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Local News

Food + Beer expands to Pasco County

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Food + Beer’s late hours offer a spot for those in the hospitality industry to grab a bite or a drink after a la

WESLEY CHAPEL – Sarasota-based neighborhood hangout Food + Beer is heading north with its eighth location and first in Pasco County opening the week of Nov. 10 at 25026 Wesley Chapel Blvd.

The new restaurant will seat 150 guests and feature an outdoor patio and a TV wall.

Just like every Food + Beer, the kitchen is scratch-made, serving food until 1 a.m. (or later). 

Food + Beer co-founders Mike Whalen and Casey Daniels sought a restaurant with a laid-back welcoming atmosphere. Photo courtesy of Food + Beer

Guests can dig into house staples like fresh-cut fries, hand-breaded boneless nuggets, specialty burgers and the Korean Beef Bowl, alongside creative comfort food with a twist like Red Velvet Chicken & Waffles during brunch or Crab Rangoon Mozzarella Sticks that hit all the right notes. 

Food + Beer offers daily lunch specials starting at $8, plus a lineup of weekly events and deals, including Burger Monday, Taco Tuesday, Trivia Wednesday, 89¢ Wing Thursday and Weekend Brunch. 

The team keeps things fresh by rolling out a seasonal menu four times a year, spotlighting new, scratch-made dishes and limited-time cocktails, paired with a signature cocktail list and a rotating selection of local beers. 

Food + Beer’s story started back in the early 2000s, when co-founders Mike Whalen and Casey Daniels first crossed paths working in restaurants. Mike was a server. Casey was a kitchen manager. 

What began as a solid working relationship turned into a real friendship and eventually a shared dream: to create a place that serves good, scratch-made food in a laid-back, welcoming atmosphere. 

In 2018, they brought that vision to life in Sarasota’s Gulf Gate neighborhood. The brand is now expanding across the Gulf Coast with more locations on the way, including Ellenton and West Tampa coming in 2026.

 

Want to know more?

Stay tuned for updates, events and new openings at foodandbeer.com or on social @foodand.beer. 

 

Duke Energy Florida gets OK to lower customer bills  

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  1. PETERSBURG – The Florida Public Service Commission has approved Duke Energy Florida’s request to lower customer bills beginning in March 2026.

As a result, residential customers can anticipate about a $44 decrease for every 1,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity they use when compared to February 2026.

“Having operated in Florida for more than 125 years, we’re deeply embedded in the communities we serve, and we understand the challenges our customers – often our neighbors – face in order to provide for themselves and their families,” said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president. “We hope this bill reduction helps ease their financial burden, while we continue providing the reliable power they depend on every day.”

Commercial and industrial customers can also expect to see lower bills in March 2026, with decreases ranging from 9.6% to 15.8% compared to February 2026. The specific impact will vary depending on several factors.

This considerable bill reduction is largely due to the removal of the storm cost recovery charge associated with Duke Energy Florida’s response to hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton at the end of February 2026.

In January and February 2026 (prior to the removal of the storm cost recovery charge), bills will temporarily increase by $7.54 for typical residential customers using 1,000 kWh of electricity, and commercial and industrial customers’ bills will increase between 4.3% and 8.2% during those two months, when compared to December 2025.

Duke Energy Florida offers payment plans, tools to help manage energy use and assistance programs. Visit duke-energy.com/HereToHelp and duke-energy.com/SeasonalSavings to learn more. 

 

Did you know?

Duke Energy Florida supplies electricity to 2 million residential, commercial and industrial customers across a 13,000-square-mile service area in Florida.

Walking tour features historic architecture

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Towering oaks and lush greenery add to the picturesque setting of the Old Hyde Park Home Tour. This home was featured on the 2022 tour. Photo courtesy of Hyde Park Preservation Inc.

TAMPA – After last year’s record-breaking attendance, Hyde Park Preservation Inc. will sell tickets for its Old Hyde Park Home Tour online in advance, with a very limited number of tickets available at the door. 

