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human trafficking

Webinar sheds light on human trafficking

December 14, 2021 By Kevin Weiss

While the COVID-19 pandemic captures headlines, human trafficking is a societal crisis that’s often hidden in the shadows, according to public safety experts.

Human trafficking occurs when one human exploits another human being, for a commercial purpose. Often described as “modern day slavery,” it involves traffickers using force, fraud or coercion to recruit, transport, transfer or harbor people.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates there are about 40 million human trafficking victims globally.

That figure may be conservative, though, as other groups have pegged the number closer to 60 million victims, said retired Pasco Sheriff’s Cpl. Alan Wilkett, an expert in the study of human trafficking.

Retired Pasco Sheriff’s Office Cpl. Alan Wilkett was the featured guest speaker during a Dec. 7 webinar titled, ‘Human Trafficking: How does it affect your community?’ Wilkett spent 25 years working in law enforcement, including devoting the past several to fighting human trafficking as commander of the Pasco County Human Trafficking Task Force. He was awarded the 2017 Florida Human Trafficking Law Enforcement Official of the Year from former Florida state Attorney General Pam Bondi. (Courtesy of The Human Trafficking Foundation)

The statistics are staggering and the personal costs enormous.

“When you talk about those numbers (of victims), every single one of those is a human being,” Wilkett said. “A human being with a heart, a mind, with dreams, hopes, ambitions. They dreamed of being something, whatever that something was for them.”

Wilkett was the featured speaker on a Dec. 7 webinar presented by the Pasco Sheriff’s Office, Florida’s Forensic Institute for Research, Security & Tactics, and Saint Leo University’s department of public safety administration.

The webinar — “Human Trafficking: How does it affect your community?”— was facilitated by Dr. Karin May, an assistant professor for the department of criminal justice at Saint Leo.

She chairs the Mel Greene Institute for the Prevention of Human Trafficking.

Human trafficking, May said, is “a public health issue that impacts individuals, families and communities.”

The impacts are widespread, she said. “It’s not just international. It’s here, and it’s in our communities.”

Wilkett spent 25 years in law enforcement, including the past several focused on fighting human trafficking. He was commander of the Pasco County Human Trafficking Task Force.

In 2017, he received the Florida Human Trafficking Law Enforcement Official of the Year from then Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Commercial sex trafficking and labor trafficking are the predominant forms of human trafficking, but there are 20 different forms, Wilkett said. Others include forced marriage, involuntary servitude, and domestic servitude.

Wilkett’s talk centered on commercial sex trafficking, which involves exchanging a sex act for something of commercial value, such as money, drugs or shelter.

America is regarded as a “top-tier consuming country” — in terms of human trafficking for sex and labor, he said.

States reporting the greatest number of cases are California, Texas and Florida, he said.

Areas particularly at-risk are the eastern and western seaboard, and borders along the Gulf of Mexico. And, sex trafficking is predominant in larger cities, via strip clubs, brothels and illicit massage businesses, he added.

Hot spots in Florida include Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville, Fort Myers/Naples and the Tampa Bay region, he said, based on the volume of calls made to the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline.

Beware of digital gateways
An alarming revelation shared during the webinar involves the pervasive presence of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) that is being discovered on social media outlets and other electronic service providers.

Girls are featured in the overwhelming majority of CSAM, while prepubescent children are at the greatest risk to be depicted — through explicit drawings, pictures or videos, Wilkett said.

In 2020, there were more than 21.7 million reports of CSAM across digital platforms to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) CyberTipline.

Of that, over 20 million reports came from Facebook alone.

Google reported 546,704; Snapchat, 144,095; Twitter, 65,062; and TikTok, 22,692.

While noting Facebook has reported immense numbers, Wilkett is skeptical about the accuracy of the reporting by the other applications.

“Twenty million from Facebook, and you only have 144,000 from Snapchat. Seriously?” Wilkett said.

He took Big Tech to task for contributing to the problem and said it’s time for them to be held accountable.

This heat map reflects the number of calls made to the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline in 2020. This map only reflects cases where the location of potential trafficking was known. Some cases may involve more than one location. (Courtesy of Polaris Project)

Traffickers altering tactics
The expert on human trafficking also detailed shifts in the ways that predators groom, recruit and traffick adults and children.

Some statistics estimate that 60% of all trafficking happens online, but Wilkett suspects that figure is low.

