Local News

Boothe kicking cancer for herself, unborn child

October 9, 2013 By B.C. Manion

Ashley Boothe has been engaged in a battle with breast cancer for the last seven months, but she wasn’t just fighting it for herself.

The Wesley Chapel woman was also battling for her unborn child.

On Oct. 4, at 10:17 a.m., she won part of the fight. She delivered her son, Scott Gregory Booth III. He weighed 4 pounds, 8 ounces, and was 18.5 inches long.

“Mom and dad and everything is fine,” said Lilly Fontanez, a family friend, shortly after the baby’s birth.

Ashley Boothe is not your typical mom. Not only did she deliver a healthy son on Oct. 4, but she had to fight breast cancer as well. (Photo by B.C. Manion)

But the little boy’s birth was hardly a sure thing.

When Boothe was just a couple weeks into her pregnancy, she found a lump in her left breast.

“I was putting lotion on to prevent stretch marks and I felt it. It was like, ‘That’s weird,’” the 26-year-old said.

When she was diagnosed with breast cancer, she had to make a decision. The doctor had informed her that her pregnancy was still in the early term and she could have an abortion.

Boothe, however, was determined to have the baby.

“I was like, ‘That word is not in my vocabulary. It’s not an option. God didn’t give me this baby for me to terminate him.’”

Boothe, 26, said she made that decision even before she talked to the experts at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute who told her they could work around her pregnancy.

The decision still carried increased concerns about her health and about the pregnancy. So, Booth told her husband Scott she would understand if he couldn’t support her decision.

“I gave him an out card,” Boothe said. “He said, ‘Are you kidding me? You’re crazy. I’m not going anywhere.’”

Boothe made the overture, she said, because she understands that some people just aren’t built to handle these kinds of challenges.

“They can’t,” Boothe said. “It’s not that they’re not a strong person and it’s not that they’re not a good person. They just can’t bear to see people go through something like that.”

But her husband stood strong.

Choosing to have the baby has affected her cancer treatment and the baby’s birth date.

“I had a total, radical modified mastectomy,” she said, noting it had to be done in the second trimester of her pregnancy.

She has also undergone four sets of chemotherapy, where she received strange looks from people when they saw a pregnant woman on her way to treatments. While both Boothe and her husband had doubts, experts told her the type of chemotherapy she received during her pregnancy would not harm the baby.

She had to have her baby delivered at around 33 weeks, instead of the typical 40, in order for her to stay on track for her treatments. That early delivery could cause complications, but Boothe said his development is now in God’s hands.

Yet, her faith hasn’t always been this rock-solid.

Boothe struggled with it after her mother, Donna Mullens, was struck by cancer for a second time.

“I kind of had a falling out with the Lord when my mom was sick,” Boothe said.

She was a teenager when her mom was diagnosed with breast cancer the first time.

“When she got sick the first time, she didn’t even want to tell me because she didn’t want me to get upset and she didn’t want to hurt me,” Boothe said.

Her mother’s cancer returned in 2007, and by then Boothe had married and moved to Hawaii with her husband. Her parents had planned to visit her there, but had to cancel the trip when her mom got her diagnosis.

Instead, Boothe returned to Lutz to help her mother.

“She had a rough time,” Boothe said. “It was hard for me to watch her go through that.” After Mullens recovered once again, Boothe got involved in Relay for Life. She also became heavily involved in the Land O’ Lakes Sun Rays Concert for a Cure.

And now friends are getting together to raise money for Boothe with the Kicking Cancer for Ashley fundraiser. The event takes place on Oct. 12 from noon to 5 p.m. at the Fraternal Order of Police Grounds, at the corner of Bell Lake Road and Land O’ Lakes Boulevard.

If anyone deserves help, it’s Boothe, Fontanez said.

“When she found out that I had a (Relay for Life) team, she baked her heart out,” Fontanez said. “She went ahead and she did seven or eight cakes. She did chocolate-covered strawberries, candies, cookies.”

In fact, Boothe made so many goodies that they were giving them away at the end of the event.

“She’s done baking every year. She’s been on our team for five years,” Fontanez said.

While Boothe is grateful for the help, she wishes she were on the giving, rather than the receiving, end.

“I want to be independent. I want to do it on my own,” she said. “This time, I just can’t. I don’t have the resources. I don’t have the money. I don’t have the energy.”

Boothe is humbled by the support that others are showing her.

The Fit Body Boot Camp is having a fundraising event for her with a two-week boot camp pass to its gym for a $33 donation. A personal trainer there also will match the money raised up to $3,000, and is giving away prizes to existing or new clients that participate in the fundraiser.

