The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Local News

Festival features sugar cane syrup, and moonshine

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The Pioneer Florida Museum & Village has been raisin’ cane for years, at a festival featuring the art of making syrup from Florida sugar cane.

Jasper Starnes, of Zephyrhills, doesn’t mind getting steamed up, especially when he’s working on skimming any impurities from the 60 gallons of sugar cane juice boiling in the Pioneer Florida Museum & Village Cane Mill. When complete, the juice is boiled down to 6 gallons of sugar cane syrup. (Fred Bellet)

But this year, the event on Jan. 8 added a new element — showcasing the history of moonshine.

Pasco County’s history is replete with stories about moonshiners, and this year, for the first time, the pioneer museum shared part of that history with event-goers.

Jeffro Cotton, of Lithia, volunteered to man the moonshine shed, where he talked about  ‘moonshinin’ and explained how the mash was fermented into alcohol.

Meanwhile, visitors to the event had the chance to see demonstrations of syrup-making from sugar cane and to taste entries in the Southern Syrup-Makers Association Syrup-Tasting Contest Steve Melton, of Trilby, president of the Southern Syrup-Makers Association presented Jack Whitehurst, of Williston, with the first-place ribbon for his cane sugar syrup.

This year’s event had the largest turnout ever for tasting during the event.

Whitehurst said the key to making the syrup was taking his time and doing it the way the old-timers did it.

Beyond syrup-tasting, the event also featured Tarpon Springs Distillery, which offered samples of its products, and had a couple of moonshine cocktails and bottles available for purchase.

Event-goers also had a chance to do a little shopping, grab a bite to eat, enjoy live music and stroll around the 6.5 acres of building displays.

Published January 12, 2022

Jeffro Cotton, of Lithia, volunteered to man the moonshine shed, where he talked about ‘moonshinin.’ He explained how the mash was fermented into alcohol. Leon Rookey, of Dade City, right, passes by the old still, which is covered in verdigris, the green pigment that forms on weathered copper.
Steve Melton, of Trilby, president of the Southern Syrup Makers Association, right, congratulates Jack Whitehurst, of Williston. Whitehurst won the first-place blue ribbon for his cane sugar syrup, in what was the largest turnout ever for tasting during the event. Whitehurst said the key to making the syrup was taking his time and doing it the way the old-timers did it.
Steve Melton, left, president of the Southern Syrup Makers Association, is ready for more oak wood, as Joe Moragues, a volunteer, adds it to the fire, boiling off the 60 gallons to 70 gallons of sugar cane juice. Moragues’ wife, Jena, also is a volunteer. She helps out as a ‘cane stripper,’ she says, with a laugh.
Five-year-old Tanner Weeks, of Dade City, manages to recline on his dad Kyle Weeks, of Dade City, as he was talking cane with Joy Dew, of Dade City, about replanting the sugar cane stalk at home.
Little did 6-year-old Nikolai Hinson, of Dade City, know, but he was tasting the sugar cane syrup that was voted No. 1 by the Southern Syrup-Makers Association Syrup-Tasting Contest. Nikolai, his 9-year-old sister Isabella Hinson, and their aunt Marcia Nichols, who was visiting the family from Minnesota, tasted all 12 samples for judging.
Smoke billows from the chimney atop of the Cane Mill at the Pioneer Florida Museum & Village. The fire must be hot enough to boil the 60 gallons to 70 gallons of sugar cane juice down to 6 gallons to 7 gallons of sugar cane syrup.
After sampling the dozen sugar cane syrup entries in the Southern Syrup-Makers Association Syrup-Tasting Contest and listening to a U.S. Sugar presentation, Sid Lehman, of Frostproof, bit into the source of the cane syrup, a sugar cane stalk. Lehman, a snowbird from Indiana, said it was not only his first sugar cane festival, but it was his first time at the Pioneer Florida Museum & Village.
Steve Melton brings out the first-, second- and third-place ribbons to be awarded to those winning sugar cane syrup entries. The popular vote gave Jack Whitehurst, of Williston, 77 points out of 259. There were 12 samples from association members in Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

 

 

 

Pasco Health director receives accolade

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Mike Napier

Mike Napier, health officer for the Florida Department of Health-Pasco County, has been named “Pasco County Public Servant of the Year,” by the West Pasco Board of Realtors.

