new program aimed to keep students safe

By Rachel ChristianStaff Writer

A bill that would more evenly distribute foster care funds for agencies in Central Florida is making its way through the state House and Senate this week.

Currently, agencies that help at-risk kids are funded differently by the state.

The two proposed pieces of legislation, House Bill 1079 and Senate Bill 1360, aim to change that allocation model so that 70 percent of core service funds are evenly distributed across all of the community based care organizations in Florida. That figure had previously been 20 percent.

The bills are something

Glen Casel, CEO of Community Based Care of Central Florida (CBCCF), strongly supports.

Casel is in favor of the bills because, he says, the new model would help close local funding gaps.

“Osceola, Orange and Seminole counties are home to 11.5 percent of all the children under the age of 18 in the state,” he said. “But this tri-county area only receives 8.5 percent of the child welfare funding from the state.”

CBCCF is the lead child welfare organization for Osceola County. The Department of Children and Families conducts investigations on child abuse and neglect, but

CBCCF is tasked with fostering, adoption and youth transitional services for at-risk kids.

Casel said the rise in opioid addiction has made additional funds more essential than ever. He pointed to research conducted by the University of South Florida, which found that the number of Florida children removed from their homes grew 150 percent between 2012 and 2015. During the same time, the number of opioid prescriptions spiked nearly 10 percent. Casel said the number of kids removed due to parental drug abuse has also grown in Osceola County.

By Rachel ChristianStaff Writer

Students at Neptune Elementary School in St. Cloud greeted an out-of-this-world guest Friday morning.

WonderWorks, the Orlando attraction best known for its “upside down” house on International Drive, partnered with NASA astronaut Don Thomas for Friday’s visit. Thomas appeared at eight Central Florida schools, including four in Osceola County, to discuss his time in space and promote WonderWorks’ 20 t h anniversary.

The group of Neptune Elementary fifth graders were on their best behavior for the visit, but even the most mannerly students let out excited gasps and whispers when Thomas strode into the room, clad in his cobalt blue NASA jumpsuit.

Thomas served as an astronaut on four space

missions from 1994-97. He spent 44 total days in space over his four missions, and orbited the Earth over 690 times.

Thomas made his intergalactic presentation to about 35 children in the school’s media center while the rest of the school watched a live-stream in their classrooms.

The retired spaceman captivated his young audience with tales of zero-gravity adventure and fascinating space facts, such as how long it took his shuttle to exit Earth’s atmosphere (8.5 minutes) or how long it took his space craft to make a full orbit around the Earth (1.5 hours).

He discussed the daily logistics of exercising, sleeping, showering and eating in space.

And, of course, going to the bathroom.

“For everyone watching in the classrooms, I’m sorry to tell you the kids

Epcot is in full bloom.The Flower & Garden Festival returns for another season.

1.

New program aimed to keep students safeBy Rachel ChristianStaff Writer

Retired law enforcement officers may soon be called on to help improve safety measures at Osceola County schools.

Fol lowing the Mar jor y Stoneman D oug l as Hig h School shooting in Parkland on Valentine’s Day, school districts across the state are looking at ways to make educational institutes safer.

Ideas ranging from metal detectors to arming teachers have been tossed into the public sphere as possible solutions.

Last week, Osceola County School District officials met with local law enforcement to brainstorm ideas.

At Mon d ay ’s C ou nt y Commission meeting, Sheriff Russ Gibson shared highlights from that closed-door meeting with the board.

Gibson balked at the notion of arming educators. He asserted that giving guns to teachers, even after 132 hours of training, is the wrong thing to do.

“I’m dead set against it,” the sheriff said. “Teachers train all the time to be nurturers and educators … and for a $500 stipend, they’re going to be armed security guards?

That’s not going to happen in Osceola County.”

In line with a plan proposed by Gov. Rick Scott last month, local officials want to place a security resource officer (SRO) at every Osceola County school and two at every high school. That would mean hiring at least 19 additional officers.

The county is willing to create a budget amendment to allow for the new hires before the new school year begins.

The issue though, said Commission Chairman Fred Hawkins, is a lack of available

Astronaut visits Neptune Elementary

State bills could fund foster care in Osceola

Showing off the moves

NEWS-GAZETTE PHOTO/MARTIN MADDOCK

Professional dance instructor Jack Valerio dances a cha-cha number by Orchestra Fuego with Joann Quijano at the Cuban Sandwich Smack Down festival that was held at Kissimmee’s Lakefront Park on Saturday. For more photos, see page 24.

