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Paula O' Neil

North Tampa Bay Chamber awards bestowed

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The North Tampa Bay Chamber presented its 2020 Celebrating Excellence Awards, honoring local companies and individuals that have benefited the community, and have demonstrated commitment and resilience during the past year.

Because of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the chamber reimagined its annual awards ceremony — bestowing the honors on companies exemplifying the chamber’s core values of integrity, inclusivity, collaboration and innovation, according to a chamber news release.

The chamber also recognized individuals who have gone above and beyond to serve the community, presenting them with Community Hero awards. And, it recognized an individual who embodies all of the chamber’s core values, through the organization’s chairman’s award.

The awards ceremony was held virtually, on Nov. 12. A number of organizations hosted watch parties in different locations, while some chamber members watched from the comfort of their own homes.

Recipients of this year’s honors are:

Excellence in Integrity Award: The Laker/Lutz News. This award honors an organization that demonstrated commitment and resilience during the past year has benefited the community and region.

Excellence in Collaboration Award: Sarah Vande Berg Tennis and Wellness Center. This award honors an organization that has sought to build bridges and partner with individuals and groups that has strengthened the community and region during the past year.

Excellence in Inclusivity Award: Pasco-Hernando State College — Porter Campus. This award honors an organization that has demonstrated, through its organizational culture or in service to the community, leadership in diversity and inclusion practice during the past year.

Excellence in Innovation Award: Pinot’s Palette. This award honors an organization that demonstrated unique ingenuity during the past year has benefited the community and region.

Community Heroes: Ghada and Lufti Judallah; Troy Stevenson; and, Dr. Paula O’Neil. Through their efforts, these individuals exemplified their concern and a compassionate response to the pandemic.

Chairman’s Award: Roberto Saez. This award honors the myriad ways that Roberto Saez has contributed to creating a better community. He has given generously to charitable causes, has supported scholarships and has shared his talents, without charge, on chamber projects.

Published November 18, 2020

Women celebrate 100 years of voting

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In 1920 Harry T. Burn, a 24-year-old delegate in the Tennessee General Assembly, heeded his mother’s admonishment in a letter to be “a good boy” and vote for women’s suffrage.

Burn did as he was told, and Tennessee — by the margin of one vote — became the 36th state to ratify the 19th amendment to the United States Constitution.

Congress officially certified the 19th amendment on Aug. 26, 1920, a date now celebrated annually as Women’s Equality Day.

To honor the 100th anniversary of women’s right to vote, the Pioneer Florida Museum & Village is hosting a Smithsonian poster exhibit, “Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence!”

College women, often members of sororities, picketed in front of the White House from January 1917 until the 19th amendment was ratified. (Courtesy of Stephanie Black, Pioneer Florida Museum (From the Smithsonian poster exhibit, ‘Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence!’)

The exhibit runs through Nov. 3 — the date for the 2020 presidential election.

“We’re excited to have this here,” Stephanie Black, the museum’s executive director, said regarding the exhibit. “It’s very interesting and very diverse.”

The posters highlight more than seven decades of struggle to earn women a place in America’s political life. But, it also reveals the racism that separated white and black suffragists who worked toward the same goal. In the end, black women, including activists Mary Church Terrell and Ida B. Wells, were marginalized and the 19th amendment won only white women the right to vote.

Black women and black men in the South waited another 45 years for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Native American women won legal citizenship and the right to vote in 1924. But they, like black men and women, suffered racist attacks that denied their access to the ballot box.

Even with its limitations, the 19th amendment shook up the political and cultural world of America.

“You’ve got to start somewhere,” said political scientist Susan MacManus. “It shows that a lot of things in the political world take time because the work takes a while.”

Today, women are filing to run for political offices in local, state and national races in numbers never seen before. MacManus counts 178 Florida women seeking office in 2020 – a record for the state.

Pollsters are focused intently on the women’s vote and its impact on dozens of races across the country, including the presidential contest.

Ida B. Wells was an investigative journalist and suffragist.

But now, as in 1920, MacManus said people make a mistake in thinking women vote as a bloc.

All women didn’t support the 19th amendment. Anti-suffrage clubs did their own protesting.

Women today also hold diverse opinions on everything.

“That’s never been truer than in politics,” MacManus said.

