Last week was a big one for Pasco County, especially the Wesley Chapel area, when developer Z Mitch LLC unveiled its plans to build a 150,500-square-foot ice and sports complex just off State Road 56.
It shows how far this stretch of road between Bruce B. Downs Boulevard in New Tampa and State Road 54 on the edge of Land O’ Lakes has come in the past decade or so since it was first built. And it’s just one piece of a rather large and prosperous future for the area.
The new facility will feature four ice pads — two of them designed to NHL standards, while another will be at Olympic standards — as well as other courts for sports like basketball, a restaurant, and even a second neighboring hotel. It’s a way to bring in people from all over the region, just like what similar ice complexes in Brandon and Oldsmar do there.
“Two rinks would’ve been great, three rinks is phenomenal. But with four, everyone is going to want to come here and play this from all around the world,” Pasco County Commission chair Jack Mariano said during a press event last week attended by reporter Michael Hinman. “If you had to go to Canada or down here to play hockey, where would you want to go?”
The answer to that question seems obvious, but read the full story in this week’s print edition of The Laker/Lutz News, or read the free e-edition by clicking here.
The ice complex is at least a year away, and summertime is here, and ice is the last thing on most people’s minds. Instead, some kids might have to think about summer school.
Those programs through Pasco County Schools will cost $1.3 million, but serve 6.580 students — including younger children.
“The need is there,” school board member Steve Luikart told reporter B.C. Manion. “We’re doing everything we can to help more kids.”
This year’s classes will include two pilots addressing literacy and mathematics, which will help nearly 800 students primarily from economically challenged neighborhoods.
To read more about the program, pick up this week’s print edition of The Laker, or check out our free e-edition right here.
This week, the Lutz News begins its profile series by reporter Michael Murillo looking at each of the candidates running for the honorary office of Guv’na.
This ceremonial role is a way for the Lutz community to raise money for charities. And candidate Jerome Smalls might not live in Lutz yet, but feels the community has given so much to him that it’s time to give back.
“The people are probably the No. 1 thing,” Smalls said of those residing and working in Lutz. “The people are really friendly and outgoing.”
What does Smalls have planned for his run at the Guv’na position? Find out in the print edition of the Lutz News, or read our free e-edition by clicking here.
Finally, Ashley Schrader is just 13 years old, but you wouldn’t know it by her professional attitude and excitement about jumping into a journalism career.
Schrader was an intern recently at The Laker/Lutz News through a program set up by Countryside Montessori Charter School — one of several eighth-graders checking out the real world from the business perspective.
“Internships are like an opportunity for us to see the real world,” Devyn Dacus, 13, told her classmate, Ashley. “Since we are not yet adults, internships are one of the few chances we have to see the work force.”
What else did these interns learn? You’ll just have to pick up this week’s print edition of The Laker/Lutz News, or read our free e-edition right now by clicking here.
All of these stories and more can be found in this week’s The Laker/Lutz News, available in newsstands throughout east and central Pasco County as well as northern Hillsborough County. Find out what has your community talking this week by getting your local news straight from the only source you need.
If The Laker/Lutz News is not coming to your door, call us to see where you can get your copy at (813) 909-2800, or read our free e-edition by clicking here.
