Lakeland Florida Latest News
| National Title Game to Be Shown in Updated 3-D |
| Thursday night's FedEx BCS Championship game between the Gators and the Oklahoma Sooners is being shown live in 3-D at 80 theaters across the country, a unique event masterminded in part by Winter Haven native Michael Lewis. |
| 01/07/2009 02:40 AM |
| Jeb Bush Says He Won't Run for Senate Seat |
| Former Gov. Jeb Bush announced Tuesday that he won't run for the U.S. Senate in 2010 to replace the retiring Mel Martinez, saying that it was not the right time to return to elected office. |
| 01/06/2009 06:00 PM |
| Man Gets 11 Years in Fatal DUI Crash |
| Circuit Judge Neil Roddenbery sentenced a 26-year-old Belle Glade man Tuesday to about 11 years in prison for a crash that killed one of his passengers. The judge also sentenced Valentin Guzman to a year of probation. |
| 01/06/2009 08:30 PM |
| Wildfire Danger High in Polk |
| A few wildfires have been reported around Polk County and "everything is ripe" for more, according to the Florida Division of Forestry.<br>Chris Kintner, a spokeswoman for the Lakeland office, urged residents to be extra vigilant with any outdoor burning. |
| 01/06/2009 02:57 PM |
| Schools To Take Big Hit in Budget |
| TALLAHASSEE | Lawmakers are preparing to slash more than $600 million in state support for public schools, community colleges and universities as they move to fix a $2.3 billion hole in the state budget. |
| 01/06/2009 11:10 PM |
| Powerball Piques Interest in Polk |
| LAKELAND | When faced with choosing one or the other, some new local lottery players aren't thinking twice about playing Powerball over the Florida Lotto.<br>"They're not buying a Lotto ticket, they're buying a Powerball ticket," said Henry Tucker, owner of Tucker's Southside Package & Lounge in Lakeland. |
| 01/06/2009 09:20 PM |
| Teacher In Trouble Over MySpace Before Sex Arrest |
| BROOKSVILLE | Hernando schools officials missed at least one flag that might have tipped them off to potential wrongdoing by a teacher who was arrested last week on sex charges. |
| 01/06/2009 12:51 PM |
| Ocala Embraces Travolta's Family During Tragedy |
| Associated Press Writer<br>OCALA | This small Central Florida town is about as far from Hollywood as you can get. Maybe that's why actor John Travolta moved his family here.<br>The town square features a fondue restaurant, the social scene revolves around ranchers' soirees and horse riding is one of the main pastimes. |
| 01/06/2009 10:10 PM |
| Congress, Obama Eager to Tame Economy |
| WASHINGTON | The new Congress opened for business at the stroke of noon on Tuesday, eager to join President-elect Barack Obama in tackling the worst economic crisis in generations. Democrats celebrated last fall's election gains in the House and Senate. |
| 01/06/2009 08:10 PM |
| Polk Schools to Lose $135 Per Student |
| LAKELAND | The Polk County School District will lose $12.6 million because of the state spending cuts legislators appear ready to make. |
| 01/06/2009 11:40 PM |
| Burris Turned Away From Senate |
| WASHINGTON | Roland Burris failed in his bid to take President-elect Barack Obama's Illinois Senate seat Tuesday in a scripted piece of political theater staged just before the opening of the 111th Congress. |
| 01/06/2009 02:10 PM |
| Social Security Unveils Online Application |
| WASHINGTON | The Social Security Administration, envisaging the near-future prospect of 10,000 baby boomers applying for benefits every day, has put together a new online service that will allow people to get their benefits without ever traveling to a Social Security field office. |
| 01/06/2009 11:40 PM |
| Gaza Truce Proposed After Blast at School Kills 30 |
| GAZA CITY, Gaza | France and Egypt announced an initiative to stop the fighting in Gaza late Tuesday, hours after Israeli mortar shells exploded near a U.N. school sheltering hundreds of people displaced by the onslaught on Hamas militants. At least 30 Palestinians died, staining streets with blood. |
| 01/06/2009 11:40 PM |
| Tourism Agency Faces Cuts in Special Session |
| TALLAHASSEE | At the same time state and federal leaders are counting on billions in stimulus spending to revive the economy, Florida lawmakers will be gutting a number of programs designed for the same purpose. |
| 01/06/2009 08:06 PM |
| Former Blackwater Guards Plead Innocent |
| WASHINGTON | Five former Blackwater Worldwide security guards pleaded not guilty Tuesday to federal manslaughter and gun charges resulting from a 2007 shooting in a crowded Baghdad square that killed 17 Iraqi civilians and injured dozens of others. |
