Fears Felt Miles Away From Parkland

Students at Wiregrass Ranch (above) were some of many in Wesley Chapel who took part in a national walkout to honor those slain at Stoneman Douglas High. (WTSP)

As students across the country react to the Valentine’s Day school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County, Florida, about 13,000 people participated in Tampa’s “March For Our Lives” on March 24.

Students at schools in Wesley Chapel came out to the event, after many also attended candlelight vigils on February 19 and walk-outs on February 21, remembering and honoring the victims, while showing solidarity with those affected by the shooting and calling for changes to make schools safer.

At Cypress Creek Middle High School, a lockdown caused by an announced “active threat on campus” on March 13 inspired sophomore Brina Gutierrez to write this opinion piece for the school’s newspaper, the Cypress Creek Howler. As it turns out, there was no threat to the campus, but police responded after a student reported seeing a suspicious person walking near the school with what might be a firearm.

Here’s how one student reacted to what might have been a routine procedure just a month before (this piece has not been edited):

The way I thought I was going to react was not how I reacted.

March 13, 2018, almost exactly a month after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre occurred when 17 precious lives were lost. I was working on a memorial for the lives lost for a commemoration event our school had plans for the next day when on the intercom I heard the bone-chilling words:

Brina Gutierrez

“Teachers, we have an active threat on campus.”

My mind went blank. Panic began to overwhelm me. I wasn’t in my normal classroom, so the teacher whose room I was in rushed to make sure the door was locked, and cover the windows with paper we had just gotten twenty minutes earlier for the use of the memorial project we were working on, unaware, this was about to happen.

I could feel tears begin to rush down my face and didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t react. I didn’t know where to start or what to do. Everyone seemed to be moving sluggishly as if it were a drill. It just didn’t seem as if we were acting quickly enough. I was both mentally and physically unprepared for this such event.

The day had been normal, besides the slight chill that the air held, which was unusual from Florida’s normal weather. I had recently become more comfortable with the idea of school being safe again and suddenly, that idea shattered into a million pieces for me.

There was nothing I could do to be emotionally or physically ready for this. Time slowed down, seconds felt like minutes. My mind became slightly more coherent as I snapped into action, adrenaline coursing through my veins. I was flipping a table over to act as a barricade and shoving the usually heavy desks with such force that I’ve never had before.

After blockading the room, I immediately began texting my sister, who was in the other building. The fear I felt for her was so immensely palpable I could almost taste it. I didn’t know what was going on or if she was even alive. I didn’t know what was happening. I quickly texted her to see if she was okay and you can not imagine the relief I felt when she texted me back she was alright.

I was quickly ushered into a supply closet and in an attempt to make more room for people, I squeezed myself into a cabinet that was barely a foot high. In that room, I felt every emotion go through my body, but the most dominant was the absolute terror I felt. That terror gripped my soul. It dawned on me at that moment, I wasn’t ready to die.

I had no certainty of what the threat was, but I knew this wasn’t the way or day I wanted to go.

The moment I found out there was no active shooter, I felt like a million pounds lighter. From there, slowly the terror began to let up. Though people were returning to their normal attitudes and actions from before the lockdown, I still couldn’t fathom the idea there was even a potential threat at my school. I still can’t.

The moment I was reunited with my sister and family was a euphoric experience.

Whether or not the threat had merit or not, we need to be proactive with school safety. I can’t continue to have the fear that the place I go to ensure a good future, could also so easily end my future.

This isn’t about whether or not we should have more strict gun control laws. Take the politics out of it for a minute, what all of this is really about is us as students, and you as parents ensuring we are safe at school.

I just want to feel like I can go to school without the threat that I may not go home that same afternoon. I’m supposed to feel safe at school and somewhere along the line, someone failed us. Never again.

We got lucky this time, but what if next time we aren’t as lucky? 

Local Sharp Shooter Still Setting Records

New Tampa resident and hoops hotshot Justin Dargahi, the New Tampa Neighborhood News cover boy from June 2016 after a Guinness Book of World Records-worthy performance shooting 3-pointers, has been at it again.

Justin, who lives in Grand Hampton, is awaiting confirmation from the folks at the  Guinness Book for what would officially be his third entry into their records, this time for making the most 3-pointers in one minute, with 10.

While that number may not sound like a lot, Justin’s latest long-range conquest was a one-man, single-ball show — he had to shoot his 3-pointers, retrieve the ball himself, run back to the NBA range line, which is 23-feet, 9-inches from the hoop, and shoot it again, over and over as quickly and making as many threes as he could, for one minute.

