Top Story

DADE CITY – Pasco-Hernando State College recognized 34 Fire Academy graduates with firefighter certificates during a ceremony Aug. 14 at the East Campus.

Cadets completed 16 weeks of training, preparing them for their upcoming state-administered practical and written exams. 

Austin Linville was named class leader and received the Instructor Pick award.

“Each cohort picks its own class motto, and one of our Scottish cadets, Alexander Buchanan, introduced the phrase, ‘It’ll be a skoosh,’ with skoosh meaning easy,” said William Lingo, program coordinator and retired fire chief. “The cadets took this motto and pushed forward through their training to get to their graduation on Thursday.”

Cadets had the opportunity to train and learn using PHSC’s newest state-of-the-art fire tower and training facility, spread over 4,280 square feet. The tower is 50 feet tall and spans five stories. 

The facility includes burn prop stations for training, two classrooms, pre-engineered covered parking and two 40-foot storage containers for training equipment.

“PHSC is proud to celebrate the dedication and resilience of these graduates, who have chosen a path of service, sacrifice and strength,” PHSC President Eric Hall said. “As our communities face increasing demands on public safety services, these well-trained professionals will play a critical role. Their success reflects PHSC’s continued commitment to delivering high-quality, hands-on training that supports workforce development and strengthens our region.”

 

 

Shelby Langford never imagined agriculture would become a focus of her teenage years.

It all began with a middle school elective, “Agricultural Foundations.” She chose the class but had few expectations. What started as a routine course exposed her to opportunities that would shape her future. Before long, agriculture evolved from a passing interest to a passion.

She started cooking for herself and tending a garden at home. Her curiosity deepened to commitment when, before officially enrolling at Gaither High School in Tampa, she volunteered with the school’s agriculture department. The summer before she started high school, Shelby volunteered to show the school’s Future Farmers of America chapter pig. From early mornings at the barn to late-night feedings, she gave her all to raising a pig while learning about swine care and behavior.

“That experience lit a fire in her – a deep desire to continue learning and growing within the agricultural world, especially within the swine industry,” said her mother, Marisa Langford.

In March, Shelby was accepted into the Florida 4-H “Hog & Ham” program, part of the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Hog & Ham takes selected participants through the process of pork production and teaches food security.

This month, she went to the main UF campus in Gainesville to learn about meat production.

Hog & Ham, 4-H, FFA, fairs – they’re all part of a journey filled with “opportunities,” which seems to be one of Shelby’s favorite words.

“It’s cool learning about all the different opportunities that agriculture has to offer,” she said, citing, among other things, Ag Day on the Hill, where FFA members go to the state Capitol. “You learn about all the cool things you can do if you pursue agriculture, including lobbying legislators.”

Over the past two years, Shelby has taken advantage of opportunities offered through UF/IFAS Extension programs.

She’s attended meat science and livestock judging clinics, interacted with UF/IFAS faculty and explored the depth and diversity of Florida’s agricultural industry.

Whitney Elmore, director of UF/IFAS Extension Pasco County, praised Shelby for how she sets an example for others.

“4-H participants (and their families) work very hard on their projects, putting a significant amount of time, money and energy into learning by doing,” Elmore said. “Shelby exemplifies the core values of 4-H: head, heart, hands, health.”

It’s not always easy participating in 4-H and FFA, but it’s well worth the effort, Shelby said. The biggest challenge is “getting started.”

“You have to navigate things on your own,” she said. “There’s a lot of pre-planning that goes into everything. It helps you with time management. You have to find opportunities. Some are a little more hidden than others.”

 

ST. LEO – It was a time of goodbye hugs, some tears, a few raindrops, and a lot of sweat as new and transfer students moved into Saint Leo University residence halls Aug. 22. 

The university welcomed more than 850 incoming students while returning students arrived Aug. 23 and 24. Classes began Aug. 25 at the campus in Pasco County as well as online and at the university’s regional education centers in Florida and Savannah, Georgia.

Most of Saint Leo’s new students are “homegrown” with 69.6% being from Florida, while 18.8% are from other states. International students make up 11.6% of the new students. Saint Leo’s fields, courts, track and more will be filled this year as 299 new student-athletes join the pride.  

The incoming Lions and their families found plenty of help from faculty, staff, student-athletes and coaches, spirit teams, resident assistants and orientation leaders to unload vehicles and haul their belongings into their new home away from home.  

