Primary Elections Drove Record Number Of Local Voters To The Polls

 A substantial increase in primary voting in Pasco County is expected to be a bellwether for what could be one of the most anticipated general elections in recent memory on Tuesday, November 6.

Turnout for early voting, vote by mail and on primary election day on Aug. 28 were all higher than they were in 2016 in Pasco County and overall, 24.85 percent of registered voters cast ballots, compared to 18.64 percent in 2016 and 14.93 percent in 2014.

Pasco County Supervisor of Elections Brian Corley says overall numbers on Aug. 28 were up, due to the ease of voting, as well as the fact that voters seem to be more engaged this year than they have been in the past.

“There is a caveat,” he says. “While the needle is moving in the right direction and it’s a fantastic increase, that’s still only one in four people voting (in the primary election). It’s not time for confetti, but it is a step in the right direction.”

In Wesley Chapel, more than 10,000 votes were cast, or only 21.9 percent of registered voters. However, take away those not registered with either major party, of which only seven percent voted, and that number is better – 28.6 percent of registered Democrats and Republicans in Wesley Chapel’s voting precincts cast ballots in the primary.

Other than the primaries to choose gubernatorial candidates for each party, there were no hot intra-party races driving people to the polls, and Corley says that could mean a massive turnout for the general election, when the ballot will offer more choices and pit those political parties against each other.

Andrew Gillum

Those additional choices include two Pasco County Commission races that weren’t contested in the primaries, and what will be a heated U.S. Senate race between current Republican Governor Rick Scott and Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson, who has held his position since 2001.

The one race drawing national attention that is expected to drive people to the polls more than any other, however, will be the one to replace Gov. Scott as Florida Governor, between Republican Ron DeSantis and Democrat Andrew Gillum.

Gillum shocked almost everyone with a win in the primary to set up a showdown with the Donald Trump-endorsed DeSantis. Both candidates defeated establishment-backed candidates, setting the stage for an interesting battle that will match contenders from what many believe to be the party’s bases.

Gillum became Florida’s first-ever black gubernatorial candidate after he defeated favored Gwen Graham, the daughter of popular former Florida Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham.

Although he was fourth in many polls leading up to the primary vote and was outspent by Graham 6-to-1, there was talk of a Gillum surge in the final days, which turned out to be prescient.

Gillum captured 34.3 percent of the state-wide Democratic vote (or 517,834 votes of the 1,509,794 ballots cast). Graham finished second with 31.3 percent, while Phillip Levine (20.3 percent) and Jeff Greene (10 percent) rounded out the top candidates in the Democratic field.

Ron DeSantis

“People didn’t think we had a chance, but we did,” Gillum told CNN shortly after being declared the winner. “I think voters have had enough with the status quo.”

DeSantis, who was first elected to Congress in 2012, represents the Daytona Beach area and originally ran for the U.S. Senate in 2016, when it appeared that Marco Rubio, coming off an unsuccessful presidential campaign, was not going to run. Once Rubio re-entered the race, DeSantis exited it.

Running behind former Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam at the time, DeSantis fully embraced an endorsement from President Trump in the spring and it shot him into a lead he never relinquished.

DeSantis was the choice of 913,955 of Florida’s Republican voters out of 1,618,372 who cast ballots in the primary, or 56.4 percent. The previously favored Putnam was a distant second with 36.5 percent.

Pres. Trump congratulated DeSantis on the win the night of the primaries, and the next morning, the president attacked Gillum, calling him DeSantis’, “biggest dream…a failed Socialist Mayor who has allowed crime and & other problems to flourish in his city.”

Local Results

In Pasco County, however, Graham was the decisive winner over Gillum, garnering almost twice as many votes, beating the eventual nominee 42.7 percent to 25.1 percent.

In Wesley Chapel, though, Gillum was as clear a choice for Democrats as DeSantis was for Republicans. Both candidates were the top vote-getters in nine of Wesley Chapel’s 13 voting precincts, and both received 54 percent of the votes cast for the top two finishers.

In other races, Allen Altman won a fourth term on the Pasco County School Board with 57 percent of the vote, beating challengers Ken Mathis (23 percent) and Brian Staver (20 percent) for the District 1 seat, joining fellow incumbent Cynthia Armstrong, who retained her District 3 seat. 

Tara O’Connor and Megan Harding, who both received 37 percent of the vote for the District 5 seat, will run-off against each other on Nov. 6 because neither passed the 50-percent threshold in the primary.

A pair of Republican county commissioners did not have primary challenges and will be defending their seats on Nov. 6 – Mike Moore, who represents most of Wesley Chapel in District 2, and District 4’s Mike Wells. They will be running against Democrats Kelly Smith and Brandi Geoit, respectively.

Irma Who? One Year Later, Willow Is Making Happier Memories!