Firefighter Charities of Pasco Inc. and the fire chief are also helping.

“We are now allowed to wear pink duty shirts as we work,” said Jesus “J.J.” Martinez, president of the charitable organization. “The money we raise from the shirts will be going to Kicking Cancer for Ashley.”

Boothe said she is in awe by the kindness of others.

“So many people are so giving. All of these businesses that are willing to donate, I’m just very grateful,” she said.

She knows the road ahead will be challenging.

She must undergo additional chemotherapy treatments and surgeries. And, it’s too soon to tell if her newborn son, who has been receiving special care since his birth, will face future medical challenges because of his premature birth.

Despite the uncertainties, Boothe said she feels fortunate.

“People are still worse off than me,” she said. “They’re still dealing with worse things than I’m dealing with. As long as I have my family and my husband and my God, I don’t worry anymore.”

New festival celebrates the joys of flight

October 9, 2013 By B.C. Manion

A festival debuting in Lutz this year celebrates the joys of aviation.

The Festival of Flight, presented by American Balloons and Tampa North Flight Center, will feature hot air balloons, kite-flying demonstrations and aircraft ranging from vintage World War II airplanes to state-of-the art flying machines.

Festivities begin at 7 a.m. on Oct. 19, with a hot air balloon launch and wrap up that day with a night hot air balloon glow at Tampa North Aeropark, 4241 Birdsong Blvd. in Lutz.

A hot air balloon operates over Land O’ Lakes. (Photo courtesy of American Balloons)

Activities will resume at 7 a.m. on Oct. 20, with another hot air balloon launch and activities will conclude around noon.

Those wanting to watch the balloon launches are advised to arrive early and should bring chairs to sit on, according to the event’s website.

“There will be balloons flying in and out,” said Jessica Warren of American Balloons, a company based at the flight center.

Besides the hot air balloons and airplanes, Kiting Tampa Bay will also be there flying kites. And children will be able to make kites, Warren said.

Other plans that are pending include paratroopers dropping in and tethered balloon rides, Warren said.

The event celebrates the renovation of the private airport and the grand opening of The Happy Hangar café.

Various vendors will also be there, offering wares for sale or dispensing information about their businesses. Live music is planned, too.

“We’ve been trying to bring the balloon festival in here for a really long time,” Warren said. “We really need something local. We want to share our love of aviation.”

The Pasco County area is fortunate to have hot air balloon flights, Warren said. The only other place in Florida that offers hot air balloon rides is Orlando. Many people come from around the world to go for rides in her company’s balloons.

“There are only about 5,000 hot air balloonists in the United States,” Warren said, and while they’re spread out around the country, their shared interest in aviation makes them a tight-knit community.

Chuck Norris, a flight instructor at the Tampa North Flight Center, said aviation enthusiasts will have a chance to see some interesting aircraft. They can also purchase rides on a 1942 Boeing Steerman.

Norris is excited about the event.

“This airport has been a very sleepy airport for years. We want to wake it up,” he said.

Organizers intend to make this an annual event, Warren said. In fact, planning for that already has begun, she said.

For more information about this year’s festivities, visit FestivalOfFlightWesleyChapel.com.

Fire inspires priest to transform ministry

October 9, 2013 By B.C. Manion

It happened more than a decade ago, but the Rev. Garry Welsh said the event was a turning point in his life as a priest.

“I woke one night to the sound of wood burning,” recalled Welsh, then pastor of St. Ludger Catholic Church, a parish in the small town of Creighton, Neb. “The rectory caught on fire.”

Welsh descended from his second-floor bedroom to search out the source of the fire.

“I saw a kind of a glow at the end of the hallway, and when I walked down toward it, I discovered the kitchen was on fire,” he said.

Father Garry Welsh is on loan to the parish of Our Lady of the Rosary in Land O’ Lakes. He says a fire that destroyed the rectory where he was living in Nebraska transformed his ministry. (Photo by B.C. Manion)

The black smoke was so thick that Welsh became disoriented. He suffered burns on both of his hands and feet.

“They tell me — I don’t remember much about the night — that I did walk across a floor that was on fire. It was a laminate floor, so it was hot and it burnt the bottom of my feet,” Welsh said. “I was in the hospital for quite a while. I had to learn how to walk again.”

Investigators traced the cause of the fire to a candle that Welsh had left burning on the stove, he said. The rectory had just been renovated, and it and all of its contents were destroyed.

Recovering from his injuries kept Welsh away from full-time ministry for quite some time. Now, however, he’s on loan to Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Land O’ Lakes. And despite the fire’s destructive nature, Welsh said it held lessons for him.

