Lakeland Local
Lakeland Local
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Whoa, Big News From The School Distict
Posted: 09 Jan 2009 07:30 AM CST
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LakelandLocal/~3/507161452/
I dont have any particular insight to the resignation of Bob Williams, his son, and this other guy. Heres the story from The Ledger. But the construction companies mentioned here are big names, obviously. I dont know what to make of it, except that school construction and maintenance is one the true flows of big money into any community. I suppose temptation and jockeying for position always go on. Well see where this leads, but I wonder if a number of prominent construction-types arent holding their breath a bit today.
Any chance we can get those same investigators to go check out a different flow of big construction money into the county? Nevermind.
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Getting in Touch With Your Inner Farmer
Posted: 08 Jan 2009 08:40 PM CST
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LakelandLocal/~3/506770053/
There have been a couple of days this week where I went outside to the garden Mike and I planted in the fall and I picked fresh vegetables. Let me tell youthere is nothing like picking some green beans and sugar snap peas, washing them off and cooking them that evening. You just dont get any fresher and tastier than that.
Tonight I picked some radishes and carrots for a salad. I broke off the tops and fed them to my chickens. And then it dawned on me. Weve really got a good thing growing in our back yard. We have beautiful fresh vegetables and wholesome, healthy fresh eggs. And we live in the city limit! Lakeland is such an awesome place to live.
I grew gardens when I was a kid. Every year my brother and I had one for a 4-H project. Mike and I dabbled with a sorry-excuse-for-a-garden a couple of years ago, but this year we really made it work. I was proud of us. And working in the garden is quite a calming experience. Its actually relaxing to pull weeds or pick vegetables.
The more I read about vegetable gardening, the more I realize that anyone can do it. You dont need a lot of space. You can grow tomatoes and peppers in pots. Tired of having a crappy looking landscape? Why not plant vegetables in your yard instead? People are doing it. I may do that this spring, in fact. Getting in touch with your inner farmer can be a good thing. There is no shame in some hard work and some simple pleasures received from that work.
If you just dont have the wherewithall to try gardening, I recommend buying produce locally. Lakeland has the Downtown Farmers Curb Market every Saturday morning at the corner of Kentucky Ave. and Pine Street. Then theres the Lakeland Farmers Market on Swindell Road, just off Memorial Blvd. in West Lakeland. Theres also a great produce section at International Market World in Auburndale. If youre up for a little drive, Plant City has the Country Village Marketplace, where I bought some amazing-tasting strawberries this week.
Gas prices have reached record lows lately, but it doesnt seem to be having any effect on the prices of food. So why not buy food grown locally that doesnt have the fuel costs built in, driving up the price of things? I think you will be glad you did.
This may seem like an awfully simple, kind of hokey post, but sometimes I just get the feeling that Lakeland Local needs some levity. Today was one of those days.
photo credit: hddod
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Lets All Meet Jan 15- Twitter Edition
Posted: 08 Jan 2009 01:45 PM CST
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LakelandLocal/~3/506492553/
You might remember the Polk Bloggers. Two years ago, a small group of local Web site writers started meeting. Nothing earth-shaking, but inexplicably we were more organized than any similar group in neighboring Orange County. The Orlando Sentinel even sent a reporter over here to see what trouble we were planning. Nothing really, except meeting to chat. We kept the organization loose; the only agreed-on rule was that the officers would be limited to a Sargent-at-Arms.
Im kidding. There isnt any rules. Digital anarchy at its finest. We meet whenever anyone wants to meet. No agenda. Just a chance to see each other face-to-face.
Were very social people, and thats why our next meeting is very different. Were combining the meeting with one called up by a Tweeter. Now, that has nothing to do with drugs. The Tweeter in question is called such because he uses Twitter, a communication service that enables users to broadcast short 140-character messages to many followers, or directly to a trusted friend. You can view the communication at a particular URL, or add an application to your phone so you can communicate with select Tweeters. Using Twitter is like live blogging on steroids. People use the service to ask questions, set up group meetings, find a restaurant in a unfamiliar city, or simply carry on discussions.
The Lakeland Tweeter in question is Barry Friedman, the Managing Editor/Digital for The Ledger, Lakelands hometown paper. Friedman called for a TweetUp, a meeting of locals who use the service. Tweeters come from all backgrounds and ages, but, as far as I know, local tweeters range in age from eight to somewhere in their 50s. Since every one of the Polk Bloggers users Twitter, I naturally suggested we piggyback meetings. (Or horn in as we used to say in the old WestLouisville.)
Ive been using Twitter from close to the beginning, but last year started using it heavily conjunction with this site. Lakeland Local uses Twitter to broadcast short nuggets of information to all those who choose to follow. The title and link to each new post is immediately sent to all who follow on the channel: @lakelandlocal . That channel also broadcasts the titles and URLs for all The Arts in Lakeland posts. (You did know about our companion Lakeland Arts site, didnt you?
Breaking news, short important notes, and interesting trivia is broadcast @lakelandflorida. We use that channel to also display such information on our home page.
I have a personal Twitter account @chuckwelch, but I use it mainly to schmooze. Its a good service because 140 characters is about my writing limit. (I wrote this post in 140 character bursts.)
Bloggers and Tweeters arent the only groups invited to next weeks meeting. Youre still invited if you use any of the big social media services like Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, or the Craigslist personals. To help reach interested readers Lakeland Local publishes to most of those sites. (OK, not so much with Craigslist. We sold all our extra furniture.) Over the next week well post where you can find us on each of those sites.
All that simply to rerun our post on the meeting:
If you blog, tweet, post on Facebook, or use the Internet to communicate youre invited Thursday, January 15th at 6pm for a meeting of like minds.
Black and Brew Coffee House
205 E. Main St.
Lakeland, FL 33801
(863) 682-1210
All ages welcome. Please pass it on.
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New Contributor at Metro I4 News
Posted: 08 Jan 2009 08:09 AM CST
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LakelandLocal/~3/506222412/
Metro I4 News is a mixture of bloggers, columnists, and news links delivering information of interest to the residents of the Interstate 4 corridor. This morning, with Madoff and Sons - a Paternal Sacrifice? MI4 debuted the first local publication of writer James MacMeekin. The Winter Haven writer served in the US Air Force during the Korean conflict, earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in economics and finance at Michigan State University, worked his way through Wall Street as stock analyst up to CEO of his own venture capital firm. Retired to Winter Haven, MacMeekin taught school in Polk County for eight years before turning his attention to writing. After a pair of biographies (Abraham Lincoln, Richard OKane), MacMeekin has turned his attention to the short essay form. MI4 is looking forward to publishing MacMeekins take on many issues affecting those living from Orlando to St. Pete.
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