The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Business Digest 07/31/2024

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Habitat CEO Mike Sutton (Courtesy of Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas and West Pasco Counties)

CEO named to 2024 Tampa Titan 100 List
Mike Sutton, president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas and West Pasco Counties, has been named a 2024 Tampa Titan 100. This program recognizes Tampa’s top 100 CEOs and C-level executives for their exceptional leadership, vision and passion, according to a news release. 

The 2024 honorees will be featured in a limited-edition Titan 100 book, profiled online and honored at an awards ceremony on Oct. 24, at The Motor Enclave in Tampa, with opportunities to network throughout the year.

Second Cycle opens in Tampa
Second Cycle opened its first charitable donation center in Tampa on July 18, at 12898 Race Track Road. The grand opening generated proceeds benefiting Clean International, a nonprofit focused on providing clean water worldwide. The center aims to reduce household waste by offering a convenient drop-off location for clothing and household items, promoting environmental responsibility, and supporting global clean water initiatives, according to a news release. For more details, visit SecondCycle.com.

Leading Ladies Network meeting
The North Tampa Bay Chamber Leading Ladies Network will meet on Aug. 2 from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., at the North Tampa Bay Chamber – Wiregrass Office located in the Signature Workspace Building, at 28210 Paseo Drive, Wesley Chapel. The group aims to connect, collaborate and uplift women from various fields, according to a news release. The speaker will be Dr. Davina Jones, campus provost, Pasco-Hernando State College Porter Campus. The event costs $15 per person and online registration is required. For more information, visit NorthTampaBayChamber.com.

New fire rescue PIO welcomed
Pasco County Government announced the addition of Jessica Imbimbo as the new public information officer (PIO) for Pasco County Fire Rescue. A native of Pasco County, Jessica returns after serving as PIO for Lexington County, South Carolina, where she managed communications for over 35 departments, including public safety, according to a news release. Imbimbo can be reached at 727-207-5751 or .

Annual awards registration opens
Registration is now open for the 36th Pasco EDC Annual Awards, to be held on Sept. 5 from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at the Pasco-Hernando State College Instructional Performing Arts Center (IPAC) in Wesley Chapel. The awards are one of Pasco County’s premier business events, attracting over 400 business and community leaders, including state legislators, county commissioners and city officials, and highlights local companies excelling in job creation, capital investment, technology, innovation and community service, according to a news release. For more information, visit PascoEDC.com.

BBB announces military and veterans initiative
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) serving West Florida will participate in the BBB Military & Veterans Initiative. This program, launched by the BBB Institute for Marketplace Trust, aims to educate and empower active-duty military personnel, veterans and their families on navigating the marketplace and securing their financial futures, according to a news release. The year-long “train-the-trainer” program will prepare trainers to deliver in-person and virtual education across the U.S., starting in Q3 2024, says the news release. For more information, visit BBBmarketplacetrust.org/military-veterans-initiative.

UPDATE: Pasco Zone for 2024 Regional Bay Scallop Season temporarily closes

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(Courtesy of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission)

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) announced a temporary closure of the recreational bay scallop harvest in the Pasco Zone. This area includes all state waters south of the Hernando-Pasco county line and north of the Anclote Key Lighthouse in northern Pinellas County, encompassing the Anclote River, according to a news release.

The FWC is tasked with proactively testing and acting to keep Floridians safe. This precautionary measure is due to the detection of saxitoxin and Pyrodinium bahamanse at levels exceeding the safety thresholds established by the National Shellfish Sanitation Program. The Pasco Zone will reopen for scallop harvesting once tests show levels have decreased to safe limits.

In the Pasco Zone, scallop harvesting is currently suspended. However, the area is still open for other recreational activities including fishing, boating and swimming. All other scallop harvest zones continue to operate as usual.

For more information and updates, visit MyFWC.com/Scallops.

Funding road projects will take a new approach in Pasco

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It’s going to be out with the old and in with the new when it comes to how funds will be raised to maintain roads in Pasco County.