“I think what it gave me, as I look back now, is that it gave me a better appreciation of the struggles people go through,” Welsh said. “I was in a wheelchair for quite a while. I think it made me understand (the impacts of) when people start to lose their mobility.”

The experience gave him a greater appreciation of being able to do things independently and changed his perspective on life, people and the priesthood, he said.

“It changed my outlook on ministry, entirely,” Welsh said.

Before the fire, Welsh said he was a priest that was driven by a schedule. The experience of the fire, and recovering from it, however, softened and mellowed him. Welsh became more aware of the value of savoring the gifts that God bestows.

“Before when I would visit with people, it was very much an in-and-out, I’ve got other things to do,” he said. “Now, I take more time. I’m more liable to sit with people and listen to people a little bit more.”

Before the fire, Welsh said he was an ambitious priest. That changed, as well.

“As a priest, I used to try to be the best,” he said. “I discovered that when I try to be the best, it’s all about me. What I try to do now is that I try to be the priest that people need today. So, when someone comes to me, my prayer always is: ‘What do you need from me as your priest, now?’

“That might be a listening ear. That might be some advice. It might be a pat on the back to say you’re OK. It might be that you need me to sit and listen to your joke and laugh at it, even if it’s bad.”

Welsh said he asks himself: “What does this person, or these people, or this group – what do they need from me, now?”

“They don’t need me to be the best priest. They need me to be their priest, their priest who loves them,” he said.

Welsh was born in England to Scottish parents, but grew up in Ireland. He came to the United States in 1998, and was ordained three years later in Nebraska. Welsh said spiritual needs are universal, to know that spiritually, they’re loved.

When fellow priests and brothers are struggling, Welsh reminds them that “we make priesthood difficult because we think it’s about doing,” he said. “It’s more about being.”

“When we’re ordained, we’re ordained to be in the image of Christ. And we forget that and we’re lost in our own image,” Welsh said. “And we get disappointed, and the people get disappointed. We don’t get fulfilled, and the people don’t get fulfilled. And we all end up in this bad place.”

Instead it should be more about the image of Christ. “What did Christ instruct us to do?” Welsh said. “He said, ‘Love one another, as I have loved you.’”

“That’s the key, I think, to all faith,” he said. “No matter what we do, we have to do it with love. People will respond to love.”

When Welsh officiates the mass, he begins with a reminder that those present are on a journey together. As such, they are bound to stumble and fall. But they are there to help each other and to continue together on the journey, he said.

When he prepares his homilies, he consults a number of sources and draws on his personal experiences.

“As a priest, I struggle like you struggle,” Welsh said. “I have good days and bad days. I have high moments and low moments. We’re journeying together.”

When others hurt him, he said, he realizes he is unable to forgive them. “I ask God to forgive them,” he said.

Like commentator Bill O’Reilly, he enjoys being pithy.

He also recalls this bit of advice offered by a professor when Welsh was learning to write homilies: “In three minutes, you’ll move hearts. In 10 minutes, you’ll freeze butts.”

Welsh, who has been an associate and a pastor at several churches in Nebraska, said he has never requested a particular assignment, trusting the Holy Spirit will lead him to the right place to use his skills.

Currently, he is on loan to the Diocese of St. Petersburg, from the Archdiocese of Omaha. He’s not sure how long this assignment will last.

“When I came down here, my archbishop said, ‘This is for three years.’ And, I said, ‘Well, let the Holy Spirit decide that.’”

Despite focus, manufacturing labor still lacking in region

October 9, 2013 By Michael Hinman

It takes more than tax incentives and good schools for kids to attract the manufacturing industry to Pasco County. It’s going to take a solid workforce base already living here. And that’s where programs like the engineering academy at schools like River Ridge High School come into play.

The only program of its kind in Pasco County, these engineering students are learning about the ever-evolving manufacturing industry — one that more and more requires homegrown highly skilled labor to take on complex jobs.

Bryan Kamm, director of government and public relations for Bauer Foundation Corp., talks to students of the Engineering Academy at River Ridge High School as part of Pasco-Hernando Community College’s National Manufacturing Day on Friday. Bauer has an apprenticeship program that helps produce high-skilled manufacturing workers in the county. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

“Many times, kids don’t have a clue what they want to do when they graduate from high school,” said Bryan Kamm, director of public and government relations for Bauer Foundation Corp. in Odessa. “And when they do, they still don’t have the experience they need when they graduate from college. Here we’re trying to bridge that gap.”

