October 2007 Archives
Posted by Josh Hallett on October 30, 2007 at 09:37 AM
One of my keyword searches alerted me to this post about the intelligent design debate and offered a quote by Joe Wolf, president of Florida Citizens for Science from an Orlando Sentinel article:
Joe Wolf, president of Florida Citizens for Science, called the draft standards a “wonderful” blueprint for science education. Wolf, of Winter Haven, said the evolution debate holds little interest to most scientists, who accept it as fact. That’s why the issue did not become controversial during the standards-writing meetings, he said.
“It’s a PR issue,” he said. “And it’s a religious issue. In the scientific community, it’s not an issue.”
Joe is from Winter Haven. A Google search for his name shows a number of results, one of which is the FCS web site. The main purpose of the group according to their site:
Florida's economic future depends upon providing our children with the best education that modern scientific instruction can offer. Florida has major investments in medicine, biotechnology, space technology and other fields. We compete with our sister states for employers in these fields. It's critical to support our future success by investing in our educational system in the present.
The current hot-topic issue is the revision of the science standards for public schools...this of course leads to the debate over intelligent design.
Joe was recently interviewed by the SPTimes gradebook blog. (Hat tip: Chuck)
Posted by Josh Hallett on October 30, 2007 at 09:18 AM
Somebody left a comment to a previous post and addressed me, but I'm not the only writer at EP now. Adam has been contributing for some time and Meredith posts when she has a chance. Nick will be posting soon as well :-)
Want to contribute? Send me an e-mail with some examples of posts that you'd like to share.
Posted by Adam Weeks on October 29, 2007 at 09:24 AM
The Ledger announces that curbside recycling will begin in Winter Haven Nov 12. Next week, Nov 5, blue recycling bins will be distributed to city residents. My question is, didn't we already do this? When I moved into my house within the city limits, I had a yellow recycle bin, filled it with recycling materials, put it on the curb, and the garbage men threw it away with the trash!
Posted by Meredith Spresser on October 24, 2007 at 01:46 PM
If you're Puerto Rican, or into Puerto Rico, or maybe just into learning more about other cultures, then I have the event for you. Una Noche de Estrellas will be held Friday, November 9, at Polk Museum of Art. It's a partnership between the Museum and the Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce of Polk County, and it looks like it's going to be an exciting night. $40 per person will get you a cocktail hour sponsored by Rums of Puerto Rico, great Puerto Rican food, a Bomba y Plena showcase by Florida Dance Theatre, a screening of the movie "Cayo", and the chance to meet a real live foreign dignitary, the Honorable Velda Gonzales, former Vice President of the Puerto Rican Senate. Visit www.PolkMuseumofArt.org and click "Una Noche de Estrellas" for more details or to buy tickets.
On a different note, I know it's entirely too early to be thinking about the Holidays, but I've been thinking about them off and on since June. Now, I'm going to share the joy by putting a little bug in your ear:
The Museum is hosting its annual Holiday Festival, formerly known as the Festival of Trees, November 16 - 19. It's a weekend full of beautiful decorations and many great events, some of which are specifically for kids. There's a lot of information on our website: www.PolkMuseumofArt.org, so mosey over and click the button that says "Holiday Festival."
It's only three weeks away, but I'll post more as we get closer to the event!
Posted by Josh Hallett on October 24, 2007 at 05:32 AM
Well it finally happened, the News Chief has been sold. There had been rumors for some time and I had also heard word from an insider that it was on the block.
Morris Publishing Group agreed Tuesday to sell 17 of its newspapers, including the News Chief in Winter Haven, to GateHouse Media Inc. for $115 million.
Morris will use the cash to pay down debt. The sale of its smaller newspapers will leave the Augusta-based company with 10 medium-sized papers.
The other papers sold:
In addition to the News Chief, the Morris daily newspapers to be sold are the Dodge City (Kan.) Daily Globe, The Newton (Kan.) Kansan, The (Pittsburg, Kan.) Morning Sun, the Hillsdale (Mich.) Daily News, The Holland (Mich.) Sentinel, the Hannibal (Mo.) Courier-Post, The (Independence, Mo.) Examiner, The Grand Island (Neb.) Independent, the York (Neb.) News-Times, The Daily Ardmoreite (Okla.), The Shawnee (Okla.) News-Star, the Yankton (S.D.) Daily Press & Dakotan and The Oak Ridger (Tenn.).
