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Pasco moratorium area to expand?
By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
The Pasco County Planning Commission has recommended approval of a proposal that would expand the area where new applications for multifamily are on hold. The planning board voted to recommend approval of the expansion during its
Jan. 6 meeting. The larger area was proposed by Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore, who has championed the pause on new multifamily applications — to allow completion of a study to determine whether the county has an oversaturation of entitled apartment developments. Moore repeatedly has warned his col-
leagues about potential long-term consequences from allowing too many approvals of apartment projects. He fears the prospect of an oversupply leading to buildings being abandoned, as renters move to newer developments.That, he has said, will set the stage for blight and See MORATORIUM, page 7A
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Sugary fun festival
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Above, Jasper Starnes, of Zephyrhills, doesn’t mind getting steamed up, especially when he’s working on skimming any impurities from the 60 gallons of sugar cane juice boiling in the Pioneer Florida Museum & Village Cane Mill. When complete, the juice is boiled down to 6 gallons of sugar cane syrup. See more photos, page 1B.
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After sampling the dozen sugar cane syrup entries in the Southern Syrup-Makers Association Syrup-Tasting Contest and listening to a U.S. Sugar presentation, Sid Lehman, of Frostproof, bit into the source of the cane syrup, a sugar cane stalk. Lehman, a snowbird from Indiana, said it was not only his first sugar cane festival, but it was his first time at the Pioneer Florida Museum & Village.
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SAC AWARDS INSIDE, PAGE 8A
Steve Melton, of Trilby, president of the Southern Syrup Makers Association, right, congratulates Jack Whitehurst, of Williston. Williston won the firstplace blue ribbon for his cane sugar syrup, in what was the largest turnout ever for tasting during the event. Whitehurst said the key to making the syrup was taking his time and doing it the way the old-timers did it.
Omicron cases continue to Pasco MPO eyeing soar across United States new method for COVID-19 statistics prioritizing projects
By B.C. Manion
bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
Cancellations are starting to occur more frequently, as COVID-19 cases continue to climb across the United States. Health care experts say the surge is being driven by the Omicron variant of the virus. An interpretive analysis published on The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s website estimates that Omicron may account for approximately 95% of cases. There were 5,705,264 new cases reported across the U.S. on Jan. 5, more than doubling the January 2021 peak, according to a CDC report. “The entire country is now experiencing high levels of community transmission. Hospitalizations are also on the rise,” the CDC report says. Based on current knowledge about the Omicron variant, the CDC recently updated its quarantine and isolation recommendations for the public. Those coming into close contact with someone with COVID-19 should quarantine See OMICRON, page 7A
Statistics from Jan. 9:
Pasco County: Community transmission rate, High; Cases: 6,247; positivity, 30.05% Hillsborough County: Community transmission rate, High; Cases: 22,110; positivity, 30.2% Florida: Community transmission, High; cases: 410,713; positivity, 25-plus%
Statistics from Jan. 7: Pasco County Schools: 196 student cases; total of 6,793 student cases for the school year Pasco County Schools: 31 employee cases; total of 1,273 employee cases for the school year Hillsborough County Schools: 2,398 employees cases for the year; 12,751 student cases for the year Note: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises everyone in Pasco County and Hillsborough County to wear a mask in public, indoor settings.
Sources: Pasco County Schools, Hillsborough County Schools and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
By B.C. Manion Bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
The board of the Metropolitan Planning Organization — which is the county’s lead agency in transportation planning — is considering a new way to add and rank projects on its priority list. Carl Mikyska, executive director of the MPO, discussed the proposed methodology with the MPO board at its Dec. 9 meeting. He asked them to take a closer look at the proposal, with the goal of voting on it at the board’s meeting in February. One proposed change calls for establishing a separate priority list for bicycle and pedestrian improvements. Another part of the method calls for using a numerical scoring system to rank the projects. This approach assigns points to the proposed projects, which are summarized for a total project score. Projects can earn a maximum score of 100, except for up to 10 in See MPO, page 7A