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MARCH 9, 2016
Nursing home set to open in 2017 According to its website, clients include New Port Inn in New Port Richey, The Springs at Boca Ciega Construction is under way on an in St. Petersburg and Northbrook upscale nursing home and assisted Health & Rehabilitation Center in living facility at the corner of Hayes Brooksville. Road and Nebraska Avenue, in Lutz. In a statement announcing the Tampa Lakes Health Care and start of construction, company offiRehabilitation Center, at 750 Hayes cials said they were responding to Road, is slated to open in February a customer base that wants “to 2017.A groundbreaking for the 179enjoy more of a homelike environCOURTESY OF TAMPA LAKES HEALTH & REHABILITATION CENTER ment during their stay.” bed facility took place in January. Tallahassee-based Summit Care An artist’s rendering shows the ‘neighborhood’ style design For instance, residents can dine Consulting is developing the approx- for Tampa Lakes Health & Rehabilitation Center. The facility in restaurant-style settings with imately 96,000-square-foot center will offer a homelike setting for permanent and temporary freshly prepared meals. Nutritional that will be built in a neighborhood residents. counseling will be provided by a style layout. registered dietician for residents in Each “neighborhood” at Tampa Lakes will Permanent and temporary residents will short- and long-term care. have its own dining and activities areas, spa be welcome. The focus of customized care plans will room, tranquility/therapy room, outdoor Summit Care specializes in nursing home See NURSING, page 11A areas and mobility garden. facilities.
By Kathy Steele
ksteele@lakerlutznews.com
Rays manager recalls north Tampa roots By Kevin Weiss kweiss@lakerlutznews.com
Kevin Cash tries not to dwell on the fact that he’s in the second year of managing his hometown Major League Baseball team. Instead, he separates his duties of being the skipper of the Tampa Bay Rays with the nostalgia of growing up in Lutz, playing in Northside Little League, attending Gaither High School and being a one-time catcher for the Rays in 2005. While he admitted “there’s a lot of excitement” in having the opportunity to return home a year ago, he noted that it’s more important to have an MLB managerial job, regardless of where it’s located. “Whether you’re in the town or not, there’s 30 of those jobs that are pretty prestigious positions, and it’s an honor to be there,” said Cash, 38.“But, it does make it a little bit sweeter, and you can’t deny the fact it gets you back home. “You factor in that it brought my family back to my hometown, and back to a bunch of family and friends.That just adds to everything,” he said. Over the years, Cash, the youngest manager in the MLB, has proven he’s willing to move anywhere to work in professional baseball.
COURTESY OF THE TAMPA BAY RAYS
Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash embarks on his second season leading the ball club. The North Tampa native played in Northside Little League and graduated from Gaither High School, before attending Florida State University and playing eight years in Major League Baseball.
More on Kevin Cash and the Rays in Sports, PAGE 12A.
After an eight-year MLB career as a journeyman catcher that sent him to Toronto, Boston, New York and Houston, Cash became a bullpen coach for the Cleveland Indians, working under manager Terry See RAYS, page 11A
COURTESY OF LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL
As a 12-year-old, Kevin Cash played on the 1989 Northside Little League team that reached the 43rd Little League World Series. His team fell in the quarterfinals to Eastview (California) Little League 12-5.
Local couple shares passion for fossils By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
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Seina Searle will never forget the first time she and her husband, Mike, went to what was then called Fossil Fair. “We walked around with our jaws open,” Seina said.They were in awe of what fossil hunters could find in Florida. The Searles had already begun their amateur quest to find old bits of bone and teeth in a desire to learn more about Florida’s prehistoric past, but when they got to Fossil Fair, she said, they were blown away by the possibilities. That was 1993, and the Searles immediately joined the Tampa Bay Fossil Club. Flash forward 23 years. Mike is now president of the club, which boasts around 600 members and Seina is on the board of directors. She’s coordinating a team of about 140 volunteers for the 29th annual Tampa Bay Fossil Fest, set for this coming weekend at the Florida State Fairgrounds. They hope the event will spark an interest in others that will lead them to join a community devoted to unearthing clues about the creatures that roamed the earth millions of years ago. The couple’s passion for fossils is obvious. An entire room in their Lutz home is filled with shelves of fossils they’ve found while diving in rivers and exploring mines. They have stuff in their garage and out back, too. There’s one section in their fossil room devoted to finds from vacations to Nebraska to go fossil-hunting.They’ve made the trip 19 times and are planning to go there again this year. Their passion has evolved through the years, Mike said. At first, they just wanted to find stuff, he said. “Then we wanted to find good stuff.Then, we wanted to find the most stuff,” he said. “Sometimes you get wrapped up in what
B.C. MANION/STAFF PHOTOS
Seina and Mike Searle get a thrill out of finding fossils to help unravel the mysteries of the prehistoric past.
the value of your collection is worth and what you find. We’ve completely gone through all of those emotions. Now, our goal is to find stuff that’s scientifically valuable, that will help unravel the picture of what was in Florida,” he said. Seina is fascinated by what Florida was like millions of years ago. “It was a lot like Africa now,” she said. “You had the mammoths. Mastodons. Rhinoceros. Huge Bears. Lions.” There were armadillos the size of Volkswagens, Mike said. Seina has had a penchant for unearthing buried treasures since her childhood. See FOSSILS, page 11A
29th annual Tampa Bay Fossil Fest WHAT: Fossils, artifacts, minerals, shells, workshops, silent auctions, door prizes, and activities for kids. WHEN: March 12, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; March 13, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. WHERE: Florida State Fairgrounds, intersection of Interstate 4 and U.S. 301, just east of Tampa COST: $7 for adults, free for children 12 and under For more information, visit TampaBayFossilClub.com.