Yule find a good tree in Brandon

BRANDON -- Pack up the turkey. It's time to get out the Christmas tree.

In Florida, it's much more economical to reuse a fake tree each year, but who can deny the wonderful smell of the evergreens set up under tents across the county?

There's stands throughout southeast Hillsborough County, including three spots for Mike's Christmas Trees: Bloomingdale Avenue, just east of Providence Road; at East Bay High School; and Martin Luther King Boulevard near Parsons.

At Mike's, there's trees of all sizes, and most run from $40 to $150. For those with a tighter budget, there's also poinsettias and wreaths.

[Photo: Shoppers search for the perfect tree at Mike's Christmas Trees on Bloomingdale Avenue. Photo by Jessica Vander Velde.]

-- Jessica Vander Velde, Times staff writer

Bargains in Brandon today

BRANDON -- Thinking about heading out into the throng of bargain-hungry Black Friday shoppers? Well, now's the time.

At the Westfield Shopping Center in Brandon, the lines are longer getting out of the parking lot than going in. A JCPenney saleswoman said people were lined outside the door at 4 a.m. this morning, but the crowds are more manageable now.

Though some of the sales will last through the day, many will expire at noon or 1 p.m.

Noon deadlines: Express, 25 percent off all merchandise; Ann Taylor Loft, 20 percent off.

Rather check items off your Christmas list than eat lunch today? There's several stores offering sales through the lunch hour.

1 p.m. deadlines: JCPenney, sales through 1 p.m., including 40 percent off purses; PacSun, 30 percent off all merchandise.

Parking is more readily available behind the mall, and it's quicker to get in on from Lumsden Road than Sate Road 60.

-- Jessica Vander Velde, Times staff writer

Folsom teacher featured in national publication

THONOTOSASSA - The story of the Folsom Elementary teacher whose heart stopped beating while teaching is being featured in a pamphlet put out by the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association.

Shelly Copeland went into cardiac arrest while teaching in March, but was likely saved by the quick action of her students and co-workers, as well as a unique procedure in which doctors induced hypothermia to slow her brain's consumption of oxygen. Read more about her story here.

The association is using Copeland's story to show how quick action, training and the use of automated external defibrillators can save people's lives in schools. Read the association's pamphlet here.

-- Jessica Vander Velde, Times staff writer

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Can a "small town" community grow, keep its flavor?

SEFFNER -- Residents drafting a vision statement know what they don't want: Pole signs, strip shopping centers, and commercial encroachment between U.S. 92 and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, to name a few.

They also know what they want: preservation of its small-town atmosphere, better sidewalks, landscaping and signage as well as new development that is compatible with the old, protection for wetlands and support for mass transit.

How to get there? That's what a vision for the community is all about. Residents are meeting regularly and bringing in experts to draft a coherent plan for the community of Seffner-Mango. Meetings are held at the Hillsborough County Extension Office, 5339 County Road 579, Seffner. The next meeting is at 6 p.m. Dec. 18.  Call John Healey at 276-8393 for more information, or read about how communities across the county are planning for the future.

-- Andrew Meacham, Times Staff Writer

Sheriff's office offers safety tips for holiday shopping

BRANDON -- With Thanksgiving -- and the start of holiday shopping -- just hours away, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office will have an increased presence at area malls, including the Westfield Brandon mall.

Additional deputies will be on hand to help minimize criminal activity during holiday shopping, as well as to monitor the heavy traffic flow that is expected as December approaches.

The Sheriff's Office is offering these safety tips while out shopping:

-- Use credit/debit cards when possible and limit the amount of cash you carry.

-- Keep purchases and packages in the trunk of your car so they aren't visible.

-- Try to make all ATM transactions during daylight.

-- Have your keys in hand while walking to your vehicle.

-- Kevin Smetana, Times Staff Writer

Investing seminar zeros in on mutual funds

SUN CITY CENTER -- Just because the stock market is down doesn’t mean you should forget about investing. Quite the contrary, say Don Williams and Kyle Canant of The Mutual Fund Store, who will host free a pair of free seminars on "the BOLD Truth About Mutual Funds."

Seminars are as follows: Dec. 3, 10:30 a.m. to noon, Wilder Airport Executive Center, 2203 N Lois Ave., Tampa; and 2 to 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 5 at the Golf Club at Cypress Creek in Sun City Center, 1011 Cypress Village Blvd. Seating is limited. Call 661-1717 for reservations.

-- Andrew Meacham, Times staff writer

Riverview boat launch to receive facelift

RIVERVIEW -- The county is pouring a quarter-million dollars inro the Williams Park boat ramp, and construction will start Dec. 8.

