Former Wiregrass Ranch Hoopster Stephanie Brower Surprised To Earn U-F Scholarship

Former Wiregrass Ranch High girls basketball standout Stephanie Brower, a 2017 walk-on at the University of Florida, reacts with her teammates to being told by the Gators women’s basketball coach Cam Newbauer that she had earned a scholarship for this season. (Photo: Screengrab, UF video)

Former Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) girls basketball player Stephanie Brower was never one of the most recruited players in Pasco County. But, she was always one of the hardest working and, after one season as a walk-on at the University of Florida, it is probably no surprise that, well, she no longer is a walk-on.

On Oct. 8, Brower received the surprise of a lifetime when, surrounded by her teammates, she was told by Gators head coach Cam Newbauer that she had officially earned a scholarship.

Brower could only cover her mouth in shock as her face slowly turned red with tears. Her teammates mobbed her in celebration.

The Gators team had gathered at the Delta Zeta house, which is Brower’s sorority, under the guise of promoting the team and drumming up attendance by inviting the sorority sisters to come to games this season.

After Newbauer made his pitch to support his team, Brower took the floor to loud cheers. Newbauer then interrupted.

“Come on now, how loud do you cheer for a Delta Zeta?,” he asked a gathering of about 50 sisters, which then erupted into even louder cheering.

After they stopped, Newbauer continued: “How loud would you cheer for a Delta Zeta…that earned a scholarship?”

Brower covered her heart with her hands — “Oh my God, are you serious?” — and then covered her face as her teammates jumped into the celebration.

It was the second time this summer that Newbauer surprised one of the Gators with a scholarship. Brower joined Corey Staples, who was surprised with a scholarship after a carefully orchestrated scavenger hunt.

“It’s been really cool for me to see Steph’s growth and development,” Newbauer says. “When I was coaching at Belmont (University) she actually came out to our elite camp and was really interested, but at the time we didn’t have any scholarships available or room on our roster. Then when I got here to Florida, she reached out about a walk-on opportunity. I was really excited to hear from her because I remembered how hard she played. She will do anything to add value to the team.”

Brower, a 2017 WRH grad, averaged 15.1 points and 10.5 rebounds as a 5-foot-11 guard. She led the Bulls to the school’s first district title in 2016, surpassing the 1,000-point career mark with a 15-point, 16-rebound performance in a 59-47 district championship win over Freedom.

Brower finished her Wiregrass Ranch career with 1,493 points. 1,059 rebounds and 514 assists.
She walked on at Florida on Dec. 12, 2017, appearing in six of 30 games during the 2017-18 season, including four Southeastern Conference games. She played 24 of her 45 minutes against No. 15 Tennessee in February, scoring 2 points with three assists, two rebounds and a steal.

District 63 Seat Once Again Slated To Be A Close Battle

State House District 63 candidate Fentrice Driskell is hoping to return incumbent Shawn Harrison’s seat to Democratic hands in the General Election on Tuesday, November 6.

There was never any doubt, at least in her mind, that Fentrice Driskell was going to one day run for office.

It was just a matter of when.

Well, when…is now.

In February, Driskell filed to run for the Florida House District 63 seat currently held by Republican and long-time New Tampa resident Shawn Harrison.

District 63 includes New Tampa, as well as Carrollwood, Lutz and the Lake Magdalene and University of South Florida areas to our south and east.

Driskell’s entry into the race was greeted with great enthusiasm by many Democrats, who consider it one of the most flippable State House seats.

Shawn Harrison

Harrison won the seat in 2010, lost it to Mark Danish in 2012, then reclaimed it in 2014. In 2016, Harrison held off Democratic challenger and fellow former Tampa City Council member Lisa Montelione by 1,363 votes, or 51-49 percent.

“I’ve known for quite some time I would like to run one day,” Driskell says. “I thought it would be later in life, though. But, the 2016 election motivated me.”

