Court Ruling Puts Kink In New Tampa Plans

Tampa City Council member Luis Viera recently hosted a Q-n-A session with transportation and engineering officials to discuss needed road improvements in Tampa Palms and other areas of New Tampa.

A gathering of roughly 30 mostly Tampa Palms residents showed up at Compton Park on Feb. 24 for an outdoor meeting with City of Tampa officials to discuss speeding along Tampa Palms Blvd., but the conversation turned to plans to repave the road and add some traffic-calming measures — perhaps two roundabouts or some traffic lights — with money collected from a 1-cent tax amendment passed in 2018.

Most of those in attendance seemed pleased with the plans for safety improvements for Tampa Palms Blvd.

But, before their coffee even had time to cool off the following morning, those plans had come to a screeching halt because the money to pay for them is now in limbo.

On Feb. 25, the Florida Supreme Court voted 4-1 that the 1-cent transportation tax amendment, which passed with 57% of voter support, was unconstitutional because it restricted where and how the money could be spent. District 4 Hillsborough County Commissioner Stacy White, who filed the lawsuit, argued that All For Transportation (AFT), the group that led the fight to pass the amendment, dictated how local governments could spend the money, usurping the authority of the county commission.

The transportation tax already has raised $500 million intended to fix many of Hillsborough’s transportation woes, as well as improve the City of Tampa’s bus service.

More than $50 million of that amount was earmarked for City of Tampa projects, including the Tampa Palms Blvd. improvements, as well as enhancements like the much-needed repaving of New Tampa Blvd. in West Meadows.

“The ruling is a big hit to our community,” said District 7 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera. “When it comes to the most pressing issue of traffic and congestion, we are running so far behind. This is just devastating.”

Viera says he will support putting a replacement tax on the ballot in 2022. He has also scheduled a town hall with Tampa Mayor Jane Castor for April 21 from 6-7 p.m. at the New Tampa Recreation Center, for those who want to ask what’s next for the needed roaded improvements in New Tampa.

Cal Hardie, a transportation engineer for the City of Tampa, told the Compton Park gathering that the design of the changes for Tampa Palms Blvd., which cost $600,000, was already paid for and under way. But, the actual construction, which would cost $3-$4 million and include restoration of the road’s surface from the Wellington subdivision to Bruce B. Downs Blvd., bike lanes, safer crosswalks and traffic-calming mechanisms, was reliant on the transportation tax monies.

Similar work would be completed on New Tampa Blvd. as well, perhaps at the same time, Hardie added.

Without that money, Hardie said the City of Tampa would have to look into finding federal funds, which can take longer, or multi-modal transportation impact fees, but suggested “the coffers are pretty dry.”

Hardie said the traffic calming on Tampa Palms Blvd. could come in the form of two roundabouts at the north intersection of Tampa Palms Blvd. and Compton Dr., with another roundabout another closer to Tampa Palms Elementary. 

The cost of a roundabout is roughly $450,000-$500,000, Hardie said, which is not that much more than the price tag for a traffic signal, which is around $350,000.

“A roundabout reduces accidents 60 percent more than a traffic light,” Hardie said. “It also reduced accidents 80 percent more than a stop sign.”

But, that is up to the designers and the public, who will get their say in public meetings once the plans are completed.

And by then, maybe the money to complete the construction will materialize.

Viera assured everyone at the meeting that if the Supreme Court knocked down the tax, he would pursue other funding. 

Raj Finds A Kidney Donor!

After six months on a strict diet, Raj Guntuku enjoys a potato chip after receiving a new kidney from Joel Morales. 

It was an ordinary December day and Joel Morales was getting ready to put the latest issue of the Neighborhood News into the recycling bin.

But first, he wanted to see what was going on in New Tampa, and maybe pick up a suggestion for a place to grab some dinner. Since moving to K-Bar Ranch from Ohio in late 2019, Joel and wife Shelby had practically been quarantined the whole time due to Covid. Maybe this night would be the one they would finally venture out.

So, he started thumbing through the pages.