“Predators want to be where the kids are,” he said, noting that means they want to be on social media, apps, and gaming systems.

Previously, predators primarily targeted playgrounds, malls, and bus stops, he said.

Those remain threat environments, he said, but added: “If the kids are hanging out online, that’s exactly where the predators are going to be.”

Wilkett said parents and guardians need to know about encrypted messaging systems and vault apps that children may have on their smartphones or other devices, to hide certain material, conversations and contacts.

There are many of these apps, he said, while specifically mentioning WhatsApp, Wickr, Telegram, Signal, and Calculator+.

Traffickers also have become more creative in branding and marketing various services, he said.

Emojis, for instance, have become “very prominent” within sex trafficking.

Traffickers use dating websites, and provide a false description followed by emojis to let buyers know what they’ll be getting.

So, instead of it being, say, a 21-year-old female being advertised, traffickers include a lollipop or growing heart emoji — to signify a young boy or girl is available for commercial sex.

Traffickers and pimps who previously branded their victims with tattoos to indicate ownership are no longer doing that because they realize that law enforcement and communities had caught on to that trend.

Instead, they incorporate soft branding — particularly on minors — in the form of necklaces, charm bracelets, wristbands and ankle bracelets.

Those usually contain a symbol, charm, emblem, number, phrase or word with a unique meaning, perhaps a lion’s head or lightning bolt, Wilkett said.

“Whatever it is, it will have an attachment to their boyfriend, trafficker, pimp,” he said.

Law enforcement agencies also have discovered “an absolute increase” in reports of familial sex trafficking — such as a grandmother pimping out a granddaughter, or an uncle pimping out a niece, he said.

The best way communities can combat illegal trafficking is to target buyers more robustly, Wilkett said.

Harsher penalties would decrease demand, thus reducing the incentive for traffickers to recruit victims, Wilkett said.

For instance, increasing the penalty from a misdemeanor to a felony for a first-time sex solicitation violation would help deter the crime, he said.

“They buyer needs to understand, ‘You are equally culpable,’” Wilkett said.

Published December 15, 2021

Transit authority to roll out new campaign

February 26, 2020 By Mary Rathman

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has awarded the Hillsborough County Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) with a Human Trafficking Awareness & Public Safety Initiative Grant totaling $100,240, according to a news release.

The grant will be used to conduct a public awareness campaign about human trafficking leading up to Super Bowl LV, in Tampa in 2021.

Human trafficking is a modern-day slavery, affecting millions of adults and children in the United States and across the globe.

Traffickers move their victims on all modes of transportation, and sometimes use public transit due to its low cost, greater anonymity in buying fare cards, and less direct interaction with government or transit officials.

“Human trafficking is an unfortunate reality of society today,” said Carolyn House Stewart, interim HART CEO, in the release.

“HART looks forward to utilizing this grant to train our employees, many of whom interact with hundreds of people daily, to help recognize the signs of human trafficking and create more awareness about the issue,” she added.

The campaign will include educational materials for the public, and provide critical training for HART employees in recognizing and reporting human trafficking.

The FTA’s Human Trafficking Awareness and Public Safety Initiative involves $5.4 million in grants.

Published February 26, 2020

Continuing to make strides against human trafficking

January 15, 2020 By B.C. Manion

Pasco County has made strides in combating human trafficking, but statistics continue to paint a sobering picture about the prevalence of the problem.

Some of those statistics were reported during the Pasco County Commission’s Jan. 7 meeting, where commissioners praised local efforts that are being made to battle the problem, and passed a resolution declaring January as National Slavery and Human Traffic Prevention Month, to cast a spotlight on the issue. Commissioners also declared Jan. 11 as National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.

Liana Dean, chair of the Pasco County Commission on Human Trafficking, thanked commissioners for their support.

“Human trafficking continues to be an ongoing problem, both in the state of Florida and here in Pasco County,” Dean said. “In 2018, Florida again ranked third in the nation in the number of cases of human trafficking.”

Dean gave commissioners an overview of what the human trafficking commission has been doing in its attempt to take aim at the problem.

“We have continued with our efforts to educate and make the community aware. We have trained over 10,000 people in Pasco County and across the state on the issue. We’ve spoken at forums across the state, most recently at the Human Trafficking Summit in Orlando.

“We also have reached more than 1.5 million people with our marketing and advertising campaign.

