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MARCH 25, 2015
This Girl Scout project could save lives By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
When most people think of Girl Scouts, they tend to picture little girls selling cookies in front of the local store or singing in a camp sing-along. It’s unlikely they envision a young woman working on a project to improve traffic safety. But that’s exactly what Wesley High School student Samantha Politano is doing. She’s launched a three-year project aimed at making life safer for the students who attend Wesley Chapel High School, Thomas Weightman Middle School and Wesley Chapel Elementary School. She’s not only interested in making life safer for students. She wants to improve the conditions for all drivers — parents dropping off and picking up their kids, bus drivers making their rounds, and faculty members and students who drive to school. In addition to making Wells Road safer, she’s also aiming to spread the message of safe driving habits. She hopes her efforts will encourage
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Wesley Chapel High student Samantha Politano is striving to attain a Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor awarded to a Girl Scout. Her project is to improve safety traffic conditions on Wells Road.
drivers to buckle up and put away their cellphones, which will reduce their chance of being injured or having an accident. She also thinks it would be neat to give Wells Road a second, honorary name — Wildcat Way — to pay tribute to the mascot for the elementary, middle and high schools. Politano is tackling the traffic safety issue on a number of fronts and has enlisted the aid of Jeff Novotny, former president of the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce. Novotny is widely known in business circles around Wesley Chapel, but that’s not why Politano asked him. She wanted his help because he’s married to her third-grade teacher, Amanda, who teaches at Wesley Chapel Elementary. “Mrs. Novotny was one of the most influential teachers, ever,” Politano said. So, why would a teenager take on an issue like traffic safety? In Politano’s case, it’s because she’s striving to attain a Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor a Girl Scout can achieve. See SCOUT, page 9A
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Cars and trucks attempting to make a left-hand turn off of State Road 54 into the Village Lakes Shopping Center, east of the intersection of U.S. 41, will find it much easier once a new set of traffic signals are activated. The lights have been installed near the Lowe’s store, on State Road 54, expected to open in April.
Traffic signals by Lowe’s ready for action By Kathy Steele ksteele@lakerlutznews.com
Traffic signals outside the new Lowe’s Home Improvement store on State Road 54 are expected to be operational within two to three weeks, according to officials with the Florida Department of Transportation. The addition of stop lights and turn lanes that will help get motorists in and out of Lowe’s and the Village Lakes Shopping Center is welcome news to area residents and business owners. Billy Fotopoulos, owner of Pizza Villa, remembers when the shopping center and his restaurant were under construction three decades ago. “We needed the light there 30 years ago,” Fotopoulos said. But he said state highway
officials turned down a request for a traffic signal from Fotopoulos and other business owners. “Without the light there, you can’t get out of (the parking lot) to go east or even going west, you’re taking your life in your hands,” he said. Charlene Wingo agreed. She and some friends were leaving the shopping center last week, laden with their purchases.“The light will make it a lot easier to head east on State Road 54,” she said.“I was just thinking now,‘How am I going to get out of the parking lot?’ ” Fotopoulos said he loses business due to the lack of traffic signals. Residents living on State Road 54, southeast of the shopping center, are reluctant to try and cross over, he said.
“It will save businesses. It will save lives there,” Fotopoulos said. The signal will give motorists a green light to turn left, going east on State Road 54. Motorists also can cross over the road to access entrances to either Lowe’s or the Village Lakes Shopping Center. When the traffic signals are activated, highway officials say they will be synced with signals at the intersection of State Road 54 and U.S. 41 to help ease traffic flow. The signals will be the only ones between U.S. 41 and Collier Parkway about 2 miles away. The half-mile distance between the signals at the intersection and those by Lowe’s are standard, highway officials said. The 152,000 square-foot Lowe’s, at 21500 State Road 54, is expected to open in April.
Pasco-Hernando State College chooses new president By B.C. Manion Winner 2012, 2013, 2014
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Timothy Beard has been selected to become Pasco-Hernando State College’s fourth president. The PHSC District Board of Trustees announced its choice at the conclusion of its presidential search, on March 18. Beard, vice president of student development and enrollment management at PHSC in New Port Richey, was among a field of four finalists.The other finalists worked at Klamath Community College in Klamath Falls, Oregon; West Virginia University at Parkersburg, Parkersburg,West Virginia; and, St. Petersburg College in St. Petersburg. They decided to promote Beard to replace Katherine Johnson, who is retiring on June 30. Beard’s appointment becomes effective July 1, pending the successful outcome of contract negotiations. “We are pleased to extend an offer for the presidential position to Dr. Beard,” Ed
Blommel, PHSC District Board of Trustees and presidential search committee chair, said in a release. “As a senior administrator at PHSC for the past eight years, he is already familiar with the college and has an Timothy Beard understanding of its strategic goals and mission.” Beard is delighted to be stepping into the college’s leadership role. “This is a surreal opportunity,” said Beard, who has worked for the college since 2007 and expects to build on the good work that has been accomplished there. Before joining PHSC, Beard was vice president and dean of student affairs at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, and director of student affairs and enrollment management at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. He earned his doctoral degree in rehabil-
itation counseling, with a special emphasis in higher education administration, from Florida State University in Tallahassee. He also has a master’s and a bachelor’s degree in rehabilitation counseling from FSU. Pasco-Hernando State College has more than 15,000 students and about 700 employees, including adjunct faculty. Pasco-Hernando State College awards certificates, diplomas, associate degrees and baccalaureate degrees. The college has campuses in Dade City, Wesley Chapel, New Port Richey, Spring Hill and Brooksville. Beard said he plans to pursue an initiative that would enlist the help of faith communities and other organizations to help support students, through scholarships and in other ways. He is looking forward to strengthening the ties between PHSC and the communities it serves. “I really want to bring the community into the college and the college into the community,” Beard said.