Lakeland Local

02/02/2022

As a community service, Lakeland Local has reopened to feature the 16 books under fire.

An effort has been made to put select books out of the reach of Lakeland students. Lakeland Local decided to cast a spotlight on those books.

09/10/2021

It's been a long time since Lakeland Local published. It's still closed, but I read something today that I wanted to share.

This is the kind of column that Billy Townsend wrote back then that made me so happy he chose LL to share his thoughts.

If you haven't been reading Billy's work at Subspace, you've can catch up. Subscription link is in the comments...

https://billytownsend.substack.com/p/when-saga-met-hannah-111-lies-in

Saga Stevin is, by far, the most virulently anti-honesty, anti-Lakeland, and anti-black candidate for any office in my 22 years of living here. It's not even remotely close.

27/11/2018

This is how you support local journalism....

Will you help us reach our goal?

Through the end of the year, is generously matching donations dollar for dollar — up to $1,000 per donor — to our nonprofit newsroom, meaning your support goes twice as far.

Donate today and help us meet our GivingNewsDay goal of $4,000 and our total goal of $25,000: https://www.lkldnow.com/support_us/

10/11/2018

Lakeland needs local journalism. And there is no one better equipped than Barry Friedman. He is a long time resident of the city and has decades of journalism experience.

You can ensure LkldNow has the resources to continue offering you the local news you need. And you can do it easily by clicking the donate button below...

LkldNow is among 155 news organizations participating in NewsMatch, a national call-to-action to support nonprofit journalism. Individual donations (up to $1,000) during November and December will be matched 100 percent!

13/04/2018

If you're confused by another "Lakeland Local" page on Facebook...

It's not us. We reported the news. We didn't scrape it.

01/01/2018

In case you missed it, Lakeland Local shut down.

You can find Billy Townsend on Facebook at Billy Townsend - Polk School Board District 1

And if you'd like more Lakeland news and information:

lkldnow

Lakeland Downtown Development Authority

15/12/2017

Posted by Billy Townsend on Dec 15, 2017 in All Articles, columns | Comments Off on The ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Chronicles: Ledger editorial writer would rather concern troll faraway women over harassment than support them at home

30/11/2017

Charters and impasse resolution

22/11/2017

The 15-month impasse war began in one era; and it will end in another. I believe common sense and common purpose, against all odds, have won. And I believe that is a victory worth celebrating, while also recognizing the years of hard work we have ahead of us.

16/11/2017

This won't be news to most...

http://lakelandlocal.com

Fin Chuck WelchSlightly over 11 years ago I started Lakeland Local. At first it was a site to share what I learned about my new hometown. It grew into something more. Dedicated to hyperlocal news, it became my raison d’etre. It was the calling card that allowed me to peek slightly behind the scenes....

15/11/2017

It's Chuck Welch with a public service notice....

If you haven't already, it would be a very good idea to go like Billy Townsend - Polk School Board District 1

12/11/2017

The final Tenoroc report has been issued. It is anti-climactic. It’s a somewhat strange rehash of elements of the first report. It seems more oriented to Jason Looney’s handling of the school as a whole. But there are some important findings of fact. Perhaps the most important is that Looney complet...

31/10/2017

LAKELAND — The Polk County School Board voted Monday to continue a hearing on teacher raises until its Nov. 14 regularly scheduled meeting. The

26/10/2017

TALLAHASSEE — Dealing with low poll ratings at the time and a looming re-election campaign, Florida Gov. Rick Scott four years ago pushed strongly

22/10/2017

There are many parallels between school districts and institutional newspapers like The Ledger. The parallels between reporters and teachers are particularly deep. The Ledger, like the Polk School district, has very dedicated, talented reporters doing a hard job for no money and very little respect.

19/10/2017

Stepping Out For Education 2017

17/10/2017

School Board Attorney Wes Bridges sent this note to School Board members yesterday concerning the Tenoroc High School issue.

12/10/2017

During his Aug. 31 appearance at the mandatory meeting for Tenoroc High School faculty, Tim Harris said a lot of things. I’m going to be looking closely at some of them in coming days. But I want to start here, because it relates to the bizarre and embarrassing spectacle with our financial advisor R...

11/10/2017

11/10/2017

BARTOW – The Polk County School Board is poised to select Ford & Associates of Tampa as the School District’s financial adviser,

10/10/2017

In the last seven years, the Polk School District has twice investigated multiple allegations of sexual harassment against current Tenoroc High School Principal Jason Looney. To my knowledge, all of the players are different in the two investigations except Jason Looney. He is the common element.

06/10/2017

I’m very protective of our people, particularly when I feel like they’re working hard and suffering to do their jobs. If people hurt them, like our Legislature often does, I try to make it painful for the people doing the hurting. That’s basically my entire philosophy of public jerkiness. I try to m...

02/10/2017

Two important personnel developments in the last week or so have left a vacuum at the top of the district’s organization.

26/09/2017

The Polk School District is investigating allegations of sexual harassment against Tenoroc High School Principal Jason Looney.

22/09/2017

State Rep. Neil Combee is a sycophantic puppet of Richard Corcoran, the imperial Speaker of the House who fancies himself Florida’s dictator. Trust me, whatever Neil says about public education does not emerge from his own brain. Until a few months ago, he did not even know that he sets the Polk Sch...

22/09/2017

08/09/2017

31/08/2017

Let’s take a visceral human tour of what Florida’s sociopathic education model looks like in real life for real people — children and adults alike.

25/08/2017

10/08/2017

America’s worst, most corrupt School Board sits in Tallahassee in comfy state legislator chairs. Your vote for a local School Board member matters little or nothing to them. Their behavior shows they believe they can do anything to you — or allow anything to happen –and get away with it.