On Monday, I celebrated 25 years as the owner, publisher and editor of the Neighborhood News!
And of course, even though life is even more hectic than usual these days, you know I can’t let such a milestone go by without some sort of celebration.
To that end, sometime in April (we will announce the actual date in our next issue), the Neighborhood News will host a party at the Bayscape Bistro at Heritage Isles Country Club. We also will (hopefully) be unveiling our new website — NeighborhoodNewsOnline.net (aka the “Online Network for New Tampa and Wesley Chapel”) — at that event and rest assured, there also will be great free hors d’oeuvres, karaoke (it is my party, after all), some nice prize giveaways (also to be announced) and the opportunity to hang with our staff and some of the business owners whose advertising revenue allows us to continue to not only thrive, but also expand the online and video sides of our business, which has now received funding support from the Google News Initiative.
All you have to do to get onto the guest list is email me us ads@ntneighborhoodnews.com, put “Neighborhood News Guest List” in the subject line and give us your first and last name, the community you live in and the names of any people you plan to bring. You’ll receive a confirmation email back from us, which also will serve as your entry into all of our prize drawings that evening (and yes, you must be present to win any of those prizes).
Please note that this event will be held on a Saturday evening and is not really intended for children. For more information, please call (813) 910-2575 or visit NTNeighborhoodNews.com.
Speaking Of Online…
Since receiving our funding from Google in mid-January, we have recorded two Featured Business videos, our first episode of “Chappie Chatter” (with Wesley Chapel Community Facebook page administrator Jennifer Ames), a North Tampa Bay Chamber news update and our first News Desk of 2019 (photo above left, with co-anchor Susanna Martinez), which is all about everything coming to both sides of 56 near the Tampa Premium Outlets.
We’re pretty proud of the new content, but there is so much more to come and still more ways for your business to get the benefit of not only the primary print voice of the New Tampa and Wesley Chapel communities for the last 25 years, but also of our online video content, as well as our Facebook/Neighborhood News posts that link you to our website, which currently is still NTNeighborhoodNews.com.
As I mentioned before, all of our online content will soon fall under the NeighborhoodNewsOnline.net umbrella and we are now offering your business the opportunity to:
1) Receive our lowest possible print advertising rates
2) Have a Featured Business Video done in conjunction with (and released at around the same time as) your print Business Feature story, just like Florida Executive Realty has in our most recent issue and Samantha Taylor Fitness had last issue
3) Become a sponsor of our online videos and of our “regular” website content
We have sent this information to all of our current, recent past and prospective advertisers, but if you haven’t received yours or you have any additional questions about how it all works, please call (813) 910-2575 or email Ads@WCNT-tv.com.
Congrats, Barry & Trinity Café!
I’ve been telling you for some time now how proud I am to be a member of the Rotary Club of New Tampa Noon, which meets Wednesdays at noon, also at Bayscape Bistro.
I’ve called our club of fewer than 25 members “Small, But Mighty” in previous editorials and I have more proof of that to tell you about.
Not only did our club win awards from our Rotary District 6890 for our increase in membership and for per-person contributions to the Rotary Foundation (the nonprofit wing of Rotary International that has been the primary force behind the drive to eradicate polio from the world), we also recently held a hugely successful, first-ever New Tampa Brewfest in November (the 2019 Brewfest already is scheduled for Saturday, November 16; visit NewTampaBrewfest.com for tickets and details).
And now, club member Barry Shuman and his wife (and chauffeur) Claire have helped the Trinity Café, a program of Feeding Tampa Bay, raise a record $9,000 at last month’s annual Outrageous (and super-fun) Bingo event held at Hamburger Mary’s in Brandon.
Barry (far left in right photo), who was this year’s event chair, and Claire were on hand at our Feb. 13 Rotary meeting when our current club president Gary Lefebvre (right) presented Trinity Café executive director Mandy Cloninger (center) with checks totalling an additional $1,000 from not only our club, but also from past president Vinnie Kudva and Sergeant-at-Arms Scott Hileman, who donated the proceeds from the recent opening day of the Tampa Nekter Juice Bar he has opened with business partner Brian Erwine (their second location).
Promising newcomers: Ryan Fry (Fr, RHP) and Michael Rivera (So., LHP).
