Florida
If Acme’s here, can Coyote be far behind? – Bonita Springs Florida Weekly
If Acme’s here, can Coyote be far behind?
While riding my bike recently, I passed a construction site where a new house is being built. At the entrance to the project was a line of orange barrels marked “Acme Barricades.”
And I thought: “Acme Barricades? Wile E. Coyote must be building this house.” Because if you’re a kid like me who grew up in the 1950’s and 60’s, Acme could mean only one thing: the Acme Catalog from which Coyote ordered every gadget imaginable to outwit Roadrunner—gadgets that failed spectacularly every time.
During the latter part of the 19th century and early 20th century, many corporations used the name Acme. It was a good name because “acme” is the Greek word for “high point, peak or summit,” implying that your company is tip-top, or better than any of the others. And it didn’t hurt that alphabetically, it would show up right at the front of the list in the phone book.
And yet, I thought, other than this morning’s orange barricade, when was the last time I ever saw any product with the name Acme on it? Do any companies call themselves Acme anymore?
TR KERTH / FLORIDA WEEKLY
As my mind spun through circles of ill-conceived logic, I resolved to do some Acme research as soon as I got home. Because, after all, that’s the main point of my morning bike rides—to prod my brain into following some absurd, meaningless train of thought that isn’t worth your time to follow. You probably have better things to do with your time, so I’ll dive down that rabbit hole of ridiculousness and then report back to you.
You’re welcome.
And so, when I got home, I dug through that rarely opened bottom kitchen cabinet where I stored paper phone books (remember them?) back in the days when I had an actual land-line telephone (remember them?).
And sure enough, there was an old 2018 Yellow Pages phone book, surely the last one ever sent to me. I was a bit surprised that I even had it, because I’m certain I had not opened a phone book for at least a decade before that one arrived.
So I went to work, scanning the Yellow Pages for Acme businesses, from air conditioning and appliances, through floor materials and florists, all the way past pest control, plumbers and beyond.
And I found not a single company called Acme in the entire book.
But why? How did one of the most common company names of a century ago—with products as diverse as whistles, anvils, and traffic lights—slide virtually to the edge of brand-name extinction?
The answer must surely be Wile E. Coyote, who ordered exclusively from the Acme Catalog whenever he sent away for some device to outwit the Roadrunner. Those film shorts began at the end of 1949 and grew in popularity over the ensuing decades.
The list of Acme products that Coyote ordered was virtually endless:
Acme dynamite.
Acme axle grease.
Acme giant rubber bands.
TR Kerth
All were total failures in Coyote’s war against Roadrunner, serving only to bring harm to Coyote. And yet, undeterred, he dug deeper still into the Acme Catalog:
Acme rocket-powered roller skates.
Acme dehydrated boulders.
Acme jet-propelled pogo stick.
Failures all.
And bit by bit, year by year, as Coyote failed time after time with Acme product after product, the list of actual Acme corporations in the Yellow Pages grew smaller and smaller.
And today, according to my extensive research in scanning the Yellow Pages of a phone book from 2018, the Acme corporate name is virtually out of business—at least in my area covered by that neighborhood phone book.
But why stop there? To go the extra mile for you, I turned to Mama Google to see if Acme existed anywhere in the non-paper Twittersphere.
You’re welcome.
I found ACME Foods, founded in 1891 in Philadelphia and becoming a full-service Supermarket in 1937, decades before Coyote’s Acme Catalog appeared. It still clung to the name through most of the 20th century— at least until it was bought out by Albertson’s, which was later bought out by Kroger. Acme Food stores? Mostly gone now.
And there was Acme Tools, founded in 1948 in Grand Forks, North Dakota, the year before the first Roadrunner film was made—but with a hard-hatted mascot in its logo that looks suspiciously like a scruffy coyote wearing sunglasses. ¦
TR Kerth is the author of the book “Revenge of the Sardines.” Contact him at trkerth@yahoo.com.
Plans for a new Wawa to open in Port St. Lucie were approved.
A new Wawa fuel station and convenience store will open in Port St. Lucie now that the plans have been approved.
The Wawa will be at the corner of Village Parkway and Becker Road in front of the Lowe’s which is expected to open in the summer of 2026, according to the city’s website.
The plans for a Wawa convenience store and eight fuel pumps were submitted to the city Dec. 3, 2025.
What will go in Port St. Lucie’s Southern Grove?
The plans for the Shoppes at Southern Grove show there will be a new Lowe’s store and six additional outparcels.
The six additional outparcels include the following:
- Gas station: 5,915 square feet
- Outparcel A: 1.2 acres
- Outparcel B: 1.14 acres
- Outparcel C: 1.83 acres
- Outparcel D: 1.04 acres
- Outparcel E: 1.02 acres
Olivia Franklin is TCPalm’s trending reporter. You can contact her at olivia.franklin@tcpalm.com, 317-627-8048 or follow her on X @Livvvvv_5.
SUNRISE, Fla. – Five Florida Panthers players and five staff members will represent their home countries at the upcoming 2026 IIHF World Championship, taking place May 15 through May 31 in Zurich and Fribourg, Switzerland. Games will be broadcast on NHL Network in the United States.
