After last week's BlogOrlando event I have been traveling. First to Atlanta, now on to Raleigh, NC. EP will be back next week.

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I'll be in Orlando for the rest of the week/weekend attending BlogOrlando. For those of your watching at home, you can follow all the action at BlogOrlando.com or do a Technorati search for BlogOrlando (or tag:BlogOrlando).

See you next week.

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Over at my main blog I have posted a story about political campaigns using social networks to connect with voters.

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The Tiger Bay Club of Polk County hosted a debate of the current Polk County Commission Candidates today in Bartow, FL. In the District 2 race Robert Connors (D) and Randy Wilkinson (R) squared off and in the District 4 race Jean Reed (D) and Bruce Parker (R) debated. Some of the recent losers in the primary, Betty Hill and Rusty Bodicker were also in attendance, perhaps enjoying not being in the spotlight :-)

During the lead-up Abby Slutsky with the News Chief came up to my table as I was working on my laptop, she asked, "Is this the media table?" I responded, "Well if you consider bloggers media then it is." She walked off with a simple "No." in response to my question. I'll leave it at that. Abby did say that she's leaving the News Chief and will be moving to Fort Wayne, Indiana to work at the Journal Gazette.

The crowd at Tiger Bay is definitely an interesting group. Not everybody is able to take off for lunch on a Monday and head to Bartow, so it's mostly business owners, retirees and other elected officials.

Tiger Bay Club, MC, S.L. Frisbee of the Bartow Democrat, provided a quick introduction of all the candidates with some quips about each of them. It was noted that all the candidates have photos available on their web sites, but only one has had his photo featured twice on the Polk County Sheriff's web site. (For those playing at home, it's Randy). Next up were the rules of the debate.

Now on to the action. Each candidate was given two minutes to introduce themselves.

Continue reading "Polk County Commission Candidates Debate - Tiger Bay Club" »

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If you remember, back in May of this year Starbucks Coffee bought out a number of Barnie's mall locations. I wondered if the Eagle Ridge Mall location was going to be converted. Well it is. I stopped by the nearly empty Barnie's this afternoon and took a few photos. On a sign outside the entrance it said "Coming Soon - Starbucks".

So Lake Wales will be getting a Starbucks before Winter Haven :-) I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

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It's not the growth in Polk County that bothers me, it's the depressing architecture in the majority of the new developments. Case in point, the photo below is from a development at the corner of Thompson Nursery Road and County Road 653 in Winter Haven.

Five homes in a row and every one of them is the same box. Sure they have different colors, but in a strange way the varying colors only highlights their lack of originality. Who designs this crap?

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The Polk Museum of Art held their annual Family Day today. It also was their 40th Anniversary. It was a great event with plenty of stuff for the kids to do. I took some photos and have uploaded a gallery on Flickr.

The Mote Marine Laboratory offered a fun hands-on experience and the stunt bike riders were a bit hit with the kids.

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Seen at the Polk Museum of Art's Family Day on the second floor in the kid's art area:

The writing doesn't look like a child's....hmmm.....

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Over at the Polk County News Blog, Billy Townsend writes about the new security measures at the Polk County Courthouse. Here's one interesting tidbit:

The first layer consists of four “puffer” machines, which buffet a person with jets of air meant to scatter any explosive residue into the air so that the machines’ sensors can detect it, thereby thwarting would-be bombers, in theory. The machines cost $100,000 per unit and were paid for by the Polk County taxpayers through the County Commission.

Yep, that's a total of $400,000 for the 'puffers'.

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The Orlando Sentinel reports that the Polk County Commission voted to place restrictions on where registered sex offenders may live. From the article:

Polk County commissioners unanimously approved an ordinance today that restricts where certain registered sexual offenders and predators may live in the unincorporated areas.

The ordinance will prohibit certain offenders and predators from living within 2,500 feet of schools, day-care centers, parks, playgrounds and libraries.

