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A new home for neurological care.
Experienced neurologist Alexander Kiss, M.D., has joined Bayfront Health Medical Group. Dr. Kiss treats neck, back and facial pain, strokes, migraines, Alzheimer’s, dementia and more. Call 813-602-8805 and ask about same-day appointments.
6751 Gall Blvd. • Zephyrhills
BayfrontDadeCity.com Member of the Medical Staff of Bayfront Health Dade City.
EAST PASCO EDITION
Concerns about Zika on the rise By B.C. Manion
bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
The level of unease about the Zika virus is on the rise in Florida, according to a new poll conducted by the Saint Leo University Polling Institute. The online poll, which was conducted Aug. 14 to Aug. 18, surveyed 1,500 adults in Florida, according to a news release from Saint Leo University. Polling ended a day before Gov. Rick Scott announced that mosquitos are spreading the virus in the Miami area and five days before the governor announced a non-travel related case of Zika was found in Pinellas
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The Zika virus is spread through bites of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is the same mosquito that spreads the dengua and chikunguna viruses.
County, the release says. The university’s August poll found that 79.3 percent of respondents say they are “very” or “somewhat” concerned about the virus. Of those remaining, 1.1 percent say they are “somewhat unconcerned,” 7.5 percent indicate they are “not at all concerned,” and 2.1 percent say they are unsure or do not know enough to answer. The poll had a plus or minus margin of error of 3.0 percent. The polling institute’s June survey of 500 adults in Florida showed 71.2 percent of respondents expressing concern. See ZIKA, page 13A
Conservation work yields statewide award By Kathy Steele
ksteele@lakerlutznews.com
Kaitlyn Greenough has nurtured a curiosity about nature and love of the outdoors since she was very young. She also began her lifelong relationship with girl scouting at an early age.As a matter of fact, she was in kindergarten when she became a Daisy scout. Her love of nature and of scouting both have shaped her life, and offered her opportunities to get involved in volunteer work in the community. Greenough recently received accolades for the work she has done, as a Girl Scout and a conservationist, to teach elementaryage children about water conservation. The 20-year-old spent about 130 hours, over three years, researching and designing a water conservation course in her quest for a Gold Award, the highest honor bestowed on a Girl Scout. She taught the course at Crystal Springs Preserve, a 525-acre sanctuary in Pasco County. For years, she attended summer camps at the preserve. She began volunteering there when she was 8. In July, the Florida Wildlife Federation name Greenough the Youth Conservationist of the Year.The award was bestowed on July 15 in Bradenton. “It’s the coolest award I’ve ever gotten,” said Greenough, the Zephyrhills High grad-
Auto Accident? Slip and Fall?
AUGUST 31, 2016
PHOTOS COURTESY OF KAITLYN GREENOUGH
Kaitlyn Greenough stands in the foreground as her summer camp students wade into the water at Crystal Springs Preserve during class on water conservation. Greenough is the Florida Wildlife Federation’s Youth Conservationist of the Year for 2016.
uate who is now a junior at the University of South Florida. A few months earlier, Greenough and other area Girl Scouts received their Gold awards from the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida. The Gold Award honors extraordinary leadership and community involvement by scouts in ninth through 12th grades. Greenough also received a lifetime
membership in the Girl Scouts of the United States of America. The young woman treasures the experiences she had through the Girl Scout program. “It’s about empowering women, and I really like that the exposure is generational,” she said.“You want to have women See AWARD, page 13A
Various issues surface during town hall meeting By Kevin Weiss
kweiss@lakerlutznews.com
East Pasco residents flocked to the Dade City Courthouse to meet face-to-face with Rep. Gus Bilirakis (FL-12); State Rep. Danny Burgess, R-San Antonio; and State Sen. Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby. About 100 residents gathered inside the Board of County Commissioners meeting room on Aug. 22 to voice their thoughts and concerns with their local representatives via a question-and-answer style town hall meeting. One topic broached extensively throughout the nearly three-hour session: greater veteran care. One speaker voiced his concern about the increasing suicide rate amongst veterans, and the steps being taken to combat the epidemic. The issue is a serious one, according to an August 2016 report by the U.S.Veterans Affairs Department that revealed a 32 percent increase in veteran suicides between 2001 and 2014. In 2014, veterans accounted for 18 percent of all adult suicides in the United States, with an average of 20 veteran suicides per day, according to the report. Burgess suggested a possible solution is to have the state collaborate with federal partners to help fund more alternative therapeutic methods — hyperbaric oxygen therapy, yoga, and service dogs — for vets.
warriors coming back from overseas — let’s bridge the gap between their skills in the military and what they can do in the state of Florida,” he said. “We should make it easier for them to get licensed in the same skills that they’ve been trained for in the military,” Burgess said. Bilirakis, vice chair of the U.S. House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, said funding needs to be better allocated toward high KEVIN WEISS/STAFF PHOTOS quality medical care for vets. A town hall meeting was held on Aug. 22 at the Dade City “We’ve got to make Courthouse. From left to right: State Sen. Wilton Simpson, U.S. the VA stronger, but Rep. Gus Bilirakis and State Rep. Danny Burgess we’ve got to give our vet“It’s a staggering number of veterans erans options to seek private care if they that commit suicide regularly,” Burgess said. wish,” Bilirakis said.“We need more veterans “They’re in combat, they’re overseas, they’re who are mental health counselors, and we in horrible conditions, and then they come need more diversified therapies within the back home and that adjustment period, VA.“Not one size fits all — that’s the probsometimes, is very difficult to make.” lem with the VA,” he said. Providing more jobs for veterans, too, is Bilirakis noted there are still significant another prong to combat mental health is- issues within the VA’s leadership structure, sues, Burgess said. and its spending habits. “We have highly skilled, highly trained “We need to hold the VA accountable,” Bilirakis said.“We passed legislation to give the secretary the authority to fire individuals for not doing a good job — most of them are on the executive level.” Another topic presented during the gathering were failures within the criminal justice system. One speaker, a former inmate and drug user, shared her personal struggles within the prison system. She said that increasing diversionary and rehabilitation programs are, in some cases, more impactful than long-term incarceration in reducing recidivism rates. The three politicians agreed that programs such as PACE Center for Girls and
About 100 constituents attended the question-and-answer style town hall, which lasted about three hours.
See MEETING, page 13A