Marek Alscher, 22, will represent Czechia at the IIHF World Championship for the first time. He previously played for his home country at the 2024 IIHF U20 World Junior Championship, skating in seven games to help the Czechs capture the bronze medal over Finland. Alscher made his NHL debut with the Panthers in 2025-26, notching three assists over four games played. He also skated in 52 American Hockey League (AHL) games with Florida’s affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, recording 11 points (3-8-11).
Aleksander Barkov, 30, missed the 2026 Winter Olympic Games due to injury but had been named to Finland’s preliminary roster in June of 2025. He previously earned a bronze medal at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games alongside current Panthers assistant coach Tuomo Ruutu, and earned a silver medal representing his home country at the 2016 IIHF Men’s World Championship. At the 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off, Barkov served as captain of Finland.
Anton Lundell, 24, will be participating in his second IIHF World Championship after earning a silver medal with Finland in 2021, where he posted seven points (4-3-7) in 10 games as a 19-year-old. He helped Finland capture the bronze medal at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games this season and previously earned gold at the 2019 IIHF U20 WJC and 2018 IIHF U18 WJC, as well as a bronze medal at the 2021 U20 WJC.
Sandis Vilmanis, 22, will represent Latvia at the IIHF World Championship for the first time in his career. He played for Latvia at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in February as well as at the 2022, 2023 and 2024 IIHF U20 World Junior Championships, serving as an alternate captain in 2024 where he produced four points (2-2-4) over five games. Vilmanis made his NHL debut with the Panthers in 2025-26, logging five points (3-2-5) in 19 games with Florida while compiling 38 points (17-21-38) in 48 American Hockey League (AHL) contests with the Panthers affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers.
Matthew Tkachuk, 28, will attempt to become the first American to join the Triple Gold Club (Stanley Cup, World Championship Gold Medal and Olympic Gold Medal), as well as the first player in NHL history to win all three parts of the Triple Gold Club within a 12-month span. This will be Tkachuk’s first time participating in the IIHF World Championship.
In addition to his 2026 Olympic gold medal, Tkachuk also earned gold representing the United States at the 2015 IIHF U18 World Junior Championship and the 2014 U17 World Hockey Challenge, as well as a bronze medal at the 2016 IIHF U20 WJC. He served as alternate captain for the U.S. at the 2026 Olympics and 2025 4 Nations Face-Off.
Florida will have four staff members representing the United States. Panthers Assistant General Manager Brett Peterson is serving as General Manager for the second time after holding the position in 2024. Panthers Head Equipment Manager Teddy Richards will serve as equipment manager and Florida’s Head Athletic Trainer Dave DiNapoli will work as athletic trainer. Panthers President of Hockey Operations & General Manager Bill Zito will serve on the Advisory Group.
Panthers Assistant General Manager Gregory Campbell will assist with evaluating and selecting players for Canada.
Panthers fans can stay up to date on all the Cats’ representatives at the 2026 IIHF World Championships at FloridaPanthers.com/WorldChampionship.
2026-27 Florida Panthers Territory Memberships are available now! Click here to learn more. For all the latest in Panthers news, concerts and events at Amerant Bank Arena & FTL War Memorial, sign up for ’93 Society newsletter and receive information straight to your inbox. Visit FloridaPanthers.com or SeatGeek.com for all ticketing needs.
A Martin County slaughterhouse near Lake Okeechobee could increase toxic algal blooms in the C-44 Canal, St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon.
There have been 81 algal blooms in the past two years within 2 miles of a proposed slaughterhouse in western Martin County, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Algal Bloom Dashboard.
The slaughterhouse will increase pollution and bring more potentially toxic algal blooms to Lake Okeechobee, whose waters sometimes are released into the C-44 Canal and flow into the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon in Stuart, opponents say.
Chancey Bay Ranch owner Tuny Mizrachi has proposed building a 56,784-square-foot slaughterhouse on 26 acres of his 2,046-acre-property at 8401 SW Connors Highway, abutting Lake O.
5 ways a slaughterhouse can increase Lake Okeechobee pollution
The Guardians of Martin County have raised at least five concerns with the Martin County Commission:
- Meat processing facilities, though necessary, have the potential to be noisy nuisances and significant sources of disease and pollution for air and water.
- The facility would be a new source of pollution in a watershed that’s designated as “impaired” because of elevated concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus.
- The facility would be a potential new source of pollutants near one of Martin County’s lowest income and most ethnically diverse communities.
- There’s no evidence the facility has a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, or plans to follow effluent limitation guidelines or conduct water-quality monitoring.
- The South Florida Water Management District has permitted the facility to withdraw 6.7 million gallons of water per year for 20 years from Florida’s surficial aquifer, despite it being subject to varying levels of saltwater intrusion, especially in Martin County. The SFWMD has designated all of Martin County a Water Resource Caution Area.
Blood, feces, oil, grease, ammonia and antibiotic residue from the proposed slaughterhouse would contribute to harmful algal blooms, including toxic cyanobacteria, Martin County Administrator Don Donaldson wrote to the DEP and SFWMD.
Tim O’Hara is TCPalm’s environment reporter. Contact him at tim.ohara@tcpalm.com.
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