Willow enjoyed cutting the hair of Rays second baseman Daniel Robertson at a Cut For A Cure event at Tropicana Field during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

On the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Irma, Jennifer Newman wasn’t interested in sharing her memories from the day of the storm.

Instead, she was working on erasing them. “It was a pretty emotional week, knowing it was coming up on Sept. 8 and knowing what it meant,” the Wesley Chapel mom said.

A year ago on that date, her daughter Willow, hoping to be celebrating her third birthday, was diagnosed with leukemia.

That diagnosis created more of a storm in Willow’s life than Hurricane Irma ever could, but the two events have since become interwined. As everyone else shared remembrances on the Irma anniversary about the harrowing moments of the storm and the damage and inconveniences it caused, Jennifer, her husband Shawn Stine and Willow and her older sister Eden were at Tropicana Field celebrating Willow’s birthday while watching a Rays baseball game.

Invited because the club was recognizing September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, some of the Rays players shaved their heads to raise money for the Cut For A Cure program.

Willow giggled her way through doing the honors on Rays second baseman Daniel Robertson.

“I felt like we made some great memories that day,” Jennifer said. “I feel like we took back that day. We were super grateful to rewrite history.”

Last year at the same time, Jennifer was frantically trying to get ready for Irma, buying food and water supplies and cleaning the house. Willow ran errands with her, and the two stopped to buy Paw Patrol birthday decorations for her big day.

But, Jennifer sensed something was wrong with Willow. She was sleeping more than usual, she looked pale and she was asking to be held all the time.

Willow had a routine checkup scheduled for Monday, but with Irma set to come through on Saturday, Jennifer decided not to risk its aftermath and took Willow to the doctor in hopes of getting some antibiotics. Her doctor agreed something might be wrong, and Jennifer and Willow were sent to Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC) to do some blood work.

The pathologist there delivered bad news. “I’ll never forget his face or where he was standing in the room,” Jennifer wrote on her Facebook page.

Willow was transferred to John Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg. The FHWC nurses, who gave Willow a stuffed giraffe for the trip, looked sad. With sirens blaring, she was rushed away.

After blood transfusions and more tests, doctors told Jennifer and Shawn that Willow likely had pre-b cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (pre B-ALL).

Doctors started blood transfusions immediately and vital checks every hour, and sadness set in. The All Children’s nurses, though, made sure Willow still celebrated her big day, throwing a “Frozen”-themed birthday party.

Video from the party went viral and was featured on CNN and in People magazine.

That first night, Jennifer and Shawn slept in chairs pushed up against Willow’s hospital crib.

The next morning, Saturday, with Irma bearing down, Shawn had to leave. The Howard Frankland Bridge, which connects Tampa and St. Petersburg, was being closed, and he had to get back to Eden.

That night, with a daughter newly diagnosed with cancer and separated from her husband and other daughter by a threatening hurricane, Jennifer went outside.

“The wind was picking up,” she says. “I found a bench, sat down and just started crying. It was one of the only times I let myself loose. It was a lot to handle.”

Back On Track…

But, handle it Willow has.

This past year, she spent 70 days in the hospital, had more than three dozen blood transfusions, 15 lumbar punctures (which collect samples of cerebrospinal fluid, or CSF, from the spinal column) and three major surgeries.

She has endured countless trips to the clinic for chemotherapy treatments. She takes chemo every night at home, and one night a week, she has to take nine pills. Her body has suffered from neuropathy, but at the same time, Willow has fought back.

Hurricane Irma will become an afterthought one day. But today, Jennifer says Willow is doing much better.

She is like any other child, running and jumping around, swimming and riding a bike. She is happy and engaged, and other than being poked by needles, she actually looks forward to her trips to the clinic.

“I think she’s made a lot of great strides in terms of learning how to deal with the procedures she has to go through, and we love seeing her,” said Jessica Wishnew, M.D., in a story on the John Hopkins All Children’s website. “She definitely brings a lot of energy and happiness when she comes in.”

On the one-year anniversary of the storms that swept in and changed her life, know this: the prognosis for Willow is good. Dr. Wishnew says that the cure rate for pre B-ALL is in the 90-plus percent rate.

“I know in my heart she’s going to beat this,” Jennifer says. “She’s strong, she’s a little fighter. I know she’s going to beat this.”

Willow will do her fighting with a lot of people in her corner. Just last week, someone in the community dropped by Willow’s home to leave a gift and some cookies. Those kind of things happen often. Jennifer says what were once complete strangers have become some of her closest friends.

“I just want to say, we are blessed,” she says. “We are blessed to be in Wesley Chapel, where there has been so much support. Between that and all the prayers, it has been wonderful.”

