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IN FOCUS spotlight
sports
Durant High claims rivalry victory Oct 5.
Red Rose fans relive magic at new dance.
PAGE 11
PAGE 17
serving up support
OUR TOWN
FREE • thursday, OCTOBER 11, 2012
Art in the Park showcases local talent. PAGE 13
governance
By Amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor
by Michael Eng | Managing Editor
New trees will help clean soil in Midtown
+ Church offers new quilting class
+ Farm Bureau celebrates 70 years More than 420 members of Hillsborough County Farm Bureau celebrated the organization’s 70th anniversary at its 2012 annual meeting at Hillsborough Community College’s John R. Trinkle Center, in Plant City. Hillsborough County Commissioner Al Higginbotham presented a proclamation in conjunction with the bureau’s 70th anniversary. Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Adam Putnam also recognized the anniversary and included his thanks for the organization’s contribution to agriculture locally and beyond. Florida Rep. Rich Glorioso received the Friend of Agriculture Award for his years of service and support. The bureau also named its 2012-2014 board: Ray Wood, Marty Tanner, Patrick Thomas, James Tew, Alex Ritzheimer, Greg Lehman, Jake Raburn, Jim Frankowiak, Ron Wetherington and Will Womack. They will join sitting members Aprile, Jemy Hinton, David Drawdy, Stefan Katzaras, Kenneth Parker, Michelle Williams, Jake Raburn, Bill Burnette and Roy Davis.
The phytoremediation process will help clean the groundwater contaminated by the former Gro Mor facility. Plant City will plant as many as 20 trees in Midtown to augment cleanup efforts on the contaminated site. City Manager Greg Horwedel detailed the plans during the City Commission’s meeting Oct. 8. Called phytoremediation, the process will include planting 12 to 20 trees along to western boundary of the former Gro More site and in the area of the proposed Midtown Village Green. Through natural attenuation, the trees will aid in cleaning the site’s groundwater, which is impacted with ammonia, nitrates, manganese, sulfates and iron. Horwedel said the planting likely would occur next April, after commissioners approve plans for Village Green. He also hopes to put out a formal request for developer proposals for Midtown next year. The phytoremediation process follows the clean-up work already completed on the site. Tanktek Inc., of Tampa, and EnviroTek completed Sept. 26 the excavation and removal of on-site soils contaminated with arsenic and benzo(a)pyrene. In total, 2,442.41 tons of soil was removed and transported to Republic Landfill in Bartow. Following the removal, the companies added 3,536 cubic yards of backfill.
Amber Jurgensen
Employees Pat Newsom, Annette Dunn and Debbie Colvin are happy to support Amber Bond by putting a collection jar at the front of Fred’s Market Restaurant in Plant City.
Angels for Amber When a Fred’s Market employee found out she had cancer, the network of restaurants made sure she could pay her hospital bills. When Amber Bond began feeling a swollen knot in her leg a year ago, she didn’t think much of it. The assistant manager at Fred’s Market in Lakeland kept working for nine months before going to see a doctor. At first, the doctors suspected a pinched lymph node had swollen. Without insurance, Bond began saving up and paying out of pocket to go to a doctor who could refer her to a surgeon. Bond worked until a week before her first surgery. “I was expecting to heal and go back, but things got kind of crazy,” Bond said. “It’s been a roller coaster.” Bond was misdiagnosed again before her surgery. Doctors thought it was a rare histiocys-
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tic sarcoma. The first thing they ruled out was melanoma, because of Bond’s fair and flawless skin. But a biopsy revealed stagethree melanoma. “It was frustrating, because you never really think it’s going to happen to you,” Bond said. “I was shocked.” Shortly after her first surgery, infection spread, and more lymph nodes in her leg began to swell. Bond found herself back on the operating table after an emergency trip by ambulance. “It was life-changing,” Bond said. “Everything runs through your head, everything you’ve worked for you don’t want to lose.” Bond still did not have health insurance to help pay the hefty
costs of her medical bills. That’s when the employees at Fred’s Market stepped in to help their longtime co-worker. They put collection cans and flyers at the cash register of each restaurant asking for donations for Bond. “She’s really a super, super individual,” Linda Londberg, manager at Johnson Barbecue in Plant City, said. “That’s why we’re doing this for her.” The employees from the four Fred’s Market Restaurants in Plant City, Bartow, Winter Haven and Lakeland and Johnson Barbecue in Plant City then went even further than collection cans. About three weekends ago, the restaurants had a bake sale
SEE AMBER / PAGE 6
Amber Bond: I used to think I had a dull life — work and go home, work and go home. But now, I realize how much life means. You just have to look at the good things and learn from the experience and believe everything happens for a reason.
INDEX
Crossword.......... 19
Obituaries.......... 15
Opinion.................8
CITY OKS EMINENT DOMAIN PROCEEDINGS
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Donnalee Jackson will offer a quilting class beginning Nov. 4, in Plant City. The six-week course will be from 2:30 to 5 p.m. Sundays through Dec. 9, at the Plant City Seventh-day Adventist Church, 2203 Strawberry Drive. Students will learn to make a small project, and the ultimate goal is to transition to making quilts for elderly in need and children in foster care. Cost for the class is $30. For a supply list or to register, call Jackson, 365-0232.
Sports................ 16
City commissioners also authorized pre-suit negotiations — and the use of eminent domain, if necessary — to acquire easements necessary to begin using sanitary force main and reclaimed water lines that go through land owned by Warren Land LLC. In December 2007, the city entered into an agreement with
SEE MIDTOWN / PAGE 6 Vol. 1, No. 15 | One section
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