The new method the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) recently agreed to calls for all property owners in the county’s unincorporated areas to be billed for the costs of road maintenance.

(Life Of Pix/Pexels)

The tax rate, which will be $51.84 per each $100,000 of assessed value, won’t become effective until September when final decisions are made on the county’s budget for fiscal year 2024-2025.

The new rate will be on Truth in Milling (TRIM) notices that will be distributed to the affected property owners later this year. TRIM notices, which are distributed by the Pasco County Property Appraiser’s Office, show the market value of a person’s property and the proposed tax bill.

Raising money this way will help to spread the cost out further, according to county officials, and it will help identify more roads that need maintenance and allow that work to be done more efficiently.

This is a different approach than what the county has taken over the past few decades — the old way to fund road improvements was based upon residents living on those roads being individually assessed for the cost of the work that had been done. In some cases, it has taken up to 10 years for the affected property owners to pay off their assessments.

Under an ordinance the BCC adopted at its July 9 meeting, property owners who still owe money on the old assessments will be relieved of having to continue paying them. This will amount to $13 million that the county will not be repaid for the principal and interest not yet collected on the old assessments. 

Published July 24, 2024

More police officers relocating to Florida from other states

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(The Center Square) – Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody welcomed new police officers to the state after they relocated from Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New Mexico and New York.

“Florida is the most pro-law enforcement state in the nation because we back our blue,” Moody said. “We’ve been spreading the word about all the great incentives to join our ranks, and individuals like the new Sarasota recruits have answered the call – leaving behind places where their service was not as appreciated as it is here.”

Moody again recognized new recruits who moved to serve in Sarasota through her “Thin Line Tribute: Sunshine Salute” initiative after highlighting new recruits from California and New York who joined the St. Petersburg Police Department.

Attorney General Moody speaks to new recruits at Sarasota Police Department. (Florida Attorney General’s Office/YouTube)

“This is a law-and-order state. Officers want to be able to do their job,” Sarasota Police Chief Rex Troche said. “There is no better feeling than when you know that you can go out there and be supported in enforcing the law. I’ve talked with officers all around the country and when state attorneys are not assisting them, it makes those officers not want to do their jobs. Thanks to the work of Attorney General Moody and Gov. (Ron) DeSantis, officers know that when you come to the state of Florida, you are going to be able to do, and be supported in, doing your job.”

New recruit Sarasota Police Officer Andrew Capozzi said he left New York for Florida because “protecting and serving in New York became increasingly difficult over the past several years, as some leaders turned their backs on law enforcement and flawed criminal justice policies allowed many defendants back out on the street within hours of being arrested,” according to a statement from Moody’s office.

New recruit Sarasota Police Officer Les Kismartoni, who worked for more than 20 years as a programmer in Chicago, decided to make a change to become a police officer in Florida. Kismartoni said it was the leadership at the local and state level of law enforcement that prompted the change.

Police officers are relocating to Florida through a new Law Enforcement Recruitment Bonus Program created by DeSantis and the state legislature that first launched in April 2022. DeSantis signed the first bill of its kind into law allocating $125 million for bonuses to benefit local police officers, sheriff’s deputies, paramedics, EMTs and firefighters statewide. The legislature has since renewed funding for these programs and expanded protections for law enforcement officers.

In February, DeSantis presented the 4,000th bonus check to Bay County Sheriff’s Deputy Matthew Belthrop, who relocated from Virginia to take advantage of the program. New recruits receive a $5,000 bonus after taxes, receiving bonuses of $6,693, including the federal taxes owed on the $5,000 bonus.

The number of new recruits has since jumped to nearly 5,000 since July 2022. They include more than 1,200 from out of state and a combined 400 from California, Illinois and New York.

New recruits have moved to Florida from all 50 states and two U.S. territories, according to the governor’s office.

The Sarasota Police Department also recently announced that Sarasota had no homicides in 2023 and a more than 16% drop in homicides, rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries, larcenies and vehicle thefts in 2022.

