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Commander to leave for Andrews AFB post
By TIMES WIRES
Published March 15, 2007
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE Col. Maggie Woodward, the commander of MacDill Air Force Base, is stepping down later this month, MacDill officials announced Wednesday. She will be made head of the 89th Airlift Wing at Andrews Air Force Base. The 89th is the home of Air Force One. At a change-of-command ceremony scheduled for March 26, Woodward will be replaced by Col. Robert D. Thomas, the current commander of the 572nd Contingency Response Group at Travis Air Force Base in California. Thomas, 44, is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and has flown more than 4,300 flight hours. Woodward, 47, who also is a pilot, has served as MacDill commander for just over two years. NEW PORT RICHEY Pasco's only charter high school to close Leaders of Pasco's only charter high school, which went on probation last year amid financial and curriculum concerns, announced Wednesday that they will not seek to renew their charter contract. The 149 at-risk students who attend Richard Milburn Academy will either graduate or have to find someplace else to finish their education. In a letter to superintendent Heather Fiorentino, academy board chairman Robert Munnelly wrote that the school's closing had more to do with "major obstacles" created by the district than with the academic performance of its students. The relationship matters because the school district is Pasco County's sole sponsoring agency for charter schools, which are public schools and receive tax money even as they operate independently and free of many state restrictions placed on the mainstream system. HUDSON Panel recommends sharing road expenses A fact-finding panel decided Wednesday that Pasco County shouldn't stop at doubling road impact fees on new homes. The committee recommended a property tax hike to pay for roads and said Pasco should raise the local gas tax from 6 cents to 11 cents a gallon. Rather than stick the entire cost of new roads to the newcomers, the panel wants to spread the burden to everyone. Next, the suggestions will go to County Administrator John Gallagher. ST. PETERSBURG FCC to offer hearing on media ownership Tampa Bay area residents concerned about the growing consolidation of media ownership can bring their gripes to the people who make the rules. The Federal Communications Commission has scheduled an April 30 public hearing locally on the issue of media ownership. Three years ago, the FCC sparked a deluge of criticism by voting on new, looser ownership rules following a single official public hearing. Since then, a federal appellate court found the new rules flawed and sent them back to the agency for a revamp. The FCC has held public hearings since October in Harrisburg, Pa., Nashville and Los Angeles. Details on the Tampa Bay area hearing have not been finalized. All five FCC commissioners are expected to attend the hearing, which will be free and open to the public. BROOKSVILLE County okays new testing of polluted site The Hernando County Commission on Wednesday unanimously approved an additional $351,937 for new testing of its polluted former public works compound. The Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Health requested the new tests to help outline the pollution on and around the site. The site once housed chemicals that have fouled the soil and groundwater.
[Last modified March 15, 2007, 02:02:56]
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