Driskell was almost immediately endorsed by prominent local Democrats like Betty Castor, Alex Sink, Pat Kemp and State House Democratic Leader, State Rep. Janet Cruz, after throwing her hat in the ring.

Driskell felt that women’s voices were missing from the political debate, and felt like public schools, where her mother taught for 35 years, were under attack. She saw a political landscape dominated by acrimony and inertia, instead of focusing on providing affordable housing, a safe and clean environment and economic policies that would benefit everyone.

“After the 2016 election, I really decided that if I don’t like the way things are going, I can either keep talking about it or do something about it,” Driskell says. “I started attending candidate trainings and really thinking about some of the issues I care about the most.”

Driskell said her passion for government was ignited while she attended Lake Gibson High in Lakeland.

During her junior year, she attended Florida Girls State, a week-long workshop that focuses on government, politics and Americanism.

“It completely changed my trajectory,” Driskell says.

She graduated from Lake Gibson No. 1 in her class and attended Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, where she was the school’s first African-American female student body government president.

She graduated from Harvard and then Georgetown Law School in Washington, D.C., and has been president of the George Edgecomb Bar Association for black lawyers in Tampa. She is currently a partner and business litigator at the Carlton Fields law firm near Tampa International Airport.

When she decided to run and looked at the open races, she saw District 63 as a perfect place to bring what she says will be an inclusive style of representation.

“I looked at the level of representation that District 63 is getting and felt I had something better to offer,” Driskell says.

According to the Lakeland native, District 63 is roughly 38 percent registered Democrats, 32 percent Republicans and 30 percent unaffiliated.

“When you have a district that balanced, you have to be able to lead from a place that is reflective of that and inclusive of everyone,” Driskell says. “My opponent has moved too far to the right for this district.”

Driskell (see ad on pg. 6) has attended a few New Tampa town halls, and organized some meet-and-greets in local communities, most recently in Arbor Greene, and hopes to strike a chord with local voters, who trended Democratic in 2016.

“We’ve been able to build a lot of great momentum and enthusiasm around our campaign,” Driskell says. “What we’ve found is that people want to talk about the kind of bread-and-butter issues that affect us every day, like schools, gun safety, keeping kids safe. Because we have been able to engage them directly, people are excited to have the opportunity to have a representative who will listen to them.”

Transportation Sales Tax Is On Nov. Ballot

Tyler Hudson (left) of All For Transportation, helps deliver 77,000 Transportation Referendum petitions to Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer’s office to be certified.

Snarled traffic, hazardous roads, dangerous intersections. The solutions to all of these problems are out there. The question facing voters this November, however, are you willing to pay for them?

Against the odds and, in less than two months, a group called All For Transportation (AFT) used a charter amendment by petition process to collect enough signatures to get a one-cent county sales tax hike on the ballot for the Nov. 6 election, which would boost the county’s current sales tax from 7 percent to 8, or one penny for every dollar you spend.

Funded primarily by Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik and local philanthropist Frank Morsani, AFT enlisted a host of volunteers and paid Revolution Field Strategies, a grassroots organizing and public affairs consulting firm, to collect the needed 48,760 signatures. In all, AFT collected 77,000 signatures and had 50,709 signatures verified in August to put the referendum on the ballot.

The group says that the tax will raise $280 million per year for Hillsborough County to fund transportation improvements for 30 years. Those improvements include road and bridge improvements, relieving rush hour traffic, making walking and biking safer and expanding and improving public transit options.

Previous transportation referendums in Tampa Bay have not had much luck. In 2010, Moving Hillsborough Forward was voted down 58-42 percent. In 2014, Greenlight Pinellas was soundly defeated 62-38 percent. And, in 2016, Go Hillsborough, to be funded by a half-cent surtax,  never even made it onto the ballot, as the Hillsborough County Commission voted it down twice.

In each case, a mistrust of government and its ability to properly spend the money worked against the transportation plans.

