Human trafficking bust: Teacher, coaches among 228 arrested in Polk County

Nearly 230 people were arrested, and 13 potential victims were rescued during an 8-day multi-agency undercover human trafficking investigation in Polk County. 

Traffic light installed at Lakeland intersection where teen was killed riding bike to school

It has been three months since a 15-year-old boy was hit and killed while riding his bike to school and now the intersection where the crash happened is getting a long-awaited improvement.  

1 dead, 2 injured after crash in Polk County: FHP

A 50-year-old Haines City man died at a local hospital after a crash on Polk City Road early on Saturday morning, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

PHOTOS: Polk County fire burns 80 acres of grass and wooded area, PCFR says

A vegetation fire off Fort Green Road in Bowling Green burned about 80 acres of grass and wooded area on Tuesday afternoon, according to firefighters.

Polk County Sheriff's Office crime scene van involved in Winter Haven crash

A Polk County Sheriff's Office crime scene van was involved in a multi-vehicle crash Tuesday morning that left some injured, according to PCSO. 

Florida's 9th case of measles confirmed in Polk County: Health officials

The measles outbreak has made its way to Central Florida. Over the weekend, the Florida Department of Health confirmed a ninth case out of Polk County. 

RP Funding Center in Lakeland enforces new bag check and clear bags policy

The RP Funding Center in Lakeland is enforcing a new bag policy ahead of this week's high school basketball championships this week at the complex. 

Florida man accused of breaking into car at commission meeting: 'You can’t fix stupid, you can just cuff it'

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd says the motto on his gifted coffee mug that states, ‘You can’t fix stupid, you can just cuff it’ especially rang true recently when he says Polk City leaders caught a  man breaking into a car during a commission meeting. 

‘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. 

Captured fugitive in Capitol riot case asks judge for bond

January 6 accused rioter and fugitive Olivia Pollock was on the run for 10 months until she and two others were caught by the FBI last month hiding in Groveland, Florida.

Polk County sees first confirmed rabies case of 2024

Polk County authorities confirmed its first case of rabies in 2024 found in a bat earlier this month.