POLK COUNTY – Since 2008, U.S. Marine Toys for Tots Literacy Program supporters have teamed up with participating staff nationwide from The UPS Store to raise more than $5.3 million. That money has been used to purchase more than 41 million books for distribution in schools which serve a hig…

Polk County Public Schools officials say new protocols for bus transportation of students to and from campuses should help protect both students and drivers when school opens on Aug. 24.

POLK COUNTY – Dan Mann has been delivering meals to seniors for more than two decades.

POLK COUNTY – Polk County Sheriff’s Office detectives arrested Polk County Commission candidate Martin Grenfell July 29 on charges that he falsified his candidate oath form — an oath stating he was eligible to hold elected office.

POLK COUNTY – During a Polk County School Board work session July 28, several board members expressed opposition to the “no mask, no class” concept.

LAKELAND — A team of researchers at Florida Polytechnic University is turning a disused golf cart into a solar-powered autonomous vehicle that will be used to advance research for years to come.

POLK COUNTY – For weeks, Polk County Public Schools students, their families and staff were encouraged to participate in a survey assessing their preferences regarding whether to return to brick and mortar schooling or some form of virtual schooling.

HAINES CITY – The Northeast Polk Chamber of Commerce Leadership Class X has been learning leadership traits even during these unprecedented times.

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis on July 30 backed the efforts of the state’s elections chief and county elections supervisors after President Donald Trump suggested the possibility of postponing the November general election because of his aversion to “mail-in” ballots.

On Wednesday, Polk County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Martin Grenfell, a candidate for a seat on the Polk County Board of Commissioners, on charges of false swearing with regard to voting — a third-degree felony by state law.

HAINES CITY — Garrett Kenny is ready to bet big on downtown Haines City.

FROSTPROOF – Ben Hill Griffin III, 78, died peacefully at his Frostproof home on Saturday.

Bartow city residents probably won't see their taxes go up next year after city commissioners got their first look at the proposed $125 million budget for the next fiscal year.

HAINES CITY – For retired Army Colonel Ken McGraw, serving in the military was a given and, also, a life-changing honor.

WINTER HAVEN – Using his allowance money, 10-year-old Thatcher Emberton of Winter Haven recently made 240 cupcakes from scratch to help feed those who come to The Mission for a hot meal and a few minutes without stress.

Front Page Brewing, an upstart brewery in historic downtown Bartow, announced last week that it would reopen its taproom thanks to a partnership with Top Dog Concessions, a local food truck.

An election issue that plagued Haines City earlier this year has struck Polk County Board of County Commissioners, as well.

DAVENPORT – During a Davenport City Commission meeting July 20, Commissioner Brandon N. Kneeld said that he would be voluntarily resigning from office effective Aug. 3, citing a family decision to move out of Polk County.

POLK COUNTY – On July 24, Polk County Commission candidate Martin Grenfell filed an ethics complaint to The Florida Bar against Polk County Attorney Michael Craig and petitioned the Florida Commission on Ethics to investigate his election competitor, incumbent Polk County Commissioner George…

POLK COUNTY – The Southwest-Central Florida Connector Task Force met for the sixth time July 23.

POLK COUNTY – Lawyers representing the Florida Education Association filed litigation against Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida Department of Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran and others on July 20 in an attempt to block the reopening of public schools in August statewide.

POLK COUNTY – A Leadership Lakeland Alumni Association Zoom meeting with Polk County Public Schools Deputy Superintendent John Hill July 23 was disrupted by a hacker who somehow managed to take control of the Zoom meeting to post pornographic images.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office has made three arrests in relation to the triple homicide that occurred in unincorporated Frostproof July 17.

LAKE WALES — On July 14, elected officials voted to approve funding to hire a police officer primarily responsible for working the Northwest neighborhood of Lake Wales.

WINTER HAVEN — Kris Dehnert’s colleagues affectionately call him “Promo.”

As if a month-long shutdown related to the pandemic wasn't enough, Polk County Tax Collector Joe Tedder recently had to close up shop for another two weeks for a different sort of virus — one that may have made available the driver’s license information of some county residents.

POLK COUNTY – Polk County Regional Water Cooperative board members are expected to select a mediator to resolve their differences during an emergency meeting July 29.

BayCare staff announced last week that Florida’s first mobile field hospital has been deployed to Winter Haven Hospital.

DAVENPORT – It was 2005 and Joel Rodriguez had recently fulfilled a five-year enlistment in the United States Army and was back home at his parents’ house in Haines City.

HAINES CITY – During a private ceremony, Haines City Commissioner H.L. “Roy” Tyler was sworn into office July 15 – more than three months after losing to Claude E. Holmes II in the April 7 municipal election.

Although it won't be official until September, the Polk County Commission last week informally approved a budget of more than $1 billion for next year, representing a slight uptick from last year's budget.

WINTER HAVEN – A float valve on an emergency diesel fuel tank at Winter Haven Hospital malfunctioned on July 16, causing an unknown amount of diesel fuel to leak into Lake Martha.

Effective Monday, July 27, Citrus Connection will close all pass sales customer service locations for the health and safety of customers and employees. 

WINTER HAVEN – On July 15, Meals on Wheels of Polk County Executive Director Susan Eldridge told the Winter Haven City Commission how the pandemic has disrupted the non-profit.

TALLAHASSEE — First came the damage to Florida’s tourism industry and all sorts of other businesses. And now, the state’s growth engine?

Gov. Ron DeSantis on July 17 said he is not closing gyms because he thinks people who go to them are “even less at risk for the coronavirus” because they are staying healthy and working out.

A fire in the Oakland community of Haines City claimed the life of a single victim on Sunday night.

FROSTPROOF — A night of “catfishing” ended in the tragic murders of three “best buddies” at Lake Streety on Friday night, said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd during a press conference Saturday morning.

Officials for Publix announced Thursday that, effective July 21, the company will require customers to wear face coverings while shopping in its stores.

Lake Wales commissioners are hitting the pause button on their search for a new city manager.

Polk County Commissioners last week stopped short of mandating the wearing of face masks to stem the recent escalating spike in COVID-19 cases and instead opted to purchase a million masks to help promote the board's “strong” recommendation that residents wear masks while out and about.

BARTOW – For at least the fourth time since December 2018, Mosaic staff have been mandated to report industrial waste leaks at the Mosaic Bartow Facility, located west of Bartow on the south side of State Road 60.

LAKE WALES — With regard to the health environment in Polk County, the Lake Wales History Museum has cancelled the Pioneer Days Festival, originally scheduled to take place on October 24-25.

No matter how you slice it, Winter Haven’s newest pizza joint isn’t new to serving the community.

POLK COUNTY – To those who enjoy a thick, green, regularly irrigated lawn, consider yourself warned.