For some suffragists, the 19th amendment came too late.

Susan B. Anthony, who wrote the ‘Anthony amendment’ for women’s right to vote, didn’t live to see it approved. She cast an illegal ballot in New York in 1872. She was arrested, but refused to pay the $100 fine.

Women voted in the first presidential election in 1920 ushering Republican Warren G. Harding into the White House. Records suggest women represented about 36% of the electorate. It’s likely some women asked their husbands for voting advice.

Slowly over the years, women began running for office, at first mostly in local elections. They became role models for women who came behind them.

Many black women can trace their modern political activism to college sororities who organized for suffrage as well as the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, MacManus said.

Black women students from Howard University and Delta Sigma Theta were among those who marched in Washington D.C., in 1913. White organizers feared offending Southern lawmakers and told black women to march in the rear of the parade.

But, Wells boldly caught up with the white Illinois delegation and walked with them, refusing to be ignored and segregated.

Sororities set up picket lines outside the White House during Woodrow Wilson’s presidency. “Some stayed until the bitter end,” said MacManus.

Wilson eventually threw his support to the suffragists.

MacManus said Kamala Harris comes from that tradition as a Howard University graduate and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha. Harris made history last week by becoming the first woman of color running on a major political party’s ticket as vice president.

In Florida, black women have role models, including Carrie Meek, Frederica Wilson and Val Demings.

“More women are getting into politics and lot of that is driven by more women than men — by far — going to college,” MacManus said. “This is especially true with minority women.”

The #MeToo movement also has had an impact, the political scientist said.

By 1980, a voting gender gap emerged as more women than men voted in each of the last nine presidential elections.

In 1913, women held a Suffrage Pageant. Actor Hedwig Reicher is in the foreground.

A record number of 100 women held seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, in 2018. About 90 are Democrats. But, a growing number of Republican women also are seeking elected office.

According to the Rutgers Center for American Women and Politics, about 200 Republican women are running for House seats in 2020, an increase from 133 candidates in 2018.

“We’re raising our numbers,” said Sandy Graves, who won in the Aug. 18 Primary Election in the race for Republican State Committee Chairwoman for Pasco County. “We’re working very hard to try and encourage women to get in there.”

Graves is a lifelong Republican and especially honored to win an election in a year that celebrates women’s right to vote.

The amendment “was a hard-fought battle,” she said. “It is a testament to our country.”

She noted that Florida didn’t ratify the amendment until 1969, when Claude Kirk was the first Republican governor since Reconstruction.

The Pasco County Commission had planned to recognize the 100th anniversary, as well as the month of March as women’s history month, but that was delayed due to COVID-19 concerns.

Several women in past and current leadership roles will be honored when the recognition takes place, including former County Administrator Michele Baker, former Clerk and Comptroller Paula O’Neil, County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey and Assistant County Administrator Cathy Pearson.

Cheryl Pollock said the event will be scheduled once the county commission is again able to meet in person.

Pollock is the first black woman to serve as chair of the county’s Commission on the Status of Women. She joined the commission about three years ago.

“While there are limited women of color in leadership roles in our county, the county itself is slowly growing in diversity based on census reports,” Pollock said, via email.

She also said the Commission on the Status of Women is dedicated to “strive to understand disparate issues of women in our community and work toward solutions.”

A poster exhibit from the Smithsonian, “Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence!”
Where: Pioneer Florida Museum & Village, 15602 Pioneer Museum Road, Dade City
When: Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., now through Nov. 3
Cost: $10 general admission adults; $8 for seniors; $5 for students; free for children under age 5; group rates available
Info: (352) 567-0262 or PioneerFloridaMuseum.org.