It further restricts predators from living within 1,000 feet of churches and school bus stops.

The ordinance will not impact those offenders and predators who have a registered address prior to the ordinance taking effect.

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Construction on the new residential lofts in downtown Lakeland is coming along nicely. The steel frame is going up and the central column for the elevator is complete. The lofts are being built on Kentucky Avenue across the street from Munn Park. While I was in Lakeland today, I took this shot and a few others.

In addition, the renovation of Crispers is also underway. The sign says they should be open around Oct 2nd.

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How divided is Polk County? We're talking East vs. West here. This regional divide impacts the social interactions we have as well as politics and local issues.

In the social realm, if you live in Lakeland, how often do you hop in the car to shop/eat in Winter Haven or anywhere else on the other side of the county? Not often huh? I think the reverse happens a bit more, i.e. Winter Haven folks heading to Lakeland. This is just a result of Lakeland having more restaurant/entertainment/shopping options.

In politics and local issues, folks in Lakeland just don't care/worry about what happens politically or growth-wise in Winter Haven and vice versa. In the mean time, nobody seems to pay too much attention to the Four Corners area, which just happens to be the fastest growing part of the county.

What are your thoughts? Do you see a divide?

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Cypress Gardens Adventure Park has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Ledger has the details. The primary reason is the recent lawsuit over insurance claims related to the 2004 hurricanes.

Buescher blames the park's financial troubles entirely on the 2004 hurricane season during which three hurricanes -- Charley, Frances and Jeanne --all caused major damage to the park within a six-week period in August and September 2004.

Damages from the hurricanes totaled about $30 million, Buescher said.

To date Buescher and his former insurer, Landmark American Insurance Company, have not reached a settlement on the losses on storm damages, Buescher said.

In September 2005, Buescher filed a lawsuit seeking a settlement.

There is nothing at the official Garden's site about the recent announcement. In fact the last update to the press room was January 2006.

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Speaking of gas stations....This is something I have noticed for quite a while, but finally got around to taking a picture of it to post. At the intersection of Interstate 4 and US 27 there are a number of gas stations, but one in particular is an anomaly.

There is a Shell station that is always much more expensive than all the other stations. In this most recent example the Marathon next door has regular for $2.57/gallon while the shell was $2.73/gallon for regular. In the photo below the Marathon sign is in the foreground, while the Shell sign is in the background.

How can they remain in business? Who would pull in there and say, "Boy I really don't want to drive that extra 10 yards to save 16 cents per gallon. I've seen the difference between the Shell station and the others be as high as twenty cents/gallon.

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The Hess gas station at the corner of Dundee Road and Carl Floyd Road in Winter Haven is converting to a Chevron station. I happened to catch the new signs going up this afternoon and took a few photos. I asked the attendant on duty about the switch and she said that they were making the switch to save on fuel costs. Apparently Hess fuel is more expensive than other brands.

This will be the third Hess station that I have seen convert to another brand in the past few weeks. On U.S. 27 there was a Hess station near Lucerne Park road that switched to Citgo. In Haines City, the Hess on 27 across from Kentucky Fried Chicken converted to a Sunoco.

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If you're a big fan of Palace Pizza in Lakeland you can get your fix on the other side of the county in Auburndale. Yep, Auburndale has a Palace Pizza.

The store is located at 213 E. Lake Ave in the downtown area. The interior is not as big as the Lakeland store, but that's not a big problem.

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Now that the sale of Watkins Motor Lines to FedEx is complete the change-over to the new brand can take place. The most obvious item would be the trucks. Here is a shot of the new FedEx National LTL livery.

Click here for a photoset of the new truck design.

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The Orlando Sentinel has a large profile piece on Frostproof in the paper today. The basis of the article is a look at how September 11th impacted this small town in Polk County.

Yet five years ago tomorrow, the quaint bubble of timelessness burst for this tiny "country."

September 11 happened here, too.