Then, he stopped. A picture of a 13-year-old boy named Raj Guntuku, and his 70-pound Golden Doodle Benji, caught his attention. “I’ll probably never forget it,” Joel says. “It was such a cute picture.”

Joel read the story. Raj needed a kidney. His parents were desperate. 

Then, the strangest darned thing happened. Almost immediately, Joel decided he was going to give Raj his kidney. 

On March 4, just a few weeks after meeting for the first time and passing all of the required tests, Joel was wheeled into an operating room, and four hours later, his kidney had been transplanted into Raj.

“A miracle,” says Raj’s mother Radha. 

Just a few days later, both Raj, who friends and family call “Bunny,” and Joel returned home from the hospital, and they were online playing Fortnite together on the Xbox. 

“Joel is so happy to see him happy,” Radha says. “I don’t know if we will ever meet anyone like that in this world again, but we are so fortunate to have him.”

Raj has a new lease on life, and Joel is glad he could help.

So, the question remains, why did he?

“It seems strange to say, but when I read the article, it just seemed like the obvious thing to do,” says Joel. “I had done a tiny bit of research after I read the article, just to see the long-term impacts of donating a kidney, and it was surprising to me. It seems like there’s really nothing I have to watch out for or need to be careful of. I can’t take any more ibuprofen, and I have to eat enough protein, but to me it’s just life as normal. It just seemed obvious that there’s this poor 13-yr-old kid with his life ahead of him, and I should do what I can to help. Thank God I ended up being a match.”

Joel Morales

A wholesaler for Nationwide Insurance, Joel says he doesn’t regret his decision, even if some of his friends and co-workers questioned his sanity. 

“My boss said, ‘Hold on, let me see if I understand this — you have never met this boy, you never met this family, you have no relationship with them whatsoever, and you just decided to give your kidney to him?,’”  Joel says. “That was the moment I probably understood it was a little bit crazy.”

But, the only person he really had to convince was Shelby, and her primary concern was what if their 2-year-old son Leo, or another family member, needed a kidney one day?

“My thought process was, if you look at the stats, the chances of one of our children or someone in our family needing a kidney are extremely low,” Joel says. “But, the chances of Raj needing a kidney is 100 percent. He needs one. He might not get one.”

It was only a 10-minute conversation. Joel said he probably had that look in his eyes, where Shelby knew he wasn’t going to be talked out of it. Besides, he reasoned, “Hopefully now, we’ve got some good karma coming our way.”

Radha says Joel certainly deserves it. Before he read the article about Raj in the Neighborhood News, she had been relying on a growing list of 15 or so potential donors who had stepped forward after a television report on Thanksgiving Day.

More names were added as time went on. The Neighborhood News article about Raj’s plight hit mailboxes on December 8.

“You put in a great article which was super detailed,” Radha says. “When I read it, I even started to get emotional, even though it is our own story. So many people told us they read it.”

However, day by day, many potential donors had dropped out. Some were talked out of it, others were worried about being able to afford missing work, and some just changed their minds. 

Raj and Joel meet for the first time. 
(Photo courtesy of the Guntuku family)

Soon, a carefully curated spread sheet which, Radha says, had as many as 30 names on it at one point, had red lines through most of those potential donors, and only four remained.

Then, Joel called. He asked Nehru, Raj’s dad, to explain the process. Joel says he told Nehru it sounded as if he had explained all this before, and Nehru said he had. But, few had followed through, and it was becoming frustrating.

Joel, however, was in it to the finish. He filled out the paperwork, got tested and, on Feb. 24, was approved to be Raj’s donor. The surgery was scheduled.

The families finally met at Raj’s Tampa Palms home a few days later. 

Everyone was too nervous to eat, and they just ended up nibbling at the Olive Garden and Liang’s Bistro takeout Radha had picked up. Raj, however, was bursting with joy. 

It was a great night, both families say. Raj and his sister Bhavika, a senior at King High, thought Joel was “cool,” Shelby spent the night cracking jokes and Joel left knowing that he had a made a great decision. 

