Week in Review

PRIDE BOASTS TEACHER OF THE YEAR: In class she is a ventriloquist, gardener, zookeeper, even storybook character. Thursday night, Debbie Gil Leslie became something right out of the fairy tales she reads her kindergarteners at Pride Elementary School, as the 27-year classroom veteran was named Hillsborough County's teacher of the year.

"This has been a dream come true," said Gil Leslie, a huge grin across her face. Chosen from 195 nominees, Gil Leslie was crowned top teacher by the Hillsborough Education Foundation before an audience of 1,300 at the Hyatt Regency. She will now vie for the state award.

"It took me 27 years to get here, just like the Bucs," said Gil Leslie, who has a bachelor's degree in elementary education from the University of South Florida. She has taught the last three years at Pride Elementary in New Tampa.

She makes her lessons come alive by using ventriloquism, animals and plant life. She is also a grant writer, attracting money to pay for a planetarium in her classroom and a sea bubble in the library.

"She is a true model of what teaching is all about," said Pride Elementary principal Tanly Cabrera. "She will always do what it takes. Any kid with special needs, she wants them in her classroom."

Gil Leslie, who is married and has three sons, said her brother once told her not to become a teacher because the pay was too low.

As teacher of the year, Gil Leslie received a crystal apple, a limousine ride to school, tickets to various sporting events, a cell phone and $2,000 from the Hillsborough Education Foundation. Her students will receive a pizza party, she said.

HUNTER'S GREEN SPA CLOSES, OWNER CHARGED WITH MAIL FRAUD: The Federal Bureau of Investigation charged Michael Murphy, owner of Hunter's Green's Spa Malia, with mail fraud Thursday, saying he converted almost $11-million of his investors' money to personal use.

Murphy, who closed his upscale spa last week, surrendered Wednesday to authorities in Chicago. Authorities say Murphy used his company -- Michael J. Murphy Associates Insurance Planning and Design -- to solicit investments beginning in the mid 1980s. He would promise returns of up to 20 percent a month, which enticed 30 investors to hand over $11-million, the FBI said. Not included in that $11-million is money from 160 other investors.

Murphy, 44, admitted "to defrauding and lying to investors," spending nearly all of their money while providing them with false accounting statements, the FBI said. He used the money to buy art, jewelry, homes and cars, authorities said. Records show he owns property in Illinois, Florida and Hawaii.

Mike Monico, Murphy's attorney, would not comment on the charges but said "we are cooperating fully."

Murphy's legal problems contributed to the shuttering of his spa in Hunter's Green, where a sign on the door says it is closed for a "family emergency." Spa Malia, which opened in July 2000, offered state-of-the-art services in hydrotherapy and detoxification. It also offered manicures, pedicures and a full-service hair salon.

Unsure whether they will receive another paycheck, employees at the spa are busy trying to recoup lost business. Customers with questions can call the following numbers for information: 852-6506 (hair); 818-8515 (massage); 988-9297 (skin care); 907-7444 (nail service).

STORES ROBBED IN LUTZ: Twice in a week, a man with a fondness for sweet breath has robbed a store in Sunset Plaza. Hillsborough County sheriff's detectives think he also may be the robber who, since Jan. 22, struck a Winn-Dixie in Seffner and twice hit an Eckerd drugstore in Town 'N Country.

On Jan. 29, the man walked into the Lutz Winn-Dixie around 7:20 p.m. He tried to buy cigarettes then pulled a black, semiautomatic handgun on the clerk.

On Tuesday, he returned to Sunset Plaza. He bought liquid breath mints and chocolate candy at the Walgreens, then pulled a gun on the clerk.

That fit a pattern in most of the prior robberies.

On Jan. 22, he started to buy red Tic Tacs at the Town 'N Country Eckerd before robbing the clerk. Two days later, it was green Tic Tacs at the Winn-Dixie in Seffner. Monday afternoon, it was Big Red gum at the Town 'N Country Eckerd.

On Wednesday, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office released a surveillance video of the Winn-Dixie robbery in Lutz. The robber appears to have a mustache there. But in the other cases, he was described as a clean-shaven white or Hispanic man with dark hair and eyes. He is in his early 30s, 5 feet 10 to 6 feet, 200 pounds. In only one of the robberies was he seen leaving in a vehicle: a small, white car, possibly a Kia, in Seffner.

Anyone with information about the man should contact the Sheriff's Office at 247-8200 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-873-TIPS.

LUTZ TEEN IS 'POINT OF LIGHT': Emily Collins, 13, of Lutz was named Friday as the weekly recipient of Gov. Jeb Bush's Points of Light Award, which recognizes community service.

A student at Odessa's Carrollwood Day School, Emily headed "Coins to Cordobas," a fund drive for a sister school in a remote Nicaraguan village. Emily created posters and organized a year-long sequence of bake sales.

She also started a letter-writing campaign to students with terminal illnesses.

"I think kids with terminal illnesses will really appreciate hearing from other kids," she said. "It will also help us learn about different types of illnesses."

Emily and other recipients are to meet Bush in Tallahassee in October.

"Emily Collins is a shining example to her young peers," Bush said in a news release. "Her acts of compassion, kindness and responsibility to others in need are remarkable."

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