County in Florida, United States
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TOP STORIES - National Guard deployed amid immigration enforcement demonstrations; Latinas for Trump founder blasts Trump immigration agenda; After 2 overtime games, Panthers and Oilers relish days off as Stanley Cup Final shifts to Florida; Sarasota family demands return of daughter held by ICE; Dog survives alligator attack in Pasco County; Evan Longoria retires from MLB with one last day as a Ray.
Last year's hurricanes could mean more mosquitoes this year, or perhaps years in the future, for Pasco County. We speak with Pasco Mosquito Control Director Adriane Rogers.
TOP STORIES - Miami Beach increases police presence at Jewish sites following embassy employee killings; Shocking allegations grind Miami City Commission meeting to a halt; Airbnb cracks down on party rentals ahead of holiday weekends, Florida among top states affected; NOAA predicts Atlantic hurricane season will be ‘above average'; Coast Guard rescues 11 migrants after boat crash near Miami; Florida Taco Bell employee spits in food of customer she had 'beef' with; Jared Moskowitz says FEMA is ill-prepared for hurricane season; Baby gator thief sought after reptile goes missing from Pasco County business; Memorial Day events and ceremonies happening in the Tampa Bay area.
I do Residential Mortgages in the State of Florida only, that is where I am licensed. Most of my business is from Pinellas, Hillsborough, and Pasco County. I am doing more loans all over the State as time goes on. I love to go to my closings and will drive up to 1 hour to be there at your closing. I do Fnma/FHMC, FHA, VA, C/p, Nonqm mortgages. On the Commercial side the whole Country is open and if you are having difficulty with your lender and not going anywhere, go to www.ddamortgage.com and complete a form and I will get back with you. Technology has made it so easy to help get your mortgage processed and closedI am always available to help out and I answer your questions and teach you along the waytune in and learn at https://www.ddamortgage.com/blogdidier malagies nmls#212566dda mortgage nmls#324329 Support the show
Three teenage suspects, Belal Ashraf and Austin Fletcher, both 16 and from Pasco County, Florida, along with a third unidentified teenager, have been accused of a brazen kidnapping and robbery in Las Vegas.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Pasco County is trying to deal with a spike in its mosquito population by stifling reproduction. We speak with the mosquito control district's executive director, Adriane Rogers, about a pilot program to use sterile male mosquitoes to prevent females from breeding the next generation of bloodsuckers.
SCM Roofing announces expanded service in Pasco County, now supporting Anclote, Aripeka, Bayonet Point, Beacon Square, and Elfers. With new audio summaries and city-specific pages, homeowners can access trusted roofing help at www.SCMRoofingFL.com. SCM Roofing, LLC City: Tampa Address: 5020 N Coolidge Ave Website: https://scmroofingfl.com
Summary In this episode, Dennis Fraise speaks with Bill Cronin, the President and CEO of the Pasco Economic Development Council, about the explosive growth in Pasco County, Florida. They discuss the opportunities and challenges that come with rapid development, the evolution of the local economy, and the importance of balancing growth with community needs. Bill shares insights on how the county has transformed from a bedroom community to a hub for new industries, the impact of COVID-19 on migration patterns, and the necessity of strategic planning to ensure sustainable growth. The conversation also touches on the importance of partnerships, workforce development, and the vision for Pasco County's future. Takeaways Pasco County is experiencing rapid growth, being the third fastest growing county in the U.S. The growth has been significantly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, with people seeking more space. Pasco has transitioned from a bedroom community to a more diverse economy. The county is focusing on creating jobs locally to reduce commuting and congestion. Balancing density with quality of life is crucial for sustainable development. Gentrification and transportation issues are significant challenges that need addressing. The economic development strategy must evolve to meet the changing needs of the community. Collaboration with various stakeholders is essential for effective economic development. Investing in the younger generation is vital for future growth and sustainability. The future vision for Pasco County includes a focus on life sciences and environmental conservation.
We're celebrating World Water Day and diving into a topic that touches us all—WATER! It's the perfect time to chat about why water conservation matters, especially here in Pasco County. Special guests: Phoenix McKinney / Pasco County Amelia Brown / Tampa Bay Water
TRENDING - Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins encourages backyard chickens, Vance was never in danger during ski trip, new details about the death of Gene Hackman, Pasco County opts for new homework policy.
We're celebrating World Wetlands Day by diving into the importance of wetland conservation and how #PascoCounty is working to preserve these vital ecosystems—now and always. County Administrator Mike Carballa talks with two of Pasco County's Natural Resources team members about the critical role wetlands play in protecting our environment and how Pasco is leading the way in conservation efforts. Special guests: Jackie Jordon Melissa Charbonneau
Florida Man in dalmation onesie out-runs troopers, tasers and K9's...Pasco County represent! 'The ultimate selfie' has led to the deaths of 480 people between 2008 and 2021, Blind man gets license to carry permit to make a point about Indiana gun laws
TOP STORIES - CA wildfires update, FL lawmakers unload on insurance companies, FDA bans Red 3, a jury finds Florida grandmother who left infant in hot car not guilty of manslaughter, suspect in New Orleans attack had no ‘criminal intent' during visit to Tampa, merchandise markdown plot uncovered in Lakeland Target, troopers wrangle donkey found walking along I-75 in Pasco County, bipartisan condemnation from Florida politicians follows as Joe Biden removes Cuba from terrorist sponsor list, 3 Alexander brothers each accused of rape by 10 women, a serial wine thief repeatedly stole bottles from SW Miami-Dade BJ's, DeSantis outlines immigration measures he's seeking in special session, Doral Vice Mayor leaves Democrat party for GOP, Miami-Dade man accused of swiping over $3K in perfume from Navarro.
We're celebrating National Mentoring Month by highlighting an amazing mentoring opportunity Pasco County provides up and coming leaders in our organization. It's our Leadership Development Program - or LDP. Special guests: Shaina Smith / Libraries Khalil Abu-jamous / IT
Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton upended peoples lives across the greater Tampa Bay region, and WUSF reporters were there to report on the storms as they happened, and the recovery as people rebuild their homes, businesses and get their lives back on track. Three reporters from the WUSF news team join Florida Matters for a look back at their reporting on the hurricane season. You'll hear Kerry Sheridan's insights on how Sarasota and Manatee Counties were impacted by back to back storms. And Gabriella Paul who talked with people who rode out the storms in Pasco County, and rode along with emergency workers as they scrambled to help people in the days and weeks after the storms had passed. Other highlights include the saga of a missing owl that brought the community together, and stories of how people are getting back to work after back to back hurricanes. Meszaros, Sheridan and Paul also reflect on some of the stories that made the biggest impact in 2024.
Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton upended peoples lives across the greater Tampa Bay region, and WUSF reporters were there to report on the storms as they happened, and the recovery as people rebuild their homes, businesses and get their lives back on track. Three reporters from the WUSF news team join Florida Matters for a look back at their reporting on the hurricane season. You'll hear Kerry Sheridan's insights on how Sarasota and Manatee Counties were impacted by back to back storms. And Gabriella Paul who talked with people who rode out the storms in Pasco County, and rode along with emergency workers as they scrambled to help people in the days and weeks after the storms had passed. Other highlights include the saga of a missing owl that brought the community together, and stories of how people are getting back to work after back to back hurricanes. Meszaros, Sheridan and Paul also reflect on some of the stories that made the biggest impact in 2024.
Matt Welter, Founder of Dormy House, joins Rob Thomas on the Club + Resort Talks podcast to discuss the introduction of a housing solution. Dormy House is a unique business that's focused on creating affordable housing solutions for club and resort employees, especially those in rural and remote areas where inventory is low and people may be priced out of the market. The founder is a real estate developer and former caddie and it was his experience as a caddie, with lengthy commutes and limited housing options near the courses where he worked, that inspired him to find a solution for workforce housing. He works with the team at Bandon Dunes and has already developed two buildings onsite for its employees. Also on this episode of the Club + Resort Talks podcast … The Saddlebrook Resort in Pasco County, Fla., is set for a sweeping transformation, thanks to a $72.5 million loan secured by its developers, Mast Capital and Amzak Capital Management. The loan was provided by Beach Point Capital Management to fund a portion of the $92 million redevelopment of the 480-acre Wesley Chapel property, which Mast Capital purchased in 2022. The redevelopment plan will encompass a complete redesign of the resort's guestroom suites, lobby, meeting spaces, pool and outdoor areas, golf courses, and food and beverage facilities. Additional upgrades include significant enhancements to the resort's landscaping, sports facilities, and lifestyle amenities. Meadowbrook Golf Course in Lubbock, Texas, is preparing for a new chapter in its nearly century-long history. Established in the 1930s, the course has been a cornerstone of the local golfing community. Now under the management of Orion Golf, Meadowbrook is set to receive comprehensive upgrades aimed at revitalizing its facilities and programs. The new management plans to enhance the course's playability, amenities, and overall accessibility for the Lubbock community. Improvements will include new kitchen equipment, an expanded food menu, clubhouse renovations, and the introduction of golf leagues and clinics. These upgrades are designed to create a consistent, high-quality experience that caters to a broad range of golfers and visitors. Lastly, Bobby Jones Links is now managing two well-known daily-fee golf courses in the Detroit, Mich. area, Sugarbush Golf Club and The Captain's Club Golf and Event Center. Operated by private ownership, sister courses Sugarbush and The Captain's Club have become popular community attractions in their respective enclaves within Michigan's Genesee County. Both courses have thriving junior golf programs and event calendars and have become beloved destinations for golfers, restaurant patrons and the community overall.
A Sherriff's office in Pasco County started using A.I intelligence to determine if their residents would commit crimes in the future.
Another win for the Institute for Justice. https://ij.org/
TOP STORIES - USF Mens Basketball Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim dies at 43, St. Pete crews tackle sand pile-ups on Pinellas County beaches, Pasco County launches debris cleanup map, TECO's proposed rate hike faces backlash, Florida sues Garland for blocking state probe into the Trump assassination attempt, Miami commissioners pension proposal is officially dead, and a Miami man has been arrested for stealing $100,000 worth of bacon.
Last month Pasco County's Mosquito Control District rallied resources to the west end of the county after some locally acquired cases of dengue. Then came hurricanes Helene and Milton. One inundated the coasts while the other caused river flooding inland. Now county officials are working to control the dengue outbreak while fighting a potential flareup of other mosquito-borne illnesses at the east end of the county. We speak again with executive director Adriane Rogers.
Jen Sabella, the Director of Strategy and co-founder of Block Club Chicago, joins Bob Sirott to share the latest Chicago neighborhood stories. She provides details on: Dogs Rescued From Hurricane Helene And Brought To Chicago Need Foster Homes: The Anti-Cruelty Society has taken in 25 dogs rescued from Pasco County, Florida, with the pets now needing […]
TOP STORIES - Sean "Diddy" Combs pleads not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering charges, Pasco County approves limits on new car wash construction, St. Pete political candidate hosted ‘Trailer Trash' fundraiser for Catholic school, DeSantis signs executive order to investigate Trump assassination attempt, and Miami-Dade considers using tiny homes to house the homeless.
