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INTHISISSUE Students soar at annual Eagle Extravaganza.
PlantCity-area Sponsorscongratulate athletesready 2014FloridaStrawberry forcollegeball. Festival queen and court. PAGE 11 PAGE 7
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OUR TOWN
+ Happy 71st anniversary!
FREE • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2014
update
NEVER FORGET by Amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor
ONE SON’S
by Amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor
FDLE will investigate police chief’s termination
LEGACY
Stone Ledge Manor residents Lloyd and Mavis Evers celebrated recently their 71st anniversary. They were married Jan. 31, 1943. Together, they have four children, 10 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren, and are members of Hopewell Baptist Church.
The city’s investigation uncovered potentially damaging actions by City Commissioner Billy Keel.
+ Pageant sign-ups continue Saturday
Registration for the second annual Blueberry Festival Pageant sign up will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8, at Keel and Curley Winery, 5202 Thonotosassa Road. The 7-to-9 and 10-to-11 age groups are full, so don’t delay for the other groups. Only 20 spots will be available in each age division, and there is a new Little King section for boys ages 2 to 6. The pageant will take place March 29, at Keel and Curley. For more, email Julie Hasting, juliehasting@gmail.com.
+ City honors board members
Plant City Mayor Mary Thomas Mathis honored nine residents for their long service on various boards during the City Commission’s Jan. 27 meeting. The honorees include: Marlene C. Baskin, Housing Authority (35 years) Randell L. Platt, Board of Adjustment (20 years) Judy Vogel, Board of Adjustment (20 years) Shelby Bender, Historic Resources Board (20 years) John Poppell, Housing Authority (15 years) Yvonne Fry, Board of Adjustment (10 years) Marion Cole, Code Enforcement Board (10 years) Don Walden, MPO Citizens Advisory Committee (10 years) Tom Thoeni, Library Board (five years)
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This week’s winner is
Sharon Flowers See her photo on PAGE 14.
Mark and Karen Bingham will never forget their beloved son, Mark.
A biker escort will accompany Plant City residents Mark and Karen Bingham Feb. 27, to Tampa International Airport. The Binghams’ son, Mark Bingham, was a passenger on United Airlines Flight 93, on 9/11. A plethora of rumbling engines. A father’s tears. An escort to top them all. On Feb. 27, a pack of motorcycles will accompany Jerry and Karen Bingham to the Tampa International Airport, where they will take off to Somerset County, in Pennsylvania, the site of the United Airlines Flight 93 9/11 crash. What is now a peaceful green field was once the location of a horrific act of terrorism. But the story that survives is the one of the heroes that went down with it. One of those heroes is Jerry Bingham’s only son, Mark Bingham. The couple will travel to Pennsylvania for the commissioning of the USS Somerset, a U.S. Navy Transport Ship. The ship will Courtesy photo honor the 40 passengers and crew The Binghams attended the Christening of the USS Somerset in Louisiana. of the downed airliner. It will be commissioned at Penn’s Landing on airplanes. His mother was a flight attendant, and he had travMarch 1, in Philadelphia. MARK BINGHAM “He enjoyed life and he enjoyed eled the world using buddy passFAMILY ESCORT people,” Jerry said of his son. “He es. From outback excursions in WHEN: 1:30 p.m. Feb. 27 was fun. He was just a fun person- Australia to running with the bulls in Spain, Bingham’s lust for advenality.” WHERE: Plant City Over the years, the Binghams ture took him to all corners of the Automotive, 2303 James L. have attended many memorial globe. Redman Parkway, Suite L On Sept. 11, 2001, Mark’s life services, speaking events and ralFACEBOOK: facebook.com/ lies for those lost in 9/11. Their ended doing the very thing he events/617276061661726/ house is adorned with patriotic loved. facebook.com/ The 31-year-old was a successdécor. A flag is pinned in the gagroups/172881946229353/ rage. A bumper sticker reads, “In ful entrepreneur, who had started his own public-relations firm, afMemory Mark Bingham.” DETAILS: The Binghams lost Inside, more art is hanging on ter graduating from the University a son on Flight 93 on 9/11. the walls. Most of it has come from of California-Berkeley. With an Rick Sarmiento has organized random strangers, who have heard office in San Francisco, Mark was a biker escort to take the Mark’s story. To this day, mail still in New York to launch his second couple to the airport for the arrives, some from school children location. commissioning of the USS Always the hard worker, Mark who weren’t yet born when one Somerset in honor of those victims. The ride will start of the nation’s greatest tragedies missed his initial flight back to San at Plant City Automotive. slammed into the hearts of Ameri- Francisco. He was supposed to go Everyone is encouraged to back for a friend’s wedding. Not cans. attend to send them off, not “I think our goal in life is to nev- wanting to miss it, he booked anjust bikers. From there, the other flight — Flight 93. er let people forget,” Karen said. Binghams will be escorted in There was nothing significant One thing is for certain: The an SUV provided by Stingray about that flight while he was runBinghams will never forget Mark. Chevrolet, with bikers leading ning to the gate, late as usual. But the way. THAT TERRIBLE DAY Mark Bingham had lived his life SEE BINGHAM / PAGE 4
The fallout from Plant City’s investigation into former Police Chief Steven Singletary could be even more extensive. Following the city’s investigation and termination of Singletary and police Sgt. Mark Mathis, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement now is reviewing the city’s documents, which included accusations that City Billy Keel Commissioner Billy Keel attempted to interfere with the investigation. According to sworn testimony provided by Melissa Hardwick, with whom Singletary had been having an affair, Keel sent text messages to a mutual friend in an attempt to keep her quiet. Hardwick made the statements to As-
SEE KEEL / PAGE 4
art attack
by Amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor
Tattoo shop owner to fight city ordinance David Hudder bought and renovated a historic building downtown, with hopes of moving his business there.
A brick building on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Historic Downtown Plant City has been sitting vacant for decades. Its beautiful architecture reminds of grander times from long ago. When tattoo artist David Hudder saw the space, he knew it would be the perfect location for a tattoo shop and living quarters upstairs. He bought the building and worked for months, spending thousands of dollars to revitalize the once dilapidated structure. There was only one problem: A city ordinance bans tattoo shops from opening in the downtown and Midtown districts. Now, Hudder, who also goes by Casper, wants to try and change the ordinance to
SEE TATTOO / PAGE 4
INDEX Calendar.......................2
Amber Jurgensen
David Hudder works on a sleeve for Rail Ale Pub bartender Amanda McDaris.
Vol.1,No.27 | Onesection Crossword...................14
Obituaries...................10
Sports.........................11
Weather......................14
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