Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) is actively searching for a suspect involved in a road rage shooting incident that occurred on Interstate 4 in Hillsborough County. The shooting took place west of Interstate 275, as a 34-year-old St. Petersburg man was driving westbound in a Honda CR-V.
According to authorities, the driver noticed a group of motorcyclists operating erratically along with another unidentified vehicle. Concerned by the behavior, the driver began filming the motorcyclists with his cell phone. As he did so, one of the motorcyclists, who was riding adjacent to the Honda, pulled out a handgun and fired several shots directly at the vehicle.
Multiple rounds struck the Honda, but fortunately, the driver was not injured in the incident. The suspected shooter has been described as a white male of medium build. He was seen wearing a jacket bearing the emblem of the “Outlaws MC,” a well-known motorcycle club.
The Florida Highway Patrol is urging anyone who may have witnessed the incident or who has any information about the suspect’s identity or whereabouts to come forward. Tips can be submitted by calling *FHP (*347) or anonymously through Crime Stoppers at **TIPS.
“This was an incredibly dangerous situation that could have resulted in serious harm or worse,” said Sergeant Steve Gaskins, Public Affairs Officer for FHP. “We’re asking for the public’s help in identifying this individual so we can hold him accountable.”
Marie Avitabile of Auburndale, Florida passed away peacefully on March 29, 2025 at the age of 77, surrounded by family and friends.
Marie was preceded in death by Rich Avitabile, her loving husband of 52 years, and her parents John and Margaret Fantucchio. She is survived by her daughter Gina Avitabile, son and daughter-in-law, Dan & Jackie Avitabile, grandchildren, Ryan, Mason and Joey, brother and sister-in-law John & Luanne Fantucchio, brother-in-law and sister-in-law Jim & Meg Avitabile.
Originally from Quincy, Massachusetts, Marie was a loving homemaker, devoted to her family. As her children grew older, she decided to follow a career path in sales. Through her success, she was recognized as a top producer and achieved multiple annual incentive trips to destinations around the world. This helped fuel her passion for travel.
In 2001, she and her husband moved to Florida to be closer to their family. They retired to Golden Gate Park where they quickly became pillars of the community. Marie was the director of the theater club where she enjoyed dance, costume design, choreography and producing shows for the community. In addition, she loved cooking and entertaining guests, as well as cruising, playing cards, and singing karaoke. She loved watching The Game Show Network, The Food Network & The Hallmark Channel. More than anything else in the world, she loved being with her family and friends. Marie was an outgoing, passionate and dedicated wife, mother, grandmother, sister and friend. She will be missed by all that knew and loved her.
Barbara Sue Ellis passed away peacefully on March 23, 2025 after an extended battle with cancer. She was born on September 5, 1938 in Ft. Meade, Florida and was a lifelong resident of Polk County. She graduated from Lakeland High School class of 1956. She then attended Georgia Southern College and finished her BA degree while attending Florida Southern College. She then obtained her Masters Degree from the University of South Florida in 1981. She spent her entire career with Polk County Schools, first at as a teacher throughout several Junior and Senior High Schools within the District and then completed her career as a financial aid counselor for Ridge Vocational Technical School.
She was an avid collector of Barbie dolls and attended the Barbie Doll convention for 34 consecutive years. Upon retirement she spent her summers at her mountain cabin in Andrews, NC.
Sue is survived by her two sons, Greg (Susan) Ellis and Bobby (Corky) Ellis, two grandsons, Mitchell and Mason Ellis, and two great-grandchildren, Norah and Peyton Ellis and numerous cousins.
Because she wanted her body donated to science, a Celebration of Life service will be held at Lone Palm Golf Club, 800 Lone Palm Dr, Lakeland, FL 33815 on Wednesday April 16 from 1:00 – 4:00 pm. Please visit www.steelesfamilyfuneralservices.com to share your memories with the family. In lieu of flowers feel free to make a donation to any charity of your choice in her name. We would like to give a special thanks to her caregivers at Astoria Senior Living and for hospice services provided by Vitas Healthcare.