Radames Luna, father of new student Izayah Luna, said he is excited for his son to begin at Saint Leo. 

“The best part is when they asked if they could help,” Radames said, laughing as student-athletes and other volunteers surrounded the family’s car and carried boxes and bags to Izayah’s room. He will be majoring in business.  

Krystal Morris, of Wesley Chapel, admitted to feeling a little sad while moving her son, Sian, into his residence hall. “I am not OK,” she said. “He’s my baby.” 

And Krystal said she might be crying in Sian’s room at home after she left campus.  

Isabella Hill, of Naples, happily unpacked items in her residence hall room. 

“I’m looking forward to everything,” said the pre-nursing major. 

Meanwhile, her dad, Marc Hill, was busy assembling items for her room. 

“I’m holding it together and then I’ll cry in the car later,” he said.  

Isabella’s grandmother, Cassandra Hill, said she is “ready to fly like a butterfly” during her time at Saint Leo.  

Sarai Rodriguez and Kiara Clifford, both nursing students, are serving as the resident assistants for Saint Leo’s Nursing Living Learning Communities. 

This year, with 115 pre-nursing students arriving, the university offered two of these communities for those pursuing Bachelor of Science in nursing degrees with students living in Alumni and Roderick halls. Living Learning Communities offer an opportunity for students with shared interests to build connections beyond the classroom. Rodriguez spent the morning meeting the students and distributing notices to make sure the pre-nursing students attend their orientation session.  

“One of my main goals as a nursing RA and within the programs that I host, is to create a strong community among nursing students,” Rodriguez said. “As a senior, if I could give any advice to pre-nursing and junior nursing students, it would be to have an open mind, find friendships that will carry you through your journey, and believe that this dream was placed in your heart for a reason.”

 

TAMPA – Can a machine think like you? Learn like you? Paint your portrait like Picasso?  

Visitors at Tampa’s Museum of Science and Industry will soon be able to find out with the Sept. 6 opening of “Artificial Intelligence: Your Mind & The Machine.”

The interactive, traveling exhibit explores the effects of artificial intelligence. 

Forget the killer robots of science fiction. This is about the everyday technology shaping how people live, work and learn. With games, smart machines and hands-on challenges, it shows how AI works and how it learns to “think” like a human, without getting lost in computer jargon and techno-talk.

“AI might sound mysterious, but at MOSI, we break it down to the basics, so anyone, at any age, can grasp how it works and what it can do in the future,” said John Graydon Smith, president and CEO of MOSI. “It’s already in your pocket, your home and your job, whether you realize it or not. This exhibit makes it fun to see how machines learn, sometimes even better than we do, and why that matters. You’ll leave with a whole new perspective.”

Guests will be immersed in a futuristic playground filled with activities for all ages. Train an AI to recognize your face. Paint a selfie in the style of Van Gogh or Picasso. Press a few keys and hear a piano compose new music using the sounds of 1,400 instruments. Take on stacking puzzles that challenge you to learn like an AI system does.

“Our goal is to give every visitor an introduction to AI that helps them understand what the technology will mean to them,” said HP Newquist, the AI historian and author who created the exhibit. “Kids are certain to work with AI in the years to come, from self-driving cars to digital personal assistants that will help them with their homework. Adults are already trying to make sense of it.”

 

Exhibit highlights

• Giant Simon game: A huge version of the classic handheld electronic game that challenges you to remember and repeat a pattern of colors and sounds.
• Spot the fake: Compare real photos to AI-generated ones and see if human eyes can still tell the difference.
• AI at the movies: Explore how AI is used in films for everything from creating lifelike special effects to bringing digital characters to life.
• Voice mimic: Record a short message and let the AI recreate it in different voices or accents.
• Guess that object: Show the AI different items and see if it can correctly identify them or hilariously miss the mark.
• Cat vs. Not Cat: Try the AI’s original “training” game based on thousands of internet cat photos, then test if it can spot a cat in unusual places.
• Talk to a translator: Type a sentence and watch as AI instantly translates it into multiple languages. See which ones sound closest to the original meaning.
• Pattern detective: Give the AI clues and watch it solve mysteries by finding patterns in huge sets of data faster than any human could.

On the web: mosi.org

 

TAMPA – Maria De Lourdes Perrotta realized her longtime dream of stability and independence thanks to the support of Coca-Cola Beverages Florida LLC 

Habitat for Humanity of Tampa Bay Hillsborough hosted a dedication ceremony Aug. 20 to celebrate Maria and her son, Matias, receiving the keys to their new Tampa home.