The nondaily newspapers include La Estrella (Dodge City, Kan.) The Girard (Kan.) City Press and the Vermillion (S.D.) Plain Talk. Also sold was a commercial printing operation, Flashes Publishing (Mich.), which also publishes The Holland Sentinel and the Flashes Shopping Guides.
So it looks like they're dropping their smaller market papers. Properties like Jacksonville and Augusta, their stronger brands, remain. Here is the official release from Morris.
The new owners, GateHouse Media, own a number of smaller publications across the country. Papers like The Daily Telegram and the Boonville Daily News. Looking around at some of the paper web sites, they're not that impressive which isn't a good thing since the future of all news is online. There are some bright spots like the Taunton Gazette. It features a somewhat decent layout, RSS feeds...but a completely blank blogs page.
Posted by Josh Hallett on October 22, 2007 at 06:43 AM
I'm on a long business trip that brought me to Atlanta on Sunday. While driving to meet a friend for breakfast in Atlanta I looked up and saw this:
It's the entrance to the CSX Hulsey Yard, aka Intermodal Atlanta. Small world :-) I didn't have a chance to do any other looking since I was late for me meet-up.
Posted by Adam Weeks on October 16, 2007 at 03:46 PM
Past former Winter Haven spring trainers, the Boston Red Sox, are playing the current "former" Winter Haven spring trainers, the Cleveland Indians in the ALCS game 4 tonight. With the Sox down 2-1 in the series, can they turn it around tonight? Are there any Winter Haven Sox fans left or have they all been converted to the dark side?
Posted by Adam Weeks on October 16, 2007 at 08:41 AM
Traveling northbound on highway 27 in Haines City I've witnessed a few close calls and one accident all in one location. The location is directly in front of the new Lowes in Haines City just north of Wal-Mart Supercenter. The situation is the same every time, a semi-truck is pulling out of the Lowes parking lot, turning left to head south on 27. The semi crosses the northbound lanes and stops in the median turn lane waiting for southbound traffic to clear. While he is waiting, his trailer is blocking part of (or in some places completely) the far left northbound lane. The close calls that I’ve seen are when cars following the semis out of Lowes see that the northbound lanes are clear, and they also think that it’s a great idea to pull out into the left turn lane. This totally blocks the left turn opportunities for southbound traffic, and the braking noises are thunderous. The accident occurred when one semi followed another into the turning lane on Hwy 27, and totally blocked all northbound traffic. I'm not a big fan of adding MORE lights to 27, but something needs to be done about this. Is it possible to make it a "no left turn" out of Lowes and make drivers make a U-turn at the next lighted intersection?
Posted by Josh Hallett on October 15, 2007 at 02:02 PM
Well everybody who was anybody was there. CSX folks, City of Winter Haven folks, Anne Furr of the LDDA, Kathleen Munson of the LACC. If you had a stake in the CSX debate you were there.
The purpose of the meeting is to allow regional/state/public agencies to put forth their case with respect to the DRI application. Contrary to what was in the paper, this is not a public hearing and does not offer the ability for public input, that will come at a later process. The discussion is also centered on the applicant's application and is not a discussion of regional decisions regarding rail, etc. Agency comments are limited to five minutes a piece.
I think after the intro, a number of citizens who were expecting to speak were quietly upset.
Neil Frazee with MSCW gave a brief project overview, nothing new to many of the folks in the audience who have been following the process. The proposed project is a one phase project. Construction starts in 2008, completed in 2009. The project will employ up to about 200 employees once completed.
Anne Stokes with Southeast Archeological Research then spoke about the archeological survey completed. No major archeological sites/structures have been found on the site.
Dale Dowling then reviewed some of the ecological findings. (sorry I was uploading photos so didn't get all of it) The next presentation dealt with traffic, didn't catch the guy's name. I think everybody here was interested in traffic. There will be only one primary access point which will connect to SR 60. All traffic coming in/out will then head East or West on SR 60. There are no plans to extend the connector
The Taft rail yard is often mentioned as a good example of how the site will operate site. The Winter Haven facility is going to be a combo of automobile cars and traditional container cars, no tankers.
