The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Little Road

Task forces will tackle Pasco congestion issues

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There is trouble on State Road 54 and State Road 56.

Everyone can see the snarled traffic and congestion on a daily basis, and it is clear that it will only get worse with time.

“We’re obviously in a growing community in Tampa Bay,” said Jim Edwards, transportation manager for Pasco’s Metropolitan Planning Organization. “The dirt is turning in a lot of areas. We all see that.”

Unprecedented growth along this corridor is turning pastures and open fields into brick-and-mortar shops, offices, business parks and houses.

Congestion near State Road 54 and U.S. 41 helps to illustrate the problem of an increasing number of cars using the State Road 54/State Road 56 corridor, as new businesses and subdivisions pop up. Some are predicting major traffic hassles with the opening of Tampa Premium Outlets and other planned developments. (File Photo)
Congestion near State Road 54 and U.S. 41 helps to illustrate the problem of an increasing number of cars using the State Road 54/State Road 56 corridor, as new businesses and subdivisions pop up. Some are predicting major traffic hassles with the opening of Tampa Premium Outlets and other planned developments.
(File Photo)

More is on the drawing board, or in the minds, of developers who see fiscal opportunities just over the horizon.

On Sept. 24, the MPO kicked off a series of public workshops with two separate volunteer task forces that will serve as advisory boards to the MPO. The focus is on improvements on State Road 54 and State Road 56 corridor from U.S. 19 to Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

The recommendations from these groups will be the basis for updating the Mobility 2040 Long Range Transportation Plan.

Each task force is assigned to examine the corridor in segments, with the East Task Force studying the roadway east of U.S. 41, and the West Task Force studying the roadway west of U.S. 41.

By February, the goal is to have about a half-dozen recommendations for highway and transit options, or a combination of both, to present to the MPO. Options that will be scrutinized include express lanes for buses and general traffic, light rail, bus rapid transit, toll roads and elevated lanes.

The MPO board then can choose a more in-depth study of the selected alternatives before adopting one that would be vetted at a public hearing.

If that wins final approval, Pasco County officials and the Florida Department of Transportation would add the project to the county’s long-range transportation vision and seek funding over the next 20 years.

“We want to give it force. We want to give it importance,” said Edwards. “It’s an opportunity to do something, and it’s also a costly issue.”

Consultants with Tindale Oliver will help guide the task forces.

The initial meeting outlined duties and expectations of task force members, and overviews of past studies done on State Road 54 and State Road 56. Members selected Sandy Graves of the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce as the group’s chairwoman. Former Zephyrhills Mayor Cliff McDuffie is vice-chairman.

Graves hopes attention will be given to fixing the intersection of State Road 54 and U.S. 41.

“Historically, this has always been a traffic nightmare,” she said. “This is a 2040 (plan), but they’ve got to do something in 2016. So, I’m hoping something will come out of this to fix that.”

That intersection is one of seven already identified by MPO as “hot spots,” but not so much for congestion. The others are Little Road, Gunn Highway, Suncoast Parkway, Collier Parkway, Interstate 75 and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

“The main issue today is not necessarily through traffic, but turns,” said Ali Atefi, an MPO transportation planner.

The next meeting for the East Task Force is Dec. 3. The West Task Force kicked off its workshops on Sept. 29, after publication deadline for The Laker/Lutz News. It will meet again on Dec. 1.

According to MPO data, population growth and new jobs will be driving forces in the county’s future transportation needs.

The county’s population from 2010 to 2040 is projected to double from more than 450,000 residents to more than 905,000 residents. Jobs will triple from more than 125,000 to nearly 375,000 by 2040, the study found.

Development along the State Road 54 and State Road 56 corridor will account for about 30 percent of the county’s total increase in residents, and about 31 percent of its jobs.

Empty-nesters and the millennial generation are among those who will populate the county over the next 20 years.

Despite the age gap of these groups, they both want many of the same amenities such as shops, restaurants and safe, walkable communities, said Matt Armstrong, Pasco’s executive planner for the Long Range Planning Group.