“The dream: To have an affordable house,” said Maria, joined by family, community partners and volunteers who helped build her new home.

A key financial supporter of the Perrotta home is Coke Florida, a family-owned business serving Tampa, Jacksonville, Miami and Orlando. Coke Florida employees volunteered more than 200 hours to help build the new house.

“As we celebrated our company’s 10-year anniversary at the end of May, Coke Florida is proud to also celebrate our long-standing relationships with community partners, such as Habitat for Humanity of Tampa Bay Hillsborough,” said Percy L. Wells II, group vice president, government relations, public affairs and communications for Coke Florida. “We are proud to provide financial support, create economic empowerment opportunities for new homeowners and encourage our associates to support these impactful initiatives.”

Maria’s struggle to find affordable housing is one familiar to millions of Americans. 

Working as a housekeeper, she spent years renting apartments that were often plagued by mold, noise and ongoing rent hikes. 

“Home is where I feel secure, with peace and love,” Maria said. “Having our home means we are finally in a stable place.”

New homeowners like Maria put in hundreds of hours helping build Habitat houses, assisting at Habitat events and working in the Habitat ReStore home improvement store. They pay an affordable mortgage that never exceeds 30% of their income.

 

Habitat affiliates stay busy

• Habitat for Humanity Tampa Bay Gulfside was scheduled Aug. 22 to celebrate the dedication of its 1,000th home during its 40th anniversary year. A single mom working as a certified nursing assistant is the recipient of the new home located in Lealman. 
• Habitat for Humanity of East and Central Pasco is registering teams for its Women Build: Rock the Block event on Oct. 24 in Dade City. The event dispatches teams of 10 to do things like landscaping, light construction, painting and working on beautification projects in the community.

LAND O’ LAKES – The GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club continues to make a visible difference in the community. 

Members of the Civic Engagement Community Service Program, joined by other volunteers from the club, gave Lutz Memorial Park a facelift.

They cleared overgrown areas and removed debris. Neglected spaces now look refreshed and ready for the next phase of beautification.

With cleanup complete, the group is now shifting focus to the next step – choosing what to plant.

 

TAMPA – Several members of the Florida Small Business Development Center at University of South Florida were recognized during the 2025 Florida SBDC Network’s Performance Excellence Awards on Aug. 18 at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay.

The statewide event celebrates outstanding contributions across Florida’s nine regional small business development centers.

“It was a true honor to attend the Florida SBDC Network’s Annual Awards Celebration and recognize our incredible team members for their hard work, dedication and years of service,” said Carl Hadden, regional director of the Florida SBDC at USF. “Their commitment to supporting small businesses continues to make a lasting impact across our 10-county Tampa Bay region.”

 

Laura Subel Lifetime Achievement Award: Aubri Shauger-Haley

Aubri Shauger-Haley won the Laura Subel Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to Florida’s small business community. 

Shauger-Haley serves as a business manager and procurement specialist for the Small Business Enterprise Program at Pinellas County. She also works as a business consultant for the Florida SBDC at Pinellas County Economic Development subcenter. 

She has helped Florida small businesses secure more than $75 million in government contracts. 

 

Ambassador of the Year Award: Stephanie Ordoñez

Stephanie Ordoñez, communications and marketing officer at the Florida SBDC at USF, has been named the Florida Ambassador of the Year. 

The award recognizes her advocacy and dedication to promoting the resources and services of the Florida SBDC at USF. Ordoñez leads efforts to raise awareness of the center’s no-cost consulting and training opportunities for small businesses. 

She helps amplify the impact of the Florida SBDC at USF in the entrepreneurial community through social media campaigns. 

 

Service Awards

Several team members were also recognized for their years of service: 

• 15 years: Selma Canas, Kurt Forster and Yolanda Goodloe.
• 10 years: Karen Krymski and Corey McCaster.
• 5 years: Greg Manning. 

 

WESLEY CHAPEL – Get ready to trade your Muggle attire for your house colors and join AdventHealth Center Ice for a magical evening.

AdventHealth Center Ice presents “Back to Wizarding School,” a themed public skate session from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Aug. 16.

Before you step into the “Great Hall on Ice,” put on the Sorting Hat to find out which house you belong to. Skate alongside fellow witches and wizards and take part in spellbinding games and let your house pride shine as you compete for glory, bragging rights and magical prizes. AdventHealth Center Ice regularly hosts a two-hour theme skate during public skate sessions.

