Bartow cracks down on unsightly properties in effort to make city cleaner, safer

The city of Bartow is cracking down on homes with overgrown lots, abandoned cars and ones that are just uninhabitable. Officials created a targeted neighborhood enforcement plan to address these code violations.

Polk County in critical need of large animal veterinarians: USDA report

According to data from the University of Florida, Polk County's cattle industry contributes more than a billion dollars to the local economy every year. However, finding enough large animal veterinarians to help care for the animals hasn't been easy.

‘My Girl’ house in Bartow finds new life as home for single moms: ‘We want them to thrive’

Most people who lived in Bartow in the early 90s will tell you tales about hanging out with Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis, Macaulay Culkin and Anna Chlumsky on a porch attached to a blue and yellow house during the filming of the movie ‘My Girl’. The home, which was the setting for a funeral parlor in a coming-of-age movie about a pre-teen girl who always thought she was about to die and ends up burying her best friend, is about to be a place of new life. 

Annual Christmas Tree Burning tradition continues in Bartow

There's no ball drop, nor a countdown, but in one city in Polk County, the new year is welcomed by torching old pine trees. 

Polk County Jail program teaches inmates how to braid hair, gives second chance

Hair braiding may seem easy, but instructor and salon owner Alisha Hinton explained it actually takes time, dedication and patience. It's those skills that female inmates at the Polk County Jail will get through a class on how to braid hair. 

‘This is a criminal’: Suspect who pointed gun, carjacked couple shot by Bartow police officers

A violent suspect who pointed a gun at police is in critical condition after he was shot by two officers on US 98 in Bartow, authorities said. He's also accused of carjacking a couple and ramming the stolen vehicle into three other cars on the major road. 

PCSO: Fort Meade man killed in head-on crash with semi-truck

A 55-year-old man died Wednesday afternoon after crashing head-on into a semi-truck on Homeland Garfield Road.