A hit broadway musical is coming to Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts this weekend. Enjoy spectacular music, colorful costuming and a story the whole family will fall for. Join the cast for a magic carpet ride!

WINTER HAVEN – By now, many residents have learned that a local developer is planning to build a hotel, an apartment complex and a yet-to-be-announced big box store at the corner of U.S. Highway 27 and Cypress Gardens Boulevard.

LAKE WALES – In late 2019, the Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Board budgeted $200,000 in matching grants of $50,000 for those interested in bringing restaurants and other food-related businesses to the City of Lake Wales.

Orlando Health, a not-for-profit health care organization and network of community-based hospitals, last week announced it has a contract to purchase approximately 80 acres of unincorporated land on the south side of Lakeland for a potential future medical campus.

WINTER HAVEN – Last July, the Winter Haven City Commission unanimously voted to approve a three-year pilot homelessness initiative based on a proposal initiated by supporters of Heart for Winter Haven Executive Director Brad Beatty.

BARTOW – Polk County History Center staff organized sold out shows earlier this month, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, guaranteeing and protecting women's Constitutional right to vote.

POLK COUNTY – Florida history comes alive at the 49th Annual Alafia River Rendezvous this weekend in Homeland, between Bartow and Fort Meade, just off U.S. Highway 17.

POLK COUNTY – At a Polk Regional Water Cooperative meeting Jan. 15, Polk County Commissioner George Lindsey and PRWC lawyer Ed de la Parte repeated what Frostproof Mayor Martin Sullivan described as an “old threat.”

Staff for Polk County Public Schools recently navigated a chaotic stretch that led up to the “Take on Tallahassee” rally in support of public education on Jan. 13 in Tallahassee.

HAINES CITY – It’s been nearly a year since Haines City Police Officer Dwight Rogers put his life on the line during a call to assist the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

POLK COUNTY – Southwest Florida Water Management District staff hosted a public workshop at Circle B Reserve Jan. 8 to explain a draft recommendation that the SWFWMD Board of Directors may approve as early as Feb 25.

HAINES CITY – The 41st Annual Northeast Polk County Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet will be held Jan. 30 from 6–9 p.m. at the Lake Eva Event Hall.

The annual Polk County Youth Fair is coming. The end of January will find critters, kids and countless other activities abounding at the Stuart Center in Bartow, with ribbons galore and the culmination of a year's worth of hard work for hundreds of Polk 4-H and FFA members.

On January 15, 2020, PCSO detectives arrested 35-year-old Neidy Mendez-Gudine, of Davenport, for one count aggravated child abuse and one count manslaughter in the death of a 13-month-old baby.

LAKE WALES – Four of the best carillon artists in the world will tour their way through performances at bell towers in Florida, part of a spring series of recitals associated with the Florida Carillon Festival — with each making a stop in Polk County at Bok Tower Gardens.

POLK COUNTY – According to a statement made by Polk County Public Schools staff on the district’s Facebook page, about 1,520 district teachers — roughly 20 percent of the 6,800 teachers who are employed by the district, in total — were absent from school on Monday, Jan. 13, to attend the “Ta…

This Friday marks the beginning of an exciting special event at Walt Disney World’s Epcot. The 2020 Epcot International Festival of the Arts is included in the cost of admission into the park and features a world of entertainment — take a seat in one of the interactive workshops or sing-a-lo…

WINTER HAVEN – A celebration of life concert for longtime area journalist and musician Michael Trent Rowe will be held at the Gram Parsons Derry Down on Friday, Feb. 28, between 6 and 9 p.m.

HAINES CITY – In a tucked away space in downtown Haines City is an art installation so interesting and unexpected it’s enough to stop traffic.

POLK COUNTY — The Polk County Fire Rescue department is hiring, with some 62 vacancies the department is trying diligently to fill with firefighters, EMTs and paramedics.

POLK COUNTY — The Polk County Fire Rescue department is hiring, with some 62 vacancies the department is trying diligently to fill with firefighters, EMTs and paramedics.

POLK COUNTY – A Lake Wales High School alumna and her mother are partnering up with hopes of investing $350,000 in downtown Lake Wales.

LAKE WALES – Near the end of a Lake Wales City Commission meeting Jan. 7, Commissioner Curtis Gibson made a motion that, essentially, would terminate Lake Wales City Attorney Chuck Galloway.

BARTOW — Magnolia Acres, a proposed development of eight estate homes in north Bartow, got the green light from Bartow City Commissioners last week, along with the rezoning of a 37-acre piece of property that some said could result in objectionable odors.