Breakout Star: Dubbed by Hoffman as the team’s “Ben Zobrist” for his incredible versatility on defense, junior shortstop and infielder Grady Maguire opened last season on a tear with hits in 10 of the first 11 games. He finished his sophomore season hitting .357, with 20 runs scored and 12 RBI.
Outlook: District runners-up last season and riding a streak of four straight regional playoff appearances, Wharton will again bring a highly-talented team to the table this season.
The Wildcats will be led by senior pitcher and outfielder Brian Baughman, who burst onto the scene last year by hitting .398, more than 100 points better than his 2017 batting average, scored 26 runs and went 6-3 on the mound with a 1.94 ERA and 60 strikeouts.
Sophomore Zach Ehrhard had an impressive varsity debut last year, hitting .371 and scoring 20 runs, while Mike Hudson (see story on previous page) had 15 RBI and Dylan McDonald drove in 14 runs, including one in each of the team’s last four games.
Freshman pitcher Ryan Fry hasn’t even thrown a high school pitch yet, but he already has made an early oral commitment to the University of Miami this winter and may make an immediate impact on the mound for the‘Cats. Lefthanded sophomore Michael Rivera transferred in from Alonso High, where he did not see any varsity action.
Hoffman says: “Our seniors like Brian (Baughman) and Mikey Hudson are guys we lean on a lot and they show how about we go about our business around here… the younger guys see and follow them.”
Tieley Vaughn, pictured here with USF coach Ken Eriksen, has already orally committed to play for the Bulls in college. (Photo: Twitter)
WHARTON SOFTBALL
Coach: Brittany Bonea
Last season: 15-7, Class 8A, District 4 runner-up
Key returners: Jordyn Gendron (Sr., 3B); Jillian Long (Jr., P/OF); Hana Schwindler (Sr., P/2B); Tieley Vaughn (So., SS).
Promising newcomers: Riley Collins (Fr., P/2B/OF)
Breakout Star: A University of South Florida oral commitment as a freshman, Tieley Vaughn is a powerhouse hitter according to Bonea, who also boasts a cannon of an arm from shortstop. Last season, Vaughn was the leading hitter for the Wildcats amongst the regulars, hitting .352, with six doubles, 12 RBI and 15 runs scored.
Outlook: The Wildcats, 2-0 so far with a pair of shutout wins, cruised through district play last season, going 6-0 in the regular season, before winning its district tournament semifinal game against Wiregrass Ranch.
In two regular season games against Freedom, the Wildcats outlasted the Patriots.
However, in the district championship Wharton hitters were held to just four hits in a mercy-rule loss to Freedom, and then knocked out of the state playoffs 14-0 by East Ridge.
Despite the end-of-season stumble last year, Bonea, a former Saint Leo University player, has steered the Wildcats to three straight District championship games, and four straight winning seasons since taking over the program in 2015.
Wharton loses four of its top five hitters due to graduation, but will regroup offensively behind solid crop of returners.
Senior Jordyn Gendron (.306, 19 RBI and 10 runs scored in 2018), Hana Schwindler (.292, 12 runs scored) and Vaughn will key the offense.
Junior Jillian Long returns to the mound for her junior campaign after posting a 13-4 record last season, with a 3.33 ERA and 44 strikeouts. She leads the team with three RBI in two games this season.
Bonea says: “Our goal this year is to make sure that the players take their mental game as serious as their physical game.”
Tripp Merrell, Freedom’s fourth baseball coach in as many years, hopes to finally turn Patriots baseball into a winning program. (Photo: Freedom Revolution).
FREEDOM BASEBALL
Coach: Tripp Merrell
Last season: 6-16 (1-5 in Class 8A-4)
Key returners: Mitchell Leroy (Sr., RHP), Jeremy Carrick (Sr., SS), Kevin Kirby (Jr., 1B/RHP), Brylan West (Jr., 3B/RHP).
Promising newcomers: Sebastian Burgess, Sr., Util/P; Jack Richardson Sr., OF
Breakout Star: The Patriots success this season will be highly dependent on pitching ace Mitchell Leroy, and according to Merrell the senior righty is just fine with that pressure. Mitchell is a workhorse on mound, who Merrell says is a “big-game pitcher,” who loves the limelight and wants to have the ball in his hands for the biggest game.