The annual award is bestowed to an individual whose public service actions go above and beyond, according to a news release.

In choosing Napier, the West Pasco Board of Realtors said: “During the past 20 months, Mr. Napier has guided the Health Department in Pasco County through the COVID-19 pandemic in exemplary and tireless fashion. The health department provided essential information and services to the community regarding COVID-19 resources and aided businesses as they navigated through COVID protocols. Mr. Napier worked very closely with the Pasco School District and the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners to provide updates and partner with officials to provide COVID-19 testing and vaccines to county and school staff and students.”

The health department leader’s actions were credited with helping businesses and schools remain open.

The West Pasco Board of Realtors has more than 1,500 members and is the largest trade organization in Pasco County.

Published January 12, 2022

Joining forces in the fight against human trafficking

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Saint Leo University and the Pasco Sheriff’s Office Florida Forensic Institute for Research, Security and Tactics (F1RST) have joined forces to fight human trafficking in Citrus, Hernando and Pasco counties, a university new release says.

The two organizations have helped to form the Mel Greene Institute to Combat Human Trafficking, named for the late Spring Hill resident and philanthropist Melvin T. “Mel” Greene.

Greene passed away in 2020 at the age of 92, after “a life spent helping others in his adopted state of Florida, and beyond,” the release notes.

“Human trafficking has continued to be a horrible crime that is present within Florida, as well as within national and international borders,” said Saint Leo assistant professor Karin May, in the release.

May worked in law enforcement for the protection of children and the elderly from abuse prior to joining academia.

“But those of us in criminal justice and public safety administration have seen that concentrated attention does help raise awareness of the dangers involved and the means that criminals use to trap children and adults,” said May.

For several years, Florida has emerged as the third-ranked state in the nation for human trafficking activities, according to national statistics.

Saint Leo and FIRST have collaborated in the past to offer seminars on such topics as leadership development, and natural disaster and emergency management and response to professionals from a number of agencies and communities.

For anyone who needs help or suspects human trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888, text 233733, or use the TTY number of 711.

Community members also can use the chat function at HumanTraffickingHotline.org/chat.

Published January 12, 2022

Two new home dedications

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Jimmie Mitchell stands in the kitchen of her new Habitat home. (Courtesy of Habitat Pasco)

Habitat for Humanity of East & Central Pasco County celebrated the recent holidays with a pair of new home dedications in Dade City, the first in-person dedications to be done in almost two years, due to the pandemic.

“We have been able to dedicate homes virtually during the pandemic, something that we were grateful for, since Habitat continued to build and sell affordable homes during the pandemic,” said CEO Crystal Lazar, in a news release.

“But to finally be able to see the faces of all those hands and hearts involved in the building of these new affordable homes, well, that can’t be replaced by a video,” Lazar said.

Besides the keys to their new homes, Jimmie Mitchell and Ashley Westberry also received gifts from the East Pasco Quilters Guild and the GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club.

Habitat for Humanity of East & Central Pasco County was founded in 1994 and has enabled 153 families to make a move from rental housing to owning a home of their own.

To learn more about Habitat for Humanity of East & Central Pasco County and how to help families that are seeking the opportunity to build a better life, visit HabitatPasco.org.

Published January 12, 2022

Mike Mashke, executive vice president of First National Bank of Pasco, right, hands Ashley Westberry the keys to her new home.

Graduation rates rise in local public schools

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The graduation rate continues to improve in the Pasco and Hillsborough public school districts.

Pasco County Schools charted a 91% graduation rate in 2021, more than a full point increase over the prior year, according to Pasco school district officials.

Hillsborough County Schools recorded a graduation rate of 89.2% — the highest rate in the district’s history, according to the Hillsborough school district news release.