Two cases of the dengue virus reported in west Pasco County. Symptoms include fever, chills, rash and vomiting. We speak with Adriane Rogers, executive director of the Pasco County Mosquito Control District, about what's being done and how to protect yourself.
Help raise awareness about rabies prevention as we celebrate World Rabies Day with two local experts: Marty O' Keeffe / Pasco County Animal Services Brittany Merens / Florida Department Of Health in Pasco County
Did you know? Pasco County has a highly educational, interactive program designed to help you better understand how your local government works. It's called Pasco Citizens Academy. Learn all about it from this episode's special guests Stefania Duwe / Citizens Academy Coordinator Connie Lucco / Citizens Academy Graduate
In a harrowing case out of Pasco County, Florida, Rory Atwood, 25, is facing four counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Rain Mancini, 26, Phillip Zilliot II, 25, and their two young children, Karma Zilliot, 6, and Phillip Zilliot III, 5. According to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, the family was killed in the early hours of June 13 following an argument at Atwood's home on his 10-acre property in Hudson. A newly-filed probable cause affidavit details a grim narrative. On June 17, a friend of Atwood told deputies he was summoned to Atwood's house on the morning of June 13 with a bottle of bleach. Upon arrival, he found the porch washed and Atwood asleep in a recliner. Atwood claimed he had killed Mancini and Zilliot II in self-defense after they attacked him following the murder of their own children. Atwood said he disarmed them of a 9 mm gun and shot them. The friend later discovered Mancini's body near a firepit, wrapped in a rug, with her legs protruding. A child's foot, adorned with pink and purple nail polish, was visible in the debris. In a subsequent interview on June 20, the friend revealed that Atwood admitted to finding the children in the laundry room hours after he shot their parents. He confessed to shooting the 5-year-old boy in the head because he “felt bad” seeing him convulsing. The Pasco County Sheriff's Office conducted a welfare check on June 13 after a report of a disturbing FaceTime call showing what appeared to be bodies. Although deputies noticed a smoldering burn pit, they initially found nothing suspicious, and Atwood denied knowledge of the family's whereabouts, claiming they had been evicted on June 1st. The investigation intensified when deputies, prompted by a tip from another of Atwood's friends, returned with a cadaver dog on June 14. The dog uncovered human remains, including a child's foot and bone fragments, in the fire pit, which showed signs of an intense blaze. Investigators also found evidence that the porch had been cleaned with chlorine. At a press conference on June 15, Sheriff Chris Nocco expressed his sorrow, particularly for the children, whom he believed to be dead. The affidavit states that Atwood initially denied killing the family but later confessed, claiming self-defense. However, deputies found no injuries on Atwood that supported his story. He eventually admitted to burning all four bodies in the fire pit. Atwood is currently held at the Pasco County Jail without bond. Want to listen to ALL of our podcasts AD-FREE? Subscribe through APPLE PODCASTS, and try it for three days free: https://tinyurl.com/ycw626tj Follow Our Other Cases: https://www.truecrimetodaypod.com The latest on The Downfall of Diddy, The Trial of Karen Read, The Murder Of Maddie Soto, Catching the Long Island Serial Killer, Awaiting Admission: BTK's Unconfessed Crimes, Delphi Murders: Inside the Crime, Chad & Lori Daybell, The Murder of Ana Walshe, Alex Murdaugh, Bryan Kohberger, Lucy Letby, Kouri Richins, Malevolent Mormon Mommys, Justice for Harmony Montgomery, The Murder of Stephen Smith, The Murder of Madeline Kingsbury, and much more! Listen at https://www.truecrimetodaypod.com
Hidden Killers With Tony Brueski | True Crime News & Commentary
In a harrowing case out of Pasco County, Florida, Rory Atwood, 25, is facing four counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Rain Mancini, 26, Phillip Zilliot II, 25, and their two young children, Karma Zilliot, 6, and Phillip Zilliot III, 5. According to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, the family was killed in the early hours of June 13 following an argument at Atwood's home on his 10-acre property in Hudson. A newly-filed probable cause affidavit details a grim narrative. On June 17, a friend of Atwood told deputies he was summoned to Atwood's house on the morning of June 13 with a bottle of bleach. Upon arrival, he found the porch washed and Atwood asleep in a recliner. Atwood claimed he had killed Mancini and Zilliot II in self-defense after they attacked him following the murder of their own children. Atwood said he disarmed them of a 9 mm gun and shot them. The friend later discovered Mancini's body near a firepit, wrapped in a rug, with her legs protruding. A child's foot, adorned with pink and purple nail polish, was visible in the debris. In a subsequent interview on June 20, the friend revealed that Atwood admitted to finding the children in the laundry room hours after he shot their parents. He confessed to shooting the 5-year-old boy in the head because he “felt bad” seeing him convulsing. The Pasco County Sheriff's Office conducted a welfare check on June 13 after a report of a disturbing FaceTime call showing what appeared to be bodies. Although deputies noticed a smoldering burn pit, they initially found nothing suspicious, and Atwood denied knowledge of the family's whereabouts, claiming they had been evicted on June 1st. The investigation intensified when deputies, prompted by a tip from another of Atwood's friends, returned with a cadaver dog on June 14. The dog uncovered human remains, including a child's foot and bone fragments, in the fire pit, which showed signs of an intense blaze. Investigators also found evidence that the porch had been cleaned with chlorine. At a press conference on June 15, Sheriff Chris Nocco expressed his sorrow, particularly for the children, whom he believed to be dead. The affidavit states that Atwood initially denied killing the family but later confessed, claiming self-defense. However, deputies found no injuries on Atwood that supported his story. He eventually admitted to burning all four bodies in the fire pit. Atwood is currently held at the Pasco County Jail without bond. Want to listen to ALL of our podcasts AD-FREE? Subscribe through APPLE PODCASTS, and try it for three days free: https://tinyurl.com/ycw626tj Follow Our Other Cases: https://www.truecrimetodaypod.com The latest on The Downfall of Diddy, The Trial of Karen Read, The Murder Of Maddie Soto, Catching the Long Island Serial Killer, Awaiting Admission: BTK's Unconfessed Crimes, Delphi Murders: Inside the Crime, Chad & Lori Daybell, The Murder of Ana Walshe, Alex Murdaugh, Bryan Kohberger, Lucy Letby, Kouri Richins, Malevolent Mormon Mommys, Justice for Harmony Montgomery, The Murder of Stephen Smith, The Murder of Madeline Kingsbury, and much more! Listen at https://www.truecrimetodaypod.com
Frank Starkey and his family are one of those rare breeds of Floridians that actually have deep roots in the Sunshine State. We talk about how they sought to owner their grand-dad's wishes as they ultimately developed the family cattle ranch in New Port Richey. A big part of their work was the Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) called Longleaf. And later, the Starkey Ranch project.Here's a funny real estate video about Longleaf: (funny to me, anyway)If you listen to Frank, you'll learn how an architect has a whole different perspective on the present and the future, and why he thinks he has a luxurious lifestyle now in downtown New Port Richey. You can see some of his current efforts at this link to his website.This is episode number 50 of The Messy City podcast - thanks so much for listening. If you're new to this, welcome! I look forward to the next 50, as we explore the issues and people who love traditional human settlements, and are trying to create them. I love talking to the do-ers, to the creators, and everyone who has skin in the game that's trying to build a more humane world.Find more content on The Messy City on Kevin's Substack page.Music notes: all songs by low standards, ca. 2010. Videos here. If you'd like a CD for low standards, message me and you can have one for only $5.Intro: “Why Be Friends”Outro: “Fairweather Friend”Transcript: Kevin K (00:01.18) Welcome back to the Messy City podcast. This is Kevin Klinkenberg. I'm happy today to be joined by my friend and fellow new urbanist, long time participant, Frank Starkey, joining us from Florida. Frank, how you doing today? Frank Starkey (00:20.337) Howdy, Kevin. Doing great. Happy to be with you. I've been... Kevin K (00:22.908) I didn't even check. I assume you're in Florida at home, but you could really be anywhere. Okay. Frank Starkey (00:25.617) Yeah, I am. Yeah. Yep, I'm in our we recently moved into a townhouse that Andy McCloskey, who used to work for me, built in town here and we just bought one and we're very happy here. It's really nice. Kevin K (00:40.348) Cool, cool. And you're in New Port Richey? Frank Starkey (00:45.169) Yes, Newport Richey is on the northwest side of the Tampa Bay region. It's part of the region. We're in that suburban sprawl miasma that characterizes all Florida cities. And we're about 25 miles as the crow flies from Tampa, basically from downtown Tampa, and probably 15 to 20 miles from Clearwater and 30 miles from St. Pete. So we're And we're right on the Gulf. We have a river that runs right through town that river miles from where we are out to the Gulf is maybe five river miles. So you could easily kayak and paddle board right out there or upstream pretty quickly you're into the Cypress freshwater wetlands. So we've got a lot of good nature around. Kevin K (01:39.516) Do you ever do that? Do you ever get out on a kayak or whatever and get out there on the river? Frank Starkey (01:43.089) Yeah, it's been a while. But if you go up to there's a preserve that the city owns that's up in the freshwater area. And if you're in there, you think you're in the Tarzan. A lot of the Tarzan movies and shows were filmed in Florida swamps and you feel like you're in a Tarzan movie. You can't see that you're in the middle of town. And if you go out to the coast, the barrier island and right where we are. They really start and go south from here. So from here on up through the big bend of the Panhandle in Florida, the coastline is all marshes and salt flats and grass wetlands. It's a much prettier coastline in my opinion than the more built -up barrier islands. But you can go out and kayak for days and days out in the coastal areas and see all kinds of wildlife and water life. So it's pretty cool. Kevin K (02:40.124) That's cool. That's really cool. Well, Frank and I have been talking about trying to do this for a while. We'd hoped to hook up in Cincinnati, but schedules just got in the way, as is typical for that event. But I really wanted to talk with you today, Frank, because you hit on a couple of my hot points, which is that you're an architect and a developer. Frank Starkey (02:51.313) you Kevin K (03:06.332) And I know as a designer that you also care a lot about the kind of issues that we talk about routinely within the world of new urbanism and urban design, which is, you know, creating beautiful walkable places. So I just think it'd be interesting. You know, I talked to a lot of people who come into the world of trying to be developers. You and I probably both talked to a lot of fellow architects who we try to encourage to be developers. Frank Starkey (03:06.481) Mm -hmm. Kevin K (03:33.948) And so it's fascinating to me how people come to that. So I wonder if we could start just a little bit by talking about like your path and where, you know, how you got to this point. You, did you grow up in Florida or were you in Texas? Is that right? Frank Starkey (03:51.761) Now I grew up in Florida. I went to college in Texas, but I grew up on a cattle ranch just east of here, in an area that's now called Odessa. It was a 16 ,000 acre, beef cattle ranch that our grandfather had bought in the 1930s. And we were about 20, 20 miles from downtown Tampa and Newport, Richie was our hometown because of the county we're in Pasco County. And so we came to, you know, church school. shopping was in Newport, Ritchie. But I also kind of had an orientation towards Tampa because we were sort of closer that direction. And then my extended family all lived in St. Petersburg. My parents had grown up there and then my dad grew up in Largo on a branch down there that his dad had before the one in Odessa. I... Kevin K (04:41.564) So it's like the rare species of old Florida people, right? So. Frank Starkey (04:45.361) Yeah. Yeah, but man, I have a weird, I've always come from a very mixed, I mean, just a very much kind of background, culturally, geographically, economically. My great grandparents were from, mostly from the upper Midwest. And so we kind of, and my great grandfather on my dad's side. was William Straub, who was the publisher of the St. Petersburg