Outlook: Merrell is the fourth new baseball coach in as many years at Freedom, and he is tasked with turning around a program that has had only one winning season, back in 2012. A Sickles High grad and former college player at Webber International University in Babson Park, FL, Merrell will likely lean on Leroy, who was 2-4 last season.
However, the Hillborough Community College oral commitment posted a 2.88 ERA, with 59 strikeouts in 56 innings. He is 6-foot-3, and boasts a fastball that gets up to 90 mph.
Jeremy Carrick, a four-year starter committed to NCAA Division III’s Norwich University in Vermont, will play a pivotal role on defense and will look to be a leader at the plate after scoring a team-best 16 runs last season, while juniors Kevin Kirby and Brylan West (the top returning hitter with a .267 average) will contribute at the plate and on the mound this season.
Returning for their final prep seasons after two years away from the program are seniors Sebastian Burgess and Jack Richardson, who Merrell hopes can be impact players this season for the Patriots.
Merrell says: “We have a tough schedule and I’m happy about the teams we played in the fall. And in most of those games, we hung in there and I feel like those things prepared us for this tough district. Come (district tournament) time you only have to win one game to advance, but I know every team in our district.”
Kylie Coffin already has two homers and nine RBI in two games. (Photo: Dan Sidwell, Freedom Revolution)
FREEDOM SOFTBALL
Coach: Autumn Hernandez
Last season: 19-6 (Class 8A-District 4 Champions, region semifinalist)
Promising newcomer: Kylie Coffin (Jr., P; see photo)
Breakout Star: A speedy runner with a great ability to read the ball off the bat, sophomore Lilly Kiester is already one of the best outfielders in the county according to Hernandez. As a freshman, Kiester scored 26 times last season and hit .333.
Outlook: Freedom is already 2-0 and have outscored opponents 34-6 in its first two wins, a year after claiming its first softball district title last season. The Patriots hope to build on that with a junior-heavy lineup, but one that returns a lot of starting experience. For Hernandez, leaders like Ellis Erickson (.442, 19 RBI, 21 runs, and six doubles in 2018) and senior Abigail Vandeberg (.361, 20 runs, 17 RBI) will be crucial to the success for the Patriots, who are still adjusting to some defensive realignment heading into the start of the season.
Erickson, who already has a homer and four RBI and has already orally committed to play in college for Northern Illinois, is the “heartbeat of the team” according to Hernandez and is the field general from behind the plate.
The Patriots biggest boost on defense, however, might come from its most crucial new edition – Carrollwood Day School junior transfer Kylie Coffin. Last season while pitching CDS to the Class 3A regional final, she posted a 17-9 record with a 1.90 ERA and 156 strikeouts. Relying on a nasty screwball and a solid curve, she will immediately take over the heavy lifting on the mound for Freedom, and she is no slouch at the plate after hitting .487 with three home runs and 32 RBI for CDS.
In two games, Coffin is making a serious impact, going 5-for-7 at the plate with two homers and nine RBI, and has struck out 13 batters in seven innings pitched.
Senior Abigail Vandeberg makes the move from first base to shortstop this season, filling a key role defensively for the Patriots, and returns solid numbers at the plate after hitting .361 with 17 RBI last season.
Hernandez says: “We are a small team this season with just 11 players, so we are moving a lot of players around the field this season. To fill some holes, I’ve had to move some people to new spots, so there may be a bit of a learning situation taking place early on. But I think we are getting better every day, and once we get into district play I expect us to be ready.”
Outlook: Merrell is the fourth new baseball coach in as many years at Freedom, and he is tasked with turning around a program that has had only one winning season, back in 2012. A Sickles High grad and former college player at Webber International University in Babson Park, FL, Merrell will likely lean on Leroy, who was 2-4 last season.However, the Hillborough Community College oral commitment posted a 2.88 ERA, with 59 strikeouts in 56 innings. He is 6-foot-3, and boasts a fastball that gets up to 90 mph.Jeremy Carrick, a four-year starter committed to NCAA Division III’s Norwich University in Vermont, will play a pivotal role on defense and will look to be a leader at the plate after scoring a team-best 16 runs last season, while juniors Kevin Kirby and Brylan West (the top returning hitter with a .267 average) will contribute at the plate and on the mound this season.