Overall, Florida is currently experiencing a 50-year crime low.

DeSantis has argued that communities are struggling nationwide in jurisdictions where politicians embraced defunding law enforcement and “soft on crime policies” like implementing no cash bail. In 2020, the Florida legislature passed protections against defunding law enforcement and began allocating funding to give law enforcement officers $1,000 bonuses for three consecutive years. In 2022, the recruitment program was created.

Moody launched the Thin Line Tribute in 2021 to recognize the daily efforts of front-line officers. In 2023, she launched the Sunshine Salute Series welcoming 30 new recruits at St. Petersburg College’s Southeastern Public Safety Institute, also highlighting new recruits from Philadelphia, Chicago and New York City, The Center Square reported.

In addition to the new recruit bonus program, law enforcement officers may also be eligible for the Hometown Heroes Housing Program, which provides frontline workers in more than 100 eligible professions with down payment and closing cost assistance to help purchase a primary residence in the communities where they work.

Published July 24, 2024

Review finds reporting issues with Florida prisons over use of force incidents

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(The Center Square) — An audit of the Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) has uncovered several issues related to the use of force, untimely reporting times and information technology access controls.

The Florida Auditor General (AG) reviewed incident reporting, maintenance requests, Correctional Officer timekeeping records and the state-operated Institutions Inmate Welfare Trust Fund with the DOC.

(Florida Department of Corrections/Facebook)

Department records between July 2021 and February 2023 showed 354,184 incidents, including 14,265 incidents involving the use of force against an inmate, spread across 50 state-operated correctional facilities.

According to department procedures, all incident report forms must be reviewed and include an initial deposition by a shift supervisor or department head. The security chief must then review all incident reports and pass them to the warden for final review.

One hundred and one incident reports were reviewed by auditors, filed between 2021 and 2023 at 13 different state correctional institutions. Three incident forms were completed by correction officers between two and six days after the incident. While the shift supervisor reviewed reports in a timely manner, the chief of security did not review the incidents until between five and 14 days after it happened.

Another incident’s report review by the shift supervisor was delayed due to a staff mix-up, which caused at least a three-day delay in moving the incident through the review process.

All incidents involving the use of force must be reported by all officers who were involved or witnessed the event, detailing the incident and the circumstances that led to the use of force. Two incident reports were filed up to 18 days after the incident happened and another six reports were not filed for an average of 20 days after.

It was further found three incidents were not given to the warden until up to 33 days after the incident had first been reported.

Sometimes, work orders and maintenance requests did not include cost or labor hours to complete needed repairs. Over 40 maintenance requests were disproved between July 2021 and February 2023, nine of which had no reason included for their denial.

The AG recommended strengthening policies and procedures, ensuring any incidents are reported in a timely manner, ensuring disapproved work requests include a reason for the disapproval and improving the department’s information technology control access, which had delays in removing ex-employees from the system.

Published July 24, 2024

Decision delayed on invasive species ordinance

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Pasco County Planning Commission members recently agreed to continue until Aug. 8 a decision on a proposed ordinance addressing invasive species vegetation.

The proposed ordinance was presented to the Planning Commission during its July 11 meeting with a recommendation that they approve sending it to the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners (BCC). The BCC has final authority on adopting the proposed ordinance, as the Planning Commission only acts in an advisory capacity regarding such matters.

Cogon grass is one of the invasive plants Pasco County is seeking to limit. (Marek Piwnicki/Pexels)

The intent of the proposed ordinance is to amend different parts of Pasco County’s Land Development Code (LDC) to establish an Invasive Species Management Program. Information regarding the proposed amendments is based upon input from the County’s Public Works, Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation, Development Review Division, Building Construction Services and the Zoning Department.

A few members of the Planning Commission expressed concerns about different portions of the proposed ordinance. 

“We already have a law on the books to prohibit the establishment of invasive species,” longtime Planning Commission member Jon Moody said. He was referring to a part of Section 905 of the county’s LDC that already addresses mitigating invasive species of vegetation. 

