Carmike Cinemas opened a new 12-screen theater Friday along U.S. 1, bringing the movies back to New Smyrna Beach for the first time in almost a year. The city’s old movie complex, the Beacon 12, had been open at 1401 S. Dixie Freeway in the New Smyrna Beach Shopping Center since 1995, but closed in…
DetailsDELAND — An Orlando-based developer — which recently opened a beachside hotel in Daytona Beach Shores — has bought an old building with plans of turning it into downtown DeLand’s only large hotel. Avista Hotels & Resorts has purchased the Gould Building at 308 N. Woodland Blvd. for $900,000 in a transaction that closed Thursday. The…
DetailsSaturday’s Downtown Marketplace starts around 6:30 a.m. on Friday for Ahmet Sezgin. He starts to mix 12 batches of dough that will eventually turn into around 80 loaves of bread spread across his table for hungry shoppers at the weekly market. In its 21st year, the market set in the Park Avenue Chain of Parks…
DetailsOcala Mayor Kent Guinn said he is not heartless when it comes to homeless people. He just wants them out of Ocala’s downtown so others can visit the shops and restaurants without being harassed by panhandlers who, he contends, sometimes become aggressive. Guinn said he has reached out personally to down-and-out individuals outside Starbucks, his…
DetailsSCOPE OF WORK The City of Deerfield Beach is requesting sealed proposals from qualified contractors, herein called the Contractor, each Contractor is asked to provide prequalification documents demonstrating experience in constructing Park Projects equal to or larger than the construction of Sullivan Park Expansion Project. The scope of services consists of furnishing all labor, supplies,…
DetailsFLORIDA: Florida’s court clerks are leading the nation in making electronic state court records available to the public online. But in the process, they’re creating two-tiers of public viewers with varying privileges based on how much information users are willing to provide about themselves. Any member of the public will be able to look up…
DetailsIrving Friedman, an 89-year-old disabled World War II Navy veteran and recovering heart patient was in a panic after Florida Power & Light said in a letter that it would cut off his power Thursday. Friedman, of Port St. Lucie, like 82 other FPL customers, had declined a change-out from an analog meter to a…
DetailsPORT ST. LUCIE — The city has put an end to the handsome cash handouts that have buried the municipality deep in debt. The City Council on Monday unanimously restricted borrowing through what’s known as covenant to budget and appropriate bonds. They are bonds for a specific purpose, and have specific guidelines for payback, but…
DetailsINVERNESS — Merriam-Webster defines blight as something that spoils the appearance or completeness of a thing. Urban blight is an area in a “damaged or worsened condition,” according to the dictionary. Then there is the Inverness City Council’s definition of blight, as spelled out in a resolution passed this week: A condition detrimental to the…
DetailsSome members of Live Oak’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) are calling for an expansion of the roughly 1,000-acre CRA district to include more areas in need of development. CRA member and city Councilman John Yulee brought up the possibility of expansion during a workshop on Tuesday, Feb. 18, stating he would like to expand the…
DetailsLike parents who fret when they hand the car keys to their teenage children, county governments are understandably loathe to let go when they approve Community Redevelopment Areas for municipalities. Given the amount of money involved, it’s appropriate for counties to ensure the CRAs are effectively targeted and properly managed. But they shouldn’t become back-seat…
DetailsSEBRING — Downtown Lake Placid is almost full. Only two buildings on Interlake Boulevard and two on Main Street are empty. Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Eileen May is almost satisfied. What else would she like to see? “Live music outside, at night. A sidewalk café. A place to have wine, dinner,” May said. “I…
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