The next portion of the meeting was a request to eliminate questions about the DRI. These are things like issues with on-site wells (there are none), per-capita issues (there are no additional home units being built). Much of this was inside-baseball.
So what did we learn today? If you've been following the CSX project, then not much. Remember this was a DRI pre-application hearing, so that actual application wasn't really being debated. From what I can gather, much of it was, "Here's what we're going to submit....what do you think?"
Things will get interesting once the actual application is submitted. That will be the middle of December when the actual application will be submitted. Neil Frazee said the tentative date is December 9th. Once submitted, the application will be made available to the public.
A hearing has been scheduled for October 24th to discuss the specifics of the traffic impacts. Need to get more details on that.
Next up was comments from other agencies/cities, while this is not part of the official DRI pre-application review it was allowed today. First up was the City Manager of Lake Wales. His major concern is the traffic issues. The City of Lakeland submitted some questions but did not review them publicly. Need to see if I can get a copy of those.
Jean Reed, spoke and said her comments were her own, since she can't speak for the BOCC. She thanked the participants for bringing forth the DRI process. Also, since the project is surrounded by county residents, it will impact Polk County.
Jim Studial, City of Lakeland spoke some more on behalf of Lakeland. Jim said they would be disappointed if the DRI process did not address the increased rail traffic in the county. The project also needs to be reviewed from a comp plan perspective within the county. Although it's a Winter Haven project and within their comp plan, it impacts all of the county.
Prior to the application and public hearings, public comment can be sent to csxdri@cfrpc.org.
That was it, not much excitement. December is when the real fun begins :-)
Posted by Josh Hallett on October 15, 2007 at 10:36 AM
Over on the other blog I posted about some changes in direction. In short, I have accepted a position with Voce Communications, a PR agency in Palo Alto, CA. However, I won't be moving. Much of the work I do is remote, but I do travel a bit.
What does this mean for EP, not much. This site has always been a hobby and will continue to be so. I might actually have a bit more time for it now though. We'll see.
Thanks again for reading.
Posted by Josh Hallett on October 11, 2007 at 07:45 AM
Yes we all know that DayJet air taxi service is now officially launched in Lakeland, but how about a real commercial airline? Sound far fetched? It might not be.
Recently SkyBus announced jet service to Punta Gorda, FL. You read that correctly, Punta Gorda. (Photo above is a SkyBus Airbus A319 in San Diego. Photo by So Cal Metro)
They're flying into Port Charlotte Airport starting Dec 5th. SkyBus COO, Ken Gile said this to the Charlotte Sun:
Punta Gorda is a great destination for our nonstop flights on full-size jets and our outrageously low fares," Gile said in a statement. "Southwest Florida is a major destination for people in Columbus and all over Ohio, and we think Charlotte County Airport will provide a very attractive alternative for travelers going to and from Fort Myers, Naples, Sarasota, Port Charlotte and all of Southwest Florida.
SkyBus is a low-cost carrier that has a limited number of routes. You might compare them to Southwest or Airtran. SkyBus has some low fares, how low? From the Charlotte Sun article:
Skybus is offering at least 10 seats on every flight at a base price of $10, first-come, first-served. Taxes and fees add about $10 more to the price.
A more apt comparison for SkyBus is not Southwest, but EasyJet or Ryanair from Europe. Those two European carriers are ultra-low-cost like SkyBus. One way EasyJet/Ryanair can offer low fares is to use regional airports near large destinations. You don't really fly to Milan, but 'near' Milan. Of course your definition of 'near' may vary.
SkyBus is using Port Charlotte Airport to serve the Southwest Florida area. In that model, an airport like Lakeland Linder would 'serve' Tampa.
Regional airports can offer tremendous savings over traditional hubs. If you're not familiar with the industry, large airlines pay for the use of gates are major airports. Often regional municipalities will offer considerable incentives (read FREE) to bring a commercial carrier to their airport. Those savings can be passed along as lower fares.
I can't speak for the Lakeland City Commission, but I think that if a commercial carrier expressed interest in Lakeland, they'd be all ears...and open their checkbooks. Sure some major updates would have to happen to the airport, but if Punta Gorda can do it, so can Lakeland.
Posted by Josh Hallett on October 10, 2007 at 02:00 PM
If I had more time (as in, if this was my full-time job) I'd do a report/post on the growing homeless population in Winter Haven.
