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Letter to the editor

Whatever happened to....

By ANDREW MEACHAM, SAUNDRA AMRHEIN, CATHERINE E. SHOICHET, DOUNG BENNETT and S.I. ROSENBAUM, Times Staff Writers
Published December 28, 2007

Variety spices life for all

And, still, there are others - those who amused, bemused or inspired us in 2007.

Zach Bonner couldn't sit still. The Valrico fourth-grader spent 23 days walking 280 miles to Tallahassee in November. Why? To raise $25,000 for homeless children and hurricane victims.

Jennifer Failiero couldn't stay put. The School Board member for east Hillsborough moved out of her district to South Tampa during the summer after going through a divorce. She apologized publicly, and moved back to Valrico in late September.

Eddie Jones kept growing. When the sunflowers that the Dover strawberry farmer spread on 7 ordinary acres winked open in mid August, nature lovers were spellbound and painters flocked to the field.

Tension in the 'family'

The first half of the story could have been a Jimmy Stewart movie. The characters: a family down on its luck and a benefactor who appeared from nowhere. Then the feel-good ambience drained away. The Tippie family and John Smith haven't spoken in months.

Tragedy struck trucker Edward Tippie in 2003, when a suicidal driver swerved into his path. The next day, Tippie was fired because he wasn't ready to drive again.

Tippie and his wife, Tania, were caring for seven children, including some with disabilities. Smith of Orlandoraised money, found a house in Brandon and set up a trust. The idea: live rent-free for a year, save money and try to rebuild their lives.

At first, Smith and the Tippies were like one big family. Then the Tippies got uneasy, saying Smith was controlling. Smith denied that, and accused them of being ungrateful. The tension peaked when Smith learned that the Tippies had quietly spent a $10,000 insurance check.

In February, the family will move to Ohio, where Edward Tippie has a job waiting. The arrangement helped them save about $8,000, Tania Tippie said. She e-mailed Smith last week to say goodbye but didn't hear back right away from Smith, who couldn't be reached for comment.

Grants didn't come, but grief did

For at least two years, a well-dressed, smooth-talking mother of four plied an unusual trade in Hillsborough and four neighboring counties.

No matter what their need was, she said she could get them a government grant.

Karen Kiehl, formerly of Valrico, frequently used religion in her pitch, which helped win the confidence of more than 120 people who invested more than $150,000 for her grant-writing services.

But none of the money came through, and state agents found no evidence that Kiehl had applied for even one grant.

In June, Kiehl got five years in prison for fraud. Her victims are rebuilding their lives. Sandi Katvala gave Kiehl thousands of dollars in anticipation of grants to remodel her Apollo Beach home. Katvala has since had the work done with her own money.

Katvala's four daughters also succumbed to Kiehl's spell in pursuit of their dreams. The family lost more than $25,000 to Kiehl, who manufactured excuses when the promised grant money failed to arrive.

"(Kiehl) is not the love of their life," Katvala said of her daughters. "But she won't be able to hurt anyone else financially or spiritually right now.

Meanwhile, Ruby Swails, 75, is fighting to save the Brandon home she mortgaged for $45,000 at the behest of Kiehl, who told the couple she would invest the money for them. The money to repay them would come from a grant, Kiehl said.

A bank has threatened foreclosure. The Swails are trying to get a reverse mortgage to relieve them of debt.

"I just feel like God is going to keep us from losing our house," Swails said.

Need for organ donors

Ana Anselmo snapped photos as her daughter saw snow for the first time this year.

The pictures captured a happy winter scene at their temporary home.

But they also showed something else standing out beside the bright white snow: Savannah Anselmo's yellow eyes.

The Riverview girl, who just turned 1, who was born with the liver disorder biliary atresia, is still waiting for a transplant.

Her father, Robert Anselmo, works in Tampa and comes to New Jersey on the weekends. Ana and Savannah moved to New Jersey in November to be closer to her transplant team.

"She's still the same little spirit," Ana Anselmo says. "She just needs a liver."

Meanwhile, the family is blogging about Savannah and promoting organ donation at www.cotaforsavannaha.com.

Hospital's move proves upsetting
 

All through the fall, Sun City Center residents awaited a decision on the fate of their local hospital.

In mid December, many of them got disappointing news. The state Agency for Health Care Administration ruled that South Bay Hospital can move its 112-bed facility about 8 miles north to Big Bend Road in Riverview.

South Bay Hospital pledges to leave a 24-hour emergency room and diagnostic services in Sun City Center while providing shuttle services to the new site.

South Bay officials want to move because they said they have no room to expand.

Angry Sun City Center residents say they no longer will be able to drive their golf carts to the hospital to volunteer or visit loved ones, and they worry about the extra travel time for patients to reach the new site by ambulance. But the state agency ruled that Sun City Center's move will be the most efficient use of resources and avoid the duplication of hospital services.

Officials at St. Joseph's Hospital, whose competing application for a Riverview hospital was denied by the state, is considering an appeal.

Sgt. Ronald Harrison's family is planning its big New Year's party, just like every year.

They'll talk, eat, watch television play pool, said My Harrison, Ronald Harrison's ex-wife.

But there will be a void.

Hillsborough County sheriff's Sgt. Ronald Harrison was killed in Brandon on Aug. 15 by a young man named Michael Phillips, who later barricaded himself inside his mother's house until police snipers shot him to death.

It was a violent death for a man loved by the community and his family.

Now, My Harrison said, the family is slowly grieving.

Harrison's two grown daughters, Ronnee Harrison and Nikita Jennings, have "good days and bad days," she said.

"This is the first holiday without him," she said. At Thanksgiving, there were no special toasts to him. But people told stories about him, she said. It will be the same at New Year's.

"We're making it through," she said.

Ammonia goes into river

For several days in November, a 16-year-old, a power tool and an urban legend caused chaos in southeastern Hillsborough County.

The boy, who authorities said was searching for money, drilled into a pipeline beside the Alafia River in Riverview. A cloud of anhydrous ammonia spewed out. The boy went to Tampa General Hospital, his body covered with second-degree burns.

The leak caused home evacuations, school closings and traffic jams throughout Riverview. For 43 hours, crews worked to cap the leak while firefighters sprayed water on the cloud and sent the ammonia into the river.

Afterward residents reported dead fish. Scientists spotted some increased algae, but said the river was not seriously damaged. As of last week, officials were still compiling a final report analyzing the leak and its aftermath.

In May, television screens at more than 1,700 Home Depot stores showed Nelson Sanchez bopping in a scooter shopping cart while he sang: "I'm chillin' at the Depot. I'm chillin' with my people."

He wrote his stage name, Kash Bezel, on his orange apron and hoped the video would help launch a hip-hop career. Sanchez is still chillin' at the Home Depot on U.S. 301 in Riverview, waiting for his big break.

He hopes to study at Hillsborough Community College.

He's also still selling his DVD to other Home Depot employees to raise money for co-worker Pat Romeo, who needs expensive treatments after losing his vocal cords to throat cancer.

"I'm still trying to get that dream," he says. "Hopefully soon."

[Last modified December 27, 2007, 08:09:01]