Free Republic

LAKE WALES, Fla. - Lake Wales police are searching for those responsible for detonating an improvised explosive device near the entrance of the JC Penney at the Eagle Ridge Mall Sunday evening. Firefighters responded to reports of an explosion at the mall on 451 Eagle Ridge Drive around 5:20 p.m. Firefighters quickly determined an IED had been detonated in a corridor located next to the mall entrance of JC Penney, officials said. Firefighters also found a backpack in the same corridor with another possible IED inside. There were no injuries as a result of the explosion, officials said, but the...

BARTOW — Davenport Mayor Darlene Bradley was arrested Tuesday on allegations she used dead people’s handicapped placards to park in designated spaces at City Hall. Bradley, 60, faces felony charges of using a deceased person’s identification and possessing an altered or counterfeit decal on a handicapped placard, both of which carry a prison term up to five years if she’s convicted. She also was arrested for unlawful use of a handicapped placard, which is a misdemeanor. “The governor has the right to suspend her until she is acquitted,” he said, “but that request will have to come from the commission....

Two Lake Wales police officers are recovering Wednesday after being shot at by a local man Tuesday night. They are expected to be alright, but authorities say the situation could have been much worse. The Polk County Sheriff's Office says it happened just before 6 p.m. when Officers John Schwarze and Benjamin Metz responded to a call at a home on the 700 block of Hillside Avenue. The homeowner, 58-year-old John Goepferich, reported shots fired and said he needed police, but detectives now believe he was just trying to lure the officers to his home. When they arrived, Lake Wales...

Worthy Causes I grew up in a Protestant church that believed in a literal interpretation of the King James Bible. Since there is no mention in the Bible of Dec. 25, the church refused to make Christmas a religious observance. Baldwin pianos and Hammond organs were verboten for the same reason. In that they are probably right, since Christmas was adapted to a pagan festival. There is no written record of when the Christ child was born. Nevertheless, that didn't stop my family from observing Christmas, since, like most families with small children, Christmas was more about Santa Claus than...