News

There were smiles and tears as the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce honored businesses and volunteers at its annual banquet Sept. 14. The awards acknowledge the accomplishments of small businesses, larger businesses, volunteers, civic organizations and business leaders for ...
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“I’d like you to imagine the most important person in your life,” Cara Filler told the crowd in Gaither High School’s auditorium. “With your eyes closed, imagine what your life would be without them.” That’s how Filler began her talk ...
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It doesn’t take long to see that something unusual is going on at this 5-acre spread in Dade City. The topiaries at the front of the property are a dead giveaway that creativity has found a home here. There’s a ...
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Emily Raymond was just 1 when her hair first starting falling out. She was diagnosed with an autoimmune form of alopecia, where Emily’s immune system attacks hair follicles, preventing new hair from growing. As a young girl, Emily covered her ...
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Runners who enjoy starting their Thanksgiving Day with a Turkey Trot will have a new option this holiday season. Instead of driving to the Turkey Trot in Clearwater or the FishHawk Turkey Trot, area runners will be able to do ...
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Just a few years ago, if you built it, hundreds would come to line up wanting to buy it. It was a housing boom like no other seen before, a bubble that popped so loudly, it almost took the nation’s ...
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A peace-building program, sponsored by Saint Leo University and some other organizations, will be offered at two locations on Sept. 30. The event will feature Rabbi Ron Kronish, director of the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel, and Qadi (Judge) Iyad ...
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Ongoing construction on the Veterans Expressway and Suncoast Parkway could mean some delays and detours in the coming weeks. The Florida Department of Transportation plans to close the State Road 54 northbound off-ramp of the Suncoast Parkway from 9 p.m ...
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Motorists buying gas in Pasco County won’t be faced with an extra nickel-a-gallon tax after a divided Pasco County Commission rejected the proposed increase. Raising the tax would have required four votes, but during a four-plus-hour public hearing, it became ...
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When the last book in J.K. Rowling’s bestselling series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” was released in 2007, Jason De La Torre was in line ready for his copy. But once he finished the book, the Wesley Chapel resident ...
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When my son Andy announced his engagement recently, I had flashbacks to his childhood at the same time I was offering congratulations and best wishes. When Andy was born 25 years ago, I believed no one could ever love him ...
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Some sat in wheelchairs. Others stood with walkers. Some had canes. But this crowd of senior citizens cheered like school children when the flock of 50-plus butterflies flew freely into a new garden at Connerton Assisted Care. The butterfly release ...
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The 1960s may have been the era of big hair, but one local stylist team is ready to bring it into the 21st century. And that team is family — like father and daughter family. Ben De Cordova and his ...
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The ladies of Women-n-Charge want to take you on a cruise, but this is one with a twist. Someone has been murdered, and it will be up to those booking passage to figure to whom among the Red Feather Ladies ...
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It’s a mammoth church — with a 143-acre campus, a 444,000-square-foot building and 12,000 members. It’s so big that it uses five entrances on Sundays to allow members to stream into its 5,000-seat auditorium. Despite the scale, Exciting Idlewild Baptist ...
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One hosts community events, supports charity causes and offers a wide selection of shopping and eating choices. Another created 600 new jobs during its first year of operation and offers leading-edge health care. Both — The Shops at Wiregrass and ...
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Robert Beltran has been promoted to executive director of the Southwest Florida Water Management District, more commonly known as Swiftmud. Beltran replaces Blake Guillory, who will take on the executive director role at the South Florida Water Management District. “The ...
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Pamela DeHaven didn’t set out to become a female barber. But after doing thousands of haircuts and giving straight-razor shaves, the 51-year-old can’t picture herself in any other role. Initially, she thought she’d be a cosmetologist, a more traditional path ...
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Barbara Colson was a freshman in college when she first heard of the Peace Corps. It was 1966, and another girl in her dorm had just received a phone call and found out she had been accepted. “I had no ...
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Pasco County residents like to express themselves at the polls, but aren’t all that interested in attending public meetings. When they need to go to work, chances are they’ll hop in their car and drive themselves there. And, when it ...
