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LAND O’ LAKES/LUTZ EDITION
JULY 8, 2015
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Freedom Festival superstars
David Towner, of Tampa, stopped for a snapshot while making his way along the booths and exhibits at The Wesley Chapel FreedomFestival on July 3. There were 50 vendors at this year’s festival. The event drew an estimated 40,000, up 10 percent over last year, sai d Debbie Detweiler, marketing director for The Shops at Wiregrass.More photos, page 4.
Winner of the 5- to 8-year-old age category, Noah Zabel makes his appeal to the audience during judging of the Little Mr. Firecracker pageant during the Freedom Fest Event. The grand winners included: Little Miss Firecracker, Madelyn Moodie, and Little Mr. Firecracker, Emmitt Jones. The age category winners were: Three-months to 24months, Thomas Murtha and Linsley Bruce; 2-year-olds to 4-yearolds, William Pickering and Mikaila Delucco; and 5-year-olds to 8-yearolds, Noah Zabel and Eva Covey. Ten-month-old Zoey Vanyur, of Land O’ Lakes, keeps cool as her grandmother, Cindy Kitchen, holds her before the start of the Little Miss Firecracker contest. Zoey’s mom Emily, and dad Ben, were getting Zoey’s tutu ready for the contest.
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Mom Rachel Moodie steadies 8-month old Madelyn Moodie, as she makes her stage appearance for judging during this year’s Miss Firecracker at the Wesley Chapel Freedom Festival at The Shops at Wiregrass. Madelyn won first place.
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By Kathy Steele
ksteele@lakerlutznews.com
Gov. Rick Scott’s veto pen stripped away funds from some projects but spared others, as he cut more than $460 million from the state’s 2015-16 budget. Pasco County lost more than $8 million in anticipated funds for various projects. But some local projects in the $78.6 billion state budget faired especially well. Pasco-Hernando State College will receive $5.5 million for a performing arts center in Wesley Chapel. A shooting range for the police academy, located on the college’s Dade City campus, will receive $1 million for improvements. Another winner is the Land O’ Lakes Community Center which will receive $250,000 for a band shell and stage. “I’m as excited as I can be,” said Sandy Graves, president of Heritage Park Foundation. The nonprofit helps collect donations for improvements to the community center, which dates to the 1960s. “We’ve been wanting it and wanting it. It’d be in our reach, and then it would go away,” Graves said. In December, Graves made a presentation to Pasco’s legislative delegation. The initial estimate of $150,000 for construction costs was deemed too low, and the request was boosted to $250,000. The community center is a long-time gathering place for residents in Land O’ Lakes and Lutz, Graves said. The band shell and stage will enable the community to expand uses there, to include bigger community events and festivals. Scott signed the state’s budget on June
22. It becomes effective July 1. The county’s losses, in budget cuts, included $1.9 million for a storm water project in Dade City; $250,000 for the Senior Elderly Nutrition Kitchen; $1 million for the Metropolitan Ministries’ partially completed transitional housing for the county’s homeless population; and $450,000 for a Zephyrhills’ fire protection water line. It was a mixed bag for Pasco County Schools. The good news is the district will receive $750,000 to continue operating the Tampa Bay Regional Aeronautics Academies partnership with Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and Tampa International Airport. Currently, there is an aeronautics academy at Sunlake High School in Land O’ Lakes. But Scott cut $1.5 million sought for a similar program at Zephyrhills High School that would include a capital project for a separate classroom facility. Among reasons Scott gave for eliminating line items from the budget was whether the programs would offer statewide benefits. “I disagree that these programs don’t have a statewide benefit, or return on investment,” Pasco County Superintendent Kurt Browning said in a news release. “We believe this unique program embraces Governor Scott’s platform to provide more jobs for Floridians, attract more businesses to our state, and prepare students to achieve success in college, career and life.” However, Browning noted that the program would move forward with classroom instruction at Zephyrhills High School.
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These towers provide a point of interest at Tampa Premium Outlets, a project taking shape on State Road 56, just off Interstate 75.
Details emerging for Tampa Premium Outlets By Kathy Steele
ksteele@lakerlutznews.com
Pasco County is awash in building permit applications for Tampa Premium Outlets, a project under construction off State Road 56 at the Interstate 75 exchange. The anchor store, Saks Off 5th, is eyeing more than 27,000 square feet for its merchandise, according to county records. Others that have filed initial applications include Calvin Klein, Michael Kors, Gap, American Eagle Outfitters, Fossil, J. Crew, Ann Taylor, Vera Bradley, Banana Republic, Ralph Lauren and Papaya. The food court will go eclectic. GreenLeafs & Bananas, Asian Chao, Villa See OUTLETS, page 11A