FROSTPROOF – On Jan. 6, the Frostproof City Council reversed course in reference to a Dec. 16 attempt to foreclose on a piece of lakefront property whose owners are deceased and whose heirs were trying to resolve.

LAKE WALES – Thanks to the First Baptist Church of Lake Wales, every student attending Bok North Academy, Bok South Academy and Lake Wales High School had a zero balance in their respective lunch accounts after they returned from the holiday break.

A Winter Haven man was shot Saturday, January 11, at around 9:33 p.m. after two motorists got into a confrontation on Lake Ned Road in Winter Haven.

POLK COUNTY — Despite reports that as many as 1,600 Polk County Public Schools teachers could be absent on Monday, January 13, the district has repeatedly affirmed over the weekend its intention to remain open that day.

WINTER HAVEN – Hundreds of area residents attended the grand opening “tip off” of the AdventHealth Fieldhouse & Conference Center at Chain of Lakes Park Saturday, Jan. 4.

WINTER HAVEN – Newcomers Brian Yates and Tracy Mercer will join re-elected Mayor Pro-Tem Nathaniel J. Birdsong, Jr. to be sworn in as Winter Haven City Commissioners Jan. 13 at city hall around 6:30 p.m.

Unlike other places this time of year, we’re lucky enough to call January bearable. 

POLK COUNTY – Three quarters of the annual Polk Museum of Art exhibit budget for 2020 has been designated for single exhibit, one which will be on display beginning Feb. 8 and through to May 31.

WINTER HAVEN – Many cities across the nation have programs that allow businesses to purchase fiberglass sculptures, painted by artists, to benefit local art projects.

POLK COUNTY – Last year, around 2,500 Polk County area residents registered for the Polk Senior Games. Registration for the 28th Annual Polk Senior Games is now open.

TALLAHASSEE — Florida’s population growth remains on track to garner new congressional seats in the coming years, though the state might not be adding new residents as fast as officials had believed.

LAKE WALES – Lake Wales Little Theatre artists and volunteers say they have been preparing to open a musical never before performed in the state of Florida.

Knights of Columbus Council 7091 of Cypress Gardens helped beautify the altar and enhance the celebration of mass at St. Ann Catholic Church in Haines City with the donation of two brand new gold chalices recently — just in time for the Advent season.

DAVENPORT – Crafting businesses, especially those centered around a DIY (do it yourself) theme, are popping up all over the country.

BARTOW – The Sahgal family, owners of the Firehouse Subs shop in Winter Haven for the past 12 years, recently opened a second location in Bartow at 280 E. Van Fleet Drive.

LAKE WALES – Twenty years ago, Lake Wales resident Mertice Kelly found what she believed to be her calling in life — to create a ministry for area residents who are disabled.

Are you looking for an event that’s free to the public and ideal for the whole family to enjoy? Over in Osceola County, an outdoor movie series continues this Friday with “Toy Story 4.” Head over to Kissimmee Lakefront Park with your blankets and lawn chairs.

WINTER HAVEN – Sixteen-year-old junior Xaria Lopez wasn't just crowned Miss Winter Haven High 2020 on Thursday, Dec. 19 — Lopez was also named Most Talented and Miss Congeniality.

WINTER HAVEN – The grand opening and ribbon cutting for the newly constructed — and recently renamed — AdventHealth Fieldhouse at Chain of Lakes Park is to be held Saturday, Jan. 4, starting at 10:30 a.m.

DUNDEE –Dundee’s Fire Department is one of thousands around the country with volunteer firefighters.

“Enforcement time” has come for motorists caught texting and driving by Florida Highway Patrol troopers.

POLK COUNTY — A Kissimmee man who delivers packages for Amazon was arrested last week for stealing a package he had delivered to a home in the Davenport area.

Golden Corral staff recently announced that a comprehensive remodel is underway to convert the group’s Winter Haven restaurant, located at 5722 Cypress Gardens Blvd., into the new “Gateway Model” – Golden Corral’s new prototype design package.

LAKE WALES – Corporate staff with the air filter manufacturing corporation Pamlico Air, based out of North Carolina, recently announced plans to expand into Lake Wales.

POLK COUNTY — It's time for Polk residents to stand up and be counted — or, at least, it will be this spring when the 2020 U.S. Census is taken.

HAINES CITY – Last year was not an easy year for members of Polk County Fire Rescue, thanks largely in part to an incident that took place back in 2018.