Metro I-4 News

For good.
This past year in Colorado Springs has been quite a challenge. I worked at Academy 20’s Expulsion Program and my fellow teachers seemed to like me until they realized that the Christian books and subtle intimidation tactics weren’t working. I am going to stay Jewish and liberal. That’s when they decided I was [...]

When I think about Publix, I think about this:

The Publix in Ocala where my mom shopped when I was a child had one of these murals. I always associated Publix with the murals- and the S&H Green Stamp store next door.

Recently I rode my bike over to the Lakeland Wabash Publix and took pictures of the mural there. That is (obviously) where these photos came from. I decided I’d better get it done, because it dawned on me that the store had been vacant for so long, and some day, a new tenant might come along and remove the mural. While photographing various portions of the mural, I found the artist’s information:

I spoke to Pati today by phone and she informed me that she glazed and fired about 200 murals for Publix stores throughout a 25-year period. Pretty amazing.

What are your thoughts on the murals? Are they a part of your childhood memories, too? Do you think they should be salvaged when Publix stores undergo remodeling or the stores get sold to other businesses?

Or…if it’s happening there, it’s probably happening here. After all, there will always be a few bad apples among the batch.

According to this AP story, New Jersey weights and measures inspectors found discrepancies during a recent three day sweep at approximately one-third of the state’s gas stations involving pricing, inaccurate octane ratings, and improperly calibrated equipment which, in effect, cheated consumers throughout the Garden State.

Inspectors ticketed stations that did not give motorists the amount of gas they paid for. Others charged premium prices for lower octane fuel.

State inspectors found 46 instances where per-gallon prices were different on each side of the pump; 37 instances where the fuel grade was not posted; and 19 instances of inaccurate price totals.

State inspectors also cited 14 stations for changing the price of gas more than once within 24 hours, a violation of state law.

In one case from Somerset County where the station changed the price of gas more than once within 24 hours, the business was fined $800 and closed down for 20 days.

With gas prices continuing to skyrocket, don’t you wonder what would happen if state officials here conducted a similar sweep, and how many would get caught?

The Polk County Bloggers, a not-for-profit, bylaws free, organization sans leadership, is happy to announce two meetings in July for area bloggers, citizen journalists, paid journalists privileged to write blogs, business bloggers, and anyone with an hour to spare.

July 21, 2008
Noon to 1 pm
at the Lakeland Area Chamber of Commerce
(Yes, you read that correctly.)
35 Lake Morton Drive
Lakeland, FL

This meeting is focused on the business that blogs, hopes to blog, or wonders why customers always ask for the company “blog.” It doesn’t matter if your company is for profit, not for profit, or wondering what this “profit” thing is that everyone talks about. We’ll mainly discuss some of the problems and opportunities blogging brings to your business, but the floor is open to any of your questions.

By July 17, please email me at meeting [at] lakelandlocal.com if you plan to attend the Noon meeting. I’d like to give the Chamber a head count.

•

July 28, 2008
6:30 to 8:30
at Mimi’s Cafe
3770 Lakeside Village Court
Lakeland FL

This is a casual meeting of a very informal network of Polk County bloggers. You’re invited even if you have never written a single blog post.

We spend the time talking about blogging — how, why, and where. Members are known to take the conversations far afield. Yes, “conversations”. This isn’t the traditional one member speaks at a time kind of meeting. We split up into small groups to chat.

It’s a restaurant and you can eat, drink, and be merry if you wish. If you plan to come please do me a favor and email me so I can call the restaurant with an idea oh how many will attend.

So, by July 21, please email me at meeting [at] lakelandlocal.com if you plan to attend the dinner meeting.

Thanks.

Happy 4th of July, Central Florida! Have a great time celebrating your independence, however you’re choosing to do it. Just in case you missed it, klynn provided some great suggestions earlier in the week of where to party on the 4th.
Here are some things I would suggest not doing this year:

[...]

In the “What Did You Think Would Happen if You Cut Taxes?” news of the day: Floridians feel squeeze of state’s $66 billion budget

Some are happy with the state’s proposed purchase of U.S. Sugar’s operation, and not just U.S. Sugar: Rethinking the grand plan for the Everglades

If they’re working, can you really call them panhandlers? City Considers Use Of Panhandlers

In college news: PCC Dealing With Budget Worries and the Tampa Tribune editorial board continues pushing their agenda against regional control of universities: Accreditation Trouble Reveals Flaws Of USF Regional System. No, Trib, the accreditation trouble reveals a simple flaw in a specific department at USF St. Petersburg. The Trib editor’s argument suffers from a simple logic flaw called Composition. You simply can not argue that because small parts of a whole have a certain feature that the whole has that feature.

Hurricane season is coming
Sentinel EDITORIAL:  Faulty hurricane forecasts are no reason to let guard down - Given that hurricane forecasters are about as dependable as a windbreaker in a snowstorm, the best advice we can offer is to not pay any attention to what these “experts” say. # Hurricanes happen. But beyond stocking up on [...]