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The LAKER
APRIL 15, 2015
EAST PASCO EDITION
LAKERLUTZNEWS.COM
Can loan pave way for 4-lane SR 56? By Kathy Steele ksteele@lakerlutznews.com
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The money isn’t in anyone’s bank account yet, but a state loan program might be the solution to fund the widening of State Road 56 to four lanes from Wesley Chapel to Zephyrhills, according to a press release from State Rep. Danny Burgess and State Sen. John Legg. The lawmakers, in consultation with the Florida Department of Transportation staffers, including Secretary Jim Boxold, are looking to the State Infrastructure Bank as a potential source for a low-interest loan. The loan could be made to Pasco County for the cost of building additional traffic lanes. The infrastructure bank provides loans and other assistance to public or private entities for projects that qualify for aid under federal and state law. To start the process moving, a letter of interest must be submitted by May 29 for the loan to be included in the bank’s 2016 cycle. “This is a much needed project,” said Burgess. “It’s important for economic growth to our area, a benefit that affects all
Danny Burgess
FILE PHOTO
A low-interest loan from the state may be a way to create a four-lane extension of State Road 56, which now ends in Wesley Chapel, over to Zephyrhills.
John Legg
of Pasco and all of the region.” County officials plan to meet with state officials on April 16 to get details on how the loan would work. “We’re still in early stages of exploring this,” said David Goldstein, Pasco’s assistant county attorney. To many, the four-lane extension is a decade-long unfulfilled promise. “I’m afraid if we let this go by now, it will be another decade,” said Charles Proctor, president of the Zephyrhills City Council and a long-time Zephyrhills’ business owner. Current plans are to extend State Road 56 from Meadow Pointe Boulevard in Wiregrass Ranch to U.S. 301 in Zephyrhills, as a two-lane road. Even for this two-lane See SR 56, page 9A
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B INSIDE, PAGE 1B
Zephyrhills author is a natural at telling stories By Michael Murillo mmurillo@lakerlutznews.com
Some readers like religious stories. Others enjoy a good mystery. Still others might be drawn to a tale of light romance. All of them would find something in Dede Hammond's newest book. The Zephyrhills’ resident published "Open the Door to One Short Story After Another" late last year. The book is a collection of diverse stories. Instead of pickMICHAEL MURILLO/STAFF PHOTO ing one genre and filling the Dede Hammond has filing cabinets full of stories, but many of them can now be found in her books, pages with a collection of simi- including ‘Open the Door to One Short Story After Another,’ which came out last December. lar stories, she has allowed different types of tales to be part of her latest work. As a result, she self-published "With the known for his surprise endings. For Hammond, 76, Best of Intentions" on Amazon, where it's Although "Open the Door" contains difwriting has been a way available as a physical book and in their ferent types of stories, they do have some to be creative since she Kindle e-book format. "Open the Door" is things in common: None of them have curswas 10 years old. also available on Amazon ing or explicit adult content. Hammond "My dad said I had a in physical book likes to create what she calls "safe" stories vast imagination, so I figformat.And, there's that keep the reader engaged with interestured I'd better use it," enough unpub- ing plots and perhaps an unexpected twist she said. lished material for at the end, but are safe for just about anyone That imagination led at least one more to read. to her short story collecbook. Many of the stories were originally printtion, as well as her first And that’s even if ed in magazines, and many are a testament book, 2013's "With the she didn’t write any- to the author’s persistence. Best of Intentions." thing else. "I sent 23 to Woman's World before the Neither book was But she’s still writ- 24th one was accepted," she recalls. done to fill a need to be a published auing. Now there are plenty of "safe" stories for thor. Hammond was a feature writer for In fact, Hammond the Hammonds and their four children, a newspaper in New York, before she reruns a regular writing eight grandchildren and two great-grandchiltired to Florida. group that includes peo- dren to enjoy.And with a growing collection She wrote the book because she wanted ple who are working on biographies and of stories and several still unpublished, there to put her stories in one place for her chil- other types of stories. should be more to come. dren, rather than them having to dig One of the regulars is her husband of 28 "I like to share the stories with people, to through her filing cabinets to read them. years, Gordon. He's published his own col- tell you the truth," Hammond said. "I never "Julie (her daughter) always wanted to lection of essays that blend humor and thought about making money.That wasn't have the stories, and she thought I'd just put political views. He's a fan of his wife's sto- the point." it on a disk," Hammond explained. "I ries, and prefers one genre in particular. For more information about "Open the thought, she doesn't want that file in there "I like the mystery stories that she writes. Door to One Short Story After Another" and full of stories when I pass on. And so I They have an 'O. Henry' ending," he said, re- "With the Best of Intentions," visit thought I'd just put them in a book." ferring to the turn-of-the-century author Amazon.com and search "Dede Hammond."
Compromise settles dispute over racetracks By Kathy Steele ksteele@lakerlutznews.com
Dirt bike champion Chad Reed agreed to give up two hours of practice time on Saturdays, and the Pasco County Commission agreed to let him have a new permit for his dirt bike training compound on Duck Lake Canal Road. The Saturday restrictions are part of a negotiated agreement that also requires Reed to maintain recording equipment for timestamped videos of racetrack activities. He must keep the videos for 30 days for potential county review. Other rules spell out additional riding hours during the week, the number of riders at any given time, and a ban on any public uses for the tracks. Reed and neighbors on the rural road in east Pasco have been battling for several
years over the use of motorcycle racing tracks that Reed says are essential to his professional career as a racer in Motocross and Supercross competitions.The Australian native is a multiple American Motorcyclist Association Supercross champion. Some of his neighbors say Reed’s dirt bikes roaring around and around the tracks create excessive noise at all hours. “We’d prefer to have crickets and cows …. but we understand property rights,” said Dade City attorney Len Johnson. He represents the Larkin family — neighbors to the Reeds — and supported the compromise. “We’ve been working diligently to come up with something that works on all sides.” The county sued Reed in 2013 and won an injunction to block use of most of the racetracks. One track approved in 2004 was excluded from the ban.The lawsuit alleged
that Reed built additional tracks that didn't have county approval. The commission voted on April 8 to approve a new permit as well as a settlement agreement to end the litigation.A special magistrate will have authority to mediate future disputes between Reed and his neighbors. “We think this is a great solution, so we won’t keep having these problems,” said attorney Barbara Wilhite, who represents Reed and his wife Ellie Jo Reed.The Reeds are trustees for the Reed Children Trust, the property’s owner of record. The total property is about 63 acres, with about 24 acres developed as a racing compound. All tracks are outdoors but include two replicas of indoor tracks as well as two buildings and a go-kart track. See RACETRACKS, page 9A