Merrell says: “We have a tough schedule and I’m happy about the teams we played in the fall. And in most of those games, we hung in there and I feel like those things prepared us for this tough district. Come (district tournament) time you only have to win one game to advance, but I know every team in our district
The parking lot between the Panera Bread and Dunkin’ Donuts off Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in the Walk at Highwoods Preserve is undergoing a transformation that should charge some people up.
If they have the right kind of car, that is.
What is currently a fenced-in site with little hint of what’s to come will soon be an electric car charging station, part of an Electrify America network that is aggressively expanding across the country.
The New Tampa location is one of 484 sites that will be finished by the end of June.
The location, in one of New Tampa’s busier breakfast and lunchtime locations, is exactly what Electrify America is looking for, according to company spokesman Mike Moran. While Moran says the proximity to I-75 is ideal, so are the variety of things to do for those waiting for their car to fully charge.
Photo: GreenCarReports.com
Although the technology continues to improve, to charge an electric car can take anywhere from 15 minutes to a few hours or even overnight, so stations are often located in high-amenity areas and at many hotels.
“It’s a combination of many things, really,” Moran says. “But part of the criteria is we are looking for places that are accessible and also provide an opportunity to other amenities, like shopping, food and beverages and other facilities.”
Most automakers are working on, or are already producing, electric cars, or EVs (for electric vehicles). Sales of EVs in 2018 were up 81 percent over the previous, with 361,307 sales nationwide, according to InsideEVs.com.
Many of the sales are being driven by the price of fueling up with gas, as well as awareness and concern over the effect that fuel emissions have on the environment.
Ironically, it was an emissions scandal that led to the creation of Electrify America.
A wholly-owned subsidiary of German automaker Volkswagen, Electrify America was created in the aftermath of an emissions scandal in 2015 in which Volkswagen was discovered to have programmed roughly 11 million cars, including 500,000 in the U.S., to activate their emissions controls only during testing. Outside the testing facilities, however, it was discovered its cars were emitting 40 times more nitrogen oxide than allowed by the Clean Air Act.
As part of its settlement with the U.S., Volkswagen agreed to invest $2 billion over 10 years in U.S. EV infrastructure, which includes new stations as well as educational initiatives, and launched Electrify America in 2018.
More stations could prompt more sales. One major issue with owning an electric car remains the range of your vehicle, and where to power up in a pinch. While a high majority of EV owners have a charging station at home, one of the by-products of owning an EV, especially for those with long commutes or looking to make a long trip, is finding a station when you need one, aka “range-anxiety.”
But that is slowly changing.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center, there were 61,067 electric vehicle charging stations in the U.S. in 2018. That number has increased every year since 2008, with the fastest growth coming the past three years, with annual growth of roughly 10,000 stations since 2015.
There are about 3,000 public charging stations in Florida, compared to more than 20,000 in California, which has the most.
The Electrify America station isn’t the first EV charging station in New Tampa. In fact, there are PlugShare charging stations at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites on Galbraith Rd. right behind The Walk at Highwoods Preserve, as well as two PlugShare charging stations at the USF Federal Credit Union on BBD.
There also is a ChargePoint Charging Station located on Amberly Drive in the parking lot of the JAEB Center For Health Research, and Plug-In America has stations at Wesley Chapel Nissan, Honda and Chevrolet, as well as a handful of stations in and around the Tampa Premium Outlets.
Tesla, which uses proprietary charging stations, has plans to build a station near the Super Target on County Line Rd. sometime this year, according to its website.
Quinton F. Robinson says he is not pitting New Tampa against the rest of the City of Tampa’s District 7 in his attempt to unseat current city councilman Luis Viera.
What he says he is saying is this: while Viera has accomplished a lot for New Tampa in his two years on Tampa’s City Council, Dist. 7 needs someone who can do the same for the entire district, and he’s that guy.
“Equity in governance,” Robinson simply says, and it is a prevalent theme on his Facebook page, which uses hashtags like VOTEEquity, BeEmpowered and, naturally, VoteRobinson (on Tampa’s municipal election day — Tuesday, March 5).
