Dan Raulerson thought he was showing up to a birthday celebration for his partner Irene Castillo at Keel & Curley Winery. What he didn’t expect was to see his own smiling face on a sign alongside hers. “I walk in and see ‘Happy 40th Birthday, Irene!’ And right next to it, ‘Happy 40th in Business, […]
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PILLAR OF COMMUNITY CELEBRATES 100TH BIRTHDAY
Photos Courtesy of Jose Hoyos Helen Hayes was born July 7, 1925, in St. Louis, MO. During WWII, she worked at a five-and-dime store. She met a soldier named Roy Parke at the store, and in 1943, they got married. Helen lived with Roy’s parents on their farm in Pennsylvania until Roy returned to the […]
Continue ReadingAround Town 07.17.25
Plant City was hit with an unprecedented amount of rain on July 14. According to PC Weather Boy (if you aren’t following his Facebook page, you should be), portions of Plant City received nearly 11 inches of rain in about 3 hours. This is a record for an afternoon weather event that was not a […]
Continue ReadingObituaries 07.17.25
Rosalie M. Coton Rosalie M. Coton, 87, of Plant City, Fla., born in Tampa, Fla., on Dec. 5, 1937, entered into eternal rest on July 10, 2025. She was a member of the Plant City Women’s Club, a volunteer for the Plant City Dolphins Youth Football, and a retired Hillsborough County Public Schools Teacher, with […]
Continue ReadingHCPS LOOKS AT DELAYING NEW PLANT CITY SCHOOLS
At the June 24 Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS) School Board Workshop, part of the agenda addressed how to manage building new schools to meet the needs of the burgeoning population growth of Hillsborough County. The booming areas are the southern part of the county and Plant City. HCPS has been putting together data-driven projections […]
Continue ReadingMISHAP CUTS FIREWORKS SHOW SHORT
On Independence Day, people filled the Plant City Stadium for the City of Plant City’s 4th of July Celebration. The only cost was $5 to park, and more than 5,000 people came out for the festivities. Several vendors set up on the stadium field so parents could let their kids eat, run through an obstacle […]
Continue ReadingSMOKIN’ ACES WINS TOP HONORS IN NATIONAL CONTEST
Smokin’ Aces BBQ & Steakhouse, led by owner and pitmaster Robert Jordan, earned accolades on the national barbecue stage in the 2025 Sauces of Honor competition. The contest is put on by “Barbecue News,” a magazine that has been a leading voice in the barbeque world since 1990. Now in its 15th year, Sauces of […]
Continue ReadingAround Town 07.10.25
We asked Plant City: What’s a conspiracy theory you actually believe? The Strawberry Festival is ran by vampires -William TheBull Epstein didn’t kill himself -Stephen T. Galindo That Oswald did not act alone in the assassination of President Kennedy. -Winter Dodd Weather modification -Temecia Vitiello Q-A-NON Conspiracy -Curt Weaver When the Observer published the story […]
Continue ReadingObituaries 07.10.25
Edith Tedder Layton Edith Tedder Layton, 84, of Dover, Florida, born in Ruskin, Fla., on August 23, 1940, entered into eternal rest on July 1, 2025. Expressions of condolence at HopewellFuneral.com. Lavone Williford Wingate Lavone Williford Wingate, 81, of Lake Wales, Fla., formerly of Dover, Fla., born on Nov. 11, 1943, in Glennville, Georgia, entered into eternal rest on […]
Continue ReadingYOU COULD NAME “PLANT CITY TECHNICAL COLLEGE”
Currently known as Plant City Technical College, the school is a Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS) project that sits on 16 acres on East Park Road, just west of the Plant City Stadium. The project kicked off in July 2024 and is projected to be completed “fall-ish,” depending on the speed of construction and how […]
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