On the way home, he turned to Shelby and said he hoped the Guntuku family liked him.

“You’re giving Raj a kidney,” Shelby said. “I think they like you fine.”

And they both laughed.

On March 4, Raj and Joel went in for the surgery. Joel was home after two days, while Raj came home on March 9. The families have spoken via FaceTime every day since.

Thanks to Joel, Raj has a functioning kidney and was able to enjoy a happy homecoming after the successful kidney transplant surgery earlier this month.  

Raj had been sick for much of 2020. In early September, he vomited after waking up one morning, and it happened again a few weeks later. He went and had bloodwork done, and the results concerned his doctor. In October, Raj was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease (CKD), which is characterized by the gradual loss of kidney function. He was Stage 5 at the time, and his kidneys were operating at less than 10 percent of their normal function.

Raj has been on a strict diet ever since, and will need to watch what he eats now that he has a new kidney. He told Joel the first thing he was going to do after receiving his kidney was eat a slice of cheese pizza. 

However, his diet will have to be limited. He will need to eat healthier, but Radha says Raj is ready for that challenge. At a Super Bowl party a month before his surgery, everyone was celebrating the Tampa Bay Bucs’ victory with cupcakes. 

“I would like to eat,” Raj said, “but sadly, I cannot. No thank you.”

Raj’s immunity will be lower than it used to be, and special care will need to be taken for the next 90 days. He is on seven medications, gets his blood tested twice a week, and has to stay out of the sun. 

He is eager to shoot some hoops, but contact sports like soccer and football are off limits. His dream to be a grand master at karate, which he has been taking since he was 4, may be in peril, but Radha says they will have to decide on that later.

It is likely that Raj will have to go through this process again, in 20 or 30 years, so he needs to maximize the health of this kidney. “He knows he needs to be careful,” Radha says.

As for Joel, he was off the pain medication in a week and doctors say he’ll be fully recovered in 4-6 weeks.

“They really just said stay away from contact sports, so my future NFL career is no longer an option at the ripe age of 28,” Joel says.

He’s back at work, and every once in a while he thinks about the selfless decision he made. He doesn’t regret it for a second.

“I don’t think I knew, even today, just how big a deal this was, which probably helped with the nerves,” Joel says. “I  genuinely just felt like this was the obvious thing to do. I may not have thought about it as much as I probably should have, but even if I had, I still think the outcome would have been the same. It was definitely well worth it.

“I’d say I’d do it again, but I can’t. You can only do this once.”

Pasco EDC’s Wesley Chapel Incubator Opens In The Grove

SMARTstart program director Dan Mitchell says space like this boardroom is where small businesses will have the opportunity to collaborate with other owners, industry experts and mentors as they prepare their businesses for launch. (Photos: John C. Cotey)

In the center of what many think is the hottest and hippest entertainment development in Wesley Chapel at The Grove, just above the office of developer Mark Gold, is a large “collab-o-space” hoping to launch the area’s next hottest and hippest thing.

That’s Dan Mitchell’s hope, anyway. The program director of SMARTstart — part of the entrepreneurial arm of the Pasco Economic Development Council (EDC) — stands in the middle of the 5,000-sq.-ft. Entrepreneur Center & Business Incubator and imagines it filled with the bustle and hustle that only enthusiastic entrepreneurs can bring to it.

“It’s going to be a great environment,” Mitchell says.

SMARTstart at The Grove held its official ribbon cutting on Feb. 18. The workspace has 10 private offices, two “huddle rooms,” 32 dedicated desks, a co-working lounge, an executive board room, as well as a classroom and other meeting spaces. 

A digital media studio will offer light boxes, podcasting mics and mixers, as well as other equipment needed to produce various electronic media.

Those desks, offices and board rooms will soon be mostly filled by small business owners sporting ideas but looking for guidance and hoping to reap the benefits a collaborative setting can provide. Small businesses have a large fail rate within the first two years, but Mitchell says SMARTstart helps develop business ideas and get them to market on more solid footing.