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Larry Utt spent a year painstakingly creating his replica of an S.E.5a plane, popular with both American and British forces during World War I. His plane is a fraction of the size of the original Scout Experimental 5, which was ...
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When Andy Hamilton goes rummaging around at a swap meet or flea market, he’s always on the lookout for the makings of his metal works of art. What might look like a colander to most instead looks like a turtle ...
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Gerald Stanley wants to build the first private toll road in the state. And he wants to build it across Pasco County. Stanley, a retired road builder from Lutz who is a partner with International Infrastructure Partners LLC, submitted an ...
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It’s never too early in the morning to ride a motorcycle, especially when it’s all to say thank you to firefighters and emergency first responders. Some 400 cyclists showed up at the Pasco County Government Center on US 41 Saturday ...
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Running a newspaper is not much different than running any other small business. All successful businesses work to give customers what they want at a fair price so they continue to be their customer and tell friends and family about ...
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His first real exposure to heroism came when his mother married a man who served with the 82nd Airborne Division during World War II. “I don’t think he believed he would come back alive,” Gov. Rick Scott told local veterans ...
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Women who want to hear a lecture on heart health, watch a cooking demonstration or get a bit of pampering can get those things and more at the Women’s Health & Wellness Day at Saddlebrook Resort Tampa, off SR 54 ...
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Long before Pat Weaver began pursuing her passion for art, she was known as a businesswoman and politician in Dade City. “I had retail stores downtown. I had Tricia’s. Then, I had Church Street Gallery. Then, I had Pat-e-cat’s,” said ...
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The holding area for the more than 130 dogs residing at the Pasco County Animal Services shelter in Land O’ Lakes erupts with barking every time someone walks in. Cage after cage is filled with large dogs, some weighing as ...
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“Hike, Hike!” Peggy Wright loudly calls out to the group of dogs in front of her, spurring them to start running. At her command, the dogs bolt, pulling a two-wheeled sled that she’s standing on. As they move, each time ...
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Juanita Dennis had a vision of bringing all her real estate agents together in one place. And in 1994, the co-owner of Dennis Realty did just that, opening what would become a landmark on Land O’ Lakes Boulevard and County ...
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A quick and inexpensive meal, with a view James Doyle was scanning an online discussion board on Slickdeals.net when he saw a posting about the Build Your Own Virtual Subway Global Challenge. Being both a fan of Subway sandwiches and ...
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Another summer without the Hercules Aquatic Center is coming to a close, and yet the future of this once vibrant public swimming pool park is still dried up. Pasco County Schools, which owns the nearly 16 acres, wants to figure ...
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Golfers are making their way back to Plantation Palms Golf Club after a brief closing in August. But now there’s another sand trap in the way. The Southwest Florida Water Management District, better known as Swiftmud, could file a lawsuit ...
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The public will have a chance to tell Pasco County commissioners what they think about a proposed property tax hike and a nickel-a-gallon gas tax at a public hearing on Sept. 10. Commissioners are likely to get an earful. The ...
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Ask Jack Bailey to open his wallet, and he’ll show you a picture of his wife Pat, beautifully adorned in the wedding dress her mother made. It was taken the day Jack and Pat Bailey were married on Aug. 14, ...
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Wesley Chapel Chamber mixer The Laker/Lutz News is partnering with the Tampa North Flight Center to host the September business mixer for the Greater Wesley Chamber of Commerce. The event will be on Sept. 12 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m ...
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When Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel was preparing to open its doors last October, it expected to have 400 employees. Less than a year later, it has 600. “For the 600 jobs that we have, we had over 25,000 applicants,” hospital ...
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Tiffany Porter is accustomed to helping other people. But she never expected the tables to be turned, courtesy of Habitat for Humanity. Porter, a compassion ministry director for Victorious Life Church in Wesley Chapel, is the area’s newest Habitat homeowner, ...
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When Michael Sawyer recently set up shop in Lutz, he brought together three businesses offering a broad array of computer services. The storefront at 18125 N. US 41, Suite 101, is the new home for Aware Media, TechGuyToGo and Tampa ...
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More students are walking through the front doors of area schools as communities in Pasco County continue to grow. The 39 schools in east and central Pasco County added 1,000 students since this time last year, according to population numbers ...
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