ee r F
The LAKER
LAKERLUTZNEWS.COM
Auto Accident? Slip and Fall? FREE CONSULTATION
No Fees Or Costs Unless You Win HOLLIDAY KARATINOS LAW FIRM, P.L. HelpingInjuredPeople.com Call Attorney
JIM HOLLIDAY 813-868-1887 “I Will Aggressively Fight To Protect Your Legal Rights” 18920 N. Dale Mabry Hwy Ste 101 Lutz, FL (Corner of Sunlake & Dale Mabry)
Walk-Ins Welcome
Your Home Sold
GUARANTEED or I will buy it myself.* Call me today for your FREE, NO OBLIGATION market analysis. *Some conditions apply
Ernest C. Van Glahn P.A., REALTOR® MRP
EXIT PRIME REALTY 20625 Amberfield Dr. Land O’ Lakes, FL 34638 (727) 267-2347 cell
CALL TODAY FIXED TODAY!
SEE INSIDE FOR GREAT COUPONS! A/C LICENSE #CAC1816647 PLUMBING LIC. #CFC1428982 ELECTRICAL LIC. #EC0001103
Winner 2012, 2013, 2014
Air Conditioning • Plumbing • Electrical
CornerstonePros.com
813-949-4445
B INSIDE, PAGE 1B
WESLEY CHAPEL/NEW TAMPA EDITION
NOVEMBER 18, 2015
Elementary W causes boundary shifts By B.C. Manion
bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
The sight of a new elementary school under construction would seem to be a cause for celebration. But, even when students can attend a new school, and even when the new school will reduce crowding at other area schools, the prospect of boundary changes for existing schools is often fraught with controversy. “Folks don’t want to move. I can understand. Folks are loyal to their school,” said Chris Williams, director of planning for Pasco County Schools. Elementary W, being built off Mansfield Boulevard in Wesley Chapel, is slated to open in August 2016. It will affect the current boundaries for Seven Oaks, Double Branch, Sand Pine and
Elementary W boundary meeting WHAT: Community meeting to discuss proposed boundaries for Elementary W, a school under construction in Wesley Chapel that’s expected to open in August 2016. WHERE: Denham Oaks Elementary, 1422 Oak Grove Blvd., in Lutz WHEN: Nov. 19 at 6 p.m. WHO: All are welcome
Denham Oaks elementary schools — if the Pasco County School Board approves a plan recommended by a school boundary committee. See ELEMENTARY, page11A
B.C. MANION/STAFF PHOTO
A sign lets passersby know that the construction of Elementary School W is being supported by Pasco for Penny funding.
Festival introduces new stables to Wesley Chapel By Michael Murillo
mmurillo@lakerlutznews.com
Sarah Russell took horse-riding lessons when she was 4. At age 7, she got her first American Saddlebred. By the time she was 15, she was a world champion equestrian. “It’s just my passion,” Russell said. Now, it’s her business as well. Russell opened Sarah Russell Stables Oct. 1, with a 24-stall barn, covered arena and a half-dozen training horses. She lives on the property, located at 29319 Hadlock Drive in Wesley Chapel, with her husband, Ross, and son, Kellan. They’ll host a free Fall Festival event on Nov. 29 to serve as an open house of sorts, and introduce the business to the community. Russell has worked in stables locally, and in places like Kentucky. The 29-year-old has spent her life competing and caring for horses, and has noticed the good and bad characteristics of various stables. She has taken the best of her experiences and put them into one Wesley Chapel business. “I think the Wesley Chapel area is really an untapped market for our business. It’s such a growing and booming town, it was a great opportunity to start something like (a new stable) there.” Russell has taken advantage of the op-
MICHAEL MURILLO/STAFF PHOTO
Stephanie Burchette, who works at Ross Russell’s veterinary practice, takes a horse out for a little sunshine and fresh air. Millionheir’s Row is one of the client horses at Sarah Russell Stables in Wesley Chapel, which opened on Oct. 1.
portunity by offering riding lessons for all levels of riders. She specializes in saddleseat training, a challenging discipline which requires riders to handle a double bridle when guiding their horse. As a competitive rider, Russell claimed multiple national and world championships, and memorabilia of her titles are displayed at her business. But, you don’t have to be an aspiring world champion to get something out of horse riding, she said. She’s taught adults who had never been on a horse, and they came away with a new passion and pastime. One adult student went from never riding before to owning three horses. While grownups can enjoy valuable experiences by riding, children and young adults learn lessons that stay with them when they’re out of the saddle. “It’s such a commitment. It teaches you dedication, and determination and hard work,” Russell said. “You learn to develop a connection between you and your horse which is so good for so PHOTO COURTESY OF SARAH RUSSELL many other aspects of life.” The stalls are already fillBefore Sarah Russell owned her own stables, she was a sucing up with students who cessful saddleseat competitor. At age 17, she was already a board their horses there, three-time world champion.
and Russell keeps the training up even when the owners aren’t around. The students still come by frequently to bond with their horse, she said. Russell and her husband are originally from Michigan. When they moved to the area, they lived in a more traditional subdivision. But, that wasn’t the life she wanted, and having her own business on 18 acres suits her much better. Her husband is a veterinarian whose office also is on the property, and Kellan, while only 2, already enjoys being around and sitting on horses. In a couple of years, he’ll be his mother’s age when she started taking lessons, and Russell believes he’ll take to it like she did. Owning a stable isn’t easy, Russell admits. While she already has clients whose horses get trained on a daily basis, there’s still a lot of work to do less than two months into her new career. “It’s a lot of work. It’s a big undertaking and a huge commitment, but it’s what I’ve always wanted to do, so it’s a great thing,” she said.“It’s totally worth it. Every minute of it.” The Fall Festival will run from noon until 4 p.m. It will include local vendors, face painting, a bounce house and pony rides. For information about the festival or the stables, contact Russell at (810) 955-5023 or sarussell8@gmail.com.
App seeks to reduce property fraud By Kathy Steele
online to register the name or names to be monitored. They choose a notification method including by email or phone. The Pasco County Clerk & Alerts go out when a document is Comptroller’s Office is now offering resirecorded with the registered name or dents a free app that will help protect names. Property owners can verify against property fraud. whether they initiated the activity. The app seeks to take aim at what the A typical fraud might include filing a Federal Bureau of Investigation reports as forged deed that records a new owner, and the fastest-growing, white-collar crime in & Comptroller Paula O’Neil. then taking out a mortgage on the properthe nation. As of last week, four alerts had been ty. Such activity, in some cases, could go The Pasco County Clerk & sent out, though no one had yet reported undetected until the true owner refinanced Comptroller’s Office is offering residents any fraudulent activity. or sold the property. the app to help them monitor documents The app is an early warning system that O’Neil said the app also could protect such as deeds, wills and liens filed with works in the same way a credit card alert people from phone scammers who illicit Pasco County. program does, O’Neil explained. personal information later used to file false Pinellas, Polk and Palm Harbor counties While alerts don’t automatically mean documents. have launched similar preventative pro- something is wrong, people will know if If fraud is suspected, law enforcement grams during the past year, using up-to-date they need to question an activity, she said. or another appropriate agency can be consocial media technology. “It lets them know if something is tacted for follow up. Since launching the app in September, wrong,” said O’Neil. “There are no fees for To register call (800) 747-4600, or visit nearly 110 people have registered for the any of it.” www.pascoclerk.com and go to the link program in Pasco, said Pasco County Clerk Residents or business owners can go for “property fraud alert service.”
ksteele@lakerlutznews.com