The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Local News

More residential and commercial growth coming to East Pasco

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Zephyrhills is hitting its stride as growth and development gain momentum along the traffic corridors of what is now Pasco County’s largest city.

The signs of new growth are everywhere along Zephyrhills’ major corridors including U.S. 301/Gall Boulevard, and State Road 56.

Construction is changing the city’s landscape.

Heavy equipment prepares land for the construction of a new Radiant Gas Station and other retail on the west side of Gall Boulevard, in Zephyrhills. (Fred Bellet)

New developments include The District at Abbott Square, a master-planned community behind the Sarah Vande Berg Tennis & Wellness Center, and Abbott Park, a residential community off Dean Dairy Road.

The Zephyrhills Municipal Airport is expanding and there’s new retail at Zephyr Commons shopping complex.

These signal the city’s increasing population.

It grew from more than 13,000 residents in 2010 to more than 17,000 residents in 2020, according to data from the 2020 U.S. Census.

In addition to Abbott Square and Abbott Park, Hidden River and the Links at Calusa Springs also are adding rooftops to Zephyrhills.

“The fact is that the need for housing is just exploding statewide. Tampa is running out of space,” said Todd Vande Berg, Zephyrhills’ planning director. “We were the next logical location.”

The view from the exit of Tropical Acres on Blue Lagoon Drive will soon change as ongoing construction site preparation will transform the east side of U.S. 301.

The widening of State Road 56 to four lanes opened Zephyrhills to more development, Vande Berg said.

He also noted that city officials have worked to ensure that residential projects were not “cookie-cutter.”

Abbott Square, as an example, will offer one-story villas, two-story townhouses, and will feature three different lot sizes.

“I think people appreciate that. Not all residential is on 40-foot-wide lots like every other development,” he said.

Preserving trees, installing sidewalks and adding trails are highlights of new residential development.

Zephyrhills is building on Pasco’s countywide efforts to attract tourism through an emphasis on sports facilities such as the Sarah Vande Berg Tennis Center.

In coming months, Vande Berg said the tennis center will add dormitories to accommodate increasing interest in tournaments and training opportunities.

The facility also is attracting new residential including the Abbott Square project. The Lennar Homes development, on Simons Road behind the tennis center, will build about 700 residential units of single-family houses, townhouses, and apartments.

West of Dade City on State Road 52, a new residential development, Abbey Glen, is under construction.

Abbott Park, off Kossik Road near Zephyr Commons, is a new residential community by Metro Places.

Summerstone is a new single-family and townhome development, off State Road 56, west of Morris Bridge Road. It is located in Wesley Chapel, just a short distance west of Zephyrhills.

Chipotle’s restaurant recently opened at Zephyr Commons. Planet Fitness had a recent ribbon-cutting. Chick-Fil-A opened, too, on an outparcel of the shopping center on the northeast corner with Pretty Pond Road.

More retail is anticipated. And plans for the site include about 400 residential units.

The Pretty Pond intersection is becoming a hub for Zephyrhills shoppers, who are adding Zephyr Commons to their destinations along with established plazas along Gall Boulevard (U.S. 301), including Merchants Square, Towne View Square Shopping Center, and North Town Center.

On the west side of Gall Boulevard, at Pretty Pond, the former site of Rainbow Court and Brightside Manor mobile home park, is being prepped for new commercial development. A sign planted at the site advertises a coming Radiant gas station and convenience store. A car wash also is anticipated at the site.

Zephyrhills’ downtown, on Fifth Avenue, is enjoying its own commercial revival.

The opening of Zephyrhills Brewing Company in 2016 set the stage for renewed interest in downtown, said Melonie Monson, president, and chief executive officer of The Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce.

“It has been an economic driver,” she said. “It’s brought traffic in on weekends.”

New shops opening within the past year include Vintage Chix, a boutique clothing store; A.O.K., a sports bar featuring axe throwing; and Your Turn, a board game café that serves coffee, sandwiches, pastries, and a choice of hundreds of board games to play.

A site preparation worker makes his way through a parcel of land on Gall Boulevard, just south of North Town Center on Gall Boulevard in Zephyrhills.

