Month: September 2022

Publix Prepping For Big Move And Other Notes

It has been almost a decade since the plans for the Publix supermarket in the Hollybrook Plaza to move a little to the east into a newly built location were first floated.

But now, those plans finally are picking up steam.

According to permitting records filed with Pasco County, Publix is beginning the process of moving from its current location at the corner of S.R. 54 and Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. to a 9.5-acre parcel right across Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. from the Walmart.

Plans indicate that Publix, which owns the land, will build a 60,548-sq.-ft. center, which will be anchored by a 48,848-sq.-ft. grocery store, with a 2,100-sq.-ft. liquor store and 9,600 square feet of retail space.

The new Publix center will be located directly behind the Bank of America, Advance Auto Parts and Starbucks-anchored Pleasant Plaza on S.R. 54 (see map).

Permitting also was submitted last month for a retail and restaurant project to be located behind the Clearwater Crossing plaza (anchored by Glory Days) and wrapping behind the new Publix.

Wiregrass Ranch development company Locust Branch, LLC, submitted a preliminary development and construction plan for a 7,216-sq.-ft. strip center.

There are no current plans for the future of the Hollybrook Publix building. However, Scott Sheridan, the chief operating officer of Locust Branch, LLC, doesn’t think it will remain empty for long.

“I think that will be an easy fill,” he says, largely in part to the fact that it is a heavily-trafficked area.

There are also new apartments planned just south of Hollybrook Plaza, behind the Sonny’s BBQ on BBD.

TWO MINUTE WARNING: The Sombutmai Center, located at 22835 S.R. 54 a little west of Morris Bridge Rd. in Wesley Chapel, is adding a restaurant to its plans, according to permitting records.

2 Minutes, a popular mom-and-pop restaurant known for its large portions and located on Gall Blvd. in Zephyrhills, is planning its second location at the new Wesley Chapel-located center.

The new 2 Minutes will be 3,017-sq.-ft. and will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.

NEW CHILDCARE OPTIONS: There are a few new childcare/education options coming for Wesley Chapel residents.

Amazing Explorers Academy (AEA), a 12,110-sq.-ft. facility which will be located just south of Overpass Rd. near Watergrass, is in permitting. AEA will offer a STEAM curriculum for 200 students between the ages of six weeks-12 years old.

Also, a 13,586-sq.-ft. Primrose School (for children in Pre-K through kindergarten) on Chancey Rd. and Persimmon Park Dr. in Wiregrass Ranch also is in permitting. A third, as-yet-unnamed 10,000-sq.-ft. childcare facility is being planned just north of the El Dorado Furniture store (see below) on Wesley Chapel Blvd.

PLACE TO SIT: Speaking of El Dorado Furniture, the 70,000-sq.-ft. store located on S.R. 54, just west of Wesley Chapel Blvd. (across from the Cypress Creek Town Center), will hold its Grand Opening in September.

El Dorado promises a different kind of furniture store experience, with Boulevard showrooms set up like strips of old-fashioned city streets, with benches and street lamps lining the path.

publix Wiregrass Ranch

Weightman, Teachers Big Winners On Primary Night

As far as surprises go, Pasco County didn’t have many (if any) on Primary Election night (Aug. 23).

But, the Wesley Chapel area most likely has a new commissioner lined up to replace the departing Mike Moore in District 2. Buoyed by the backing of Moore and other well-known local Republicans, Seth Weightman coasted to an easy win over opponents Christie Zimmer and Troy Stevenson.

Weightman picked up 48.9 percent of the vote, while fellow Republicans Zimmer (27.1 percent) and Stevenson (24 percent) basically split the rest.

A regional manager for waste-hauling company Republic Services, Weightman was backed by county tax collector Mike Fasano, former Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford and current Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson (who won the GOP nomination for Florida Secretary of Agriculture and will face Democratic nominee Naomi Esther Blemur in the General Election on Nov. 8).

Only registered Republicans voted in the two County Commission primaries. If only Republicans had entered the races, the primaries could have decided the elections, as voters of all parties would have been allowed to cast ballots.

But, Louie Rodriguez entered the Dist. 2 race as a write-in candidate with no party affiliation, which closed the primary to only Republican voters.

On Nov. 8, Weightman and Rodriguez will “run” against each other.

In Dist. 4, challenger Gary Bradford was accused of employing the same closed primary strategy when he defeated incumbent Christina Fitzpatrick 43.9-37.7 percent, avenging his loss for the same seat in 2020.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, Bradford acknowledged that a friend of his, Cory Patterson, filed as a write-in candidate in order to close the primary to Republicans only.

