Michael Hinman

Two cities, town heading to the polls April 8

February 27, 2014 By Michael Hinman

Mid-term elections are still months away, but cities and towns in Pasco County will have a chance to choose local leaders in municipal elections in Dade City, St. Leo and Zephyrhills.

Qualifying ended Feb. 18 for municipal elections, and incumbents in those cities and town will face challengers. Winners will be decided April 8.

Residents living in those cities who want to vote must be registered no later than March 10, according to Pasco County elections supervisor Brian Corley. At the polls, voters should bring photo and signature identification, or they will be required to vote a provisional ballot.

Zephyrhills
Zephyrhills is getting a new mayor, and he didn’t even have to campaign.

Gene Whitfield, owner of Whitfield Funeral Home and Cremation Services on Gall Boulevard, will succeed Danny Burgess as mayor of Zephyrhills.

He will become the 20th mayor of Zephyrhills, and the fourth one in the last two years, following the retirement of Cliff McDuffie in 2012 and the resignation later that year of new mayor Steve Van Gorden.

The mayor position is largely ceremonial, with no voting power. The city council chooses a board president to run meetings.

Burgess chose not to run again so that he could seek a state House seat being vacated by Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel.

Also taking office unopposed in Zephyrhills is Ken Burgess, who was first elected in 2011 to replace Tim Urban, and didn’t draw an opponent in his first regular race in 2012.

The trip back to the city council dais won’t be so easy for Councilwoman Jodi Wilkeson, as she’ll face off against community activist and retired educator Alan Knight on April 8. Wilkeson, the president and founder of WDA Design Group, was first elected in 2008.

Knight currently is the chair of the city’s parks and recreation board, and has been involved in the city’s interest in purchasing the abandoned Hercules Park on County Road 54 in recent months.

Dade City
Mayor Camille Hernandez is returning for another term on the Dade City Commission after failing to attract a challenger, but her colleague Scott Black will have to convince voters to keep him in a job he’s had since 1990.

Angelica Herrera filed and qualified just before the deadline to challenge Black. She has been civically active over the years, including work in the Tommytown revitalization efforts as well as the United Latino Council. Now she’s a center manager for Catholic Charities on Meridian Avenue in Dade City, according to her election paperwork.

Hernandez was first elected to the commission in 2006, winning re-election unopposed in 2010. She became mayor in 2012, a position that is similar to a board president that is selected by the other commissioners, and where she still gets a vote.

St. Leo
Raphael Davis and Donna DeWitt will face off for a seat on the St. Leo town commission. DeWitt is the current incumbent in Seat 1, and has served on the St. Leo board since 1997.

Davis, who did not list an occupation in his candidate filing, lives in Lake Jovita, a prominent community in St. Leo that has pushed for de-annexation from the town in recent years.

DeWitt is a nun at Holy Name Monastery. She ran unopposed in 2012 and 2010.

James Hallett, a monk at Saint Leo Abbey, won a new term on the board unopposed, while Richard Christmas — who resigned from the commission in 2012 — will take over the commission seat currently held by Mayor John Gardner. The mayor, who will now be replaced by a commission vote at its next organizational meeting, did not seek re-election.

San Antonio
There won’t be any need to open the precinct in San Antonio, yet the city will have two new faces on its commission. Dennis Berberich and Anne Marie Kibbe won seats after both failed to draw challengers in their at-large election.

Returning for another term is Elayne Bassinger, after Thomas Knight filed but failed to qualify for the election.

Berberich and Kibbe will replace Roy Pierce and Richard Gates, both who chose not to run again. Pierce doubled as the city’s building and zoning commissioner, while Gates also was the waterworks commissioner. Bassinger was the commissioner over parks.

Published Feb. 26, 2014.

Business Digest 02-26-14

February 27, 2014 By Michael Hinman

Process server comes to Wesley Chapel
Archangel Services has opened a new office in Wesley Chapel, providing the legal community with process service business.

The company is licensed in Pasco, Hillsborough, Polk, Hardee and Highlands counties.

For more information, visit ArchangelServices.us, or call (813) 358-6390.

Costine retires from tax collector’s office
Cindy Costine, a longtime operations specialist at the Pasco County Tax Collector’s office, has retired.

Costine joined the office in 2001.

“Cindy is an unsung hero at the tax collector’s office,” tax collector Mike Fasano said, in a release. “She was part of the glue that keeps this place together each and every day. She is a well-respected and well-liked member of the team. She will definitely be missed.”

Roberts joins LOL Transport & Moving
Jan Roberts, who most recently was the director of partnership development and recruiting for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay, has joined LOL Transport & Moving in Land O’ Lakes as a community liaison.

Roberts had been with Big Brothers Big Sisters since 2008, and met owner Rene Van Hout at various networking and volunteer groups, according to a release.

LOL Transport & Moving is located at 5811 Ehren Cutoff in Land O’ Lakes. They can be reached at LOLMoving.com.

Free financial market seminar
Jodi Perez and Jeannie Holliday of Independent Financial Services will host a free seminar Feb. 27 beginning at 5:30 p.m. at 20635 Amberfield Drive in Land O’ Lakes.

The company will share its view of the state of the economic markets, and what could be in store for the coming year.

Dinner is included.

To RSVP, call (813) 980-2701.

Political Agenda 02-26-14

February 27, 2014 By Michael Hinman

Commission candidates to debate
The Pasco Federated Republican Women’s Club will host a debate for Republican Pasco County Commission candidates March 7 at 11:30 a.m. at Fox Hollow Golf Club, 10050 Robert Trent Jones Parkway in Trinity.

The forum will include Ken Littlefield, Mike Moore and Bob Robertson. All three are campaigning to win a primary election set for Aug. 26, with the winner set to face Erika Remsberg — or the winner of a Democratic primary if one is needed — in the general election.

Cost is $15, and reservations are required by March 4.

For more information, call Fran Scerbo at (727) 597-3727, or email .

Fundraising slow for Bob Robertson
Now facing two candidates in the Republican primary to replace Pat Mulieri on the Pasco County Commission, Bob Robertson is not making a lot of headway in the fundraising department.

The Zephyrhills-based investment assets manager reported just a single donation in January, $50, while spending a little more than $185. Like many of his other contributions, this latest one once again came from outside the area, this time Maryland.

So far since filing to run in July, Robertson has raised just under $10,200. But only 61 percent of that has come from Florida donors, and nearly half of that came from a loan Robertson himself made to the campaign.

Robertson still has a lot of money ready to spend, more than $5,500. But that pales to the cash available to one of his primary opponents, Mike Moore, who has nearly $35,000 at the ready through the end of last month.

The third candidate in the primary, former State Rep. Ken Littlefield, has yet to file financial reports after announcing his candidacy Jan. 16. Also nothing to show yet in the campaign finance department is Erika Remsberg, who filed as a Democrat Feb. 7.

Constitutional Convention bill clears hurdle
The Florida Senate Judiciary committee has moved forward a bill from Sen. Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, calling for a Constitutional convention he hopes will limit U.S. Congress bills to just a single subject.

The committee vote Feb. 11 passed 7-2, and the bill now moves on to the Governmental Oversight and Accountability committee. After that, it only has the Rules committee before being ready for a floor vote.

The House version of the bill was referred to committee last December, but is likely waiting for the outcome of the Senate version.

“This is about having the federal government start conducting themselves in a professional manner,” Simpson told The Laker/Lutz News in January. “Most of the frustration we have with our government is that you have something like a spending bill in Congress. They always add on several hundred millions of dollars of something that has nothing to do with the subject they are dealing with. And as a citizen of the state of Florida, I am tired of our federal government being operated this way.”

For more on the call for a Constitutional convention, visit tinyurl.com/SingleSubject.

Lawmakers endorse Burgess
State Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, R-Miami, and State Rep. Debbie Mayfield, R-Vero Beach, have endorsed Zephyrhills mayor Danny Burgess in his attempt to succeed Will Weatherford in the State House.

“Danny and I are both young husbands and fathers, lawyers and businessmen, and deeply concerned for the future of our state,” Diaz said in a release. “I am proud to endorse him, and look forward to working with a principled young leader like Danny.”

“Danny’s record speaks for itself,” Mayfield said in a release. “A mayor committed to his neighbors, a father and husband committed to his family, and a U.S. Army captain committed to his country.”

Diaz was first elected to the state House in 2010, and wrote seven bills in 2012 that were signed by Gov. Scott, including one that ended the Urban Infill & Redevelopment Assistance Grant program. That program was created in 1999 to help local governments revitalize distressed urban areas, but it had not been funded since 2001.

Mayfield joined the House in 2008, and served as majority whip in 2009 and 2010. Although she authored three bills that became law in 2013, she also had one concerning the Fellsmere Water Control District in Indian River County vetoed by Gov. Rick Scott. The governor said the bill would lead to multiple governments competing to provide the same services.

Burgess potentially faces Minerva Diaz in the Republican primary, the winner of which — barring any other entrants into the race — will face Democrat Beverly Anne Ledbetter in the general election.

Sweetbay closing in Zephyrhills, Dade City

February 25, 2014 By Michael Hinman

There will be two less grocery stores for some Pasco County residents as the new owner of Sweetbay says its closing locations in Zephyrhills and Dade City.

The stores, located at 36538 State Road 54 in Zephyrhills and 12530 U.S. 301 in Dade City, will close April 5, according to Bi-Lo Holdings LLC. They are two of more than a dozen stores in the southeast the Jacksonville company must close because of their proximity to other stores owned by the company. The order to shutter the stores came from the Federal Trade Commission, and it’s unclear how many employees will be affected.

“We appreciate the many contributions our associates in these stores have made, and we will ensure they are treated respectfully and have the opportunity to pursue other open positions in nearby stores,” Randall Onstead, president and chief executive of Bi-Lo Holdings, said in a release.

Bi-Lo bought Sweetbay from Delhaize Group last May for $265 million. The company announced in October it would rebrand Sweetbay to Winn-Dixie, the larger grocery store chain it bought in 2011.

Sweetbay started as a fruits and vegetable stand on the streets of Tampa in 1914 before growing into the Kash n’ Karry chain in the 1960s. Delhaize changed the name to Sweetbay in 2004.

Other local Sweetbays include 27301 State Road 54 in Wesley Chapel, 6425 County Line Road in Tampa, 17649 Gunn Highway in Odessa, and on 15692 North Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa.

Elevated road proposal moving forward quickly

February 20, 2014 By Michael Hinman

All the talk about a proposed elevated toll road along the State Road 54/56 corridor has put it years and years in the future.

But if the Florida Department of Transportation finalizes an agreement with International Infrastructure Partners LLC, such a project connecting Zephyrhills and New Port Richey may come much faster, with the first public presentation of the road’s conceptual plan scheduled for next month.

Public meetings will be in three locations across the county beginning in late spring, the same time IIP begins its negotiations to lease the right of way along the corridor needed to build the elevated road. They would take place on the east and west sides of the county, as well as in between.

“We’re having further discussions about what is going to be happening after those public hearings, but it’s all kind of a simultaneous thing over the next several months,” said Lee Royal, a public involvement director with the FDOT, during last week’s Pasco County Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting. “There will be possible lease negotiations depending on the outcome of those public hearings.”

Which way the pendulum swings will depend on who shows up for those meetings. Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano says he’s received nothing but negative emails about the project in recent weeks, while county planning and development administrator Richard Gehring said a good number of people from a meeting he had in Wesley Chapel chose the elevated road as the best solution for long-term traffic woes in the county.

Negative public sentiment might kill the project before it even gets going, Mariano said, based on how IIP has reacted to bad news in the past. When a member from the Washington, D.C.-based Urban Land Institute recommended against an elevated road, IIP took a step back from its request, and asked for more time to think through its proposal.

“I have not heard anything back positive from the public,” Mariano said. “I think it’s disingenuous to keep those things rolling down the road when all they are going to do is step back again.”

Yet if the elevated road isn’t built, the county and the state will still have tough decisions to make when it comes to fixing pending traffic congestion issues along the corridor while Pasco County continues to grow.

“I am not 100 percent in favor of this managed toll lane … but we have to evaluate everything,” Commissioner Ted Schrader, another MPO member, said. “If (IIP) withdraws their proposal, we still have an issue to deal with because people will be stuck in traffic.”

Another possibility facing the county is that IIP might not build all 33 miles of the road as initially proposed, Gehring said. The prospective traffic problems in the near future will focus on the 10-mile stretch of State Road 54/56 between the Suncoast Parkway and Interstate 75.

Connecting those two major north-south roads might be the best option for everyone in the long run, he said. And while there are some eyeballs on State Road 52 to the north as an east-west connector, the county still has limited options to build since much of the central part of Pasco is protected conservation land.

“There are a lot of natural constraints in this system that we are trying to deal with,” Gehring said.

Published Feb. 19, 2014

Announced layoffs won’t affect Dade City hospital

February 20, 2014 By Michael Hinman

Just a day after its $7.6 billion sale to Community Health Systems was finalized, Health Management Associates told state officials that it planned to lay off 395 people by the beginning of April.

New signs advertising the renamed Bayfront Health Dade City hospital line Fort King Road in front of the campus. Community Health Systems says its recent layoff announcement will not affect the Dade City facility. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

HMA made the announcement to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Jan. 29. So far, it is the largest job cut of the year reported to the agency.

The cuts, however, are not expected to affect Bayfront Health Dade City, or most of the other hospitals in the chain.

“There is no impact on jobs at former HMA hospitals … as a result of the merger,” CHS spokeswoman Tomi Galin told The Laker/Lutz News. “The hospital names and leadership teams remain the same, and most importantly, patients can continue to count on these hospitals for high-quality care, delivered by the physicians and employees they already know and trust.”

The announcement, however, was based on what Florida requires companies to do by law to any potentially impacted employees of restructuring. This particular notice focused on corporate employees for HMA based in Naples, including many who do not actually work in Florida, Galin said.

The notice, known as a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification — or WARN — also includes about 100 people who are being offered jobs with the new ownership, as well as those who have chosen to leave the organization voluntarily, but did not plan to give notice until after the sale of the chain closed.

“As a result, even though the WARN notice indicates that approximately 400 jobs are affected, many of these individuals will have jobs in our organization, or have already found other jobs,” Galin said.

The purchase of Health Management Associates, first announced last July, included what was then known as Pasco Regional Medical Center and 22 other hospitals in the state. Before the sale, CHS had just two hospitals in Florida, the closest in Lake Wales.

As part of its acquisition, the Federal Trade Commission required CHS to put two hospitals in Alabama and South Carolina up for sale.

Bill Hussey is overseeing the company’s new hospitals in Florida. He has a bit of an indirect connection with the Dade City hospital because he was the Tampa Bay division president when Columbia/HCA owned the Dade City facility.

He would later become chief executive officer of Gulfside Medical Development. Hussey has been with CHS since 2001, and will manage hospitals for the company not just in Florida, but in Georgia and South Carolina as well.

The 120-bed Bayfront Health Dade City was originally founded in 1973 as Community General Hospital, and has had various names over the years. It was known as Pasco Regional Medical Center soon after HMA acquired the hospital in 2000 for $17 million.

It’s located at 13100 Fort King Road in Dade City.

Published Feb. 19, 2014

Bilirakis joins push to get flood insurance bill moving

February 20, 2014 By Michael Hinman

Just days after his Democratic counterparts sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner asking that he clear the way for flood insurance reform, U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor, is doing the same with his own letter that has received a little bit of bipartisan support.

“We have heard from thousands of Tampa Bay residents who are deeply concerned that these increases will create a significant economic hardship and make it difficult to make ends meet,” Bilirakis said in a letter that was signed by five other Congressional members, including Tampa Democrat Kathy Castor.

Castor had already joined in a Democratic effort earlier this month that pushed for the bipartisan bill to get consideration on the House floor, saying she and other Congressional members “share the frustration of our neighbors that many of the changes adopted by FEMA are outside the original intent of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency offers insurance to those living in high-risk flood areas, but announced plans to raise premiums after heavy losses from super storms like hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. Some of the increases would’ve had homeowners paying more in insurance than they did in mortgage.

“Without legislation, homeowners will be forced to abandon their homes, putting the housing market’s recovery at risk,” Bilirakis said in his letter. “Further, the loss of homeowners participating in the (National Flood Insurance Program) will hurt the solvency of the program, and put the recent reforms to the program on jeopardy.”

The Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act passed Congress and was signed by President Obama in 2012. That bill phases out government subsidies for premiums in long-standing policies, but caps the annual increases at 25 percent.

The new bill before Congress would cap premium rates, and try to ensure that costs for homeowners in high-risk flood areas don’t get out of control.

