Month: March 2023

PHSC’s Timothy Beard To Retire

After 17 years at Pasco-Hernando State College (PHSC), which includes leading the Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch, president Timothy L. Beard, Ph.D., will retire effective January 31, 2024, the school announced on Mar. 1.

By the time he retires, Beard will have served nearly nine years as the state college’s president and CEO. Prior to that, he served more than eight years as PHSC’s Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management.

The school announced that it is conducting a nationwide search for Beard’s successor. Myers McRae Executive Search and Consulting firm will lead the search for PHSC’s fifth president, teaming up with a presidential search committee comprised of community stakeholders and PHSC faculty, staff and students.

During Beard’s presidency, PHSC constructed the $18-million Instructional Performing Arts Center (IPAC), located on Old Pasco Rd. in front of Cypress Creek middle and high school. The facility opened in 2021, and provides instruction in music, dance, theater and multi-media design.

“Serving as PHSC’s president has been the crowning achievement of my career,” Beard said in a release. “The College has made exceptional progress, thanks to the guidance of our trustees and the dedication of our administrators, faculty and staff. I remain in awe of the transformative power of education.”

Beard also has been at the helm for a number of other major projects, like adding a $5 million Burn Center and Fire Academy training center at PHSC’s East Campus in Dade City, which will also be home to a future STEM Student Success and Community Engagement Center with a projected $25-million budget.

Dr. Beard earned his Bachelor’s degree from Florida A&M (FAMU) in 1984, and received his Master’s and Ph.D. degrees from Florida State University. He worked on the staff, faculty and in the administrations at FAMU, FSU and the University of South Alabama in Mobile before accepting the vice president’s position at PHSC.

He succeeded former PHSC presidents Katherine M. Johnson, Ed.D., in 2015. Johnson was preceded by the late Robert W. Judson, Jr, Ed.D., and Milton O. Jones, Ph.D., the college’s founding president.

PHSC, which has six locations in Pasco and Hernando counties serving nearly 10,000 students annually, saw its operating budget increase by nearly 40 percent under Beard, and the PHSC Foundation’s assets increased by more than 60 percent. Beard personally raised several hundred thousand dollars to establish and fund scholarships.

PHSC’s nine-member District Board of Trustees is hoping to find and introduce Beard’s replacement in September.

Information on PHSC’s Presidential Search, including details about the application and nomination process, can be found at MyersMcrae.com or PHSC.edu/about/leadership/presidential-search.

Popular New Products Fueling Your CBD Store Of New Tampa

Battling with anxiety and not quite sure what to do while driving up Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., Alex Colley was looking for a sign.

Little did he know that sign would quite literally be the one that David Curler, the co-owner of Your CBD Store of New Tampa, was twirling on the side of BBD.

“David was out there spinning the sign, and it said ‘Free CBD Samples, Come On In,’” Alex says. “I had seen him out there before and didn’t think anything, but I’ve had anxiety for a long time, and I literally was driving by as I was having a panic attack. And I was like, ‘I guess that’s my sign, right? Like, literally, there’s my sign to go in.’”

Alex went in and David gave him a sample that immediately calmed him down, and Alex has been a regular now for four months. “David is my CBD doctor,” he says, chuckling.

David is quick to point out, however, that he is not a doctor. He and his wife Debra are just owners of the Your CBD Store of New Tampa, located in the Pebble Creek Collection, and are true believers in the power of CBD and its healing properties.

Pick a malady, and Debra can point you towards the right remedy, with David ready to answer any questions about your choices.

Having trouble sleeping? They’ve got you.

Anxiety? Depressed? In a lot of pain? Just need to relax? They have answers.

Looking for relief from the effects of PTSD? Cancer? Arthritis? There’s a multitude of CBD products to help with any of those ailments.

“We love helping people,” Debra says. “It’s why we started doing this in the first place.”

They also are true believers because they use some of the products they sell themselves. Debra had a knee replaced and finds that her store’s SunMed CBD-infused creams bring her relief, while David finds his issues with sleeping washed away with a nighttime gummy.

“I like that they use the products and can tell you from first-hand experience what they do,” Alex said. “It’s not like deciding what to order at a steakhouse and finding out your waiter is a vegetarian.”