“The patterns of what we think we need…we have to make those choices now,” he said. “We have to figure out what pieces of TOD (transit-oriented development) do we think we can accommodate now so, when the time comes, we’re ready for it. We can’t go back and change patterns of development at that point.”

Published October 7, 2015

Growth spurs school construction

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When Pasco County School Board member Alison Crumbley considers anticipated growth along the State Road 54/56 corridor, she said, she is “taken aback.”

She worries about the school district’s ability to provide schools for all of the students who will be moving into the new communities that are taking shape along that corridor.

Construction continues at Sanders Memorial Elementary School, which is set to focus on science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photos)
Construction continues at Sanders Memorial Elementary School, which is set to focus on science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics.
(B.C. Manion/Staff Photos)

Superintendent Kurt Browning shares that sentiment.

“That 54 corridor concerns me greatly,” Browning said, during a recent school board workshop on the district’s construction plans.

“Our need certainly outpaces our resources,” the superintendent said. “When you look at the 54 corridor, from really, Little Road to just beyond Wiregrass, that’s Curley Road — there is so much growth and projected growth.

“Even up on Curley, there’s master-planned communities.

“As superintendent, it concerns me, because I know moms and dads don’t want their kids in crowded classrooms. And I don’t want their kids in crowded classrooms.

“Nor, do I want to build new schools and, the next thing you know, you see portables being pulled up on those school campuses,” Browning said.

The lack of revenue has prompted the school district to launch an impact fee study, which could lead to higher school impact fees paid for new construction of residential properties in Pasco County.

Meanwhile, the district is engaged in numerous construction projects and have others planned in the near future.

Chris Williams, director of planning, outlined those projects during the board’s workshop. He also provided additional details during a separate interview.

Crews at Sanders Memorial Elementary School work to ensure that the county’s first magnet school opens on schedule in August.
Crews at Sanders Memorial Elementary School work to ensure that the county’s first magnet school opens on schedule in August.

Sanders Memorial Elementary School is getting a massive makeover — and the Land O’ Lakes Elementary School is getting more than a brand new look. It is also becoming Pasco County’s first magnet school.

When Sanders opens in the fall, it will offer a curriculum that emphasizes science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics.

Quail Hollow Elementary, set to reopen in August, has a new floor plan that established individual classrooms in the formerly “open” school. The school also will have updated building systems, technology on par with any new elementary school in the district and a new cafeteria with a stage.

The school district also is in the process of designing three new schools, Elementary W in Wiregrass Ranch, Elementary B in Bexley Ranch, and High School GGG on Old Pasco Road, which will open as a school for sixth grade through 12th grade.

The district also is planning additional schools in the Wesley Chapel area.

“Elementary W is the first of potentially three or four in Wiregrass,” Williams said during the board workshop.

The district is working on a new design for Elementary B in Bexley Ranch, because it wants the school to accommodate more students than a typical district elementary school, Williams said.

Bexley Ranch will provide substantial relief for Oakstead and Odessa elementary schools, Williams said.

Other future schools are proposed for the Bexley Ranch area, and a future elementary school is planned for Starkey Ranch. A future middle school is also proposed for Starkey Ranch, Williams said.

The district also already has purchased land for a future school on the south side of State Road 54.

The biggest concern about middle school capacity is in the Wesley Chapel area, Williams said.

High School GGG, which will serve grades six through 12, will provide significant relief to Wesley Chapel area middle schools and high schools.

Wiregrass Ranch High has so many students, it is going to a 10-period day for the next two years to manage the number of students on campus at one time.

High School GGG will have a capacity of 1,900 students. It is expected to draw students from areas now assigned to Wiregrass Ranch and Wesley Chapel high schools, and Weightman and Long middle schools.

The district is using this approach because it can’t afford to build both a high school and a middle school. As population grows and demand increases, the district plans to build Middle School HH at the same location.

The boundary process for High School GGG and Elementary School B is expected to begin in about 18 months, the planning director said.