That is what makes this latest foray into transportation funding different, says Tyler Hudson, a Tampa lawyer and the chair of AFT.

“Our plan is the most balanced plan that’s ever been brought to voters,” he says. “Forty five percent of the money goes to transit, and 55 percent is for roads. And, it has the strongest oversight component of any plan ever offered.”

Hudson says an independent oversight committee comprised of 14 citizens will make sure the money goes where it was intended to, and an audit will be conducted yearly. Every agency requesting money has to produce a public list annually detailing how the proceeds will be spent, and the committee will vote to approve (or not) each item.

“This is not a blank check,” Hudson says.

Tampa Bay’s transportation issues may be reaching a tipping point, says AFT’s Christina Barker.

“It’s the most critical issue facing Hillsborough County,” she said. “In our polling, transportation wins every time.”

Like the half-cent education tax being proposed on the same ballot, AFT is letting voters know the details of their plans, releasing a list of signature projects and programs that the money would be used for.

Those that affect our area include improvements at the troublesome Cross Creek Blvd. and Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. intersections, the potential widening of New Tampa Blvd. from the New Tampa Gateway Bridge in West Meadows to BBD, upgrades to New Tampa’s multi-use paths and trails, and yes, even an East-West road extension from New Tampa Blvd. to a new exit at I-275.

The East-West Connector Rd., as it was often called, has been discussed since the 1980s and was at the center of an intense debate between many residents of West Meadows and Tampa Palms Areas 4 & 8 who were opposed to the project — and the rest of the New Tampa. It was eventually scuttled in 2008.

Jean Duncan, the City of Tampa’s director of transportation and stormwater services, says the money raised by the tax increase would have an impact in New Tampa, and throughout the county. She says more round-a-bouts, including some in New Tampa, can be constructed, streets can be made calmer, and things like a speed limit reduction on Tampa Palms Blvd., as well as road restriping, would produce changes that are noticeable.

“The plan certainly has a healthy distribution of money between maintenance and adding in some of the new things we need,” Duncan said.

Many of those things have been in the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)’s Long Range Transportation Plan for years awaiting funding.

“If this passes, things will get done more quickly,” Hudson says. “We are telling people this is not a moonshot. You are going to see changes within months. You will see immediate improvements.”

The plan has its detractors, but has received endorsements from the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce.

“The choice is on the ballot,” says Barker. “You either vote for a plan that is balanced and driven by community priorities, or you vote no and you get the status quo.”

Local Schools To Benefit If Half-Cent Education Sales Tax Passes Next Month

The heat isn’t going away. Neither, then, are the uncomfortable conditions still being faced by many students in Hillsborough County, where the air conditioning systems at some schools appear to be held together by staples and duct tape.

Looking to address that situation, as well as many others, the Hillsborough County School Board (HCSB) voted to place a referendum on the General Election ballot on Tuesday, November 6, to help fill a gap in funding that has led to myriad of problems in our schools.

A half-cent sales tax increase referendum was hurried and approved in late August by the School Board, despite concerns the chances of passage would be hurt by competing against a transportation referendum already asking for a one-cent sales tax increase.

The education referendum for Hillsborough County Public Schools, the eighth-largest school system in the country, would raise an anticipated $131 million annually, or $1.3 billion over 10 years. Nearly half of that would go to fixing or replacing air conditioning systems in roughly 200 of the county’s 250 schools.

In New Tampa, every school would have its air conditioning systems replaced or overhauled by 2023, with the exception of Hunter’s Green and Tampa Palms elementary schools and Turner/Bartels K-8, all of which would have theirs done between 2023-28.

Every school in Hillsborough County is expected to receive at least $500,000 of benefit from the tax.

School Superintendent Jeff Eakins has been on the town hall circuit this month and last, visiting schools across the county (see picture).

He held a town hall at Wharton High on Oct. 1.

Ahead of his New Tampa visit, the Hillsborough County School District released a list on Sept. 21 of 1,785 projects that would be funded by the tax increase.