Timeline for Women’s Suffrage
1848: Seneca Falls, New York convention; “Declaration of Sentiments” issued
1850: First National Woman’s Convention
1866: Suffragists sent petition to Congress requesting women’s right to vote
1872: Susan B. Anthony arrested in New York for voting illegally. Fined $100, but never pays
1878: Susan B. Anthony wrote the “Anthony amendment”
1890s: National Association of Colored Women founded by Mary Church Terrell
1909: National Suffrage Party founded
1910: Suffrage parades begin
1913: Congressional Union for Women’s Suffrage founded by Alice Paul and Lucy Burns; Alpha Suffrage Club of Chicago founded by journalist Ida B. Wells
1913: More than 10,000 women march for suffrage in Washington D.C.; Ida B. Wells defiantly marches with Illinois delegation, refusing to be segregated
1917: College women begin picketing White House
1917: Anthony Amendment reintroduced in Senate & House
1919: Congress approved the 19th Amendment; sent it to states
1920: League of Women Voters founded
1920: 19th Amendment ratified by 36th state (Tennessee)

Published August 26, 2020

Serving up food — to sustain, comfort

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Concerns about the potential spread of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has flattened the economy, causing many to seek out help for the first time to put food on their tables.

Here is a look at some efforts, to help feed others, across The Laker/Lutz News coverage area.

Collecting food to feed the hungry
The woman pulls up and pops open her trunk, so volunteers could gather the bags of food that she had brought to donate.

Among those volunteering at a weekend food drive were Pasco County Clerk & Comptroller Nikki Alvarez-Sowles, Pasco Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning, Pasco School Board member Allen Altman and State Rep. Ardian Zika. They took their masks off for the photo, and kept socially distanced. (B.C. Manion)

As they unloaded her donations, she became emotional — thanking the volunteers for what they are doing to help people struggling through the pandemic.

She was obviously touched by the effort.

Pasco County leaders have held food drives for the past two weekends to collect donations. The first drive was in the parking lot of the former Super Target store, off State Road 54, west of the Suncoast Expressway, and the second at Sam’s Club of Wesley Chapel, off State Road 56, in Wesley Chapel.

State Rep. Ardian Zika carries a box of donations to tables, where they are sorted

High-ranking officials from Pasco County Schools, the Pasco Tax Collector’s Office, the Pasco County Clerk & Comptroller’s Office, state legislators, and candidates for office, were there to help. Pasco Fire Rescue employees, Pasco Sheriff’s Office employees and others volunteered, too.

The community responded, bringing bags and boxes of food — loaded with pasta, peanut butter, jelly, crackers, soups, rice, canned goods and more.

Monetary donations are still welcome and can be made through the Pasco Education Foundation at PascoEducationFoundation.org. Checks can be made payable to Pasco Education Foundation and mailed to P.O. Box 1248, Land O’ Lakes, Florida, 34639.

Farm-Fresh Pop-ups
When Pasco County Schools receives donated fruits or vegetables, it holds Farm Fresh Pop-ups, and the free fresh produce goes fast.

At its first Pop-Up, the district gave away more than 30,000 ears of corn in about 2 hours.

It took less than 45 minutes to give away a truck filled with 10-pound variety boxes of vegetables, during a Farm Fresh Pop-up at the school district headquarters in Land O’ Lakes. (Courtesy of Stephen P. Hegarty)

At its second one, on May 8, it handed out 10-pound variety boxes of vegetables containing such veggies as cucumbers, potatoes, radishes, collards, broccoli, peppers, squash, and eggplant.

Those were gone in 45 minutes.

At the pop-ups, which are held in different locations, school district officials are practicing safe social distancing and wearing masks.

Those picking up the free foods are asked to stay in their vehicles and to pop their trunks, so the food can be placed in their trunks.

Feeding Florida and L&M donated the variety boxes.

The district also continues to provide five breakfasts and five lunches, once a week, to students 18 and under, at specific locations. As of May, it had served more than 820,000 meals.

To find out more about the district’s meal program, and to keep abreast of future Farm Fresh Pop-Ups, check the district’s website, Pasco.k12.fl.us.

Outdoor dining allowed to expand
Pasco County officials are providing more flexibility to restaurants to expand their outdoor dining space by allowing them to set up tables in parking areas and other outdoor areas — without a county permit.

The move was made to give restaurant operators more options, as they contend with decreased business due to COVID-19.

Leslie Gruber, of Land O’ Lakes, receives her meal from Savannah Walker, manager of The Box Kitchen Restaurant, at 6464 Land O’ Lakes Blvd. in Land O’ Lakes. The restaurant placed several tables in its parking lot to accommodate more diners, taking advantage of relaxed rules in Pasco County. (Randy Underhill)

Under phase one of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ reopening plan, restaurants were allowed to operate indoor dining rooms at 25% capacity and to have dining outdoors, with the proviso that tables be kept 6 feet apart from each other.