Times. But I later found out that he was instrumental in getting the city to hire John Nolan to do a plan for the remainder of St. Petersburg. He was instrumental in getting the city to buy up a mile of its waterfront to create a continuous waterfront park along the bay in downtown St. Petersburg, which is the crown jewel of the city in terms of civic space. So I kind of grew up and then that that kind of orientation towards parks. He also helped the County, Pinellas County establish a park system, which was one of the earliest ones in the country. And so I kind of this park orientation and public space and civic life and civic engagement was a strain through my whole childhood. You know, my whole is kind of a generational thing in our family. And so that's one thread and. Living in the country, we didn't have much in the way of neighbors. The area of Odessa in those days was pretty poor. So I rode the school bus with kids that had virtually nothing and went to school in the suburbs of Western Pasco, which was where the kids were mostly from the Midwest. Their grandparents had worked for Ford or GM or Chrysler and then they... moved to Florida and the grandkids, you know, the kids moved with them. And so those were the kids I grew up with. And so I, you know, I didn't feel like I grew up in the deep south. People, but I, but I was close enough to it that I understand it, but I don't consider myself a, you know, capital S southerner, my accent notwithstanding to the degree that a good friend of mine, Frank Starkey (07:07.793) I grew up in Plant City on the east side of Tampa, which is much more in the farming world part of Hillsborough County. And he was much more deep south than I was, even though we grew up, you know, 40 miles apart. So it's just a very different cultural setting. So I grew up with, you know, upper Midwest heritage who had been in St. Petersburg since 1899. And then, you know, poor kids, middle -class kids, and then eventually wealthier folks. So I just kind of had this really all over the place cultural background that's not nearly as simple as, I mean, all of Florida has a tapestry of, a patchwork of different kinds of cultural influences. South of I -10, north of I -10, you're in South Georgia or Alabama, but. the peninsula of Florida is very culturally mixed up. Kevin K (08:11.228) So the old canard, I guess, was that the west coast of Florida was populated by people who came from the Midwest and the east coast was from the Northeast. Does that hold true in your experience? Frank Starkey (08:22.129) Yeah, that does hold true, although there were a lot of New Yorkers in Boston, not so much New England, but still a lot of New Yorkers found their way across. So I grew up around a lot of New York Italian descent folks, as well as Midwesterners. So I, you know, it's a wonder I don't have a New York accent or a Michigan accent or a Southern accent, because those were the kind of the three, more about more, you know, Northern accents than. than Southern accents from immediately where I grew up. But yeah, I -75 goes to Detroit and that I -95 on the East Coast goes to New York. And so that means that has an impact. Kevin K (09:06.844) Did you ever know about the Kansas City connection to St. Pete then with J .C. Nichols down there in downtown St. Pete? Frank Starkey (09:17.329) And tell me about it. I mean, I, because Bruce Stevenson's book, I think touched on that because they, they had an APA convention down here back in the 1920s. Kevin K (09:20.54) Well, that's it. Kevin K (09:28.54) Yeah, J .C. Nichols who developed the Country Club Plaza here, starting really in the 19 -teens, later in his life, he was asked to, or he bought property in St. Petersburg, in or near the downtown area. And the whole concept was they were going to essentially build like another version of Country Club Plaza there in downtown St. Pete. Yeah. And so I think like a small portion of it got built down there. Frank Starkey (09:32.785) All right. Frank Starkey (09:51.665) Really? Kevin K (09:57.564) And then maybe the real estate deal fell apart or something like that. But there was, yeah, that was a big push at some point. Yeah. Yeah. Frank Starkey (10:03.633) or the Depression hit. Interesting. Now, I wasn't aware of that. I didn't know that he had bought and had plans to develop here. That's interesting. The other, St. Petersburg's, well, the Florida Land Bus was in 1926. So Florida real estate speculation really ended then, and then it didn't pick up again until after World War II. So that might have been the death of it. Kevin K (10:13.084) Yeah. Yeah. Kevin K (10:27.164) Yeah. Yeah. So you find yourself growing up on a ranch then, pretty much in Florida. What takes you to architecture? What takes you to architecture and then to Texas to go to architecture school? Frank Starkey (10:35.505) I'd have been becoming an architect. Frank Starkey (10:42.289) For whatever combination of reasons, one evening when I was in about fourth grade, I, dad recollected this years later. I asked dad at the dinner table, what do you call a person, what do you call a person who designs buildings? Not as a riddle, just, and he said, it's called an architect. And I said, well, that's what I want to be when I grow up. And I never had the sense to question that decision again. So. Kevin K (11:00.54) Yeah. Kevin K (11:09.276) That's how it sounds vaguely familiar. Frank Starkey (11:11.853) you So, you know, whether it was Legos and Lincoln Logs and the Brady Bunch. And when I was a kid, we had a cabin in North Carolina that dad had the shell built by this guy who had a lumber mill up there and he would build a shell for you for $5 ,000 or something. He built that out of green poplar wood. The whole thing was immediately warped and racked and sagged and did everything that. green wood will do, and we immediately put it in a building. But dad spent all of our vacation times up there finishing out the interior of that. So I was just around that construction. And dad was also being a counter rancher, and he knew welding. And he was always tinkering. And in addition to fixing things, he was also inventing implements to use on the ranch and things like that. So he just had a hand building. ethic that, you know, he just kind of had. So whatever made me decide I wanted to design buildings, as I grew up from that point on, I just was all about it. And so by the time I got to high school, I couldn't wait to get into working for an architect. And I was an intern for an architect in Newport, Ritchie, when I was in high school. And then I went to Rice University in Houston to go to architecture school. So after I, and I did my internship here, which is part of the program at Rice for the professional degree. I did that in New York City for Pay Cop, Read and Partners. And another ironic thing was I learned, I had a really great classical architecture history professor in college at Rice who in his summers led, he and his partner who was a art history professor also, a fine arts. Frank Starkey (13:10.289) They led an archaeological excavation outside Rome of a villa from the dated that basically dated a time period of about 600 years straddling the time of Christ. And I've spent the summer after my freshman year on that dig. So I had a had a really strong exposure to classical architecture and urbanism throughout my school. And when I worked for PAY, I worked on James Freed's projects. At that time, we were working on what became the Ronald Reagan building in Washington, D .C. It's the last big building in the federal triangle. And so it's a neoclassical exterior with a very modern interior. It's kind of like a spaceship wrapped inside a federal building. And the other project I worked on a little bit that year was the San Francisco Main Library, which is in the Civic Center right down in the Civic Center of Francisco with the City Hall and the old library. The new library is a mirror of it that's a neoclassical facade on, well, two wings of a neoclassical facade that face the Civic Center side. And then on the backside, which faces Market Street, there's a much more modern interpretation of that commercial core district facing along Market Street. So I worked on these buildings with Sirius that took, you know, this was at the end of the Pomo era of the 80s when everybody was making fun of classical architecture in, the architects were having fun with it or making fun of it, however you look at it. And Fried was taking it more seriously. It was still a updated take on neoclassical architecture. in some of the details, but it was really a fascinating exposure to the actual practice of designing classical buildings, working for one of the most famously modernist firms in the world. So. Kevin K (15:21.628) Yeah, no doubt. No doubt. Yeah. That's pretty wild. Was rice, I mean, we're about the same age, was rice kind of like most architecture schools, generally speaking, in their emphasis on looking at modernist design as the holy grail that you must pursue? Frank Starkey (15:28.433) Mm -hmm. Frank Starkey (15:38.769) Yeah, interestingly, like my childhood and the cultural mix that I described earlier, Rice was sort of in this period at that time where it was between deans. There was a series of, it's too long a story to explain here, but the previous dean who had been there for 15 years or something, O. Jack Mitchell, announced his retirement the day I started classes. And... So he was a lame duck. And then it was, you know, we basically went through a series of searches, deans, dean passed away, interim dean search, a new dean, and then he resigned. So the whole time I was in college, we really didn't have a dean. And the faculty that Mitchell had built was very, I'd say ecumenical. They kind of, we had some diehard theoretical postmodernists and we had. At the other end of the spectrum, we had a guy who did a lot of real estate development who was super practical and we always made fun of him for caring about mundane things like budgets. And I know he was, I made him a laughing stock, which I wish I'd taken more of his classes. But anyway, and then a really good core faculty who had a real sense of, and real care about urban design and. Kevin K (16:46.428) Well, yeah, exactly. Frank Starkey (17:04.401) My sophomore class field trip was to Paris and we did studies of, you know, in groups, each of us studied at Urban Plus. So I really had a strong urban design and contextual sensibility through my architecture class, all my architecture classes. In the background, there was this whole drum beat of postmodernist, post structuralism and deconstructivism. that was going on. I never caught into that. It always just seemed like anything that requires that much intellectual gymnastics is probably just kind of b******t. And it also, I was involved with campus ministries and fellowship of Christian athletes and church. And so I had a sense of mission and doing good in the world. And it also just, it just didn't work with that either. So I didn't really go in for that stuff, but the urban design stuff really did stick with me. And then the classical architecture and Vignoli, which I mentioned to you the other day, that really did kind of stick to me as a methodology. Kevin K (18:29.436) Man, I went for it hook line and sinker, man. It was, yeah. Yeah. I mean, I thought deconstructivism was like the coolest thing at that time period. And I bought the whole program for some period of time. And frankly, until I ran across some of Andreas's writings and then started learning about seaside. And that's really what kind of broke it open for me that I started to. Frank Starkey (18:32.433) Really? Frank Starkey (18:40.465) -huh. Frank Starkey (18:52.273) Mm -hmm. Kevin K (18:58.556) see things a little bit differently and all, but I, yeah, I was, I was in deconstructivism was funny because you could just kind of do anything and you know, you could call anything a building basically. Yeah. Frank Starkey (19:07.537) Yeah. Yeah, yeah, the author is dead long live the text was the, and so you could just, yeah. And to me, it was just pulling, it was just pulling stuff out of your butt and I just. Kevin K (19:22.636) totally. Yeah. Yeah. It was all b******t, but it was, I guess, fun for a 19 or 20 year old for a little while. So, all right. So fast forward then, did you come back to Florida then pretty much right after school or? Yeah. Frank Starkey (19:25.809) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Frank Starkey (19:38.929) Yeah, I did a gap year after college and then ended up in Austin for another year and then came back to work with my brother. So by that time, we had seen, because of where the ranch is situated, it's sort of in the crosshairs of growth patterns coming from Tampa to the south and Clearwater to the southwest. and Newport -Ritchie from the west. So it was, the growth was coming from, at us from two directions. Granddad and you know, this 16 ,000 acres that's 20 miles from downtown Tampa, as you can imagine in the 20th century is going up in value pretty dramatically from 1937 to 19, you know, to the late century. And in the early seventies, he started selling and donating land to the state for preservation. Kevin K (20:24.22) Mm -hmm. Frank Starkey (20:36.177) and so we had, you know, again, that whole park