By Matt Wiley
Details have emerged and an arrest has been made in the shooting death of a Pasco County man who was shot in his car while driving on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in May.
According to the Tampa Police Department (TPD), Demetrio Earle, 27, of Tampa, was arrested around 3:45 p.m. on August 2, following an investigation into the May 31 death of 20-year-old Reggie Adams.Continue reading
Although Iâstill hear a lot of the businesses we do business with say that they donât see the economy recovering â at least not at any pace thatâs helping them â based on the number of new businesses that keep opening in our area and the fact that those owners seem to have little or no trouble spending money with us to promote those businesses, Iâthink there is some economic momentum being built in our community.
Every year, it seems, we have a fairly sizable number of advertisers who say, âHold me out until after the summer, because thereâs no one here until the end of August.ââWell, even though we did have a few businesses pull their ads this summer, there have been even more coming in to take their place. In fact, Iâcan safely say that, culminating with this issue, the summer of 2013 has been the best â in terms of both advertising revenue and the feedback weâre getting from readers and advertisers alike â we have ever had in our New Tampa and Wesley Chapel issues for June-August!Continue reading
By Matt Wiley |Â August 13
A Wesley Chapel man has been released, after turning himself in for being illegally in the possession of a sea turtle.
According to a Hillsborough County Sheriffâs Office (HCSO) report, Kim Raymond Feaste, 21 â whose permanent address is in the Williamsburg community of Wesley Chapel (just north of the Hillsborough-Pasco county line) â turned himself in to the Orient Rd. jail in Tampa on September 1, after Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) authorities visited his apartment the day before.
â(FWC) had put out a news release with his photograph, asking for the publicâs help identifying him,â says FWC spokesperson Gary Morse. âAs a result, we received a significant number of calls to the FWC Alert Hotline and we were able to determine his name and his whereabouts.â
The FWC release, dated August 13, describes a photographerâs encounter with Feaste, who was photographed digging in a Loggerhead sea turtle (which is classified as an âendangeredâ species by the International Union for Censervation of Nature, or IUCN) nest on Casey Key in Sarasota County. When asked what he was doing, Feaste replied that he was âcollecting turtle eggs to be released when they hatched.â
Morse says that there was plenty of evidence at Feasteâs apartment, located in downtown Tampa, to determine that he was, indeed, the man they were looking for.
By Matt Wiley
The discovery of pornographic images involving minors on a cell phone has led to the arrest of a 15-year-old student at Wire- grass Ranch High (WRH).
According to the Pasco County Sheriffâs Office (PCSO), on May 21, the female studentâs iPhone was taken away from her during class. The teacher who seized the phone discovered a photo of two juveniles engaging in oral sex, which is considered by law to be child pornography. The teacher reported the photo to the school resource officer.
The student was arrested just after noon on July 1 at her home.Continue reading
By Matt Wiley
With the 2013-14 school year set to begin in Pasco County on August 19, Sand Pine Elementary (SPE) and Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) will both have new principals.
At SPE in Meadow Pointe, Scott Atkins, a previous assistant principal at nearby Double Branch Elementary (also in Meadow Pointe), has taken over for former principal Todd Cluff.
âIâm really excited for the new school year,â Atkins says. âIâve only been in the building for two weeks (at our press time), but the staff is fantastic.âContinue reading