The doors of Bauer Foundation Corp., a company that specializes in building foundations and equipment, were opened to students around the area last week as part of National Manufacturing Day. Pasco-Hernando Community College organized this year’s tours, providing an in-the-field look at industry to more than 160 students in the River Ridge program as well as 100 more from Nature Coast Technical High School and Hernando Robotics Club.

The River Ridge program pulls in students from all over the county, and continues to grow, said former school board member and current Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey.

“If you stay in engineering, you have the highest chance of anybody to get a job,” Starkey told some of the students during the Bauer Foundation Corp. visit. “Whether you go on to college, or you just want to get a job after high school, you will get the highest pay and have the most opportunities.

“That, to me, is why engineering is so important. It will help bring American jobs back from overseas, and bring stability to our economy.”

Manufacturing jobs have remained flat year-over-year in Florida, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics for August. The Tampa Bay region, which Pasco County is a part of, has actually witnessed manufacturing jobs drop 3 percent since last year. Yet, some 600,000 manufacturing jobs across the country remained unfilled because of the gaps between the job requirements and the skills of those who are applying for them, according to PHCC.

Many young people, especially those under 25, aren’t even considering manufacturing jobs in their future. That’s despite the fact that manufacturing salaries are typically 19 percent higher than other jobs, according to a report from The Manufacturing Institute. The national trend is for salaries and benefits averaging at just under $79,000, while non-manufacturing jobs pay a little more than $66,000.

Manufacturing jobs are also more likely to have benefits — 78 percent offer health care, for example — compared to non-manufacturing jobs, which only 54 percent offer similar benefits, according to the study.

Pasco County offers a wide range of manufacturing opportunities through 320 different facilities, according to the Pasco Hernando Workforce Board. That includes 3,100 jobs in highly technical advanced fields in pharmaceutical packaging, aerospace, military and defense manufacturing, as well as the manufacturing of baking equipment, and storm and lightning detectors. The county also offers thermoforming jobs, where plastic is heated and shaped into different products.

Bauer Foundation focuses on the construction of building foundations, and developing the equipment that creates it.

A division of the German-based Bauer Group, the Pasco company employs up to 80 people at its Odessa site, but has more than 200 people working in construction sites across the Southeast.

Bauer offers an apprenticeship program that allows high school students to apply for what becomes a job complementing their schoolwork. It introduces jobs that students may not even had known existed before, and helps create the local workforce manufacturing companies like Bauer needs.

“We’re a very highly technical and skilled company from Germany, and when someone comes in the door and applies, generally they don’t have the skills they need to work for us,” Bauer’s Kamm said. “There ends up being this learning curve, where over a long period of time, they can come up to speed. And they can do that while still going to school.”

Bauer typically takes in four students each year for its summer orientation program, a six-week program that is ultimately a long-term job interview. The best candidates from that group are offered on-the-job training that they can do during their junior and senior years, and while they continue their education.

And if they choose a local school, like PHCC, Bauer also pays their tuition.

For more information on National Manufacturing Day and how to pursue a job in the manufacturing industry, visit mfgday.com.

Government shutdown could soon victimize poor children, infants

October 9, 2013 By Michael Hinman

Lacy White followed the latest news from Washington, D.C. closely over the past few weeks as Congress and the President haggled over spending measures that led to a federal government shutdown.

Not only was her husband a civilian contractor at MacDill Air Force Base who would lose his paycheck if a shutdown were to occur, but both were eight weeks into caring for an infant they’ve fostered since she was born, and were depending on the government to help pay for the baby’s needs.

“This is a double whammy for us, and it’s frustrating,” the former Land O’ Lakes resident said. “We need the checks to help with the baby’s formula, and without those, we’d have to pay out of our own pockets. But if my husband is working without pay, too, then we really have to dig to get the money.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture website, which is the home for information on the federal government’s WIC program to help support women, infants and children, shows only an error page to anyone trying to visit. The federal government shutdown has created a potentially serious problem for poor families, who depend on government assistance to feed their children.

White receives support through WIC, the federal assistance program more formally known as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. Individual states like Florida administer the program using federal dollars — money that is now missing because of the federal government’s inability to keep the financial coffers open.

Communication between the government and WIC recipients has been nonexistent. Even visiting the website of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which runs the federal program, brings up a page telling visitors that “due to the lapse in federal government funding, this website is not available.”

So, White and others like her have to turn to the news.

“As far as I have read, WIC is shut down, and we will no longer be getting her formula checks,” White said of her foster baby. “No one has contacted us. No one has let us know. We have to go by word of mouth.”

