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Pasco schools brace for tough budget
By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
Pasco County Schools is gearing up for a tough budget year. “We have been working on budget,” Pasco County Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning told school board members at a May 5 virtual school board meeting. “It’s not a so-rosy picture of a budget. We’re working with department budgets and the district budget as a whole.We know that it’s going to be tight, and we’re very cautious going into this next budget and
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school year, not knowing what the Legislature is going to do, or possibly do, as it relates to any special session. “I just wanted the board to know that we’re having some very, very, very serious discussions about the budget,” Browning said. Board member Allen Altman told his colleagues that they need to be forward-thinking about the possibility of budget cuts. He said having to make cuts during the Great Recession was “the worst experience of my elected career.”
“I can tell you that I’ve talked to a couple of directors of state agencies in the past week, who have quietly been told to look at what a 20% cut would do. And, I looked today at the sales tax figures for Florida for month of March and they were down $770 million, and April is expected to be even worse. “We don’t need to start jumping out of ships yet, but I think that it would be prudent for us to be cognizant of the situation that the state and other local governments See BUDGET, page 9A
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Signs of support and appreciation Expressions of appreciation for first responders and health care workers, and words of encouragement for the community are showing up in all sorts of ways during this coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). John Bush, left, shift manager; Shelly Mathis, morning manager; and Mason Bragg, stand next to a red ribbon, symbolizing support for first responders. They work at the McDonald’s in Dade City.
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put out the fire. Less than a week later, Northrup and Animal Control Officer Stephanie Martin responded to a call about loose dogs. While there, an elderly woman told Northrup that her caregiver had been physically harming her, had moved relatives into her home and had been letting her animals run loose. While Officer Martin talked to the caregiver, Northrup called the Florida Abuse Hotline, Pasco Fire Rescue and the Pasco Sheriff’s Office. As a result, the elderly woman’s family moved her into assisted living, where she can get the care she needs, the nomination says. In another case, Northrup noticed a woman was running in a dangerous intersection, yelling for someone to hit her with their car. Northrup called to get the woman help, then waited for it to arrive. He also helped Animal Services’ return to owner rate by 25% in one year, by reuniting more than a dozen animals to their owners in the field, without the animals having to
Small businesses are struggling to reopen amid the uncertainties wrought by the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Chambers of commerce are right there with them on the front line. They are dealing with staff layoffs in some cases. They’ve been working from home.They have fewer resources. And, even as chambers begin reopening their offices, the priority is the economic recovery of member businesses. Ribbon cuttings, for a while, are on hold. “We had to pivot,” said Hope Kennedy, president of The North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce. From Day One of the shutdown, there was an urgency to how chambers should respond.They had to rethink what it means to network and provide services that would help businesses stay solvent and resilient. To be sure, there were phone calls. Lots of them. But, the new virtual world meant rethinking social media and technology. Zoom meetings and virtual town halls blossomed. Websites became clearinghouses for grants and forgivable loans, and the latest information businesses needed to survive, and now to reopen, safely. “We’ve done a lot of individual communicating with our members,” Kennedy said. Initially, the focus was on helping business owners apply for financial aid, either locally or from the federal Payroll Protection Program. Chambers partnered with Pasco County and the Pasco Economic Development Council to coordinate efforts to deliver financial aid to distressed businesses and residents. Kennedy heard from business owners who told her,“if we had not had all this information on our website, they wouldn’t have gotten them.” As businesses reopen, she added,“We’ve turned into a repository for businesses that need to rehire.”
See OFFICER, page 9A
See CHAMBERS, page 9A
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COURTESY OF PASCO COUNTY ANIMAL SERVICES
Michael Northrup responded to more than 1,000 animal control calls in 2019, and he helped some people along the way. His professionalism earned him the Animal Control Officer of the Year award, from a statewide organization.
This animal control officer helps pets, and people By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
Michael Northrup, who works for Pasco County Animal Services, has been named Animal Control Officer of the Year by the Florida Animal Control Association. A nomination submitted on Northrup’s behalf said, in part, that during 2019 Northrup displayed “compassion, dedication, expertise, awareness and incredible decision-making.” The nomination noted that Northrup responded to more than 1,000 animal control calls that year. And, while he’s an animal control officer, he’s also provided help that goes beyond the call of duty, to Pasco residents. For example, the nomination notes, that on Aug. 9, as Northrup was driving home from work on the Suncoast Parkway he noticed cars veering around another vehicle. As he got closer, he realized the vehicle was on fire — and, as it pulled out onto the grass, the grass caught fire, too. Northrup pulled over, radioed Pasco Fire Rescue and the Sheriff’s Office for assistance, then he used a fire extinguisher to