against awarded goodbye rain

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Democrat/Leader Page 7

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

AGAINST FROM PAGE 1 herself, specifically that she is not tethered to party politics. “I don’t see Democrats or Republican. Nor do I see gender or race,” she said. “What I see are people who need help and that’s what I’m here to do.” Helping people was also the theme to which Dantzler spoke. One of his goals for his second term will be to stay the course when it comes to job growth. Specifically, he wants the county government to continue to be business-friendly. “We’re not out of the woods economically,” he said. “Unemployment is still an issue. People need good, quality jobs.” The fact Bell and Dantzler both will not be facing challenges is an anomaly according to Barbara Osthoff, the Assistant Supervisor of Elections. “There have been times when one of them ran unopposed while another faced a challenger,” said Osthoff, who added that happened on more than one occasion during the 1980s. “However, I think it’s been almost 60 years since we had a race in which more than one candidate ran

AWARDED FROM PAGE 1 the scholarship allowed her to pursue her education which she may not have had the opportunity to do and is allowing her to do something she wants to do. He said she also told him, “I’m going to get my mother to give money to you to support our future.” In all, 10 Polk County graduates earned $500 scholarships Saturday night from the Deacons and Stewards Alliance Inc. at a banquet. The banquet to honor Polk County graduates has been going on for more than 10 years. For this movement, guest speaker Ernest Joe Jr. simply said at the beginning of his talk, “It’s good that we are moving forward with unity in the community.” Joe, a former principal of Auburndale High School, is now the senior director of Diversity Management for the Polk County School System. Joe’s message to the graduates was to

GOODBYE FROM PAGE 1 community, but also for spearheading a $1.5 million rehabilitation of one of Bartow’s oldest churches. “One of the most memorable things he’s done is head up the renovation of the church,” Lee continued. “And we managed to do that without going into

RAIN FROM PAGE 1 inches in the gauge at her house. But meteorologists are not alarmed by the amount, with Andy Mussoline saying, “Being within 88 percent (in Lakeland) and 102 percent (in Winter Haven) is really quite in the normal range.” That doesn’t mean, though, the pattern has been somewhat atypical. “With the winds out of the southeast, we have showers in the morning on the east coast and that moves inland. This activity on that coast meets the west coast activity and they collide in the Bartow area by the late afternoon. It’s almost like clockwork,” said meteorologist Dan Kottwslowksi. Since the beginning of the year, the rain gauge for Lakeland shows it is about 3 to 5 inches higher in rainfall totals and the rainfall looks to continue. According to the forecast at AccuWeather, rain for

unopposed.”

Osthoff mentioned there were several

other races, including that for Circuit Court justices, but that was handled by the State. However, there are four Polk County Public Schools System Board of Education seats up for grabs, but only one incumbent will not be facing a challenger, Kay Fields. Hazel Sellers will be facing off against a former education board member, Randy Wilkinson, who also served as a county commissioner until he termed limit off. Tim Harris will be challenged by Lisa Bone Miller, and Debra Smith Wright will go against Lynn Wilson. Miller is a former teacher running for the District 7 seat. She currently is with the Florida Development Disabilities Council, Inc., a nonprofit that advocates on behalf of students with disabilities, which is a matter Miller has first-hand knowledge of, having a school-age child in that situation. Wilson has run twice before, unsuccessfully for a seat on the Board of Education, in 2004 and 2010. He is a CPA who taught accounting at Polk State College and later headed up that department. He stepped down to become the college’s Director of Finance for its Foundation board.

keep focused on their future, but to watch themselves. Recognize their talent, but be sure to judge whether the people you meet are there to help you. To one student, DeJuan Williams, a 13-year-old who sang two selections, Joe said, “You keep singing and I think things in life are going to be greater.” He told the graduates that nothing in life is going to be perfect and said he knew because he has been in their shoes.

He said with their commencement, which means starting something new, they should “repack” a few things into their backpacks and take these items for their lives, the first one being morals and values. “You will meet new people in your lives and not every person in your life will be meant to be good to you,” he said. “You’ve got to discern between good and bad.” He said when he first got to his dorm room at Albany State University in Georgia, he and his father met a counselor there. His father told the counselor if his son got out of line to take him down. “I thought, we don’t even know this guy. This was pretty embarrassing,” he recalled. Joe then said he overheard a conversation across the hall between a counselor and a father and son from Palmetto, Fla. The father told the counselor essentially the same thing Joe’s father said, “with a few words I don’t know if I can repeat.” “I knew we were going to be friends and I knew we were going to make it,” Joe said. “We’re still the best of friends and

that’s what I’m talking about discerning.” The second item was mental toughness and perseverance. Joe, who attended college on a football scholarship, has coached many athletes and five of his students have gone on to play in the NFL. “I coached perhaps one of the toughest players around in Ray Lewis,” he said, then added that the young people would have to be tough to persevere. The third item people should pack with them, he said, was the Word of God. A deacon at the Greater Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church, Joe said it is something he could never do without. “I am who I am because I put God in my life and he always is. The Word of God will help you discern individuals,” he said. He said when you find it tough, you can’t give up. You need yourself and you need your friends and he was not stinting in his praise giving credit to the Deacons and Stewards Alliance. “I want to thank them for having a vision to get money to help these students to be successful.”