INSIDE ONGInforming readers. Helping build a stronger community.

50 CENTS WWW.AROUNDOSCEOLA.COM Thursday, March 8, 2018

The Guide

1 Man sought for killing estranged wife.Sheriff’s Office officials said the suspect shot the victim. 2 3 Mother, daughter found dead.

The girl was 17 and attended Osceola High School.

Learn Florida’s native language. The four-part series will be held at the Poinciana branch library.

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Pace: Young women can be part of any field or career path. Page 3.

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NASA astronaut Don Thomas fields questions from Neptune Elementary School students about his work during a visit on Friday.

See Bills, Page 5.

Sheriff Russ GibsonSee Program, Page 2.

OSCEOLA NEWS-GAZETTE Thursday, March 8, 2018LOCAL

PROGRAMContinued from Page 1trained law enforcement officers.

Two major solutions to

this problem were discussed. Recruiting recently retired officers as SROs was one option.

“I reached out to the governor and other people at the state, asking them to waive their [officers’] retirement,” Hawkins said. “Allow someone to keep their retirement, but if they want to come back for a paycheck to be one of these resource officers, they should allow that and not hurt that person’s retirement.”

The other option, which is already underway, is vetting parents through the Sheriff ’s Office and the district’s OASIS volunteer program so that adults can serve as “eyes and ears” for teachers and SROs.

Gibson said individuals could apply to become safety volunteers by signing up at osceolasheriff.org. The vetting and background check process takes about a month and a half to complete.

After getting the green light, safety volunteers would keep an eye out for suspicious and potentially dangerous behavior on morning and afternoon shifts.

“This is an idea we’ve come up with since Feb. 14,” Gibson said. “To me, that’s a better idea than arming our teachers, by letting our SROs who are qualified to handle those firearms do their jobs, and letting volunteers assist them by saying something if

Osceola County Sheriff ’s Office deputies are searching for a man who they say shot and killed his estranged wife on Monday.

Deputies, who responded to 217 Manoel Silva St. in Kissimmee after receiving a shooting call, discovered a deceased female who had injuries consistent with a gunshot wound, according to a Sheriff ’s Office report.

The invest igat ion determined the victim’s estranged husband, Alex Olivencia-Alvarado, 45, was responsible for her death and a warrant has been

obtained for his arrest for first-degree murder.

Ol ive nc i a - A lv ar a d o is considered armed and dangerous, Sheriff ’s Office officials said. He was last seen driving a 2009 Black

Toyota Scion XD with the Florida tag: IIQA3. He was wearing a gray shirt and blue jeans and frequents the Meadow Woods area in Orange County. Anyone who knows Olivencia-Alvarado or knows his whereabouts, do not approach him, but call 911 immediately, Sheriff ’s Office officials said.

Anyone with information on this case is asked to contact the Osceola County Sheriff ’s Office at 407-348-2222 or Crimeline at 1-800-423-8477, where information leading to an arrest may be eligible for cash rewards of up to $1,000.

St. Cloud man killed in crash

A St. Cloud man was killed in a crash on Sunday after the truck he was driving hit a tree.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Joseph Mancillas Jr., 21, was driving a 1996 Ford Truck on Hickory Tree Road, when for an unknown reason, the vehicle left the roadway.

It then barreled through a fence and entered a field where it hit a tree. Mancillas was pronounced dead on scene. Troopers believe the crash happened sometime after midnight.

Man sought for killing estraged wife

Olivencia-Alvarado

Osceola High student, mother found shot dead

By Rachel Christian Staff Writer

A 17-year-old Osceola County High School student and her mother were found dead in a Beaumont Avenue home in Kissimmee Monday morning.

According to Osceola County Sheriff Russ Gibson, authorities responded to a call to Beaumont Avenue home around 9 a.m. Deputies

discovered two fatal gunshot victims in one of the bedrooms, a 39-year-old mother and her 17-year-old daughter.

The sheriff said there were no signs of a foul play.

“Investigators at the scene want the public to know that we believe this is an isolated incident, and that the general public is not in any danger whatsoever,” Gibson said at a press conference held

outside the Osceola County courthouse later that day.

The 911 call was placed by the teenager’s grandmother, who also lives at the Beaumont Avenue home, Gibson said.

A formal cause of death has yet to be determined in the on-going investigation.