To help expand restaurant capacity, Tampa officials have closed streets in some areas, so restaurants could set up tables there.

In Pasco, officials allowed restaurateurs to expand outdoor dining on their own properties.

The expanded seating may be used during the restaurant’s normal business hours, and the allowance will expire when full-capacity indoor dining returns, according to a county news release.

The Box Kitchen Restaurant in Land O’ Lakes appeared to be one of the few restaurants within The Laker/Lutz coverage area taking advantage of the county’s relaxed rules.

Providing hot meals in hard times
Three initiatives in Pasco County are aimed at providing hot meals, while supporting restaurants at the same time.

In the “Dining Out at Home” program, Pasco County has partnered with the Area Agency on Aging to have restaurant meals delivered to eligible senior citizens.

In “Operation Feed Pasco,” local restaurants are helping to supply meals at local food pantries and soup kitchens. The county is partnering with United Way of Pasco County on that effort.

Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey and State Rep. Ardian Zika were on hand when meals were delivered to workers at the Medical Center of Trinity. (Courtesy of Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey’s office)

Restaurants that would like to participate in Operation Feed Pasco should call United Way at (727) 359-7999, to see if there are any slots left.

In Pasco FLAG2020, meals are being purchased from local restaurants and then provided to people working on the front lines of the pandemic.

The program is being championed by Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey, who was inspired after seeing coverage of two women in New Jersey who launched the national program.

So far, 64 meals have been delivered through that program to AdventHealth Dade City, 41 have been delivered to BayCare’s North Bay Hospital in New Port Richey and 106 meals to Medical Center of Trinity.

In addition to Starkey, other local elected leaders who have been involved in raising money, include Pasco County Commissioner Ron Oakley, Pasco County Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning, Pasco County School Board member Allen Altman, former Pasco Clerk & Comptroller Paula O’Neil and State Rep. Ardian Zika.

To help, send donations to:

Venmo: @FLAG2020Pasco; PayPal: PayPal.me/FLAG2020Pasco

Published May 13, 2020

Benefit to support Lutz cancer patient

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Bill Myers, of Lutz, has been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer — and the community has come together to try to help him.

A benefit has been planned for Nov. 23 from noon to 6 p.m., at Land O’ Lakes Heritage Park, 5401 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., in Land O’ Lakes.

There’s no admission charge for the event, which will feature musical performances, a variety of vendors and food vendors.

Several eateries will provide catered dishes that will be sold for voluntary donations.

Patrons, along with Bill, also can enjoy some cake, in recognition of Bill’s birthday – the previous day.

“He is a wonderful father and grandpa, and a good friend – to those lucky few – who get close enough to earn his trust and loyalty,” said Liz Myers, Bill’s wife.

There also will be T-shirts for sale and a silent auction.

Other highlights include a Zumba class and a bounce house, both being offered free of charge.

Paula O’ Neil, Pasco County’s former Circuit Court Clerk and Comptroller — who is a cancer survivor, will be the guest speaker for the fundraiser.

Santa Claus will be there, too, giving people a chance to have their photo taken with the jolly old fellow, for a voluntary donation.

Funds collected will go toward offsetting Bill’s medical expenses.

A GoFundMe page also eventually will be opened for contributions.

Anyone who would like to become a vendor, donate to the silent auction or have any inquiries, please contact Lillian Fontanez at (813) 551-7351 or .

Bill Myers’ cancer benefit
Where: Land O’ Lakes Heritage Park, 5401 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., Land O’ Lakes
When: Nov. 23 from noon to 6 p.m.
Cost: Free
Details: A fundraiser will be held to offset the expenses for cancer patient, Bill Myers of Lutz.
Info: Contact Lillian Fontanez at (813) 551-7351 or .

Published November 20, 2019

Political Agenda 04/10/2019

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Democratic Environmental Caucus
The Democratic Environmental Caucus of Florida, Pasco Chapter, will meet on April 10 at the Land O’ Lakes Heritage Park Community Center, 5401 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., in Land O’ Lakes. Networking begins at 6 p.m., followed by the meeting at 6:30 p.m. The meeting is free and all are welcome. For more information, email , or visit its Facebook page at Facebook.com/DECFPasco/.