ethic, and the, so we were selling, kind of selling the Northern parts that were away from the development pattern, off. And it was partly for the state tax planning purposes and also just, but primarily to put the land into conservation. So there would be something left of native Florida for people to see in future generations. That was his. His goal. My brother had my brother six years older than me and had gone to University of Florida and gotten a finance degree. And he came back after college, which was when I was like my senior year in high school and started working for the granddad was still alive and he was working for the estate, helping with that planning. And granddad passed away while I was in college and we had the estate tax to deal with. And we ended up selling some more land to the state for conservation. And he also started learning the development. process. We knew that as much land as we could sell to the state as possible, we were not going to be able to sell at all and we were going to have to develop. Somebody was going to develop land on the ranch. And our family wanted to see that it was done in a way that was, you know, that we would be proud of that, that put together our, you know, our family goals for civic engagement, environmental preservation, and, you know, and also. It was the whole family's sole asset. So it's everybody's retirement fund and principally our parents and our cousins. So we have cousins who are half generation older than us. So we were accepting that development was inevitable and wanted to be more in control of it. So Trae had been talking to me for a while about coming back and working with him on the development stuff in the ranch. So that's what I decided to do in 1995. And the decision point for me, Kevin K (22:09.468) Yeah. Frank Starkey (22:34.449) was, you know, I had set up my career trajectory to become a consulting architect and design buildings for other people. And I realized that I had this opportunity to, you know, have a bigger imprint on developing a neighborhood that could perhaps set a pattern. By that time, I had become knowledgeable about new urbanism and what was going on at Seaside. And And at that point, I think some of the other projects were starting to come out of the ground. So this was 1995. So I was like, well, I, you know, I've got too much opportunity here. And, and with what, what I know and what I have to bring to the table, it just seems like the thing I'd need to do. So I came back and we started working on development on the southwestern corner of the ranch, which was sort of the direction that was the frontline for development. So in 1997, we held our charrette for what became Longleaf, which is a 568 acre traditional neighborhood development that we broke ground on in 1999. Our first residents moved in in 2000. And that was the first TND in Pasco County. And in my opinion, it was the last TND in Pasco County. Because the county loved it so much that they... Kevin K (24:00.38) You Frank Starkey (24:04.721) passed the TND standards ordinance, which it would never comply with and that no other developers ever wanted to do. And so nobody really has. They've kind of just, it's been compromised with, right? That's a whole other story. Kevin K (24:20.14) Yeah. Well, that sounds, I mean, we may need to get into that at some point, but, so you started this in 2000 and really in earnest 2001 or so. And obviously there was a little, little bump in the economy right then, but I guess kind of more of a bump compared to what came later. So talk about like those first, maybe that first decade then, like what all did you build and how much of this were you actively involved in the design of? Frank Starkey (24:24.529) Okay. Frank Starkey (24:39.377) Yeah. Frank Starkey (24:49.425) It's fascinating looking back on it how compressed that time frame was because we sold we we developed the first of four neighborhoods In the first neighborhood we did in As I said 99 2000 and then we built the second neighborhood in 2002 2003 we sold the third and fourth neighborhoods in 2004 which You know, six years later, we look like geniuses. If we would have been, if we'd been real geniuses, we would have waited until 2006 to sell them. But we got out before the crash, obviously. So we did well there. We were, I was, you know, Trey and I, because we had a view of building a career in real estate development, we thought we should do everything. We should touch every aspect of the process ourselves at least once. So we knew how everything worked. But then we never scaled up our operation big enough to hire people to fill in those specialties for us. So we really both kind of ended up doing a whole lot of the work ourselves. So our master, our designer was Jeffrey Farrell, who did the the overall plan for Longleaf. And he wrote the design code, but we collaborated on all that very closely, because I knew enough about what urbanism was and architecture. And so I administered that design code with our builders. He detailed out the first neighborhood. He and I detailed out the second neighborhood. collaboratively or sort of a 50 -50. And you know what I mean by detailed out, just, you know, you take a schematic plan and then you have to put it into CAD and get it, get to real dimensions and deal with wetland lines and drainage and all that stuff. You get, s**t gets real about, you know, curbs and things like that. So that kind of, those details. And the third neighborhood I detailed out, but we sold it, but the developer who bought it built it out according to what I had done. So I was... Frank Starkey (27:15.281) very involved with the planning side of it. And of course I had been involved with the entitlements and then I administered the design code with all of our builders. So I was dealing with there and we had, we didn't have sophisticated builders. We didn't have custom, we weren't a custom home builder project. We were small local production builders. So these were builders who built 300 houses a year. We weren't dealing with. David weekly, you know, a national home builder who was doing nice stuff. Nor were we dealing with the 12, you know, you know, a year custom builders. So we didn't have much sophistication on the design side coming from our builders. So I did a lot of hand holding on the design of that. I always tell if you're a architect who's going to be your. Kevin K (27:46.716) Mm -hmm. Frank Starkey (28:13.169) is going to develop a T and D. I will tell you under no circumstances do what I did. Always hire somebody else to be the bad guy because as the developer you just can't look the home builder in the eye and say let this customer go. And so even though they're asking you to do something you shouldn't. So you need somebody who can be your heavy for that and it's not going to be you as the developer. But anyway, so I did that and And then I designed some of the common buildings and then had them. I wasn't licensed yet. And so I had those CDs done by somebody with a stamp. So I always said that I, you know, between the larger planning of the ranch and the strategy there, and I also got involved in community, you know, regional and county wide planning efforts and committees and things like that and planning council. So I kind of worked at the scale from the region to the doorknob. Which, you know, is fabulous as an architect because I've found all of those levels, I still do, I find all of those levels of design and planning fascinating. Kevin K (29:17.084) hehe Kevin K (29:30.78) So let's talk about the mechanics of being a land developer for a minute and how you did it. So you obviously own the land, and then you came up with the master plan. So then how many steps did you take? You took on the burden of entitling probably the whole project in phase by phase. And then were you also financing and building infrastructure as well, and then basically selling off finished land? Frank Starkey (29:36.433) Mm -hmm. Kevin K (29:59.26) finished parcels or finished lots to other developers or builders. Frank Starkey (30:04.177) Yeah, what we, so dad on the land free and clear, he contracted the land to us under a purchase and sale agreement whereby we would pay a release price when we sold a lot. So, you know, it's favorable inside family deal. We paid him a fair price, but it was a very favorable structure that allowed it, and he subordinated it to. to lending for, we had to borrow, we don't have cash as a family, we didn't, none of us have cashflow from, you know, we don't have some other operating company that spits off cashflow. So we had asset value, but no cashflow. So we had to borrow money to pay for infrastructure, I mean, for planning and entitlement costs and engineering. And so that was our first loan. And then we had, We set up a community development district, which is a special purpose taxing district that a lot of states have different versions of them in Florida. It's called a CDD. It's basically like a quasi -municipality that a developer can establish with permission from the county and state government to establish a district, which is then able to sell tax -free government -style bonds to finance infrastructure. So it's an expensive entity to create and then to maintain. But if you're financing a big enough chunk, which in those days was like $10 million, it became efficient to have the care and feeding of the district in order to get the cheaper money. So you could get cheaper bond money for financing infrastructure. You could not finance marketing or... specific lot specific things you could for example, you could finance drainage, but you couldn't finance still so some of the Terminology was a little bit You kind of had to do some creative workarounds, but basically our so but we it also meant you had to still have a source of capital for those things that the district would not finance so we had an outside Frank Starkey (32:28.497) Loan structure in addition to the CDD financing and that was how we financed the construction of the development and then sold the lots to individual home builders We had three builders under contract in our first phase and each of them was committed to a certain number of lots and they had enough capital access on their own to finance their the construction of their houses a lot of them would use their buyers financing and use do construction permanent loans to finance the vertical construction of the houses. But the builders had the ability to take down the lots. So that was the deal. I don't know if that structure is still done very much or if there were many builders in that scale that still do that in Florida or in this area. It seems like most of those builders got just crushed. in a great recession and never came back. I'm not really aware of any builders that are in that scale, in that size range anymore. I mean, if there are, there's maybe a dozen where there used to be 100. Kevin K (33:40.86) Yeah, so they either got smaller or a lot bigger basically. Frank Starkey (33:45.681) No, they mostly just flat got killed and just went out of business. And they may have resurrected themselves. Yeah, they may have resurrected a smaller or gone to work for somebody else or retired because a lot of them were older. Of the builders that we had, yeah, I think they probably did get smaller in fairness, but they were gone. And we were out of, as I said earlier, we were long out of long leaps. And the... Kevin K (33:47.836) Yeah. Frank Starkey (34:13.969) Crosland was the developer that bought the third and fourth neighborhoods and they didn't they brought in all new builders. So they brought in David weekly and inland, which was a larger regional builder. And then Morrison, I think one of the other large, larger builders who did rear loaded T and D project product. Kevin K (34:38.108) So how much heartburn was that for you and your family to go from this position where you're like asset rich but cash poor to and then all of a sudden you're taking on pretty large debt to do this development piece? I mean, what was that like? Frank Starkey (34:54.801) Well, you know, you just you don't know what you don't know when you're young and ambitious. So it was it was there. I did. There were some real Rolade's cheering moments. I think, as I recall, the most stressful times for us were before we started construction. And it was it was frankly, it was harder on Trey because he was he was starting a family at that time. So he had. He had literally more mouths to feed than I did. I was still single and so, and I didn't have the stresses on me that he did. And once we got under development, we weren't so much, you know, the stress level shifted to different, you know, kind of a different complexion. And, you know, fortunately when the recession hit, We were done with long, we didn't have, you know, we weren't sitting with longleaf hanging on us. So that was good. but we were in the midst of entitlements for the Starkey Ranch project, which was the remainder of the land that the family still had that had not been sold to the state. And we were taking that, there was about 2 ,500 acres. We were taking that through entitlements starting in 90, in 2005. And I would say that we got our, our entitlements. not our zoning, but we got our entitlements package approved, in essence, the