Justin made 10 of the 11 attempts he was able to get off, tying Harlem Globetrotters Cheese Chisholm and Ant Atkinson for the single-ball record.

Both Globetrotters got off 12 shots in 60 seconds, making 10.

“What stinks is the five times I tried it, I was able to get off 12 shots (but didn’t make 10),” Justin says. “But the last time, I only got off 11.”

Justin, who coaches the girls basketball team at Gaither High in Carrollwood, shot his threes from the corner, which he thought gave him a better chance to get off more shots. He tied the record six weeks ago, and is waiting for the official certification from the Guinness Book of World Records.

His first entry, which we profiled in 2016, was for making 26 three-pointers from NBA range in one minute (where unlike his latest feat, the balls were fed to him).

A year later, Justin teamed up with former Florida Gator guard Teddy Dupay to set the Guinness Book of World Records mark for the most 3-pointers made in a minute by a tandem, with 23.

Dupay was the head coach of Cambridge Christian in Tampa, Justin’s alma mater (he says he still shows up every Saturday morning for alumni pick-up basketball games), when the two met. He and Dupay struck up a conversation about shooting and decided to try for the record, which requires the tandem to alternate three-point shots.

It took only five minutes to break the record.

The previous record holders were Chisholm and Atkinson with 22. And before that? NBA superstars Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Durant, who set the record of 15 at the NBA All-Star weekend in Los Angeles on February 19, 2011. — JCC

Edward Jones Financial Services Wants To Help You Get Retirement-Ready

Financial advisor William Morales, AAMS (Accredited Asset Management Specialist), and branch office administrator Beth Ramirez make up the Edward Jones Financial Services team in the Windfair Professional Center, located across Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. from Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC).

Morales has been serving clients in this location since 2012, when he closed his Tampa Palms office and moved it to Wesley Chapel. He joined Edward Jones in 2008.

“I always wanted a Wesley Chapel branch,” says Morales, who has lived in Meadow Pointe with his wife for 20 years, where they raised two daughters, and where he now serves his neighbors.

“We are a full-service agency, and I wear many different hats,” he explains. “When I work with clients, I may serve as their stock broker, their insurance agent and their bond dealer. At its core, my work is as a financial planner.”

He explains that he helps his clients in any of five different core areas, depending upon each client’s stage of life and their individual needs:

‱ Planning for a comfortable retirement (for those who are currently working)

‱ Enjoying retirement (for those who have already retired)

‱ Paying for education

‱ Preparing for the unexpected

‱ Saving money on taxes

A Little History

Founded in 1922, Edward Jones has grown to be the largest financial services firm in the industry, with 16,000 financial advisors and 14,000 branches, serving more than 7 million households.

Morales explains that Edward Jones, which is headquartered in St. Louis, MO, is different than other financial firms, as it is not a publicly traded company itself, and has no Board of Directors and no shareholders. Therefore, Morales says, his singular focus can be on serving his clients. All 14,000 Edward Jones branches throughout the U.S. and Canada are small offices located in the communities where the financial advisors live and serve.

Morales works with his clients through a five-step process, starting with “Where am I today?” and “Where would I like to be?” Then, he says, the next steps — “Can I get there?” and “How do I get there?” — are his job. Once he’s worked with you through those steps, Morales says he continues to advise each client to determine, “How can I stay on track?”

“I take care of financial affairs for a select group of families in our area,” he says, “with about half of my clients working families, and the other half being already retired.”

He says this “select” group of both working families and retirees is limited not by any particular criteria, but because he limits himself to maintaining a small group of clients so that he can manage all of their needs well.

“If we try to be everything to everyone, we lose that personal touch,” Morales says. “It makes it tough to deliver the same level of service.”

He says the most important thing to do when you’re looking for a financial advisor is to find someone you feel confident in that you hopefully will want to work with for the rest of your life.

“(Your financial advisor) has to be someone you like, someone who makes you feel comfortable and someone you can trust,” he says.

Satisfied Customers

John and Debbie Engel are Wesley Chapel residents who have been working with Morales for about four years.

“Our experience has been fabulous,” says Debbie. “He’s always available. He’s extremely smart, very passionate, very caring, and he’s always there (for us).”

