The Publix that replaced the chain's smaller 1985 grocery at Walden Woods Shopping Center has a variety of activities scheduled Saturday, Aug. 1 to mark the anniversary of last summer's reopening. ...more

July 26, 2009

Wal-Mart's supercenters continue to add food customers in Florida while other grocery chains are losing them, new data show. ...more

July 15, 2009

It's a happy July 4 for two winners of a Florida Lottery drawing who bought tickets in the Tampa Bay area. ...more

July 4, 2009

Thousands of spectators will lug lawn chairs and carry coolers bright and early Saturday to claim a shady spot along the route of Brandon's annual Fourth of July Parade. ...more

July 3, 2009

Construction worker Anthony Carey usually gets $50 in scratch-off lottery tickets once a week at the convenience store where he gasses up, but he says that probably will change when Florida reintroduces vending machines this year in supermarkets. ...more

June 6, 2009

PRODUCT REVIEW: Mega-T Green Tea Gum; available at Albertsons, Eckerd, Kmart, Wal-Mart and Publix; $2.99 for 12 pieces. ...more

May 23, 2009

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

I want everyone in Highlands County to know that Publix is planning to close our store in Avon Park. I have always considered Publix a store that took care of their customers and I have enjoyed shopping there, knowing that I was receiving the best care and products. Please call the Publix corporate office in Lakeland and let them know that we do not want to see our store close here in Avon Park. I for one will not drive to Sebring to shop at Publix but will stay here in Avon Park and do my shopping elsewhere. "Where shopping is a pleasure" will no longer be a part of my life. ...more

April 18, 2009

Food and Drug Administration officials are recommending that consumers avoid eating foods containing pistachios because the nuts could be contaminated with salmonella. ...more

March 31, 2009

A man on probation for DUI-manslaughter is going back to prison after being found drunk behind the wheel of an idling car. ...more

March 25, 2009