News Briefs

+ RaceTrac gas station slated for East County
RaceTrac Petroleum Inc. purchased a 2.75-acre vacant property at State Road 64 E. and Lena Road. It plans to build a new RaceTrac gas station/convenience store this year on the site.

The Georgia-based corporation bought the property at 8100 State Road 64 E. from Edith D. Butler for $1.5 million Feb. 10, court records show.

Amanda Rodriguez, RaceTrac’s associate manager of external communication, says the new East County RaceTrac will offer more than 4,000 retail and grocery items. It will also offer a coffee bar, frozen yogurt and free WiFi.

Rodriguez said the RaceTrac store will bring 20 jobs to the community.

The new store, RaceTrac’s fourth location in Bradenton, will open by the end of 2014.

+ Lakewood Ranch Edwin Watts to close
The Edwin Watts golf equipment retail store in Lakewood Ranch will close in mid- to late March.

Edwin Watts Golf, a corporation based in Fort Walton Beach, is closing 40 of its stores, including its Lakewood Ranch location at 6230 Lake Osprey Drive, after filing for bankruptcy protection last year.

Edwin Watts sold its assets to Hilco Merchant Resources and an affiliate of Worldwide Golf Shops for $40.8 million.

The Lakewood Ranch store will be one of the last of the 40 stores to close.

+ University Park woman killed in plaza parking lot
A University Park woman died Feb. 21 while loading items into her car at The Shoppes at University Town Center.

A Florida Highway Patrol report states 69-year-old Susan Roberts Murphy was loading items into the front passenger side of her 2001 Chrysler Town and Country at about 4:30 p.m. For unknown reasons, the vehicle went in reverse and began traveling westbound in the parking lot.

Murphy fell beneath the vehicle, causing the vehicle’s tire to strike her body and head. The vehicle was unoccupied at the time of the incident.

Meetings & agendas

Florida School Board Association Training Workshop — 9 a.m. March 3 at 2501 63rd Ave. E., Bradenton

Manatee County Board of County Commissioners Work Session: Land Development Code Rewrite — 1:30 p.m. March 4 at Manatee County Administration Building, 1112 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton