The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Going back home to a two-story house mystery

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A year ago last April, we came home from spending the winter in Florida. We were so upset that we left the Sunshine State, as we always seem to have a great time there.

We never have to stop and think, “What should I do next?” Believe me, we know.

So, now I am home and decided to take a walk around the block. Walking in our neighborhood in East Hartford, Connecticut, isn’t at all like walking in our development in Florida, as the sidewalks in Florida are not cracked and bumpy as much as they are in East Hartford.

I just have to get used to being in Connecticut once again. We have six months and a half months to go before heading back to Florida.

I had heard something about a fire happening a few weeks ago and, on the corner of Trinity Lane and Roxbury, and found the house that had the fire.

It was a ranch-style house that was demolished and a sign put on the door saying that it was condemned. Here are many houses in this community, and the bulk of them are ranch-style houses with five rooms. Several houses have garages built adjoining the house, and some of the homes have porches. It is a peaceful and quiet neighborhood, or it used to be.

Anyway, we expected another ranch-style house, but it is not what we got.

For the longest time — several months in fact — work on the new house wasn’t started. Maybe it was the weather, either too hot or too humid. No one knows, but eventually work started. As they say, if the weather isn’t good in New England, just wait and it will change. It finally did.

It was slow work, and during this time, my husband and I went on several mini trips. We took a trip to New York in the middle of May to attend a family function, and we also took a trip to see some friends in Maine in the early party of June. We had a glorious time in Maine visiting and seeing sights.

There were some day trips thrown in, plus a trip to Saybrook, Connecticut, where some of our relatives live close to the beach.

We were busy, but we also like to keep a progress report on the house that was being rebuilt and also being expanded. Whenever we could, we tended to look to see what was going on at the house.

We tried to keep ourselves busy anticipating Florida, but we were still amazed when October came. My goodness, now we are able to count weeks instead of months.

The summer went on and one day, lo and behold, the house looked completed, as it was a lovely ranch style. I didn’t think there would be more being built, but believe it or not, they started to build a second story.

At first, I looked at it and didn’t know what to think, but as the work progressed, it took the shape of a lovely two-story house. When work first started, since most of the houses were ranch style, I honestly thought that it would end up like the others but, no, it stands out.

It is in a class by itself.

I would like to add that when we came home this year from Florida, we went to see the house and it is so lovely.

Guess they knew what they were doing when they built it as a two-story house.

By Helene Rubenstein

Published June 25, 2014

Wesley Chapel Honda, Toyota dealerships expanding to used cars

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Wesley Chapel Honda and Wesley Chapel Toyota are going to get quite a bit bigger.

The owner of the dealerships along State Road 54, Williams Automotive Group, announced this week that it will add a pre-owned sales center to its existing facility. It will use a little more than 1 acre of land it purchased last May for $1.35 million, according to county property records. Williams Automotive will host a groundbreaking for the project on July 1 at 10:30 a.m., on the corner of State Road 54 and Old Pasco Road, where the new sales center will be built.

“Because of the growth that both Wesley Chapel Toyota and Wesley Chapel Honda have experienced in the Wesley Chapel community, the group is expanding to bring the first used car-buying center to the area,” the company said in a release. “They will provide a first-class buying experience, and a tremendous amount of quality pre-owned inventory to choose from.”

The latest expansion is part of an overall effort being made by the company this year, which also purchased the former Tampa Honda Land at 11000 N. Florida Ave., in Tampa, last March, shortening the name to simply Tampa Honda.

Williams Automotive was founded as Southeast Automotive Group in 2000, and once owned several dealerships in Georgia, selling Toyota, Kia, Mitsubishi and Hyundai, according to the company’s website.

Wesley Chapel Toyota is located at 5300 Eagleston Blvd., and Wesley Chapel Honda is at 27750 Wesley Chapel Blvd.

 

BreakSpot program modernizes search for summer meals

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Florida’s families now have new ways to find free healthy meals for their children this summer now that school is out.

The 2014 Summer BreakSpot program, led by Florida’s agriculture commissioner Adam Putnam, offers meals, recreation and educational activities for children 18 and younger at 3,400 locations statewide during the summer.

