Police Searching For Car That Hit Family In West Meadows

Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan talks to the media (WFLA)

UPDATE: The vehicle involved in the hit and run earlier today near New Tampa Blvd.
and Wood Sage Dr. has been located. Hillsborough County deputies located the vehicle in the Pebble Creek area in New Tampa. The investigation is still ongoing.

Tampa Police are currently investigating a hit and run that took place on New Tampa Blvd. near Wood Sage Dr. in West Meadows, and are asking for the public’s help in locating the suspected vehicle, a red- or maroon-colored Dodge Caliber with front-end damage and a broken windshield.

According to police, just before noon today, the vehicle struck a family of three — a 42-year-old father and his 3- and 8-year-old sons — who were riding their bikes on a marked bike path, and then fled the scene.

The victims were transported to a local hospital. The 3-year-old was airlifted and has serious injuries. The 8-year-old is going to be fine.

This is not the car involved, but is a Dodge Caliber for those unfamiliar what one may look like.

“The 42-yr-old father has life-threatening injuries…it’s not a good prognosis for him,” Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan told the media. “This is a family that’s in a very tough situation. Their lives changed instantly today.”

The vehicle was last seen heading south on Bruce B. Downs Blvd.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Tampa Police Department immediately at 813-231-6130.

 

 

Viera & Tampa City Council Faced With A K-Bar Ranch Connection Conundrum

Long-Time New Tampa Resident Jim Davison debates roadway connections with Pasco County residents at an open house May 29. (Photo: John Cotey)

When the Tampa City Council met in early May to debate a rezoning that would allow M/I Homes to proceed with building 700 new homes in K-Bar Ranch, council members got stuck on one major point:
There aren’t enough roads in the area to allow residents to get in and out of their new neighborhood.

Without connections to Pasco County, particularly merging Kinnan St. in New Tampa with Mansfield Blvd. in Meadow Pointe, more homes would mean more residents who are essentially trapped with just one road, Kinnan St., out of their neighborhoods.

So the discussion was postponed until June 28 in the hopes that Pasco, with help from a yearlong Wesley Chapel Roadways Connection Study, which was near completion, would provide some answers.
The report is out. And no, it hasn’t.

At a May 29 open house at the Porter campus of Pasco-Hernando State Community College, an executive summary of the report was presented to roughly 75 locals — including politicians on both sides of the argument — but didn’t address actual connections in a way many who attended may have hoped.

How that ends up affecting future development in K-Bar Ranch remains to be seen. The Tampa City Council will take up the debate again June 28. But, any decision they make will have to be made without any promises of any connections between Hillsborough and Pasco counties. And, Pasco is in no rush to make a decision on the issue.

The public comment period about the Roadways Study ends today, and AECOM, the consulting firm that did the study, isn’t scheduled to present them to the Pasco MPO until August. A final study report will be finalized following that meeting, and then Pasco County will run a public opinion poll — basically an up or down vote on each of the connections, as well as combinations of connectors — in September or October.

The Pasco MPO will then meet in October to review the final study and decide what recommendations to make to Pasco’s Board of County Commissioners (BOC). The BOC will have the final say, with no date given for a final vote.

Connecting only Kinnan to Mansfield — the streets still separated by a 30-foot hop-skip-and-a-jump patch of dirt and bushes — without any other connections being made, was not studied.
District 2 commissioner Mike Moore, who represents the Meadow Pointe area, says connecting Meadow Point Blvd. to K-Bar Ranch Pkwy remains his favored option, and is opposed to connecting Kinnan-Mansfield.

“I think some people possibly thought the study would show maybe just a couple of hundred cars a day (added to Mansfield traffic with the connection),” Moore said, “but the study shows obviously that’s not the case. It’s anywhere from 500 to 4,000 (according to traffic projections). If anyone thinks Kinnan-Mansfield can handle 4,000 cars a day, it’s just not reality.”