Gibson said the victims’ names would not be released

until law enforcement could notify family members. Gibson did confirm that the student’s father lives in the area. The sheriff said law enforcement is not pursuing any suspects at this time.

Grief counselors will be made available at Osceola High School once the identity of the victim is released, the Sheriff ’s Office said.

For more information, contact Rachel Christian at 321-402-0434.

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Editor’s note: For our first profile leading up to the Women Today special section publishing March 29, the News-Gazette spoke with Osceola County School District Superintendent Debra Pace to ask her about her experiences as a woman in education administration and what role she believes public schools play in empowering the next generation of young female leaders.

Pace, a St. Cloud native, is celebrating her second year as district superintendent. She earned her doctorate of education from the University of Central Florida, and has been in the educational field since 1986. She formerly served as principal for Poinciana and Harmony High Schools and as Deputy Superintendent for Secondary Instruction in the Osceola School District, among other roles.

Osceola News-Gazette: How have you seen the role of women in education administration evolve over the years?

Debra Pace: I think a lot of women, including myself, originally went into education because we love kids, but also because it was something that worked for a family lifestyle. My mother was a teacher, my aunt was a teacher – it was one of those careers where you could have some balance between your professional responsibilities and your family responsibilities.

I have seen more women go into leadership as doors have opened. I think that women encouraging other women to step up and try leadership roles is a really critical piece, and there’s more of that now than before. I think that’s really positive.

ONG: What’s your opinion on the “glass ceiling” as it relates to the educational field? Do you think it’s as much of an issue in your field compared to others?

Pace: Not any more. When I first became a high school principal, I was the only high school principal who was female at the time. I wasn’t the first. There had been one before me. But I was the only one.

But I think today, doors are open to women at all levels. Our state education commissioner, Pam Stewart, is female. I think she’s a great role model for others and encourages others to step up. And we try to do the same here in our district.

ONG: What do you think is the biggest challenge young women face today after they exit the public school system and enter the real world?

Pace: There is certainly always the challenge of balance for women — and for males. But I think women may feel it a little bit more intensely, in terms of taking care of your health, taking care of your family, taking care of your friends while meeting the demands of leadership and education. That is probably the biggest challenge I have faced, and I think that’s true for others.

The networks are there, the opportunities are there, to find support from other females, but still it’s hard to find that balance. And once you move into that leadership role, it can be a little lonely. So it’s important to establish relationships with colleagues as well so that you can collaborate, learn and grow from each other.

ONG: What kind of role do you think the public school system should play in empowering young girls?

Pace: I think that public schools play a significant role, and we do that by making sure that we open up opportunities for women in our classrooms, our schools and our district to be leaders so that young women have role models.

I also think that the things we do to encourages kids to be healthy females with good self confidence and strong body images is another important piece. Those things help show that young women can be a part of any field or career path they choose.

We’re opening NeoCity Academy in August, and I’m very excited that of the 119 students who have been accepted so far, almost 40 percent of them are female. They are choosing to go into a focused school based around STEM (science technology, engineering, and math). I think that shows that girls don’t feel that they can’t do math or they can’t do coding. They can and they are. Through our future problem solvers, through odyssey of the mind, through the curriculum and activities we are providing for kids.

STEM is a huge focus throughout the district, and that’s opening eyes and opening doors and creating opportunities for kids. I think public schools have to step up to that challenge.

ONG: What is a challenge you faced during your climb up through education administration that you hope future generations of females don’t have to face?

Pace: I’ve been very fortunate in my career path that I had great mentors who demonstrated great trust and confidence in me, and gave me great opportunities to develop so there weren’t any roadblocks.

But the best advice I ever received was blossom where you’re planted. Take the position you have now and be the best you can be. Bloom in that role, and that’s when the next door, the next opportunity comes your way, then you’ll have the confidence to take chances and risk failure in some respects because you have people around you who encourage and support you.

Pace: Young women can be part of any field or career path they choose

Debra Pace

ASTRONAUTContinued from Page 1

here voted thumbs up on talking about the toilet,” Thomas said with a smile. “They told me Neptune Elementary was a special school, and I can see that.”

Potty talk aside, a central theme ran through Thomas’ entire presentation – it takes hard work to make dreams come true.

The retired astronaut, who obtained a science doctorate from Cornell University in 1980, shared the discouragement he felt after being rejected from three space missions before

finally making the cut when he was 37 years old.