Here are the projects for New Tampa schools to be funded by the tax:

Benito Middle School — Years 1-5:  Air Conditioning Replacement or Overhaul, Carpeting Replacement Project, Generator Project, Hard-Surface Flooring Replacement Project, Repave Athletic Tracks, Replace Security System, School Interior Repainting Project

Years 6-10:  Replace Fire Alarm System

Chiles Elementary School — Years 1-5:  Air Conditioning Replacement or Overhaul, Carpeting Replacement Project, Fire Evacuation Improvements, Hard-Surface Flooring Replacement Project, K-3 Playground Replacement, Replace Fire Alarm System

Years 6-10: Grade 4-5 Playground Replacement

Clark Elementary — Years 1-5: Air Conditioning Replacement or Overhaul, Carpeting Replacement Project, Fire Evacuation Improvements, Grade 4-5 Playground Replacement, Hard-Surface Flooring Replacement Project, Replace Fire Alarm System

Years 6-10: Replace Aging Roof, K-3 Playground Replacement, Pre-K Playground Replacement

Freedom High — Years 1-5:  Air Conditioning Replacement or Overhaul, Carpeting Replacement Project, Elevator Modernization, Hard-Surface Flooring Replacement Project, Upgrade Classroom Network Infrastructure, Generator Project. 

Years 6-10:  Replace Aging Roof, Repave Athletic Tracks, Sand and Recondition Gym Floor, School Interior Repainting Project

Heritage Elementary —  Years 1-5: Air Conditioning Replacement or Overhaul, Fire Evacuation Improvements, Hard-Surface Flooring Replacement Project, School Interior Repainting Project, Upgrade Classroom Network Infrastructure

Years 6-10: Grade 4-5 Playground Replacement, K-3 Playground Replacement, Pre-K Playground Replacement

Hunter’s Green Elementary — Years 1 to 5:  Fire Evacuation Improvements, Grade 4-5 Playground Replacement, K-3 Playground Replacement, Replace Aging Roof, Replace Stage Lighting, Upgrade Classroom Network Infrastructure

Years 6-10: Air Conditioning Replacement or Overhaul, Exterior Paint and Waterproofing, Outdoor Court Replacement

Liberty Middle School — Years 1-5:  Air Conditioning Replacement or Overhaul, Exterior Paint and Waterproofing, School Interior Repainting Project, Upgrade Classroom Network Infrastructure

Years 6-10: Elevator Modernization, Replace Fire Alarm System, Replace Telephone System, Sand and Recondition Gym Floor

Pride Elementary — Years 1-5: Air Conditioning Replacement or Overhaul, Fire Evacuation Improvements, Grade 4-5 Playground Replacement, Pre-K Playground Replacement, Replace Aging Roof

Years 6-10: Elevator Modernization, K-3 Playground Replacement, Outdoor Court Replacement, Replace Telephone System

Tampa Palms Elementary — Years 1-5: Grade 4-5 Playground Replacement, K-3 Playground Replacement, Replace Stage Lighting

Years 6-10: Air Conditioning Replacement or Overhaul, Carpeting Replacement Project, Generator Project, Hard-Surface Flooring Replacement Project, Outdoor Court Replacement

Turner Bartels K-8 School — Years 1-5:  K-3 Playground Replacement, Pre-K Playground Replacement

Years 6-10:  Air Conditioning Replacement or Overhaul, Elevator Modernization, Outdoor Court Replacement, Repave Athletic Tracks, Replace Telephone System, School Interior Repainting Project

Wharton High — Years 1-5:  Air Conditioning Replacement or Overhaul, Fire Evacuation Improvements, Replace Aging Roof, Replace Fire Alarm System

Years 6 to 10: Carpeting Replacement Project, Repave Athletic Tracks, Sand and Recondition Gym Floor, School Interior Repainting Project

Is There A Smoother Future On The Horizon For New Tampa Blvd. Bicyclists?

