Lakeland Local
Lakeland Local
///////////////////////////////////////////
Does Phoenix Foreshadow the Future of Lakeland?
Posted: 02 Jan 2009 03:30 AM CST
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LakelandLocal/~3/500875904/
I am always challenged when people ask where I am from. I moved ten times before attending college at Florida Southern. The technical answer should be Arizona since I graduated from Cactus High School in Glendale, a suburb of Phoenix, especially since my parents reside there.
Every visit I am mostly amazed by what is new to the area. Around my parents home the area has exploded. Most recently the addition of the Cardinals new stadium, about fifteen minutes from their home, has been one contributor. Otherwise my assumption is the massive amount of people moving to the newer West Valley. I returned a week ago from a trip that was different. Every time we went out I would some how be challenged to think of the future of Lakeland and Central Florida. I dont consider Phoenix to be progressive but maybe it is.
Red Light Traffic Cameras
For sometime now red light traffic cameras have been quite popular in Phoenix. This trip home I was amazed at just how many intersections have the red light cameras. The poles with cameras are on the side of the roadway. Sometimes the cameras are only on one side of the road and other times they are positioned in both directions. I fully expect to see pretty quickly similar devices making appearances in Lakeland.
There were two camera additions in Phoenix I thought were fascinating that I hadnt yet seen. First was cameras positioned on the highways. Phoenix has a great roadway system but high speed accidents have plagued the Valley contributing to many fatalities every year. Currently on various highways they have cameras that are triggered when a car is going 10mph above the speed limit. These cameras are stirring up quite the controversy amongst residents, but have thus far proved to assist in reducing the number of fatalities and definitely have slowed cars down. The downside is the cameras currently work only 1 out of every 3 shots. I guess drivers cross their figures when they see the flash hoping they are the lucky offender. Supposedly the kinks should be worked out and the cameras adjusted. Beyond their accuracy disgruntled residents are notorious for vandalizing the cameras by spray painting the lenses or destroying them. It will be interesting to track these camera since they are relatively new and see if Lakeland will struggle with the vandalism issue. (Click here to see a picture.)
The second contraption I thought was interesting was a police SUV parked on the side of various roadways. One day we went out in the desert to going off-roading and shooting. (Remember it is Arizona.) We were out in the sticks and saw a temporary orange traffic sign with a notice of photo enforcement. Then we saw a police SUV with reflectors in the windows and a camera poking out the top of the vehicle. Apparently law enforcement use these, mobile speed vans, all over in remote and congested areas to track speeding vehicles.
It almost seemed oppressive to be surrounded by so many cameras all the time. I could never keep up with where the cameras were and werent. It did make me think a lot about my driving. I wonder if we will see such enforcement come to Lakeland if the red light cameras are a success. The only real hesitation I forecast is the money needed make all this camera enforcement work.
Light Rail
We also happened to be in Phoenix during the debut of the light rail system. As you can imagine it was quite controversial and many are skeptical about ridership. We went to the grand opening, and I was impressed. There are already 28 stops on the line with one being at Phoenix Sky Harbor airport. The only downside I have is the line runs from central Phoenix to the east Valley but doesnt extend out west at all. Maybe in the future. Probably comes down to money.
I know Central Florida isnt necessarily looking for light rail, but commuter rail nonetheless. With everything still occurring with CSX I wonder if it will happen in the near future. Other cities are finding ways, granted they arent dealing with the regionalism dynamics we are. Each city ranging from Austin to Phoenix had their own challenges to overcome and did it. I think if Central Florida really wants to be the High-Tech Corridor we have to start getting serious and make commuter rail happen. (Of course without dumping freight in unnecessary places.)
The Mall
Well, I cant say this is something new. My only comment is we could have such a cooler mall if they put in Wii Stations at Lakeland Square. I know, I know dream on.
photo credit: Cathalain Carter
Maps, breaking news, fine photography and interesting features make Lakeland Local a wonderful start page for your browser.