In Polk County, Lakeland has always received attention about its homeless population. However, there are a number of organizations in place there to help, think Salvation Army and Talbot House to name a few.
It may only be my perception, but there seems to be more homeless people in Winter Haven. A large percentage of them congregate at night in one of the covered pavilions on Lake Silver. During the day they go their respective ways about town.
You wonder how they got in the position they're in, what they used to do.
Hopefully one of the local papers will put a reporter on the story and develop a feature out of it.
Posted by Josh Hallett on October 10, 2007 at 07:09 AM
Next Tuesday, October 16th I'll be part of the Florida Public Relations Association's local media breakfast event. Yep, you guessed it, I'll be playing the part of the 'blogger'. The event is from 7:30 am (that's early) till noon. The round-table discussions, of which I'll be a part of, start at 9:00 AM.
Check the FPRA web site for more details.
Posted by Josh Hallett on October 9, 2007 at 11:38 AM
If you were in downtown Winter Haven today it would have been hard to miss these two guys working on a church steeple.
Posted by Josh Hallett on October 9, 2007 at 09:20 AM
A recent comment on an old post on my other blog from Crispers' IT Director indicates that all Crispers locations now have free wifi. Nice.
We have just completed a technology revamp at all our locations including new POS Systems and WIFI. All Crispers locations are now a WIFI hotspot, Crispers loves its customers and wants them to enjoy their visit. Whether on business or with friends and family, come in for the great food and bring your laptop or PDA..!!
I'll need to swing by the Winter Haven location to check things out.
Posted by Josh Hallett on October 9, 2007 at 05:59 AM
Back in March of this year, Taylor Smith, 20, was involved in a severe accident resulting in a head injury. Since the accident his parents have maintained a blog track his recovery. The most recent post is from yesterday and discusses a meeting between Taylor and Officer Pat Guity of the Lakeland Police Department.
In a case like this a blog is a great tool to keep friends and family updated on a situation. It will also serve as a historical reference.
Posted by Josh Hallett on October 9, 2007 at 05:32 AM
Back in September I asked when the Ritz Theatre renovation would ever be complete. It looks like there might be 'some' movement on that front. I say, 'some' since a meeting/fundraiser has been scheduled for this Thursday to talk about this very subject.
According to one of the Ledger's blogs, "Lets Finish the Ritz" will discuss the completion of Winter Haven's Spruce Goose. The event is being held on Thursday, Oct 11th at Scores Cafe.
Unfortunately I'll be in Indianapolis for business, but hopefully some news about the event will be posted somewhere.
Posted by Adam Weeks on October 8, 2007 at 02:56 PM
The South Florida Bulls were bumped up another spot this week with the losses of Wisconsin and USC! What a year of "firsts" for the Bulls! Congratulations guys! This alma mater is very proud! The Bulls tackle UCF Knights in Tampa this Saturday (Oct 13) in what appears to be another sell-out crowd. Anyone have tickets?
Posted by Josh Hallett on October 5, 2007 at 10:50 AM
The new Publix plaza under construction across from Heart of Florida Hospital now has a a Crispers sign on the marquee. The store is not listed on their locations page yet. I'll have to check a menu next time I'm in a Crispers since they always list the 'Coming Soon' stores on the back.
Posted by Josh Hallett on October 4, 2007 at 10:33 AM
Another edition of Where in Polk County? If you know where this photo was taken leave a comment.
Posted by Josh Hallett on October 1, 2007 at 07:29 AM
The Orlando Sentinel has a large feature piece on Frostproof: Frostproof struggles with growing or disappearing.
There is no Wal-Mart or Publix here. No Chili's or Burger King. No mega subdivisions of cookie-cutter homes.
For years, Frostproof's isolation has been its shield against unwanted growth.....
....But the present has brought challenges to the heart of Florida's citrus country.
Frostproof's largest employer and utility user, the Cargill juice plant, is closing. The Police Department has disbanded. The city's only grocery store is for sale. And the 2004 hurricane season devastated the city's finances.
The Sentinel seems to have a fascination with Frostproof since it profiled the area in September of last year as well.
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A hyperlocal blog about Imperial Polk County, Florida. It is written by local residents that wish to provide an alternative to traditional media sources. The focus is commentary and open discussion of the issues that face Polk County, FL.
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