As the Times noted, Patterson, who has donated to Bradford’s campaign and has a Bradford campaign sign in his yard, will “run” against his friend on Nov. 8.

Only about 1 in 4 (24.8 percent)registered voters in Pasco County cast ballots in the 2022 Primary Election. However, that was still up from just 21 percent for the midterm Primary Election in 2020.

Meanwhile, there were three Pasco School Board seats up for grabs on Aug. 23. In Dist. 1, which includes all of Wesley Chapel, Al Hernandez (44.8 percent) and James Washington (31.5) were the top two vote-getters of the three candidates. Since Hernandez failed to pass the 50 percent threshold, he and Washington will square off in November to determine who replaces retiring Allen Altman, the Dist. 1 member since 2006.

Cynthia Armstrong edged Matthew Geiger by 2,159 votes on Election Day, but by then, had already built a massive 13,000-vote advantage via mail-in ballots, to hold on to her Dist. 3 seat with 58 percent of the vote. Megan Harding retained her Dist. 5 seat with 71 percent of ballots cast.

In other races, Dist. 12 U.S. Congressman Gus Bilirakis easily won his primary with 84 percent of the vote. His 33,883 votes were more than five times the combined amount of his four challengers, who received roughly 6,000 votes total. Bilirakis is in a safe Republican district and is expected to easily win re-election in November against Democrat Kimberly Walker and Charles Smith, who has no party affiliation.

And, in one of the more interesting votes of the night, Pasco’s millage referendum to raise funds to increase teacher salaries easily passed (59-41%), even though a similar measure narrowly failed in neighboring Hillsborough County.

In Pasco, registered Republicans, generally advocates of lower taxes and less spending, outnumber Democrats 165,856 to 114,335. But, in Hillsborough, which has more registered Democrats, its millage referendum failed in a vote so close a recount was ordered.

election

Calling All Foodies! It’s Time For the 2022 Reader Survey!

For you oldtimers out there, it doesn’t seem that long ago that the debate over who had the best food in New Tampa or Wesley Chapel came down to the ABC Pizza on S.R. 54 and the gas station in front of Pebble Creek (Spoiler alert: It was the ABC Pizza).

Now, the choices for good food in both of our distribution areas are seemingly endless. CLICK HERE FOR THIS YEAR’S FOOD SURVEY.

In fact, in Wesley Chapel and New Tampa alone, there are close to 200 restaurants, and pretty much everything is covered, except for maybe Vietnamese, although a quality full-on Vietnamese restaurant is going to be opening soon just south of County Line Rd. (scoop alert!).

Otherwise, if you have a hankering for something, there are multiple places to satisfy your cravings.

But, to determine what the best places are (or, at least, your favorite places), we need your help. Any Reader Survey is only as good as, well, its readers. So whattya say? Take a few seconds and fill this out.

There may be a few more categories this year than usual, but we think we’ve actually made it simpler for you — just type in your favorite choices, although we do ask that your rank your favorite three restaurants in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel overall. Of course, if you see this in your copy of the Neighborhood News, and throw it in an envelope and mail it to us.

Heck, if you prefer writing it out, you can take a picture of your ballot once you fill it in and even email it to john@ntneighborhoodnews.com.

We even have prizes for a few of the lucky ones that do!

We — and the local eateries — do truly appreciate your participation.

So, what’s different this year?

Well, we’ve added a “Best Dish” category, because sometimes, that’s the reason you’re going to a certain restaurant. Maybe the place isn’t your favorite overall, but the spaghetti and meatballs are simply to die for. Some restaurants just do one thing better than anyone else, so fill us in!

We’ve also added a “Favorite Appetizer” category because it can make or break a dining experience. These days, mozzarella sticks and loaded potato skins simply aren’t enough. Restaurants are really putting some serious effort into their pre-meal offerings. And really, who hasn’t ordered nothing more than an appetizer (or two) as their meal?

We’ve also added a Covid-19-inspired category — “Best Coffee Shop,” because a lot of us work out of a coffee shop these days.

We’ve also added “Best KRATE at The Grove,” because, well, duh! While you can certainly vote for any of the container restaurants in any other category, we decided that the container park really needed its own category. Plus, we’re curious to see how this one will turn out.

We decided to split the dessert categories into “Best Ice Cream/Frozen Yogurt (FroYo)/Gelato” and “Best Bakery” sweets, and added a “Best Fried Chicken/Wings” category, given “Best Indian Food” and “Best Latin (Other Than Mexican)” their own categories for the first time, added “Best Breakfast/Brunch” and brought back the “Best Burger” category.