This year, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is modernizing access by allowing families to locate nearby meal sites four different ways by:

• Dialing 211
• Texting “FoodFL” to 877-877
• Downloading the Nutrislice smartphone app
• Visiting SummerFoodFlorida.org

“We want kids across Florida to eat healthy, wholesome food throughout the school year and all summer long,” Putnam said, in a release. “This program helps ensure children have access to healthy meals during the summer, along with enrichment activities and time with their friends, so they are ready to learn in the fall when school is back in session.”

Last year, the program provided more than 12 million meals to about 300,000 children, continuing the increase in summer meals the state has seen since the agriculture department took over the school nutrition program in 2011.

Florida has ramped up participation in the program by nearly 12 percent between 2012 and 2013.

Summer BreakSpot is part of the national Summer Food Service Program, a federally funded program operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and administered in Florida by the agriculture department.

Eligible sponsors — including nonprofit organizations, schools, churches, camps and local governments — serve meals and snacks free to low income children under the age of 18 during the summer months.

Troopers want cars to move over on busy roads

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There are two words that can mean the difference between life and death on Florida’s busy highways: move over.

It’s a phrase the Florida Highway Patrol is sharing as much as it can, letting drivers know that when someone is stopped along a busy roadway, they need to move over, or slow down. If not, it could not only result in a ticket, but also injury or death of whoever might be stopped because of an accident.

“Our troopers are out there every day working traffic stops and crash scenes along busy highways with cars speeding past them, often just feet away,” said Col. David Brierton, director of Florida Highway Patrol, in a release. “And every day, they face the real possibility of never going home to their families because someone fails to obey the move over law.”

The law, according to FHP:

• Protects law enforcement officers, emergency workers and tow truck drivers stopped along roadways while doing their jobs.

• Requires motorists to move over when a patrol car, emergency vehicle or tow truck is stopped on the side of a road with lights flashing. If such movement cannot be safely accomplished, motorists must slow down to a speed 20 mph below the posted speed limit.

Enforcing the law is important to troopers, especially since FHP lost one of its own this past May when Trooper Chelsea Richard was struck and killed by a vehicle while investigating an accident. The tow truck driver, as well as another pedestrian, was also killed in the crash.

For more information on the move over law, visit tinyurl.com/MoveOverFlorida.

In Print: Vote opens for nation’s most inspiring coach

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Being an athletics coach of any kind can be stressful for anyone. There’s so much to do when it comes to developing strategies, recruiting and retaining players, setting up effective practices, and looking for that sometimes fleeting win.

Land O' Lakes High School cross-country coach Kris Keppel leads his team in warmups during a recent summer practice. Keppel is among 25 people in the nation being honored as inspirational coaches. (Photo by Michael Hinman)
Land O’ Lakes High School cross-country coach Kris Keppel leads his team in warmups during a recent summer practice. Keppel is among 25 people in the nation being honored as inspirational coaches. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

But it’s even tougher for Land O’ Lakes High School cross-country coach Kris Keppel, who is now starting his third decade in his job, however, doing it while battling pancreatic cancer.

His team, his coaches and his community believe in him, however, and are doing everything they can to make Keppel the top vote-getter in the 2014 Brooks Inspiring Coaches Award.

“He’s just one of the strongest men I’ve ever met,” Noah Thomas, 17, told reporter Michael Hinman. “All throughout this, he’s still been there for us, and he’s still pushing us hard, and we push back for him.”

Just for being a finalist, Keppel has won $5,000 in equipment and apparel for his team, but he’s aiming to get more for his runners when he heads to Seattle in August to learn who will win the grand prize.

Read more about the award and how he almost didn’t get nominated by picking up this week’s print edition of The Laker. Or you can read the story in our online e-edition for free, right now, by clicking here.

And if you haven’t already, consider voting for Keppel by clicking here.

Football players at Northwestern University made news last spring when they voted to unionize, demanding they deserve compensation for what they do through a system that makes billions of dollars annually based on the product they create.

But most people disagree athletes should be paid, according to a new national poll from Saint Leo University. That survey of 1,016 people had 66 percent agreeing with the statement that receiving a scholarship and a chance to earn a degree is fair compensation for playing in a college sport.

“It was definitely surprising,” Drew Gold, executive director of the Saint Leo Polling Institute, told reporter Michael Murillo. “I don’t think anybody expected it to be that overwhelmingly against paying the athletes.”

To read more about the survey, check out this week’s print edition of The Laker, or read the story in our free e-edition by clicking here.

We all remember what it was like to learn languages like Spanish and French while in school. But what about ancient Greek?

