Around the bay
By TIMES WIRES
Published July 13, 2007
10.5% tax rate cut gets tentative okay
ST. PETERSBURG - The City Council approved a tentative 10.5 percent tax rate cut Thursday.
Council members set the city's millage rate at 5.9125 mills, down from 6.6 mills last year.
Under the new tax rate, a person with a $200,000 home would pay $1,182 in city taxes next year - about a $100 less than this year.
Hernando County gets slight budget break
BROOKSVILLE - Fast talking may have saved Hernando County government nearly $1.4-million in tax revenue.
County officials were initially told they would have to cut local property tax revenue by an extra 9 percent for the coming year under the Legislature's tax rollback initiative.
But budget director George Zoettlein lobbied hard against that number, telling the state it hadn't credited the county for its full share of growth. And figures released Thursday by the Florida Department of Revenue suggest that message was heard.
Under the revised numbers, Hernando faces a cut of just 7 percent.
PHCC breaks ground on University Center
NEW PORT RICHEY - Pasco-Hernando Community College has broken ground on its $8.6-million University Center to house classrooms and offices on the main campus, both for the college and partner institutions such as the University of South Florida.
By winter, shovels will be flying on two other projects: a $6-million renovation of the gymnasium into classrooms on the Brooksville campus, and the $44-million construction of a permanent Spring Hill Center.
All told, the college has about $60-million committed to building facilities and maintaining existing assets in the two counties.
Lowe's sets sights on State Road 54, U.S. 41
LAND O'LAKES - Site plans for a Lowe's Home Improvement store have arrived in Pasco County offices, reviving the company's push to add a third Lowe's to Pasco.
The plans show a 166,000-square-foot store and garden center on one of the last remaining patches of empty land in the area around State Road 54 and U.S. 41.
Maureen Rich, a Lowe's spokeswoman, said that's the bigger version of its two types of stores, akin to a SuperTarget or a Wal-Mart Supercenter in size.
Informally called "Super Lowe's," each of such stores is typically an $18.5-million investment for the company and brings 175 jobs.
Elsewhere
TRAFFIC LIGHTS GO GREEN: By year's end, all of Clearwater's traffic signals will be switched from incandescent bulbs to energy-efficient LED-type.
The LED bulbs, which last seven to 10 years, will reduce the city's power bill by more than $10,000 a month, according to the city's traffic department. Currently, the city has replaced 90 of its 145 signals, reducing the monthly bill from $14,500 to $8,207.
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Crime journal
Parking space fight ends in bruises, arrest
SPRING HILL - A fight over a parking space landed one Spring Hill woman in jail and left another with a few bruises. It all started Wednesday afternoon when Bobbie L. Pilotti, 57, pulled into the spot that Maryann J. Vallejo, 34, was waiting for at the Circle K convenience store at Cortez and Mariner boulevards, according to a report from the Hernando County Sheriff's Office. After finding another spot for her vehicle, Vallejo went inside the store and confronted Pilotti. The women scuffled outside, the store manager and deputies said. Deputies arrested Pilotti and charged her with misdemeanor battery.
Woman dies from injuries in wreck
ST. PETERSBURG - A St. Petersburg woman who was injured in a crash last week has died. Shirley Martin, 79, died Wednesday morning at Bayfront Medical Center. Just after noon on July 6, she was a passenger in a 1988 Plymouth driven by her husband, Jack, when a 2007 Jeep driven by Sunshine Powell, 32, of Seminole struck the car at Fourth Avenue and Eighth Street N, police said. Jack Martin suffered minor injuries, but his wife was more seriously injured. Powell also suffered minor injuries. Police said alcohol was not a factor in the crash. Investigators are trying to determine which vehicle went through a red light and are asking anyone who witnessed the crash to call Officer Randy Krause at 893-4829 or 893-7780.
Motorcyclist, 18, killed in collision
HUDSON - An 18-year-old motorcyclist was killed Wednesday night in a collision on State Road 52. Anthony W. Fox, of 12824 Cedar Ridge Drive, was going east about 10 p.m. near the intersection with Pine Forest Drive when his motorcycle struck a minivan driven by Richard Rummins of Dundee, Mich., that was crossing the eastbound lanes, according to a Florida Highway Patrol report. The bike overturned and Fox was ejected, the report said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Rummins and a passenger, Lois Jean Rummins, suffered minor injuries. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Pedestrian struck on Bruce B. Downs
WESLEY CHAPEL - A 57-year-old Wesley Chapel resident died Wednesday night after being struck by a vehicle on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard near Williamsburg Drive. Edward Marley was walking on the grass median after sunset when he stepped into the path of a Chevrolet sport utility vehicle, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The SUV struck Marley. He died at the scene. The Chevrolet's driver, Manuel Burgos, was not injured. The Florida Highway Patrol said it appears that Burgos was not at fault.
1 dead, 4 hurt in two-vehicle crash
BROOKSVILLE - A male passenger was killed in a two-vehicle accident Thursday afternoon on Powell Road, south of Brooksville. A sport utility vehicle hit a car head-on just after 4 p.m., according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Two people injured in the crash were flown to Tampa General Hospital; two others were taken by ambulance to Brooksville Regional Hospital. The age and identity of the dead man were not released immediately.