SMARTstart at The Grove is open to anyone, but their business must be based in Pasco County. It is looking for small business owners who are in the start-up phase, or in the first year or two of their business.

Once accepted into the program, you choose your membership level and get access to not just the space — you can rent a private office for $600, or just take a desk in the open area for $100 — but also classes, roundtable discussions, workshops and mentorship. The SMARTstart team will assess the needs of entrepreneurs, and will connect them with industry experts and coaches.

“We ask people when they join, what do you need?,” Mitchell says. “What is holding you back? Do you need workspace, do you need guidance, do you need to collaborate with other entrepreneurs, do you need funding, do you need education? We offer something in all of those program areas.”

And, Mitchell adds, “If somebody needs all of it, great. They can get all of it.”

This area provides 20 working spaces for entrepreneurs, but offices and meeting rooms are also available.

SMARTstart is funded by the Penny for Pasco program.

The Wesley Chapel location will be the third EDC incubator in Pasco County, joining the locations in New Port Richey (which focuses on professional services), and the one in Dade City (focused on food innovation).

Those in the SMARTstart program also are eligible for the EDC’s popular “micro loans,” ranging from $30,000-50,000.

Since the program’s inception five years ago, 82 businesses have started and grown in the Pasco EDC’s incubators, including 24 last year. The micro loan program has funded 57 companies, for a total of $1.8 million in loans. 

So far, the new Wesley Chapel incubator has four members, with 30 more on the waiting list.  Those who get in are limited to two years in the incubator, after which they must spread their wings and find their own locations.

“This is not your permanent home,” Mitchell says, but in the meantime, members can use the incubator’s address to register their business with the Florida Department of State at Sunbiz.org (found at DOS.MyFlorida.com), use the conference rooms for meetings, focus groups and more. “People come with an idea and, within six months, can get the funding and when they do launch, SMARTstart will hold a ribbon cutting for them.”

The under-construction SMARTstart crate at The Grove’s KRATE container park be available to small businesses to rent as a pop-up to show or sell their products and services. 

Dade City’s Johnathan McKeen-Chaff has taken advantage of multiple SMARTstart programs and he says that, as a result, his music teaching and academic tutoring business is better off for it. 

He has added a handful of clients and is now ready to open his first physical location at the KRATE container park at The Grove this summer, where his team will give piano, guitar and drum lessons, as well as supplemental tutoring in math, English and other subjects.

“It was worth every penny and more,” McKeen-Chaff says. “That’s the kind of education I can get behind. Dan Mitchell and everyone there are very good at what they do.”

McKeen-Chaff, who says his company is focused on using technology to improve the way people teach and learn, also took advantage of the EDC’s micro loan program.

“They taught me how to start a business, and walked me through everything I needed to do,” McKeen-Chaff says. “I know I have a better chance (of succeeding) just having them on my side.”

McKeen-Chaff will be KRATE neighbors with SMARTstart, which also will be renting a converted shipping container. Members of the SMARTstart program will be able to rent the crate as a pop-up to sell their wares, which could be popular with the fledgling food businesses being cultivated at the EDC’s Dade City incubator.

Pasco County-based businesses interested in more information or in joining the incubator program can fill out an application by visiting SMARTstartPasco.com.

Wesley Chapel Doubles Its Odds on American Idol

Zach D’Onofrio sings the Beatles song “Golden Slumbers” on American Idol

Two Wesley Chapel teenagers are headed to Hollywood Week on American Idol, thanks to auditions that earned unanimous votes from the judges.

Zach D’Onofrio, who also earned a golden ticket in 2018, and Alanis Sophia will begin competing this week as the show moves into the Hollywood phase.

Zach, a Wiregrass Ranch graduate, got his second golden ticket on Sunday’s show, when he played the piano and sang the Beatles’ “Golden Slumbers” for judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan. 

In his first audition, Zach sang Frank Sinatra’s “The Way You Look Tonight” — his voice transforming from nervous teenager to timeless crooner — and danced with Perry after giving each of the judges designer themed socks. Bryan was the first to recognize Zach, calling him “Sinatra Boy.”