Photos courtesy of Hunter Rasmussen Hunter Rasmussen works on linguistics during a trip to Thailand as part of the Wycliffe Bible Translators USA’s Get Global program. (Courtesy of Hunter Rasmussen)
Hunter Rasmussen works on linguistics during a trip to Thailand as part of the Wycliffe Bible Translators USA’s Get Global program. (Courtesy of Hunter Rasmussen)

Hunter Rasmussen was just a sophomore at Berean Academy in Lutz when he first started learning biblical Greek. Now a 20-year-old student at Covenant College in Georgia, he’s made it his life work — work he has now taken to Thailand in a recent trip.

“I just loved it. I thought it was the most incredibly thing,” Rasmussen told reporter B.C. Manion. “That made me excited not just about biblical languages, but language in general. I just felt so convinced that this is what I am supposed to do.”

Rasmussen ended up in Thailand thanks to Wycliffe Bible Translators USA, which had visited his college looking for people just like him. It was a trip complete with many life lessons for Rasmussen.

“Part of the trip is leaning and realizing that language-learning and cultural-learning is not only foundational for Bible translations and foundational of ministry, but that language learning it itself a ministry,” he said.

Learn more about Rasmussen and the Thai village he visited in this week’s print edition of the Lutz News, or read our free online edition 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.

Swimmers need to be wary of killer amoebas

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It might be difficult to pronounce, but it’s easy to die from it.

It’s Naegleria fowleri, a killer amoeba that can be found in lakes, rivers and ponds during warmer temperatures.

Although there is only 34 reported cases of infection from this amoeba in the state since 1962, the Florida Department of Health is cautioning those who swim in places where the amoeba can be found to avoid nasal contact with the waters.

Otherwise those exposed to the amoeba risk primary amebic meningoencephalitis, a disease which usually leads to death once infected.

Health officials recommend the following:

• Avoid water-related activities in bodies of warm freshwater, hot springs, and thermally polluted water such as those found around power plants.

• Avoid water-related activities warm freshwater during periods of high water temperature and low water levels.

• Hold the nose shut or use nose clips when taking part in water-related activities in bodies of warm freshwater, such as lakes, rivers or hot springs.

• Avoid digging in or stirring up the sediment while taking part in water-related activities in shallow, warm freshwater areas.

• Exposure to the amoeba can also occur when using neti pots to rinse sinuses or conducting religious rituals with tap water. Use only boiled and cooled, distilled or sterile water.

Symptoms of exposure include headache, fever, nausea, disorientation, vomiting, stiff neck, seizures, loss of balance and hallucinations. Anyone who experiences any of these symptoms after swimming in any warm body of water should seek immediate medical help.

Mixed recovery messages from local housing market

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Condominium sales in the Tampa Bay region are down, but prices are on the rise as home sales continue their long recovery in the state.

The median sales price of a condominium in the region, which includes both Pasco and Hillsborough counties, was $110,000 in May, up nearly 13 percent from the year before, according to a new report from Florida Realtors. The number of closed sales dropped nearly 10 percent, however, to 1,256 units.

Single-family home sales climbed a little more than 1 percent last month in the area, while median sale prices slipped about the same percentage, to $156,000.

What had been a buyer’s market is quickly turning into one benefitting sellers, said Florida Realtors president Sherri Meadows, in a release.

“Right now, the market offers a great opportunity for sellers, who are seeing nearly 93 percent of their asking price at the closing table,” she said. “And mortgage rates, though rising, remain historically low, giving consumers more buying power.”

Statewide, condo sale prices rose nearly 14 percent to $145,000 while home prices ticked up another 4 percent to $180,000. The most expensive homes are found in Collier County where the median price for a single-family was $410,000, while condos were running $230,000. The cheapest were in Ocala where single-family were selling at $108,000, and condos at $46,000.

The market still struggles to get first-time buyers.

“Going forward, we’re concerned about affordability,” said John Tuccillo, chief economist for Florida Realtors, in a release. “In particular, the difficulty of first-time buyers to access mortgage financing, and the lag in providing a much-needed supply of new homes may hold back Florida’s housing market.”

Starkey wins presidential award from counties association

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Pasco County commissioner Kathryn Starkey was the local winner of the 2014 Florida Association of Counties Presidential Advocacy Award.

Starkey received the award for her work with the FAC, especially as it launched its new federal advocacy program, according to a release. Starkey’s interest and knowledge of flood insurance issues helped the association convey to Congress why flood insurance reform was needed.

