Polk County, FL -- The Polk County Board of County Commissioners will address the issue of open-land dumping of sewage sludge in the Lake Wales and Bartow area at its May 24 regular meeting of the board.

The meeting will take place at the Neil Combee Administration Building, located at 330 West Church Street in Bartow at 9 a.m.

Scheduled speakers include:

• Professor George D. O'Conner, Professor of Soil Chemistry, Department of Soil and Water Sciences, University of Florida.

• Mr. Maurice Barker, FDEP Biosolids Coordinator – Presentation on state regulatory framework for land application of biosolids.

• Mrs. Loretta Firis, Environmental Supervisor, Polk County Health Department - Presentation on local Department of Health regulatory requirements.

Bartow, FL -- Summer is here, and the Polk County Health Department says it wants to make families aware of simple steps they can take to prevent recreational water illnesses and ensure a healthy and safe swimming season for everyone.

Knowing the basic facts about recreational water illnesses can make the difference in ensuring an enjoyable time at the pool, beach, or water park.

Recreational Water Illnesses are spread by swallowing, breathing, or having contact with contaminated water from swimming pools, spas, hot tubs, water activity parks, lakes, rivers, or oceans.

Lakeland’s Padgett Elementary recently held its 10th Annual Young Author’s Conference.  The conference is a year-long culmination of students choosing a theme, integrating that theme into the curriculum and students creating, writing and publishing books about the chosen theme.  Each student goes through the process of brainstorming, drafting, revising and editing. They read and share their books with their families, community members and peers.  

Previous themes have included writing  about their favorite book characters and “going green” or recycling. In 2011, the theme was “Writing Idol” and the students wrote about their idols.  They chose a person they admired or studied and wrote passages about them. This year’s topics included family members, civil rights heroes or great leaders in history.