Category Archives: General

School Board’s Social Media Discussion Timely, Relevant

Posted on June 23, 2011 by bwmerritt

The Polk County School Board discussed an interesting topic on Wednesday during a special work session. Board members and district officials spent some time talking about comments by students on Facebook, specifically derogatory comments about teachers and administrators. At issue … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, General | Leave a comment

Ledger Editorial Carelessly Criticizes Voters for Transit Tax Failure

Posted on June 16, 2011 by bwmerritt

Since leaving The Ledger in December, I have tried very hard to avoid criticizing my former employer. I have a lot of good friends still at the paper, and I don’t really see my place right now as a crusader … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Government | 3 Comments

Florida Trend Profile on Polk County Nice, But Needs Refining

Posted on June 10, 2011 by bwmerritt

It’s Polk County’s time to shine. The June issue of Florida Trend magazine has pointed its spotlight on Lakeland and Polk County as part of its continuing Community Portraits series. Within this month’s magazine is a 29-page section devoted entirely … Continue reading →

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Lakeland Local Rapture Debate Postscript

Posted on June 9, 2011 by bwmerritt

So this isn’t really a continuation of my end times thoughts that I shared recently on LakelandLocal.com. If you haven’t read them by the way, you can do so by clicking here. Basically, I tried to defend and explain the … Continue reading →

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Defending God’s Judgment and Christ’s Return

Posted on May 31, 2011 by bwmerritt

If you haven’t already seen the link from my Facebook page, I wrote a response to Billy Townsend’s criticism of evangelicals following the Harold Camping rapture controversy. The response is posted on Lakeland Local, which you can read here. I’m … Continue reading →

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Monday Faith Links: Should Christians Celebrate Osama Bin Laden’s Death?

Posted on May 2, 2011 by bwmerritt

This is a little later in the day than I would normally post these links, but I was a tad bit distracted last night when the news started breaking that Osama bin Laden had been located and killed by the … Continue reading →

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Florida Still Looming Large in 2012 GOP Presidential Race

Posted on April 20, 2011 by bwmerritt

The 2012 election is quickly approaching, and Florida is once again going to be a major player, especially in the GOP primary. I know, how’s that for being Captain Obvious? But there was a very interesting article about the situation … Continue reading →

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The Rob Bell/Who Goes to Hell (If There Even Is One) Debate

Posted on April 19, 2011 by bwmerritt

If you follow religious commentary, keep up with Christian publishing, or follow just about any pastor on Twitter, you’re probably aware of the firestorm that started a few weeks ago about Rob Bell’s new book, Love Wins. The controversy started … Continue reading →

Posted in Faith, General | 1 Comment

What the 540A Corridor Should Look Like, and Other Recent News

Posted on April 12, 2011 by bwmerritt

When I first saw Tom Palmer of The Ledger post that the county was going to being considering a plan for the future development of County Road 540A about a week ago, I was intrigued. He fleshed out that original … Continue reading →

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Photos and Videos from President Bush’s and Condoleezza Rice’s Visit to SEU

Posted on March 11, 2011 by bwmerritt

To see videos from President George W. Bush’s and Condoleezza Rice’s visit to Southeastern, check out the Polk Perspectives Facebook page.

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