AVON PARK — It has been more than a year since then-mayor Tom Macklin brought up an ordinance to penalize landlords for renting to illegal immigrants. Though it failed in June 2006, it mobilized several businesses and most of the Hispanic community, and for better or worse, it changed many residents' views of their city and the actions of City Hall, even to this day. "They're (the customers) more careful now, because they know they're after them," said Angel Del Valle, who worked at the Broken Spoke Flea Market during the unfolding controversy last year. He now owns the store, and had several Hispanic customers browsing the shelves when interviewed Wednesday afternoon. "They try not to be too obvious." Though Macklin was the mayor of Avon Park for six years, most people only remember him for his final months, when he brought the Illegal Immigration Relief Act to the council chambers. He earned a large group of detractors, but also earned the support of those like James Geer, who wrote in a 2006 letter to the editor that "the federal government is not doing its job." ...more

November 4, 2007

Less than 18 months after Frenchman's Market lost two-thirds of its space to the Church of Scientology, the downtown historical district flea market is on the move and on the rise. ...more

November 3, 2007

Less than 18 months after Frenchman's Market lost two-thirds of its space to the Church of Scientology, the downtown historical district's premiere flea market is on the move and on the rise. ...more

October 29, 2007

AVON PARK — Amid the dirt and the construction cones that dotted Main Street for some time, David Greenslade of the Avon Park Chamber of Commerce is expecting a bit of an uplift in downtown, with some new businesses expecting to pop up by early November. The new Heartland National Bank branch previously told Greenslade it should be completed by the end of October, bringing the downtown area its first bank in more than a year, when the Wachovia branch closed its doors. The way he saw it, Greenslade expected the bank to bring back confidence for businesses to enter downtown, a part of the city that has been cluttered with vacant office space and several near-vacant buildings. "We're excited about the fact that they feel it's a great location for them," Greenslade said. If the Heartland National Bank goes as planned and remains in business, it could be part of a reversal for the downtown area. ...more

October 8, 2007

TOWN 'N COUNTRY - The Timberlane Civic Association wants its residents to connect and is using a neighborhood flea market to make it happen. ...more

September 29, 2007

They had half the inventory liquidated. They were talking about a Sept. 29 move-out date. The workers at Broken Spoke Flea Market even worried that the close-knit group of small stores would split up, as some would move down to smaller parcels near the railroad while others found new lots on U.S. 27. ...more

September 12, 2007