Gary White
Lakeland
Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Gary White
What Song Plays in The Last of Us Episode 3? Linda Ronstadt Explained
The song featured throughout the third episode of The Last of Us is “Long Long Time” by Linda Ronstadt. Originally released in 1970, the recording became central to one of the television series’ most emotional stories. The episode follows Bill and Frank. Two men who find love during the aftermath of a devastating global pandemic. At first, the recording appears during a quiet piano scene. Then it returns near the ending. The song helps communicate something the characters struggle to express directly.
In Polk County, fight against data centers unites political opposites
Sam Romain and Magdalene DuPree sat in close proximity at the June 1 meeting of the Lakeland City Commission. Romain is the chair of the Polk County Republican Executive Committee.
In Polk County, fight against data centers unites political opposites
July 9, 2026, 5:06 a.m. ET Opposition to proposed data centers in Polk County is uniting residents from across the political spectrum. Concerns include environmental impact, energy and water usage, and the economic costs to local communities. A recent national poll shows that a majority of both Democrats and Republicans oppose building AI data centers in their areas. Sam Romain and Magdalene DuPree sat in close proximity at the June 1 meeting of the Lakeland City Commission.
In Polk County, fight against data centers unites political opposites
Sam Romain and Magdalene DuPree sat in close proximity at the June 1 meeting of the Lakeland City Commission.
Florida education commissioner picked as Polk State College president
The search committee for Polk State College’s next president has produced only one finalist: Anastasios “Stasi” Kamoutsas, Florida’s commissioner of education. The committee held its final meeting May 12 and announced that Kamoutsas was the recommended finalist to become Polk State’s sixth president, the school said in a news release the morning of May 13.
Hilary Holley replaces Josie Tomkow in Florida House. But Tomkow loses Original
Updated March 24, 2026, 9:07 p.m. ET (This story was revised to include new information.) The Polk County legislative delegation will remain entirely Republican. Hilary Holley of Polk City defeated Edwin Perez, a Democrat from Haines City, in a special election for Florida House District 51. Holley captured 54.8% of the vote compared with 45.2% for Perez, according to unofficial results from the Polk County Supervisor of Elections Office. Holley will replace Josie Tomkow, a Polk City Republican.
2 Polk County groups listed on SPLC's 'hate map.' Leaders call it 'absurd' and 'dangerous'
Leaders of two Polk County organizations reject their inclusion in a list of extremist groups. The Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit organization with a leftward orientation, recently released its annual Year in Hate and Extremism Report. The online document includes a “hate map,” listing entities from each state deemed either hate groups or anti-government groups.
After 37 years, DNA points to a neighbor in Florida woman's 1986 murder
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Each October, Teresa Scalf’s relatives prepare for the painful anniversary of her murder in 1986. This year, for the first time, the family members will at least know who committed the vicious killing 37 years ago. Through an investigation based on retained blood from the killer and public genetic databases, the Polk County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office identified Donald Douglas, a former neighbor of Scalf’s, as the murderer.
The H-1B Visa Puzzle: Why Canada is the Solution for Retaining Tech Talent
In today's competitive global talent market, relying on luck to retain key employees is madness. The demand for highly skilled professionals, especially in the tech sector, is soaring, with a projected shortage of 1.2 million software engineers by 2026. Although the H-1B visa allows U.S. tech companies to hire foreign talent, the lottery-based system makes hiring and retaining these tech employees difficult.
Release comes for Lakeland woman whose optimism in coping with ALS inspired many
Faced with perhaps the cruelest of medical plights, Laura Pinner became an inspiration for friends and strangers as she radiated gratitude, positivity and courage in the time that remained of her life. The Lakeland resident also spoke honestly about the physical suffering and emotional distress wrought by the unrelenting decline of her body from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. The brutal disease brought an end to Pinner’s self-declared “wonderful life” on Friday. She was 53.
2022 Elwha Chinook returns were up but still lower than the 10-year average
2022 Elwha Chinook returns were up but still lower than the 10-year average It has been about ten years since the first dam on the Elwha River was removed in 2012 and the Department of Fish and Wildlife recently released the final counts of salmon returns for 2022. There is good and bad news. The good news is that for Chinook, Coho, and Steelhead, returns were up from 2021. Both Steelhead and Coho saw their highest levels since the removal of the two dams.
Not Just Where to Click: Teaching Students How to Think about Information (PIL #68)
Troy A. Swanson Troy A. Swanson is the teaching and learning librarian and the library department chair at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills, Illinois, where he is also the president of the Moraine Valley Faculty Association. Troy is the author of the book Managing Social Media in Libraries: Finding Collaboration, Coordination, and Focus and coauthor of the textbook Why White Rice? Thinking through Writing. He has published on social media, website usability, and information literacy.
Churches cope with losses of leaders
LAKELAND, Fla. Pastor Richard Counts was not in his pulpit at First Baptist Church of Alturas on Sept. 19. Instead, he sat among the congregation at a Lakeland church led by his son-in-law. Rather than hearing his wife, Lora, playing piano during a service, as he had for eight years at his church in Alturas, Counts heard recorded music. Lora, leader of the youth program and women’s ministry at the Alturas church, had died two days earlier of COVID-19 at age 60.
Opinion: CT judge says Biles 'quit on herself, her teammates, and her country.'
The beauty of sports at its highest level is that the most admirable athletes are not always those with the best skills, but rather are those who display mental toughness, determination and the ability to perform under excruciating pressure. Moreover, sports is an endeavor in which coaches, players and fans abhor excuses.
