🌱 Patch AM: Why a Plant City Christian school faces a six-figure court claim

Morning Plant City! We've got the scoop on the latest happenings in town. Read on to get looped in. ☀️

In today's newsletter:

• Why a Plant City Christian school faces a six-figure court claim
• How did a New Jersey youth team conquer nationals in Plant City?
• How a Plant City strawberry family helped spark a mental-health movement

Also on today's calendar: Parent's Night Out - Plant City, FL 2025 and 5 more events.

Today's riddle: What did one astronaut stranded on the moon say to another? 🤔 (Answer below!)

Weather forecast:

• Friday: Times of clouds and sun, with a high of 81 and low of 50 degrees.
• Saturday: Sunny, nice and less humid, temps: high: 78, low: 54.
• Sunday: Plenty of sunshine, with a high of 81 and low of 56 degrees.

📰 News we're reading

1. The Docket: Local court roundup for 12.18.25 (richmondbizsense.com) — A new civil case targets Faith Christian Academy of Plant City, with a finance company claiming the school’s corporate entity defaulted on a forward purchase agreement worth more than $165,000. The broader court roundup highlights a range of business, injury, and contract disputes recently filed, but this Plant City-related suit could affect a familiar local institution’s finances.
   

2. East Orange Junior Jaguars football team wins national championship in Florida (essexnewsdaily.com) — Plant City, Fla., hosted the United Youth Football League nationals where the East Orange Junior Jaguars capped a perfect 13-0 season with a championship win. The New Jersey squad earned redemption after falling short last year, winning three games in Plant City to secure the U11 title and a celebratory parade back home.
   

3. Florida farmers face climate, financial and mental stress - WSLR+Fogartyville (wslr.org) — A Florida-wide look at farmers’ financial, climate, and mental health struggles includes the story of a fifth-generation strawberry family from Plant City who lost their father to suicide after a crop failure. Their experience helped inspire the “Mind Your Melon” initiative and a new study on farmer depression, highlighting how stress, isolation, and extreme weather are reshaping agriculture across the state.
   

4. St. Pete man arrested in deadly pedestrian hit-and-run crash on Gandy Boulevard: FHP (fox13news.com) — Troopers tracked down a St. Petersburg man in Plant City and arrested him after a pedestrian was fatally struck on Gandy Boulevard and the driver allegedly left the scene. While the crash happened in Pinellas County, the arrest in Plant City ties the case to local law enforcement activity and ongoing investigation.
   

📸 Around Plant City

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🗓 Upcoming Events in Plant City

Add your event to our calendar and newsletter!

★ Featured events ★

Saturday December 20

• Christmas Lane
  Christmas Lane 2508 W Oak Ave, 2508 W Oak Ave, Plant City
  6:00 pm

Want to see your event featured? Click here!

Other local events

Saturday December 20

• Plant City Strawberry Classic Cruise-In
  The Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce , 106 N Evers St , Plant City
  3:00 pm

Monday December 22

• Community Free Food Pantry
  The Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce , 402 West English St. , Plant City
  6:00 pm

Wednesday December 24

• Business Builders Roundtable Networking
  OnPoint CoWork Solutions , 1805 James L Redman Pkwy , Plant City
  8:15 am

Thursday December 25

• Plant City Toastmasters
  Wesley Centre , 202 W. Reynolds St. , Plant City
  7:30 am
• Entrepreneur/Small Business Consulting Services
  Plant City Chamber of Commerce , 118 W. Reynolds St. , Plant City
  9:00 am

Friday December 26

• Last Friday
  Downtown Plant City
  9:00 am
• Parent's Night Out - Plant City, FL 2025
  Plant City Family YMCA , 1507 YMCA Pl , Plant City
  4:00 pm

📣 Plant City Shout Outs!

Want to say something great about someone in town? Click here to submit your Shout Out to Patch AM! It's free!

🗓 Events Nearby

Friday December 19

• Family Story Time
  Seffner-Mango Branch Library , 410 N Kingsway Rd , Seffner
  11:00 am
• Country Fridays
  Keel Farms , 5202 Thonotosassa Rd , Plant City
  6:00 pm

Saturday December 20

• ARC Adult and Pediatric CPR/AED/First Aid
  North Brandon Family YMCA , 3097 S Kingsway Rd , Seffner
  9:00 am
• Play for a Day Pass
  Little Lake , 111 Florida Ave S , Lakeland
  9:00 am

Have we missed something on our calendar? Add an event yourself! As always, before attending confirm event details to ensure accuracy.

Want to see your business here? Click here to connect with local customers.

🪧 Patch Classifieds

• Former Florida Tile employees
  Looking for former Florida Tile maintenance workers in the Lakeland plant, between 1983-2000. Contact Brittney Fries @ 813.230.7702 or bfries... (More info)

💬 Chatter

What your neighbors are talking about on social media

• Please share & repost to help reunite this lost dog!
  Daisy was LOST on December 15, 2025 in Plant City, FL 33566 near W trapnell rd Sharing for a neighbor. For the latest information or to contact the… (Nextdoor Holloway Rd)
• Hello everyone!
  My cat Stormi got out yesterday night. She’s grey and white with strips and has green eyes also she has a little scratch on her nose. She’s super… (Nextdoor Avondale Groves)

• Charter School Associates posted a job opening for Custodian - Advantage Academy of Hillsborough in Plant City. Apply here.
• Southeastern Grocers posted a job opening for Overnight Grocery Associate in Plant City. Apply here. You can search for other jobs near Plant City here.

Ok Plant City! So now you're in the loop about what's happening today. Thanks for reading, and see you in your inbox next time! Oh -- and if you like what you're reading, invite a friend to Patch AM!

-- The Patch AM Team

P.S. The answer to today's riddle: I don’t think you know the gravity of this situation.
Got a good riddle for PatchAM? Send it to us!

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