Pasco debate to take place, despite Jewish holiday

Despite complaints from some Jewish residents, the West Pasco Chamber of Commerce is sticking with its candidate forum Thursday -- Yom Kippur. The "Day of Atonement" is the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

Joe Alpine, president of the New Port Richey-based chamber, said today that he has sent Jewish community members a letter acknowledging "the Jewish 'Day of Atonement' was mistakenly overlooked when we were scheduling the forum."

Alpine said the 5 p.m. forum at Pasco-Hernando Community College in New Port Richey will go on because there are so many similar events, it is difficult to nail down confirmations from candidates and venues, Alpine said. He said the chamber will be sure to review Jewish holidays when planning future events.

"It’s just one of those things that happened. We didn’t purposely do that," Alpine said.

-- David DeCamp, Times staff writer

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