Debra says new customers like Alex and the friends he has recommended to the Curlers are coming through their doors every day. While they have their regulars, on a recent Sunday, Debra says that every customer who stopped by was a new one.

While the effects are not guaranteed because everyone is different, Debra says many customers rave about the effects.

CBD, or cannabidiol, is one of more than 100 cannabinoids that grow on cannabis, of which both hemp and marijuana are varieties. Like “weed,” CBD originates from hemp, but contains less than 0.3% of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which is the ingredient that causes the “high,” while marijuana has much higher levels of THC.

Most of the CBD products at Your CBD Store of New Tampa are offered as “full spectrum,” which are generally stronger but still contain no more than the legal limit of 0.3% THC, and “broad spectrum,” which have no THC at all.

The Delta Experience

The recent explosion of Delta 8 and Delta 9 products has pushed the limits of the THC content in CBD products, making it more important than ever that consumers know they are legitimate. Your CBD Store only sells SunMed products that the company says are vigorously tested. In fact, a QR code on the products can be scanned for the complete independent lab reports for each SunMed product.

*The Curlers say SunMed’s Above and Beyond Delta-8 and Delta-9 products (above) are the hottest sellers at Your CBD Store of New Tampa.*

SunMed grows its hemp in Oregon and Colorado, and processes it in nearby Palmetto, FL.

SunMed has recently launched Above and Beyond lines, which have higher levels of THC — but still remain below the legal limit — and are the best sellers for Debra and David.

“These will be gone by the end of the weekend,” Debra says, pointing to a shelf filled with SunMed’s Above and Beyond products,

The new product called Above blends Delta-8 with other cannabinoids, which SunMed says delivers a high that is described as “gentle body feels,” as opposed to a psychoactive high.

Meanwhile, Beyond products contain Delta-9 (and 400-percent more cannabinoids than your usual full-spectrum), and come in calming (indica) and uplifting (sativa) versions.

There also is a hybrid version that blends the two together.

David also raves about his Your CBD Store’s CBG products.

They aren’t new, but he has a special appreciation for their effectiveness, especially the full- and broad-spectrum neuro-water soluble and the CBG Citrus, which helps with inflammation.

Great For Relief

Jack Martin used to go to the CBD store near his Land O’Lakes home before it shut down. He says he is thankful he found Dave and Debra’s location, because they have been a godsend.

Once every three weeks, he places an order for CBD and CBG products for his 80-year-old mother. The CBD helps with her sore joints and arthritis, while the CBG, which can be more effective treating muscle soreness, is for the neuropathy in her feet.

“As long as mom’s taking it, it’s like someone flipped a switch,” Jack says. “Just being pain-free and being out of the misery of having the feeling of burning feet all the time, it’s been a wonder.”

Jack may not use the Above and Beyond products at Your CBD Store, but he does appreciate the above-and-beyond service provided by David, who delivers Jack’s order free of charge.

“On a scale of 1-10, they are a 15,” he says. “And, you have to be careful where you buy this stuff these days. Everyone is selling it, but I trust the product at David’s store.”

While CBD products continue to be debated, they also are becoming more commonplace and accepted. As a result, SunMed continues to produce highly-tested, top-quality products.

“There’s something here for everyone,” Debra says. “We can help you find what you need.”

Like most CBD-related products, they come in various forms — like gummies, water soluble and tinctures, as well as vapes and pre-rolls (primarily for the Above and Beyond line) for those who prefer the smoking effect.

Other products include:

Immune+, a tincture blend that contains CBGA, the “grand daddy” of cannabinoids, and CBDA. Both are acids which are converted to CBG and CBD, and Immune+ combines them with cinnamon, clove, blue gum eucalyptus and lemon essential oils and then adds Vitamins A and D3 to give your immune system a boost.

TRIM is SunMed’s first foray into the weight loss product market. TRIM features THC-V, which blocks your appetite-stimulating CB1 receptor (THC-D9, by contrast, causes appetite stimulation). David says he lost 21 pounds using TRIM, although he confesses to gaining a few back. He says weight loss while using TRIM will vary with each customer.