But checks are continuing to be cut, even as federal dollars stop, said Deanna Krautner, a spokeswoman for Pasco County. She referred more detailed questions to the state level, who in a statement said Florida Department of Health “continues to monitor the situation in Washington, D.C., and the department will be able to continue WIC services for the foreseeable future.”

When pressed further about where those dollars are coming from, Department of Health spokeswoman Denishia Sword said the state has put together temporary operating dollars, including reallocated federal funding, USDA contingency funds and infant formula rebates.

Yet, those contingency funds won’t last long. Bruce Alexander, communications director with the USDA, told Forbes magazine that if the shutdown is not resolved before October ends, there may not be sufficient money to keep the program going.

The USDA typically receives $7 billion to run programs like WIC nationally, but the program’s contingency fund is just $125 million — enough to run the program for six days.

White’s family, luckily, has put money away for a rainy day, and only collects WIC because she has a foster baby. Yet, families that solely depend on WIC won’t have those options, and she fears children not just in the Tampa Bay area, but across the country, will suffer.

“We would typically spend $100 a month on formula, and that’s just to feed her,” White said. “There are a lot of expenses involving children, and families who live in poverty would not be able to do this on their own.”

If her family ran into problems, White said her church will be available to help. But there may be only so much charity groups can do — especially if so many families end up in need, said Thomas Mantz, chief executive of Feeding America Tampa Bay. While the organization does not necessarily provide the same services as WIC, if families have to suddenly pay for items like formula, they may have to make cuts in other areas — like food.

“Any time there are challenges in the economic environment, one of the choices people will often make is the choice of food,” Mantz said. “They have to pay a medical bill, or they have to get their car running to get to work, or they have to pay for their lights or rent. Any time those choices have to be made, these folks have to go without food, and seek food assistance elsewhere.”

Feeding America will move 40 million pounds of food in its 10-county service area this year, but that is still not enough, covering less than 50 percent of the need. And if the government shutdown continues, that will be even more assistance the group will have to be ready to supply.

Congress and the President getting back on the same page couldn’t come too soon, White said. The government needs to get back to work, and start paying for these much-needed social programs.

“My husband has to get up every day to go to work without a paycheck, yet these guys are up there still paying themselves while we are all just waiting,” White said. “Something needs to be done.”

They are coming, will Pasco be able to build it?

October 9, 2013 By Michael Hinman

For decades, the population center of Pasco County has been on its western, coastal side. Areas surrounding Port Richey and New Port Richey have always been the focus of activity thanks to their proximity to Pinellas County.

But by 2025, that could all change. The southern portion of Pasco County, which as late as 1990 had population rivaling only the northern rural parts of the county, will not only overtake the New Port Richey area, but will become the most populous in Pasco.

The population of Pasco County is shifting from the western side, which officials have called ‘The Harbors,’ to the southern side. By 2040, areas like Wesley Chapel and Wiregrass Ranch could have 309,000 people, a population jump of more than 900 percent since 1990. (Image courtesy of Pasco County)

The area, which includes Wesley Chapel and Wiregrass Ranch, could reach as high as 309,000 people by 2040, putting Pasco on the path to 1 million residents. And the county will have to be ready.

“We have a big responsibility in the Tampa Bay area,” Melanie Kendrick, senior planner in Pasco County’s economic development department, told members of the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce late last month. “As companies are looking to come to this area, and companies in Hillsborough and Pinellas are expanding, they don’t have the room. And great cities grow north.”

In 1990, the southern portion of the county — which officials are calling “Gateway Crossings” — had just 30,500 residents, compared to the nearly 142,000 on the western side. In 2010, Gateway Crossings expanded to a little less than 120,000, a jump of 293 percent, while the western side grew just 28 percent to 182,000.

By 2025, Gateway Crossings is expected to grow to 214,000 people compared to 194,000 on the western side, according to numbers provided by Pasco County officials.

Already, 94 percent of Pasco’s population resides in the unincorporated areas.

“If the Pasco County Commission were a city commission, we would be the 12th largest city in the state,” Commissioner Kathryn Starkey said at the chamber meeting. “It’s an interesting challenge for us as commissioners as we have to act like a city commission, while other commissions like the one in Pinellas actually controls very little with so many incorporated areas there.”

Pasco is one of the fastest growing areas in the state, but still exports 90,000 people a day to Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, while importing just 40,000.

“If we could get people to work here in the county, we could bring our wages up,” Kendrick said.

To make that growth work, planning had to start a long time ago, and the county is getting its act together, Starkey said. One of the first major issues the commission had to address once Starkey arrived was the permitting process, which she described as a “disaster.”