“I’m back,” Zach said.

This time around, he joked that he had graduated from socks to “dressing up in my best sweater”, singing in a purple sweater with a flowered design. 

The judges seemed perplexed about what to make of a second version of D’Onofrio after his song. “Zachary, you’re like a math equation you just leave permanently up on the chalkboard,” Perry told him. “I’m still confused and would like to hear more.”

Zach had a surprise for song No. 2 — his girlfriend Catie Turner, who was a top-6 finisher in 2018. He called her out to sing with him on a second song, “Falling”, by Harry Styles.

Perry told Zach after the song there was something interesting about him, but that he reminded her of a turtle.

“A turtle sometimes hides in its shell,’’ she said. “But the turtle wins the race.”

“What we need now,” Ritchie added, “is for you to come out of your shell.”

And with that, Zach is headed back to Hollywood.

Like Zach, Alanis Sophia is another great voice with a great story.

She says she remembers watching “American Idol” as a child, peering between the bars on her crib. When she was 4-years old, her mother Kathy bought her a happy meal from McDonald’s so she could get the toy inside – a plastic blue and yellow American Idol microphone, with the show’s catchphrase – “You’re Going To Hollywood!” – on it.

Being on the show became one of Alanis’ dreams. On the Feb. 28 audition show, filmed in Los Angeles, Alanis wowed the judges — and millions watching at home — with a perfect, soaring rendition of Demi Lovato’s “Anyone.”

The performance left tears in the eyes of Perry,  and Richie and Bryan also appeared moved.

Alanis Sophia sings with the same plastic microphone that ignited her American Idol dream.

Alanis, who was named after pop singer Alanis Morissette, sang into that exact same Happy Meal plastic microphone during the audition that gave birth to her dream.

Pretty ironic, don’t ya think?

“In the midst of all of this noise, there’s the purity of your voice and your personality that requires nothing but exactly who you are,” Richie told her.

“It was real, and it was honest, and it was awesome to watch,” Bryan said.

Perry, who said she got into music because of Morissette, told Alanis that she was the best performer the judges had seen that day.

After calling her mom Kathy out, and making her cry with their praise of her daughter, the judges told Alanis that she was advancing to Hollywood. The teen grabbed her golden ticket and held it high proudly as she and Kathy left the room.

Alanis said she felt good and liked her chances after finishing the song.

“When I walked in there, I was like, holy cow,” Alanis told the Neighborhood News. “I was nervous at the beginning, but I sang my heart out. Once I started singing, I was in a zone.”

Although not technically currently a resident of Wesley Chapel — she lives in Dade City — Alanis has lived in Wesley Chapel and attended John Long Middle School for two years.

Alanis Sophia and her mother Kathy.

While Zach is still relatively new to singing, it’s not that big a surprise that a seasoned performer like Alanis would deliver such a performance. In fact, because her budding music and acting career kept her so busy, she had to move to online classes and is a 2019 Pasco eSchool graduate.

The oldest of three other siblings, Alanis is no stranger to the music business. When she was 11 years old, she finished second on “La Voz Kids,” the Spanish version of “The Voice.” 

She later became the face of VisitFlorida, made commercials and did some acting, and was signed to the Big Machine record label, which was looking to fuse her into a Latin-Country star. 

While that didn’t work out, Alanis continued to make music and build her brand online, with hundreds of thousands of followers between Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok.

That may seem like a full career for many, but at 19, Alanis is just getting started. She looks at “American Idol” as an opportunity to break through as a star, but if not, she’ll keep pushing on. 

“I keep forgetting that I’m 19, and there is so much more left for me in this world,” she says.

That includes singing, touring, acting and who knows?

“All of that,” Alanis says. “I want to do it all.”

Now that the auditions are over, the show begins “Hollywood Week” this Sunday. The show airs at 8 p.m. on ABC-TV. 

