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Week in reviewBy Times staff writer © St. Petersburg Times, published February 18, 2001 POSSIBLE SUIT OVER WEST MEADOWS PLANTER: A West Meadows investment banker faces a possible lawsuit over a flower planter that his neighbors say he built without approval in his deed-restricted New Tampa neighborhood. Akin Ashekun built the planter last summer out of bricks and stucco -- oval-shaped, 16 inches high and 10 feet wide. He thought it would enhance the front yard of his $325,000 house in Strathmoor Estates, West Meadows' most expensive neighborhood, but his neighbors have complained about its looks. "Quite frankly I don't know what the problem is," Ashekun said. "This is just a flower bed." Rules ban flower boxes unless they are approved in advance. West Meadows has size and height limits for things such as fences and screened enclosures, but no specifications for planters and other ornamental objects. The West Meadows Property Owners Association notified Ashekun of the problem in November, and said he had to submit his plans to the architectural review committee and pay a $100 application fee. Ashekun took a photograph of the planter and sent in his money. Now the association says it needs the dimensions and exact location by Feb. 23, or Ashekun could be sued. CORYELL FAMILY SETTLES: The parents of a Northdale murder victim settled a wrongful-death lawsuit against the apartment complex where the 30-year-old dental assistant was killed by a convicted sex offender in 1997. The settlement came two weeks before a scheduled trial. Lawyers would not discuss the terms of the settlement. On Aug. 19, 1997, LeAnne Coryell's body was found nude in a retention pond behind a Carrollwood church hours after returning from grocery shopping. Her killer, Raymond Lamar Johnston, 46, was sentenced to death last year. In November, a Hillsborough County jury found him guilty in another 1997 murder. Coryell's parents, Thomas and Sandra Morris of Valrico, claimed the Landings of Cypress Meadows did not provide enough security. The complex said it was following standard procedures when it allowed Johnston to move in. SICKLES TEACHER THREATENED: A 16-year-old Sickles High School student at home on a 10-day suspension has been accused of threatening to kill his special-education teacher. In a note discovered Tuesday morning in the classroom, the ninth-grader blamed the teacher for the suspension, sheriff's Lt. Connie Burns said. "It is a written death threat," Burns said. "It says, "You got me expelled.' " Officials Wednesday would not name the student or say why he had been suspended. The student's handwriting linked him to the letter, said Jake Russell, an assistant administrator at the school. A special hearing officer will determine whether the student is sent to another school, officials said. The district has taken steps to protect the teacher, district spokesman Mark Hart said.
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