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SPOTLIGHT
Crest thespians present fall production.
Resident Nadia Acosta Durant’s Garrett soars in dog-training Rentz a big target competitions. for Cougar QB. PAGE 7
PAGE 12
OUR TOWN + The times they are a-changin’ Don’t forget to reset your clocks this weekend. Daylight saving time will end at 2 a.m. Sunday Nov. 3, giving everyone an extra hour to sleep in this weekend.
+ Car wash offers free service for vets Grace For Vets, a national organization of car wash operators, will provide free car washes for veterans and service personnel on Veterans Day, Nov. 11. Locally, Octopus Car Wash, 1503 S. Collins St., will be offering the services. For more information, call (813) 754-0777 or visit graceforvets.org.
FREE • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2013
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business by Michael Eng | Editor
Mosaic to acquire phosphate business from CF Industries The sale includes CF Industries’ entire Plant City phosphate manufacturing plant. The Mosaic Company announced Oct. 28, a definitive agreement to acquire the phosphate business of CF Industries Inc., for a combined $1.4 billion. The sale includes CF Industries’ Plant City Phosphate Complex, the 22,000acre South Pasture phosphate mine and beneficiation plant in Hardee County, and ammonia terminal and finished
product warehouse facilities in Tampa. “This does include the entire operation in Plant City,” said Dan Swenson, senior director of investor relations and corporate communications for CF Industries. “After the close of the transaction, CF Industries will not have operations in Plant City.” Mosaic Vice President of Public Affairs — Phosphates Martha Monfried
said the change likely will not result in any job loss. “We don’t anticipate any reduction in force,” she said. “Mosaic would acquire CF’s talent and facilities. The majority of CF and Mosaic workers are at the plants and mines, and we need them to continue working there. “While we await regulatory approval, we’ll be forming integration teams to as-
sess combining our operations and any improvements or upgrades to Plant City and elsewhere,” Monfried said. The CF Industries’ facilities currently produce about 1.8 million tonnes of phosphate fertilizer annually, which would be additive to the annual 8.2 million tonnes currently produced by
FESTIVAL FUN by the Observer staff
Addison Havard, 5, loved riding the train at Hopewell Baptist Church’s Hallelujah Night.
Face painting was one of the activities at Trapnell Elementary’s Fall Festival.
Bryan Elementary School will host a program to honor U.S. veterans at 8:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 8, at the school, 2006 W. Oak Ave., Plant City. For more information, contact Courtney McGarry, courtney.mcgarry@sdhc.k12.fl.us.
+ Church cracks open pecan sale
Joseph Korte, 7 months, was among the youngest costume contest competitors at Walden Lake Community Association’s Howl-O-Ween party. He was the star accessory on his mother’s “Fruit of My Womb” costume.
WACKY WEEKEND Brittany Arlow brought out the “minions” for Hope Lutheran Church’s Trunk or Treat.
This week’s winner is
Kim Bullard
See her photo on PAGE 16.
governance by Michael Eng | Editor
Residents mobilize against new retail proposal Commissioners will continue their discussion of a proposed Dollar General store at the Nov. 12 meeting.
+ Bryan to host tribute to veterans
The Women of First Presbyterian Church of Plant City are selling fresh pecans. The five-pound bags, available as halves or pieces, cost $45 each. Orders can be place by calling the church office, (813) 752-4211. Customers can pick up their pecans from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16, or from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 17, at the church, 404 W. Reynolds St. Funds raised will benefit the church’s various missions.
SEE MOSAIC / PAGE 4
SEE MORE PHOTOS ON PAGES 8 & 9
Plant City residents enjoyed fall-like weather with a plethora of family-style fun last weekend. Trapnell and Bailey elementary schools got the weekend started off Oct. 25, with their respective fall festivals. The fun continued the next day, with Walden Lake Community Association’s Howl-O-Ween, Hope Lutheran Church’s Trunk-orTreat and Plant City’s Halloween Spooktacular. Then, Plant City’s First Baptist Church ended the weekend with its Fall Festival Oct. 27, and Hopewell Baptist hosted Hallelujah Night.
Giselle McDowell, 2, seemed pleased with her bounty at Plant City’s First Baptist Church’s Fall Festival.
INDEX Calendar.......................2
Residents who oppose a proposed Dollar General store in north Plant City gave city leaders plenty to think about during the Plant City Commission’s Oct. 28 meeting. Armed with a presentation City Commissioner Billy Keel said was one of the most impressive he had seen from a resident, Steve Jones cited several reasons the rezone request of a parcel west of Paul Buchman Highway just north of Terrace Drive would impact negatively the residents who live nearby. At the heart of the residents’ concern is the proposed access point to the 9,100-squarefoot Dollar General store. Although the parcel’s eastern border is on Paul Buchman Highway, because of the Florida Department of Transportation requires at least 650 feet between a driveway and the nearest intersection, the proposal calls for a single driveway to be placed on Terrace Drive. Under the proposal, the store also would face Terrace Drive. Jones and his neighbors say their community’s streets — which include the unpaved, single-lane Hancock Street — cannot handle the increased traffic the store would create. Furthermore, they say that additional traffic poses significant safety concerns for their quiet, once-secluded community.
SEE DEVELOPMENT / PAGE 4 Vol. 1, No. 14 | One section
Crossword...................16
Obituaries...................10
Neighborhood...............7
Sports.........................13