Local Politics · Wildwood, FL
Wildwood commissioners voted 3-1 on Monday to approve a one-year contract extension allowing the Sumter County Dragon Boat Club to continue using Lake Deaton, where it may keep two boats. The original January contract required the club to partner with the school district to create a youth dragon boat program; club president Donnie Lies reported 22 students joined and won gold and silver medals. The team is scheduled to compete next month in a Hernando County tournament. Mayor Ed Wolf cast the lone dissenting vote, saying he preferred keeping the lake for passive recreation.
Community News · Wildwood, FL
Two Wildwood police officers, William Soto and Crystal Acevedo, received awards from Police Chief Randy Parmer at a Monday City Commission meeting for separate life-saving incidents. Soto was recognized for his June 6 response to a suicidal man at the Brownwood Hotel & Spa, where he held the man up to relieve neck pressure while another officer cut him down, then administered CPR. Acevedo was honored for her Sept. 19 rescue of an unconscious driver whose Tesla had rolled into a neighborhood pond; she waded in and shattered a window with her baton to pull the woman out. Commissioner David Fontaine noted the department's 2-minute-44-second average response time as a factor in both rescues, and Mayor Ed Wolf expressed support for Wildwood maintaining its own police department rather than relying on the Sumter County Sheriff's Office.
Local Business · The Villages, FL
Coffee for the Soul (CFS Coffee), a Colombian family-owned chain founded in Winter Park in 2016, will open its first drive-thru location at 2211 Alder Avenue in Middleton, an area within The Villages, Florida, expected to begin operations in November. The new establishment will serve single-origin Colombian coffee, specialty espresso drinks, cold brews, artisan teas, and a kitchen menu featuring traditional Colombian foods such as stuffed arepas, empanadas, and tropical bowls. CFS Coffee first entered The Villages market with a location at Spanish Springs in 2025, and now operates more than a dozen locations across Florida.
