Metro I-4 News

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Yesterday marked the 25th anniversary of the first game of the USFL. The Tampa Bay Bandits beat the Boston Breakers at Tampa Stadium. To mark the anniversary, the last remaining NFL player who also played in the USFL retired.
Also in 1983, six businessmen in Clearwater Florida opened the first Hooters. To celebrate [...]

Yes, it’s true. Starbucks will close today from 5 pm to 8:30 pm. Evidently it’s time for a little retraining.

In an effort to help those who need coffee to navigate I-4 at rush hour, Dunkin’ Donuts will offer 99-cent small lattes, cappuccinos and espresso drinks today from 1 pm until 9:30.

I’m not including a map of all Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donut shops. The afternoon drive is too wired as it is.

This information has been presented as public service announcement. With caffeine.

Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon closed seven of its eight Florida restaurants yesterday. The Lakeland location at 3723 US-98 North was shuttered along with locations in Bradenton, Fort Myers, Ocala, Pensacola, Port Orange, and St. Petersburg.

Lone Star closed 27 restaurants yesterday, leaving the company with 152 locations. According to a report in this morning’s Bradenton Herald Tribune the stores were closed for poor performance related:

“The main reason for the closings is performance-related,” Van Warner said. “Despite the best efforts of the teams, none had been performing that well for a long time.” — Herald Tribune

A call this morning to the Lakeland store was answered but staff reported they couldn’t comment.

I have a call in to the company spokesperson to find out how they’ll handle gift card redemption.

Over at Lakeland Crime we have the latest weekly crime map and something special for all Lakeland business owners: January 2008 Lakeland Business Burglaries & Robberies.