Whether you’re an avid skater or just looking for a fun way to ice skate for the first time, theme skates offer fun curated music, party favors, games, themed drinks and prizes for best dressed.

“Theme skates at AdventHealth Center Ice give guests a different way to express themselves

and their interests while participating in a community ice skate,” said Matthew Christopher, events director. “For the upcoming event, the in-house restaurant and bar, Top Shelf Sports Lounge, will have kid and adult friendly butter brew to keep the theme going off-ice as well.”

Located at 3173 Cypress Ridge Blvd., AdventHealth Center Ice is the largest ice-sports training facility in the Southeast. The 150,000 square-foot facility features five ice rinks, 18 locker rooms, off-ice training area, full restaurant/bar, concession stand and pro shop.

On the web: AHCenterIce.com

We know that our diet is connected to our gut health, mental health, chronic diseases, and also, cognitive health.  

Have you heard of the MIND Diet?  

It’s an eating pattern designed to promote brain health and reduce the risk of cognitive decline.  

Dementia is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S., according to the Harvard School of Public Health.  

While this diet can’t reverse present cases of dementia, it can play a role in prevention or slow the progression.  

And the good news is that it’s based on existing diets that you may already be following or are familiar with.

The MIND Diet stands for Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay.  

The Mediterranean Diet is a heart-healthy diet that focuses on healthy fats, while the DASH Diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) focuses on reducing high blood pressure.  

They are similar in that they promote whole, unprocessed food for cardiovascular health.  

Research has shown that protecting heart health also protects brain health.  

The MIND Diet combines these two diets to include food and serving size recommendations that are considered “brain healthy” while also noting a list of foods to limit.

In the initial study, a group of over 1000 adults without dementia in the Chicago area were recruited, where they had to complete dietary questionnaires for nine years and take cognitive assessments.  

From that, a MIND Diet score was created based on foods and nutrients that were found to protect against cognitive decline.  

How do you score?

Daily MIND Diet foods:

• Whole grains: 3 servings per day (one serving = 1 slice of bread or 1/3 cup)
• Vegetables (not green leafy): 1 serving per day (1 serving = ½ cup cooked or 1 cup raw)
• Nuts: 1 serving per day (one serving = 1 handful or 2 tablespoons)
• Olive oil as primary source of added fat

Weekly MIND Diet foods:

• Green leafy vegetables: 6 servings a week (one serving = 1/2 cup cooked or 1 cup raw)
• Beans and legume: 3-4 servings per week (one serving = 1/3 cup)
• Berries: 2 or more servings per week (one serving = 1 cup)
• Poultry: 2 servings per week (one serving = 2 to 4 ounces)
• Fish: 1 or more servings per week (one serving = 2 to 4 ounces)

Foods to limit:

• Pastries and sweets: less than 5 servings per week (1 serving = 1 small piece)
• Red meats (including beef, pork, lamb and products made from these): less than 4 servings per week (1 serving = 2 to 4 ounces)
• Cheese: one serving or less per week (1 serving = 1 slice or 1 ounce)
• Fried and fast food: less than 1 meal per week
• Butter/stick margarine: less than 1 tablespoon

For those who don’t cook and prefer to eat out, this may sound challenging.  

But there are easy ways to incorporate the MIND Diet at home, such as salads with beans and an olive oil dressing, a bowl of unflavored oatmeal with berries and nuts, using whole grain bread instead of white bread on a sandwich or eating nuts as a snack instead of chips.  Eating well at restaurants is harder simply because you don’t have control over the ingredients and cooking methods, but ordering baked salmon instead of a burger, having bread with olive oil instead of butter or skipping dessert are ways to stay mindful of the MIND diet when eating out.

Simple swaps done incrementally make dietary changes less daunting than trying to make big changes all at once.

Of course, it’s more than just food that can play a role in brain health.  

Getting enough physical activity (150 minutes per week), an active social life, and challenging your mind are all important too.

Following the MIND Diet has been shown to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s by 53%.  

Even only moderately following the diet can reduce the risk by 35%.  

It was ranked No. 3 in Best Diets Overall in 2024 in US News and World Report.

Clearly, the low inflammation and reduced oxidative stress prompted by the MIND Diet are good for your brain (and heart and waistline).

 

Shari Bresin is the Family & Consumer Science Agent for the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Cooperative Extension Pasco County, An Equal Opportunity Institution.