Tina & Joe’s Café opened recently in the historic Jeffries House, built in 1910 for Zephyrhills’s founder Captain A. B. Jeffries. The café serves salads, sandwiches, lobster rolls and desserts.

Also, Planet Jupiter, a hookah lounge, is “coming soon” to a storefront on Fifth Avenue.

“Our downtown is really growing,” said Monson.

On Gall Boulevard, near downtown, Jerry’s Crystal Bar reopened after being ravaged by fire in 2020.

Checkers on Gall and Culver’s on Eiland Boulevard are new additions to the quick service food options.

The chamber recently hosted a ribbon-cutting for Hoops Heaven, on Chancey Road along the city’s industrial corridor. The indoor training facility offers basketball training for youth in the Zephyrhills and Wesley Chapel area.

Hoops Heaven adds to both Zephyrhills’ and Pasco County’s goal of advocating for sports and ecotourism to build economic growth and bring jobs, Vande Berg said.

“Someone came from out of town and saw a need for youth basketball,” the planning director said.

By Kathy Steele

Published January 05, 2022

Portion of Ridge Road now open

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A portion of the Ridge Road extension has finally opened up — after some two decades in the making.

This new 4.2-mile, uninterrupted section of roadway runs from Moon Lake to the Suncoast Parkway — offering an east-west thoroughfare in the county.

Project manager Sam Beneck talked about the roadway and its importance. Eventually the road is planned to stretch as far as U.S. 301. But right now, Beneck hopes to finish the roadway as far as the Suncoast Parkway in the weeks ahead. (Fred Bellet)

Pasco County officials hosted a media-only availability and “drive the road” event on Dec. 22 in New Port Richey, for Phase One of the long-awaited roadway project.

Two of the four lanes were expected to open in the days following the special media gathering.

Various reporters and photographers had a chance to speak with county officials who’ve been instrumental in the road’s construction; news crews were escorted onto the roadway in county vehicles, as the location remains an active construction zone.

Pasco County Commission Vice Chair Jack Mariano touted the road’s first phase, and eventual build out, in an interview with The Laker/Lutz News.

Vehicles traveling south on the Suncoast Parkway pass over the Ridge Road extension. The area under the parkway’s underpass is still under construction.

“I am so delighted to see the Ridge Road extension getting ready to be opened up,” he said. “It’s been such a long time coming.”

The other two lanes of the 4.2-mile segment — from Town Center Road to Suncoast Parkway — are anticipated to be finished by fall 2022.

Meanwhile, the second leg of the extension, which is slated for completion in 2025, will extend Ridge Road to U.S. 41 in Land O’ Lakes.

Total construction cost of the entire project is nearly $161 million, with over $151 million in project county funding.

Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore recently announced that he had asked State Rep. Ardian Zika and State Sen. Ed Hooper to sponsor legislation seeking $14 million for the project, adding they both have agreed to do so.

The completion date for the second leg might be accelerated, if the Florida Legislature provides additional funding for the project.

County officials have pushed for the extension for decades, justifying the need for it to provide an additional east-west hurricane evacuation route.

Stops along the several miles saw remedies to environmental concerns. Pouring from the staff vehicles, County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey, pictured far left, leads the way as staff members, media and county commissioners observe a wildlife tunnel for critters wanting to cross from the south side of the new roadway to the north side.

The 9-mile extension, once completed to U.S. 41, also will relieve traffic on State Road 52 and State Road 54, the only two through east-west roads that carry traffic across the county.

“It’s going to alleviate on (State Road) 54 and (State Road) 52,” Mariano said. “It’s going to provide that hurricane evacuation route that’s so desperately needed, not only for Pasco County, but for Pinellas County, as well.”

He added, “The amount of time it saves, is about six hours for the evacuation, so it just makes our people that much safer and our community that much stronger.
The extension also will support the area’s burgeoning growth.

A huge development known as the Angeline community will be rising on thousands of acres, south of State Road 52 and west of U.S. 41.

The future growth includes a 775-acre Pasco campus planned by Moffitt Cancer Center, near the Ridge Road and Suncoast Parkway interchange.

Moffitt’s campus is expected to become a magnet for life sciences research.