And, with the exception of the KRATEs, any of your favorites can be in New Tampa (zip code 33647, as well as in the Palms Connection plaza on E. Bearss Ave. in 33613) or Wesley Chapel (zip codes 33543, 33544 and 33545, as well as 33559, which is technically Lutz, but it allows you to include picks near the Tampa Premium Outlets, since so many locals love so many of those places to eat).

We think we have everything covered this time around. While it might be a little more work for you than when we gave you the names of pretty much every restaurant in our distribution areas, our goal was to present enough choices so that this year’s Reader’s Survey would present the most complete and accurate snapshot of your views of the dining experience in Wesley Chapel and New Tampa.

Now, it’s your turn. Thanks in advance for entering, which, one more time, you can do by CLICKING HERE. — JCC & GN

reader survey

USF Music School Seeking Participants For Cognitive Study

Music touches people creatively and socially, but it also deeply affects our brains.

Jennifer Bugos, Ph.D., first considered that idea when she was much younger, as a secondary caregiver for her grandparents. With her grandfather’s ability to speak declining to the point where he could barely utter a sentence, she would play the piano, and he would sing every word to “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Nearby, her grandmother was in a near vegetative state, but her toe would still tap along to the music.

These experiences led Dr. Bugos to her life’s work, studying, as she says, “what it is about music that is so special.”

Her background in music education includes Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Master of Education and Bachelor of Arts degrees in Music Education, plus studies in gerontology and post-doctorate study in neuropsychology. She serves as Associate Professor of Music Education in the School of Music at the University of South Florida (USF), with two decades of research and a 22-page curriculum vitae detailing the research she has done to understand the connection between music and cognitive performance, among other accomplishments.

“Music is a powerful stimulus that we know can help to improve memory,” she says. “It’s a powerful way to exercise the brain.”

Last year, the National Endowment for the Arts chose USF as one of just six nationally designated research labs in the area of “the arts, creativity, cognition and learning.”

As principal investigator, Dr. Bugos will lead researchers who will study the effects of music training interventions — specifically, subjects will participate in music classes — on memory and motor function.

The study is called Cognition and Coordination Across the Lifespan in Music, or the acronym CALM. It is open to adults ages 18-25, as well as to adults over age 60, with plans to recruit children ages 8 to 12 in the future. Participants should have no or very little formal training in music.

“One of the key components of the study is that the task must be novel — or new – to participants,” explains Dr. Bugos. “We’re looking for people with three or less years of previous formal private musical training and not currently reading music and engaging in musical performance.”

She defines “previous formal private musical training” as one-on-one instruction. If someone has participated in a band or chorus in high school, or something similar, that would not disqualify them from participating in the study.

Those who do participate will be randomly assigned to a group for their music lessons. Because the groups are assigned at random, participants will not get to choose the type of music lessons they will receive. The classes will meet twice a week for 12 weeks and study participants are asked to also practice at home 30 minutes a day, or three hours a week. There are various classes available to accommodate different schedules.

Cognitive training interventions contain task novelty, progressive difficulty, practice components, social elements, and are “ecologically valid,” which means that individuals can use the new skill in everyday life.

“Many of our previous participants can play for their own enjoyment or report playing ‘Happy Birthday’ for their grandchildren. Dr. Bugos says. “Some even perform at church or just for their own enjoyment.”

She adds, “It’s a very rewarding experience. Music training contains all of the active ingredients of a cognitive training intervention.”

Because the programs are structured as cognitive training programs, Dr. Bugos says, “They are a bit more intense than a traditional music lesson.” She explains that it’s important for the lessons to be rigorous — and for participants to attend regularly and practice at home — so they can see gains.

She also notes that the programs are engaging and that people who participate will notice benefits in terms of cognitive performance. They also will make social connections. She says previous participants still sometimes get together for coffee, for example.

Lessons are offered free of charge, and participants will receive all materials and access to instruments for the duration of the program. In addition, they are required to participate in four research sessions, for which they will be compensated. USF parking passes also are provided.

“It’s a great program,” Dr. Bugos says. “There are cognitive benefits, motor system benefits, and learning a new skill that can last a lifetime.”

Additional studies are open for participants who are currently cancer patients or have experienced heart failure.

All studies require participants to follow Covid-19 procedures, including wearing masks during the lessons.

The first session begins in September, but new sessions will begin every four months, so those who are interested can feel free to reach out, even if their schedule doesn’t permit them to participate in the September sessions.

