PLANT CITY TIMES &
Observer
Local boxer issues challenge.
SEE PAGE 12.
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 5, NO. 12
FREE
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2017
Property tax increase nears Final budget and first tax rate increase since 1991 to be voted on Sept. 25. SEE PAGE 6 YOUR TOWN
Courtesy of FEMA, Bill Koplitz
FEMA offers aid for roof repair
ALWAYS FAITHFUL, ALWAYS READY
Plant City residents whose roofs were damaged in Hurricane Irma were able to apply for temporary coverings through Operation Blue Roof, a mission managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Operations for FEMA. Residents signed up for the program Sept. 18 through Sept. 22 at the Seffner-Mango Branch Library. If approved, FEMA will provide the homeowners in disaster areas with fiber reinforced sheeting and installation to cover damaged roofs until they were able to be permanently repaired.
Plant City boy pays it forward for birthday Rex Rothman isn’t asking for a new superhero toy or the latest Disney movie for his seventh birthday. Instead, he wants to help others who aren’t as fortunate as him. Rothman is asking friends and family to donate to the Florida Baptist Children’s Home in Lakeland in place of purchasing him presents. His hope is the donations can buy “birthday baskets” for the children at the home.
A former Marine Corps Captain is helping the 72-year-old neighbor she rescued when a tree crushed her house during Hurricane Irma. DANIEL FIGUEROA IV STAFF WRITER
H
urricane Irma took nearly everything from longtime Plant City resident Shari Bickhart, including her life, when a massive oak tree toppled on her home. Now, the ex-Marine who rescued her is reaching for help to piece Bickhart’s life and home back together. WHEN THE STORM COMES
It was near midnight and nearer to pitch black. Irma’s winds were blowing over Christina Peters’ farm, slapping against homes in her Lanier Road neighborhood and swinging tall oak trees to the limits of flexibility. She was getting ready to settle into bed for the night when she sent a final text to reassure a friend. “Everything will be fine as long as one of these trees doesn’t fall,” she wrote. Then the call came. One of the trees fell. Bickhart, Peters’ 72-year-old nextdoor neighbor, needed help. She was watching TV from the same straightback chair she sits in every night when the windows in front of her blew out and the front of her home ripped open. “I thought the wind had blown the front of the house in on me,” Bickhart said. “I didn’t know it was a tree until Christina told me.“ Peters, 30, a former Marine Corps captain, said that’s when her training kicked in. She sprung from bed and ran to Bickhart’s adjacent property. “I hopped out of bed, put on my shoes and just ran over here with a flashlight,” Peters said. “I didn’t know what was happening. I just assumed the wind had blown the trailer open, but then I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, these trees are coming down’ and then I started to get nervous.”
Daniel Figueroa IV
Hillsborough County crew removes downed tree from Shari Bickhart’s home on Sept. 14.
SEE TREE PAGE 3
Thieves strike Plant City Church three times during Irma recovery A group of thieves burglarized First Baptist Church Midway three times and Saint Clement Catholic Church at least once in the days following Hurricane Irma. DANIEL FIGUEROA IV STAFF WRITER
Daniel Figueroa IV
The scene on Quail Oaks Road as HCSO detectives and deputies search the allegedly stolen van and detain suspects.
The dirt roads of farm-filled northeast Plant City were still littered with downed trees and debris from Hurricane Irma Thursday when Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Frank Harned was in his cruiser searching for a stolen church van. First Baptist Church Midway, which as of Friday morning was still without power, had been first burglarized sometime between Monday evening and Tuesday Morning, while much of the city was still in the dark trying to assess damage from the weekend’s hurricane. Wednesday, the thieves returned for the van. After an anonymous tip led police to search the area for the van Thursday morning, Harned got a call on his radio saying the church had been hit again. That’s when he asked for a little divine inter-
vention. “My wife is religious. I have my moments,” Harned said. “But today I said, ‘God, show me this guy so I can take care of your church.’ I almost ran into him.” Minutes after saying his prayer, Harned said, he had to slam on his brakes as the white van sped past him while he was getting ready to turn from Mayday Drive to Wilder Road. He followed the van about a quarter mile to Quail Oaks Drive and pulled it over, just one mile down the road from FBC Midway. Miguel Zavala, the van’s sole occupant, was arrested at the scene. The tip reported Zavala, 18, was seen with two as-yet unidentified males. “Three times they hit us this week,” FBC Midway Pastor Mike Rippy said. “They came back and robbed us with our own van.” In the first strike, Rippy said,
thieves broke a window and unlocked a door stealing snacks and a donation box with $100 in cash from the children’s ministry, as well as Rippy’s computer, iPad and a hard drive with more than 10 years of sermons, notes and other personal work. They also stole a number of church keys. The van was stolen from church property Wednesday afternoon. Sometime between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning, Rippy said, the youth ministry building was broken into. A TV and other items were stolen, he said. According to HCSO, when the van was searched, deputies discovered some of the items from FBC Midway and a number of TVs from St. Clement Catholic Church. “They (HCSO) were able to determine he was in possession of property from St. Clement,” Plant City Police Department Spokesman Al Van Duyne said. “They broke into the separate trailers on the backside of the church. The property was valued at around $1,000.” SEE CHURCH PAGE 3