The historic walking tour takes place rain or shine from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 6. Several distinctive and charming homes in the Hyde Park neighborhood will be available to explore, with snacks, music and surprises along the way. 

Proceeds will benefit the preservation and beautification efforts of Hyde Park Preservation Inc. Tickets cost $30 in advance and $40 at the event. Buy tickets in advance at http://bit.ly/HydeParkTour.

Dating to the 1880s, Hyde Park’s development began when railroad magnate Henry Plant built a bridge over the Hillsborough River, providing a link to downtown. Plant built his Tampa Bay Hotel north of what was to become Hyde Park, and citrus growers James Watrous and William Morrison built the first houses. 

Hyde Park’s Morrison Grove subdivision features many lovely and eclectic historic homes, including Georgian and classical mansions, Prairie, half-timber houses and Craftsman bungalows. 

The neighborhood’s historic district was designated in the 1980s, preserving its character amid modernization. 

Several unique homes join the tour this year, including restored bungalows, historic mansions and Mediterranean Revival homes dating back to the 1920s and 1930s. 

“This year’s event will showcase a diverse array of period house architectural styles,” said Sarah Tombaugh, president of Hyde Park Preservation. “The funds raised will be instrumental in preserving the tree canopy and other neighborhood historical beautification projects.”

Tampa General Hospital and ZooTampa at Lowry Park are sponsoring the tour. 

AdventHealth Tampa expands advanced digestive care

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AdventHealth Tampa expands advanced digestive care
Dr. Hafiz Muzaffar Akbar Khan, medical director and interventional endoscopist, and Dr. Michael Harris, interventional endoscopist, attended the grand opening. Photo courtesy of AdventHealth

TAMPA – AdventHealth Tampa has opened a new Center for Interventional Endoscopy. 

The center offers minimally invasive, virtually scarless procedures designed to diagnose and treat complex digestive disorders while reducing recovery time and improving comfort. 

The hospital system said the center features the latest version of the endoscope allowing for the clearest visualization, with optimized lighting and color for the sharpest images. It also touts 

new technology that is proven to reduce radiation exposure by more than 84% for endoscopic procedures that require X-rays.

“The CIE allows patients to get advanced endoscopic procedures that may not be performed elsewhere,” said Dr. Michael Harris, interventional endoscopist at AdventHealth Tampa. “By combining leading-edge techniques with a compassionate, team-based approach, we’re transforming digestive care right here in Tampa Bay and helping patients get back to living life as quickly and comfortably as possible.”

Alice Richards appreciates the endoscopic treatment she received at AdventHealth Tampa.

“I am very grateful to AdventHealth and Dr. Harris,” Richards said. “He put five stents in my bile duct that made it well, so I didn’t have to have surgery.”

The center is modeled after AdventHealth Orlando’s nationally recognized Center for Interventional Endoscopy, known for its pioneering work in minimally invasive procedures and physician training. 

The Tampa center is now open and accepting referrals at 3100 E. Fletcher Ave., Suite 100. 

On the web: CIETampa.com

Start-up plans to help growers feed more people

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Arnold Schumann, a UF/IFAS professor of soil, water and ecosystem sciences at the Citrus Research and Education Center, is shown with a remote-operated vehicle. Photo courtesy of UF/IFAS

By commercializing their research, two University of Florida scientists are trying to get practical artificial intelligence tools into the hands of farmers. 

The goal is to build their business by increasing farm profitability, lowering the costs of inputs, such as pesticides and labor, and feeding more people. They are doing that by building a new business.

About two years ago, Nathan Boyd joined forces with Arnold Schumann, a frequent research collaborator, to form EZ Ag Innovations. Boyd is the president, Schumann is the chief scientific officer and Martyn Ballestero is the CEO.

EZ-AI technology, which is patented and licensed by UF, can help growers spray only weeds and minimize damage to surrounding crops, including strawberries and tomatoes.