Full spectrum, hemp-infused full-spectrum SunMed seltzers, which come in indica (called Just Chillin’) and Delta-8 (aka Island Time). David says a doctor from nearby AdventHealth stops by for a case of seltzer every month and shares them with his patients.

There also are topical creams and sprays and Debra says the broad spectrum cream and the topical spray, both produce outstanding results. Or, try another one of the newer items, the broad spectrum-infused massage oil.

For your doggies, Your CBD Store offers Chillin’ Out (for relaxation) and Movin’ Easy (for mobility and aches and pains for senior dogs) broad-spectrum hemp chews.

Your CBD Store New Tampa is located at 19651 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Suite B-1. It is open Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., and 1 p.m.-5 p.m. on Sunday.

For more information, call (813) 994-0599 or visit CBDRX4U.com/find-us/florida/new-tampa.

New Tampa Your CBD Store

New Tampa’s 2022-23 Teachers Of The Year

The 2023 Excellence in Education Awards, hosted by the Hillsborough Education Foundation in partnership with Hillsborough County Public Schools, recently recognized outstanding educators at the county’s public schools, including 11 in New Tampa.

Each school nominated one candidate for the each of the three county-wide awards — Teacher of the Year, Ida S. Baker Diversity Educator of the Year and Instructional Support Employee of the Year.

While none of the District winners were from New Tampa’s schools, it is an honor to be nominated for the many deserving teachers and support staff at all of our local schools.

Congratulations to the New Tampa nominees for Teacher of the Year (pictured on this page), and the Ida S. Baker Diversity Educators and Instructional Support Employees (not pictured).

Megan Boghosian Language Arts Liberty Middle School

New Tampa Teacher of the Year

Wesley Chapel Blvd. Moving Towards Expansion

Pasco County finally has the land it needs to widen Wesley Chapel Blvd. from a two-lane to a six-lane road. Now all the county needs is a final plan.

The county completed the needed right-of-way acquisition for the long-planned project in January, and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is working on the final reviews of the design plans, according to county spokeswoman Tambrey Laine.

“As soon as those reviews are complete (likely by the end of March), we’ll be able to move forward with the bidding process,” Laine told the Neighborhood News.

Construction could begin as soon as this fall, and will take approximately three years to complete.

When the widening project has been completed, Wesley Chapel Blvd. (also known as C.R. 54) will be a six-lane roadway from north of S.R. 56 (near the Cypress Creek Town Center) to I-75, near The Grove.

The widening of Wesley Chapel Blvd. (the roadway portion in red, north of S.R. 56) should begin soon. Many of the major projects along the roadway are either under construction or already open. Please note that the locations of these projects are approximate & not to scale

Of course, the name Wesley Chapel Blvd. — which has been known as much more of a country road connecting Land O’Lakes to the fledgling Wesley Chapel and ultimately, to Zephyrhills prior to the opening of S.R. 56 — is something of a misnomer, as most of the developments on both sides of the road that actually travels north and south, even though it is labeled as an east-west road, are actually located within either Lutz or Land O’Lakes zip codes.

Also located off of Wesley Chapel Blvd. is the North Tampa Aero Park, the small (one-runway) private airport that used to host a popular annual air show. The more popular the air show became, the worse the traffic snarled throughout the Lutz/Wesley Chapel area. The last year the air show was held, people were stranded on Wesley Chapel Blvd. for several hours.

At a Pasco County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) meeting on May 23, 2017, meeting, the commissioners approved a County Incentive Grant Program Agreement with FDOT for the right-of-way acquisition for the project. The estimated right of way costs were $11,718,400, with FDOT contributing half, or $5,859,200.

The construction phase of the Wesley Chapel Blvd. project is estimated to cost $36,392,250, with FDOT agreeing to fund $5,733,308 of that. Including the design costs and right-of-way acquisitions, the total estimated cost of the project is $50.8 million.

The widening will include a six-lane “urban typical section,” with a sidewalk, bicycle lanes, a multi-use path, lighting, and new signals at the intersections at Stagecoach Village Blvd. (the entrance to the Stagecoach Village subdivision, which become an active traffic signal a few months ago), at Compark Dr. and Grand Oaks Blvd. (the latter of which has been in existence for several years).