Published Feb. 19, 2014

Elevated road brings community together … to protest

February 20, 2014 By Michael Hinman

Author Margaret Mead once cautioned to “never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world” because “indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

If a private company wants to build an elevated toll road above State Road 54, it will have to convince homeowners like Patrick Knight, Jason Amerson, Brian Narcum and Kristine Narcum, to do it. The four say communities like Stonegate, where they live, will be subject to noise and heavy traffic outside their quiet community. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

Jason Amerson isn’t exactly looking to change the world. But he is building support to stop change along State Road 54 that could bring an elevated toll road in the future.

“I never imagined something like this was going to land right on my doorstep,” said Amerson, who moved into the Stonegate community west of Land O’ Lakes Boulevard five years ago. “That is why I am taking this so seriously.”

Amerson is one of a growing group of residents living just off State Road 54 opposed to International Infrastructure Partners’ plan to build a 33-mile elevated road between Zephyrhills and New Port Richey. Such a project could be visible from his neighborhood, currently shielded by trees and other homes, Amerson said, and the highway noise could destroy his property value.

So Amerson has joined a new community activist group known as Pasco Fiasco that has just one goal: Stop the elevated road.

“I am tired of seeing businesses go out of business around here,” Amerson said. “A road like this would force businesses and families to move, and it would be impossible for any of us to ever sell our homes here. We’re going to be kind of locked in here.”

Pasco County officials, however, disagree on that kind of impact. County planning and development administrator Richard Gehring insists the expressway portion of the road would be used by travelers who likely wouldn’t have stopped at businesses along the State Road 54/56 corridor anyway. By moving them up, local traffic will move easier on the lower roads, and actually help businesses rather than hurt them.

Some members of the newly formed Pasco Fiasco group made their first public appearance during a Pasco Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting last week in New Port Richey. They included Land O’ Lakes native Sharon Ogborn, who feels the elevated road is more about accommodating commuters from other areas than it is her Odessa community.

“We moved to our present home in Odessa for the country feeling and the rural setting,” Ogborn said. “It’s going to help Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.”

Pasco Fiasco has already received some support from the Pasco County Commission. Henry Wilson has already made his opposition to the project clear, and at last week’s MPO meeting, fellow commissioner Jack Mariano started to question the project as well.

Yet, the final decision lies not with county officials, but with the Florida Department of Transportation. And while officials there have said they’d want county support before moving forward with the elevated road project, they don’t require it since State Road 54 is just that, a state road.

“Ultimately, the FDOT probably does have the final say, but I think they are going to basically honor what the county commission wants,” Amerson said. “But if Tallahassee thinks it’s a great idea, and the FDOT thinks it’s a great idea, I’m not sure if they’ll listen to the county commissioners in the end.”

Amerson admits that growth in Pasco County is going to eventually require something be done with State Road 54. But he feels county officials have not exhausted all other options quite yet.

Gehring, however, said the county explored 18 alternatives to move traffic east and west in Pasco County. And even if State Road 52 is expanded into multiple lanes, and the expansion of Ridge Road is completed, the best plan to move the large volume of traffic projected along the State Road 54/56 corridor in the next decades is an elevated toll road.

The project most likely wouldn’t have been necessary if homeowners in Hillsborough County didn’t successfully protest road expansions there — like the proposed Lutz Expressway blocked by area residents — that could’ve helped move traffic to the south. And Amerson is interested in taking a little from that playbook.

“Each time they have tried to do this somewhere, it gets beaten back by the people,” he said. “I don’t feel what we have here is any different. I think we really can stop this.”

In the meantime, Amerson has teamed up with Richard Connors, and they are recruiting more people to challenge the elevated road. They are finding people through neighboring communities thanks to a social network site called NextDoor.com that connects people online based on their geographic proximity. Brian Narcum, a Stonegate resident opposed to the road, said it’s helped bring in hundreds of people in just a couple weeks.

And the focus, for now, will remain in lobbying county commissioners against the project, hoping that will be enough to discourage both the FDOT and the private builder IIP from moving forward.

“If you want to bring our area up to the next level, you have to be attractive to businesses and keep that interest in our urban development,” Amerson said. “You can’t put something like this elevated road down the heart of our county that is going to scar the road, and still expect people will want to move here and be next to that.”

To learn more about the local efforts to oppose the road, visit PascoFiasco.com.