The county’s elected leaders and economic development experts also expect Moffitt’s development to have a transformative effect on the area’s future development and to generate thousands of jobs.

Said Mariano, “With Moffitt coming in, it’s going to be a great boost for the economy, and allow easy access for west Pasco residents who want to work there, and back and forth.”

Published January 05, 2022

Pasco board wants true ‘mixed-use’ projects

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A request for a rezoning on North Dale Mabry Highway, near the Pasco County line, has prompted a debate by the Pasco County Commission over what is meant by the phrase “mixed-use,” as it pertains to development.

The proposed rezoning would allow 238 multi-family units to replace commercial entitlements that remain on the books. It also would change the name of the development from Dale Mabry Town Center to Arlington Dale Mabry master-planned development.

The site is located on the southeast side of Dale Mabry Highway approximately one-half mile south of the Dale Mabry Highway/U.S. 41 intersection and abutting Hillsborough County to the south.

The existing site has a Target and a bank, but the remaining portion is undeveloped.

The Pasco County Planning Commission and county planners recommended approval of the request.

The proposed project is outside of the temporary multifamily moratorium and the request is consistent with the county’s land development code, according to county planners.

But Commissioners Jack Mariano and Mike Moore questioned the wisdom of swapping out commercial land — which can generate jobs — for more apartments.

Commission Chairwoman Kathryn Starkey said she wants to hear more from staff about how they define a “mixed-use” development.

“I feel like there’s a misunderstanding of mixed use,” she said. “I guess I always think of mixed use as vertically integrated uses.

Attorney Truett Gardner, representing the applicant, told Starkey that the master-planned community would be a mixed-use development because it has a bank, a retail store and would be adding multi-family.

“The existing Target and the bank branch will remain. These are just some entitlements on the north side of the property that have never been utilized. In fact, this site has sat vacant in excess of 15 years, despite the zoning and despite the Target opening in 2008.

“The site has struggled, I will say, to fill that retail,” he said. “Recently, the site has become a nuisance. It’s used for dumping, primarily, and there’s also a lot of tractor trailers that are just stored there, improperly,” Gardner said..

Starkey said: “I want to be fair to all multifamily that is coming to us. I know that we’re making others do things a little differently.

“I’m trying to understand why we’re not asking for vertical mixed uses,” she said.

Starkey also agreed with Moore and Mariano on this point: “We don’t want to be swapping out land that could create jobs for only residential.

Moore made a motion to continue, to give commissioners a chance to talk to their staff.

“I’m happy to talk to my client, talk to staff, talk to any of you about this and happy to take the continuance,” Gardner said.

The board voted unanimously to bring the request back, to a date uncertain.

Published January 05, 2022

Suncoast Credit Union celebrates 75th branch opening, in a big way

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In celebration of its 75th branch opening, Suncoast Credit Union has donated $75,000 to local nonprofits and charitable organizations across its service area.

Each of Suncoast’s 75 branches selected a local charity within the community it serves to receive $1,000. Supporting local communities is a “cornerstone of the credit union’s mission and values and allows local autonomy in funding the highest and greatest needs,” according to a news release.

“Giving back to the community is at the heart of Suncoast Credit Union, and we are excited that we were able to celebrate having 75 branches with donations that will help make an impact locally, in the communities our members call home,” said Kevin Johnson, president and CEO, in the release.

“The pandemic has created greater needs across a wide spectrum and our hope is that we can help, especially during the end-of-year holiday season,” said Johnson.

The distribution of the donations took place throughout December.

These seven charitable centers in Pasco County each received $1,000:

  • Pasco Kids First, Trinity
  • Suncoast Kids Place, Land O’ Lakes
  • Make a Difference, Dade City
  • Sunrise of Pasco County Inc., Zephyrhills
  • FMC Foundation of Caring, Wiregrass
  • NAMI of Pasco County, Port Richey
  • Camp Idlewild, Holiday

Other recipients included Hillsborough County, 16 donations; Pinellas County, 4; Hernando County, 3; Citrus County, 2; Polk County, 2; Sumter County, 3; Manatee County, 4; Sarasota County, 4; Hardee County, 1; DeSoto County, 1; Highlands County, 1; Levy County, 1; Lee County, 14; Collier County, 7; Charlotte County, 4; and Hendry County, 1.