Viera is running for his first full term. He has served since 2017, after defeating Jim Davison in a special election to fill the seat of Lisa Montelione, who resigned for a failed attempt to run for the Florida House of Representatives. Viera, with an endorsement from Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, defeated Davison in the run-off by 65 votes.
Quinton Robinson
Robinson, 42, says Viera doesn’t have a plan to fix the problems plaguing much of District 7, and is aggressively fighting to win against what many feel are insurmountable odds. Viera, a Hunter’s Green resident, is popular in New Tampa and elsewhere, and extremely active in the area.
He helped spearhead a renewed effort by local political activists and community members in a fight to get the city to approve funding for an addition to the New Tampa Recreation Center and another fire station, as well as designs for a sensory park that would be the first of its kind in Tampa.
Viera has championed more than a dozen local causes, from getting potholes filled to advocating for safer roads, and organized a handful of town halls so residents could engage with city and county leaders.
Robinson — who was born and raised in West Tampa, graduated from Hillsborough High and Florida A&M University in Tallahassee and is the former president of the Hillsborough County Black Caucus — doesn’t dispute any of that. In fact, he says it bolsters his pitch to voters.
“My opponent has made strides for New Tampa, and that’s great for New Tampa,” Robinson says, “but the quality of life could be enhanced throughout North Tampa. Look at his accomplishments. Not one thing has benefited all of North Tampa. My goal is to enhance, educate, empower and elevate all of District 7.”
While Robinson, who has lived with his wife and two children in the University area since 2012, does support line item funding to build a Tampa Police substation in New Tampa, many of his goals are centered around what he feels are the forgotten areas of District 7.
He would like the North Tampa area in and around Sulphur Springs, Busch Blvd. and Fowler Ave. to be designated a Community Redevelopment Area, to reinvigorate the area economically. He favors beautification projects along Nebraska Ave. and Busch Blvd., needed street repairs and the repaving of 30th St. He wants flooding issues in the area addressed.
Robinson also wants a “modernization” of Copeland Park & Community Center, including a kitchen, computer lab, rebuilding of the boardwalk and lighting for the existing trail.
“I just don’t believe the North Tampa community should have to wait another 20 years,” Robinson says. “Unfortunately, that has been the case. Often when people run in this district, they only focus on the area north of Fowler or west of I-275. We need a councilman that is able to build that bridge to all of District 7, not just those in New Tampa.”
Viera bristles at the accusation he has ignored the rest of District 7 because he is preoccupied with delivering for New Tampa.
“There is an old saying – you are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts,” Viera says. “I have been active in all parts of the district.”
In fact, he may be the most active member of the current City Council.
One of his first tasks was to create the North Tampa Veterans Association, and he has remained involved in a number of veterans activities and created the Warrior Games Promotion Committee to promote attendance at the 2019 Warrior Games coming to Tampa in June.
In Forest Hills, Viera says he helped organize residents to fight to preserve the Babe Zaharias Golf Course from potential redevelopment threats, and also supported funding for the maintenance of the golf course in the City of Tampa budget. He pushed for more street lighting and updated striping and signs in the area. Like he did with creating the New Tampa Council, to better organize the area neighborhoods, he did the same with the Forest Hills Council. And, he says he worked on facilitating more than $1 million for the Forest Hills Community Center, as well as flood mitigation improvements.
Not to mention, he adds, the six town halls he hosted in the area.
Along Busch Blvd. and Fowler Ave., he says he promoted a number of safety improvements in what he calls a “corridor of neglect,” helped organize a Hurricane Prepardedness Task Force to help with post-hurricane relief efforts in North Tampa communities, secured funding in the City of Tampa budget for additional lights at Copeland Park, is working on a formal crosswalk for Chamberlain High students on North Blvd., north of Busch Blvd. and has championed other safety projects and improvements on area roads.
“I have to remind people sometimes that I’ve only been in office for two years,” Viera says.
For those in Wesley Chapel who are not wowed by new restaurants, fast food chains, big retail outlets or fancy new intersections, this one might just be for you:
Say hello to the area’s first green grocer – Earth Fare.
The popular and quickly-growing organic food franchise will open its doors to Wesley Chapel on Wednesday, February 20, just before 7 a.m., and if the grocer’s previous grand openings are any indication, folks will be lining up long before the sun rises at the new store’s location at 25535 Sierra Center Blvd., across S.R. 56 from Tampa Premium Outlets and behind the Ford’s Garage..
