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Pandemic keeps students home
Status of graduations remains unclear By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
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Florida’s elementary and secondary campuses will not reopen this school year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on April 18. Instead, students and teachers will continue with the distance learning model,
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APRIL 22, 2020
which began in March.That approach began as a way to limit the potential spread of coronavirus disease-2019. (COVID-19). The national death toll for the pandemic reached 37,202 as of April 20, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The economic meltdown has resulted in the loss of more than 22 million American jobs, according to national reports. In explaining why he decided to close school campuses, DeSantis said “We spoke with a lot of folks throughout the state. “There was some differing opinions.
Some parents were not interested in their kids going back. Some others — it’s been tough around the house, they would have liked to have seen them go back,” the governor said, during a news conference that was carried live on WTSP 10 News. “We’ve got pretty good momentum for distance learning. It’s obviously not the ideal situation, but given where we are in the school year, we felt that was the best decision to go forward,” he said. DeSantis said he asked if there would be See STUDENTS, page 7A
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CHRISTINE HOLTZMAN
Celebrating Earth Day, in the midst of a pandemic On April 22, we celebrate Earth Day, which originated in 1970, as a national day to focus on the environment. Take a drive out to the edge of Pasco County and it won’t seem like we’re in the midst of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Rather, there’s a sense of peace and tranquility — while the fields of rye and the garden crops grow, and cows congregate contentedly in a pasture. There’s a splash of color, too, in the wildflowers popping up along the side of the road. Above, when it is ripened, this field of rye, on a farm belonging to the Melton family, reminds Steve Melton of the amber waves of grain, which are celebrated in ‘America the Beautiful.’
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Rasmussen College moving to vacant Target store By Kathy Steele Special to The Laker/Lutz News
Rasmussen College soon will bring higher education to a vacant Target Super Store — the shuttered anchor at Suncoast Crossing plaza, off State Road 54 in Odessa. The college plans to relocate from its current 25,000-square-foot education center at State Road 54 and Sunlake Boulevard, in Land O’ Lakes. Developers are proposing to repurpose the former Target store, which closed in 2016. A conceptual plan filed with Pasco County shows Rasmussen occupying more than 44,000 square feet. One and possibly two other tenants would fill the remaining shell space, separated from Rasmussen by an enclosed courtyard. The flexible plan allows about 100,000 square feet to 115,000 square feet for a single business, or a split design with two See RASMUSSEN, page 7A
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A group of families share a garden plot here in East Pasco — growing sweet corn, okra, kale, squash, mustard greens, turnips, collard greens and broccoli. Meanwhile, the cows hang out nextdoor.
These wildflowers provide a glimpse of the wild and colorful beauty that nature provides.
Pasco expanding film production footprint By Kevin Weiss kweiss@lakerlutznews.com
Pasco County’s tourism office last year rebranded to Experience Florida’s Sports Coast with the idea of becoming a destination for youth and amateur sports. But, the county doesn’t want to be pigeonholed simply as a playground for various athletics tournaments and festivals. The county’s tourism department is now expanding its brand portfolio to include film production — aiming to further boost economic development. The production of “Death Cast,” a feature horror film, showcases the potential for the county to become a filming hotbed. “Death Cast” is about six young, hopeful actors who are looking to land roles in an experimental horror film. Roughly 90% of the movie was filmed in Pasco, including Dade City. Filming took place with a 30-member crew within a twoweek period in January 2018. “Death Cast” writer and director Bobby Marinelli pins the picture as “a really unique take on a classic horror story.” He added:“It’s essentially a horror flasher film, by the numbers, but pulled in like a found footage, reality television-style that we’ve been told that’s it’s not been seen before.”
COURTESY OF TRAVIS CLAYTOR
From left: ‘Death Cast’ director Bobby Marinelli, Experience Florida’s Sports Coast program manager Consuelo Sanchez, and ‘Death Cast’ producer Melissa McNerney.
The independent, low-budget movie is set to be premiered on the film festival circuit this fall. It’s run time is 75 minutes. The film’s main set piece takes place at a two-story house on Hanlon Terrace in Dade City, which has since transformed into a cattle ranch and wedding venue. Set on a large property accented with a long, gravel driveway and shadowy tree canopy, the home helped “establish the look and feel of the rest of the movie,” Marinelli said.
An added bonus — the property featured a mother-in-law suite adjacent to the house that became the production office and base camp for most of the film. “It worked out really well for us,” the director said. Another central location was Crews Lake Wilderness Park in Shady Hills, offering an “amazing rural landscape” for other scenes, he said. “It was honestly another keystone to the film,” Marinelli said of the park,“because we needed just this vast-like endless piece of property.” Marinelli, who grew up in Hudson, was well-acquainted with the county’s landscape beforehand. The Hudson High graduate studied filmmaking at Florida State University. Making a movie in his hometown county required less red tape than other counties and states, he said. The filmmaker cited a streamlined permitting process and accommodating nature from county officials and local residents. He mentioned Crews Lake Park was all but “handed to us on a silver platter” for their use. “When you shoot in other states, particularly like big production states, there’s a lot of hoops to jump through to have that kind See FILM, page 7A