Pasco County Fire Rescue Breaks Ground On New Station No. 38

Photo by Orlando Negron

After having only one fire station for many years, it won’t be too long before the Wesley Chapel area has three. On Sept. 17, Pasco County Fire Rescue (PCFR) hosted a groundbreaking event for Fire Station No. 38, located on Overpass Rd., west of Curley Rd., near Watergrass Elementary.

The station shows the foresight of PCFR’s long-term strategic plan.

“Wesley Chapel is a booming population center,” PCFR public information officer Corey Dierdorff said. “With new developments like Epperson and Watergrass already populated and new developments north of the new station, like Ashley Groves, already being permitted and approved, it means higher call volume. Without more stations, higher call volume means longer response times. We’re looking at putting stations in ahead of (new) development.”

Longer response times also can mean the difference between life and death. That’s why the new four-bay, 10,843 square foot Station 38 will feature some state-of-the-art technology when it opens in about a year.

The PURVIS Fire Station Alerting System (FSAS) is an award-winning, IP-based solution designed to automate the process of alerting fire and rescue personnel, enhance communications and decrease response times. Station 38 will be the first in Pasco County to utilize the system.

“Let’s say calls for chest pain, shortness of breath and a car accident all come in at the same time,” Deputy Chief of Operations Michael Cassano said. “Right now, all three calls will stack and be dispatched one at a time. With the PURVIS System, they’ll all be dispatched at the same time.”

County Commissioner Ron Oakley Photo by Orlando Negron

The new system could cut critical seconds or even minutes off of response times. While Station 38 will be the first in Pasco with the new system, PCFR plans to retrofit the rest of the stations across the county in future years.

Station 38 also will employ new technology to keep its firefighters safer and better rested. To keep them safer, the new fire station will employ a Plymovent diesel exhaust capture system. Plymovent is a global leading supplier of products, systems and services for the extraction and filtration of polluted indoor air. What oftentimes happens in the bays is a truck idles while emitting both carbon monoxide (CO) and the carcinogen Benzene.

“A lot of our bay doors open into living quarters and the trucks are spewing Benzene all over the bays,” Cassano said. “With this new safe air system, it monitors the atmospheric conditions in the bay and can automatically turn on fans, regulate temperature and even open bay doors.”

Another benefit for firefighters at Station 38 will be how the PURVIS System alerts them. Currently, a quick blast is emitted over the station’s speaker system. With the new PURVIS System, the tones gradually increase in volume. Additionally, the alerts can be targeted toward only the firefighters needed for a particular call and not the entire station.

“We found that many firefighters endure sleep deprivation,” Cassano said. “When you wake up to a loud noise, it triggers catacholamine release (in your brain) and a fight or flight mindset. This was happening every time firefighters would get a call. It’s designed with the goal of being a more humane notification system.”

Station 38 marks the first additional fire coverage area in Pasco County since 2009 and the first new coverage area in East Pasco County since 2007.

Not far behind Station 38’s groundbreaking will be the opening of the new Station No. 13. Located off of Old Pasco Rd., the new station had its groundbreaking in March. The old Station 13 at 27329 Dayflower Rd. is an aging facility that has become inadequate to handle the population growth in the area.

When it opens in January, the new Station 13 will be 9,400 square feet, have space for a Pasco County Sheriff’s substation and three drive-through bays able to accommodate six fire vehicles.

“In Pasco County, county wide, we are issuing 300 residential permits a month,” Dierdorff said. “The growth is incredible but our aim is to provide the best fire and medical coverage.”

BBD Update — Done By End Of Year!

It’s easy to recognize the progress being made on the widening of Segment D of Bruce B. Downs Blvd. (above). The final phase of the BBD widening is expected to be completed before the end of 2018.

The seemingly never-ending widening of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., a project talked about and debated — and even cursed — for two decades, could be “substantially” finished by the end of October 2018.

While the mounds of dirt, yellow construction trucks working behind orange traffic barrels and the winding roads with sometimes confusing lane switches seem to contradict that claim, Hillsborough County’s Public Works Department says that all eight lanes of Segment D — the last of the four segments of the BBD project — will be operational in October.

That doesn’t preclude periodic daytime lane closures, as contractors complete punch list items, but the end, thankfully, is finally near.

The final full completion of the segment is scheduled for sometime in November.

The widening of Segment D — a 1.44-mile stretch from Pebble Creek Dr. to County Line Rd. — from a 4-lane divided roadway to an 8-lane divided roadway also will include a landscaped median, sidewalks, a multi-use path and upgraded traffic signals.

The final segment of BBD widening began construction in October of 2016.

According to the county’s website, Segment D’s cost was estimated at $24 million, which was funded through the Public Works Transportation Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and was awarded $5 million from the Transportation Regional Incentive Program (TRIP) by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT).

Segment A, which was once the most congested area of BBD and extends from Bearss Ave. to Palm Springs Blvd. in Tampa Palms, was a $54-million project that wrapped up last year.