“We led the state in terms of getting human trafficking curriculum into schools, for which I would like to thank our superintendent for his partnership in that effort,” she said.

Pasco County was a year ahead of the state in getting curriculum about the problem into its public schools.

“We are also working ahead in addressing the Super Bowl, that will be in Tampa in 2021,” Dean said. “So, we will be launching several campaigns around educating the public about that, and preventing trafficking from happening here in Pasco County, and partnering with other trafficking task forces in the area, and also supporting law enforcement efforts to arrest traffickers and buyers of sex trafficking here in the area.”

County Commissioner Ron Oakley praised the human trafficking commission’s efforts.

“I’m telling you, they’ve been nationally acclaimed for all of the good work that they’ve done,” Oakley said. “I think they have people who want to copy us because they’ve done such a good job, as the Human Trafficking Commission, here in Pasco County.”

Published January 15, 2020

Broadening the battle against human trafficking

June 5, 2019 By Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Pasco County Public Transportation employees are learning how to identify human trafficking victims in an effort to expand the battle on human trafficking.

Pasco County Public Transportation is partnering with the Pasco County Commission on Human Trafficking and the U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking to train all bus drivers on how to properly identify and report potential cases of human trafficking, which is essentially modern slavery, according to a Pasco County news release.

The PCPT bus drivers, like Stormy Byrd, will receive training on how to identify possible cases of human trafficking. (Courtesy of Pasco County)

“It’s important for all transit employees to be aware of their frontline support role in combating human trafficking,” PCPT Director Kurt Scheible said, in the release.  “Our partnership with the Pasco County Commission on Human Trafficking and USIAHT will provide PCPT employees with critical training to identify vulnerable victims and help prevent this in our community.”

Bus operators and customer service agents will be trained on how to identify and report suspicious behavior.

Pasco County bus drivers will receive cards outlining trafficking indicators, protocols to follow if they suspect human trafficking, and the National Human Trafficking Hotline number: (888) 373-7888.

Each bus will display an informational placard and have victim resource cards available for riders to take if they need help. This campaign is expected to reach over 60,000 people every month.

“Eradicating human trafficking is not something any one organization can do alone,” said Pasco County Commission on Human Trafficking Chair Liana Dean.  “This is a problem that’s going to take all of us to solve, which is why it’s so important that collaborations like this exist.”

Human trafficking is a growing problem worldwide, with an estimated 40 million men, women and children trapped in modern slavery, according to the International Labor Organization.  Florida consistently ranks third nationally in the number of calls to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.

To learn more about Pasco County Public Transportation, including bus routes, transportation news and schedules, visit the PCPT website at RidePCPT.com. To learn more about the Pasco County Commission on Human Trafficking, visit bit.ly/PascoHTCommission.

Published June 05, 2019

Local business, organizations raise awareness on sex trafficking

September 5, 2018 By Kevin Weiss

In the ongoing fight against human trafficking, several local businesses and organizations have stepped up to raise awareness on the issue.

Fifteen groups, mostly in Pasco County, have been declared “Trafficking Free Zones,” by the U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking, a nonprofit group based in Tampa:

  • Magnolia Plastic Surgery Center
  • NOW SC Press
  • Design & Construction Innovations
  • Paperjacket
  • Searchwurx
  • Next Machine
  • Pasco Economic Development Council
  • We Love Logos
  • Martinez Law
  • North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce
  • Florida Hospital Center Ice
  • CU Engage
  • Berkeley Search Associates
  • Impact Church
  • Hope Church

To earn the designation, the various groups issued a proclamation stating their organization’s commitment to stand against human sex trafficking; provided awareness training to all employees on human trafficking; and, created a “zero tolerance” handbook policy for employees that engage in sex buying or human trafficking.

The U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking has declared several local businesses and organizations ‘Trafficking Free Zones,’ for taking steps to raise awareness on the issue of human sex trafficking. (Courtesy of U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking)

“A business has a certain sphere of influence over the folks they engage with, especially their employee population,” Geoff Rogers, the chief executive officer of the institute against human trafficking said, in a recent interview with The Laker/Lutz News.

“The communities where we’ve seen the fight against sex trafficking be most successful are those who have the entire community running after it at the same time,” he explained.

The institute against human trafficking is urging more organizations to participate in the program, which is free.