The EZ-AI team has already started asking growers what they want, to make sure they build technology that addresses their needs. Then, they’ll demonstrate the technology on farms so growers can use it and provide clear, reliable data on the benefits, costs and return on investment.

“We are committed to working with growers and helping them be successful,” Boyd said. “We believe food security is important to national security, and we want to be part of the solution. Our targeted spray systems apply pesticides only where they are needed and will lower costs for growers.”

It’s hard work but well worth it, said Boyd, a professor of horticultural sciences and associate director of the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, part of the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

“Running a startup is incredibly difficult and stressful,” Boyd said. “There are the standard steps like registering with the government, finding space, getting grants, hiring people, choosing accountants, building pitch decks and so on. There is significant research and development needed to go from a prototype to a minimal viable product (the simplest version that will work) and that takes time.”

Targeted spraying means preserving the environment.

“We are committed to sustainability and responsible stewardship of the land,” Boyd said. “Our precision-spraying techniques minimize the use of chemicals and minimizes environmental impact, while still providing optimal crop protection.”

Boyd described the start-up process as “hectic and challenging to navigate but rewarding to see progress.”

“Understanding what is needed to develop technology to reach the grower helps me understand as a researcher how to focus my time,” he said. “For example, perhaps I can build a widget, but if it’s not commercialized because the customer base is too small and the costs are too high or it doesn’t address an issue for growers, then I am wasting my time and the government’s money if I spend my time on something that ultimately has no chance of being useful to the end user.”

Schumann, a professor of soil, water and ecosystem sciences at the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center, said he went into business with Boyd because they shared goals.

Both scientists recognized commercialization as the most expedient avenue to get research-based solutions to growers to help them solve practical problems.

“I would not create a startup by myself,” Schumann said. “It is a steep learning curve to navigate, and it helps me greatly that I can focus on research and development, while my co-founders manage the other essential aspects of a business.”

 

Fall concert sought to uplift community

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ST. LEO – Saint Leo University shared a message of hope Oct. 8 at its Pilgrims of Hope Jubilee 2025 Concert. 

From African American spirituals like “Go Down Moses” to contemporary Christian tunes like “Hold on to Me” by Lauren Daigle to the classic rock of The Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun,” the event showcased the musical and vocal talents of students and faculty while highlighting themes of hope and renewal.

“Our world hungers for hope,” said senior Luigi Meschino, president of the Student Government Union. “Wars, poverty, injustice all diminish and almost destroy human dignity and the joy of human life.”

Meschino noted the late Pope Francis declared the Jubilee Year of Hope that will began in December 2025, saying, “In the heart of each person, hope dwells as the desire and expectation of good things to come, despite our not knowing what the future may bring … Looking to the future with hope entails having enthusiasm for life and a readiness to share it … The coming Jubilee will thus be a Holy Year marked by the hope that does not fade, our hope in God.”

In his welcome to the concert, Meschino said, “May the words, songs and music that we hear and experience lead us to become heralds of hope.”

Edward DeBerri, chair of the Catholic Identity Advisory Committee, shared the words of Pope Leo XIV: “Where there is evil, we must seek the comfort and consolation that can overcome it. In the church, this means never being alone. Resting your head on a comforting shoulder. Finding someone who cries with you and gives you strength. All are signs of love. Where pain is deep, the hope that comes from communion must be even stronger. And this hope does not disappoint.”

Saint Leo students and faculty members provided the music of hope in many forms. 

From Handel’s “Let the Bright Seraphim,” featuring a trumpet solo by Dr. Orlando Ruiz and piano by Jeffrey Chodil, to the beautiful rendition of “The Prayer” by Dr. Cynthia Selph, director of Saint Leo’s music program, and Chris Romeo, vocalist and faculty member, the music created a sense of belonging and joy for those attending.

“A jubilee calls us to remember, to rejoice and to renew our commitments,” Saint Leo University President Jim Burkee said. 

Burkee quoted St. Paul, who in Romans 5:5 stated, “Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.”