“No one is just going to call you up one day and say, ‘Hey do you want to be an astronaut?’” Thomas told the students. “You have to go out there and make it happen.”

Over 550 Central Florida schools entered into the “Win a Visit From an Astronaut” promotion hosted by WonderWorks, and eight winners were selected last month.

The three other Osceola County schools Thomas

visited were Parkway Middle School, Partin Settlement Elementary and Highlands Elementary.

Students at all eight schools received free tickets to the upside down house.

The local attraction has given away 20,000 tickets through various 20th anniversary promotions. Festivities culminated Saturday with a celebration at WonderWorks’ I-Drive location, where Thomas spent the day fielding questions from curious visitors.

St. Cloud residents have been wondering when the walking bridges on Lakeshore Boulevard will be repaired.

S e v e r a l s u f f e r e d structural damage due to

the heavy rains related to Hurricane Irma last fall.

A f t e r m u c h consideration and research, the City Council voted to do the repairs on the entire system at an estimated cost

of $463,000. That includes all 10 bridges.

Bidding for the project is currently underway. It is anticipated repairs will begin late this spring or early summer.

Lakeshore bridge repairs to begin in St. Cloud

Ag Dept collects $174k in FebruaryThe Florida Department

of Agriculture and C ons u m e r S e r v i c e s recovered nearly $174,000 for Florida consumers during the month of February, according to a state press release.

During February 2018, the department:

• Recovered $173,940 on behalf of Florida consumers.

• Received a total of 3,635 complaints.

• Initiated a total of 275 investigations.

• The department arrested 15 individuals.

• Provided assistance to 20,296 consumers through the 1-800-HELP-FLA hotline,

online chats and emails.• Added 1 4 , 0 9 0

telephone numbers to Florida’s Do Not Call List.

A s t h e s t a t e’s clearinghouse for consumer

See Ag, Page 5.

Celebrating Women in Osceola County

OSCEOLA NEWS-GAZETTE Thursday, March 8, 2018

Sun Publications of Florida cannot be held responsible for advertising claims. We reserve the right to refuse or discontinue any advertising, and to edit editorial content. All materials in these publications are copyrighted. Publisher will not be liable for any errors in advertising to a greater extent than the cost of the space occupied by the error, and accepts responsibility only for an error in the first week’s issue.

Letters To The Editor • Opinions • Columnists

Osceola County teamed up with Orange County more than 20 years ago and spent millions of taxpayer dollars to buy 1,700 acres of land now known as Split Oak Forest and Conservation Area.

The Florida Communities Trust, a state agency that helps preserve Florida’s natural resources, also contributed public funds to make the deal happen.

Split Oak was supposed to remain untouched forever.

But forever has gone out the window now that homebuilders want to extend Osceola Parkway through the forest to make their massive, new community more attractive.

It’s no surprise that developers are willing to cut up public lands for personal gain. But what is shocking, and frankly appalling, is that the Osceola County Commission has done nothing to try and stop them.

Commissioners Peggy Choudhry and Cheryl Grieb last month expressed a willingness to discuss the issue at a public board meeting, but it fell flat.

The decision on whether or not to build through Split Oak is up ultimately up to CFX, the Central Florida Expressway Authority. Osceola County Commission Chairman Fred Hawkins also chairs the CFX board, which meets this week to discuss proposed routes for the toll road.

The Orange County Commission last year sent a letter to regional transportation officials asserting Orange County’s authority over its portion of Split Oak and said they were “concerned on behalf of its citizens about any alignment that might lie wholly or partially within Orange County.”

Why hasn’t the Osceola County Commission followed suit?

Commissioner Choudhry told us this week she supports protecting Split Oak. But her colleagues on the board said they’re not prepared to speak on the matter until CFX makes its determination.

Last month, when the Osceola County Commission accepted $37 million in private funds from the developer for the road, Chairman Hawkins said the money had nothing to do with the road’s alignment. In a Facebook video posted after the meeting, he said the funds would be used for planning and to buy land for the road.

Chairman Hawkins, who was re-elected for a third term in 2016, in our opinion, has done little to address concerns from Osceola residents and environmental groups that object to building through Split Oak.

Of all the elected officials connected to the issue, Chairman Hawkins seems to be the most well-positioned considering his dual roles as chairman of both the county commission and the CFX board. He told the News-Gazette he would answer questions about how he plans to balance the environmental concerns with the requirements of new development this week. We’re very interested in what he has to say and will pass his response along to you as soon as we hear back.