///////////////////////////////////////////
Favorites of 2008
Posted: 01 Jan 2009 02:02 PM CST
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LakelandLocal/~3/500410369/
My wrap-up of 2007 took to long to assemble, and that was when I was writing Lakeland Local by myself. So, this year were going to take the easy road. I asked each contributor to send me the link to their favorite post of 2008.
Since everyone has only been with Lakeland Local for part of the year, I didnt limit their choice to work theyve written here.
Billy Townsend
Archives
townsend [at] lakelandlocal.com
Billy Townsend joined Lakeland Local after a career at the Ledger and the Tampa Tribune. Townsends work on the CSX story earned him a co-award for best print journalist from Creative Loafing. Townsend joined Lakeland Local with a sharp departure from his print style and he hasnt throttled back since. His favorite article started a lot of conversations in Lakeland: Demand Honesty. Love Your Neighbors And Friends. Vote No On 2.
I challenge the Lake Morton homeowner or Jay Dennis or anyone else who would vote for this amendment in the comfort of the anonymous voting booth to tell my friends to their face in their front yard that their love and commitment is a threat to someone else’s marriage. Spit on their edging. Drop trash on their flowers. Vandalize their home. That’s what you are doing with this amendment. It’s an act of moral vandalism. Supporters of this amendment want me to declare that my friends’ undeclared marriage is an abomination. That my wife and I help society, while my friends harm it. No damn way.
Cat Carter
Archives
Twitter
carter [at] lakelandlocal.com
Cat Carter wrote for YLakeland before joining Lakeland Local. Her favorite post of the year was one from that young professional oriented site: Efficiency = Chick-fil-A Drive Through:
As much as I love the food I found out that about 800 other people also love and were craving Chick-fil-A at the exact same time I was. The dilemma…drive through (10 cars) or inside (1,000 little kids?) We decided drive through and that is where I began probably one of the most efficient experiences of my life.
Darby Critendon
Archives
Twitter
critendon [at] lakelandlocal.com
Videographer extraordinaire Darby Critendon first published on her DarbySea site. Her favorite post, Pictures Speak A Thousand Words, concerned the time she had a unwelcome guest at her apartment complex:
An alligator greeted me on my way to work. He better be gone when I get home (make sure to count the legs*). If you ever have a nuisance alligator there is hot line set up to report them so the gator can be picked up- 1-866-392-4286 (866-FWC-Gator). According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Nuisance Alligators page the Commission received more than 21,000 complaints in 2006.
Lorrie Delk Walker
Archives
Twitter
delkwalker [at] lakelandlocal.com
Freelance writer, former Ledger reporter, and Lakeland public relations business owner Lorrie Delk Walker was kind enough to send her link and an explanation for her choice, Happy Grandparents Day:
The older I get, the more I appreciate my upbringing and the simple life to which I was exposed growing up. Family means everything to me. And although my extended family no longer is the tight-knit group I grew up with, I enjoy remembering the times as a child when it was that tight-knit group that I so long for today. As sappy as it sounds, this silly little story about spearmint is one of many events in my life that shaped me.
Tom Hagerty
Archives
hagerty [at] lakelandlocal.com
Tom Hagertys photographs of Lakeland life and locals are very popular with readers, but Tom chose to showcase his photo essay The Lakeland Highlands Scrub
Want to get far from the crowd without going far from Lakeland? Visit the Lakeland Highlands Scrub. One recent morning I hiked for more than an hour and saw only two other people. I did, however, see birds, butterflies, saw palmetto, longleaf and slash pines, live oaks, wiregrass and goldenrod.
Chuck Welch
Archives
Twitter
welch [at] lakelandlocal.com
Using my prerogative as the writer of this little piece, I wont pick a favorite post for 2008. Instead, Ill mention the Lakeland Local features I most enjoy maps. I created the Lakeland crime maps last year and continued making them for 2007 and 2008. I was happy to teach LPD the art, and later help get Spotcrime together with LPD to save the department the time and trouble of map making. For a new challenge, I worked with Realtor Petra Norris to create the weekly Lakeland Home Sales Real Estate maps which now include Google Street Views where possible. I look forward to the Ledger also stepping up to take those over at some point. There are numerous other maps on Lakeland Local. One goal in 2009 is to make it easier to find them when needed.