Published January 05, 2022

Classical guitars are this Lutz man’s passion

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Washington Giorgio Castaldi is a patient craftsman as he works alone in his small garage workshop. With care and precision, he shapes exotic woods into the style and form of classical and flamenco guitars.

Washington Giorgio Castaldi strums one of his guitars as he talks about the different tones of guitars. (Fred Bellet)

It can take up to three months of work for him to reach the point where he’s satisfied with the tones and beauty of each guitar.

He listens to his favorite classical and flamenco musicians – often the Gipsy Kings and Armik – as he works.

But in this space, as he perfects each guitar, it doesn’t feel like work.

“Building guitars is my passion,” said Castaldi, owner of The Spanish Guitar Shop. As he works on each guitar, he said, “I’m in another world. It makes me feel great. I’m doing something that will last.”

Castaldi’s guitar shop is based in his home, in Lutz.

But he travels, too, to Orlando and Miami, where some of his clients live.

When not making his own guitars, he mends and repairs vintage, classical and flamenco guitars.

He is a longtime member of the Guild of American Luthiers, a nonprofit educational organization devoted to the art and craft of building, repairing and restoring stringed instruments.

Washington Giorgio Castaldi chisels the bracing of a guitar in its early stage of construction. The pattern of the bracing, says Castaldi, affects the sound of the guitar.

If they’re stringed — ukuleles, mandolins, even electric guitars – Castaldi can repair them.

Landing in his current profession, at his Lutz location, came after Castaldi literally traveled the world.

Deep family roots in Italy
Castaldi’s family traces its roots in Italy through seven generations.

His American-style first name comes from his father, Edison Washington Castaldi.

He grew up in Uruguay, where his parents established the family after World War II. Members of his family are now scattered — living in Uruguay, Argentina and Spain.

A decorative fleur-de-lis is carved around the guitar’s sound hole.

His love for Spanish and Latin music emanates from his heritage.

“I listen every day,” he said. And, as he works, he listens to music.

First came his love for classical and flamenco music. Then, over the years, he developed his craft as a luthier.

He is a world traveler — sailing aboard cruise ships for 28 years as an engineer, most frequently based out of Miami.

He met his wife, Jackie, while she was a passenger on one of those cruises.

Initially, carpentry was a hobby — allowing him to make useful items when he was off duty.

He started with simple furniture pieces – chairs, tables and benches.

His skills evolved over time — into making and repairing intricate guitars, as well as other stringed instruments.

In his workshop, Washington Giorgio Castaldi works on the bridge of an acoustic guitar.

The family moved to Tampa in 2008.

When Castaldi retired, they settled in Lutz. His wife works in Tampa for Homeland Security.

No longer sailing the seas, Castaldi invests his time nurturing his relatively new business venture.

One of his first efforts in guitar repair was on his son’s electric guitar. He made his first flamenco guitar in 2010.

As a teenager in Uruguay, Castaldi played in a band with friends. A career in musical performance wasn’t in his future, but music and guitars remained a constant pleasure in his life.

Washington Giorgio Castaldi looks over the wood he will use to make a guitar in his workshop.

He describes his musical talent with humility: “I play enough to make (guitars),” Castaldi said.

One of his prized possessions is a 1945 Jose Ramirez II guitar.

The Ramirez family is world-renowned through four generations of making Spanish classical and flamenco guitars, dating from the late 1880s.

A shelf in Castaldi’s den is lined with books about guitars and about wood, and he refers to them, in the midst of projects.

The materials have titles including, “Understanding Wood,” “Identifying Wood,” and two volumes of “The Big Red Book of America Luthieres.”

The guitar maker first softens the wood with water, then heats it to 300 degrees Fahrenheit so he can form the shape of the guitar.

The Big Red books contain articles gleaned from the American Luthier magazine.

Castaldi is self-taught, learning through experience and by pursuing information to satisfy his curiosity.

His knowledge of wood and its effect on sound tone is vast.