Hey there, Winter Haven folks! The first weekend of April is packed with fun right here in our city. From sunset cruises to live music and community festivities, there’s something for everyone to enjoy from April 4–6, 2025. Let’s dive into the excitement—grab your calendar and plan your weekend! ✨
Friday, April 4, 2025
Winter Haven Delights: Food, Drink, and Sunset Cruise
When: 3:00 PM (two identical events)
Where: 220 Ave A SW, Winter Haven, FL 33881
What’s Happening: Indulge in delicious food, refreshing drinks, and a beautiful sunset cruise. One listing has 1 interested and 1 going, while the other’s got 3 interested and 1 confirmed. Double the chance for a perfect evening!
What’s Happening: A Winter Haven favorite! With 240 interested and 19 confirmed, this event brings the community together for a lively night downtown. You won’t want to miss it!
What an awesome lineup for Winter Haven this weekend! Whether you’re sipping drinks by the water, dancing to 80s hits, or rocking out at Tanners, there’s plenty to keep you entertained. Which event are you most excited about? Drop a comment below, and I’ll see you around town enjoying the fun!
J.C. Reviews: Go Watch The Day The Earth Blew Up! It’s Good!
by James Coulter
Warner Bros. has been doing the Looney Tunes dirty lately. Last year, they shelved the movie Coyote Vs Acme as a tax write-off, even though the movie had been completed. And as of this month, Max has removed all the classic Looney Tunes cartoons from its streaming service.
The Day The Earth Blew Up nearly suffered a similar fate as Coyote vs Acme. Originally, this animated Looney Tunes movie was going to be released on Max and Cartoon Network. However, in 2022, the movie was shelved.
The film, now picked up and distributed through Ketchup Entertainment, has since premiered at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival last year, and had received a limited theatrical release before expanding wide as of this month.
But was this animated Looney Tunes movie worth retrieving from the ACME vault? Or does it deserve to be thrown into the Warner Water Tower along with the Animaniacs?
The Day The Earth Blew Up stars Porky Pig and Daffy Duck. After a meteor crashes through their roof, the cartoon duo need to get jobs to pay for the repairs or else risk losing their home. However, the meteor contains a mysterious green goop that’s being infused in chewing gum and turning people into mindless zombies. Can the duck and pig work together to stop this bad sci-fi movie premise?
Do you love the Looney Tunes? Do you love retro sci-fi B-movies like The Day the Earth Stood Still or The Blob? Do you just love animated movies in general and wish not every single one was computer animated? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then you will love this movie.
The Day The Earth Blew Up is pure Looney Tunes goodness. The movie was animated by the same team that created the New Looney Tunes shorts for Max. The art style and animation perfectly emulates the classic Bob Clampett-style Looney Tunes shorts with all of their squash-and-stretch goodness.
Though, to be honest, sometimes the near-perfect emulation of classic Looney Tunes animation can be a bit of a fault to a tee. It’s rather uncanny to watch a movie with 1940s-style cel animation with references to Starbucks, smart phones, and influencer culture.
The plot is a loving (and biting) homage to sci-fi B movies from the 50s and 60s like Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Thing. It’s your typical alien invasion/zombie storyline with a very unique and hilarious plot twist at the very end.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the movie is how surprisingly heartwarming it can be. For a movie filled with squash-and-stretch slapstick, there’s plenty of moments that are truly touching. No spoilers, but the movie is about Porky and Daffy learning to support each other in the absence of a father figure. And those moments can tug at your heart.
Honestly, there’s not much else I can say about this movie that isn’t, “if you love classic Looney Tunes, you’ll love this movie.” In a time when 2D animation is sidelined in favor of 3D animation, when the Looney Tunes are threatened with being give the dip by Warner Bros. over tax breaks, we need to support movies like The Day The Earth Blew Up now more than ever.
How This 15-Year-Old Episode of Arthur Explains Life as a Person with Autism
Neurodivergent Diversions: A Column about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
by James Coulter
For nearly 25 years, Arthur has been a ground-breaking animated show that has touched upon challenging topics including trauma, cancer, death, and even social disorders like dyslexia and autism.
In the case of the latter, the show explored and discussed autism in the episode, “When Carl Met George (or “George and the Missing Puzzle Piece”), which premiered on PBS on Dec. 3, 2010.
The episode introduced the bunny character of Carl, one of the first characters with Autism in a children’s animated show. Even 15 years later, this episode offers one of the best explanations of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ADS), allowing anyone to better understand the social disorder.