Williams said he is concerned about the ability of Mitchell, Sunlake and Land O’ Lakes high schools to absorb anticipated future enrollment.

“Land O’ Lakes (High), hopefully, when we remodel that school, we can add some capacity. It’s not going to be enough for long-term,” Williams said.

“We do have a high school site promised to us in Bexley Ranch. That potentially is going to have a big impact, especially on Sunlake.

“I continue to look for two additional high school sites, one in the Land O’ Lakes area and one in the (State Road) 54/Suncoast Parkway area,” Williams said.

But he added: “Those are hard to come by.”

“There is a high school site promised in the River Landing area, that could potentially impact Wesley Chapel, Wiregrass and Zephyrhills,” Williams said.

“It would be along the extension of State Road 56. It would be east of Mansfield, but on the west side of Morris Bridge Road. Zephyr Egg Property, if you’d ever heard of that,” he said.

School Board member Allen Altman said he’s worried that the increasing need to spend money on new construction will make it that much harder for the district to maintain the buildings it has.

It’s a known fact that proper maintenance saves taxpayers money in the long term, but the district doesn’t have a choice. It must spend money to provide school capacity, he said.

While the district considers its long-range plans and short-term needs, construction continues.

Elementary W, being built between John Long Middle School and Wiregrass Ranch High, is set to open in 2016.

When it opens, it will be possible for students to attend elementary school through college on the same street, since Pasco-Hernando State College’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch is just down the road.

Williams expects the school boundary process for Elementary W to begin in October or November.

That school will help relieve crowding at Seven Oaks and Double Branch elementary schools, but the particulars of how that will be achieved have not been determined yet.

“Seven Oaks really popped this year,” Williams said.

Meanwhile, in East Pasco, the school district will be building a new cafeteria, and doing parking and traffic improvements at Cox Elementary.

Pasco Elementary also is getting some improvements, as plans call for remodeling several buildings, Williams said.

Published July 15, 2015

MPO keeps elevated toll road on long-range county plan

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Pasco County’s 2040 Long-Range Transportation Plan is on its way to both federal and state authorities, highlighting the county’s plan for roads, transit and sidewalks over the next 25 years. And one transportation feature that made the cut? Elevation roads along the State Road 54/56 corridor.

A group of residents successfully fought a proposed private elevated toll road that would’ve stretched from Zephyrhills to New Port Richey earlier this year, but once they stopped that project, they vowed to remove any mention of elevated roads from the transportation plan. Yet, among the more than 30 changes made to the plan after two months of public hearings, none of them included deleting references to an elevated road.

In fact, it remains an option for the county between 2020 and 2040 along the State Road 54/56 corridor as an “alternative improvement.” That could include “premium transit improvements” like toll lanes, overpasses like those used on U.S. 19 in Pinellas County, and elevated lanes, like was proposed by International Infrastructure Partners LLC in 2013 that could’ve cost upward of $2.2 billion or more.

Pasco’s Metropolitan Planning Organization conducted a 30-day comment period through Nov. 23, as well as public workshops throughout November. It concluded with a public hearing on Dec. 11 where the new transportation plan was adopted unanimously.

Many of the changes to the plan were minor, like name changes of some roads at Bexley Ranch near the Suncoast Parkway, and Mitchell Boulevard near the Little Road area. But there also were some larger changes as well, including:

• Moving up the six-lane expansion of State Road 52 from Interstate 75 to Pasco Road from 2040 to 2019.

• Keeping the State Road 56 expansion from Meadow Pointe to U.S. 301 two lanes instead of four by 2019, but possibly expanding it to four lanes by 2030. Zephyrhills city officials are working with state lawmakers to get that timetable moved up.

• Delaying another 10 years to 2040 projects like Livingston Avenue from State Road 54 to Collier Parkway, Eiland Boulevard from Handcart to Dean Dairy roads; Curley Road from Wells Road to Clinton Avenue, and Lake Patience Road from Sunlake Boulevard to U.S. 41.

