Life and politics from the Sunshine State's best city

Author

Bill Rufty - page 5

Bill Rufty has 71 articles published.

Former Ledger of Lakeland columnist Bill Rufty is Central Florida political correspondent for SaintPetersBlog and Florida Politics. Rufty had been with the Ledger from 1985-2015, where, as political editor, he covered a wide range of beats, including local and state politics, the Lakeland City Commission, and the Florida Legislature. Ledger editor Lenore Devore said about Rufty’s 30-year career: “[He is] a man full of knowledge, a polling expert and a war history buff … who has a steel trap in his brain, remembering details most of us have long since forgotten.”

Lakeland Ledger reporters, staff to vote on joining union

in Apolitical/Top Headlines by

Members of newsrooms all over Florida will be watching the reporters, photographers and copy editors of The Lakeland Ledger this afternoon as they vote on whether to be represented by the News Guild-CWA, Communications Workers of America. The union vote will be supervised by the National Labor Relations Board, which has indicated it will release the results following the vote today. If the vote at The Ledger favors joining the union, it will be the first newsroom in Florida to…

Keep Reading

You might be interested in

Dennis Ross to undergo routine heart surgery, promises a ‘positive campaign’

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross will undergo surgery Tuesday in Orlando to repair a heart defect he has had since birth. As reported by the Ledger of Lakeland, Ross was born with a bicuspid aortic valve, which if left untreated could develop into an aneurysm and become life threatening. “Upon informing some of my family and friends of my scheduled surgery, many were surprised that as a lawyer and politician I even had a heart,” Ross joked in a statement Monday.…

Keep Reading

You might be interested in

Bill Rufty: New HD 41 legislator will have a heavy task with Nora Mayo Hall

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

Florida House District 41 hopefuls at the Winter Haven Chamber’s Whistle Stop event Thursday night might have noticed a few once-over stares from more than just voters. That is, if those seeking to replace term-limited Rep. John Wood looked up from handshaking and glad-handling. Those offhand stares came from Winter Haven City Commissioners and Polk County officials attending the event, which was held in a church auditorium after decades of being hosted in the state-owned Nora Mayo Hall. The winner in…

Keep Reading

You might be interested in

Denise Grimsley: Health care top issue for 2017 Legislature

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

Health care, and expanded Medicaid funds offered by the federal government, are still on the minds of many Floridians if a barrage of questions from Tuesday’s Tiger Bay of Polk County luncheon is any indication. State Sen. Denise Grimsley, a Sebring Republican, came to the lunch prepared to discuss the accomplishments of the 2016 Florida Legislature. But as one of the key experts on health care and nursing in the Senate, she fielded many health legislation questions by the audience,…

Keep Reading

You might be interested in

Valleri Crabtree ‘shows up’

in 2017/Top Headlines by

Members of the Polk County Democratic Executive Committee waited anxiously through their two-hour meeting Monday night in Bartow for Dr. Dena Minning Grayson, a candidate for Florida’s 9th Congressional District. She never showed in what later was discovered to have been a miscommunication by the party leadership. But Valleri Crabtree of Kissimmee, the former Osceola Democratic Party chair and candidate for the same post, was present. “Crabtree shows up,” the 59-year old attorney and professor shouted from the back of the…

Keep Reading

You might be interested in

Lakeland Republican incumbents to voter canvass this Saturday

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

Republican incumbents, Congressman Dennis Ross, State Sen. Kelli Stargel, and state Rep. Colleen Burton, all from Lakeland, will participate in a voter canvass by the Republican Party of Florida. Republican canvassers will meet Saturday, June 11, 9 a.m. –  1:30 p.m. beginning in Room 104 of the Ordway Building at Florida Southern College, 111 Lake Hollingsworth Drive, Lakeland. In an effort by the local Democratic Party leadership, not seen in several years, all three as well all other GOP legislators in Polk…

Keep Reading

You might be interested in

HD 41 candidate Sam Killebrew to hold Lakeland fundraiser Thursday

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

A fundraiser for Sam Killebrew, Republican Primary candidate for Florida House District 41, is scheduled for 5:30 – 7 p.m., Thursday at the home of Harriet and Dean Boring, 2112 Hawthorne Trail, in Lakeland. Killebrew, retired contractor and a GOP fundraiser and activist, is competing with retired appellate Judge Charles Davis for the party’s nomination. The winner will face retired Circuit Judge and Democrat Robert Doyel in the general election to fill the seat of Republican Rep. John Wood, who…

Keep Reading

You might be interested in

1 … 3 4 5 6 7 … 11
Go to Top