day before the recession hit. So, so we had borrowed again, borrowed a lot of money to relatively a lot more money to pay for that. And that also involved the whole family, because that was the rest of the ranch that that the part that long leaf is on dad had owned individually, free and clear. The remainder of it. had been in granddad's estate and that went down to children and grandchildren. And so there were seven different owners of that. And we had spent some time in the early 2000s putting that together into a partnership, into one joint venture where everybody owned a pro rata share of the whole, but we had other shareholders to answer to. And so that was a whole other level of stress. Frank Starkey (37:16.913) due to the recession because our bank went, you know, did what all banks do and they called the loan even though we hadn't gone, we hadn't defaulted. We would have defaulted if they'd waited six months, but they blanked first and they sued us and we spanked them in essence, but we, at the end of the day, but it was two years of grinding through a lawsuit that was hideous and that was really the most unpleasant. Kevin K (37:29.82) Hahaha! Frank Starkey (37:46.257) level of stress, not because we were going to lose our houses, but because we were, it was just was acrimonious and not what we wanted to be doing. Plus you had the background of the whole world having ground to a halt. So fighting that out through the dark days of the recession was, that was pretty lousy way to spend a couple of years. Kevin K (38:12.284) Yeah, so then how did you all come out of that situation then? Frank Starkey (38:17.009) We ended in a settlement. The settlement, the worst part of the settlement to me was that we had to, long story, but some of the, we had retained ownership of downtown Longleaf with the commercial core, mixed use core of Longleaf. And that wasn't completed development yet. And because we had that collateralized on another loan with the same bank, we ended up having to cut that off as part of the settlement. So. we, you know, we had to, we amputated a finger, not a hand, but still it was, it was, you know, it was our pointer finger. So that was, that was hard, but, but we lived to fight another day, which again, you know, fortunately it's better to be lucky than good, right? We were, that makes us look like, you know, we did pretty well coming out of the recession. So after the recession and after getting that settled out, and there was a couple of other small pieces of land that we had, Kevin K (38:52.124) hehe Frank Starkey (39:15.121) collateralized to the bank that we handed over, but basically got them to walk away from pursuing us further. We got that worked out and then we had to then figure out how to sell the land. Our joint venture partner, which was to have been Crosland on developing the ranch, they had gone to pieces during the recession, so they weren't there anymore. And the only buyers at those coming out of that were big hedge funds and equity funds. And they were only, their only buyers were national home builders and the national home builders, even the ones like Pulte who had tiptoed into traditional neighborhood development product before the recession. They were like, nope, nope, nope, backing up, never doing that again. They're. Kevin K (40:10.46) Yeah. Yeah. Frank Starkey (40:12.593) So everything that we had about TND and our entitlements, they're like, get that s**t out of there. TND is a four letter word. We will not do that. So we kind of de -entitled a lot of our entitlements and cut it back to just a rudimentary neighborhood structure and interconnected streets and some mix of uses and negotiated to sell it to one of these hedge funds or investment funds. who developed it with a merchant developer and sold it to national home builders. And they pretty quickly undid what was left of our neighborhood structure and developed it in a pretty conventional fashion. They did a really nice job on it and it soldered a premium to everything around it. They did a really great job with their common area landscaping, but they gutted the town center. They didn't even do a good strip center in lieu of it. They just did a freestanding public and a bunch of out parcel pieces. They squandered any opportunity to create a real there out of the commercial areas. They did beautiful parks and trails and amenities centers, but they just didn't get doing a commercial town center. Kevin K (41:36.444) What years was that when they developed that piece? Frank Starkey (41:40.337) We sold it to them in 2012 and I guess they started construction in 13 or so and it was really selling out through 2020. They still got some commercial that they're building on. I don't know if they've got any residential that they're still, I mean, it's kind of, its peak was in the 17, 18, 19 range and it was one of the top projects in the country and certainly in the Bay Area. and got a lot of awards. And yeah, so I don't, I can't complain too much about it because it sounds like sour grapes, but basically they didn't, I always just tell people I'll take neither blame nor credit for what they did because it's just not at all what we, there's very little of it that is what we laid out. So because that, so we, having sold that in 2012, that left me and Trey to go do what we wanted to do. All of the, you know, the rest of the family for that matter. And, Trey was ready to hang it up on development for a while. So he kept a piece out of the blue out of the ranch and settlements and started the blueberry farm. And I went and decided to do in town, small scale development. Ultimately ended up in Newport, Ritchie back in my own hometown. And then and that's that's what I've been doing since basically since 2015. Kevin K (43:06.844) Yeah. So I'm curious about a couple of things. So with the completion of the sale of all that and the development of both Longleaf and Starkey Ranch, I guess I'm curious how your family felt about the results of all those. Were people happy, not happy with the results? Was there... I'm just kind of curious about that dynamic because it's an interesting thing with a family property. And then... I guess secondly, with you being somebody who carried more a certain set of ideals for development, what did you take away from that whole process, especially with Starkey Ranch and anything, any useful lessons for the future for others relative to an experience like that? Frank Starkey (43:38.321) Mm -hmm. Frank Starkey (43:56.209) Couple of thoughts. As far as the whole family goes, we were, well, our cousins don't live here and they were less engaged in it intellectually and just personally. The four of us kids had grown up here and this was our backyard. They had grown up in St. Pete and one of them lived in North Georgia. And so it was, they just weren't as... emotionally invested in it. Not to say they didn't care, but it just didn't, it wasn't their backyard that had been developed. And you know, and we all are proud that three quarters of the ranch of the 16 ,000 acres, over 13, almost 13 ,000 of it is in conservation land that will always be the way it was when we were kids. Except there are no fences, which is very disorienting, but anyway. It's still, you know, that's the way granddad saw it when he was young and it will always be that way. So that's, we're all excited about that. And we pay attention to that more than we do to what happened on development. I think even long leave the, what, you know, the, the people in the surrounding area think we're sellouts and, people who have lived here. for five years or 10 years or 15 years are still just shocked and dismayed by the rapid pace of development. Well, it was a rapid pace of development, but we've been seeing it coming for 130 years now as a family. And I mean, it's why we put land into conservation going back to the early 70s when granddad started selling that. What people can see is the part along State Road 54, which is the visible stuff. which 10 years ago was a lot of pastors with long views and pleasant looking cattle who were money losing proposition as a agricultural business. But people don't see that. They just thought, it's a pretty pasture land. And how can you turn that into houses? It's so, you greedy b******s. So yeah, we get a lot of flak still to this day. I mean, and I've got a. Kevin K (46:12.092) Yeah. Frank Starkey (46:17.425) Trey's wife is a county commissioner and she gets all kinds of grief for being corrupt because people see our names on everything and they're like, well, they must be corrupt. No, you've never met any less corrupt people. And so there's kind of public blowback to it. I've said what I've said, what I just told you about how the development of the ranch did not comport with what we envisioned for it. And I don't, I don't shy away from saying that. I don't go around banging a drum about it. cause what's, what's the point of that? And a lot of people might think I just sound like sour grapes, but it, you know, it's, we, I think we all had our ugly cry about the ranch at some point. I mean, I remember when we were, we, the first closings of the ranch were in 2012 and it was a phased state down, but you know, they, they take a chunk at a time. So we stayed in our office, which was the house that we had grown up in at the ranch headquarters, right where the cattle pens and the horse barn, the truck barn and the shop and all of the ranch operations were. And the day that, eventually we had to move everything out and all that, almost all of that got torn, all of it got torn down. I remember having, I went out and stood by a tree and cried my face off for a while. Kevin K (47:46.044) Yeah. Frank Starkey (47:46.673) You know, it still chokes me up to think about it. And we all did that. I mean, but it wasn't an overnight thing to us. Whereas if you lived in a subdivision in the area that, by the way, had been a cattle ranch 20 years ago, you didn't, you know, you're not building, you're not living in a land that was settled by the other colonists. It seemed shockingly fast, just like overnight. my God, all of a sudden they're, they're. They're scraping the dirt the grass off of that and you know three weeks later. There's houses going up It's just shocking and and really disorienting we'd said we had seen it coming literally our whole lives We always knew that was going to be the case. So it was there was going to be something there our Feelings about the what what what it was compared to what we would like it to have been or another You know, that's what we have to wrestle with but the fact that it's developed We always saw that coming and people don't really understand that until because you just, you know, because it just it's perceived so differently. If you just drive by and see it developed one day when it wasn't, then if you grow up with an aerial photograph on the wall of dad's office and you know, we just know that that's not always going to be that way. Kevin K (49:05.82) Yeah. Yeah. Well, let's talk for a minute about what you're doing now then with the stuff in Newport Ritchie and the smaller scale infill stuff. What was like the first one, after shifting gears and doing that, what was like the first project you took on on your own? Frank Starkey (49:25.561) Much more much more fun topic. Thank you for shifting gears. I should have let you do that sooner Kevin K (49:30.204) Yeah. Frank Starkey (49:33.617) The, so Newport Richey is a pre -war town that was laid out in 1911 by Wayne Stiles, who I'm starting to learn more about was a pretty cool town, kind of B -list town planner who worked with people like John Nolan and the Olmsted brothers and was contemporary to them. Got a very competent little city plan for a small town and it has building stock in the downtown. the main street and Grand Boulevard downtown that dates to the 1920s and to the 1950s and 60s, kind of about half and half. And so it always had these good urban bones, some decent building stock, nothing great. It was never a wealthy town, so it doesn't have big grand Victorian houses down at Boulevard or anything, but it's got some good characteristics. But it had economically just cratered, just for years and really decades of disinvestment. moving out to the suburbs. It wasn't white flight in the traditional sense, but it was economically, it was the same just reallocation of wealth from the historic city into the suburbs and leaving the city behind. So in 2015, there was a, so downtown Newport, which he has a little lake, a about a five acre really lovely little. city park, a riverfront, and the central business district is right next to it. And then there's a pink Mediterranean revival hotel building from 1926 in that park. It kind of ties it all together. It's all the same ingredients that downtown St. Petersburg has, just in miniature and in bad shape. And St. Petersburg, believe it or not, which is now the best city in Florida, was really down in heels for most of my childhood. The Vanoi Hotel, which is their big pink hotel, was a hulking, you know, it looked like something out of Detroit when I was a kid, broken out windows and chain link fence around it and weeds and looked like a haunted hotel. So the Hacienda was kind of in that shape almost. And Downtown was doing, was, you know, just kind of sitting there with some honky tonk bars and a lot of, you know, just kind of moribund. Frank Starkey (51:54.705) commercial space. The city had bought out the First Baptist Church, which overlooked that lake right downtown when the church decamped out to the suburbs like all the other capitals in town. Even God's capital moved out to the suburbs. And the city bought it and tore down the church buildings and put a for sale sign on it, put it out for RFP a couple times, got crickets in response. Because no self -respecting developer would look at downtown New Port Richey as a place to develop. And I looked at it and as Robert Davis and Andres 20 will point out, we developers and architects and urbanists, we live in the future. You know, our brains are in what can be, not what is here now. And you've heard Andres say that the present is a distortion field. So I wasn't bothered by the fact that the neighborhoods around it weren't the greatest neighborhoods. They weren't terrible. Kevin K (52:39.8) Yeah. Yeah. Frank Starkey (52:48.177) And I looked at it and said, well, this is a pretty good gas piece of property. You got through overlooking this nice lake. There's a park. There's a downtown right there. We can work with this. So I asked the city to put it out for an RFQ, which they did. And Eric Brown, your buddy and mine, and one of your former guests on the podcast recently, was the architect for the buildings. And Mike Watkins, whom you also know, was the planner. I had them come in and do a Charette to develop a design for an apartment project on that former church property. And we negotiated a deal with the city to buy that property and we were off and running. So that was the first project. Just announcing that and showing, you know, as people were, some people were rightly skeptical that it would just end up being another low income housing thing because. This is Newport Richey. It's an economic shithole. Why would anybody put anything nice here? And surely, surely, even if you think it's going to be luxury, or if you're just saying it, it's obviously just going to, there's no way it can end up being anything but low income housing. And, but a lot of other people were excited to see that somebody was putting some investment in town. And it just kind of started to change people's thinking. Then we took on a commercial building downtown that when I was a kid had been a, IGA grocery store where we did our grocery shopping and it had, fallen into, you know, another moribund state as an antique mall that just needed to be fixed up and, and refreshing them live and up or something new. So we bought that and, did a severe gut job on it. divided it up into five tenant spaces, brought in a natural grocery store that was in town, but in a much terrible location. And a new microbrewery, the first microbrewery in town, and a taco place, and a kayak paddleboard outfitter, and a CrossFit gym. Kind of a dream lineup of revitalizing. Yeah. The kayak place didn't last very long. Kevin K (55:04.636) It's like the perfect mix. Frank Starkey (55:11.665) They were pretty much pretty ahead of the market and also just work. It wasn't their core business. They just didn't really know how to do it right. And then the taco place ended up getting replaced. The CrossFit gym outgrew the box and went to a much bigger location. And then we replaced them with an axe throwing business, which is killing it. So no joke, no pun intended. And then the microbrewery is still there. natural food store is still there. And then in the paddle boarding space, we now have a makers, a craft market that is multiple vendors that are, you know, like cottage industry makers selling under one roof. And we have a new bar and hamburger place and the former chocolate place. And they're also doing really well. And so between those two projects, it really, and then, you know, it's other, businesses started opening, new businesses opened downtown that just kind of had a new approach. They weren't honky tonks, they weren't just kind of appealing to a kind of a has -been demographic. And I just started changing the attitude. And the most remarkable occurrence was at one point, and this was around 2018, I just noticed that the online chatter in the general discussion among locals about Newport Richey kind of flipped from overwhelmingly negative people just running down the town, just saying this place is terrible. You know, get out while you can. There's nothing but crack heads and, and prostitutes and you know, it's just terrible. And to, Hey, this place is pretty cool. It's getting better. There's, it's got a lot of potential. And the naysayers started getting shattered down by the people who were more optimistic and positive about the town. And it just kind of hit that Malcolm Gladwell tipping point pretty quickly. And the attitude of the town and the self -image of people in town just has been significantly different ever since then. And then that's, of course, paid dividends and more investment coming to downtown. Now you can't find a place to rent for retail downtown. Frank Starkey (57:38.641) We actually have the problem now that there's too much food and beverage and the market isn't growing enough because we've got to bring in customers from outside of the immediate area because it's just not densely populated enough town yet. But that's so that's kind of where things started in New Port Richey. Kevin K (57:56.604) That's really, that's a great story. It's kind of, it's so indicative of also like what Marty Anderson has talked about. Let's sort of like finding your farm and a place that you care about and working there and making it better. And that's really cool. When it came to all this, were you self -financing? Were you working with investors? How was that process? Frank Starkey (58:13.169) Yeah. Frank Starkey (58:22.321) On the central, which is our apartment and on the 5800 main, which is the project that had been the IGA store, I have a financial partner on that. Who's another local who had made done well for himself in banking and lived away and moved back and was wanting to invest, but also to do some invest locally in a way that helps, you know, give something back to his own town. And that was my attitude as well. So our, our. Capital has been him and me on those two projects. And then I've got two other buildings that, one other building that I have a co -owner on and then another building I own solely by myself. So I've got a total of four projects. And all of the projects that I have are within one, two, three blocks, four blocks of each other. I was, you know, you mentioned the farm. I was very intentional about farm. I said, okay, my farm is New Port Richey. My farm yard is downtown and my barn is our office, which was right in the middle of all that. And the so that's, you know, and then now Mike and I live three blocks from all of that stuff. So we have we our new townhouse is three blocks east of downtown. Since 2018, we lived in a house that was four blocks south of downtown. So all of it was walkable. And even when downtown had just a couple of restaurants that were mostly just diners, one place that was pretty decent for lunch and salads and things, and a couple of pretty mediocre to crappy bars. I have a lot of friends here now and my office is here. And I immediately realized this is the most luxurious lifestyle I have had since college because the ability to walk everywhere and just live your life on foot is luxurious. It's just delightful. And my best friend now lives well in our old house, lives a block away. And we got to be friends living in town here and living a block from each other. And we would just ride bikes. And there was a whole other crew of Kevin K (01:00:24.284) You Frank Starkey (01:00:49.041) the people we'd ride bikes up the river in the evenings and maybe stop for a beer or maybe not and just enjoy the town. He really showed me just kind of, I smacked myself in the forehead one day when he talked about how nice it is to ride up the river during the sunset. I was like, wow, you mean you can just enjoy living in these walkable places? Because I'd always spent so much time trying to build them that I didn't spend much time just... f*****g enjoyment. Kevin K (01:01:19.676) I know, I know. It's a crazy thing. It's like it shouldn't be like a rarity or anything like that. We wish it was available to everybody, but it's wild. That was the thing about living in Savannah and that was like the hard part about leaving Savannah was, I think for a lot of us who have our ideals about walkability and everything, you kind of go back and forth about, do I want to spend my time? Frank Starkey (01:01:30.257) Yeah. Frank Starkey (01:01:37.489) Yeah, I bet. Kevin K (01:01:48.38) you know, working real hard and trying to create this as much as, as I can and, and live in a certain place where I, I guess have the economic opportunity to do that. Or do you also maybe just say, yeah, at a certain point, screw it. I just want to live somewhere where I can be, you know, do the things that I talk about all the time. So. Frank Starkey (01:02:06.513) Yeah, exactly. And it is hard to live in a place that's already kicking butt and do the things to make a place kick butt. So. Kevin K (01:02:20.124) Yeah, and in so many of these places, the places that we admire, and if you didn't get in early, you can't afford it at a certain point anymore anyway. So it's kind of a crazy deal. So as an architect, then would the infill projects, I mean, I know you worked with Eric and Mike and some others, but do you do any sketching or work on any of these sort of, is it a collaborative deal or do you at this point just be like, well, Frank Starkey (01:02:28.369) Right. Kevin K (01:02:46.268) I'm going to be a good client and be kind of hands off and just help direct my architects. Frank Starkey (01:02:50.865) I try to, I'm trying very hard to just be a good client and direct my architects. I'll let you ask Eric on whether I'm a good client or not, but that's probably been the project where I have been the most, I've left the most to the architects to on the design side. On the, the one of the commercial building that I owned by myself was a, building that didn't have any windows, two stories right on one of our main streets on a corner. So two full facades with essentially no windows. And it needed new windows storefront and upstairs. So it basically just needed a whole facade because there was just a big windowless bunker. But it had existing structural columns or structural considerations for where I could put windows. And it ended up being a interesting, challenging facade composition project. Anyway, I designed that building. And also it was a double high space where the second floor was just a mezzanine. And we closed in the second floor to make it into a mixed use building. So that because it had always been a nightclub or restaurant and it was too big as being a story and a half to for that, for this market to support because the upstairs are just kind of. You know, just sucked. So I was like, this needs to just be a regular size restaurant on the ground floor and then offices above. So I did the architecture on that, including the build out for the restaurant. I had some help on that on the layout, but I did the design, interior design stuff on that. I wish I had, I love the facade design process. And that was a really fun project. And the result was, you know, it's, it's unusual because of the constraints that it had. So, but it's, I think it's a fun, it's a good result. but if I were doing more projects, I mean, I really feel like I don't do architecture every day. So I'm not, yeah, certainly I'm not going to do construction drawings because I don't have that, capability just cause I don't, I mean, I have the technical ability to do it. Frank Starkey (01:05:15.249) and I am now licensed, I could sign and seal it, but I don't want to. And I haven't signed and sealed anything yet. So my goal is to be more of a client than I am an architect. Kevin K (01:05:27.868) So in all this stuff and going back to even your initial work with Longleaf and others, you've obviously tried to create well -designed places and beautiful places. I know you said you had some thoughts kind of based on one of the other podcasts I had where we were going back and forth and talking about beauty in buildings and the value of that versus sort of utilitarian values as well. How have you tried to balance all that and really create? beauty and do you find it at conflict with also making real estate work? Frank Starkey (01:06:04.753) I don't find beauty in conflict with making real estate work at all. I think it's critical. I don't think that things have to be built expensively in order to be beautiful. And my comment to you in my email was about y 'all had had a discussion on this, your podcast before last. about and you had said you can't legislate beauty no code in the no amount of code in the world is going to result in beauty and I've always thought about that because I agree with you that codes by their nature don't result in beauty that that human love results in beauty I mean that's you know because that's a it's a it's a spiritual outcome not a I mean, it's an outcome of the spirit. I don't mean that metaphysical terms, just, but it's something that comes from a level of care that's not, that doesn't happen from just conformance. Kevin K (01:07:10.94) Yeah, it's a value you bring to a project basically. It's something you really care to do. Yeah. Frank Starkey (01:07:16.529) Yes, that said, the American Vignoli and other handbooks that were used by builders, not by architects, but by people who were just building buildings and designing them, designing and building buildings by hand in the 1800s and early 1900s. resulted in scads of what we consider beautiful buildings with a capital B because it codified, maybe not in a sense of regulation, but in a sense of aspiration and guidance. It codified a way to arrive at competence with beautiful principles underlying it. And I wonder, it's... It's a hypothesis. I've not proved it or even set out to prove it. But if you could require that people follow the American Vignole as an example, or something else like that, where the principles of proportion are codified and they're followable, then I think you probably would still have to have some coaching. But I think you would get a whole lot closer than you can in the, because it's more like a playbook than it is a rule book for producing a competent design. Competent in the classical sense. Kevin K (01:08:54.556) Yeah. Yeah. Kevin K (01:09:02.236) Yeah, I think that's fair. It's more like coaching people about people who care. If you want to do good things, here are simple rules and patterns to follow that are not going to get you the Parthenon necessarily, but they're going to get you certainly at a minimum like a B building, like a B or a B minus building if you follow these rules. And if you do them really well and execute the details well, you could end up with an A plus building. Yeah. Frank Starkey (01:09:34.641) Yeah. Yeah, and it's something that McKim, Mead, and White can follow that and come up with something spectacular. But the same underlying principles are in every garden variety inline building on a street. Because individual urban buildings and places that we love are individually not spectacular. It's the accumulation of be buildings that are singing in the same key that makes a good chorus. Not everything can be a soloist anyway. Kevin K (01:10:11.996) And certainly, a lot of the people who produced the buildings in that era that you described, late 19th, early 20th century, I mean, there were a whole lot of just illiterate immigrants to the United States, ones who were building all that. And they didn't need 200 pages of construction drawings to follow it, but they did have patterns and illustrations and guides that they could follow. Frank Starkey (01:10:25.041) Yeah. Kevin K (01:10:42.46) and just some kind of basic standards. Yeah. Frank Starkey (01:10:43.217) And also a general cultural agreement on what looks good and what doesn't. And that's what I think you can't recreate from start, I mean, from scratch, because it's got to, that culture builds up and accumulates over decades and generations of practice. Kevin K (01:11:09.148) No doubt. Have you seen with the buildings that you have done in Newport, Richey, has there been other people who've looked at what you've done and tried to essentially say, kind of continue to raise the bar with good looking buildings? Frank Starkey (01:11:24.209) Unfortunately, I can't say that has happened yet. There hasn't been that much new construction in New Port Richey. And I don't, I can't think of any off the top of my head that have been done since we built the central, for example, which is really the only new ground up build. There's another apartment project and apartments and mixed use downtown, but it was designed in 2006 and then it was stalled and it finished about the same time we did, but it has nothing. you know, didn't follow others at all. We did have a lot of people. And this is something I would recommend, which I did accidentally. I didn't put really good drawings of the buildings into the public before they were built. I made a real now here's a blunder. There's a my blunder was I allowed the elevations of the buildings. to be the first thing that got into the public view because they were required as part of the permitting process. And an elevation drawing of a building is the architectural equivalent of a mugshot. It's representative and it's accurate, but it's accurate, but it's not representative. So it doesn't show you what a person looks like. It shows you just facts about their face. And so it shows you facts about a building, but not what it's gonna look like. So people saw the elevations. of what Eric could design, which were intentionally very simple rectangular boxes with regular, very competent, beautiful classical facades, but they looked really flat, they looked really boxy, and they looked terrible. They couldn't be at elevation, there's no depth on it. So people were like, holy s**t, of course he's building, I mean, they look like barracks. And so people lost their minds. I'm like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. So we quickly put together some 3D renderings. based on a quick sketchup model, we illustrated the hell out of them with landscaping and showed what a view down the street would look like. And it was a much better view. And that's really how you perceive the buildings. And so people were like, OK, well, if it looks like that, I guess I won't oppose it so much. But they were still rightfully skeptical. And so I s
Pasco County EDC President and CEO, Bill Cronin, joins us to discuss the unprecedented growth occurring in Pasco County. Learn how the area once known as a bedroom community has taken off in recent years, becoming the 8th fastest growing county in the country, attracting both talent and businesses in areas from tech and aviation/aerospace to manufacturing and local entrepreneurs
Rachel Barthle-Butler is a 4th generation rancher in Pasco County. Her family produces crossbred commercial cattle and have been producing American Quarter Horses for over 50 years. Listen in to hear a little more about the Barthle Brothers Ranch and for an incredible poem by Mrs. Jeanette Barthle at the end. You won't want to miss out on this one!
From his time working on the ranch in Pasco County to leading the Florida Cattlemen's Association and beyond, Larry Barthle has made significant contributions to Florida and our cattle heritage. Join us this week for a conversation reflecting on the early history of Pasco on to the rapid growth and change agriculture in the county is experiencing now.
NewsRadio WFLA Anchor Chris Trenkmann joins Read Shepherd and Dana McKay with some of Today's Top Stories. Nikki Haley says she's voting for Trump, a Palm Harbor man beat another man to death over a borrowed SUV, a federal judge blocked Florida's law that bars transporting migrants into the state. Trump claims Biden ordered the justice department to use deadly force, Pasco County school are pushing for civility, Russia denies sending satellite weapon into space.
The National Wheelchair Rugby Championships are taking place Friday through Sunday in Wiregrass Ranch in Pasco County. We speak with Mike DeLancey, a disabled veteran who's helped in the formation of a wheelchair rugby team locally and in bringing the championships and hundreds of athletes, family, coaches and volunteer assistants to the Tampa Bay area.
Ryan, Dana, and NewsRadio WFLA Anchor Chris Trenkmann discuss today's severe weather forecast, an update in the Armature Works shooting case, and new revelations about a Pasco County teacher arrested for AI child porn. Plus, Economics Reporter for Axios Courtenay Brown recaps the latest inflation report, Florida Man & Woman stories, charges filed against a former elementary school assistant principal over a shool shooting, and a damning new study on Lunchables sold in schools.
Andrew Donawa, an emergency manager within the Pasco County Sheriff's Department, discusses the unique role of law enforcement in emergency management. He highlights the importance of having dedicated emergency managers in every agency, regardless of the scale of the emergency. Andrew also shares his experiences in building an incident management team and the benefits of incorporating technology, such as L3 Harris radios and mobile command posts, into emergency response efforts.The conversation discusses the implementation of new communication technologies in emergency management, specifically the use of Communication Response Deployables (CRDs) and Nomad communication systems in Pasco County. Andrew and Zack highlight the benefits of these technologies, such as improved interoperability, increased redundancy, and enhanced communication capabilities during disasters. They also emphasize the importance of training and collaboration with IT departments to ensure the successful integration of these technologies. The conversation concludes with a discussion on the establishment of an Incident Management Team and the importance of training and exercising to enhance preparedness. TakeawaysLaw enforcement agencies can benefit from incorporating emergency management practices, such as incident management teams, to improve coordination and response during major incidents.Technology, such as L3 Harris radios and mobile command posts, plays a crucial role in enhancing communication and resource management in emergency response. - Emergency managers should actively engage in fieldwork to better understand the needs and challenges faced by first responders and to build effective partnerships.Interoperability and collaboration between different agencies and jurisdictions are essential for successful emergency management. The implementation of Communication Response Deployables (CRDs) and Nomad communication systems in emergency management can greatly enhance communication capabilities during disasters.Training and collaboration with IT departments are crucial for the successful integration of these communication technologies.Support our podcast! Everything EM Weekly: www.thereadinesslab.com/em-weekly-links Access the AI tools by signing up for the The Readiness Lab Insider Subscription: https://www.thereadinesslab.com/the-eoc Leading During Crisis is a Masterclass taught by Peter T. Gaynor CEM® , who held one of the highest offices in the federal government while leading the nation through numerous disasters: https://courses.femapete.com/a/2147740050/5SZFSgu7 Major Endorsements:L3Harris Technologies' BeOn PPT App. Learn more about this amazing product here: www.l3harris.com Impulse: Bleeding Control Kits by professionals for professionals: https://lnkd.in/dWWBYJAaDoberman Emergency Management Group provides subject matter experts in planning and training: www.dobermanemg.com
Ryan, Dana, and NewsRadio WFLA Anchor Chris Trenkmann discuss the upcoming Florida Supreme Court decision on abortion and marijuana ballot initiatives, an AT&T data breach, and a Pasco County woman caught stealing Easter eggs. Plus, ABC News Political Analyst Steve Roberts breaks down the impact of third-party candidates, a '60 Minutes' investigation into Havana Syndrome, yesterday's Transgender Day of Visibility controversy, and a Florida woman's unique excuse after being caught shoplifting.
Ryan, Dana, and NewsRadio WFLA Anchor Chris Trenkmann discuss a deadly deputy-involved shooting in Pasco County that was caught on bodycam footage, former Vice President Mike Pence declining to endorse Donald Trump, and spring break chaos at beaches across Florida. Plus, NewsRadio WFLA Market & Air Travel Expert Jay Ratliff discusses this week's Federal Reserve meeting and the latest issues involving Boeing planes. Finally, audio from Trump's Ohio rally that made headlines over the weekend, an illegal immigrant from Lebanon caught at the southern border admitting to having ties to a terrorist group, and an intoxicated woman humiliating a police officer who was arresting her at an airport.
Lauren Butler is the UF/IFAS Livestock Extension Agent and County Extension Director in Okeechobee County. Lauren is originally from Pasco County where her family raised commercial beef cattle, registered quarter horses, and registered brahmans. She met her husband, Will, while they both attended the University of Florida. They reside in Okeechobee with their two daughters, Claire and Loretta. Will's family runs a commercial dairy and cow-calf operation. Will and Lauren also own a small herd of registered Brahman cattle.
Ryan, Dana, and NewsRadio WFLA Anchor Chris Trenkmann discuss the Senate's failure to advance a border and foreign aid bill, arguments before the Florida Supreme Court on an abortion ballot measure, and an incident at a local school involving an autistic student. Plus, Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau Reporter Lawrence Mower discusses a bipartisan bill to address Florida's insurance crisis, Pasco County's first formal book challenge, and NewsRadio WFLA White House Correspondent Jon Decker's overview of the Trump ballot case being heard by the Supreme Court.
NewsRadio WFLA Anchor Chris Trenkmann runs through today's top stories, concerns in a Polk County neighborhood following the emergence of a sinkhole, a major drug trafficking bust in Pasco County, a bill filed creating a 'mental health day' for higher ed students in Florida, and lots more!
On the chat, we've got a chat with Erin Swanson and Wiatt Bowers on the Orange Belt Trail project that's been in the works over the past couple of years. Erin is a Pasco County Project Manager and Wiatt is a Consultant Project Manager for the Orange Belt Trail project. The Orange Belt Trail is a proposed multiuse trail spanning approximately 37 miles through Pasco County from Trinity to Trilby. It would provide key connections to the Coast-to-Coast Trail, Starkey Trail, Suncoast Trail, and Withlacoochee Trail as well as link communities such as Trinity, Odessa, Land O'Lakes, Wesley Chapel, and Dade City! More Info: https://orangebelttrail.com http://orangebelttrail.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/OBT_Workshops_4.2023_update.pdf
On today's MJ Morning Show: Caller had car damaged by stones on Howard Frankland Bridge... so did others Morons in the news MJ, Roxanne says don't do it... Woman says a eating a stick of butter a day keeps her healthy Roxanne is sober... nobody brought alcohol MJ crosses paths with listeners "Passengers of size" on Southwest Airlines Hal Herman Headlines Mercury Retrograde... Roxanne tells MJ to wait Preschool teacher gives child mood-changing patches without consent Claim: Stranger offered $200K for Doberman puppy... would our listeners take money for their pet? We took calls. Violent shoplifters Two guys robbed a Kohl's and are trying to get charges lowered for THIS reason 2 arrested for buying iPads and returning fake stuff inside packages Crotchety call: Defective lights Must-hear story: Bridezilla expects friends to cover $7,000 bachelorette party What does 'gate lice' mean? Happy Birthday to Roxanne's daughter Crotchety call: Drunk mall Santa Don't give lottery scratchers to kids for Christmas Texan driving moving truck in Pasco County arrested for DUI
It's one thing to know how the sausage gets made. It's another thing to buy the pigs that become the sausage. But that's what former Zest guest Andrew Tambuzzo recently did.Andrew is the founder and owner of The Boozy Pig Butchery & Kitchen in Tampa, which has locations in South Tampa and Davis Islands. In addition to selling pork products to the public, Boozy supplies meat to dozens of restaurants, hotels and other wholesale clients. To ensure the quality of his supply, Andrew recently purchased around 50 pigs of his own. They live on a farm in Pasco County.Buying livestock for your restaurant may sound extreme, but Andrew comes from a foodie family. His late grandfather Giuseppe Tambuzzo owned Tip Top Grocery Store in Ybor City, and his cousin John Barbie's Tip Top Canning Co. was featured on The Zest earlier this year.Dalia met up with Andrew at the Boozy Pig's South Tampa location as lunch hour was winding down. (They sat at a table that, moments earlier, had been occupied by former Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn. In this conversation, Andrew explains why buying the pigs was important to him, how pork products are made—buckle up for that!—and ways to make flavorful meals from less expensive cuts of meat.Related episodes:Tambuzzo Sausage Company & The Boozy PigHow 4 Rivers Smokehouse Became King of the BarbecueSummertime Grilling Tips for Your Best Barbecue Season Yet
Do you wonder if our education system might be overlooking crucial elements beyond academics, such as emotional and social readiness for real-world challenges?In today's episode, we're joined by Dan Wolfe, an educator and Assistant Principal at Sunray Elementary. With over two decades of experience, Dan brings to life the transformative power of Social-Emotional learning (SEL). We delved into the challenges and triumphs of implementing SEL in schools, the resistance it faces, and its broader implications for both children and adults.Dan discussed the importance of individual morals and values in becoming our best authentic selves. He emphasized that there are different paths to personal growth and that it's essential to respect and honor others' perspectives, even if they differ from our own.He also introduced his book, Becoming the Change, which provides practical tools for personal growth in SEL.So, grab a cup of coffee, settle in, and join us to understand how embracing SEL can bring about transformative changes in education and beyond.Stay empowered,JenLet's keep the conversation going! Find me at:Jen Rafferty | Instagram, YouTube, Facebook | LinktreeInstagram: @jenrafferty_Facebook: Empowered Educator Faculty RoomAbout Dan:Dan Wolfe has served in Pasco County, Florida for more than 20 years. During this time, he has held roles as a teacher, instructional coach and administrator. He is currently an Assistant Principal at Sunray Elementary. He was selected as Pasco County's District Teacher of the Year in 2011-2012 school year. He is a part of the district's Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Committee that recently established Pre-K through Grade 12 SEL standards.For the past two years Dan has written a blog called Becoming The Change (formerly Our Moral Compass) which focuses on a different quote each day and how we can best apply it towards becoming the change through our own moral compass and the five areas in SEL. During his spare time Dan enjoys spending his time reading, listening to podcasts, and going to Disney with his wife and daughter.For more information on his book, blog, podcast, social media links and other podcast interviews please go to: https://becoming-the-change.com/8258-2/Connect with Dan:Website: becoming-the-change.comTwitter: @ServLeadInspire LinkedIn: Dan WolfeInstagram:@serveleadinspirealways Facebook: Dan Wolfe
We are kicking off season 4 with an incredibly helpful podcast from Chief John Schmidt of Pasco County, who also serves on the board of the IAFC SHS section. John discusses the importance of being mindful that our firefighters are also husbands, wives, brothers, and sisters. He talks about being intentional with his health and the health of the firefighters ... Read More
Now here is a character that many in this neck of the woods know! He is a larger than life character whose impact on Law Enforcement in Southern Arizona is undeniable. I'm so glad he agreed to come on the show and create his very own legacy, I'm even happier he will be back in a couple weeks to wrap up his career but also talk about all he is doing now and how he continues to serve long after he is retired! You don't want to miss out, tune it and let's get this episode officially in the books!!!! Ladies and gents, Gator!
In this episode, we feature Justin, who wrestled with addiction from a very young age. At the age of 13, drug and alcohol use became a means of escape from the daily madness at home. Little did Justin know at the time, that this would evolve into a way of life for him for many years, and he came to realize that rock bottoms had basements. Justin endured a state of mind filled with hopelessness, surpassing even experiences of homelessness, being stabbed, and grappling with addiction. Justin's turning point came when he was rescued by a Pasco County sheriff's officer, marking the beginning of his journey to reclaim his life. Join us as we jump into Justin's story on the Sober Motivation podcast. ----------------- Connect with Justin (the hope shot) here : https://linktr.ee/thehopeshot Check out Sober Motivation on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobermotivation/ Support the Podcast or check out the Sober Motivation 30 Day Journal: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/sobermotivation More information on SoberLink: https://soberlink.com/recover
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This is the 1300th episode of our news podcast! And to celebrate we are featuring another big win for our RealWealth investors -- the public opening of a man-made crystal lagoon in the Tampa Bay area that's now the nation's largest! The 15-acre Mirada Lagoon is part of a massive development project in Pasco County that was syndicated by us at RealWealth. It was supposed to open a few years ago, but thanks to the pandemic and supply chain issues, those plans were delayed until now! (1) Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. Please remember to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review. We acquired the land for about 10 cents on the dollar nearly a decade ago, during the downturn. It was called Cannon Ranch at the time, and slated for 4200 homes on a golf course, but our team thought that consumers might be ready for something different. We brought on a partner, Metro Development Group, and decided to replace the golf-course plan with a huge 15-acre crystal lagoon. We changed the name from Cannon Ranch to The Mirada. It's located near Wesley Chapel, north of Tampa, right next to another community with the nation's first crystal lagoon, also built by Metro. It's the 7.5 acre Epperson Lagoon. As reported by the Orlando Sentinel, Metro has now opened a total of three lagoons in the Tampa Bay area. (2) The Neighborhood News says Metro is opening a fourth in Ft. Myers, with plans for several more in central Florida. (3) What Are Crystal Lagoons? So exactly what is a crystal lagoon? They've been described by some as nothing short of massive and stunning. (4) They have the ability to transform any ordinary piece of land into a safe, family-friendly beach. They are filled with crystal clear water that's perfect for swimming, paddle boarding, kayaking and other water sports. They can be as deep as nine feet or as shallow as needed for young children. And there is no limit to their size. The technology is also impressive. Crystal Lagoons use one hundred times fewer chemicals than swimming pools on a per-volume basis. Instead of chlorine they use an automated remote-controlled system that measures the water's PH, temperature, and other factors to determine the exact locations that need disinfecting. Disinfectant is then used only in those places. They also have a low-cost ultrasonic filtration system for solid matter that uses sound waves to push dirt into a giant suction cart that travels on the bottom of the pool. It's very energy efficient and uses 50 times less energy than typical swimming pool technology. And, they are good at conserving water. Despite the massive volume of water needed to fill one of these pools, they use 30 times less water than a golf course and 50% less water than a park of the same size. And, they use anti-evaporation technology that conserves even more water. Mirada Lagoon - Massive and Stunning! The Mirada is so big, it took 45 days and about 33 million gallons of water to fill it! It also needed about 17 million pounds of sand to create a mile-long shoreline around the lagoon. Amenities include a swim-up bar, a water slide, a “splash zone” for kids, and a floating obstacle course. Visitors can rent cabanas, as you might expect, along with paddle boards and kayaks to cruise around the lagoon. Metro's vice president of marketing and communications, Vaike O'Grady, says the Mirada Lagoon presented some unexpected challenges, like the Covid-related supply-chain issues and labor shortages, but overall, demand for crystal lagoons has been strong. She said of the company's plans: “After we saw what the success was, we realized we could do this again and again because there was so much demand for it.” The overall size of the Mirada development is about 2,000 acres. Although some residents already live there, plans call for a total of 4,500 homes from six different builders. O'Grady says prices will range from the high $200s to more than $1 million. Popularity Growing for Crystal Lagoons She says about 40% of the buyers come from out-of-state, and that many are finding the lagoon an affordable alternative to a home along the ocean. She says: “When they come here and they see they can have an inland lagoon lifestyle from prices as low as the high $200s, they're blown away by the value.” Crystal lagoons are becoming popular in many areas. Including the Palm Springs area of Southern California. That's where Disney is building a community called Cotino with another mammoth-sized lagoon. It was initially going to be about twice the size of the Mirada, but plans have apparently been scaled back to about 24-acres, which is still substantially larger than the Mirada Lagoon. As for how you can enjoy the Mirada Lagoon – members of the general public can purchase day passes. All-day passes range from $20 to $40. (5) You can also learn how to buy real estate in places like this as a member of RealWealth. It's free to join for access to our housing market data, investment counselors, and referrals to real estate professionals that you might need to help build a portfolio of rental properties. Our business plan with this syndication was to finish out the lots and sell them in bulk to builders. Investors, who have a 15% preferred return, should expect to begin receiving their capital back early next year, along with profits. If you want to hear about our current syndication projects, go to growdevelopments.com. Thanks for listening, and please remember to subscribe to the podcast! Kathy Fettke Links: 1 - https://www.tampabay.com/news/pasco/2023/06/06/largest-man-made-lagoon-country-just-opened-pasco-county/ 2 - https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2023/06/07/largest-human-made-lagoon-in-u-s-opens-in-pasco-county/ 3 - https://neighborhoodnewsonline.net/now-open-at-mirada-the-largest-manmade-lagoon-in-the-u-s/#:~:text=Yes%2C%20while%20Epperson's%207.5%2Dacre,now%20open%20to%20the%20public. 4 - https://www.crystal-lagoons.com/real-estate-projects/ 5 - https://miradastaycay.com/
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