East Pasco Democrats
The East Pasco Democratic Club will meet on April 15  at 6:30 p.m., at Omari’s Grill at Scotland Yard Golf Club, 9424 U.S. 301, Dade City. This month’s featured speaker is Sam Jenkins, from the University of Florida, who will address the crises caused by fossil fuel on climate change and earth sustainability. Dining a-la-carte is available from 5 p.m.  More information is available at EastPascoDems.com, or by calling (813) 383-8315.

Paula O’ Neil (File)

Paula O’ Neil to be honored
The Republican Club of Central Pasco will honor the service of Pasco Clerk & Comptroller Paula O’ Neil at its April 29 meeting, which begins with a social at 6:30 p.m., followed by the meeting at 7 p.m.

O’ Neil is retiring in June, after serving Pasco County since 1987. She was elected to the clerk & comptroller position in 2008 to succeed the retiring Jed Pittman and became the first woman to serve in that role. She has been re-elected to the office twice.

The club will honor O’ Neil and welcomes the public to join in the celebration. The club meets at Copperstone Executive Suites, 3632 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., in Land O’ Lakes. For more information, call (813) 996-3011.

Additional money sought for new library project

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Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey is pushing Pasco County to increase funding for a new library, which is part of a collaborative project between the county and Pasco County Schools.

The project is to be built in the Starkey Ranch development, located on the ranch formerly owned by Starkey’s family.

The project includes a kindergarten through eighth grade school expected to open in August of 2021, a public library and a community black box theater.

The idea is to share the facilities, allowing the school to use them when it needs them and the public to take advantage of them when the school doesn’t.

The new school will be built next to the new Starkey Ranch District Park, which is off the main entrance into the master-planned Starkey Ranch community, in Odessa.

The first phase of the district park was built through an agreement between the county and Wheelock Street Capital, the developers of Starkey Ranch. The 80-acre park, now open for use, includes a lighted Little League baseball/softball field; three lighted multipurpose fields for soccer, lacrosse and football; a concession stand with restrooms and an additional restroom building; four picnic pavilions surrounding an events lawn; a playground; a maintenance building and a trailhead to the community’s 20-mile trail system.

When the district park is complete, it will have five additional lighted ball fields, lighting and groomed turf for the current practice fields, two additional concession stands with restrooms, and a 1-mile trail around the park.

Commissioner Starkey is advocating for an additional $1 million for the library project to help it to become a cultural center for the community.

“You know that there is a library that is being built that is the first one of its kind, a co-located library with the school district and the county,” she said, during the commissioner comments portion of the County Commission’s Oct. 23 meeting.

“And, I have been working with our staff and the school board’s staff as we go through iterations of the project,” said Starkey, who previously served on the Pasco County School Board.

“I will tell you first, the school district has been fantastic to work with, and they have found a way to add more amenities to the project. They have pulled the library a little closer to the school, and they are putting some of their square footage back into the library, and there are funds over and above the $12 million that we have allotted for it, and it will help us to get an outdoor area that the community can use for outdoor events, which would include alcohol, too, if we wanted, near the theatre.

“But, where we are short is on the Maker Spaces,” Starkey said.

The current plan calls for having one Maker Space and switching equipment in and out for various uses, Starkey said. It makes more sense to have additional Maker Spaces, to provide options to do a variety of activities without having to constantly roll equipment in and out, she explained.

“In talking with the school district, that is in charge of building it, and getting the architect, (Pasco Schools Deputy Superintendent) Ray Gadd thought we needed one more million dollars in order to be able to build three Maker Spaces at what will be the Cultural Center and what I think will be the new model for these kinds of buildings in the county.

“I hope to get one over on the east side, and Ray (Gadd) is already looking at sites where the county and the school district can share again,” she said.

The idea of having multiple Maker Spaces makes it possible for a variety of activities to be going on at the same time, Starkey explained. For instance, in one area, people might be doing pottery, while in another, they could be making jewelry.

Starkey suggested the county earmark $1 million of the $2,881,000 that Pasco County Tax Collector Mike Fasano returned to the county that morning.