She adds that Morales never makes her feel rushed, and always spends time answering all of her questions. “Every question my husband and I have ever had has been answered,” Debbie says. “There were issues we didn’t understand, so we asked questions, and he gave us a very explicit explanation. I feel very safe and at-home there, like I could ask him anything.”

Debbie also explains that, “Our entire portfolio for retirement is with Edward Jones, including our investments, assets, bonds, annuities, 401ks, IRAs
our whole life, and I feel very comfortable with that.”

Morales says the way he approaches his clients is known as the Edward Jones “value proposition.”

He says, “There’s nothing more important to us than understanding what’s important to you, using an established process to help you build personalized strategies to achieve your goals, and partnering together with you throughout your life to keep you on track.”

Morales explains that a first-time appointment with him is similar to visiting a new doctor. “I’m going to ask you a lot of personal questions, so I can really understand what’s going on with you financially,” he says, adding that he also uses financial questionnaires and conversation to help determine his clients’ needs.

Payment Options

Once someone becomes Morales’ customer, they can choose to pay a flat annual fee for Edward Jones to manage all of their assets. The more traditional method is where Morales receives his payment from the mutual funds, insurance policies and other investments he sells.

“Another thing that makes us unique from our competition is that there are no Edward Jones investments to sell,” says Morales. “We sell the products of all the other companies, such as Fidelity, for the same cost to you as if you bought directly from them.”

Morales recommends working with a large firm, such as Edward Jones, “because the big firms have oversight. Unlike independent financial planners who don’t work for a larger company, Edward Jones has measures in place to watch what I do.”

He adds, “My job is relationship-driven. I have to do the ‘nerd work’ and crunch the numbers, but most of what I do is serve my clients, and there’s no cost for my advice.”

Before joining Edward Jones, Morales was president of a mortgage company in New Tampa and served six years in the U.S. Army Ordinance Corps, spending four years stationed in and around Kuwait. Originally from New York City, he and his family moved to Tampa, where he graduated from Chamberlain High.

For more info, call Wesley Chapel Edward Jones branch office administrator Beth Ramirez at (813) 991-7034, and she’ll schedule your appointment with Morales at the office located at 2748 Windguard Cir., Suite 101 (in the office plaza behind The Hungry Greek) in Wesley Chapel. Or, see the ad on page 26, or visit EdwardJones.com/William-Morales.

Overpass Rd. Interchange Funding Not Vetoed By Gov. Scott This Time

The long road to the future development of Wesley Chapel will need an off ramp, and the area is now a big step closer to getting one.

Gov. Rick Scott, a year after vetoing $15 million for a project to build an interchange at I-75 and Overpass Rd. (see map), allowed the same amount of money to stay in the upcoming state budget this time around.

The money won’t completely fund the approximately $64-million project, but it’s a large enough chunk that the interchange can begin to move forward.

According to Pasco County commissioner Mike Moore, who represents much of Wesley Chapel in District 2, the proposed interchange will not only relieve some of the traffic at the S.R. 56 and S.R. 54 exits in Wesley Chapel, it also will improve the safety conditions on the surrounding state roads by improving additional emergency evacuation and response times within the county.

The interchange also will be built with an eye to future development.

“It’s going to be a big help in that area,’’ says Moore, referencing large developments like the Villages of Pasadena Hills in Zephyrhills and the Connected City project in northern Wesley Chapel.

The Connected City is almost 8,000 acres of land currently under development and running north from Overpass Rd. in Wesley Chapel to S.R. 52 in San Antonio, and east from I-75 to Curley Rd. Expected to be a high-tech business sector, it will feature two Crystal Lagoons in the Mirada and Epperson communities, and (according to developer Metro Development), at the conclusion of its 50-year build out, the Connected City will have 37,000 homes, 67,000 jobs and 100,000 residents.

And those aren’t the only developments coming to this still-rural area. Quail Hollow is adding 400 homes on the former golf course property, and Cypress Creek Middle/High School on Old Pasco Rd. also is new to the area.

“We want to prepare for 20, 30 and 40 years down the road, and that’s what’s happening now,” Moore says of the interchange project, which was first approved in 2004 but was discussed for more than a decade before that.

The plan to build a new I-75 interchange at Overpass Rd., which will be roughly  3.1 miles north of the S.R. 54 exit and 3.6 miles south of the S.R. 52 exit, is part of a larger project to link Old Pasco Rd. all the way east to U.S. Hwy. 301 in Zephyrhills.

The project was identified in the 2009 Pasco Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)’s Transportation Update Plan through 2035 “Needs Plan.” That plan scheduled the new interchange, extension and expansion of Overpass Rd. to be completed between 2016-25.