The project will be constructed in two parts. One part will widen Wesley Chapel Blvd. from north of S.R. 56 to Magnolia Blvd., which is just south of Amici’s Pizza (see map above).

The second phase will widen from just north of Magnolia Blvd. to north of Old Pasco Rd. That portion will include the addition of two new lanes in a 48” median to tie into the existing six lanes to the east and proposed six lanes to the south.

A Look Back…

The idea of widening Wesley Chapel Blvd. was considered as far back as 2003, when there was an initial study to widen it to four lanes. But, later studies showed that would not be enough to accommodate the growth in the area on both side of the road.

*There are three major multi-family projects already under construction on WC Blvd., including the Maeva apartments, located just north of PopStroke*.

Business on both ends of Wesley Chapel Blvd. has exploded in recent years, with the development of the Cypress Creek Town Center to the south and The Grove to the north. But, in between, new businesses and apartment and townhome communities continue to sprout.

There continues to be additional expansion at the Cypress Creek Town Center development north of S.R. 56. PopStroke opened last month, Academy Sports + Outdoors is being built next to PopStroke and a 260-unit luxury apartment complex, Maeva, is under construction just north of those two large businesses, as well as Total Wine & More. Maeva is expected to open around September.

On the west side of Wesley Chapel Blvd. north of S.R. 56, a 42,000-sq.-ft. Harley-Davidson dealership is nearing completion,and there also are plans for a 5,000-sq.-ft. restaurant on the same site.

North of Harley-Davidson, the Cypress Bend Professional Park also is under construction. While none of the tenants have been named, the complex is being built on nine acres and will include 23 buildings ranging in size from 2,612 sq. ft. to 5,868 sq. ft. The entire Cypress Bend Prof. Park project will be 74,172 sq. ft.

Other projects — including a storage unit, Valvoline oil change facility, small businesses in the plazas that dot the boulevard on the drive from I-75 to S.R. 56 – continue to pop up.

And, if Wesley Chapel has proven anything over the last few years, development along Wesley Chapel Blvd. isn’t likely to slow down.

Harley-Davidson Maeva Apartments Wesley Chapel Wesley Chapel Blvd

Local Author Lois Lewandowski Hopes To Inspire Others

*Local author Lois Lewandowski poses with most of her “vanity published” books, including* The Ghost on Swann. (Photos by Charmaine George)

I recently read a novel by someone I’ve known indirectly for more than 20 years — Hunter’s Green resident Lois Lewandowski.

To be fair, despite knowing Lois’ husband (and local financial advisor) Chuck Lewandowski for that amount of time, I had only met her a handful of times and I honestly had no idea that the one-time IT rep for a Silicon Valley company who later worked in the jewelry department of Nordstrom’s was a published author.

So, when Lois (who writes her books as “L.A. Lewandowski”) contacted me by email about buying an ad for her most recent “vanity published” (she hates the term “self-published;” more on this below) novel — The Ghost on Swann — I told her that I would read the book first and be honest with her about whether or not I thought it would be worth buying ads to try to sell copies of it.

Well, quite truthfully, I was blown away by The Ghost. Each chapter of the book is told in first person by one of the four major characters — the ghost herself, Bertha “Posh” Swann, Posh’s friend Victor, Victor’s niece Tyrene and even a mannequin named Maude. The format, albeit a little confusing at first, does make you want to find out what happens next. Posh, who “haunts” the business now owned by her living friend Victor, was murdered in the same building many years earlier.

If you recognize the spelling of “Swann,” it’s because Posh’s family is supposedly the reason Swann Ave. in Tampa’s renowned Hyde Park Village neighborhood (where the entire story is set) was given that name.

For a book devoid of sex and violence (even the description of Posh’s murder was somewhat pedestrian), The Ghost on Swann is a true page-turner. I told Lois that, as I read it, I wondered if maybe Posh’s murder was more of a mystery than the reader is led to believe, but as it turns out, The Ghost is not a murder mystery. Instead, it’s simply a well-crafted story rooted in the fashion industry (as Lois herself has been) that likely will appeal more to women than to men but I wouldn’t discourage anyone from giving it the once-over.

