The Laker-East Pasco-December 14, 2016

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The LAKER

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EAST PASCO EDITION

LAKERLUTZNEWS.COM

A new home for neurological care.

DECEMBER 14, 2016

Overpass Road could be widened By Kathy Steele

ksteele@lakerlutznews.com

Residents can review a proposal for improvements to Overpass Road at a public hearing on Dec. 15 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., at the First Congregational Church of Zephyrhills, 7900 Fort King Road in Zephyrhills.

Pasco County, the Florida Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration will host the event. Maps and related documents will be available for review. There will be a formal presentation at 6 p.m., as well as opportunities, before and after, to offer comments and ask questions about the project.

Final approval for the project is expected by spring 2017. Overpass Road currently is an east/west, two-lane road from Old Pasco Road to slightly less than a mile east of Boyette Road, where it ends. The approximately nine-mile project See OVERPASS, page 11A

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.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF RICHARD K. RILEY

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Ron Oakley took the oath of office as Pasco County District 1 commissioner from Matt Maggard, a Zephyrhills attorney and Oakley’s nephew.

Ron Oakley sworn in as Pasco County commissioner By Kathy Steele

ksteele@lakerlutznews.com

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Ron Oakley brings more than 50 years of business experience and a passion for public service to his new job as Pasco County District 1 commissioner. Oakley was sworn into office on Nov. 29. He replaced former Commissioner Ted Schrader who decided not to seek re-election and instead made an unsuccessful bid for property appraiser. Though this is the first time Oakley has served as an elected official, he’s not new to public service. He was appointed to serve on the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s board, and served as treasurer, vice chairman and chairman. It was while serving on that board, Oakley said that he began “loving public service.” Oakley, 71, is chairman of the Boys & Girls Club of Lacoochee. He also sponsors the annual John Anderson Benefit Concert in Dade City, with proceeds aiding local charities. Oakley views elected office as a new way of serving, and he takes it seriously. Before and after the election, he frequently could be found in the audience at commission meetings, listening and observing.

Ron Oakley received congratulations from Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano and Mary Lecznar, senior executive assistant for the Pasco County Board of Commissioners. Oakley was sworn in on Nov. 29 as commissioner for District 1.

“I did that as preparation,” he said.“I’m very, very honored to be elected commissioner of District 1 and to serve the people of Pasco County.” Oakley grew up in Dade City and worked in the family’s businesses, including cattle ranching, citrus growing and a truck transport business for liquid food products. He sees his business experience as a plus in dealing with the county’s budgets. “I’m going to focus on everything as it comes up and try to do my best to come up with solutions,” Oakley said.“I’ll keep taxes down and be frugal with your money. It’s got to be used in the proper way.”

High on his list of priorities is road maintenance. The county is about 13 years behind in addressing crumbling roads, he said. “It didn’t happen in one year or four years, but you have to start somewhere, and money is an issue.” Expanding some two lanes roads to four lanes, and creating greater connectivity between east and west Pasco is important, Oakley added. He supports extending Ridge Road, but also shares in the county’s frustrations over See OAKLEY, page 11A

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Mock battle presents live history lesson Knowing Your History

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By Doug Sanders

Special to The Laker/Lutz News

OR

352-597-0009

B INSIDE, PAGE 1B

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early 200 re-enactors from all over Florida take part in the mock battle that’s held every year. With about 1,500 spectators watching from a hillside, the re-enacted battle takes place a few hundred feet from the actual battleground inside the Dade Battle Historic State Park in Sumter County. The real battle, that took place 181 years ago, started the Second Seminole War. That war would last seven years, cost $40 million in historic dollars, and claim the lives of 1,500 U.S. soldiers. Two months after what would come to be known as “Dade’s Massacre,” Gen. Edmund Gaines and 1,100 of his men would be the first U.S. soldiers to find the site that was still scattered with the remains of dead bodies, with buzzards

DOUG SANDERS/PHOTOS

Frank Laumer stands outside his hand-built home in Hernando County. He lives about 15 miles from the Dade Battlefield Historic State Park in Sumter County, where he first took his family for a picnic in 1962. Laumer has written three books about the history of Dade’s Massacre. The library in his home also serves as the headquarters for the Seminole Wars Foundation.

circling overhead. An eyewitness account by Seminole leader Halpatter Tustenuggee (Alligator, as the white man called him) later described how it all began: “Micanopy fired the first rifle, the signal

agreed upon, when every Indian arose and fired, which laid upon the ground, dead, more than half the white men.” Dade’s Massacre is often overshadowed See BATTLE, page 11A


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