Published Feb. 19, 2014

Political Agenda 02-19-14

February 20, 2014 By Michael Hinman

Democrat files for Mulieri commission seat
A race that was previously dominated by Republicans now has a Democrat in the running.

Erika Remsberg, a Land O’ Lakes social worker with Pasco County Schools, is set to face the winner of a primary for Pasco County Commission that already includes Mike Moore, former State Rep. Ken Littlefield, and Bob Robertson. That is, if she doesn’t draw a Democratic opponent of her own forcing her into a primary.

All are looking to replace Pat Mulieri, who has spent more than two decades on the county commission.

On her official campaign website, Remsberg says she has been the homeless liaison for the school district for the past seven years, helping children in homeless situations receive the resources they need to access schools.

Remsberg has “worn many hats,” according to her website. Among other things, she’s been a clinical therapist, grant writer, substance abuse counselor and a crisis intervention counselor.

Elections bill needs revision
Elections supervisors around the state were ecstatic last year with the Legislature’s passage of the Paper Reduction act, but now it’s in need of a small correction.

When the latest legislative session kicks off March 4, the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections will ask lawmakers to revisit its law that did, among other things, allow voters to opt to receive sample ballots electronically.

The goal is to reduce paper use and cost to county elections offices, but the law passed last year omitted four key words that practically changed the very nature of the law itself.

The bill, according to Pasco County elections supervisor Brian Corley, would save the expense of publishing a sample ballot in the local newspapers. However, while the law allowed for electronic distribution, it failed to include the phrase “in lieu of publication.” Because of that, elections supervisors like Corley were still required to publish sample ballots in local newspapers.

Lawmakers quickly realized that voters who provided their email addresses for the distribution would want to have them protected. However, Gov. Rick Scott vetoed that law.

Elections supervisors want to promote more privacy protection for voters, while limiting the full disclosure of birth dates, Corley said. The group is pushing for new legislation that would allow the age of voters to be disclosed, but not specifically with the month, day and year of their birth.

No specific legislation has been introduced as of yet this year.

Local builder puts support behind Moore
Mike Moore, who is seeking the Republican nomination to replace Pat Mulieri on the Pasco County Commission, raised $3,000 in January, with $2,000 of it coming from those involved a company that has been quite active in the county recently.

Ripa & Associates LLC, the builder behind projects like Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel and Ten Broeck Wesley Chapel Psychiatric Hospital, donated $1,000 to Moore’s campaign. Adding to it was $1,000 more from Ripa president Christian LaFace, and a company from his same address, TCM SWFL IX LLC. The latter company is connected with Trax Capital Management, a property investment company out of Orlando.

Ripa also was the builder of projects like the Florida Medical Clinic offices in Land O’ Lakes, The Grove in Wesley Chapel and Medical Center of Trinity. Ripa has worked with the county extensively in the past, including road projects like Collier Parkway extension in 2011.

Moore spent a good portion of those funds in January as well, including $1,875 to Capital Consulting who has been advising his campaign. Moore has paid the company just under $3,400 over a two-month period.

Moore has raised $43,700 since starting his campaign in July, by far outpacing all of his opponents.

Corcoran speaker at Republican Club
State Rep. Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, will be the featured speaker at the Republican Club of Central Pasco’s meeting Feb. 26 at 6 p.m., at Copperstone Executive Suites, 3632 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., in Land O’ Lakes.

Corcoran is the speaker-designate for 2016, and chairs the Health and Human Services Committee, and the Select Committee on Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

For more information, call Steve Graves at (813) 996-3011.

Knight challenges Wilkeson for council seat
Zephyrhills City Councilwoman Jodi Wilkeson is getting a challenger for her seat in City Hall from Alan Knight, the current chair of the city’s Parks & Recreation Board. This is the first time Wilkeson will have a challenger to her seat since she first won election in 2008.

Knight is a retired Pasco County Schools educator, and spent a short time as head coach of the Zephyrhills High School football team in the 1970s.

Wilkeson filed for re-election in the middle of January, opening her campaign account with her own $100. She is the president and founder of WDA Design Group, an interior architecture firm she launched in September 2001.

The only other candidate filed to run for the April city council elections is Ken Burgess for his own seat, and so far has not drawn any opposition. Also, Gene Whitfield is seeking the mayor’s chair currently held by Danny Burgess. With a state House run gearing up, Burgess is not seeking another term in Zephyrhills.

