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IN FOCUS SPORTS
NEWS
City Commission set to consider 2013-14 budget.
Gospelfanstreated Durant, Plant to music mastery City ready for at Sonshine Opry. rivalry rematch. SEE PAGE 7
PAGE 3
PAGE 11
close call
HOMETOWN HERO by Amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor
OUR TOWN
by Amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor
Resident rescued after boat capsizes
+ Grills sizzle for Boys and Girls Club
A barbecue lunch to benefit the Boys and Girls Club in Plant City will be served from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sept. 26, at the Train Depot, in Historic Downtown Plant City. Tickets are $10 each and can be purchased at the Boys and Girls Club, 901 Waller St., or at Myers Cleaners, 104 W. Grant St. or 1701 S. Alexander St.
Plant City resident Jim Morgan took five others on a fishing trip Sept. 15. They returned with a story they never will forget.
+ Hospital names interim president
Karen Kerr has been named the interim president at South Florida Baptist Hospital. The promotion was announced Sept. 3. Kerr has served as director of patient services at South Florida Baptist Hospital since March 2001. Before that, she worked for four years as director of patient services at St. Joseph Hospital. She takes the post following former president Steve Nierman’s resignation. Nierman left South Florida Baptist Hospital in August to become president at Winter Haven Hospital. The transfer comes after Winter Haven Hospital and Tampa Bay area-based BayCare Health System completed a planned consolidation. Nierman had served as president for six years.
+ Crest shows mental muscle
With 14 National Merit Scholar semifinalists, Strawberry Crest High School is second only to King High among all Hillsborough County schools. With 60 semifinalists, Hillsborough leads all districts in the state. Hillsborough is the third largest school district in the state but had more than Miami-Dade and Broward, the state’s two largest districts. Neighboring Pinellas County had 14, and Pasco County had seven. National Merit semifinalists represent less than one percent of the nation’s high school seniors.
, 3&
This week’s winner is
Pam Ciganik
See her photo on PAGE 14.
Photos by Amber Jurgensen
U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul Oquendo enlisted in 1991. He was working as a recruiter when he died last year of cancer.
GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul Oquendo died Sept. 1, 2012. Not from combat, but rather from cancer. One year later, the lessons he taught his Plant City family still resonate.
The ringing of a phone resonated throughout the humble kitchen of the Oquendos’ Plant City home. Nick Oquendo picked it up. His secondborn son, Paul, was on the line. An active veteran in the U.S. Army, Paul lived on the other side of the United States, in California. Nick was happy to talk with him. But the phone call soon took a dark turn. Paul told his father he is on the way to the hospital. He had a tumor on the back side of his knee. “I’ve got cancer,” he told his
father. “You can pray all you want to. This is set.” His military training already had kicked in. Acceptance was protocol. Paul had covered himself in an armor of strength, ready to carve out an honorable solution. “What can you say?” Nick says about that day. “He never smoked; he never drank; he never used drugs. Not just as a father, but as a person, you never want to seen anyone go through what he did.” That was six years ago. Now, all the Oquendos have
SEE HERO / PAGE 4
Plant City resident Nick Oquendo has two of his son’s uniforms.
HOMETOWN HEROES
EDITOR’S NOTE: Hometown Heroes is a recurring feature in the Plant City Times & Observer in which we profile veterans from Plant City. If you have a loved one currently serving or who has served in the past, please contact Editor Michael Eng by email at meng@plantcityobserver.com or by phone at (813) 704-6850.
A Plant City man was among the six boaters rescued after their boat capsized Sept. 15 near Weedon Island. “We have a few bumps and scratches, but no cuts, no broken bones,” Plant City resident and captain Jim Morgan said. “And everyone survived. That’s the most important thing.” The miles of water between the Sunshine Skyway seemed to keep stretching out in front Morgan, as he scanned over his 18-foot Hydra Sport. His girlfriend, Lisa Lyons, sat smiling, her two sons and two family friends chatted excitedly. For some, it was their first time fishing. The crew had set out from a ramp on the west side of Gandy Bridge. It was a beautiful day. After a morning of fishing, they brought the boat in for gas, ate lunch and then launched it back in the water. The morning didn’t yield many catches. Morgan thought they would have more luck in the deeper waters by the Skyway. “That was my big mistake,” Morgan said. “I misjudged the distance. Should have launched by the Apollo Beach area.” Once they anchored, Morgan saw a cluster of dark clouds billowing over the tree line in the distance. He figured the storm was about 10 miles away, and he knew they had to return immediately. The waves started to toss the boat up and down. Then, the rain came. It splattered against their faces, pricking their skin like pins and needles. The wind was blowing about 30 mph. Before the crew knew it, their boat was being dunked in and out of 5- to 6-foot seas. A lifetime boater, Morgan wasn’t scared of the storm. He was
SEE RESCUE / PAGE 4
governance by Michael Eng | Editor
Pressure builds between WLCA, Walden Lake residents After residents’ pleas for transparency and term limits, WLCA Vice President Marcus Alexich resigned from the board and left the Sept. 16 meeting abruptly.
The rift between the Walden Lake Community Association and the residents it represents deepened this week following the WLCA’s Sept. 16 board meeting. Following criticisms from
residents and pleas for transparency and term limits for board members,Vice President Marcus Alexich resigned from his post and left the meeting abruptly. “I’m done with this,” he
said as he walked out. Alexich’s resignation followed a particularly heated board meeting, during which resident Don Marshall ques-
SEE WLCA / PAGE 4
A document WLCA officials received from Walden Lake Golf & Country Club Managing Partner Steve Mercer includes a map of the proposed development project.
INDEX Calendar.......................2
Vol.1,No.8 | Onesection Crossword...................14
Obituaries.....................9
Opinion ........................6
Sports.........................11
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