As a result of this advocacy, Florida’s flood insurance story was told, and Congress ultimately passed legislation they say will help Floridians who were financially impacted by the previous law. President Barack Obama signed the bill on March 21.

“It is public servants like Commissioner Starkey that ensure our local communities have the authority to respond to the demands of their citizens,” FAC executive director Chris Holley said, in a release. “Commissioner Starkey’s willingness to advocate for counties on every level was essential to passing this important legislation.”

The Presidential Advocacy Award is given each year to county commissioners who have shown exceptional leadership in partnering with FAC to advance the legislative agenda of counties.

Other award winners this year included Karen Seel in Pinellas County; Heather Carruthers in Monroe County; Bill Truex in Charlotte County; Larry Kiker in Lee County; Chip LaMarca in Broward County; Doug Smith, Sarah Heard and Ed Fielding in Martin County; Lynda Bell in Miami-Dade County; Grover Robinson in Escambia County; Stan McClain and Kathy Bryant in Marion County; Karson Turner in Hendry County; and Frannie Hutchison in St. Lucie County.

The Florida Association of Counties has represented the diverse interests of the state’s counties for the past 85 years, emphasizing the importance of protecting home rule — the concept that government closest to the people governs best.

 

Parts of Veterans to close completely this weekend

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One of the main arteries connecting Pasco County with jobs to the south will have extensive closures and possible delays this coming weekend as road crews continue to convert the Veterans Expressway into cash-free tolling.

The northbound portion of the Veterans will be closed completely between Waters Avenue and Gunn Highway June 27 and June 28 from 11 p.m. to 8 a.m. The southbound portion between the same two points will be closed June 28 and June 29 between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m.

The Anderson Road ramps near there remain closed for reconstruction, and the southbound Waters Avenue on-ramp will be closed June 22-26 between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

Closures will continue north near the Sugarwood Toll Plaza where full lane closures are expected in both directions between Ehrlich and Hutchison roads June 27 and June 28 between 9 p.m. and 10 a.m. Work on the Gunn Highway tolled off- and on-ramps is scheduled for June 22-24 from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., which requires full ramp closures with detours. Motorists should use Ehrlich Road or Linebaugh Avenue to detour around the work, officials said.

The northbound off-ramp to Hillsborough Avenue will be closed June 23 from 8 p.m to midnight. Exiting northbound Veterans traffic will be routed off at the Independence Parkway exit to George Road, to Memorial Highway, to East Eisenhower Boulevard and finally back to Hillsborough Avenue.

The southbound on-ramp at Hillsborough will be closed June 23-24 from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Southbound Veterans entrance traffic will remain on West Eisenhower, and proceed to the Veterans on-ramp at the Memorial Highway intersection.

The Linebaugh Avenue on- and off-ramps will be closed June 26-27 from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., to install new bridge beams.

Complete removal of the toll plaza structures at the Anderson mainline toll plazas is anticipated to take several month. Installation of new toll gantries, demolition of ramp toll plazas, and removal of existing toll booths are anticipated to continue for the duration of the toll conversion project, currently scheduled for completion by late fall.

For more details on all the construction work on the Veterans, and its conversion to cash-less tolling, visit FloridasTurnpike.com.

Professional license fees eliminated for active military, veterans

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Beginning July, military personnel, veterans and military spouses seeking a professional license in Florida will have several fees eliminated, making it easier for them to do business in the state, according to elected officials.

The Florida G.I. Bill, which was signed by Gov. Rick Scott in March, expands current military and veteran fee waivers to include spouses of military personnel. At the same time, the deadline to apply for the fee waivers has been extended from within 24 months of honorable discharge to 60 months.

Also, active Florida National Guard members will now be reimbursed for continuing education and examination fees.

“The fact that we have further reduced the burden on Florida’s military heroes and their families under the Florida G.I. Bill is truly the least we can do to repay them for the sacrifices they have made,” said Ken Lawson, secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, in a release.

H.B. 7015 extends the current exemption, which was effective starting in 2012, from initial licensing fees for honorably discharged military veterans, and include spouses that were married to the soldiers at the time the soldier was discharged from service.

More information about the fee waivers as well as other services offered to active military, military spouses and veterans can be found at MyFloridaLicense.com/mil. DBPR also is available at (850) 487-1395.