When it was pointed out to Moore that the gap between 500 and 4,000 is significant, and that 500 cars could be only 250 making round trips, he said “That’s still a lot.”

At the original roadways meeting May 15, 2017, Pasco residents who filled out public comment cards were opposed to the connection, but only by a 37-36 margin.

“Now that we’ve done the study, and people can see the numbers, the true numbers, I have a sneaking suspicion that will change quite a bit,” Moore said.

While extensive, the study included no recommendations. It only went as far as listing positives — alternate routes during accidents, economic benefits, convenient travel to attractions in Hillsborough County, and relieving the traffic of up to 7,000 vehicles per day on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. and Cross Creek Blvd. — and negatives, like the increased traffic with minimal congestion relief for Pasco County roads and almost $2-million in additional improvements needed, with connections. The study looked at four alternatives, including a no-build alternative that would put up a gate for emergency vehicles and bicycle and pedestrian accommodations at Kinnan-Mansfield, but no connection for general public use.

Other alternatives studied included:
‱ Connecting Kinnan-Mansfield and K-Bar Ranch Blvd. to Meadow Pointe;
‱ Connecting only K-Bar Ranch Blvd to Meadow Pointe Blvd.; and
‱ Doing all three possible connections: Kinnan-Mansfield, K-Bar Ranch Pkwy.-Meadow Pointe Blvd., and Wyndfields Blvd. to K-Bar Ranch Pkwy.
Tampa’s District 7 councilman Luis Viera, who represents New Tampa, attended the meeting and was disappointed by the lack of specificity in the study. However, he was pleased by the prospect of at least an emergency gate at Kinnan-Mansfield.

Moore said Pasco County proposed one two years ago, and even offered to split the costs, but Tampa rejected it.

“I’m not looking at this from a political perspective,” Viera said. “If we can have a compromise for now, if a gate is built only for first responders, that’s a net positive. We obviously want to go further. That’s getting to first base, and we want a home run. But right now, that would be a net positive for both sides from a safety perspective.”

Tennis Event At Hunter’s Green On June 23 To Benefit Victim Of Lyme Disease

For years, whatever it was that was ailing Courtney Krysa befuddled doctors.

Fatigue and horrible joint pain had transformed her life into a difficult struggle. Even when she was able to play soccer for Freedom High, Courtney would sometimes pass out. She developed a heart arrhythmia, several neurological deficits and debilitating arthritis.

That finally led to a definitive diagnosis — Courtney had Advanced Neurological Lyme disease, likely the result of a tick bite she was treated for in 2008.

Although she wasn’t diagnosed with Lyme disease at the time of the bite — never developing the bulls-eye rash that is often the first symptom of the disease — she has suffered with the consequences and a series of setbacks ever since.

While there is no actual cure for the disease, and very few effective treatments, after years of searching, Katie Krysa thinks…hopes…she has found the answer.

But mostly, for the first time in a while, Katie says she has found hope.

On Saturday, June 23, at noon, at the Hunter’s Green Country Club Sports Club, friends of Katie will host “A Twist of Lyme” tennis social to raise money for Courtney’s continued treatment.

Katie, a Tampa Palms resident who plays league tennis with teams based out of West Meadows, is not surprised the New Tampa tennis community is stepping forward to help cover the costs of Courtney’s treatments. Katie says she already has exhausted her bank account by spending $20,000 for six weeks of the treatment; another 18-24 weeks is likely needed.

“I’ve relied on many of my tennis friends during this entire process,” she says. “They have been so great.”
A minimum $30 donation is requested to be part of the social, which also will have silent auctions and raffles.

The first 50 people to sign up will receive a tennis towel, and everyone who plays gets lunch, two margaritas and an afternoon of tennis and music, provided by D.J. Robby Rob.
Once a vibrant, energetic teenager, her mother says Lyme disease has ravaged Courtney’s body, penetrating her nervous system and damaging her kidneys. Courtney missed most of her senior year at Freedom, and couldn’t attend graduation ceremonies.

