TAMPA — A Plant City man who ran over an 80-year-old pedestrian and left him to die last year entered guilty pleas in the hit-and-run case Wednesday and was given 10 years in prison. Ryan S. Pottinger, 30, was also sentenced to a decade of probation after state prison.Hillsborough County deputies said Pottinger was behind […]
Continue ReadingIn defense of the WLCA
Dear Editor: With respect to Don Marshall’s letter, “WLCA running low on mulligans,” in the March 27 edition: It’s always interesting with today’s “shoot-from-the-hip” mentality that critics come crawling out of the woodwork to slam the Walden Lake Community Association board. Even more interesting is that these folks generally have misinformation, feel they have better […]
Continue ReadingMY VIEW: More focus required on dental health
By Jamie McGrogan One year ago, 100 children from Bryan Elementary School had lots to smile about. The Suncoast Community Health Centers, dentists and volunteers had provided dental care to these children who needed it the most. Dental-health providers are taking a step back from political aspects of service by giving of their time and […]
Continue ReadingLESSONS FROM THE FIELD: Take time to hear life’s simple sounds
The morning is cool, and the sounds of the day begin. These are not the usual sounds of trucks, buses and the multiplicity of car horns barking, “MOOOOOOOOOOOVE IT!” The sounds I am referring to are the ones that come from the agricultural building at the Florida Strawberry Festival fairgrounds. The roosters that awaken the […]
Continue ReadingDurant grad, a Marine veteran, among crash victims
Joe Vizcarrondo Sr. braced for it every day his son was overseas. He came to expect that the Marines would arrive one day bearing the news he feared most — that his son wasn’t coming home. For the five years Joe Vizcarrondo Jr. fought in Operation Iraqi Freedom, his father waited for that knock at […]
Continue ReadingFour killed in early-morning crash in Plant City
A head-on collision killed four people early Friday morning along State Road 60 in Plant City. It happened about 12:13 a.m. just east of Clarence Gordon Jr. Road. Rolando Silva, 31, of Plant City, was headed east at a high rate of speed in a 2006 BMW when he lost control of the car and […]
Continue ReadingFAITH MATTERS: Something far greater
“God will never give you more than you can handle!” The woman before me proudly proclaimed this truism with great confidence, knowing that her wisdom had been derived directly from the Bible. One problem: It’s not in the Bible. More than that, I would submit it is contradictory to the Bible, and, I would suggest, […]
Continue ReadingLETTER: WLCA running low on mulligans
Dear Editor: Six months ago, the Walden Lake Community Association board was called out for a lack of transparency, consistency and objectivity regarding meetings between WLCA directors and Visions Golf LLC to discuss Visions development plans (see “Is WLCA out of bounds?” in the Sept. 18, 2013 edition of the Plant City Times & Observer. […]
Continue ReadingLETTER: Fireworks frighten animals, residents
Dear Editor: New Years Eve and the Fourth of July are two very terrifying days/nights of the year. Why? Because of general citizen use of fireworks. It used to be in this county and city that you traveled to a central location to watch a civic display of fireworks. Now, aerial fireworks are in every corner of the […]
Continue ReadingBREAKING: Tanker fire closes Interstate 4
SEFFNER — Authorities closed both directions of Interstate 4 in east Hillsborough County Friday morning after a tanker truck caught fire. The fire began about 10:30 a.m. near mile marker 9 in Seffner. The truck was carrying a chemical known as “Orange Essence,” according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Hillsborough County hazardous materials units were […]
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