Burgess fundraiser at Abbott Station
A fundraising campaign for Republican state House candidate Danny Burgess is slated for Feb. 26 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at Abbott Station Restaurant, 5327 Gall Blvd., in Zephyrhills.

Tickets are $100 each, and will include hors d’oeuvres, beer, wine and other drinks.

To RSVP by Feb. 24, contact Jeff Meserve at , or (813) 322-3686.

Business Digest 02-19-14

February 20, 2014 By Michael Hinman

Stanton Optical opens in Zephyrhills
Stanton Optical has opened its newest location at 6844 Gall Blvd., in Zephyrhills, joining another new location in West Palm Beach.

The Zephyrhills store is the seventh Stanton Optical to open in Florida, according to a release. Other stores are located in Boca Raton, Jupiter, Palm Springs, Pensacola and Stuart.

The company is headquartered in Palm Springs, and has more than 40 retail stores throughout the country including Alabama, California, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin. The company is planning future stores in New Mexico, Alaska and Colorado.

Women-n-Charge offering grants
Businesswomen are invited to submit an application to receive a $1,000 grant through Women-n-Charge.

The organization’s mission is, in part, to support and assist professional women in managing their businesses more effectively. The Business Advancement Grant is for business-related equipment or services, and the Career Advancement Grant is for continuing education.

To apply, visit Women-n-Charge.com/grants. Applications are due March 15.

For more information, call (813) 600-9848, or email .

Laser eye correction available in Zephyrhills
The Eye Clinic of Florida, 6739 Gall Blvd., in Zephyrhills, is now offering laser vision correction.

Dr. Ahad Mahootchi is an award-winning eye surgeon, and has performed laser vision correction or 16 years.

For more information, call (813) 779-3338.

Tucker Carlson headlines Saint Leo conference
Television commentator Tucker Carlson will deliver the keynote address at Saint Leo University’s Fifth International Business Conference, taking place Feb. 19-21 at the university.

Carlson will appear Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the Student Community Center’s Greenfelder-Denlinger Boardrooms. Admission to the talk is free and open to the public, but tickets are required to reserve seating. That is available by calling (352) 588-8837, or emailing .

Carlson is host of “Fox & Friends Weekend,” and is a former anchor with CNN’s “Crossfire.”

Chamber mixer at C1 Bank
The Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce will host a chamber mixer at C1 Bank, 7435 Gall Blvd., in Zephyrhills, Feb. 27 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

To RSVP, call (352) 567-3769.

Busy Buddy moves into SmartStart incubator
The Busy Buddy, a business support services company, said it would use some space at the SmartStart business incubator at the Dade City Business Center.

The move, according to the company, is part of its strategy to grow business and develop a strong presence in Pasco County. The company offers operational support, project coordination and administrative consulting services they say help businesses operate more efficiently and improve productivity, according to the company’s website.

“I live in Pasco County, so it made perfect sense to establish my business here,” said Kellye Dash, the company’s president, in a release. “When I learned about the SmartStart program, I was excited about the great opportunities and resources available to help take my business to the next level.”

SmartStart is an innovative facility-based program where companies work in a collaborative environment with other small businesses. SmartStart residents have access to technical support coupled with the ability to network with other businesses, local organizations and community partners. The Pasco Economic Development Council manages the incubator, located at 15000 Citrus Country Drive in Dade City.

CES to host cocktail reception
Cross Environmental Services Inc., which recently made the leap into the public market, will host a cocktail reception with the Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce Feb. 25 at 6 p.m., at Cooper’s Hawk, 4110 W. Boy Scout Blvd., in Tampa.

Chief executive officer Al Biston will represent the public company, known officially as CES Synergies.

To RSVP, email .

Mineral rights coming back to homeowners
Homeowners who bought their house from D.R. Horton Inc., and are still living in it, may have a chance to receive the mineral rights to their land.

That comes after Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi discovered the builder had severed mineral rights from properties they sold in Florida, conveying those rights to a subsidiary, DRH Energy Inc. The company said it would stop its practice of reserving mineral rights until the Legislature provides guidance on the issue of mineral right disclosures, according to a news release from Bondi.

The letters were sent to nearly 18,000 homeowners, and should arrive by Feb. 28.