Katie says she has spent over $100,000 visiting clinics in Cleveland and Nashville, as well as visiting dozens of specialists, with every potential solution, most of them not covered by insurance, leading to a dead end.

Ready to give up, Katie says she discovered David Minkoff, M.D., an alternative medicine specialist, at the LifeWorks Wellness Center in Clearwater.

LifeWorks specializes in treating chronic illnesses, and Katie says she has been encouraged by the early results.

Courtney, who has spent much of the past few years bed-ridden and in a wheelchair, can today walk 25 feet without assistance, and has displayed cognitive improvements.

“I didn’t know where to go anymore before I found this treatment,” Katie says. “I didn’t have a lot of hope. I just thought I was going to have to watch her slowly get worse.”

After years of disappointment, Katie is optimistic her last hope can help restore to Courtney some of the quality of life she once enjoyed.

To read more about Courtney’s story and register for the A Twist of Lyme tennis social, visit HopeRisingInc.org. The HGCC Sports Club is located at 18050 Hunter’s Oak Ct.

HART To Improve Bus Service in New Tampa

New Tampa’s current one-stop Route 51LX is getting a makeover, with more stops, making it easier for local residents to get to nearby malls, downtown & Tampa Intl. Airport!

New Tampa residents without vehicles and/or in need of access to public transportation have always lived with a dearth of options. But, that is about to change.

Starting Sunday, July 1, a long-overdue, all-day, hourly bus route is being launched by the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) that will transform public transportation between S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel near the Shops at Wiregrass and the University of South Florida area.

The new route, called Route 275 Limited Express (275LX), will replace the existing and limited Route 51LX. It is funded at $1.2-million annually through fiscal year 2019 by an Urban Corridor grant from the Florida Department of Transportation.

The new route will run from Wesley Chapel through New Tampa, the University area and downtown, all the way to Tampa International Airport (TIA). Additional stops in New Tampa will make the service more accessible for more people who need to use public transportation.

Ruthie Reyes-Burckard, the chief operating officer at HART, says it will now be possible to take a bus from a number of new stops in New Tampa all the way to TIA in less than two hours, for the price of a $2 ticket. And yes, the HART buses are equipped with WiFi.
“That’s a pretty good deal,” she says.

More important is that the new route will offer a slew of brand new stops at New Tampa locations, as opposed to the one (in front of the Lowe’s at the corner of Bruce B. Downs {BBD} Blvd. and Commerce Palms Dr.) that exists now.

The new route promises to be a dramatic improvement for those who currently use public transportation, with the hope, Reyes-Burckard says, that the added convenience will encourage more use.

Interim HART CEO Jeff Seward (left) and Tampa International Airport CEO Joseph Lopano at HART’s TIA Rental Car Facility stop. (Photo Courtesy of HART)

The soon-to-launch Route 275LX will merge with Route 51LX to provide hourly service beginning at 5:30 a.m., with 13 stops between the Pasco County Public Transportation (PCPT) Park-N-Ride (at Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel in Wiregrass Ranch) and the University area, with 28 total stops to TIA. Service will be available until 10 p.m.

New Tampa will have stops at BBD and Hunter’s Lake Dr., Hunter’s Green Dr., Richmond Place Dr., Highwoods Preserve Pkwy., Commerce Palms Blvd./Lowe’s, Palm Springs Blvd., Tampa Palms Blvd., Amberly Dr. and Lake Forest Dr.

From there, the 275LX will head south, turn west on Fowler to I-275, to the Marion Transit Center in downtown Tampa, to stops on Westshore Blvd. and Spruce St. before arriving at the TIA rental car facility.

A route to TIA was a big selling point for Tampa residents who participated in surveys and email questionnaires distributed by HART, which also held 10 public outreach sessions, four on-board sessions and an open house at the New Tampa Regional Library on Cross Creek Blvd. in March.
HART proposed three route options.