“I would love to see you approve that (million-dollar appropriation) to help make this building a premiere building and the beginning of a model that we should replicate throughout the county,” she told her colleagues and County Administrator Dan Biles.

Biles reminded the board “right now the (returned) funds roll into the bottom line and go into the fund balance and our reserves.”

Biles also told the board he’d like to see what happens during the Nov. 6 election before considering Starkey’s proposed budget amendment.

Cathy Pearson, an assistant county administrator, also told board members that she recently took part in a visit to the Carrollwood Cultural Center, in Hillsborough County, to see how that operates.

During that trip, she said, she learned that the theater planned in the Starkey Ranch project was too small.

The theater plan calls for 203 seats, but it needs to be 250, Pearson said.

In addition to the money that Fasano returned to the county, Paula O’ Neil, the Pasco County Clerk & Comptroller, told commissioners she would be returning $465,381.24, but she did request the county  consider providing a total of $100,000 to help four different agencies.

Published November 14, 2018

Land O’ Lakes park and community center have a new name

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The Pasco County Commission has renamed the community center and park in Land O’ Lakes as the Land O’ Lakes Heritage Park.

Commissioners adopted the new name on Nov. 7, at the request of Pasco County Commission Chairman Mike Moore.

“They are trying to have more of an identity in that area,” said Moore. “I think they’ll be excited by this.”

Heritage Stage made its debut in August as community, school, business and civic leaders had a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The Land O’ Lakes park and community center also now have a new name – Land O’ Lakes Heritage Park. (File)

Moore said he consulted with members of the board of directors for the Heritage Foundation before making the suggestion.

The word “heritage,” it appears, is becoming a unifier in that effort.

A newly built Heritage Stage made its debut in August at the park.

And, the Heritage Park Foundation, is a longtime voice of advocacy for the community at large, as well as the park.

The foundation grew out of initial efforts to preserve the parkland, and later attempts to raise money to build a stage for community gatherings at the park.

The completion of the stage marked a major milestone for the foundation, which had long pushed for improving opportunities for community unity, through social gatherings in the park.

More is on the way as the foundation plans to install a story board to honor Land O’ Lakes’ history, and the park. “There’s a history of the park being a community-built park,” said Sandy Graves, who spearheaded efforts to get the stage.

She is working with local historian Susan MacManus on the story board.

The outdoor stage was built through a partnership between Pasco County, Pasco County Schools, the Florida legislature, local businesses and volunteers.

A Pops in the Park holiday performance, featuring the brass section of the Florida Orchestra, is planned for December.

The new name could have another benefit.

For years, the Land O’ Lakes Community Center has been located at 5401 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., and the Land O’ Lakes Recreation Complex, at 3032 Collier Parkway.

The similarity of names has been a source of confusion.

“I can’t tell you how many times I’d hear people say ‘I thought it was at the rec center’,” Graves said.

There was some discussion about renaming the park Heritage Park, but keeping the name of the community center intact.

Paula O’ Neil, Pasco’s clerk of court and comptroller, favored renaming the entire complex to create greater clarity. County commissioners and county staff also supported one name.

With the name change, that leaves a well-worn sign outside the community center, with the old name.

That’s not expected to last long.

“You’ve renamed the park. So, get ready for a new sign,” Moore said.

Published November 15, 2017

Talented youths get time to shine

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Jessica Twitmyer received the top scores to win a $1,000 Pasco Heritage Scholarship, during the 34th “Spotlight on Talent” on March 11 at the Center for the Arts at Wesley Chapel High School.

Because of its popularity, the talent contest is divided into two shows, said Barbara Friedman, the executive producer for the competition, which is put on by the nonprofit Heritage Arts Center Association.

Vocalist Jessica Twitmyer won the top prize during the 34th annual ‘Spotlight on Talent’ competition, receiving a $1,000 Pasco Heritage Scholarship.
(Courtesy of Heritage Arts Center Association)

The afternoon performance features younger competitors and the evening show features older contestants.

More than 160 students auditioned on Feb. 28 for a chance to compete in the finals, Friedman said. Of those, a total of 140 competed in the two shows.

Friedman was helped by assistant producers Dr. Rebecca Groomes and Alicia Polk Guanio. Also, a 15-member board of directors worked on the project for three months, and a final production team, including 20 members of the community, pitched in to put on the competition, Friedman said.