“How do we enforce it?” Moody asked regarding the existing regulation. He also asked who was going to enforce regulations in the proposed ordinance if it is adopted.

“There’s no guidelines on how to actually pursue enforcement of what the LDC says about prohibiting the establishment of invasive plant species,” responded Keith L. Wiley, director of the County’s Parks, Recreation, & Natural Resources department.

Wiley also said it hadn’t yet been determined how enforcement would occur if the proposed ordinance is adopted.

Planning Commission member Jamie Girardi said he was concerned that the management plan with all of its reporting requirements would place a tremendous burden on the development community, Homeowners Associations, Community Development Districts and county staff.

Planning Commission Chairman Charles Grey agreed, saying “To me, this is just overkill.”

Chief Assistant County Attorney David Goldstein made some suggestions on changes that could be made to existing portions of the LDC regarding invasive species.

Moody moved that the decision on the proposed ordinance be continued for 30 days. When he made the motion, Moody said he would like for there to be adequate time for the LDC to be revised per the Planning Commission’s discussion and brought back so members would have something they could all find consensus on.

Grey seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved.

In other business on July 11, Planning Commission members:

  • Recommended the BCC approve a zoning amendment requested by S A Development Partners LLC for a change in zoning from a C-2 General Commercial District and C-3 Commercial/Light Manufacturing District to a C-3 Commercial/Light Manufacturing District for approximately 5.557 acres of property located in central Pasco County. The property is adjacent to the Funded County Road 52 Trail (AKA State Road 52 Trail), approximately one-half mile west of Mirada Boulevard. 

There is currently a warehouse on the property, and the applicant proposes to develop the property with a hotel and a sit-down restaurant. 

  • Recommended the BCC approve a zoning amendment requested by Dave Mitchells Holding Company/Mitchell Clinton Rezoning for a change in zoning from an R-1MH Single-Family/Mobile Home District and C-2 General Commercial District to a C-2 General Commercial District for approximately 2.18 acres of property located in east central Pasco County. The property is on the northeast corner of Circle B Road and Clinton Avenue. 

Plans have been approved for a 15,200-square–foot commercial warehouse to be built on the property. It also has an approved Commercial Building Permit for a 15,200-square–foot commercial building shell for future tenants.

The applicant wants the whole parcel to be in the same zoning district.

  • Recommended the BCC approve a Development Agreement with Depue East MPUD (Master Planned Unit Development) – Pulte Home Company, LLC. to design, permit and construct improvements to Watergrass Parkway and Wells Road in exchange for Transportation Development Fee (TDF) credits. The site is located south of Wells Road on approximately 931 acres within Villages L and M in the Villages of Pasadena Hills (VOPH). 

On May 9, 2023, the Pasco County BCC approved the Depue East MPUD in the VOPH to allow 2,300 residential dwelling units and 20,000 square feet of commercial uses on approximately 931 acres.

Numerous specific requirements to qualify for the VOPH TDC credits are outlined in the lengthy agreement that the BCC will consider approving at a future meeting. 

Accessibility of health care services can be a struggle in Florida, says report

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(The Center Square) — A new report says many people in Florida don’t receive needed health care because they lack easy access to adequate services.

Florida TaxWatch recently released its report, Social Determinants of Health: Health Care Access and Quality. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, social determinants of health are environmental factors that can impact individuals’ health outcomes.

The University of Florida Health’s The Villages Hospital in The Villages. (UF Health The Villages Hospital/Facebook)

These include health care access and quality; education access and quality; social and community context; neighborhood and built environment; and economic stability.

According to the report, these factors can majorly impact a person’s health, well-being and quality of life. The report notes that 80% of a person’s health is determined by social factors, while the remaining 20% results from receiving medical care.

In Florida, many people lack access to health care services, with the biggest barrier being the cost. In a 2019 survey of 1,200 Floridians, 55% had experienced health care cost burdens, while 78% worried they would not be able to afford health care in the future.