The MPO also made a number of changes to Tower Road, which runs primarily east to west in Pasco County just north of State Road 54. They include developer-funded improvements like a two-lane stretch from Bexley Ranch to Ballantrae Boulevard, and an expansion to a two-lane road from U.S. 41 to Ehren Cutoff by 2040, paid for by the county.

The Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Transit Administration and the Florida Department of Transportation will now review the plan, and work with the county to help implement it.

To read the complete plan, visit Mobility2040Pasco.com.

New Lowe’s means new traffic light on State Road 54

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The newest Lowe’s in Pasco County is set to open its doors in March. But how traffic will be handled in and out of the new store on State Road 54 is still being worked out.

The project’s engineer, David Desilet of Lincks & Associates Inc., has requested another meeting with county officials, trying to work out some last-minute details of what will be a new intersection just east of Land O’ Lakes Boulevard.

When the new Lowe’s opens in Land O’ Lakes next March, it will add the first traffic light along State Road 54 between U.S. 41 and Collier Parkway. At the same time, it will give customers at the neighboring Village Lakes Shopping Center the opportunity to make a left turn out of that strip mall, something that is very difficult to do right now because there is no signal. (Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)
When the new Lowe’s opens in Land O’ Lakes next March, it will add the first traffic light along State Road 54 between U.S. 41 and Collier Parkway. At the same time, it will give customers at the neighboring Village Lakes Shopping Center the opportunity to make a left turn out of that strip mall, something that is very difficult to do right now because there is no signal. (Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)

For now, the Florida Department of Transportation has permitted a traffic signal in front of Lowe’s that would help customers visiting not only the new hardware and building supply store, but also the Village Lakes Shopping Center across the street. That would provide a right turn lane into Lowe’s for traffic heading east on State Road 54, county traffic operations manager Robert Reck said, while extending left turn lanes heading westbound that right now lead to U.S. 41.

Lowe’s is building a road on the east side of its store, located at 21500 State Road 54 in Lutz, that would connect with Village Lakes’ west side entrance, according to development plans filed with the county.

To do that, however, Village Lakes would have to remove 27 parking spots between the outparceled restaurants Pizza Villa and Benedetto’s, to create a new through path for customers trying to make their way across the shopping center’s parking lot. That would shift such traffic to the north side of Benedetto’s, giving shoppers a straight line to drive through, and removing a partial travel lane on the south side of the restaurant.

The shopping center would replace some of those lost parking spaces on the southern-most portion of the Village Lakes property along State Road 54 by removing an existing through road, and constructing 14 new spaces.

In return, Village Lakes will get a new entrance and exit that will allow customers to turn left or right in separate lanes, or travel straight across State Road 54 to Lowe’s. Customers also can choose to walk between the centers with the construction of crosswalks as part of the new intersection.

When the traffic light goes into operation, it could potentially add some commute time for drivers making their way down State Road 54. Right now, there are no traffic lights along the nearly two-mile stretch between U.S. 41 and Collier Parkway, allowing vehicles to flow through unimpeded.

It also would put two traffic lights within a half-mile of each other, the busy U.S. 41 intersection just blocks away. It’s not clear if the traffic lights for Lowe’s would be synched with the operation of the U.S. 41 signals to help keep traffic flowing through both intersections. A request to FDOT officials for details on the new traffic signal was not returned by presstime.

Lowe’s told The Laker/Lutz News last week it plans to open the 152,000-square-foot store during the last week in March. It’s being built on a 42-acre tract of land that is expected to bring 125 jobs to the area.

The new store will have a 103,000-square-foot sales floor, and a 31,300-square-foot garden center, according to site plans submitted to Pasco County officials, along with enough parking for nearly 525 cars.

The North Carolina-based Lowe’s company purchased the land between Winter Quarters Pasco RV Park and a Pasco County fire station there in 2005 for $2.7 million, and originally had hoped to open the store by 2009. However, Lowe’s abandoned those plans in 2011, with reports at the time the company would try to sell the land.