The concert also served as a call for Saint Leo to become a university that hopes.

 “Let me offer three simple practices,” Burkee said. “First, we remember. The Benedictine tradition teaches us that memory matters, remembering who we are and whose we are. Second: We accompany. At Saint Leo, hospitality is not a courtesy; it’s a habit of the heart. Third: We build. Ora et labora, pray and work. Hope is not a feeling we wait for. It is a future we build together.”

Saint Leo’s Pilgrims of Hope Jubilee 2025 Concert served as a reminder that “hope has a melody,” Burkee said. “Sometimes, it’s a chorus we all can sing. Sometimes it’s a quiet harmony beneath the noise of the day. But it’s always there, asking us to add our voice.”

 

Upcoming Performances

Saint Leo University will host its annual Christmas Celebration on Dec. 3 and the Department of English, Music and the Arts will present two holiday concerts: 4 p.m. at Holy Name Monastery, 12138 Wichers Road, and 7 p.m. at the Saint Leo Abbey Church with parking at University Campus, 33701 County Road 52.

AdventHealth gets rezoning approval next to Zephyrhills hospital

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ZEPHYRHILLS – AdventHealth has been granted more flexibility to develop 23 acres next to its Zephyrhills hospital.

The hospital system applied to rezone four parcels east of Dairy Road and north of Daughtery Road to general commercial uses. Most of the land is undeveloped wooded area, with the exception of some unpaved parking and a community garden.

William McCaw, a planner for the city, told the Zephyrhill City Council on Sept. 22 during the first reading that AdventHealth will use the site across Dairy Road to replace parking as it expands the hospital.

The hospital system will also continue to maintain the community garden.

AdventHealth offered deed restrictions to eliminate certain uses from the commercial zoning.

Some of these uses include big box retail, convenience store, gas station, hotel, landscape supply, garden center, pawn shop, drinking establishment, distillery and auto service, repair, retail, wash or detailing.

Barbara Wilhite, who spoke on behalf of AdventHealth on Oct. 13 during the second reading, said the petitioner has met with staff for three rounds to discuss prohibited uses. The most recent round of restrinctions included mini-warehouse and recreational vehicle storage.

“These are voluntary deed restrictions for the record,” Wilhite told the council. “We were not told we had to do this. We volunteered to do this. We were asked about those uses and we said, ‘absolutely, we’ll prohibit those as well.’”

The city advised AdventHealth that a traffic study would be needed for the intersection of Gall Boulevard and Daughtery Road prior to construction, according to McCaw.

City leaders have also expressed a desire for the parking area to be well-lit to protect pedestrians.

Public Works Director Shane LeBlanc assured the council that he has been working with the petitioner to add flashing pedestrian crossings to the site that are ADA-accessible.

“We’re working behind the scenes with them to make sure it’s a safe intersection,” LeBlanc said.

Saint Leo University observes Veterans Appreciation Month

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Saint Leo University’s 2023 Veterans Appreciation Ceremony by the For Those Who Serve statue. Photo courtesy of Saint Leo University

St. LEO – The public is invited to join Saint Leo University in honoring veterans throughout November with events that celebrate their service, sacrifice and strength. 

Veterans Appreciation Month events that are open to the public include:

  • Virtual 1M, 5K and 10K (Nov. 1-30): Hosted by the Office of Military Affairs and Services, this virtual race supports the university’s Military Excellence Fund. Participants may run, walk, or jog at their own pace and location. All registrants receive a race T-shirt and finisher medal. Register at https://your.saintleo.edu/virtual5k.
  • Opening Ceremony & Lunch (Nov. 6, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Student Community Center boardrooms): Celebrate veterans with keynote speaker Lt. Col. Anthony J. Pinto, U.S. Air Force (retired). Lunch is available at the dining hall. Online guests may join via Zoom.
  • Veterans Mass (Nov. 12, noon-1 p.m., Saint Leo Abbey Church): Join in prayer and reflection at this Catholic Mass with Benedictine Monks of Saint Leo Abbey. Mass will be streamed on Facebook live for online participants.
  • Conversations About Success Beyond Service Webinar (Nov. 12, 6-7 p.m.): This webinar will feature Julie Bryson, Saint Leo alumna (classes of 2007 and 2009), Army veteran, advocate, author and founder of the nonprofit organization, Boots 2 Benefits. Attend on Zoom (Meeting ID: 913 6689 0816).
  • 4th Annual Chili Cookoff (Nov. 20, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Student Activities Building loggia): Join students, faculty and staff for a competition and sample all the chili entrees.
  • Military Excellence Fund: Individuals can support Saint Leo University’s veteran and military-affiliated students by donating to the Military Education Excellence Fund to support scholarships and programs for military-affiliated students.

 

Did you know?

Saint Leo University was named by U.S. Veterans Magazine as a Veteran-Friendly Yellow Ribbon Program school, ranking it as one of the top Veteran-Friendly Institutions and a Premier Yellow-Ribbon School. The university was honored for not only meeting the criteria b

Professor offers seven tips for cybersecurity awareness

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ST. LEO – October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a national initiative dedicated to promoting digital safety and strengthening the cybersecurity workforce. 

Saint Leo University is preparing students for employment in the cyber sector. It was one of the Tampa Bay area’s first institutions to offer cybersecurity degrees.

Edward Santiago, assistant professor of computer science in the university’s College of Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Data Science, explains why cybersecurity awareness is essential in today’s digital world and shares tips to keep you protected.

“In today’s digital age, we can only approach innovation with caution and adjust to its pace,” Santiago said. “Be aware that every digital device collects, tracks and monitors your activity, especially those connected to a Wi-Fi service. Knowing what you can share, especially with AI systems that learn from your input, is a step toward information security. AI is smart because everything you type becomes part of its knowledge base. In the end, nothing is truly free. Someone always pays. And in the digital economy, the product is often you.”

Here are his cybersecurity tips for daily life:

  • Use strong, unique passwords for every account and consider a password manager to keep them safe.
  • Enable two-factor authentication whenever possible to add an extra layer of protection.
  • Update devices and software regularly to limit security vulnerabilities.
  • Limit what you share online, especially on social media and AI platforms.
  • Be cautious with public Wi-Fi and use a VPN when accessing sensitive accounts.
  • Check app permissions. Don’t allow unnecessary access to your location, microphone or contacts.
  • Back up your data regularly to protect against loss or ransomware attacks.

Santiago teaches cybersecurity and AI at both the graduate and undergraduate levels at Saint Leo’s College of CARDS. With more than 25 years in IT, cybersecurity and academic leadership, he mentors students and creates hands-on learning experiences. He will accompany the Saint Leo PenTest Club to the CyberBay Summit 2025 Capture the Flag competition on Oct. 15 and the Raymond James Capture the Flag competition on Oct. 18.

 

Give feedback as Hillsborough tweaks long-term roadway plans

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HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY – The Florida Department of Transportation anticipates Hillsborough County’s population could increase by about 1 million people by 2070.  

To keep up with the growth, Hillsborough planners are mapping out future roadways to ensure the scale, location and rights-of-way are adequate to serve the needs of Hillsborough residents. To do so, an update is needed to the Corridor Preservation Plan, which is part of Hillsborough’s Comprehensive Plan.  

The last major update to the CPP was 15 years ago. 

As land use patterns and travel habits constantly change, county planners want to ensure transportation is safe and efficient in Hillsborough for years to come. In July, Hillsborough County hosted the first round of public feedback on the CPP. 

Using the feedback from that first engagement, county leadership has updated the plan further and is now collecting additional public comment from Oct. 29 to Nov. 30.  

The county will conduct a virtual engagement using the Hillsborough Engagement & Education Hub to collect feedback from the public on the Corridor Preservation Plan. 

Visit HCFL.gov/HCEngage to participate.