The report states Florida ranked 41st in 2021 for overall health care and access, which was attributed to the growing number of uninsured adults, rising insurance costs and policies that make health care less accessible. The report further notes that Florida has consistently ranked in the bottom 10 states for uninsured citizens.

Florida currently has a physician shortage and the report notes this plays a role in access to quality health care. With Florida’s population growing, especially in rural areas, the number of physicians in the Sunshine State is insufficient. By 2030, an additional 22,000 physicians are needed to bridge the gap.

The report notes that as of 2023, only 40% of Florida’s population has employer-sponsored health insurance, while the rate of uninsured Floridians was 11.2% in 2022 — higher than the national average of 8%. Also, in 2022, Florida ranked 46th in the nation for the uninsured population.

Compounding this are the 979,000 people who have been disenrolled from Medicaid, 460,000 of whom are children. Furthermore, access depends on where the person lives. In rural areas, there are roughly 1.3 physicians for every 1,000 people available in the U.S., while urban areas have around 3.1 physicians for every 1,000 people.

Published July 24, 2024

Children enjoy reading to therapy dogs

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Nearly a dozen children of various ages recently gathered at the New River Branch Library to spend some time reading to therapy dogs. The event is featured once a month at the library in Wesley Chapel.

Nancy Horbert is the program manager for the Tampa-based nonprofit organization Highland Canine Connect (HCC), which brings therapy dogs to the library.

A young child pets Uggy, a therapy dog, on July 13, while Uggy’s owner Nancy Horbert sits nearby. (Joe Potter)

The two dogs at the July 13 event were Daisy, a female Labrador, and Uggy, a male standard parti poodle.

Both of the dogs have each received several months of extensive training so they respond in a very docile manner when interacting with children at Read to Therapy Dogs events, Horbert said.

Several of the children spent the first 15 or 20 minutes lovingly petting both of the dogs that were relaxed while sitting or laying on the carpeted floor of the room in which the event was held.

Books of various reading levels were available in the room and children could also bring reading materials from elsewhere in the library if they wanted to.

Shawnda Weaver assisted Horbert at the event while Weaver’s son, Jonathan, was a volunteer.

HCC opened in Harmony, North Carolina, in 2019 and the local branch of HCC opened in Tampa in May 2022.

Horbert’s daughter, Brittany Mojica, attended Highland Canine Training School for Dogs and was offered the position of their Florida dog trainer after she graduated.  

“Over the years I have gotten to know the owners Erin and Jason Purgason, so when I wanted to start a nonprofit therapy dog program here in the Tampa area, I met with them to see if I could start a branch of Highland Canine Connect,” Horbert said. “They agreed to let me start a branch here after filing all the needed paperwork to be a registered nonprofit here in Florida. My daughter donates her training services to evaluate potential team members and donates Canine Good Citizen training to approved candidates. In the future, as I raise money, my goal is to provide a fully trained therapy dog locally.”

A press release from the organization’s team in North Carolina states: “Highland Canine Connect has been proud to have a positive impact on the lives of many individuals. From our flagship service dog and police dog donation programs, protecting our planet through the training of a conservation detection dog and community outreach such as our School Reading Program, we have established a number of programs which truly make a difference.”

The creation of the Tampa branch of HCC was considered to be “an exciting development,” team members said.

Horbert’s job is to secure locations in the local area for therapy dogs to visit. “These include venues such as libraries, schools, therapist’s offices, and events which are geared toward the special needs community,” Horbert said.

Anyone interested in joining the HCC program can contact Horbert at .

Published July 24, 2024

Audits find financial issues with some Florida charter schools

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(The Center Square) — The Florida Auditor General’s office has released two reports that detail significant issues and financial trends in the Sunshine State’s charter schools, charter technical career centers and district school boards.

There are 720 charter schools and charter technical career centers operating in Florida, with the majority in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. State law requires these schools to be annually audited by an independent certified public accountant.

(Jeswin Thomas/Unsplash)

In the audit, 713 charter school audit reports and records regarding financial trends for fiscal 2022-2023 were reviewed.