Instead, Lowe’s kept the property and broke ground on construction earlier this year.

The Land O’ Lakes location is the third Lowe’s in Pasco, joining a store at 7921 Gall Blvd., in Zephyrhills, and 8312 Little Road in Port Richey.

Published December 3, 2014

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Trinity hospital planning $15M newborn services expansion

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The population growth in Pasco County is not expected to end anytime soon, and Medical Center of Trinity is getting ready now — even if the hospital is just three years old.

HCA West Florida, which owns both the Trinity hospital as well as Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point in Hudson, is having its initial meetings with Pasco County officials ahead of a proposed $15 million expansion that could add or shift at least 50 beds.

The hospital is just three years old, but Medical Center of Trinity already is thinking about expansion, focusing heavily on its neonatal and pregnancy services. (Michael Hinman/Staff photo)
The hospital is just three years old, but Medical Center of Trinity already is thinking about expansion, focusing heavily on its neonatal and pregnancy services. (Michael Hinman/Staff photo)

The primary target of the renovations is the hospital’s post-partum department as well as its neonatal intensive care unit, according to documents the hospital has filed with the county. The goal is to add 36 beds, relocate 17 beds in the post-partum unit, and renovate the NICU.

Later phases would include building out an additional elevator shell as well as expand the suite for patients undergoing cesarean sections.

Hospital spokeswoman Mary Sommise wouldn’t elaborate on those plans. But according to what the company told county officials, Trinity would begin its bed expansion on the hospital’s fifth floor as well as its C-section suite work. Once that’s done, the post-partum unit would shift from the hospital’s east wing to the west.

When all that work is completed, the hospital would then focus on its NICU, making that renovation the final phase.

Medical Center of Trinity opened in 2011 on 55 acres of land along State Road 54, just east of Little Road. It cost $200 million, and replaced the aging Community Hospital the company ran in New Port Richey.

The five-story main campus opened with 400,000 square feet of usable space, as well as a 90,000-square-foot office building.

The Trinity hospital gave itself plenty of room to expand, something Community Hospital didn’t have. Combined with the Bayonet Point facility, both hospitals saw nearly 157,000 patients in 2013, according to HCA West’s annual report, including nearly 86,000 emergency room visits — half of them going to Trinity.

Both hospitals have a combined economic impact of more than $290 million to Pasco County, officials said. More than $163 million of that comes from salaries and benefits paid to employees, while another $35 million is dedicated to charity or uncompensated care.

The Trinity and Bayonet Point hospitals also contribute more than $16.5 million in taxes to the county each year, and redirects $27 million to local vendors.

The 282-bed hospital has a little more than 1,200 employees earning an average annual salary of $63,600 a year, according to the hospital.

The Trinity hospital is not alone in wanting to expand services to newborns and mothers. Florida Hospital Zephyrhills spent last summer expanding its obstetrics unit after the number of babies born were more than double initial projections going into the year.

Officials did not share any timelines on when renovations might begin, but when it does start, Matt Nitch of Earl Swensson Associates Inc. out of Nashville, Tennessee, will manage it.

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New Lowe’s will open end of March

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A grand open date has been tentatively set for the new Lowe’s under construction on State Road 54 just east of Land O’ Lakes Boulevard.

A spokeswoman for the company confirmed to The Laker/Lutz News that the 152,000-square-foot store will officially open its doors during the last week of March. It’s being built on a 42-acre tract of land across from the Village Lakes Shopping Center, and will bring 125 jobs to the area.

The new store will have a 103,000-square-foot sales floor and a 31,300-square-foot garden center, according to the site plan submitted to Pasco County officials earlier this year. It also will have enough parking for nearly 525 cars.

Its primary entrance will be on the east side of the property, creating an intersection with Village Lakes.

The North Carolina company purchased the land between Winter Quarters Pasco RV Park and the Pasco County fire station there in 2005 for $2.7 million, and originally had hoped to open the store by 2009. However, Lowe’s abandoned those plans in 2011, with reports at the time the company would try to sell the land.