Both performances drew audiences of hundreds of people, and performers competed for more than $5,000 in trophies, ribbons and cash prizes.

Contestants included musicians, singers, dancers and musical theater performers.

There were two masters of ceremonies, Tom Jackson, who works for Pasco County Clerk & Comptroller Paula O’Neil, and Mike Rom, principal of Countryside Montessori Charter School.

A panel of paid professional judges selected the winners.

The younger students competed in Act 1, and the older students competed in Act II.

The winners in Act 1 were:

Category 1:  Vincent Pham, piano, first; Samuel Wu, piano, second; and, Larkin Mainwaring, musical theater, third

Category 2:  Kasey Lang, piano, first; Angelica Drobny, voice and piano, second; Emma Shireman, musical theater, third; Isabella Como, musical theater, fourth; and Jasmine Villa, pointe dance, fifth

Showstoppers’ musical theater performance earned third place in its category at ‘Spotlight on Talent.’

Category 3: Agnes Hernandez, piano, first; Jadon Day, voice, second; Grace Williams, lyrical dance, third; Faith Phaller, contemporary dance, fourth; Sailor Wade, ballet dance, fifth

The winners in Act II were:

Category 1: Julianna Mazza, lyrical dance, first; Gracie Scaglione, contemporary dance, second; Allison Crump, contemporary dance, third; Victoria Conn, ballet dance, fourth; Nora Urbuteit, jazz dance, fifth

Category 2: Victoria Neukom, contemporary dance, first; Maria Hernandez, piano, second; Kaira Torres, voice, third; Kiersten Herman, musical theater, fourth; Hannah Knight, voice and guitar, fifth; Catherine Beard, voice and piano, sixth

Category 3: Jessica Twitmyer, voice, first; Courtney Graham, musical theater, second; Clare Hernandez, piano, third

Groups: Star Dancers 9 – 12, contemporary dance, first; Piano Nerds, piano duet, second; Showstoppers, musical theater, third

Published March 22, 2017

Pasco drops idea of animal abuse registry

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By Kathy Steele

Pasco County commissioners are poised to approve a new ordinance meant to make it harder for people to adopt or buy animals if they have been convicted of animal abuse.
But, if approved, the new regulations won’t be as tough as an early draft of the ordinance that would have created an animal abuser registry.
County commissioners got a preview of the weakened ordinance on Nov. 29 at the commissioners’ meeting in Dade City.
Commissioners are expected to vote on the matter at a public hearing on Jan. 10 at 1:30 p.m., also in Dade City.
“This provides an additional way we can protect and keep animals out of the hands of people convicted of certain animal violations,” said Kristi Sims, an assistant county attorney.
If approved, the ordinance would take effect March 1.
It would ban anyone from knowingly “transferring” an animal to an animal abuser.
Pasco County Clerk of Court and Comptroller Paula O’Neill has offered to post a link to her website, with local conviction data, as a resource to the public.
Individuals, retailers or organizations that sell or adopt animals must document that they checked the link to confirm that a potential owner isn’t a convicted animal abuser. Records would be maintained for five years and would be subject to examination upon request.
County staff members told commissioners there would be problems in creating a local registry in part because information on statewide animal abuse convictions isn’t publicly available. Also, they said clerical and IT capabilities to handle a registry aren’t available.
While some jurisdictions, including Hillsborough County, have approved registries, Pasco County staff members determined that the best option would be a statewide registry. However, in 2012, a bill in the Florida legislature to create such a registry failed.
Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore said a sponsor for a new registry bill is being sought for the upcoming legislative session.
“I think this is still a good solution,” he said of the website link. “Ultimately we’d like to use a statewide database. We need to be involved in the process. I’m comfortable with this.”

Revised on Dec. 9, 2016 to correct previous version.

Apparently, we think Pasco is on the right track

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With November’s quadrennial Election Day looming ever larger on our calendars, the importance of what Americans tell pollsters about the condition of the country swells almost by the moment.

Indeed, it scarcely matters just now, in the middle of July 2016, whether you’re with Hillary or you’re aboard the Trump train, or even if you’re checking out the shrewd looniness of Libertarian Gary Johnson. What genuinely matters, because it will guide your inspection of our sorry gaggle of presidential contenders, is what you think about the direction the country is headed.