“We were known as a difficult place to do business,” Starkey said. “We still are, but we are working on that.”

Permitting has been streamlined, removing a lot of red tape that existed before, with the hopes that smart growth will be encouraged by the private sector. That does mean, however, building up rather than out. Density is going to be key, but Pasco will need the infrastructure to support it.

Already, key areas like U.S. 41 and the Suncoast Parkway junctions with State Roads 54 and 52 have more than 2 million people living within a 40-minute drive time. Wiregrass Ranch already is not far behind with 1.92 million people within a couple gallons of gas.

Yet, Pasco still wants to keep its community spirit with aspects like sidewalks and neighborhoods. Yet, some traffic arteries must remain arteries.

“State Road 54 will not be a main street,” Kendrick said. “It will not be walkable, ever.”

Communities are springing up on either side of State Road 54, which are pedestrian-friendly, but the county is going to need a much expanded road system to carry the incoming population and avoid traffic gridlock.

“You can see the numbers coming into the area, and they are not going to fit on (State Road) 54,” Starkey said. “You could walk faster.”

The county, however, will have to find ways to pay for it. Property taxes already are lower than 60 other counties in the state, Kendrick said, and the recent failure of the additional gas tax by the county commission is going to make it nearly impossible to build more roads in the foreseeable future.

“We’ve had to build $8 million out of the budget to fund roads, and we are going to have to do something to fill that gap,” Starkey said. “It’s going to be a challenge.”

Representatives from the Urban Land Institute, which is helping Pasco County officials with long-range economic development plans, are visiting this week to follow up on recommendations made five years ago. Further suggestions on how to enhance and support growth in the county will be made in the coming months.

Swiftmud lowers taxes, cuts budget

October 9, 2013 By Special to The Laker/Lutz News

The Southwest Florida Water Management District, the water usage governing agency commonly known as Swiftmud, has reduced its ad valorem taxes for the upcoming fiscal year.

Swiftmud’s governing board adopted a millage rate of 0.3818 mills, down 2.8 percent from the previous year.

One mill represents $1 of tax on every $1,000 of taxable property value. For example, a home appraised at $150,000 with a $50,000 homestead exemption would be levied a Swiftmud tax of $38.18 for the coming year.

The savings represent a $2.9 million overall reduction in how much Swiftmud will collect from property owners this year compared to last year. This year’s budget totals $170.8 million. That budget includes $95.8 million for capital and infrastructure as well as other projects.

Those investments, after being leveraged with various financial partners, will rise to $138 million. It will be funded using money available from previous years as well as projects that have already been completed under budget or outright cancelled.

Swiftmud’s district encompasses roughly 10,000 square miles in all or part of 16 counties in the state, according to the agency’s website. It serves a population of 4.7 million people.

The state allows Swiftmud to levy up to 1 mill, but the agency actually only collects about a third of that with the current budget.

After cancer diagnosis, community runs for Keppel

October 2, 2013 By Michael Hinman

Kris Keppel is never one to give up.

Always a fighter in his 20 years as a coach of the Land O’ Lakes High School cross-country team, he now is facing an even tougher battle — pancreatic cancer — and his team, school and community are rallying around him to notch yet another big win.

“Life has definitely turned on a dime,” said Karen DeHaas, the coach of the Gators’ girls’ cross-country team. Better known as “Mima” to the runners because of her granddaughter’s influence on the team, DeHaas was one of the first to find out about Keppel’s diagnosis just a little more than two weeks ago.

“I cried so much,” DeHaas said. “You don’t know how much I cried. I’d be lost without him.”

The cross-country teams of Land O’ Lakes High School don ‘I run for Keppel’ shirts in honor of Coach Kris Keppel, who was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

Breaking the news to the rest of the team was hard, especially when Keppel could not be at his first cross-country event in the two decades he’s been a coach. But he was still there, thanks to technology, as he watched the first runners cross the finish line thanks to a FaceTime video feed from someone’s smart phone.

The runners, who have never felt abandoned by Keppel over all these years, were going to stand by him, too.

Two of DeHaas’ runners, Carolyn Estrella and Mary-Kathryn Guenette, got together and designed “I run for Keppel” T-shirts. Complete with a purple ribbon, representative of those who are fighting pancreatic cancer, the girls have already raised more than $1,000 for Keppel’s family. And they plan to add even more.

“Coach Keppel always cancelled doctor’s appointments in the past just so he doesn’t miss practice, so when he didn’t cancel one appointment for a practice, we knew something was wrong,” said Estrella, a junior at Land O’ Lakes High School. “The next day after that missed practice, we found out he had cancer. It was hard for all of us.”