The number of innocent lives lost in that terrorist attack was tallied at 2,973 -- just two fewer than the number of Frostproof folks recorded in the 2000 census.

While there have been many ways to scale the crime, one becomes most intimate here. It was as if the entire population of this little town they call "The Friendly City" had been murdered.

Five years later and more than 1,000 miles from the attacks, life has shifted for Frostproof.

There is also a photo gallery available online.

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In Polk County we use the Diebold AccuVote as the primary voting system. Well Black Box Voting recently posted details on how the device can be hacked in a few minutes. Looking it over, sure it can be done, but you still need access to the machine.

On Tuesday of this week I worked as a precinct clerk for the Polk County Supervisor of Elections and can tell you that it would be almost impossible to get access to the machine at the polls. One of the positions at every precinct is the Ballot Box Inspector. Their job is to watch the machine all day. If they have to leave for any reason, then the somebody else, usually the precinct clerk needs to take over.

There have been some recent questions about the Diebold voting systems, but much of that is centered around the touch screen machines, which we do not use in Polk County. With many of the touchscreen systems there is no paper record of a vote. In Polk County each voter completes an actual ballot which is scanned, and those ballots are stored for a period of time after the election and can be referred back to if necessary.

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Robert over at Interstate4Jamming beat me to the punch in commenting on the news that some local Republicans will be supporting Democrat, Robert Connors in the November race against Randy Wilkinson.

As soon as Randy won the primary, I was wondering if Betty Hill's supporters were just supporting a Candidate Other Than Randy (COTR). This might, or might not be the case, but Sam Killebrew and Gene Engle have both come out in support of Robert Connors.

I wonder how many folks in November will not necessarily be voting FOR a Robert, as they are AGAINST Randy?

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What did I say about a Retro County Commission a few days ago? That might just be what we're heading for in November.

With the majority of the Polk County precincts reporting; in the District 2 race, Randy Wilkinson has beaten Republican challenger Betty Hill. Randy will face Robert Connors who defeated Rusty Boedicker on the Democratic side.

In the District 4 Republican primary, Bruce Parker defeated Martha Santiago. Bruce will now challenge Democrat Jean Read in November.

School Board member Kay Fields keeps her seat by defeating Ricky Shirah.

Judges.....too many of them. Just kidding. I'll post those final totals tomorrow :-)

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It's 10:47 pm on election night so I want to check out my local media to see how their coverage is shaping up.

The Ledger has results for all the local races plus details on the major state races. In addition they already have stories filed from the local candidate's parties with photos.

Checking out the News Chief...there is nothing. Shown below is a screenshot of their site. Not a single mention of the election. Great job guys.

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Tomorrow is the primary in Florida. Don't forget to vote. That is if you haven't already voted early or by absentee. I'll be unavailable all day Tuesday since I am working as a precinct clerk.

I plan on posting a wrap-up of the days events and results on Tuesday night though.

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Over at hyku I posted an update on my Cypress Gardens spam issue. Long-story-short, I am still receiving it.

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Update 3: The State Attorney's Office dropped all charges against Randy citing a lack of evidence.

Update 2: Tests for alcohol and drugs both came up negative. I guess he really was tired.

Update: The Ledger have posted an updated story. Included are quotes from Ricky Shirah who was with Randy Friday night.

The Ledger Breaking News section has reported that County Commissioner Randy Wilkinson was arrested and charged with DUI last night in Lakeland:

Wilkinson, 53, was stopped by a Lakeland police officer about 3 a.m. after he pulled out of the Walgreen Drug Store at 311 E. Memorial Blvd. His Toyota Prius did not have its headlights on. He was pulled over at the Church of the Mall parking lot.

A police report said Wilkinson performed poorly on a field sobriety test. He was taken to the Polk Jail where was released at 11:40 a.m. after posting a $500 bond.

The Polk County Sheriff has the following information online:

- Randy's Mug Shot
- Lakeland Police Department Affidavit
- Lakeland Police Department Citation

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Update 05.08.07: The Winter Haven Chamber Blog has more details on the center.

