.

POLK COUNTY – Mosaic staff reported a sulfuric acid spill to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Sunday night.