The citizens fighting to protect the forest and hold public officials to their promises

should be commended. We should all be so concerned.

The controversy boils down to this: Our elected officials spent our money to protect this important wildlife corridor and to preserve our area’s dwindling natural resources. Infringing on even an inch of Split Oak would demonstrate a blatant disregard for the whole idea of mitigation, the government term for offsetting the impact of development by setting aside natural lands.

Building a road through Split Oak would ruin it, squander the public’s investment in conservation and prove that developers can buy just about anything. Even worse, it would show that developers carry more weight with politicians than the residents who elected them.

Let’s show them we’re all paying attention to how they handle this matter. We urge you to call your county commissioner and let them know that, in this case, preserving our natural resources is more important than giving developers exactly what they want.

After all, the Osceola Parkway extension could be built around Split Oak. The choice seems easy.

OUR VIEW

Why isn’t the Osceola County Commissionstanding up for Split Oak?

Year 127– No. 17

PublisherMATT PLOCHA

EditorBRIAN McBRIDE

Sports EditorKEN JACKSON

A & E Editor

JENNIFER DIDOMENICO

Production ManagerANGELIQUE PRIORE

Circulation Manager

KATHY BECKHAM

Chief Photographer

MARTIN MADDOCK

(USPS Number 513540)

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Postmaster: Send address changes to: Osceola News-Gazette

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The Osceola News-Gazette is published by Sun Publications of Florida, a division of Lakeway Publishers of Florida, Inc. Phone 407-846-7600. Fax 407-846-8516. Email at [email protected]. The Osceola News-Gazette is available online at: www.aroundosceola.com.

What are some of the best qualities of Osceola County?

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complaints, the department educates the public, investigates complaints and provides mediation on behalf of consumers.

The department’s call center is staffed with trained analysts who can respond to questions about programs

and regulations under the department’s purview, provide information on a wide variety of topics or direct callers to the appropriate government agency.

Last year, the department recovered more than $2.6 million of consumers’

money from moving companies, vehicle repair shops, pawn shops, health studios, telemarketers, sellers of travel and more.

Consumers who believe fraud has taken place can contact the department’s consumer protection and

information hotline at 1-800-HELP-FLA (435-7352) or, for Spanish speakers, 1-800-FL-AYUDA (352-9832).

For consumer protection information and resources, visit FloridaConsumer Help.com.

BILLSContinued from Page 1

“The opioid crisis has put an extra strain on us,” he said. “This funding has been an issue for a while, but now it’s more important than ever.”

Casel has traveled to Tallahassee several times this year to lobby in favor of the bill. The CEO said he is optimistic about the bills.

Friday is last day of the

Florida legislative session.As of Tuesday, SB 1360

had unanimously passed a Health and Human Services subcommittee. Most recently, it passed the Appropriations

Committee Feb. 28. On March 5, HB 1079 was temporarily postponed during third reading in the Health and Human Services Committee.

By Lisa ConcepcionPoinciana Writer

Here’s a unique opportunity to learn Florida’s native language.

Learn the Mvskoke language, spoken by the Seminole and Creek nations.

Hoste d by E ste Maskokvike, this four-part series begins Sunday, March 11, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Poinciana Branch Library.

Lunch and Learn Series at the Poinciana Branch Library will be on Monday from noon to 1 p.m. Lunch and Learn is presented by Heart of Florida Hospital. Breast oncology specialist Dr. Williams will be the speaker.

Registration is required. Go to www.myosceola library.org/poinciana.

The next Physician Lecture Series at the Poinciana Library is set for next Thursday, and will be an informative one.

Excluding skin cancers, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in men and women in the U.S., but it can be completely treated when caught early.

Bring your questions and join Dr. James on March 15 at 2:30 p.m. to learn about the symptoms to watch out for, tips to prevent colorectal cancer from developing, and surgical options for treatment.

Save your seat by calling 888-253-8117. The Physician Lecture Series is presented by Poinciana Medical Center.

The Poinciana Branch Library is located at 101 N. Doverplum Ave. All library programs are free and open to the public.

Beware of running Chargers! The ninth annual Charger Dash 5k Scholarship Fun Run is set for Saturday.

This Liberty High School’s ambassadors’ fundraiser begins at 7 a.m. leaving from Liberty High, 4250 Pleasant Hill Road.