One proposal was a seven-day, 6 a.m.-10 p.m. route running from Wiregrass Ranch to the Marion Transit Center, without an airport stop. A second proposal presented a route running from Wiregrass Ranch to the airport during the week, but only going as far as the University area on weekends.
At a public hearing March 28, a majority of the 105 attendees said they preferred the third option, Wiregrass Ranch to TIA, or 275LX route. It was approved at the May 7 HART Board of Directors meeting.

“We’ve heard many requests for more routes for years,” says Reyes-Burckard. “The (current) options for a few trips in the morning and afternoon doesn’t work for people who might have emergencies, or work an alternate schedule. This will provide them with much more flexibility.”

The current 51LX route available to New Tampa bus riders is extremely limited. Riders can only catch buses heading south from the Park-N-Ride location at Lowe’s, but only at 6:05 a.m. and 6:42 a.m. Riders needing to go north to the Park-N-Ride lot next to Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (off BBD in Wiregrass Ranch) have no morning options. In the evening, buses leave the Lowe’s stop at 5:29 p.m. and at 6:02 p.m. to return to their original starting point, with no stops in between and no return service to New Tampa.

The current route was one of HART’s underperforming lines. It was established in 2005, but since 2014 has seen declining ridership. It was projected to serve fewer than 10,000 passengers for all of 2018 and the most recent data shows that Route 51LX has had 500 fewer passengers compared to last year at this time.

Ridership has been stymied by a number of issues, including the difficulty getting there for many New Tampa residents, especially those north of the I-75 intersection. But, with additional stops, as well as easier access to the Shops at Wiregrass (and even the Tampa Premium Outlets, via the Pasco County Public Transportation (PCPT) Route 54 connector), the hope for HART is that a more robust route will successful.

Reyes-Burckard, who has been with HART for nearly 17 years after spending 10 years with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in New York City, said the new Route 275LX is part of HART’s revamped strategy to make their system into more of a grid that offers more frequency and more connectivity.

She adds that at least some of the impetus for the new route is the New Tampa and Wesley Chapel area’s recent and additional development still to come.

“The development in that area is what is really spawning the need to include this (route with more stops and all-day buses) in our service,” Reyes-Burckard says. “This is not only an opportunity to serve the community going downtown. It also will serve businesses in that (BBD) corridor.”

900Âș Woodfired Has A Lot More Than Just Two Kinds Of Delicious Pizza!

MOST Neighborhood News readers recognize how much I enjoy doing our dining reviews, especially when I get to do stories about my favorite local eateries and their restaurateurs.

Case in point: 900Âș Woodfired Pizza, located in the Shops at Wiregrass, which is owned by someone I’ve really only known since he and a former partner opened it in the mall seven years ago.

Today, long-time New Tampa resident Steve Fallabella is the sole proprietor and Steve is a very hands-on kind of owner (like a certain newspaper editor) and he has an authentic Italian heritage and knowledge of good food honed in New York. Steve says he also enjoys being the “delivery boy” for 900Âș Woodfired’s growing catering side of the business (more on that below).

Even though I’ve never been a New York sports fan myself (I root for the Rays, Bucs and Lightning), Steve is a lifelong Yankees fan who also is a past president of his subdivision in West Meadows.

And yes, 900Âș Woodfired, which isn’t a chain and is one of the most successful places to eat at the mall, is a really good restaurant, even though its primary business is still pizza — both New York-style and the 900Âș woodfired Neapolitan style that gives the place its name.
But, I told Steve that even though a pic of each kind of pizza will likely slip into this article, I really wanted to focus on everything else there is to eat at 900Âș Woodfired.

For Starters…

I’ve mentioned in previous stories about 900Âș Woodfired how much I enjoy the caprese appetizer (fresh mozzarella, sliced tomato, oregano, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and fresh basil served on a bed of mixed greens), and the entire Neighborhood News staff recently got to enjoy a variety of other starters, including the fried, cheese-filled raviolis (served with a marinara dipping sauce), the fried calamari (also served with marinara) and the homemade bruschetta.