“I’m very proud of The Ghost,” Lois says. “It took three rewrites to get it to where it is now.”

Lois On ‘Vanity’ Publishing

Speaking of rewrites, as I mentioned earlier, Lois isn’t a fan of the term “self-published,” because it indicates to many people that the books are likely less “professional” than those published by one of the remaining major publishing houses.

However, after reading The Ghost, it’s obvious that Lois’ work is not only professional, she takes a lot of pride in things like her editor (Stacy Juba), the design of the covers of her books, the spelling, grammar and punctuation of her stories and other things that many “self-published” authors don’t seem to sweat as she does.

“I prefer to call it ‘vanity publishing,’” she says. “Just because Viking, Penguin and other traditional publishers haven’t published my books, I care that if you read them, you won’t be able to distinguish it from a traditionally published book.”

She admits, however, that some self-publishers who don’t think they have to pay the same attention to detail, give the vanity publishing business a bad name. Many also don’t think you can make “real” money as a vanity publisher.

“But that just isn’t true,” Lois says. “I’m in a lot of online independent publishing groups and the word is that it takes as many as 15 books to really start making money. The Ghost on Swann is only my sixth book, but my brain is very active and I have at least three more that are close to being ready, so I feel like I’m on my way.”

On the other hand, Lois says that even though sites like Amazon do provide numbers of copies sold to authors, “I don’t really worry about sales. I write because I have stories in my head and I do regularly receive money for my book sales, too.”

Lois says it wasn’t always her dream to be a writer — “I wanted to be a lawyer, really…but it is my dream now.” She points to one vanity publisher who has written 35 or more books, putting out two a year, and has enough of a following that it is now his full-time job. “Amazon has an algorithm (for book sales) and you have to feed the algorithm, so I have to get another book out by October of this year to do that.”

She also says that a lot of people she meets tell her that they really want to write a book and she always encourages them to do so.“Stephen King calls it ‘BIC,” or ‘Butt in Chair,’ which is the only way to get it done.”

In addition, Lois wrote for a blog called “Indies Unlimited” and found out, “that a lot of self-published writers are too cheap to register their work with the Library of Congress to protect it. But, if you really think you have a story people would be interested in reading, why wouldn’t you want to protect it?”

She adds, “Writers’ ideas are not copyright-able, but the words themselves are. If you protect your work, and someone publishes something that’s really close to your words, you can go after them legally.”

Lois says she even has gone so far as to teach “Authors 101” courses at public libraries, where she teaches people who want to write how to get started. “After the Tampa Bay Times did an article on me several years ago, I had 25 or 30 people at my course at the Riverview library,” she says. “The information I gave out then is all old now because of the internet, but I found out that a lot of people definitely have stories they want to tell in a book. That’s why, when I did my Authors 101 course, I felt so good about encouraging other authors to become vanity publishers.”

She also notes that it’s harder than ever to get one of the big publishing houses to publish your book, as you have write query letters to literary agents because, “you can’t even submit a manuscript to the folks at Random House.”

But, Lois says, “If you want to be a writer, your goal should be to publish, not to make money. “I don’t keep track of my sales because my goal is to be proud of my work. If people love my books, the money will come.”

Before releasing The Ghost on Swann in 2022, Lois’ first book was Born to Die, The Montauk Murders (2011). That was followed by A Gourmet Demise, Murder in South Tampa (2014), which Lois says briefly hit #1 on Amazon for a while and may be her career best-seller. Between those murder mysteries was Gentleman Vampire: The Undead Have Style (2012). She also has published Bacon Aporkalypse, which is a collection of recipes paired with short stories in 2014. And, Lois says the ebook Thirty Days of Work from Home Style (2020), was how she navigated the pandemic. She says her next book, which she plans to have out by the end of this year, will be the sequel to Gentleman Vampire.

Search “Books by L.A. Lewandowski” on Amazon.com. Almost all of Lois’ titles are available in paperback and for Kindle.

Book Hunters Green Lois Lewandowski New Tampa The Ghost On Swann