debt. That’s amazing.” Lowe also will be remembered for his dedication to the church school, also located on Broadway Avenue, just south of the church. “He’s devoted a lot of time and energy to seeing that the church school flourished even when others have failed,” Lee continued. The school already has more than 120 students enrolled for the next school year. Lowe, who appeared to fight tears throughout the evening’s tributes, said

only that he’ll miss Bartow and the members of his flock. “This is a great place to live and to work in this church has been wonderful,” he said. The ham and turkey dinner was organized by Mariann McMillan and the evening’s program was emceed by Bonnie Allen. Among those providing the entertainment were Heath Peterson; the children’s choir under the leadership of Pam Wyatt;

Olivia Chancey and MacKenzie Ward; Kaitlyn and Adrianna Croom; Richard Lake and Bill Wright; Dennis Croom; Gary Alfsen; Molly Grace and Lauren Layton; the church choir; and Jenny Heidtman and Kathy Wood. Lowe’s exact departure date was not announced at the Saturday event, but Sunday’s service was expected to be his last in Bartow, according to reports. His replacement, Alan Jefferson of Ocala, takes over the pulpit on July 1.

Bartow continues the rest of this week. Rain and thunderstorms are predicted through the first week of July with high temperatures in the low 90s and lows in the 70s. Typical summer weather. With the Fourth of July celebration in Mosaic Park forecast, organizer Frank Rouse just made a face at the idea of the rain. He still feels the show will be successful. It’s rained before. In the city, Public Works Interim Director Russ Martin said there has not been too much extra work his crew had to deal with in dealing with the recent rain, in fact, some past dredging work and road fixing done in the spring has had a positive effect. “This may be because of the maintenance we’ve done,” Martin said. “We’ve staggered out enough so pipes are clear.” The dredging of Hack Lake and Lake Ruth has done a lot, he said, to keep things clear. He added the two miles of roads the city resurfaced has also accomplished a lot. “We’re not having any issues this year,” he said. He added that in past years a

small problem could snowball. He said that hasn’t happened but a suggestion he would make to residents is to make sure they bag their garden waste left for collection. Loose vegetation getting into the stormwater system can cause a problem. “When it washes down the road, it’ll clog the road. A majority of the flooding issues come from that.” Reggie McNeil, interim director of the Solid Waster Department said while in most cases debris has to be bagged, in many instances it is left curbside by itself. The city will pick it up but the homeowner or renter is charged an extra $5 for the service. “People are supposed to put it in paper bags,” McNeil said. “Limbs are different. … they’re not required to be bagged.” In letting people be more aware of the garbage pickup rules McNeil said he is working on a PR piece to mail out. It should include that and holiday garbage pickup as well. Despite it being posted on the city’ s website and its publication

in the newspaper, many don’t know when to leave out their garbage during holidays, he said. Major places that experience a bit of flooding in Bartow include the Hooker underpass which is one block east of Orange Avenue and Lusk. Also there is some standing water that accumulates at Wabash and Third. However, within just a few hours it drains out, Martin said. “Both of those places seem to clear (quickly),” he said. Whether or not this pattern of rain indicates tropical storm activity, Kottwslowksi said just keep track. Hurricane season runs until Nov. 30 and the water temperatures are right for it. Kottwslowksi said there is a high pressure ridge to the south which means if there is tropical weather out there it will be to the south of Florida. “If it’s to the north of us, the tropical weather would come to Florida. Right now there’s nothing out there. It’s not a favorable condition for tropical conditions.”

State races State Rep. Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, is another incumbent who is automatically re-elected. This is the second time in a row Albritton, who represents District 56, will not face an opponent, either in the August primary or general election in November. District 56 includes much of south Polk, as well as Hardee and DeSoto counties. Both Neil Combee and John Wood (Republicans in Districts 39 and 41, respectively) do not face any opponents within their own political party, the Republican Party, but will face off against Democratic Party challengers. The same holds true for District 42 Rep. Mike DeRosa. However, there will be a primary vote on Aug. 26 between Republicans John Shannon and Colleen Burton, who are seeking their party’s nomination for the District 40 seat being term-limited out by Seth McKeel.

Judicial races Judicial races are nonpartisan. In Circuit Judge Group 2, Michell Pincket is facing Christine Thornhill, while in Group 16,

SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS Adonis Brown, Polk State College Collegiate High School; Clifford Coleman III, Polk State College Collegiate High School; Garbrielle Dukes, Polk State College Collegiate High School; Crameshia Jackson, Polk State College Collegiate High School; Raven Kelley, Mulberry High School; Loren Trene’ McCutchen, Bartow High School; JaKayla Jacene Miller, Bartow High School; Carlos Northern, Bartow High School; Ramonica Radway, Polk State College Collegiate High School; Tyra Gabrielle Sander, Summerline Academy

Taylor Davidson is going up against Larry Helms. The Florida circuit courts are state courts, and are trial courts of original jurisdiction for most controversies. In Florida, the circuit courts are one of four types of courts created by the Florida Constitution (the other three being the Florida Supreme Court, the Florida District Courts of Appeal, and the Florida county courts). The circuit courts primarily handle civil cases where the amount in controversy is greater than $15,000, and felony criminal cases, as well as appeals from county courts. When it comes to elections in contested Circuit Court races of two or more candidates appearing on the primary ballot, if one candidate receives a majority of the votes in the primary, that candidate automatically wins and does not appear on the general election ballot. If no one receives a majority vote, the two highest-voted candidates advance to the general election. (source: election.dos.state.fl.us/ candidate/Index.asp)

Board of Education races