| 01/06/2009 09:40 PM |
| Indicted Judge Faces More Charges |
| HOUSTON | A federal judge who was indicted last year for allegedly making unwanted sexual advances toward his court case manager was accused Tuesday of fondling another former court employee. |
| 01/06/2009 11:40 PM |
| Jobless Claim Systems Overwhelmed |
| ALBANY, N.Y. | Electronic unemployment filing systems have crashed in at least three states in recent days amid an unprecedented crush of thousands of newly jobless Americans seeking benefits, and other states were adjusting their systems to avoid being next. |
| 01/06/2009 10:10 PM |
| Boy, 6, Crashes Car Driving to School |
| WICOMICO CHURCH, Va. | Having missed his bus, a 6-year-old Virginia boy tried to drive to school in his family's sedan - and crashed.<br>State police say the boy suffered only minor injuries and authorities drove him to school after he was evaluated at a local hospital. Sgt. Tom Cunningham said the boy arrived shortly after lunch. |
| 01/06/2009 02:21 PM |
| Pakistani President Asks for Support, but Not Troops |
| KABUL, Afghanistan | Pakistan's president called Tuesday for foreign allies to provide more support - not more troops - to help win the battle against extremist militias along its volatile border with Afghanistan. |
| 01/06/2009 09:20 PM |
| Risky Brain Pacemaker Helps Fight Parkinson's |
| CHICAGO | Parkinson's sufferers who had electrodes implanted in their brains improved substantially more than those who took only medicine, according to the biggest test yet of deep brain stimulation. |
| 01/06/2009 09:50 PM |
| Travoltas Back in Florida With Son's Ashes |
| FREEPORT, Bahamas | Actor John Travolta and wife, Kelly Preston, have returned to Florida with the remains of their 16-year-old son, Jett, who died at the family vacation home in Grand Bahama. |
| 01/06/2009 12:03 PM |
| Russia's Gas to 10 Nations Is Cut |
| MOSCOW | The Russian-Ukrainian dispute over natural-gas supplies took a dramatic turn for the worse Tuesday as supplies were reduced or cut off to at least 10 European countries.<br>The countries involved include Greece, Austria, Turkey, Germany, Romania and Bulgaria, according to statements by energy officials and news accounts. |
| 01/06/2009 09:10 PM |
| Iraqi Official, Guard Shot To Death |
| BAGHDAD | Gunmen killed a member of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's political party in a drive-by shooting in the northern city of Kirkuk, Iraqi police officials said Tuesday. |
| 01/07/2009 02:40 AM |
| Wild Chase Leaves Damage Trail Through Lakeland |
| A driver who led police on a brief chase in central Lakeland ricocheted like a pinball off two police cars, a utility trailer, two other cars, a metal gate, an oak tree and a house before he was stopped and arrested Monday. |
| 01/06/2009 12:10 AM |
| Fla. Lawmakers Sharpen Budget Ax |
| Learning that state revenue fell by another $100 million last month, Florida lawmakers began their new year Monday preparing to cut some $1 billion in funding for schools, nursing homes and other government services. |
| 01/06/2009 03:40 AM |
| Sansom Quits State School Job |
| Seeking a sudden end to a growing controversy, House Speaker Ray Sansom on Monday quit his $110,000 vice president's position with a state-run school. |
| 01/05/2009 09:50 PM |
| Woman's Condition Still Critical After Crash |
| The driver injured in a U.S. 27 crash that killed her 6-month-old daughter remained in critical condition at Lakeland Regional Medical Center on Monday, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. |
| 01/05/2009 10:50 PM |
| Israel Ignores Calls for Truce |
| GAZA CITY, Gaza | Israel ignored mounting international calls for a cease-fire Monday and said it won't stop its crippling 10-day assault until "peace and tranquility" are achieved in southern Israeli towns in the line of Palestinian rocket fire. |
| 01/06/2009 03:40 AM |
| Franken Leads Recount; Lawsuit Looms |
| ST. PAUL, Minn. | A Minnesota board Monday certified results showing Democrat Al Franken winning the state's U.S. Senate recount over Republican Norm Coleman, whose lawyer promised a legal challenge that probably will keep the race in limbo for months. |
| 01/05/2009 09:50 PM |
| 2 Arrested After Ga. Standoff |
| MADISON, Ga. | A 13-hour hostage standoff at a Georgia motel ended peacefully Monday when a former South Carolina police officer and a teenage girl surrendered, freeing his estranged wife and infant son. |
| 01/05/2009 09:50 PM |