Estrella and Guenette had 100 shirts printed right away, which the entire cross-country team donned in his honor last Friday, and DeHaas is confident that the two can actually sell more than 1,000 after it’s all said and done. Each one costs $15, and the proceeds go to Keppel.

“There are so many coaches that have already stepped up,” DeHaas said. “We have this big invitational coming up, and I have had phone calls from coaches in Brandon, Tampa, Hernando, all the surrounding counties. I can’t believe all the compassion and support that I have received from all these coaches.”

For Guenette, the cancer diagnosis hit closer to home. Her younger brother, Spencer, battled brain cancer at a very young age. But he also proved that the fight is quite winnable, and now at 14, is in remission.

“I know what the Keppels are going through right now, and it’s a tough time,” Guenette said. “My parents were really proud that we stepped up and made a difference (for Keppel). It’s a good way of coping.”

There is no such thing as an “easy” cancer to be afflicted with, but pancreatic cancer is aggressive. In 2013, the American Cancer Society estimates that more than 45,000 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, evenly split between men and women. Treatment ranges from chemotherapy and radiation to surgery.

All of that will require a lot of attention and energy on Keppel’s part, but DeHaas knows that he’ll still find a way to influence the runners he has led for so many years.

“He’s hoping that even if he has to be pushed in a wheelchair, he’s going to be out there watching regionals,” DeHaas said. “I told him he could use my chair, which has a big umbrella on it to protect him from the sun. Either way, if there is any chance he can make it out there, he’ll be there.”

The “I run for Keppel” shirts are available to the general public as well, with proceeds benefitting the Keppel family. To order, email — that’s “carolyn” followed by a zero, two ones and “jr” — or visit the athletics department social media page at Facebook.com/lolhsgators.

Browning parts from Scott, stands by Common Core Standards

October 2, 2013 By B.C. Manion

Pasco Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning is standing by the Common Core State Standards, despite a recent decision by Gov. Rick Scott to put the kibosh on the state’s participation in a consortia developing assessments for those standards.

Scott sent a letter to federal Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Sept. 23 telling him that he would ask the State Board of Education to end Florida’s fiscal relationship with the Partnership for Assessment Readiness for College and Careers.

Scott said the move was intended to protect the state from federal intrusion into education policy, and a parade of lawmakers and educators applauded Scott’s action.

Browning did not.

“It’s all political,” Browning said. “He’s getting a lot of pressure and he’s running for re-election.”

Browning added that Scott is trying to make sure that he has the support of the tea party, a populist movement within the Republican party that opposes the Washington political establishment. Scott was backed by the tea party when he won the governor’s office in 2010.

Florida needs a different way to measure its students’ progress, Browning said.

“Florida cannot afford to go back to another homegrown assessment,” Browning said.

The superintendent’s comments followed a talk he gave about the Common Core State Standards to more than two-dozen members of the Republican Club of Central Pasco.

Browning made it clear that he stands behind the Common Core State Standards.

“We need to be able to have a set of standards that engages kids, that gets them to think and not only to get them to give the right answer, but how they came up with that answer,” Browning said. “That, in large part, is what Common Core is.”

There’s a perception that Common Core is being driven by the federal government, Browning said. But that isn’t true. The National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers led the effort to develop standards, he said.

There are three basic components to Common Core State Standards, Browning said. Those components are the standards themselves, the assessments to measure student performance and the data collection.

Critics are lumping all three of those elements together.

“The standards are the standards,” the superintendent said.

There’s also a misconception about what the standards are, he said. The standards are not curriculum. Curriculum is developed and delivered at the local level.

The standards provide the foundation for the curriculum and establish what students need to learn. They do not prescribe how students should be taught, Browning said.

A new set of tests will be used to measure student performance. Regardless of what test is used, there will need to be some sort of assessment.

Common Core State Standards are intended to raise the bar for students and prepare them to compete in a global economy.

“Gov. Bush just made a comment this week that summed up exactly the way I feel about Common Core,” Browning said, adding he echoed those statements in a letter he sent to Scott. “Gov. Bush said, ‘If you’re ok with mediocrity, fine. I’m not,” Browning said.

“What our current standards really encourage our kids to do is memorize and regurgitate. Common Core is calling for kids to think critically,” Browning said.

Pasco County needs improvement.

“Look at our FCAT scores. Look at our reading scores. Look at our math scores. Look at our science scores,” he said. “They’re abominable. They really are.”

