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SEPTEMBER 8, 2021
Ending pandemic requires a unified effort
By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
Doctors are continuing to urge those who are eligible to get vaccinated, to mask up, to keep a social distance from others and to practice good hygiene — in a layered effort to stop the spread of COVID-19. Doctors from the University of South Florida, BayCare and AdventHealth delivered that message in two separate virtual sessions
held last week. “As we opened the school year, it was truly what I call the perfect storm,” Dr. Christina Canody, pediatric service line medical director for BayCare said, during a Zoom call arranged by U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, who represents Florida’s 14th congressional district. “Last year, when we opened, we had mandate mask requirements, we had some of the lowest rates of infectivity, positivity and
prevalence that we had seen during the pandemic,” Canody said. “This year, we were at absolute opposite ends of the spectrum. “We were at very high prevalence and positivity rates, and we continue to see a large number of children impacted,” Canody said. She emphasized that despite the tremenSee PANDEMIC, page 7A
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Pasco commissioner calls for better design standards By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey is calling for better design standards, relating to the appearance of distribution centers. She raised the issue during the Pasco County Commission’s Aug. 24 meeting, showing her colleagues photos to illustrate her point. The photos revealed a distribution center with a large blank wall and sparse landscaping. “This is really not a good thing for the neighborhood,” Starkey said. “We have some design standards for large, big-box buildings, but it left out these kinds of buildings. I guess we weren’t anticipating these kinds of buildings,” the commissioner added. She called upon the county to require the same types of design details for distribution centers as it has for large-scale commercial retail buildings and largescale commercial development projects. “Do not have unbroken blank walls,” Starkey said. More landscaping is needed, too. “One tree for every 60 feet — I think is what we have going on there. I definitely want to see us do better,” she said. The county can do better and, she added, if it raises its expectations, it will get better results. “They (developers) will do better if we ask them to, because I’ve seen that in other counties,” Starkey said. Nectarios Pittos, the county’s director of planning and development, said one possibility would be to add a section to the county’s big-box ordinance to specifically address distribution centers. Another option would to be make these requirements on a case-by-case basis, when individual requests for master planned unit developments (MPUDs) come in, Pittos said, because most of these developments fall into that category. County Attorney Jeffrey Steinsnyder said he would prefer to see a code change, “so that everybody knows the rules coming in.” In the meantime,“if there are MPUDs in process that have these types of uses, that would be something that the planner that is reviewing them considers,” the See DESIGN, page 7A
B INSIDE, PAGE 1B
FRED BELLET
Pasco aids Hurricane Ida rescue dogs Waiting for a new home, Blaze, a 44-pound mixed-breed male, came to Pasco County Animal Services in a group of dogs rescued from Gulfport, Mississippi. The Pasco shelter took in the dogs to help the Charleston Animal Society, which pulled dogs from the Humane Society of Southern Mississippi, due to Hurricane Ida. See the story, page 3A.
Waffle, a mixed-breed male, is awaiting his new family.
This mixed-breed male vies for attention — hoping to entice a new owner to take him home. He’s trying to feel for something under the door.
Zephyrhills tennis center changing membership packages By Kevin Weiss kweiss@lakerlutznews.com
The Sarah Vande Berg Tennis & Wellness Center in Zephyrhills is overhauling its membership pricing model — in an effort to streamline options, encourage more annual memberships and better capture growing demand for play. Among the most noteworthy changes are raising seasonal and non-resident rates essentially across the board, while removing age-specific senior (over 65) and junior (17 and under) packages in favor of a comprehensive one-size-fits-all individual membership. The Zephyrhills City Council approved the requests from the facility’s private operator,Tennis Pro Florida LLC, during an Aug. 23 regular meeting at Zephyrhills City Hall. Zephyrhills entered into a management agreement with Tennis Pro Florida in October 2019, when it was established that any membership changes required council approval. Sarah Vande Berg Tennis & Wellness Center’s Chief Financial Officer Nick Walton made a presentation at the meeting on the proposed changes, expected to take effect this month, following the council’s action. During a presentation to council members, Walton began by detailing the tennis facility’s popularity since its soft opening last September, even in the wind of the coronavirus pandemic. The state-of-the-art complex has seen some 2,000 visitors who have been there at least once. It also has about 175 members
FILE
The Sarah Vande Berg Tennis & Wellness Center in Zephyrhills is altering its membership pricing model for the coming year.
who pay monthly dues. “It’s been a crazy year this past year,” said Walton, emphasizing the consistent turnout. The $4.9 million tennis complex at 6585 Simons Road in Zephyrhills is marketed as “Tampa’s first boutique-style racquet sports and wellness club.” The city-owned, but privately operated facility offers: • 11 regulation-sized outdoor tennis
courts (nine clay surface, two hard surface) • Eight outdoor pickleball courts • Four outdoor padel courts • Outdoor multipurpose turf field • A nearly 8,000-square-foot indoor clubhouse, featuring a full-service restaurant/cafe, fitness center, salt room, yoga room, cryotherapy chamber and pro See TENNIS, page 7A