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LAND O’ LAKES/LUTZ EDITION
AUGUST 5, 2015
Retail jobs on the rise But more jobs are needed to diversify Pasco’s economy
The volume of people who commute daily to jobs outside Pasco is about 46 percent, according to county data. But flipping that trend is the goal of the county’s Planning and Development Department, and its marketing partner, the Pasco County Economic Development By Kathy Steele Council. ksteele@lakerlutznews.com There are good signs in the job market especially in retail, but county officials say Heading south on Interstate 275 into Pasco needs higher paying jobs and a diTampa, and points beyond, cars stack up verse employer-base to shed its bedroom and slow to a crawl as commuters in the community status. morning rush hour out of Pasco County’s And that could take years of steady, pabedroom communities hit the brakes. tient marketing. Motorists going north, mostly zip along For now, dirt is flying especially along the at a steady clip. prime corridors of State Road 56 and State In the afternoon the traffic flow reverses. Road 54, around the Interstate 75 interIt’s all about where the jobs are and where they aren’t. See JOBS, page11A
KATHY STEELE/STAFF PHOTO
Holiday Inn Express is one hotel ready for construction with an opening in 2016. The hotel is next to Florida Hospital Center Ice, an ice rink and sports complex that is under construction, off State Road 56. Both will be job producers.
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COURTESY OF EXCITING IDLEWILD BAPTIST CHURCH
Campbell Middlebrooks teaches Calvin Montgomery, left, and Oliver Crawford, right, a few of the finer points of fishing.
Summer Sing showcases worship through art By B.C. Manion
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Kids were busy making high heels and minions in the cake-decorating class during one recent morning. Others tried their hand Hundreds of children and adults spent a at origami, or had the chance to sing a recent week at Exciting Idlewild Baptist Broadway tune. Some picked up pointers on Church in a summer camp that combines a fishing. Others helped build a theatrical set. love for the arts, with the expression of Some strummed on guitars. Christian values. The campers come from all over to the The camp began as a singing camp sev- camp in Lutz, including some from as far eral years ago and has morphed into a away as Orlando, said Susan Raabe, a camp full-scale arts camp. volunteer. There were sessions on everything from Summer Sing is run by teenagers, who etiquette, to playing percussion tubes, to are helped by adult volunteers. Sheila scrapbooking and violin. Goskie is the camp director. Singing, acting, harp lessons and choreogIn the words of 8-year-old Joshua Barnes: B.C. MANION/STAFF PHOTO raphy were a few other choices for the “It’s really fun.” Joshua Barnes tries his hand at the art of camp, designed for kids who have completTo find out more about next year’s camp, origami at Summer Sing, a weeklong summer ed second grade through fifth grade. go to Idlewild’s website at Idlewild.org. camp at Exciting Idlewild Baptist Church.
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New PHSC president drafts game plan for success
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As a very young boy, Tim Beard would walk a mile each way to buy a newspaper at the store so he could devour stories about his beloved St. Louis Cardinals. He admired such players as Lou Brock, Joe Torre and Bob Gibson — and delighted in reading about their pursuits. He recalled that he was only 5 or 6 years old when he was making those treks to the store. Literacy and athletics were twin loves in his life, until Beard decided he would spend less energy on athletics and give his full attention to education. He grew up in poverty in the Panhandle town of St. Joe — and now he leads PascoHernando State College. Before becoming president of the college on July 1, he served as a vice president at the college for eight years. He claimed the role vacated by Katherine Johnson, who retired after a decade at the helm. Beard is clearly excited about the possibilities. As an internal candidate for the post, Beard said he had the advantage of under-
B.C. MANION/STAFF PHOTO
Tim Beard is dressed casually during a summer day at his office at Pasco-Hernando State College. But the new president of PHSC is anything but casual in his ambitions for the college.
standing the college and knowing its pulse. “I know the institution. I know the flow. I know the community,” Beard said. As PHSC’s new leader, he’s already starting to carry out his game plan. He’s identified key focus areas. Those include increasing student retention and degree completion rates, expanding partnerships, and securing more funding to support programs. To help retain students, Beard is launching an initiative called Retention Behavioral Inventory, or RBI, for short. He plans to have weekly conference calls with PHSC administrators to keep the goal of improving student retention and degree completion rates at the forefront for the college’s leadership team. Together, they’ll review the data to see how the college is doing. And, they’ll discuss the numbers, talk about why students withdraw and examine if there is anything they could have done to prevent the withdrawals. “The big piece is going to be a referral piece,” the college president said. “If we find out that a student withdrew because of finances, can we find a financial source See PHSC, page11A