Instead, Lowe’s kept the property, and broke ground on construction earlier this year.

The Land O’ Lakes location is the third Lowe’s in Pasco County, joining a location at 7921 Gall Blvd., in Zephyrhills, and at 8312 Little Road in Port Richey. However, the closest store to this new location is in New Tampa, at 6201 Commerce Palms Drive in Hillsborough County.

Kauffman Tire planning new store in Wesley Chapel

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Central Pasco County is set to get its first Kauffman Tire location with plans to build a 7,600-square-foot location on vacant land along Wesley Chapel Boulevard.

Developers are eyeing a 2.3-acre parcel around the area of 28225 Wesley Chapel Boulevard, located next to the Walgreens near where Wesley Chapel Boulevard connects with the northern portion of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

The land was purchased in June 2012 by 54 & 581 LLC for $350,000, and appears to have never been developed. It changed hands a few times since 1998, according to Pasco County property records, including a $790,000 transfer in 2005 at the height of the housing boom.

The current landowner is affiliated with Mitchell Rice and Michael Leeds, part of the ownership team of RMC Property Group in Tampa.

John Weaver, who works with the corporate office of the Atlanta-based company, is spearheading the project with Sarah Case of Gadd Case & Associates of Lakeland as project manager.

It would be the second Kauffman Tire location in Pasco, the first opening on Little Road in New Port Richey. However, this new location wouldn’t be too far from the Kauffman Tire at 17325 Dona Michelle Drive in New Tampa, located less than 10 miles to the south.

Kauffman Tire started in Ohio in 1936, according to the company’s website, but didn’t begin to expand until the late 1960s, primarily in the south. Kauffman Tire now has 55 locations throughout Florida and Georgia, and 14 wholesale distribution centers in seven states.

The company is meeting with Pasco County officials for the first time Nov. 25, and no timeline is available yet on when construction might begin.

Pasco Schools to honor veterans Tuesday

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Pasco County Schools are hosting a variety of events on Veterans Day Tuesday to honor those who risked or gave their lives for America’s freedoms.

The day starts off at Wesley Chapel Center for the Arts with a Veterans Day presentation beginning at 8:30 a.m. It will include Superintendent Kurt Browning as well as Pasco County elections supervisor Brian Corley, and will honor and celebrate veterans, as well as encourage students to participate in the Vote in Honor of a Veteran program.

“This is the greatest country in the world, and we owe that to generations of men and women who have gone to war to protect our values and beliefs,” Browning said, in a release. “There is no better place for students to learn about the sacrifices and contributions of this nation’s veterans than in our schools.”

The arts center is located at 30651 Wells Road in Wesley Chapel.

Corley will join outreach ambassadors from his government office to conduct voter registration at all high schools in the county from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. On top of that, several schools will host Veterans Day programs. They include:

• Salute a Veteran at Fox Hollow Elementary School, 10 a.m. — The entire student body will have a part in honoring local veterans. Each grade level at the school, 8309 Fox Hollow Drive in Port Richey, has taken time to learn the chorus of a branch of service, and to study their assigned branch.

• Veterans Day parade at Odessa Elementary School, 10:15 a.m. — Students at the Odessa school, 12810 Interlaken Road in Port Richey, will gather to honor veterans by witnessing a patriotic musical performance by their chorus, brass quintet, sax quartet, and Mitchell High School’s color guard. Retired Lt. Col. Alan Klyap will serve as guest speaker with a parade following.

• Veterans Day program at Taylor Elementary School, 10:30 a.m. — Taylor, 3638 Morris Bridge Road in Zephyrhills, will present a program that will include the Junior ROTC from Zephyrhills High School, as well as the high school’s jazz band. Guest speaker will be Browning.

• Second Annual Salute to our Veterans at Cotee River Elementary School, 10:30 a.m. — Cotee River studeents will hear from retired U.S. Navy Cmdr. Michale Cheetam, commander of the Ridgewood High School Naval Junior ROTC, as well as Daniel Gosonda from the U.S. Coast Guard, at the school, 7515 Plathe Road in Port Richey. Cheetam’s cadets will perform, and the Cotee River chorus will give a patriotic performance.

