The worn-out dirt path that has unofficially connected Kinnan St. in New Tampa to Mansfield Blvd. in Meadow Pointe at the Pasco-Hillsborough county line has finally been cleared, along with the weeds, trees and bushes that have covered the 30-foot patch of land no man’s land for so long.
It’s really happening, y’all.
The two roads will be connected, maybe by as soon as the end of this month, allowing access for first responders and emergency medical vehicles only.
For those who have hoped for years that another north-south connection would allow for easier access between Hillsborough and Pasco counties, sorry — a gate will be installed to prohibit local vehicular traffic.
Hillsborough County will pay for the new connection to be paved and equipped with a gate that Pasco County will control and pay to maintain. Hillsborough County District 2 commissioner Ken Hagan secured $250,000 for the project two years ago in an effort to get the roads connected, although he had hoped for a connection that would be open to everyone, but Meadow Pointe II residents were able to convince the Pasco Board of County Commissioners that opening the connection to everyone would bring an unsafe amount of traffic through their neighborhood.
“I’m absolutely thrilled that New Tampa will finally have emergency and pedestrian access,” Hagan says. “However, I’m hopeful that one day Pasco County will quit being parochial and obtuse and authorize full access, which is undoubtedly desperately needed.”
Pasco County Commission chair Mike Moore says there will be no need for full access, because connections are planned at the intersections of Meadow Pointe Blvd. and K-Bar Ranch Pkwy., as well as at Wyndfields Blvd. and K-Bar Ranch Pkwy., creating additional north-south roads between Pasco and Hillsborough counties.
Moore add that Meadow Pointe and Wyndfields Blvds. are more suited for additional traffic than Mansfield Blvd.
M/I Homes, the developer of New Tampa’s K-Bar Ranch, located in the city, will pay for a significant amount of the package as part of its development agreement. A new pathway for pedestrians and bicyclists will also be built as part of the project.
I would be lying if I said I understood how people of color in this country feel every day about being black or brown in America.
So while, like most white Americans, I personally don’t care if the person who was killed by a police officer kneeling on his neck was black, brown, green or any color, religion or orientation, I completely understand the outrage being felt again by so many of us who witnessed what amounted to a public execution by Minneapolis Police Office Derek Chauvin of George Floyd, whose only crime was, apparently, passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a store.
Yes, I believe all four cops (the others let him be killed) shown in a video thankfully released the day after Floyd was killed should go to jail for murder. But no, I don’t understand why Floyd was targeted by these cops to receive this particular abuse of their power, especially in light of something that happened to Jannah and me only a year ago.
When we got married in March of 2019, some of our attendees gave us gifts of cash, including a few people who each gave us a $100 bill as a gift.
However, when we tried to pay a tab at a local bar with one of those $100 bills, we were informed that the bill was counterfeit. But, rather than have us arrested — at least in part because the bar owner knew us from previous visits and said it was obvious we didn’t know the bill was no good — all he did was ask us to use an alternate method of payment. I then took the bill to my bank, which told me that all they could do was take the bill out of circulation, which meant that we lost that $100 gift. Oh well.
One thing neither of us lost, however, was our life. No one handcuffed us or held us down to our pleas of “I can’t breathe.” Today, we can’t help but wonder if we were black and strangers to the bar owner, if we’d still be alive.
It’s horrifying to me that black, brown, Asian and LGBTQ people are targeted for this type of behavior so often. Something has to change. And yes, I understand why peaceful protests can and should be part of that solution.
Photo: WFLA.
Unfortunately, looting and setting fire to stores (photo) owned by people who literally had nothing to do with that situation should never be the target of those protests. But, they unfortunately too often are — as seen around the country once again in the aftermath of Floyd’s murder.
Yes, I am a firm believer that this country needs to change. I just think some people make change harder to accomplish by taking advantage of these situations in the name of “justice.”
These are very scary times, indeed.
Changes Abound
I realize that this is now the second Wesley Chapel issue in a row that doesn’t look or feel exactly like your usual Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News, but I know the content — especially managing editor John Cotey’s continuing coverage of local Covid-19 news — is still the same quality you’ve grown accustomed to reading.
But, now that we were finally able to receive some funding through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and my long-time bank — SunTrust (now Truist) — we are able to continue to pay our staff, our office rent and our health insurance costs with the PPP funding while the local economy (hopefully) continues to recover.