“Apathy is one of the biggest problems that we face, so we’ve been very focused on how do we get people involved and what can they do,” Rogers said.

The institute’s Trafficking Free Zone program launched in May.

The program establishes a holistic approach – a multisector partnership involving law enforcement, government, businesses, schools and community-based organizations — to try and reduce the demand for sex trafficking.

It also focuses on arresting and prosecuting sex buyers instead of those who are being sold, and educating community members on sex trafficking and implementing other demand reduction techniques, like offering resources for victims, as well as those struggling with sex and/or porn addiction.

Tampa-based U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking works to end human trafficking in the United States through prevention, rescue of victims, combating demand, and providing safe refuge for the restoration of survivors.

Rogers said those techniques are proven practices that have been used across the country. “With all these different sectors of society firing away at the sex trafficking problem, that’s when we begin to see the bottom drop out of demand and real substantive changes and improvement be made in the fight against trafficking within that community.”

Also, through the Trafficking Free Zone program, the institute has partnered with the Pasco Sheriff’s Office on a cyber sting operation that attacks the demand-side of sex trafficking by targeting and identifying online sex buyers through the use of intercept bots. That initiative has been underway since July.

Human sex trafficking has been under the microscope in Florida for some time.

The state has consistently ranked third in the number of cases reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, behind only California and Texas.

Tampa Bay usually ranks fourth in the state for the number of such calls.

Officials have said the region’s attraction as a tourism destination, along with having international airports and deep-water seaports, increases the likelihood for human sex trafficking. Hosting large sporting events and conventions also lends to the problem.

Pasco County officials have worked to address the issue locally.

In 2014, Pasco County Commissioners formed the Pasco County Commission on Human Trafficking to promote public awareness about human trafficking, create educational programming opportunities and advocate for strategies to aid survivors of human trafficking.

That commission helped pass an ordinance in 2016 that mandates signage raising awareness of human trafficking to be posted in the restrooms and dressing rooms of sexually oriented businesses, such as adult entertainment establishments and unlicensed massage services.

It also trained more than 3,000 members of the community on human trafficking through its community awareness presentations.

“In many respects, Pasco County is one of the leading counties in the state of Florida in the fight against sex trafficking,” Rogers said.

For information, visit TraffickingFreeZone.com.

Published September 5, 2018

Human trafficking happens everywhere, including Pasco County

January 10, 2018 By Kevin Weiss

Elected officials, law enforcement and other stakeholders in Pasco County have teamed up this month to shed light on the growing issue of human trafficking.

The problem was at the forefront of a Jan. 5 press conference that featured Pasco County District 1 commissioner Ron Oakley, U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, State Rep. Danny Burgess, Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco and others.

“We’re not afraid to say there’s a problem,” Nocco said. “There’s a problem here in Pasco, there’s a problem here in Tampa Bay, there’s a problem in the state of Florida, there’s a problem nationally, and there’s a problem globally.”

Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco detailed the warning signs of human trafficking during a Jan. 5 press conference.
(Kevin Weiss)

Nocco said it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact number of victims in the county. Many human trafficking cases go unreported, he said.

That’s why the sheriff is urging people to be on the lookout—and report—any suspicious activity.

He noted major events — such as the NHL All-Star Game on Jan. 28 in Tampa— oftentimes leads to an uptick in prostitution, due to the number of travelers coming into town.

“If there’s a house in your community, and you see a lot of people coming in and out, see a lot of young girls and even young boys, call law enforcement,” he said.

“If you’re in a restaurant and see something that doesn’t look right, call law enforcement.”

Nocco explained sex trafficking doesn’t just lurk in low-income areas, motels or adult establishments.

“Everybody thinks it’s always going to be a seedy part of town; it could be a very high-class area, a high-class neighborhood, where they’re smuggling young girls or young boys,” Nocco explained. “This is not a crime that’s about stereotypes. It’s every race, color, creed, gender, ethnicity and sexual preference. Everybody can be a victim of this.”

He noted that preventing more victims starts “at home” with parents informing their children about human trafficking, and the dangers it presents.

“If you create an environment where the kids are loved,” Nocco said, “basically you’re reducing the factors that will allow them to be victims of human trafficking. “You also have to be a parent to other kids in your neighborhood, because there’s going to be parents…that don’t care.”

Elected officials, meanwhile, are working to tackle the trafficking problem at large.