The Ledger has some additional details on the new Town Center at Cypress Gardens. According to the article there will be a Quiznos, Tijuana Flats and a coffee shop among other retails stores at the new development. There was not a name associated with the coffee shop.

Why anybody would buy a Quiznos franchise is beyond me. Man will they oversell a market. There is another Quizno's approx. 2 miles down Cypress Gardens Blvd by the new Super Wal-Mart. Then there is another one on US 27 by Home Depot.

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Tired of increasing electric costs? You can always move to the Kissimmee area. KUA is actually lowering their rates.

Kissimmee Utility Authority (KUA) announced today that it will cut electric rates by 3.6 percent beginning Sept. 1 because of lower fuel costs, saving the typical residential electric user in Kissimmee about $4 a month.

September marks the second consecutive month of rate reductions for KUA customers. Since July, the utility has lowered rates by 6.4 percent or $7.29 per 1,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity. The cumulative total of the rate decreases is worth nearly $1 million in savings for utility customers.

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I received one of the infamous Betty Hill attack ads against Randy in the mail yesterday. I'm no Randy fan, but it was lousy stuff. A few interesting points from the ad I received:

- She attacks Randy for taking trips to Washington DC and paying $200/night for hotel rooms. Find me a hotel that's less than $200/night in the D.C. area.

- She says she won't take trips on the taxpayers' dime. So I guess when she's invited to the National Association of Counties annual conference she won't go or will pay her own way?

The big thing for me though is the line in the Ledger from the other day. When asked about the ads, Betty said:

"I [said] this makes me feel very uncomfortable," said Hill of the flier. But she said Twyla G. Ely, her campaign consultant, asked, "Do you want to win? These are the things you've got to deal with."

So when something challenged her internal values, she caved and listened to her handlers. I think that speaks volumes more than any issue.

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Tampa Uber-Blog Sticks of Fire just got an updated design. Tommy has all the details on the new three column layout which puts more of a focus on the content.

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I was talking with a county employee the other day about the upcoming primaries, specifically about the county commission races. The interesting topic that came up was the possibility of a retro county commission if Bruce Parker and Robert Connors get elected.

Following that thread, who makes your list of folks you'd like to see back on the commission (if there are any)?

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Taking a cue from the old Sammy Hagar song, it seems that commissioner Randy '4-Squares' Wilkinson can't drive 55. A Ledger editorial reveals that County Commissioner Randy Wilkinson has been speeding while using a county vehicle.

On a trip to Stuart for the Florida Association of Counties meeting, Wilkinson hit speeds of up to 100 mph in a county pool vehicle. The global-positioning system recorded the trip information, which is maintained by the county.

That trip was in November, and during it, Wilkinson drove 90 mph or faster 17 times -- 20 mph over the speed limit.

Nor was that fast driving a fluke. Wilkinson hit top speeds of 88 mph on an October trip, 82 in March and 89 in May, according to GPS records.

The Ledger editorial states that the tip came from a Betty Hill supporter. Chances are that the tipster was also a county employee. So far there has been no reprimand for Randy from the rest of commission, which the Ledger addresses:

Perhaps one of the other three commissioners -- Bob English, Sam Johnson or Paul Senft -- will recognize that it's bad for employee morale to hold county workers to one standard and commissioners to another. If any commissioners use county vehicles, make the safety policies apply to them as well.

Keeping a double standard such as this will also result in employees leaking tips/secrets to the media about those abusing power.

Update: I4Jamming had the same headline in mind :-)

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At the Gold's Gym I work out at in Winter Haven, FL they have a series of TVs in front of the treadmills that are tuned to a variety of local and cable news stations. From 6:00 - 6:30 am this morning I must have seen over 20 Charlie Crist commercials. At some points two or three of the TVs had the same commercial running.

I wonder what they are spending per day on television ads.

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