Trees are something we take for granted. There are millions of them out there, and we see them virtually everywhere.
But what happens when those trees go away? Debbie Lane Goodman has lived on 10 acres off 20 Mile Level Road in Land O’ Lakes long before she was joined by the Land O’ Lakes Recreation Complex on one side, and the Plantation Palms community on the other. The family’s land was once orange groves, which were cleared out after a 1984 freeze.
Recovering financially from such a loss was tough, but emotionally it was even harder. So when her family planted an oak tree a couple years later, it helped start the healing process.
Yet, that tree will soon be no more. It’s within 50 feet of power lines recently upgraded by Duke Energy, and they are set to take the majestic tree — along with more than two dozen others nearby — down.
“They just came out four years ago and shaved the trees, and told us that’s all they were going to do,” Goodman told reporter Michael Hinman. “They said they didn’t need to cut any trees, and that it’s not even on their line. But then they came back and said we’re going to cut them all down.”
Duke, however, says it has no choice. It’s required by law to protect lines from trees and other vegetation, especially during a storm. Fines for allowing trees and such to bring down power lines and cut power to residents are huge.
But what can Goodman and her neighbors do? Find out in this week’s print edition of The Laker/Lutz News, available now. Or, if you don’t want to go out in the rain, you can read our free online e-edition by clicking here.
God may take away one place, but it looks like he is giving in other places. The Benedictine Sisters of Florida opened the doors of their new monastery in St. Leo to reporter B.C. Manion recently, and what they had to show was impressive — at least as far as a monastery goes.
The new 28,000-square-foot structure replaces a larger 100,000-square-foot facility the nuns had across State Road 52. However, they sold that campus to Saint Leo University, and used those funds, plus a $500,000 capital campaign, to build their new home.
Want to learn more about it, and see what it looks like? It’s on the front page of our B Section this week in The Laker/Lutz News. Check out our print edition right now, or read all about it in our free online e-edition, which you can find right here.
And finally, Dean Patterson is making his fifth trip to the Citrus Bowl in Orlando. And the 12-year-old can’t wait.
“I get kind of nervous and freaked out,” Patterson told reporter Michael Murillo. “But as the days (get closer), I normally just get all excited and happy.”
Patterson lives in Lutz and attends Martinez Middle School, but he also plays football for the South Pasco Predators Pop Warner team. Football has been his life for eight years, and he started getting attention on his skills when he was 7. And while he works hard on the gridiron, he’s had a great support network in his father and coach, Robert Patterson.
“I’ve been working with at-risk youth for 20 years, helping kids get back on track or stay out of trouble with the law,” the older Patterson said. “So to be able to do that with your kid, and see him flourish on the football field as well as the classroom, it’s a special deal.”
Read more about what both Pattersons have to look forward to in this week’s print edition of The Laker/Lutz News, or check out our e-edition by clicking here.
All of these stories and more can be found in this week’s The Laker/Lutz News, available in newsstands throughout east and central Pasco County as well as northern Hillsborough County. Find out what has your community talking this week by getting your local news straight from the only source you need.
If The Laker/Lutz News is not coming to your door, call us to see where you can get your copy at (813) 909-2800, or read our free e-edition by clicking here.