This review found 94 issues in 64 of the 713 reports, with 24 issues considered material weaknesses in internal controls over financial reporting requirements. In comparison, 13 issues were deemed noncompliance findings, required by law to be reported by government auditing standards.

Of the 13 charter schools identified as having at least one noncompliance finding, three had incurred expenses in excess of their respective budgets, two failed to comply with requirements, and one had a fund balance deficit.

In total, 61 issues or 65% of the 94 issues reported in 39 reports were considered significant deficiencies by auditors. Prevalent topics classified as being required by accounting standards to be reported included budget administration, deficit fund balances, improper maintenance of accounting records, and financial control deficiencies.

Ten charter schools were noted as having inadequate controls over budget administration, increasing the risk of inappropriate use of financial resources. Nine were found to have deficit fund balances, seven needed to properly maintain accounting records and five had purchasing or disbursement control deficiencies.

The report notes many of the issues found were repeat findings from previous years not yet resolved.

To measure financial trends, auditors used ratios of the charter schools’ total assigned and unassigned fund balances, or unrestricted net assets to total revenues of general funds or other unrestricted funds.

In FY 2023, which ended June 30, 263 charter schools had ratios above average, 395 had a below-average ratio but had positive or zero balances, while 55 had ratios with deficit balances. In 2022, 51 charter schools reported a deficit. Two audit reports included statements from accountants questioning whether the schools could continue operations.

In a separate report that reviewed 20 district school boards, four needed to timely submit audit reports, with one being submitted 52 to 497 days after receiving the report from their respective accountants.

Published July 24, 2024

Review: ‘Despicable Me 4’ is more annoying than fun

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How many minions does it take to screw on a lightbulb? The same amount of minions it takes to screw audiences out of 13 bucks at the theater. There are countless yellow henchmen in “Despicable Me 4,” but their imbecile slapstick is more wearisome than wonderful, and you may start to feel worn down by the amount of childishness on display.

(Universal Pictures)

Ideally, this franchise is supposed to deliver laughs out of villains acting benign, which in this case means having a heart of gold and being terrible at heists. But while the concept of mad geniuses having the brains of elementary school students is somewhat clever, there are so many mindless vignettes that we end up feeling more exhausted than entertained. 

The film, directed by “Despicable Me” regular Chris Renaud, picks up almost a decade after the last one left off and there’s been a new addition to the franchise. Gru (Steve Carrell) now has a baby boy, Gru Jr., who has more than just his dad’s crooked nose, slicked-back hair and harsh-sounding accent. He’s got his dad’s penchant for chaos. You thought changing diapers was hard — this baby treats every day like it’s April Fool’s Day.  

Gru’s got his hands full, alright, but he enjoys his life of suburban mundanity, doing the dishes, cleaning up diapers, keeping the wife in a chipper mood. You know, dad stuff. But then his arch nemesis, Maxime (Will Ferrell), escapes from a high-security prison and his entire routine is thwarted. He takes his family out of their comfortable habitat to a remote location, where they can avoid Maxime’s revenge plot, which involves a ploy to steal Gru’s new baby. 

Of course, all of this is just an excuse to let Gru’s minions run wild, bouncing off walls and exploding off vending machines while they speak in mumbled gibberish, which is what fans are really paying to see. They should honestly just call this franchise “The Minions,” since the wide-eyed, banana-hued, Tic-Tac-shaped villains have earned this franchise nearly $5 billion in revenues, not the family misunderstandings of Gru. There’s an admirable “Looney Tunes” quality to these characters — a scene where some of them are turned into Mega Minions is hilariously bonkers — but their hijinks might be better suited for television than a feature-length film.

The endless stream of minion antics does have its moments, but at 90 minutes of crammed, cacophonous silliness, there just aren’t enough jokes to warrant the onslaught of misfires. Yes, this movie is going to entertain young children. Yes, it’s going to make bank at the box office. And yes, it’s going to sell more toys than Toys “R” Us. Does that make it a good film? You tell me.

Published July 24, 2024