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The week in review
By Times staff writer
© St. Petersburg Times, GRIM REAPER CLAIMS LUTZ HAUNTED HOUSE: For the first time in 22 years, Lutz's historic school building won't be turned into a haunted house this October, organizers have decided. Fire codes, which shut down the attraction on opening night last October, are the culprit again. "We'd have to spend lots of money we don't have to fix the school," said Ben Nevel, president of the Citizens for the Old Lutz School Building. The Lutz Haunted School House has raised $8,000 to $10,000 annually for the preservation group, which in 1997 had the school placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Last fall, the haunted house was allowed to reopen after being closed its first night. The Lutz Volunteer Fire Department pledged to keep a fire truck outside. Then the county's fire marshal spread the word that such exceptions wouldn't be made again. Artie Taylor, a fire inspector with Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, said haunted houses are required to have sprinkler systems, smoke detectors and virtually fireproof walls. If a fire alarm is activated, all howls, organ music and other sounds are to be silenced, and all exits lit up. A sprinkler system in the 74-year-old Lutz schoolhouse would carry the additional expense of connecting to a county water main nearby instead of the current well, Nevel said. And it would take additional time for approval from the county's Historic Resources Review Board. Still, the group wants to research options for reviving the attraction next year. LIGHTNING STRIKES COUNTRYWAY GOLFERS: Sunshine lit the fairway Tuesday, but dark clouds covered the horizon and thunder rumbled in the distance. Suddenly a bolt of lightning hit a palm tree nearby. The tree burst into flames and two golfers were knocked off their feet. The lightning apparently went underground and shocked them where they stood. Cary Loomis and Pat Patterson were treated by paramedics at the Countryway Golf Club near Westchase, but neither was taken to a hospital, said pro shop manager Bill Sherlock. "One of the guys got up right away," Sherlock said. "The other one stayed down for a while dazed and confused. They were more scared than anything else." Ray Yeakley, public information officer for Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, warned that "golf courses are probably one of the common places for lightning injuries. These are wide open areas." FIELD RENAMED FOR BELOVED COACH: James Pardo used batting statistics in his math classes and often came to school in his New York Yankees jacket. The principal and teacher also coached Little League in Town 'N Country for more than two decades. He would retrieve home run balls and stay up into the early morning hours decorating them. At the end of the season, he would present the balls to players as keepsakes. On June 2, the Northwest Little League named a field on Occidental Road in honor of Pardo, who died in March at 66. "What he gave us was a love of baseball," said Alex Vega, 31, a former player. "He transferred his love of baseball to everyone else." Pardo, a lifelong Tampa resident, coached Little League from the early 1970s until the mid '90s. He was a catcher for Thomas Jefferson High School and played semipro baseball, but friends and family say he found the most success sharing his passion on the Little League diamond.
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