Pasco’s rate has improved by 15 percentage points since 2013, district officials said in a news release.

“We are seeing steady progress year after year,” Superintendent Kurt Browning said in the release. “I can’t say enough about how hard our students worked during a challenging and unusual school year. All our teachers in elementary, middle, and high school can share the credit because it really takes a team effort to prepare students for college, career, and life.”

Cypress Creek High School had the highest graduation rate of 99.4% and Wesley Chapel High posted a 96.6% rate, an increase of more than 3 percentage points.

Fivay High School had a second year of impressive gains, increasing by 6.7 percentage points, after a gain of 6.4 percentage points the previous year.

Hudson High saw the biggest increase, improving by 10 percentage points — up to 86%.

Pasco school district staff also noted that students who graduated in 2021 did so after a highly unusual year of school due to COVID-19. Many missed significant time in school, either due to illness or due to quarantine requirements, a district news release noted.

Because of the COVID-related disruptions, the state waived state assessments required for graduation for the second year in a row, making it difficult to make historical comparisons, according to the Pasco district’s release.

Hillsborough officials were delighted by the district’s record accomplishment.

Hillsborough high schools within The Laker/Lutz News coverage area fared well.

Wharton High charted a 90.9% graduation rate; Gaither, 92.2%; Freedom, 94.1%; and, Steinbrenner, 97.8%.

Sickles High, which is near the newspaper’s coverage area, charted a graduation rate of 98.4%, the highest among Hillsborough public schools.

“I am so excited for our community and our organization for obtaining the highest graduation rate in district history,” Hillsborough Schools Superintendent Addison Davis said in the school system’s news release. “This is in direct correlation to the hard work and dedication exhibited by our students, caregivers, teachers, school leaders, school counselors, support professionals, and district staff.”

To view the statewide results, visit the Florida Department of Education web page.

Published January 12, 2022

Citizens academy graduates one class, welcomes another

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Pasco County has a program that gives citizens a chance to get an in-depth look at government functions. Here is the recent crop of graduates, along with the Pasco County Commission, the Pasco County Clerk & Comptroller and the county attorney. (Courtesy of Pasco County)

The Pasco County Citizens’ Academy recently announced the latest group of graduates from its program.

The academy helps to educate citizens about the county’s governmental operations.

It includes sessions hosted by elected officials, department directors and other county staff aimed at providing a deeper look at government functions and services.

In addition to giving citizens a better understanding of local government, the program also helps develop a pool of knowledgeable people who can act as ambassadors, serve on advisory boards and become volunteers, according to information provided by the county.

Here are the names of the recent graduates:

  • Patsy Albert
  • Samantha Almaraz
  • Meghan Benoit
  • Michael Cianfarani
  • Leticia Collins
  • Linda J. Connolly
  • Chris Cusick
  • Cindy Donovan
  • Andrea Eisenhauer
  • Valerie Francis
  • Zach Harris
  • William Humphrey
  • Catherine Julian
  • Stephanie LeFew
  • Renee Logan
  • Brian Persaud
  • Geraldine Sanchez
  • Jessica Schmidt
  • Bonnie Schobert
  • Carissa Villa
  • Scott F. West

A new class begins on Jan. 19.

If you are interested in learning more about the Citizens’ Academy, visit MyPasco.net/citizensacademy.

Published January 12, 2022

Hillsborough wants community’s input on equity, inclusion

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Hillsborough County wants residents to weigh in about diversity, equity, and inclusion issues that impact the quality of life across the county.

The county is offering options for residents to take part in January, to help inform an equity profile study that is now underway, according to a news release.

This input will be used to help guide the Hillsborough County Commission in its decision-making on equity issues.

The county is looking for input regarding inequities that impact the quality of life in the following areas: economic opportunity, housing, land use and zoning, transportation, digital divide, health care, criminal justice and food security.

To participate, call the 24/7 voicemail and leave a message at 813-327-4716, or email The deadline for comments, through either approach, is Jan. 31.

Published January 12, 2022

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