Moore says the county thinks the project will be completed by November of 2022, as there already is $30 million (not including the $15 million in the new state budget) set aside for the project from mobility fees, local gas taxes and various developer surtaxes. The county is seeking grants to cover the remaining $20-million portion of the costs.

It will begin planning this year for right of way acquisitions, with $12 million earmarked for that process. Next year, $4.6 million will go into the design phase, and the remaining $47 million will go towards construction costs.

Overpass Rd. is currently a two-lane roadway that extends east from Old Pasco Rd. to 0.86 miles east of Boyette Rd.

In addition to adding an interstate exit, Overpass Rd. will be widened to four lanes from I-75 to Old Pasco Rd. as part of the project.

The interchange is part of a larger project to extend Overpass Rd. nine miles from its current eastern terminus at Boyette Rd. all the way to U.S. Hwy. 301.

Moore says Pasco County did well in the latest legislative sessions, crediting Florida Senate Majority Leader Wilton Simpson (whose 10th Senate District incudes northern Wesley Chapel) and State Representative Danny Burgess (R-Dist. 38) for their efforts.

After vetoing $22 million worth of Pasco projects last year, Scott let roughly that same amount stay in the budget this year, including $4.3 million for the Thomas Varnadoe Forensic Center for Research & Education in Land O’Lakes and $1.5 million for the Lighthouse for the Visually Impaired & Blind in Port Richey.   

2018 Taste Of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Faces In The Crowd!

I send out many thanks to freelance writer Andy Warrener for also attending this year’s Taste and for his efforts to get a feel for the Taste from the persepective of some of its attendees. The folks on this page all raved about the event and were excited to be part of this feature. — GN

Antoinette and Jerome Lee of Cross Creek in New Tampa found out about the event in the Mar. 23 New Tampa edition of the Neighborhood News. It was also their first time at a Taste event.

“I like it because you can select the vendors you like,” Antoinette said. “If there’s one in particular you like, you can use your cards there or, if you want to try a new restaurant. It’s also nice to meet people in line. You work in the community but there are a lot of people you don’t come into contact with. Here you can do that.”

Antoinette was partial to the Cuban food offered up by La Yuma. Jerome was previously a fan of Texas Roadhouse and said he enjoyed their samplings.

 

For Arbor Greene resident Jacob, 15, his favorite was Snow Rolls Ice Cream, and for his brother Noah, 6, it was the pizza from Bosco’s Italian-to-Go.

“We actually found out about the event in the Neighborhood News,” said their father Randy. “There are lots of activities in more established communities like downtown and South Tampa but not much going on in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel. This event gives us lots of options to look for and a chance to get out and do things. As the community grows, so will events like this.”

 

Quail Hollow residents Steve and Virginia Catrombone brought their eight-month old son, Memphis, to the event. They have lived in the Wesley Chapel area the last five years and were attending their first Taste of New Tampa. They had never even been to FHCI before.

“The prices are great and the food is awesome,” Steve said. “It’s a good, community event. The turnout is really nice and it’s well-organized. We’ve been to food truck rallies, local markets and events at the Shops at Wiregrass and this event is great. We’ve seen Wesley Chapel grow so much the last five years.” Virginia enjoyed sampling area eateries that she hadn’t had visited yet. “This is a great event because all these places are local for us,” Virginia said. “And now, we have a chance to see what they have to offer.”

 

Jeff and Jennifer Pike, who live in Live Oak in New Tampa, brought their twin daughters Liliana and Amalia as well as their son, 12-year-old Carter, to the Taste.

“We found out about the event on Facebook, it’s our first time here,” Jeff said. “The food was the clincher. There’s such a variety with what’s in the neighborhood, we didn’t even know half the places. The event gets people to recognize that there are more restaurants out there than just the major chains.”

Jeff enjoyed the Shepherd’s pie from O’Brien’s Irish Pub, while Jennifer was taken by the flan and rice and beans offered by La Yuma.

“The food samples are the primary reason for coming, also to hang out with friends,” Jennifer said. “It’s a very family-friendly event,” Jennifer said. “The kids are here with their friends and there’s always a new restaurant to discover.”

 

Did you attend this year’s Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel? If not, why not? If so, what did you like best about it? We’d love to hear from you. Send us a Facebook message (search “Neighborhood News”) or email us at EditorialDept@NTNeighborhoodNews.com!