When Carl Met George
The episode begins with the moose character George meeting Carl at the community center. George sees Carl putting together a puzzle, which George initially mistakes for a spaceship.
Carl corrects him, explaining it’s a bullet train, not a spaceship. He then begins talking about how fast the train travels, how it rides on magnets, and how the picture in the puzzle is inaccurate to how the train appears in real life.
Here, Carl is “info dumping”, which is when someone (usually a person with Autism) shares a large amount of information about a topic of interest, often in great detail, and sometimes unprompted. George never asked anything about trains. He only said the train in the puzzle looks nice. But Carl was more than willing to share everything he knew about it.
George introduces himself and extends a hand for a shake. Carl continues assembling his puzzle, almost as if he is ignoring George. He rarely, if ever, makes eye contact.
When George asks if they can hang out together, Carl asks, “Hang out of what?” George then asks if Carl is pulling his leg. Carl answers that he’s not because he’s putting together a puzzle. George then says goodbye, but Carl does not reply.
This interaction shows how people with Autism often struggle with “pragmatic language”, which is the ability to use language appropriately in social situations. In other words, it’s knowing what to say, when to say it, and how to say it.
As such, people with Autism often struggle to make eye contact, interpret social cues, and understand figurative language like idioms or metaphors. It’s why Carl acts the way he does toward George.
Arthur’s Awesome Autism Analogy
However, George doesn’t understand. He thinks Carl was acting “strange.” He even feels Carl is ignoring him because he doesn’tlike him.
Later, George visits another friend, Brain, at the ice cream shop. Upon telling him how Carl was acting, The Brain explains Carl has Asperger’s Syndrome (an outdated term for Autism Spectrum Disorder).
Brain knows about the disorder because his uncle also has it. His uncle is a professor who’s brilliant about physics but awkward in social situations. “He has a lot of trouble being around people,” Brain says. “His brain just works differently. What’s normal to us can seem really strange to him.”
The brain then goes on to offer the following analogy, which does an excellent job explaining Autism:
Imagine you crashed landed on an alien planet. It looks like Earth, but there are a lot of differences.
For one, a lot of people seem to talk extremely loudly. And even though you speak the same language, you sometimes have a hard time understanding what they mean. And things that seem hilarious to you aren’t funny at all to them.
You wish the scientists on Earth had given you a guidebook to this strange planet, but they forgot to pack one. So you have to try to learn things all on your own. Maybe there’s one thing in particular that captures your interest, and you study just that.
Hopefully, the people on the planet get to understand you a little better. And you might even learn to fit in, but you will always feel a little bit different.
Still A Great Episode
This episode aired nearly 15 years ago, and its analogy for Autism still holds up. It’s a great way to explain Autism to other people, and it teaches them how to better empathize with people with Autism and to understand that autistic people aren’t acting “strange” or “rude”, just different.
In fact, the only aspect of the show that hasn’t aged well is that ASD is referred to as Asperger’s Syndrome. The term is no longer used, as the physician it was named after, Hans Asperger, was discovered to have actively assisted with the Nazi’s euthanasia program.
Even then, the episode still holds up, and it serves as a great tool to help people without Autism better understand people with it.
LAKELAND, FL (April 4, 2025) – A tragic accident early Friday morning claimed the life of a local motorcyclist in Lakeland. At approximately 12:56 a.m., Lakeland Police Department officers responded to a traffic collision near the 1200 block of U.S. Highway 98 North. The crash involved a 2010 red Toyota sedan and a 2001 black Honda motorcycle, both traveling southbound on the highway.
According to initial reports, the motorcycle, operated by 39-year-old Guelsy Oritz of Lakeland, collided with the rear of the Toyota for reasons that remain under investigation. The impact caused Oritz to be ejected from the motorcycle. The driver of the Toyota, identified as 24-year-old Isaiah Desir, also of Lakeland, brought his vehicle to a controlled stop and remained on the scene.
Emergency responders from Lakeland Police, Polk County Fire Rescue, and the Lakeland Fire Department arrived quickly and began life-saving efforts. Oritz was transported to Lakeland Regional Health, but despite all attempts by medical staff, he was pronounced deceased. Desir was unharmed and did not report any injuries.
The Lakeland Police Department’s Traffic Homicide Unit took over the investigation. As part of their efforts, the roadway was closed for approximately three hours to allow for a thorough examination of the crash site.