Pasco is ranked 34th out of 67 school districts, and that’s something that has to be improved, he said.

“I am tired of the Pasco district playing second fiddle to other districts in the state,” Browning added.

Teachers have a difficult job, he said.

“We’re getting kids in school that don’t know their alphabet. They don’t know simple words. We’re having to get these kids up to grade level,” Browning said.

About 450 third-graders each year are held back in Pasco County because they cannot read at grade level. Some of those students are held back twice, Browning said.

“When a third-grader is retained two times, you can pretty much write them off,” he said. And while the district doesn’t actually write them off, those children face an uphill battle.

“They’re older, they see their peers moving forward. They begin to think that they’re stupid, they can’t learn,” Browning said. “They’re taller than other third-graders. They don’t fit.”

Common Core State Standards are not a new idea, Browning said.

“This has been going on for like six years,” he said. “There were public hearings. There was time for input. There was all this time for public involvement.”

People who want to learn more about Common Core should research the issue, he said. But when they do, he advised that they make sure the websites are reliable.

“With all due respect to radio talk show hosts, that is not a good place to get information from,” Browning said.

Hugh Townsend, who was attending the Republican club’s meeting, said uniform standards are a good idea, particularly in a mobile society. The military has already demonstrated that.

“They’ve already proven that this system works, migrating children around and getting the same outcome of a well-educated, thinking student,” Townsend said.

Alison Crumbley, a Pasco County school board member, said she knows from personal experience about different standards used in different school districts.

“I moved from Chicago in the third grade. I came into third grade. I was put in the sixth-grade reading classes at the time,” Crumbley said.

The disparity in educational opportunities was one of the things that motivated her to seek a seat on the school board, Crumbley said.

RPE comes to Pasco, bringing high-tech jobs with it

October 2, 2013 By Michael Hinman

When John Hagen made his quarterly report to Pasco County Commissioners earlier this year, he wasn’t sure 2013 would end on an upswing for new jobs created in the county.

But the fiscal year ended Monday, and Hagen — the president and chief executive of the Pasco Economic Development Council — has good news: More than 600 high-wage jobs have been created this year, well beyond any expectations.

And the growth was capped by Retail Process Engineering LLC moving its operations from Tampa to the Offices of Devonwood off State Road 54 in Land O’ Lakes, expected to bring 16 new jobs to the county with an average salary of $105,000.

Retail Process Engineering moved into its new location at Devonwood off State Road 54 over the weekend. The company bought the space in April, and plans to add 16 high-wage jobs to the area. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

“Things are definitely looking up,” Hagen said. “We still have some challenges, but we do feel the momentum is here as activity’s been picking up. It bodes well for the upcoming year.”

A company related to RPE purchased the 4,100-square-foot location at 20537 Amberfield Drive in April for $500,000, according to property records. The company had looked at locations in Tampa and Pinellas County as well, but realized that Pasco was a good fit, said executive vice president Rob Henneke. It didn’t hurt that he and many other people who work at RPE already lived in Pasco County.

“Certainly drive time made a difference for a number of us, as well as certain taxes and some of the incentives that Pasco County was offering,” Henneke said. “It’s certainly a more relaxed atmosphere here compared to Tampa, and we’re still what I consider to be very close to the airport, which is very important to us and our clients.”

RPE was founded in 1999 and specializes in strategic, functional and technical consulting for retail merchandising and supply chain services, primarily when it comes to information technology. The new jobs — which could earn RPE a cash incentive of up to $5,000 per new job payable over four years — would be for those who have at least 15 years of retail experience willing to take on a consultant role for the company, Henneke said.

RPE is the fourth technology company to move operations to Pasco County this past year. It joined financial services technology firm InvestCloud, security camera technology company Communication Concepts Inc., and software developer MB2x.

And there’s still room for more, Hagen said. A recent report by the EDC showed of the 7.5 million square feet of existing office space in the county, 15 percent of it — or 1.1 million square feet — is still available. That’s enough to fit six Walmart Supercenters.

“All you have to do is stand on the corner of State Road 56 and Interstate 75, or even State Road 54 and the Suncoast Parkway, and watch all the traffic every morning going south,” Hagen said. “Having commuted myself, I just realized what a drag it is. So I know there are a lot of other people out there who are trying to one way or another bring their business closer to where they live.”

RPE services clients around the country and into Canada as well in places like Toronto and Newfoundland.

“We have a very good reputation out there in the marketplace,” Henneke said. “As we are able to get the message across of who we are, we’re seeing more and more clients choosing to use our services. And with that, we’ll just keep expanding.”