• Schrader’s Tribute to Our Veterans at Schrader Elementary School, 2 p.m. — The fifth grade students have invited parents as well as veterans to hear patriotic songs and speaking parts that honor the men and women who work every day to protect freedom. It will take place at the school, 11041 Little Road in New Port Richey.

Strong early voter turnout so far in Pasco

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Brian Corley likes what he’s seeing for the 2014 election so far.

As of 4 p.m. Thursday, more than 21 percent of registered voters in Pasco County have dropped a ballot in the voting box, and there’s still two full days of early voting left.

“We’re on pace to beat 2010, and we’re doing that with less than a 10-minute wait” at early voting locations around the county, said Corley, Pasco’s supervisor of elections. “It’s very rewarding, and shows that we are getting things done to get out the vote.”

Nearly 65,300 votes have been cast in Pasco so far, with nearly a third from early voting, and the rest from mail ballots. In a race that includes a tight battle for governor between Charlie Crist and Rick Scott, as well as a high-profile county commission race, more than 29,000 — or 45 percent — of the votes are being cast by Republicans, while more than 23,000, or 35 percent, are coming from Democrats. Another 20 percent, representing just over 13,000 voters, are coming from those with other or no party affiliations.

Republicans continue to turn out in better numbers than Democrats in the race, especially with the GOP only accounting for 38 percent of Pasco’s more than 305,000 voters. Democrats make up 33 percent of the total electorate, while everyone else is at 28 percent.

The voting precinct with the best numbers so far is First Assembly of God in Zephyrhills where 33 percent, or 850 people, have cast an early ballot so far. Political breakdowns there match pretty much the rest of the county with 40 percent Republicans, and 35 percent Democrats.

The lowest numbers so far, however, are coming from Crystal Springs Community Hall just outside of Zephyrhills, where just 86 votes — or less than 10 percent — have been cast. That precinct has nearly 900 total registered voters where Democrats just slightly outnumber Republicans.

Early voting continues through Saturday, with each location open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Voters also are choosing whether to support three amendments to the state constitution, ranging from land conservation to how state supreme court justices are appointed to medical marijuana.

• East Pasco Government Center, 14236 Sixth St., Dade City
• Land O’ Lakes Library, 2818 Collier Parkway, Land O’ Lakes
• New River Branch Library, 34043 State Road 54, Zephyrhills
• The Grove at Wesley Chapel, 6013 Wesley Grove Blvd., Wesley Chapel
• Hudson Library, 8012 Library Road, Hudson
• New Port Richey Elections Office, 8731 Citizens Drive, New Port Richey
• Regency Park Library, 9701 Little Road, New Port Richey
• South Holiday Library, 4649 Mile Stretch Drive, Holiday

Pasco libraries to tackle identity theft

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The Pasco County Library System is offering a program to teach residents how to protect themselves from identity theft, and how to catch identity theft early.

The 45-program will be offered throughout November and part of December at library branches around the country.

It’s free, and also will explain what to do if someone feels they have become a victim of identity theft.

Upcoming programs include:

  • Centennial Park Library, 5740 Moog Road in Holiday, Nov. 4 at 11 a.m.
  • South Holiday Library, 4649 Mile Stretch Road in Holiday, Nov. 6 at 2 p.m.
  • Hugh Embry Library, 14215 Fourth St., in Dade City, Nov. 7 at 11 a.m.
  • Land O’ Lakes Library, 2818 Collier Parkway in Land O’ Lakes, Nov. 12 at 10 a.m.
  • Regency Park Library, 9701 Little Road in New Port Richey, Nov. 13 at 2 p.m.
  • Hudson Regional Library, 8012 Library Road in Hudson, Nov. 20 at 2 p.m.
  • New River Library, 34043 State Road 54 in Zephyrhills, Dec. 5 at 2 p.m.

For information, visit PascoLibraries.org.