Partners include Kuumba Dancers and Drummers and the Patel Conservatory at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts. The Gasparilla Music Foundation also is a partner on a series of studies examining the effects of music training on coordination and cognition in children.

To see if you qualify to participate in the study, or for more information, contact Dr. Jennifer Bugos at (813) 974-2753 or email her at BugosJ@usf.edu.

USF School of Music

New Tampa Resident’s The Poker Night Murders Has Local Flavor!

Even though I was still living in Hunter’s Green when retired forensic psychiatrist Donald Taylor first started hosting weekly poker games at his home in the same community, I don’t believe I had ever met “Don.”

But, when he contacted me by email a few weeks ago, asking about Neighborhood News advertising rates, I responded as I always do — asking him about the nature of the business he was trying to promote and whether he was interested in New Tampa, Wesley Chapel or both of our markets.

When he said that he was looking to promote his first-ever self-published novel — entitled The Poker Night Murders — I was intrigued. I told him, as I have many authors before, that if he would send me a copy of the book, I’d take a look at it and possibly write something to try to help him sell more copies.

We ended up speaking on the phone at length about the book, which is based both on Don’s weekly poker nights at his home and fictional accounts of murder cases, none of which, he says, were based on actual murderers he was called on to interview and testify about their mental states by either the courts or the attorneys involved in the cases.

Now, although I’ve done precious little reading for pleasure since I started editing thousands of pages every year for my publications nearly 30 years ago, and never really was too big on murder mysteries as a reading genre, I agreed to at least read the first chapter or chapters to get a feel for the book.

The fact that Jannah and I currently really enjoy the Steve Martin-Martin Short-Selena Gomez Hulu series “Only Murders in the Building” definitely made me even more interested in the book’s subject material.

And no, I do not regret my decision to read it…at all.

Poker, Murder & New Tampa

One of the things that appealed to me immediately about the book was its length — only 125 pages. The murders themselves take place over only four consecutive Thursdays, with each poker night played out in a single chapter of this four-chapter book.

The reason is not only due to my attention span, but also because I knew that even if I didn’t love the book, I could get through it in just a few sittings without it affecting my deadline schedule.

The second thing that immediately appealed to me was how Don — who goes by the pen name “D.R. Taylor” in his novel — would weave actual No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em poker hands (with graphic illustrations showing the cards as they are played) and the various players’ reactions to how other players played those hands into the story.

Although I love to play poker, I have always kind of hated Hold ‘Em because I tend to, especially in lower stakes games, stay in as often as possible to see the “flop” cards, just as the character in the book named Cody, who is known to all of the other players as the worst player in the game, usually does, almost all of the time to his detriment.

In the book, “D.R.” says his fictional players decided at some point during the weekly high-stakes ($1,000 buy-in; more on this below) game at the home of the character based on him — retired forensic psychiatrist Dr. Ronald Turner — to only play Hold ‘Em “after the televised poker boom began in 2003.” Don admits that “the stakes and the implied incomes of the players have been magnified for dramatic effect,” noting that he “thought readers would be more interested in a game where people won or lost $2,000, rather than $37.” Don also goes into detail about not only the rules (for the uninitiated readers) but also the intricacies of Hold ‘Em, which made me realize even more why I never really won playing it.

But, what really hooked me were all of the New Tampa and Tampa references — Ciccio Cali, Acropolis, USF, the Lightning, Bruce B. Downs Blvd., South Tampa, the Seminole Hard Rock Casino and even a local female TV anchor who never got promoted because of Kelly Ring. I don’t know if these references will be lost on readers outside of our area, but it definitely made the book more fun for me.

As for the murders themselves, I’ll admit that I focused on only two of the many major characters from the very beginning (and one of those two did actually “do it”), but Don did such a great job of making you doubt your sleuthing skills that right up until the “Fourth Thursday” (final) chapter, I wasn’t sure whodunit.

And, while I would guess that The Poker Night Murders skews more towards a male audience because of the amount of poker included in the story and the lack of much in the way of sexual overtones, the book was definitely a page-turner for me. Rather than my anticipated “few sittings,” I devoured the book in just two.

I congratulate Don, his editor Kathleen Strattan and his illustrator and book designer John Reinhardt on a job well done. Will there be a sequel? “let’s see how this one sells,” Don says. “But, you never know.”

Spoken like a true mystery writer.

Donald Taylor’s The Poker Night Murders is available online (only) on both Amazon and Barnes & Noble for just $14.95 per copy. It’s not currently available in stores, but, as Don says, “We’ll see about it in the future.”

The Poker Night Murders