The U. S. Department of Homeland Security Blue Campaign has set aside Jan. 11 as ‘Wear Blue Day.’ It’s a day to pledge solidarity with victims of human trafficking and to raise awareness about, and work to end related crimes. The entire month of January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. (Courtesy of U.S. Department of Homeland Security)

The House of Representatives has introduced legislation holding websites accountable for soliciting human trafficking, called the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017. Bilirakis said he expects it to pass sometime this month. The House also passed a Homeland Security funding bill that appropriates $2.1 billion—an increase of nearly $94 million —  for domestic and international investigations programs, including efforts to combat human trafficking and child exploitation.

Elsewhere, the U.S. Senate introduced the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017, a bill that would help shut down websites that knowingly provide a platform for sex trafficking. The bill has been reported out of committee and is awaiting passage.

“It’s a nonpartisan issue,” Bilirakis said, “and all stakeholders must work together to solve the problem.”

The month of January has been declared National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, by a presidential proclamation.  And, Jan. 11 is the U. S. Department of Homeland Security’s “Wear Blue Day,” a day to pledge solidarity with victims of human trafficking and raise awareness about, and work to end related crimes.

Called Blue Campaign, it is the unified voice for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to combat human trafficking.

Locally, one group is trying to do its part to find solutions.

The Pasco County Commission on Human Trafficking, formed in 2014, is chaired by by Liana Dean, a social worker at BayCare Behavioral Health.

The group is made up of 11 stakeholders representing different sectors of the community. The stakeholders include county government, law enforcement, behavioral health, business and service providers, the school district, faith-based community and others.

It promotes public awareness about human trafficking, creates educational programming opportunities and advocates for strategies to aid survivors of human trafficking.

Since its formation, the commission has taken several active steps to curb human trafficking on a regional level.

It worked with the Pasco County Commission in 2016 to pass an ordinance that mandates signage to raise awareness of human trafficking be posted in the restrooms and dressing rooms of sexually oriented businesses, such as adult entertainment establishments and unlicensed massage services.

It also worked with the National Human Trafficking Hotline and WTOG-TV/CW44 to produce three public service announcements designed to educate the public about the local presence of trafficking.

The commission also has trained more than 3,000 members of the community on human trafficking through its community awareness presentations.

Jennie Sammur, who was recognized as the group’s Volunteer of the Year, helps with social media and public relations strategies.

Sammur, a Tampa-based real estate agent, said awareness is “very key in correcting this horrific crime in our community.”

Florida has consistently ranked third in the number of cases reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, behind only California and Texas.

Published January 10, 2018

Shedding light on a hidden problem

January 18, 2017 By B.C. Manion

Human trafficking is the second largest criminal enterprise in the world, just behind the illegal drug trade — netting billions of dollars annually, experts say.

But, it’s a crime that many know little about and often are unaware that it’s happening in their own backyard, said Cpl. Alan Wilkett, of the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office.

Natalie Epo, an associate dean at Pasco-Hernando State College’s Porter Campus, said the college wants to help the community to be aware of important issues, such as human trafficking. (B.C. Manion)

“When we talk about this problem, we’re not talking about a Mexico problem, or a Guatemala problem, or a Colombia problem,” Wilkett said, during a symposium on human trafficking at Pasco-Hernando State College’s Porter Campus, on Jan. 12.

“We have to look at our own communities and say, ‘What’s going on, around us?’” Wilkett said.

“Not too far from where we’re sitting right now, we have cases working. In Wesley Chapel, there was a house that was housing human trafficking adult victims,” he said.

“Just down the street from here, some folks who had been educated about human trafficking, interrupted two 15-year-old girls who were being snatched by a human trafficking predator.

Nationally, Florida ranks third in the number of human trafficking crimes — trailing only California and Texas, Wilkett said. Tampa Bay ranks second highest in Florida, in suspected cases reported to the national human trafficking hotline.

The law enforcement officer told those gathered about a case he worked that began as a traffic stop.

A van ran a red light, and when Wilkett stopped it, he discovered that it was filled with men. They were obviously laborers who had been working all day, he said.

“Nobody has paperwork,” he said. Finally, one of them calls someone and a guy arrives a few minutes later.

He tells Wilkett: “I am so glad you pulled them over. I just fired them today. I just found out today that they are illegal.”

The men had been working on a local construction project, hanging drywall.