The fact that this issue is already four pages larger than the previous two Wesley Chapel issues is one indication that things are turning back around — we’re certainly happy to have almost all of our dentists back in the fold — and the number of new businesses calling and emailing us for advertising information is another.
And, I know that our next issue, thanks again to the Times, will at least be printed on a brighter white newsprint while I continue our search for a web printer who can either print on glossy stock or at least a much heavier white paper, so our look can once again be the higher standard that we have, up until now, been able to maintain since 2005. I am hopeful that it won’t take too long to get back to normal…not just for this publication, but for everyone.
Since the first New Tampa and Wesley Chapel issues in 15 years printed on newsprint came out in May, we have received overwhelming support from our readers and advertisers alike — with a few notable exceptions. We’ve even had a few folks tell us they actually prefer the newsprint, “because it feels more like a newspaper this way.”
Unfortunately for us, we have marketed ourselves as a glossy news magazine, not a newspaper, but I do appreciate that not everyone is hating this new look, which may have to stick around for a while. I have promised our advertisers (including the few that pulled out since our first newsprint issues hit in each market) that as soon as we are able to return to glossy (or at least, a much heavier white paper) stock, I will let each of them know.
AdventHealth Wesley Chapel, along with AdventHealth physicians, nurses and other team members across West Florida — spanning Hardee, Highlands, Hillsborough, Marion, Pasco, and Pinellas counties —took a bended knee today in silent reflection as part of the White Coats for Black Lives campaign.
The show of solidarity with medical professionals all over the world took place from 1-1:09 p.m. this afternoon, the 8 minutes and 46 seconds in remembrance of 46-year-old George Floyd, who died in police custody on May 25, and countless others.
Those who participated maintained social distance, wore masks and were encouraged to share photos as an expression of support online with #WhiteCoatsForBlackLives.
The #WhiteCoatsForBlackLives movement is centered on combatting :
higher rates of disease among Black communities,
higher barriers of entry to the health care industry for Black individuals,
lower rates of Black medical students, and
the fear among Black individuals to seek medical care.
Here at the Neighborhood News, we get an inordinate number of phone calls asking “Is this Aldi?” and “Are you open yet?”
We’re not sure why, other than Google must be taking many a curious reader to our website, where at least a handful of stories about the Germany-based discount-grocer reside.
Finally, however, we can give the next caller an answer: Wednesday, July 1.
So, why the question mark in the leadline?
In our next issue, which will be hitting your mailboxes any day now, we say the Aldi, located at 2215 Sun Vista Dr. (on the southeast corner of S.R. 56 and Wesley Chapel Blvd.) is opening June 17 because that’s what the Aldi website had posted the day we sent the issue to the printers. Oops!
Official plans for the Grand Opening should be coming soon.Â
ALDI says it has nearly 2,000 stores across 36 states, and is on track to become the third-largest grocery retailer by store count by the end of 2022. It carries mostly lesser known brands, and many products can be had at deep discounts compared with other stores.
The Aldi store has been a long time coming for the Wesley Chapel area. The company first approached Pasco County planners about a site near The Grove on S.R. 54 back in 2015. Those plans were scrapped for a different location on the north side of S.R. 56, before being altered again for its current location on the south side of 56, in front of Costco.
Sprouts Farmers Market is preparing to open its latest location on Aug. 12.
Sprouts Farmers Market, the healthy green grocer anchoring the new Village at Hunter’s Lake development off Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in New Tampa, has announced the store’s grand opening for Wednesday, Aug. 12 at 7 a.m.
The Phoenix-based grocer says it will announce details about the grand opening at a later date.
The 30,000-sq.-ft. store, located at 8620 Hunters Village Rd. across from the entrance to Hunter’s Green, specializes in natural and organic foods. Sprouts opened its first store in 2002, and now has more than 300 stores in 20 states.
The market for a large organic grocer in the New Tampa and Wesley Chapel area is wide open after the last green grocer to open, Earth Fare, opened on S.R. 56 across from Tampa Premium Outlets and closed within a year.
The New Tampa location will be bringing approximately 110 full- and part-time jobs to the area. Sprouts will host a virtual hiring fair with video interviews on July 1 and 2. If interested, you are encouraged to apply online at sprouts.com/careers.
Sprouts will be hiring department managers, assistant department managers, clerks, cashiers and other positions.
