By Sean Bowes
By the time this issue of Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News arrives in your mailbox, the section of S.R./C.R. 54 from west of I-75 to just east of Curley Rd (CR 577) should finally be six lanes wide, allowing travelers to enjoy their ride on the section of road which has been under construction since April 2010.Continue reading
An editorial by Gary Nager
Congratulations to U.S. Army Sgt. Joel Tavera and his family, who recently became the recipients of the ninth home given away to wounded veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars by âBuilding Homes for Heroesâ (HFH), a nonprofit organization whose mission is as amazing to me as the stories of the wounded soldiers and their families.Continue reading
An editorial by Gary Nager
Congratulations to U.S. Army Sgt. Joel Tavera and his family, who recently became the recipients of the ninth home given away to wounded veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars by âBuilding Homes for Heroesâ (HFH), a nonprofit organization whose mission is as amazing to me as the stories of the wounded soldiers and their families.Continue reading
By Sean Bowes
Five months after Pasco County passed its own ordinance to outlaw panhandlers on streets and roadways, the City of Tampa has decided to do the same, in effort to make its roads panhandler-free, too.Continue reading
Michelle Bella, a Lutz resident who accused a Veterans Elementary School teacher of shaking her son in front of her is now facing charges of filing a false police report to the Pasco County Sheriffâs Office (PCSO).
According to an incident report, Bella, 41, was visiting Veterans Elementary, located on S.R. 54 at Progress Pkwy., on September 27, to have lunch with her son, who is in the first grade. She claimed that she saw the teacher first yell at her son for running in the cafeteria and then grab him by the shoulders and shake him.
The teacher denied ever touching, grabbing or shaking Bellaâs son.
After the alleged incident, Bella notified the schoolâs principal, Donna Busby, as well as Pasco County superintendent of schools Heather Fiorentino. Unsatisfied with the response from the administrators, Bella contacted PCSO to file a police report
A deputy came to Bellaâs home at 26916 Roseann Pla. in Lutz to file a report, where she said the teacher took her son âby the shoulders and turned him towards her and began to shake him,â the PCSO report stated.
The deputy then started an investigation on the case where he reviewed the surveillance tape of the cafeteria at Veterans Elementary (which showed no signs of child abuse), and also spoke with several eyewitnesses. The deputyâs report stated that Bellaâs claims did not match those of the tape nor the witnessesâ statements.
According to the PCSO report, Bella âwillfully conveyed false information in a child abuse report.â
âI knew what I saw,â said Bella, to the deputies who arrested her on November 7. She was released from the Land Oâ Lakes Jail on November 8 on a $150 bond.
Bella has previously been arrested in Pasco County for domestic battery. She also had been arrested in Tampa for trespassing in 2004.