“I knew we had a problem here,” Wilkett said.

Karen Foster and Diane Parker are volunteers who have made it their mission to help spread the word about human trafficking. They want to people to understand the dangers, so they can be vigilant about protecting themselves and their loved ones.

Undocumented workers are often smuggled into the United States on the promise they’ll be given work and will be able to repay the person who smuggled them, the law enforcement officer said. But, despite working long hours, they never earn enough money to repay the debt.

Statistics on human trafficking vary, Wilkett said. He uses the most conservative estimate, which puts the figure at 20.9 million. That includes about 5.5 million children, he said.

Many people are aware that modern-day slavery includes the sex trade, Wilkett said. They may not realize how young the victims can be.

Minors are being rescued from sex trafficking, Wilkett said. “The average age that we are rescuing in the Tampa Bay area is 13. Nationally, it’s 12 to 15.”

Human trafficking goes beyond the commercial sex trade, Wilkett added. Forced labor includes such industries as landscaping, construction, nail salons, restaurants and agriculture.

Edie Rhea, a survivor of human trafficking and a woman who uses the pseudonym Amy, also spoke at the symposium.

Rhea was just 10 years old when her world was turned upside down by the man who claimed that she was his little princess. Her mother’s boyfriend began raping her, and then he began selling her to other men who raped her, Rhea said.

Amy said she was a single mother with a medically needy baby when she went to work at a strip club, and was then recruited by a pimp who beat her severely and used the threat of future beatings to keep her in his grip.

The symposium is part of a series of community seminars to help raise awareness about a variety of issues.

Natalie Epo, associate dean of academic affairs and retention services, said it’s important to put the spotlight on the issue of human trafficking.

“The reality is that it’s happening,” Epo said. “It can be someone luring your kids for jobs. They can say, ‘Hey, we have a job we’re going to send you to New York, or whatever the case might be.

“Unfortunately, they get trapped in this horrible system of human trafficking,” she said.

“We want to able to keep the community abreast about issues that are affecting them. We want to keep our finger on the pulse of the community,” she said.

Students at the state college also benefit from this type of symposium, said Rene Hensley, a teacher on the state college’s West Campus.

Hensley was there with her first-year licensed practical nursing students.

She thought they could become more knowledgeable about the issue and pick up some pointers on how to respond to a patient, if they discover he or she is a victim of human trafficking.

The speaker, Amy, who landed in the hospital more than once, offered a piece of advice on how to respond to a human trafficking victim: “It’s really about one human (communicating) to another human,” she said.

Karen Foster, of Dade City, and Diane Parker, of Zephyrhills, are volunteers who are committed to raising awareness about human trafficking.

“Our mission, as volunteers, is to make sure everyone knows about it,” Foster said.

Parker agreed: “We have to tell everybody about it. We live our lives, and we’re not aware what goes on. When you tell people, they are amazed.”

Published January 18, 2017

 

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The Zephyrhills Museum of Military History, 39444 South Ave., in Zephyrhills, will present “D-Day, Invasion of Normandy” on June 4 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be an opening ceremony at 11 a.m. The event will include skydivers, reenactors, World War II veterans, and WWII vehicles/aircraft on display. Visit zmmh.org/events, for additional information. … [Read More...] about 06/04/2022 – D-Day reenactment

06/11/2022 – Community cleanup

Save the date: A Dade City Community Cleanup is scheduled for June 11 from 8 a.m. to noon. The city will provide two garbage trucks and one roll-off to dispose of household waste. Residents will be able to drop off unwanted items at three locations. Volunteers also are needed and can register online at DadeCityFl.com. More information will be forthcoming. … [Read More...] about 06/11/2022 – Community cleanup

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22 May

SUNDAY MORNING SPORTS: Wyatt Deaton, 11, of Wesley Chapel, swam 2 miles and raised $5,900 for charity at the Swim Across America fundraising event. Great picture @MikeCamunas! Full story ---> https://buff.ly/3lktCIv

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21 May

Go Pasco — Pasco County’s public bus service — is planning to use technology to enable riders to get up-to-date information to track buses in real time https://buff.ly/3aafXS6

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21 May

What an AMAZING transformation! 💫 The Block is housed in a historic building that was an auto dealership in the 1920s. Now, its a venue space, a brewhouse, a restaurant, a CrossFit gym and more ---> https://buff.ly/3PsLvTo

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