'It felt like a miracle': Marine veteran's wife returns to US three years after being deported to Mexico
'It felt like a miracle': Marine veteran's wife returns to US three years after being deported to Mexico Alejandra Juarez, left, passes through TSA screening on Aug. 3, 2018, at the Orlando International Airport on her deportation flight to Mexico. RED HUBER, THE ORLANDO SENTINEL/TNS By GARY WHITE | The Ledger | Published: May 12, 2021 Note: This article has been corrected. LAKELAND, Fla.
'It felt like a miracle': Army veteran's wife returns to US three years after being deported to Mexico
'It felt like a miracle': Army veteran's wife returns to US three years after being deported to Mexico Alejandra Juarez, left, passes through TSA screening on Aug. 3, 2018, at the Orlando International Airport on her deportation flight to Mexico. RED HUBER, THE ORLANDO SENTINEL/TNS By GARY WHITE | The Ledger | Published: May 12, 2021 LAKELAND, Fla. (Tribune News Service) — Sunday was Mother's Day, but Alejandra Juarez was eager to serve her daughters rather than receive special treatment.
After nearly three years in Mexico, combat veteran’s wife to reunite with family in the US
After nearly three years in Mexico, combat veteran’s wife to reunite with family in the US Alejandra Juarez, right, kisses her daughter Estela, 9, as she picks her up from her new school in Mexico's Yucatan on Aug. 30. Juarez was deported on Aug. 3, after 22 years in the U.S., where she built a home and family with her husband, an Iraq War veteran.
FEC finds problems in former US Rep. Ross Spano's campaign finances report
Former U.S. Rep. Ross Spano continues to draw scrutiny for his campaign finances. The Federal Election Commission sent two notices on Tuesday to Spano’s campaign treasurer warning of problems found in a review of his 2020 year-end report. Spano, a Republican from Dover, was elected in 2018 in U.S. House District 15, which covers northwest Polk County, including Lakeland, and parts of Hillsborough and Lake counties. Rep.
Opinion: 'Black History Month is a 20th Century relic'
In 1926 Carter G. Woodson, the son of former slaves and a college professor, started Negro History Week, which eventually became Black History Month. Woodson chose February for this event because that month includes the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, two seminal figures in the struggle to end chattel slavery in the United States. During his career as a professional educator Woodson was a member of the American Historical Association.
Medulla residents see threat to rural life with expansion of large subdivision
LAKELAND — The only neighbors Billy Friend has dwelling behind his house either have four legs or wings. And that’s how Friend would prefer it to stay. He and other residents of the Medulla Road area of southwest Lakeland live on lots averaging about five acres. They now see their bucolic lifestyle threatened by the proposed English Creek subdivision, which would place 85 houses on about 45 acres.
Polk County adds 241 infections, 6 deaths linked to COVID-19
LAKELAND — There can be no doubt that COVID-19 is making a resurgence in Polk County. A day after the county posted its highest number of new cases since July, the Florida Department of Health reported another six deaths related to the viral illness. That brought the cumulative death toll for the county to 697 since April. The state disclosed 241 newly confirmed infections in Polk County in Friday’s update, based on tests processed the previous day.
November ends as 2nd-worst month for COVID-19 cases in Polk
LAKELAND — Polk County added 211 cases of COVID-19 in Tuesday’s report from the Florida Department of Health, marking the fifth day in November the figure topped 200. Tuesday’s update reflected tests processed on Monday, the final day of November. Polk finished the month with 4,420 new infections, an average of 147.3 per day. That is the second-highest overall and daily average of any month since the pandemic began.
Polk's monthly COVID-19 cases surge past 4,000 for 3rd time of pandemic
LAKELAND — For the third time since the COVID-19 pandemic commenced, Polk County has surpassed 4,000 new infections in a calendar month. Monday’s report of 130 new cases elevated the cumulative total for November to 4,210 infections with one day remaining. (Though Tuesday begins a new month, the Florida Department of Health’s daily updates reflect tests processed the previous day.) Polk County has now produced 27,611 infections since March, or one for every 26.2 residents.
Polk GOP website shares unfounded false claims from mystery sources
LAKELAND — Did you hear that the CIA coordinated with Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez to rig the presidential election? Or that a staffer from Joe Biden’s campaign was arrested and accused of casting thousands of votes under the names of homeless people, the elderly and even the dead? Those are some of the unfounded claims shared recently on the official website of the Polk County Republican Party.
Florida prison inmates again allowed visits, but touching is forbidden
LAKELAND — The most isolated of Florida residents are again able to see relatives and friends. The Florida Department of Corrections recently began allowing visits to its facilities, including two prisons in Polk County. The agency had suspended all visits in March amid concerns about the spread of COVID-19. Florida’s prisons have been heavily affected by the pandemic.
Country's longest-serving marijuana crimes prisoner Richard DeLisi could be free in Florida as early as Dec. 4
LAKELAND — The Florida Department of Corrections is saying that Richard DeLisi, sentenced to 90 years in Polk County for marijuana-related crimes, could be released as early as Dec. 4. The agency gave The Ledger a full explanation of why DeLisi might leave South Bay Correctional Facility well in advance of his scheduled release in June 2022.
The country's longest-serving inmate for marijuana crimes will be released early, organization says Original
LAKELAND, Fla. – The man described as the longest-serving inmate for marijuana crimes in the country will be out of a South Florida prison before Christmas. Richard DeLisi, sentenced to 90 years by a Polk County, Florida, judge after his conviction in 1989, will be released in December, 18 months ahead of his scheduled departure, The Last Prisoner Project announced Monday in a news release.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Gary
Contact Gary, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack