Bartow News

PHOTO BY TRISH PFEIFFER Feeling fortunate to be alive and barely injured, three Bartow teenagers stand in front of the car they were riding in that flipped over on U.S. Highway 98 North in front of Bartow Regional Medical Center.

A Bartow firefighter was named the firefighter for the second time in the last three years and the Bartow police officer who won Officer of the Year was commended for diving through a plate-glass window to catch a runaway theft suspect as he won the award.

PHOTO BY SARAH ROBINSON Wildwood Baptist pastors and wives taking part in Homecoming were Youth Pastor Rusty Music, Ginny Music, Debra Rodrigue, Rev.

Ronda Pridgen, 36, 5517 S.E. 12th Street, Highland City - possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia.

PHOTO BY JEFF ROSLOW Two-year-old Reshad Denegall seems to like the red Skittles more than the blue ones as he looks over JMack's table across from the Brown house on the opening day of the L.B. Brown Heritage Festival.

Prosecutors say a 19-year-old man should be executed for killing a central Florida police officer in December.

Among them is Manatee's Chief Deputy County Attorney Jim Minix, 63, who has worked for the county attorney's office for 14 years, six as chief deputy county attorney, according to information supplied by Nick Azzara, county information outreach coordinator.

Two years of dreams, hard work and community support were celebrated with the dedication of a bronze statue, The Fireman, in Bartow Friday afternoon.

In the first year and a half that Troy DeDecker has been the interim Chief Executive Director at Bartow Regional Medical Center he feels like he and hospital has done a lot, but it won't stop there, he said.

BARTOW, Fla. - Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd says deputies have caught up with 19-year-old Jasper Smiddie in Highlands County.

A 16-year-old Bartow boy will be tried as an adult on second-degree murder charges for the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old boy, the state attorney's office said.

Tamela Ricks, 23, 1050 S. Golfview Avenue, Apt. 1002 - driving with a suspended license and giving a false name to law enforcement.

PHOTO BY PEGGY KEHOE Seven-month-old Kameron Franey is happy to model an outfit that shoppers might see at the Acorns to Oaks children's consignment sale and expo in Bartow next month.

The city of Bartow stands to save about $200,000 a year with a new electrical system it plans to put into place in the next three months.

Fred Dengler "It's money well-spent, but I don't anticipate Bartow rolling to a great expanse, but the traffic is astounding.

Mary Lois Mitchell Bush was born on Aug. 28, 1922, in Cordele, Ga., the sixth child of 11 children born to the late Mary Evans Mitchell and Bradley H. Mitchell.

PHOTO BY PEGGY KEHOE Larry Madrid, outgoing president of the Bartow Chamber of Commerce, was honored with the George W. Harris Jr.

A graduation rate that's 17 to 18 percent higher than traditional high schools is just one of the pluses that gets members of the Polk Academies District Advisory Council excited about Polk County's nearly 40 career academies.

The Bartow Community Redevelopment Agency has 15 suggestions to help U.S. Highway 17 during the Florida Department of Transportation's upcoming resurfacing project.

PHOTO BY PEGGY KEHOE Tiny Pudd'n, a Jack Russell terrier/Chihuahua mix, gets a hug from Jen Jenson of the SPCA McClurg Animal Medica Center during the SPCA's mobile vaccination clinic in Bartow Friday in the Walgreens parking lot.