My favorite appetizer that we all sampled this time around, however, were the oven-baked naked wings. We split an order of ten wings — five with no sauce and five with garlic and parmesan — and they come out crispy outside, moist inside and the garlic parmesan sauce wasn’t overpowering, as it can be at some places.

The wings went down easy with my 23-oz. Peroni Italian beer on draught, and bottled beers and a variety of house wines also are available.
But, my favorites at 900Âș Woodfired are the pastas, and I’m not talking about baked items like lasagna and baked ziti, although those also are on the menu — and they’re pretty darn tasty, too.

My favorite pasta combination on the menu is the beef-and-veal-filled tortellacci, which are pasta “pockets” (some call them “purses”) filled with ground beef and veal in a classic Bolognese (meat sauce). So good. I also enjoyed the tortellini della casa, which are spinach-and-cheese-filled tortellini in a sautĂ©ed tomato sauce with black olives, chopped garlic and fresh spinach.

It’s probably also not too surprising to our readers that I often take advantage of 900Âș Woodfired’ “Create Your Own Pasta” option. I almost always choose the penne pasta with pesto Genovese sauce, grilled chicken and sautĂ©ed spinach. It’s such a huge portion that I usually have it as a side dish with every meal for several days and the penne always comes out al dentĂ© (firm), as I prefer it, without having to ask for it that way.

Pizzas, Catering & More!

OK, yes, 900Âș Woodfired Pizza does have pizzas, too (having won “Best Pizza” in our annual Reader Survey in 2015-16), but I’m going to be honest again — I’m biased as to which style of pizza I prefer. Although the 900Âș F, wood-burning oven (photo, left) is awesome to watch, I’ve never liked wood (or coal)-fired, Neapolitan-style pizza as much as I do true New York-style options. I’ve never been to Naples, but I grew up on Long Island and lived in Manhattan in my 20s, so the more authentic, the better.

Steve knows that using the best ingredients (never mention the words “Papa” and “John” in the same sentence to me) makes the best pizza and his New York crust is legit and his blended pizza sauce and mozzarella are the real deal, too.

So, I still prefer regular ol’ NY-style cheese pizza the best, but for the pics for this story, I wanted to show 900Âș Woodfired’s delicious toppings, so the photo above right is a large (16”) NY-style pizza that is half-pepperoni, half-”Mega Meat,” with ‘ronis, sausage, bacon and ham. To no one’s surprise, none of it was left over.

As for the woodfired pizza that gives the place its name, we decided to try a couple of pizzas other than our usual (and super-delicious) Neapolitan-style margherita pizza and went a little exotic.

Several in our office went crazy over the 12” medium-spicy Buffalo chicken pizza, but I was stunned at how much I loved the Ortolano pizza, which is a veggie lover’s dream — a sauceless pie with fresh mozzarella, sliced cherry tomatoes, marinated zucchini and eggplant, artichokes and fresh basil. The pieces of artichoke were huge and a little overpowering, but this is one delicious and unique pizza. And, for those who want or need gluten-free pizza, every pizza on 900Âș Woodfired’s extensive menu is available as a 10” gluten-free.

“Our newest growth area is catering,” Steve says. “Through the EZcatering Network and word of mouth, our catering has doubled over last year. And our online catering reviews have been awesome. We will soon be publishing a new catering menu, and eventually buying a vehicle dedicated for the catering business.”

Steve is one of those techie people who jumps all over the latest industry trends. In fact, 900Âș Woodfired was the first Wesley Chapel restaurant to use Ubereats.

“I helped Uber recruit more restaurants in Wesley Chapel, so they would deliver into more subdivisions,” Steve says, “and our delivery business just took off. We’re part of the industry shift to the convenience of dining at home vs. dining out.” ” He also offers online ordering for takeout.

For more information about 900Âș Woodfired Pizza (28152 Paseo Dr.), which is open every day for lunch & dinner, visit 900DegreesWoodfiredPizza.com or call (813) 527-6940.