For instance, he said, dark wood keeps the resonance in the tone; light woods produce brighter and crisper tones.

He’s looking forward to the next luthier convention in Washington State, which is planned for Summer 2023.

It had been set for 2022, but was rescheduled due to COVID-19.

The Castaldi seal identifies limited editions by number and date.

One of the joys of being a luthier is meeting people who share his passion for classical guitars.

Talking about guitars can provoke special memories, Castaldi said.

Recently, for instance, he had a conversation with a caller about a Juan Orosco guitar.

Castaldi’s first guitar, when he was 16, was an Orosco.

The caller’s question, the luthier said, “took me back to my teen years.”

By Kathy Steele

Published January 05, 2022

Pasco County to get electric buses?

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In the next few years, Go Pasco — the county’s public transportation system — may begin to go electric.

Kurt Scheible, director of the county’s transit system, briefed the board of the Pasco Metropolitan Planning Organization about the potential for obtaining federal funds to begin rolling electric buses on local roads within a few years.

“Things don’t happen overnight, but we do want to move forward toward something like that because I do think it is just beneficial for both Pasco County and the environment,” Scheible said.

Plus, the buses are quieter and have fewer vibrations.

Because there are less vibrations, Scheible said, “they’re actually a little bit safer.”

He explained why they’re safer: “You fly on a plane and you’re tired and you haven’t done anything — it’s just the vibrations that you’re with. It’s the same type of thing (for bus drivers).”

He told the MPO board that it will likely be about a two-year process to get local and federal funding together to acquire the buses.

“The good news is that we were with PSTA (Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority) when they went out for the electric bus bid. We were part of that, so we’ll be able to use that contract to purchase the buses,” Scheible said.

Once he knows the cost, then the transit authority can get the MPO board’s input and move forward with seeking federal funding for the buses.

His best guess is that Pasco would get eight or nine electric buses and a charging station, with federal funding covering the lion’s share of the cost.

Scheible expects to use the buses along U.S. 19, which is traveled by about one-third of the county’s transit customers.

He estimated the electric buses will cost about $1 million each and the charging station likely will cost about the same amount.

Federal funding will be sought to pay for the buses and the charging station, he said.

The charging station would likely be on the north end of U.S. 19, on U.S. 52, where there’s an existing substation, Scheible said.

He told the Pasco MPO board members to stay tuned because he expects to bring them updates on the issue in coming months.

The Pasco County MPO is the lead transportation planning agency in Pasco County that serves the following municipalities in Pasco: Zephyrhills, San Antonio, St. Leo, New Port Richey, Port Richey and Dade City.

According to federal and state laws, the Pasco County MPO is responsible for establishing a continuing, cooperative and comprehensive transportation planning process for Pasco County. Key responsibilities are the creation of the 20-year Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), the five-year Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP), and the five-year Transportation Improvement program.

The MPO board is made up of representatives of the Pasco County Commission and elected leaders from Zephyrhills, Dade City, New Port Richey and Port Richey.

Published January 05, 2022

Local residents can record their stories for StoryCorps

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If you’ve ever tuned into WUSF Public Media, there’s a chance you may have heard stories recorded for StoryCorps.

Now, the oral history project is visiting Tampa, to give Tampa Bay residents the chance to share their stories, which, with the participants’ permission, will be archived at the Library of Congress, according to a news release.

StoryCorps is a national nonprofit organization that’s dedicated to recording, preserving and sharing the stories of people from all backgrounds and beliefs.

It will be in Tampa from Jan. 5 through Feb. 14 to record interviews, in person and virtually, as part of its Mobile Tour, the release says.

Reservations to record can be made by calling StoryCorps’ 24-hour toll-free reservation line at 1-800-850-4406, or by visiting StoryCorps.org.

In a StoryCorps interview, two people record a meaningful conversation with one another about who they are, what they’ve learned in life, and how they want to be remembered, according to the release.

A trained StoryCorps facilitator guides them through the interview process.

After each 40-minute recording session, participants receive a digital copy of their interview, and with the participants’ OK, a second copy is archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress for future generations to hear.

StoryCorps was founded in 2003 by Dave Isay and has traveled to every corner of the country to record interviews.