It’s called the “right track/wrong track” poll, and it’s supposed to reveal the electorate’s general mood — which, at the moment, isn’t pretty. Lately, the Real Clear Politics average favors “wrong track” by a whopping 65.1 percent. And, the trend is in the direction of a widening, worsening gap.

Obviously, a poll that provides only a this-or-that option cannot effectively identify what might prompt someone to choose one track over the other. Most likely — given the stubborn, roughly 50-50 split within American politics — it’s even-money your reasons for thinking we’re on the wrong track are different from your neighbor’s, or mine.

But, the mere fact that two-thirds of us find our direction disturbing reinforces the notion that whatever November brings, the outcome will reflect the nation’s desire for some sort of change.

You know, unless, by delivering another round of division and stalemate, it doesn’t.

Anyway, it is against that stormy backdrop that an utterly counterintuitive, if not downright weird, thing happened recently in Pasco County. The date for candidate qualifying came and went a few weeks ago, leaving in its wake a robust — if intensely localized — argument against the dug-in disgruntlement that plagues America.

An even dozen Pasco-linked candidates, officeholders and first-time office-seekers alike, won election without opposition: a congressman, four constitutional officers, two school board members and five of six members of Pasco’s state legislative delegation. Only Pinellas-based Jack Latvala, a Republican state senator, will see his name on a ballot, and that’s only because a couple of write-in candidates signed up.

Even so, there will be local tussles, and they could be lively.

All three county commission seats will be contested. The property appraiser’s job, opened by Mike Wells’ retirement, lured two Republicans (including District 1 County Commissioner Ted Schrader) and a Democrat. County Clerk and Comptroller Paula O’Neil has drawn a lightly financed return challenger.

And, as they always are, both Mosquito Control Board races will be contested — which, given the pest-borne Zika virus threat, will require our particular attention this year.

Still, not counting the County Court judge’s election and assorted hyper-local CDD races, that’s seven contests out of a possible 19 in a year portrayed as the most contentious in living memory.

Our comparatively peaceful election landscape figures, at least in part, from Pasco’s increasingly rightward tilt. As of late last week, Republicans, who’ve held a registration plurality in the county for 17 years, owned a record 21,000-voter edge over Democrats.

Not unexpectedly, then, the GOP has a virtual lockdown in Pasco; New Port Richey-based Democratic state Rep. Amanda Murphy, also re-elected without opposition, is the lone exception. Pasco hasn’t elected a Democrat running countywide since Michael Cox bumped former pal Steve Simon off the county commission in a memorable revenge match in 2006.

Still, as occasional Democratic successes suggest, what recently prevailed here isn’t entirely about party advantages. Instead, it seems easily as likely what is afoot is a conviction among Pasco voters that their county, and to the extent they can influence it, their state, are on the right track.

That sense of well-being would naturally flow to their representatives. And why not?

In Tallahassee, a rising Speaker of the House (Richard Corcoran) and a probable Senate president (Wilton Simpson) give Pasco influence disproportionate to its size. And Rep. Danny Burgess, of Zephyrhills, carries an air of earnest concern for his constituents.

Back home, a unifying theme of openness, accessibility, accountability and citizen-service runs through all Pasco’s constitutional offices, and their elected chiefs deserve a mention: Sheriff Chris Nocco, Supervisor of Elections Brian Corley, Superintendent of Schools Kurt Browning, Tax Collector Mike Fasano, as well as the aforementioned O’Neil and Wells.
No, these acknowledgements aren’t intended to represent the views of all Pasco voters, just as right-track/wrong-track polls don’t attempt to ascertain what bugs those who are unhappy. But, if anywhere close to even 40 percent of us were genuinely upset with those who were re-elected by acclamation last month, you can bet they would have drawn some sort of organized resistance.

After all, if the presidential primaries taught us anything, it is the year for electoral arson. Come the general, the national friction may yet spark a local fire, but it will pass, and those who look after our day-to-day concerns will remain, unsinged.

Because that, evidently, is just how we like it.

Tom Jackson, a resident of New Tampa, is interested in your ideas. To reach him, email .

Published July 13, 2016