I am an angry, loyal Publix shopper and have shopped there for over 40 years. I learned about the closing of the Avon Park store in the newspaper, and a Publix spokesperson confirmed this. Part of her rationale for closing the store is that "it doesn't make sense to have two stores only four and a half miles apart." Sebring now has two stores about five miles apart, Lake Wales has two stores about five miles apart and Winter Haven has two stores about five miles apart. Avon Park shoppers who are accustomed to running by their neighborhood Publix to pick up a gallon of milk or a box of fried chicken, on their way home from work, will now have to buy their goods at Winn-Dixie or Wal-Mart, neither of whom carries products of the same quality as Publix's goods; or they can drive all the way to Sebring. ...more

April 18, 2009

Dorothy Dixon of Port Richey wants help dealing with the feral cat problem in her neighborhood in a humane way. ...more

April 15, 2009

A Tampa man pulled over for driving with a suspended license struggled with a Hillsborough County deputy and tried pulling a gun from the deputy's holster Sunday night, deputies say. ...more

March 30, 2009

Weary residents of this sandbagged city came together in churches Sunday, counting their blessings that the Red River finally stopped rising and praying the levees would hold back its wrath. A brief levee break that swamped a school provided a warning of the kind of threat that still hangs over them in the days ahead. ...more

March 29, 2009

U.S. and Iraqi troops arrested the leader of a crucial Awakening Council in Baghdad on Saturday, setting off a rare spasm of street fighting and raising fresh concerns about the troubled Awakening program that has brought many militants onto the government's side in its battle against Sunni extremists. ...more

March 29, 2009

Late Thursday, a Citrus County couple found an 8-year-old boy wandering more than a mile from his home. ...more

March 20, 2009

While some community members cast a wary eye, church officials who plan to open a new mission here say they are working to gain back trust. ...more

March 11, 2009

A fire this morning that left 10 people homeless was set intentionally, investigators say. ...more

March 9, 2009

A Gasparilla Distance Classic legend who died last month at the age of 92 will be remembered today by friends walking the 5K in her honor. ...more

February 28, 2009

A standoff between an armed man and Lakeland police came to an end when three officers shot the man. ...more

February 26, 2009