There is a VIP sneak peak on Tuesday. Check out our video coverage HERE or HERE.
Virtually everything new that opens in Wesley Chapel gets Hope Allen, the CEO of the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce, excited. But this, she says, is a different kind of buzz. An all-natural organic buzz, perhaps?
“It’s our first one, the first organic grocery store to land in Wesley Chapel,” Allen says. “There’s been a big demand for it. It’s going to be pretty exciting.”
The Wesley Chapel store will have an Heirloom Café & Juice Bar, where shoppers can buy smoothies and coffee, and lunch and dinner are offered from selections that include a salad bar, hot food bar, pizza station and sandwich counter.
Wesley Chapel does have Publix and Winn Dixie supermarkets offering organic selections, as well as the Nutrition Smart on Bruce B. Downs, which currently offers the area’s widest range of organic foods, vitamins and supplements.
But, Earth Fare is bringing 24,000 sq. ft. worth of the stuff — and roughly 100 jobs — to its new location in the Cypress Creek Town Center on S.R. 56 (at 25535 Sierra Center Blvd., across from the Tampa Premium Outlets).
The Wesley Chapel location will be Earth Fare’s third in the Tampa Bay area, joining stores in Oldsmar and Seminole.
Overall, ours will be the 12th Earth Fare in Florida.
The most recent Florida opening took place in Viera, FL on Jan. 9, and there are more to come, the company says, as it pursues aggressive expansion into Florida.
“We’ve made a concerted effort in recent years to help Tampa-area shoppers have more convenient access to cleaner, healthier foods— the kind of food that will help them live a longer, happier, healthier life,” said Frank Scorpiniti, president/CEO of Earth Fare, in a statement.
Earth Fare holds grand openings in the same way popular new businesses like Chick-Fil-A do, with long lines of early arrivers hoping to grab some free swag.
Last month, nearly 800 people showed up for the 6:45 a.m. opening of the 11th store in Viera, and the first 500 received a mystery gift card worth as much as $1,000, followed by other giveaways, food samples and contests.
Those who show up at the Wesley Chapel opening can expect more of the same thing.
Each person who signs up with the Wesley Chapel/Lutz store’s Healthy Rewards program will receive a free re-usable bag, while supplies last.
“I think we’ll see a lot of people (at the opening), because eating healthier foods has wide appeal,” Allen says. “I think that will add an extra layer of excitement to this opening.”
Earth Fare touts a selection of items that specifically do not contain things like high-fructose corn syrup, artificial fats, colors, sweeteners, or preservatives, or meats that were bred with antibiotics or growth hormones.
The chain has a “boot list” — a long list of banned ingredients it does not allow in anything sold in any Earth Fare store.
Frank Scorpiniti
Founded in 1975 and based in Asheville, NC, Earth Fare’s tagline is “healthy food for everyone,” as the green grocer claims to offer “clean” food at prices every shoppers can afford.
The company’s 50th store opened last month in Steel Creek, NC, and Scorpiniti has said there could be as many as 100 locations in a few years.
Like most green grocers, Earth Fare offers some distinct goodies to shoppers. The Wesley Chapel store will have an Heirloom Café & Juice Bar, where shoppers can buy smoothies and coffee, and lunch and dinner are offered from selections that include a salad bar, hot food bar, pizza station and sandwich counter.
Earth Fare also offers a small seating area with free Wi-Fi for those who want to sit and enjoy their purchase. Painted on the wall is: “Have A Seat, Stay Awhile.”
Staying awhile is something you may just end up doing at Earth Fare. The store will carry a substantial selection of craft beers, one of its more popular characteristics, and also offers more than 1,000 private brand food products. There also will be a large offering of Wellness & Beauty products, like self-serve, scoop-your-own body scrubs.
“We are passionate about helping our community make the connection between clean food and living longer, healthier, happier lives,” Scorpiniti said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to become the newest member of the growing Wesley Chapel community and to continue to bring the leanest, healthiest options for years to come.”
Earth Fare will open in Wesley Chapel first, but construction of a Sprouts Farmer’s Market in New Tampa is under way across Bruce B. Downs Blvd. from Hunter’s Green and will be the second large green grocer to hit the area.