The park is located near the intersection of U.S. 41 and Riverview Drive on the north bank of the Alafia River.

The boat ramp will remain open during construction, but the fishing pier will be closed for 60 days for repairs. The pier will get new decking, handrails, and general repairs, county officials said. Other improvements will include repaving the parking lot, new water fountains and sidewalks to the picnic shelters.

The money for the project comes from the Florida Boating Improvement Fund and Hillsborough County’s R3M program, which provides money to repair, renovate, replace and maintain aging facilities.

-- Jessica Vander Velde, Times staff writer

Ned the elephant gaining weight at new home

BALM -- Ned, the elephant confiscated from animal trainer Lancelot Kollmann about two weeks ago, is gaining weight, said his new caregiver, Carol Buckley, of The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee.

She guesses that when they weigh him later this week, he'll have gained 200 to 300 pounds since his arrival. Buckley is updating Ned's blog, and she posted a recent picture of the elephant next to one taken right after he arrived.

The most recent photo shows Ned with a much larger belly, which she attributes to him eating well.

"This shows that his stomach is full," she said.

The Elephant Sanctuary is helping Ned for now, but it won't be his permanent home -- that will be at the Performing Animal Welfare Society's 2,300-acre sanctuary in California.

They offered to build Ned a permanent home in their bull elephant habitat, which is now under construction.

-- Jessica Vander Velde, Times staff writer

Sun City Center sewage line breaks; county redirects water to treatment plant

[Times photo | John Pendygraft]

SUN CITY CENTER -- After pumping thousands of gallons of groundwater into Middle Lake over the weekend following a sewage main break, the county decided this morning to redirect the water flow to a treatment plant.

Community resident Dave Brown had complained about the possibility of leaking sewage mixing with the groundwater pumped into the 40-acre lake, which is used for boating and lawn irrigation. Brown, who lives in one of the more than 100 homes around the lake, worried for the safety of boaters and fishermen at the lake as well as the possiblity of his neighbors' grandchildren playing in sewage-coated yards this Thanksgiving holiday.

But MIchelle Van Dyke, spokeswoman for the county's Water Resource Services, says that it would be "extremely unusual" for sewage in the pipe to have mixed with the surrounding groundwater that was pumped into Middle Lake. But using an "abundance of caution" to allay residents' concerns and because workers this morning detected a slight odor at the site this morning, the county decided to redirect the groundwater to a treatment plant, she said.

The odor, described as sulfuric or similar to rotten eggs, could occur naturally in the groundwater, she said. But to be sure it's not sewage and to learn exactly what's in the water, techinicians were sent to the site and the lake to test the water, she said. Results could be back as early as tomorrow.

The broken main was discovered Wednesday as contractors checked the condition of the sewer main along Del Webb Boulevard as part of an ongoing inspection of the county's infrastructure, said Richard Cummings, a county maintenance field manager. Because the pipe lies 17 feet deep, the surrounding groundwater must be pumped out before the pipe can be excavated and replaced.

The sewage main is a gravity pipe, meaning that it's unpressurized and sewage flows through it down a gentle slope. Cummings said it was highly unlikely that the pipe's sewage leaked into the surrounding groundwater because the pressure outside the pipe was greater than pressure inside the pipe.

"If that (mixture) did happen, it would be extremely unusual," Cummings said, adding that there was no sewage smell when the pumping started this weekend. The groundwater was diverted to Middle Lake as part of normal operations to pump it to the nearest stormwater retention site, he said.

Brown recently won a Moral Courage Award from the county for his advocacy helping thousands of residents save on property insurance because of faulty flood zone maps.

-- Sundra Amrhein, Times staff writer

Ruskin paleontologist turns musician

RUSKIN -- Amateur paleontologist Frank Garcia, probably best known for unearthing ancient bones in Ruskin's Leisey Shell Pit in 1983, is now making his name as a song-writer and singer.

His newest song, Corazon de Tampa, was recently posted on YouTube, along with a montage of historical photos of Ybor City.

The song is about growing up in Ybor City in the late 1940s and early '50s. He reminisces about the fruit sellers, the red-brick streets and the deviled crabs sold in restaurants.

“It was just all so beautiful,” he said.

He sent a copy to Mayor Pam Iorio several weeks ago but has yet to hear from her. He figures she’s just busy, but he has hopes that it will become the official song of Tampa.

Garcia, of Ruskin now, started working on the song about three months ago, and a friend helped him digitally orchestrate the music. He’s working on another song now, called Café Con Leche Sola, a love story about his grandparents meeting in Ybor City.

“I’m going to have a concept album eventually," he said.

-- Jessica Vander Velde, Times staff writer