In Tampa, StoryCorps will partner with NPR affiliate WUSF Public Media. WUSF will air a selection of the local interviews and create special programs around the project.

StoryCorps also may share excerpts of these stories with the world through the project’s popular weekly NPR broadcasts, animated shorts, digital platforms, and best-selling books.

Published January 05, 2022

School district thanks county board for help during COVID-19

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Ray Gadd, deputy superintendent of Pasco County Schools, and Olga Swinson, the district’s chief finance officer, appeared before the Pasco County Commission at its Dec. 7 meeting, to thank the county for helping the school district when COVID-19 hit.

Ray Gadd (File)

“Early on in the pandemic, the school system was struggling — trying to figure out how to feed our students and our families; how we could buy devices for kids, so that we could do online learning,” Gadd told the county board.

“I happened to be talking to Commissioner (Commission Chairwoman Kathryn) Starkey and she said, ‘Well, you know we have this CARES Act funding, you might be able to get $1 million of that funding to help out.’”

The acronym CARES stands for Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security.

The school district pulled up the U.S. Treasury document on the implementation of the CARES Act and found out that schools could get funding, Gadd said, so it turned to County Administrator Dan Biles.

Biles informed the district that the county board had authorized him to make sure the district’s request was funded, if it met the criteria.

That resulted in $9 million in funding, Gadd said. “You, the County Commission funded (for) a lot of needs that the school district required (funding for) early on in the pandemic.”

Swinson reported on the specifics to the county board.

“We used the money for the development and implementation of online learning. As you know our students had to take online courses last year.

“About 30% did that from home; the other 70% actually came into our schools.

“We distributed 17,000 computers to our students.

“We also served over 1 million meals to students and families, across the entire county.

“And, we used the money for all of the expenses associated with contact tracing. As you know, we had to do that last year, and we spent a lot of time doing that,” Swinson said.

Starkey, a former school board member responded: “I’m really glad we could help the school district when they needed it because we (the county) got our money so fast.”

Published January 05, 2022

New training program for skilled utility workers

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The Hillsborough County Commission has endorsed a plan to design a new training program aimed to give workers the skills they need to apply to construct, maintain and operate critical infrastructure, according to a Hillsborough County news release.

The program is needed to meet the demand for utility workers, as the industrial and technical skills needed for workers in the public works field becomes more specialized, the release says.

Hillsborough’s Economic Development department will work with Hillsborough Community College, Hillsborough County Public Schools, and partners in the private sector to create a pilot rollout of the training program over the coming year, the release adds.

The new program also will have internships, allowing students to receive paid on-the-job training at municipal or other employers that are aligned with the certification program.

There are no existing programs in Hillsborough County offering training for these particular skillsets, according to the release.

The program will teach skills necessary to do work in these fields:

  • Geographic Information Systems
  • Traffic control concepts and application
  • Potable water treatment, systems, and operations
  • Wastewater collection, treatment, systems, and components
  • Hazardous materials handling, packaging, transportation, and storage
  • OSHA safety standards
  • Commercial Driver’s License and/or heavy equipment certification

The program is expected to cost about $500,000 in its first year of development.

Published January 05, 2022

A safety evaluation can help to protect your home and property

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The Pasco Sheriff’s Office encourages citizens to complete a home safety evaluation, to help protect your home and property from intruders and thieves, according to a news release.

Break-ins can occur within seconds, especially when it comes to empty houses.

The PSO offers these safety tips, even if you aren’t on vacation and away from home for an extended period of time:

  • Ensure all exterior doors have working locks
  • Ensure all windows have working locks
  • Keep spare keys with a trusted neighbor, not near the door
  • Secure bikes in a shed or garage, or be sure they are locked up
  • Have a functioning light near all exterior doors
  • Ensure gate latches and fences are in good working condition
  • Consider a secondary lock for sliding glass doors
  • Keep outdoor plants near windows trimmed, to eliminate hiding places
  • Ensure items like grills, lawn mowers or other valuables are secured when not in use
  • Remove valuables and lock your car doors each night

For the most current PSO news, visit News.PascoSheriff.com.

Published January 05, 2022