Volume 17 Issue 17
Inside: Sushi Ko’s New Menu & Location!
August 21, 2009
See pages 44!
The Direct-Mail Newspaper Serving New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Since 1993! THIS INDEPENDENT COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER IS DIRECTLY MAILED TO: NEW TAMPA: Arbor Greene • Cory Lake Isles • Cross Creek • Grand Hampton • Heritage Isles • Hunter’s Green • Hunter’s Key • K-Bar Ranch • Lake Forest • Live Oak Preserve • Pebble Creek • Richmond Place • Tampa Palms • West Meadows WESLEY CHAPEL: Aberdeen • Belle Chase • Brookside • Chapel Pines • Country Walk • Lexington Oaks • Meadow Pointe • New River • Northwood • Pinewalk • Pine Ridge • Saddlebrook • Saddleridge Estates • Saddlewood • Seven Oaks • Lakes at Northwood • The Villages of Wesley Chapel • Wesley Pointe • Westbrook Estates • Williamsburg
New Hillsborough County School Year Starts August 25! By Michael Smith By the time you receive this newspaper, there will be just one more weekend of freedom left for the thousands of Hillsborough County public school students, as the Hillsborough School District (HCSD) begins the 2009-10 school year on Tuesday, August 25. According to Steve Ayers, the District’s director of parent and community relations, the projected first-day enrollment for the new school year is just over 180,000 students in grades K12, which is relatively unchanged from last year. This will mark the second year in a row that the District has seen almost no increase in enrollment, after experiencing record high increases just a few years ago, during the height of the real estate building boom. The lack of growth in enrollment is reflected in the fact that only three of
the 12 public schools in the New Tampa area are projected to open the new year with more students than they were designed to accommodate. Those schools are: Wharton High, which is expected to welcome 2,366 students, or 101 percent of the school’s design capacity, on the first day of school; and Dr. Richard F. Pride and Hilda B. Turner elementaries, both of which are expected to open at 101 percent of their respective capacities — Pride with a projected first-day enrollment of 941 students, and Turner, with 891 students. Ayers notes, however, that these numbers are likely to fluctuate as the new year progresses. All of the other New Tampa-area schools are projected to open the new year under capacity, although several are close enough to full that the District has not allowed any choice assignments at those schools, according to George Gaffney, the former Wharton High
principal who currently is the general director of Area 3 schools (which includes all of the schools in New Tampa). Just a few years ago, nearly all of New Tampa’s schools were overcrowded, but with a pressing need for new schools all across the county, District officials simply added new classroom wings to several of the schools here over the past few years. Now, Ayers says, HCSD has no plans for any new schools here or anywhere else in its current Five-Year Plan, which extends through the 2012-13 school year.
Pride Elementary Welcomes New Principal
Speaking of Pride, the Lions welcome new principal Cindy Land, who replaces former principal Jamie Johnson, who resigned over the summer. This year, Land says her numberone goal is to put to rest the controversy that erupted at the school last year, as
New Pride Elementary principal Cindy Land is proud to be leading the Lions this year. administrators, and especially Johnson, clashed with some parents of students at the school over the construction of a cell phone tower on the school grounds. The parents claimed that they should have been notified so as to give their input and voice their concerns before the tower was built, and further, that Johnson refused to See “Back To School” on page 22.
Trying To Help Out Local Fund Raisers In Our Distribution Area
Also Inside This Issue!
LOCAL NEWS, BUSINESS, SPORTS & EDUCATION
NEIGHBORHOOD MAGAZINE!
Two Area Residents Survive Rattlesnake Bites; Plus, Park Closing Update, Lawsuit Filed In Student’s Hazing Death, News From The New Tampa Chamber Of Commerce & Much More!
Photos From New Tampa’s National Night Out Events, A Review Of The New Menu At Sushi Ko, Your Chance To Win In Our 2009 Dining Survey, Funny Divas & Deacon Blues Entertain & More!
See pages 3-30!
See pages 31-48!
U.S. Coast Guard Petty Ofc. (3rd Class) Brandon DeVore. about six months ago, and says he fell in love with the sport, and now regularly rides with a group of friends at New Tampa’s Flatwoods Park and on the Suncoast Trail in Pinellas County. He See “Fund Raisers” on page 24.
ECRWSS
As a member of the U.S. Coast
Postal Customer
Biking For A Good Cause
Guard, New Tampa resident Brandon DeVore spends a lot of time on the high seas, rescuing stranded boaters, chasing after drug smugglers and picking up those would-be immigrants who are trying to float their way to the U.S. Lately, however, when he’s not on the water, DeVore has been spending a lot of time in the saddle of his bicycle, as he prepares to take part in the 21st Annual Intercoastal Waterway Century Ride, a 100-mile bike ride that will be held on Sunday, October 25, in Cocoa Beach. DeVore, whose actual rank is Petty Officer Third Class, is assigned to the Coast Guard cutter Venturous, which is based in St. Petersburg when it isn’t out on patrol for up to 60 days at a time. The 26-year-old Tampa native has been on full-time active duty with the USCG for the past three years. “And it is a very rewarding job,” he says. DeVore took up bike riding only
PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID TAMPA FL PERMIT 2801
Given the state of the U.S. economy, we know times are tough all over, but even in a tough economic climate, there still are a lot of charitable causes and organizations that are in need of help, in the form of both monetary contributions and volunteers who give of their time and effort — and thankfully, people in our community are willing to roll up their sleeves to help.
Over the past several weeks, we’ve been contacted by a number of local folks who are looking for help with raising funds for a variety of worthwhile causes, so we thought we would present just a few of their stories in the hopes that our readers might find one or more of the causes that tugs at their heartstrings and offer some assistance.
Dated Material Please Rush!
By Michael Smith
For Advertising Information Call 813-910-2575 • Volume 17, Issue 17 • August 21, 2009 • www.NTNeighborhoodNews.com
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