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Boundaries gain preliminary approval By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
The Pasco County School Board has given preliminary approval to new school boundaries for the 2017-2018 school year. The board’s action came after a contentious public hearing on the proposed boundaries for Cypress Creek Middle/High School, set to open in fall 2017. The proposed boundaries for Bexley Elementary, being built off State Road 54, on the other hand, drew no public opposition. Bexley is intended to reduce crowding at Oakstead and Odessa elementary schools. The proposed boundaries also provide additional students for Lake Myrtle Elementary. Cypress Creek Middle/High School will
Kurt Browning
Steve Luikart
open initially for students in sixth through 11th grades, and will add a senior class during its second year of operations. Its proposed boundaries will affect Rushe, John Long and Weightman middle schools, and for Sunlake,Wesley Chapel and Wiregrass Ranch high schools.
Despite considerable opposition, school board members supported Superintendent Kurt Browning’s recommended option for the Cypress Creek Middle/High boundaries. Some speakers criticized Browning and questioned his motives for disregarding the boundary committee’s recommended option and substituting his own recommendation. Others, however, applauded Browning, saying his option makes the most sense. In a letter to parents, Browning said his recommended option would result in the least disruption and avoid the possibility of Seven Oaks being rezoned twice in as few as four years. See BOUNDARIES, page 15A
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Eighty-eight-year-old Angel Torres, center, a veteran from Puerto Rico and a resident of the Baldomero Lopez State Veterans Nursing Home, is being positioned to have his photograph taken by Mark Fosket, of Valrico, during the ‘Honor Flight’ ceremony at the nursing home. Gabrielle Perrella, a volunteer from Baltimore, Maryland, who is dressed in a uniform costume, posed with each veteran for their portrait.
2016 marked by rapid growth, touching moments By B.C. Manion
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March 2 –12, 2017 • Plant City, FL
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The national election captured headlines and attention, but 2016 was an eventful year in many other ways, as well, across The Laker/Lutz News coverage area. The big story is the region’s growth. New houses are popping up all over the place, with developments such as Long Lake Ranch, Estancia at Wiregrass Ranch, Connerton, Bexley and Asturia, just some of the residential communities beckoning to buyers. Pasco County is on the move in many other ways, too. A futuristic, technology-based network of communities across 7,800 acres in northeast Pasco County is in its planning stages. Raymond James Financial has closed on a
This is what the new Cypress Creek Middle/High School is expected to look like when it opens, which is slated for fall 2017.
deal to buy 65 acres across from PascoHernando State College’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch, with the financial services giant expected to have hundreds of workers in Pasco County at some point. Florida Hospital Center Ice — a new
150,000-square-foot hockey arena and sports complex — is nearly set to open, and that is expected to be a big draw for both tournaments and tourists. See 2016, page 15A
Sugarcane festival adds spicy twist By Kevin Weiss kweiss@lakerlutznews.com
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For the seventh straight year, the Raising Cane Festival returns to the Pioneer Florida Museum in Dade City. The sweet celebration, however, now comes with a spicy twist. The one-day festival, which highlights the traditional method of milling sugarcane into syrup, will include its first-ever chili cookoff. The event is set for Jan. 14 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at 15602 Pioneer Museum Road. The International Chili Society (ICS), an organization that sanctions nearly 200 chili cook-offs worldwide each year, will sanction the cook-off, expected to feature at least 10 professional chili competitors. The contest was added, in part, to help boost attendance, said event coordinator Brenda Minton. “I was always looking for something else to add to it that might bring in a different crowd — along with the ones that we had,”
COURTESY OF RICHARD RILEY
A flat-belt tractor with steel rollers is another way sugarcane stalk is transformed into cane juice. One is shown here during a previous Raising Cane Festival.
Minton said. Furthermore, she said the cook-off “adds credibility” to the annual Raising Cane Festival. “People come from all over to participate in it,” Minton said, referring to the chili cook-off competitors.They do that, she said,
“because they want to get points, so that at the end of the year they can win prizes from ICS.” The ICS cook-off includes three categories: Chili Verde, Salsa and Traditional Red See SUGARCANE, page 15A