New Moffitt At Wesley Chapel Cancer Center Opens

The new Moffitt at Wesley Chapel will provide a more convenient cancer-fighting experience with the same great care provided by the Moffitt Cancer Center’s main campus in Tampa.

The long-awaited Moffitt Cancer Center satellite campus in a new building on the site of AdventHealth Wesley Chapel (AHWC) has opened, with a quiet virtual ribbon cutting three days before services started officially being offered on Feb. 15.

Called Moffitt at Wesley Chapel, the new facility fills a major hole in the area when it comes to receiving cancer treatment. As one of only 50 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, the Moffitt Cancer Center has gained national acclaim over the years for its research and patient care.

“I am excited that Moffitt is getting closer to our patients,” said Dr. Tim Kubal, medical director at Moffitt at Wesley Chapel. “This is also a great opportunity to innovate the way clinical care is provided at Moffitt.”

Moffitt’s cancer care will occupy nearly 28,000 square feet of the new, three-story, 100,000-sq.-ft. building, which is located in the Healing Plaza on the south side of the campus of AHWC, near the Shops at Wiregrass.

The facility, which broke ground in May 2019, features 20 exam rooms, 22 infusion chairs, three blood draw stations, two linear accelerators and a CT Simulator. 

The TrueBeam linear accelerator above provides image-guided stereotactic radiosurgery and radiotherapy with high precision to treat tumors and lesions in various parts of the body, including lungs, breasts, head and neck. It is a part of the new technology available at the new Moffitt at Wesley Chapel facility .

Patients will be able to access blood draws, infusions, medical oncology, radiation and surgical oncology consultations at the new location, whereas they previously had to drive to Moffitt’s North Tampa campus on Magnolia Ave. for such services.

Diagnostic imaging services also will be available at the new building, with the imaging services provided by AdventHealth, and Moffitt’s team of expert radiologists reviewing the images for interpretation.

Patients can expect to receive the same outstanding cancer care for which Moffitt is highly regarded.

“There are going to be some things that we only do at the main campus, (such as) super complex surgeries and things like that, which are typically going to be done at the Magnolia campus (at USF),” Dr. Kubal says. “But, the bulk of cancer care is diagnosis and treatment. It’s figuring out what’s going on with you, giving you chemotherapy and radiation therapy, and all that can be done here in Wesley Chapel.”

By partnering with AdventHealth in Wesley Chapel, Moffitt has created what is sure to continue being a popular model for health care in the future.

“One of the most exciting new things about this hybrid model of care in partnership with AdventHealth is that with this multi-specialty model, we are able to bring our experience of research closer to the community,” says Dr. Vania Phuoc, one of the center’s lead hematology/oncololgy physicians. “We’re hoping to bring clinical trials out here to Moffitt at Wesley Chapel by the end of the first year after we open.”

The new building’s services include malignant and benign hematology, the full breadth of solid tumor oncology, gynecologic oncology, endocrinology and more. More services will be added in the future, based upon the needs of the community.

The convenience for those fighting cancer, as well as for those who have family members fighting it, is huge, Dr. Kubal says.

“There are a lot of people up here (in Wesley Chapel), and this is an area that is growing very rapidly,” he says. “A lot of younger families and people are moving from up north. They want to transfer their care but don’t necessarily want to live on the USF campus (where the main Moffitt Cancer Center is located). They want to live in the Villages, they want to live up in Wesley Chapel off of Curley Road. So, we’re up here because we want to get closer to the patients without them having to come all the way to us.”

Moffitt Cancer Center also is expanding into central Pasco, recently receiving approval to build an extension on 775 acres at the intersection of the Suncoast Parkway and the Ridge Rd. Extension, which is currently under construction.

Phase 1 of the project will include a $60-million, 125,000-sq.-ft. business park, which will be completed in five years and create nearly 450 jobs.

And, Moffitt also is building a $400 million, 128-bed hospital on 20 acres across McKinley Dr. from Moffitt’s Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation Outpatient Center, a short drive from the original Moffitt campus at USF.

For more info, visit Moffitt.org.