PLANT CITY TIMES &
Observer
Crest swimming ready for regionals.
SEE PAGE 16.
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 5, NO. 18
FREE
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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2017
‘Completing’ the street Portion of Collins Street redesign puts Plant City on the road to safer streets. SEE PAGE 3.
YOUR TOWN
Breanne Williams
JINKIES!
Spooky tunes and festive treats were bountiful at the food truck rally downtown. SEE PAGE 12
Chamber’s annual bowling tourney The Plant City Chamber of Commerce held its annual bowling tournament Oct. 26 at Family Bowl. There were 12 teams at the event, many of whom came in matching t-shirts, tutus and even sumo wrestling outfits. The cost was $150 per team or $40 for individual players. T Clayton Jenkins Construction Co, Inc. was the official ball return sponsor and Raulerson Castillo & Company — CPA’s and Consultants and Walden Lake Car Wash and Service Center were lane sponsors. South Florida Baptist Hospital won first place and Community Care Center won second place. Jarrett-Scott Ford won Best of the Worst and Hillsborough Title won Best Dressed Team for their sumo outfits. HCC Plant City Campus won the worst team score trophy and Jarrett-Scott Ford won Best Team Score.
Plant City wins planning and design award The Hillsborough County CityCounty Planning Commission awarded Plant City Right. Now. with the 35th annual Planning & Design Award in the investment category. The event was held Oct. 19 at TPepin’s Hospitality Centre. A news release said the judges loved the “visionary approach to economic development and the impressive progress” the group made in a short period of time.
Breanne Williams
Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, Fred Jones and Shaggy Rogers with his pup, Scooby Doo.
Irma forces MLK Center renovations Damage from the storm exacerbated existing issues, causing a closure and renovation. DANIEL FIGUEROA IV STAFF WRITER
If you could turn back time Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 5, so don’t forget to turn your clocks back one hour before going to bed Saturday night, and enjoy that extra hour of sleep. Daylight saving time will begin again March 11.
Hurricane Irma’s winds and rains may have long passed, but at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center, the powerful storm’s effects will be felt going into the new year. As far as city-owned facilities go, the MLK Center was hit the hardest. Issues with mold and water infiltration that were seen as minor and manageable in the decades-old building were heightened in the days following the storm’s strike. Four days passed before the rec center was able to get power back. Four days during
which moisture was trapped in the building, saturating ceiling tiles and acting as an incubator for mold. The city had planned to reopen the center Sept. 18, the week after the storm, when staff noticed the issue. “We were gearing up to get back going when we realized the problem and said, ‘nope,’” Recreation and Parks Director Jack Holland said. “(The storm) set up the perfect environment for this stuff.” It’s a pretty major problem, according to Assistant City Manager Bill McDaniel, but one he said the city is on top of. “Everybody makes use of that building,” McDaniel said. “We need to get it back up ASAP.” Most adult classes at the center had to be canceled, but youth programs, like the after-school program, relocated nearly 40 children to the PlanDaniel Figueroa IV
SEE MLK CENTER PAGE 4
The MLK Recreation Center closed Sept. 18 for maintenance.