Authorities continue to investigate the circumstances leading to the collision. Anyone with information that could assist in the investigation is encouraged to contact Officer Travis Payne at [email protected].
Transportation Improvements Approved for Buckeye Loop Road to Accommodate Circle K Gas Station
by James Coulter
To accommodate the construction of a proposed Circle-K, an infrastructure agreement for transportation improvements near Buckeye Loop Road in Winter Haven has been approved.
At their meeting on Tues. Apr. 1, the Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) of Polk County reviewed an infrastructure agreement for proposed improvements to Buckeye Loop Road.
These improvements were recommended to help facilitate the construction of a proposed Circle K gas station at the northwest corner of the intersection of Buckeye Loop Road and Dundee Road.
According to Thado N. Hays, CPM, Concurrency & Entitlements Manager, “it was determined that certain transportation improvements were needed at the intersection to mitigate existing Level of Service (LOS) deficiencies.”
As such, an infrastructure agreement was proposed “to design, permit, and construct needed off-site transportation improvements (specifically, turn lane improvements along Buckeye Loop Road).”
The total cost of the project is estimated to be approximately $780,615.39, with the county expected to cover $705,676.39, with the developer of the gas station covering $74,939.
County commissioners motioned and seconded to approve the infrastructure agreement, and they voted unanimously to pass the motion.
HAINES CITY – Andrew Boyle, his brother, Gary, and Rob Ball have opened 13 furniture outlet stores in Florida in the last 90 days.
The Boyle family has been in the furniture business for decades. Now, two of those 13 locations are in Polk County – Haines City and Auburndale – where their father began years ago.
Back in the 1990s, when the Boyle family moved to Haines City from St. Pete, their father, Thomas, got a job at Badcock and became a dedicated employee. In fact, he loved the company so much he ended up buying the Arcadia Badcock location. In 2017, when Thomas retired, the three men – Andrew, Gary and Rob, took over that store and purchased 26 more in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
When the Badcock corporation filed for bankruptcy last year, the three partners saw an opportunity. Many of the locations that closed were in small towns that now lacked a furniture store. Haines City was one of those towns.
The Haines City Furniture Outlet location opened about a month ago and Gary said the community has been supportive and seems happy to have a furniture store again.
“We are doing well,” Gary said. “The community has been very receptive.”
Furniture for every room in the house as well as some outdoor pieces are available. They also offer delivery, and no interest and no credit financing.
The grand opening is this weekend (April 5-6) and the store is located in the former Badcock building, 35495 US Hwy 27 North (across Hwy. 27 from Manny’s).
HAINES CITY – Then, there were two. On April 1, the Haines City municipal election for the vacant City Commission seat started with four candidates and ended with two. Those two, Anne Huffman and Horace West, will face each other in a runoff election since neither candidate received the required 51 percent of the vote.
Incumbent Commissioner Huffman led the four-way race for City Commission Seat 5, securing 46.9 percent of the vote. Her closest competitor, West, received 36.9 percent. The other two candidates, Edwin Perez and Alisa Romero, garnered 14.1 percent and 2.1 percent of the vote, respectively.
In 2017, Huffman was the first black female official in the City’s history when she was originally elected. She was reelected in 2021 and served as mayor in 2022.
“Over the next few weeks leading up to the runoff, I’m going to really emphasize the vote-by-mail option. The weather is so unpredictable,” Huffman said. “My top three priorities are public safety, infrastructure, and increasing downtown parking.”
West was a Haines City Commissioner for 20 years who in 2022 decided not to seek reelection. Instead, that year, he, unsuccessfully, threw his hat into the ring for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives.
“My entire life my focus has been on making sure children are cared for, and that will continue,” West said. West was the conduit for bringing youth football to this area, as well as organizing the annual city Easter Egg hunt. Now, he’s helping in any way he can with the creation of the city’s soccer program. Since the regular election, four community leaders have come forward to endorse him: former City Commissioners Ken Kipp, Roy Tyler, and Joe Hamilton. An opponent in the regular election Edwin Perez has also endorsed him.
The runoff election will be held April 29, since when one is needed, it must be held within 30 days.
Residents are encouraged to take part in the upcoming runoff election to decide the representative for Seat 5 on the City Commission. For more information on the election and voting details, please visit the Haines City Election Information Center.