The bike and pedestrian path along New Tampa Blvd. in West Meadows is showing its age.

If bike and pedestrian paths are supposed to offer safety and comfort to those riding or walking on them, then the one running along the north side of New Tampa Blvd. in West Meadows has failed, say many of those who frequent it.

That may, however, be changing.

Jean Duncan, the City of Tampa’s director of transportation and stormwater services, says that after years of urging from local residents, plans to resurface the aged pathway are now under way.

While there is no schedule or cost yet for the project, Duncan says the city will begin looking at the pavement condition, the drainage issues that leave much of the path puddled hours after rainstorms and any issues with the American Disabilities Act (ADA) in regards to things like wheelchair ramps.

“Once we identify all of that, we will lay out a schedule for a design, which will require us to go out and do some survey work,” Duncan says. “Once that is complete, we will go to construction.”

Duncan says the city is targeting spring of 2019 to begin the project.

That may not satisfy all of Brad Van Rooyen’s wishes for New Tampa Blvd. and its battered pathway, but it is better than nothing, the West Meadows Home Owners Association president says.

Van Rooyen says he has been in discussions with the city about the condition of the road and pathway for more than a decade.

“Walk that path from Publix to the (New Tampa Blvd. Gateway) Bridge and if you don’t twist an ankle, trip over a root or wear out your sneakers, I’d be surprised,” he says.

Van Rooyen may be using a touch of hyperbole to make his point, but he says he has seen people trip on the path, and one bicyclist who hit a bad patch on the pathway crashed to the ground and had to be transported via ambulance to a hospital.

The pathway, critics says, has worn through its original surface, is jagged, cracked and uncomfortable.

That was evident on June 28, when 100 or so bicyclists came out for a memorial ride in honor of Pedro Aguerreberry, the West Meadows resident who was struck by a car and killed while out riding his bike with his two young children.

The bike path was so bad, says Hunter’s Green resident Peter Mirones, that police officers directed the bicyclists to ride in the road.

“After the extremely tragic accident, the memorial ride definitely drew some more attention to it,” Duncan says.

Mirones took District 7 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera out to the path on July 2 to show him the cracked, uneven surface and to take pictures. Viera then asked the city staff to look into it, which it will be doing.

Van Rooyen said that, at one point, West Meadows was going to pave the bike path itself, but then-District 7 City Council member Lisa Montelione, who represented New Tampa from 2011-16, told him it was the city’s responsibility.

Van Rooyen met with city officials, showed them pictures of the deterioration, which was so bad the city’s attorney, “actually made us leave the room, and within 48 hours, some of the really serious potholes and dropoffs were fixed,” he says.

But, they were not enough, as the popular pathway continues to lose its form. Van Rooyen says that almost the entire length of the path — roughly 1.5 miles — needs to be re-finished.

“I get it, the city has budget constraints, and every community has got issues,” Van Rooyen says. “I’m not ungrateful. It’s a step in the right direction. But, the way to solve the problem is to spend the money and get it fixed the right way, so we don’t have to worry about it for the next 15 years. Anything short of a complete repaving is like putting on a Band-Aid. Eventually, it has to all be done.”

Van Rooyen adds that he thinks the city needs to not only take a look at the bike path, but should examine New Tampa Blvd. itself as well, which has weeds and roots growing up through sections of it.

Van Rooyen says that the road was built to handle West Meadows traffic, but once the bridge linked the road to Tampa Palms, there has been a dramatic increase in traffic and it has taken its toll on New Tampa Blvd.

“The road has never been paved, never been seal coated,” he says. “The markings on the road have become so worn down you can’t see the turn lanes. And, you see more and more potholes.”

He adds that the city was under the impression West Meadows was handling its own roads, and anytime someone called the city they were passed along to the HOA or Community Development District (CDD). “Then it just fell off everybody’s radar,” he says.

At least for now, it appears to be back on the city’s radar.