Segments B and C, which bracket the work that was done around the same time I-75 was widened, were considered the most difficult (and costly) of the segments geographically, but were completed together first.

The two inside southbound lanes of Segment D have been completed, and plans were to finish the two outside northbound lanes, and then shift traffic by the end of August.

When the traffic shift has been completed, work will begin to complete the two inside turn lanes, as well as the median northbound and southbound.

As we reported last issue, county engineers recently showed results of a signal-timing project they say has improved traffic on BBD (and its side roads) south of Cross Creek Blvd., and said when the construction is done, some of those same signal-timing improvements will be applied to Segment D.
Also, a new traffic signal has been added at the intersection of BBDs and Trout Creek Dr. (just north of the Burger 21) in an effort to alleviate congestion off the side roads in that area. That signal was not yet operational at our press time.

While residents have complained about perceived inactivity on BBD at most of the traffic-related townhalls and forums held in New Tampa the past year, all of the previous segments had their own challenges. The completion of Segment D has had to overcome some construction and weather issues that have delayed progress at times.

Last year, Hurricane Irma (and other lesser storms) dumped enormous amounts of rain on the New Tampa area, and the usual summer-time showers this year also have provided some delays.

“The toughest aspects of the project so far have been the weather impacts,” wrote the county’s Public Works Department, responding to questions from the Neighborhood News. “All construction projects must utilize temporary drainage measures to address the rain. This project is unique because the installation of the main drainage line must connect to the adjacent drainage lines on the south end of the project first, to allow the entire project to drain properly.”

While the Segment D project is designed with the temporary drainage measures in place to handle the rain, “unusually quick and heavy” rains can overwhelm the drainage system, making it unable to drain the water from the roadway and causing backups.

The project also has faced obstacles like locating underground utilities, which in most cases can be traced as a straight line, but there are unexpected deviations that required a redesign.

“When coordinating multiple utility companies to install, relocate, and remove, it is challenging, especially when the majority of this work is completed by other companies all trying to fit in narrow areas,” the county says.

But, the delays haven’t been enough to change the much-anticipated completion date, which remains the end of 2018. The end of a two-decades-long wait draws ever closer.

Nibbles and Bytes

FHWC Opens Wound Care Center
Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC), which will be changing its name to AdventHealth Wesley Chapel in January 2019 (see Business Notes on page 13), continues to be at the forefront of health care in our area. The hospital recently opened its Wound Care Center inside the FHWC Wellness Plaza, the building due north of the hospital itself.

FHWC CEO Denyse Bales-Chubb and dozens of Adventist Health dignitaries, local elected

officials/political candidates and North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce members were on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Aug. 27, and everyone in attendance (including yours truly) came away truly impressed with this latest addition to FHWC’s plethora of medical services for the community.

Although the Wound Care Center has plenty of state-of-the-art technology for caring for all kinds of wounds, lesions and lacerations, the coolest things we saw as we toured the facility were two hyperbaric chambers (photo far right), which traditionally have been used for people with the “bends” from scuba diving, but which (we were told) also can help with healing for those who have chronic sores and wounds that don’t heal, from diabetes or after radiation therapy for cancer.

Congrats also go out to the local catering company called C•B•K Catering & Events, which served amazing edible cones filled with a zesty chicken salad, plus delicious cheese tortellinis and perfect bruschetta at the event.

For more info about FHWC and the new Wound Care Center, visit FloridaHospital.com. For more info about C•B•K Catering, visit CBKTampa.com or call (813) 699-3060 and please tell Chase Mayer the New Tampa Neighborhood News sent you!

VIPs Check Out The Hyatt Place
In our last issue, I mentioned that the new Hyatt Place Hotel & Sierra Conference Center were getting ready to open, which actually happened on July 30.

On Aug. 9, representatives of the new hotel hosted a VIP event we attended, where members of the North Tampa Bay Chamber (NTBC) of Commerce Board of Directors and other local VIPs took tours of the 132-room hotel and got to sample some of the tasty food that will be served in the Hyatt Place’s Gallery restaurant.

The Hyatt Place Hotel is located at 26000 Sierra Center Blvd. For more info, stop in or call (813) 803-5600 or visit Hyatt.com, and please tell the hotel’s staff that you read about them (again) in the New Tampa Neighborhood News!

Umu To Replace OTB Café

Although OTB (Only The Best) Delights Café closed its original location at 2653 Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in Wesley Chapel several weeks ago, have no fear.

Not only is OTB set to reopen sometime in September in its new location a couple of miles further north at the new Nye Commons (4873 BBD), but there already is a new restaurant getting ready to open in its old location.

The Thai owners of Umu Japanese & Thai have been transforming the old OTB space into an elegant-looking future home of great sushi, Bento boxes and other Japanese and Thai favorites and hope to be open sometime in September.