As main stream media struggles to find a new business model, 2008 was a year where we found how well independent citizen reporting can help fill in the slack. Here at Lakeland Local I trust we will continue to publish breaking stories, important articles, and insightful commentary throughout 2009.
And maybe even a surprise or two.
Maps, breaking news, fine photography and interesting features make Lakeland Local a wonderful start page for your browser.
///////////////////////////////////////////
Welcome to 2009 and more changes for Lakeland Local
Posted: 01 Jan 2009 11:40 AM CST
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LakelandLocal/~3/500326781/
Its after Noon on January 1st and Ive finished implementing the changes to Lakeland Local. Most of them are behind the scene, and those, unfortunately wont be completed for a few more days. Simply, as the site has gained popularity it has experienced some growing pains. I hope the software changes will improve speed, responsiveness and readability. A move to a new server next week should also help a great deal.
I know only the technophiles care about such changes. And theyre probably reading this on their feedreaders and dont realized weve adopted a new look for 2009. Last year we moved from single author, primarily news-oriented to multi-author, photography rich, columnist-oriented. We hope this new design will help readers navigate our feature heavy content.
The highlights:
Weve shortened the home page article excerpts. Readers should no longer miss articles because theyve so quickly scrolled off the home page.
Each home page excerpt now includes a photo of the writer, or an image for our regular maps and other such features.
The many fans of Tom Hagerty should rejoice. In the old design we could publish only one of Toms photos each day. Worse, once a photo ran, it was almost impossible to find again. The new design features a set of Toms photographs that play as a slideshow. Each Sunday, Ill drop in a new set of seven photos that will play all week. You can click any photo to view it full size and easily restart the slideshow with a click. A link is included above the slide show that will point to all of Toms published photos.
If the slideshow isnt enough, the footer of every page will display thumbnails of the latest 10 photos by Tom. Savvy readers can catch the photos before they illustrate articles or appear in the slideshow.
Navigation aids are all over the site. Under our logo above is a line of our special information pages. Under that line are quick links to our seven most popular categories.
Breadcrumbs appear at the top left of every page to help readers navigate the site. At the top right is todays date; a link to our latest nine articles formatted for mobile devices; and a link to our RSS feed.
Under Toms slideshow is Lakeland Short Reports quick news notes and information from the Lakeland Local staff. Were using Twitter to keep that section updated with police reports, missing person information, Amber Alerts, and other such time-sensitive news. (If youre not using Twitter, give it a look. You can subscribe to our article Twitter feed @lakelandlocal. Many of the Lakeland Local staff also use Twitter: @chuckwelch, @cmcarter, @darbysea, and @lorriewalker90.
A new tabbed sidebar will display numerous new ways to find articles on Lakeland Local. Tab #1 displays the latest five updated posts; #2 lists the latest five written posts. The list wont always match as we occasionally update an older post with new information. Tab #1 is your quick method to updates.
If you like seeing what everyone else is reading then tab #3 is your list of our five most read posts. Note, well reset the count every now and then.
The next set of tabs continue methods to find older posts. Tab #4 is a cloud of article tags. Writers use the tags to identify key elements of each article. The larger the font, the more often that tag has been applied.
Tab #5 is the standard list of categories. (In the next few weeks we will reduce that list to a more manageable number.) Tab #6 is a simple list of months. With a click you can display an entire month of articles.
Favorite sidebar links have returned. One-click links to: the archives of each contributor, area writers, Lakeland organizations, media, and other helpful sites.
Our local calender isnt lost in the shuffle. You can find a link at the top of every page, and a list of todays and upcoming events in the sidebar.
Our sister sites, The Arts in Lakeland, and Metro I-4 News are represented on every page with a list of latest posts. We expect both sites to grow in 2009.
There are other changes throughout the site. Well leave it to astute readers to catch them. Please write us at staff [at] lakelandlocal.com if you have any questions, concerns, or have found a place where weve made a coding error.
photo credit: Tom Hagerty for Lakeland Local
Maps, breaking news, fine photography and interesting features make Lakeland Local a wonderful start page for your browser.