This year’s theme is Cartoon Character Colors. Come dressed as your

favorite cartoon character. This fun theme is sure to attract attention as the runners path will be up and down Pleasant Hill Road.

The Charger Dash 5k goes toward helping funding the Liberty Ambassadors’ C ol lege S cholarship Program which helps fellow students achieve their goal of a college education.

The registration fee until March 9 is $40. Registration fee the day of the race is $50.

To register go to https://raceroster.com/events/2018/15315/lilhigh-school-ambassadors-5k-scholarshipfunrun.

Learn to speak Florida’s native language

To read the entire Poinciana column,go to www.aroundosceola.com.

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Drowsy driving: Don’t be asleep at the wheel

The most in-depth drowsy driving research ever conducted in the U.S. using footage of everyday drivers found that the percentage of crashes involving drowsiness is nearly eight times higher than federal estimates indicate, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

The difficulty in detecting drowsiness following a crash makes drowsy driving one of the most underreported traffic safety issues. The new research provides an unprecedented analysis of in-vehicle dashcam video from more than 700 crashes, confirming that the danger of drowsy driving soars above official estimates.

“Drowsy driving is a bigger traffic safety issue than federal estimates show,” said David Yang, executive director for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. “Drivers who don’t get enough sleep are putting everyone on the road at risk. By conducting an in-depth analysis using video of everyday drivers, we can now better assess if a driver was fatigued in the moments leading up to a crash.”

In the study, researchers examined video of drivers’ faces in the three minutes leading up to a crash. Using a scientific measure linking the percentage of time a person’s eyes are closed to their level of drowsiness, the researchers determined that 9.5 percent of all crashes and 10.8 percent of crashes resulting in significant property damage involved drowsiness. Federal estimates indicate drowsiness is a factor in only one to two percent of crashes.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that 35 percent of U.S. drivers sleep less than the recommended minimum of seven hours daily. In a recent related AAA Foundation survey, nearly all drivers (96 percent) say they view drowsy driving as a serious threat to their safety and a completely unacceptable behavior. However, 29 percent admitted to driving when they were so tired they had a hard time keeping their eyes open at some point in the past month.

“As many of us struggle to balance our busy schedules, missing a few hours of sleep each day can often seem harmless,” said Amy Stracke, managing director, Traffic Safety Advocacy, AAA – The Auto Club Group. “But missing just two to three hours of sleep can more than quadruple your risk for a crash.”

Knowing the warning signs of drowsiness can help drivers avoid dozing off behind the wheel.

To read the entire article, go to www.around osceola.com.

Thursday, March 8, 2018 OSCEOLA NEWS-GAZETTE

OSCEOLA COUNTYHISTORY

Wi t h t h e addition of a replica train depot to the

Pioneer Village at Shingle Creek, we reflect back on the important role the rail system played in Osceola County since that first train rolled into Kissimmee 134 years ago.

Rail transportation existed in Florida prior to 1861 but it took until 1882 for it to reach Osceola County. A narrow gauge (3-feet feet wide) line was extended from Sanford to Kissimmee and the first train brought many passengers who b e c a m e p e r m a n e nt residents. The rails first ran down Broadway, but were later moved to the lakeshore area to accommodate transfer to the river steamers and allowed the line to eventually be extended to Tampa without disturbing buildings on the south end of Broadway.

The elegant Kissimmee Hotel/Tropical Hotel was built in the middle of Kissimmee, with easy access from the rail line. Seasonal tourists arrived by train to enjoy hunting, fishing, golf and other activities in our mild winter climate.

With the 1886 arrival of the Hamilton Disston Sugar Plantation and Mill in St. Cloud, a spur line, the Sugar Belt Railway; was added, connecting Kissimmee to St. Cloud. Then on July 19, 1889,the first train arrived in Narcoossee. The narrow gauge had been eliminated and changed to standard (4-feet 9-inches) gauge.

The route ran from Kissimmee down what became Neptune Road, east to the canal where a spur line branched off at Peghorn Junction, down the canal to the Sugar Plantation, then east through St. Cloud to Ashton and north to Narcoossee. A turntable at Narcoossee allowed the engine to be turned for the return trip to Kissimmee. The Cadman Brothers were able to ship citrus from

their grove in Narcoossee by train; the fruit eventually making its way to England.

Following the dismantling of the Disston Sugar Mill in 1901, the equipment was loaded onto between 50 and 60 rail cars and transported to Tampa where it was then shipped by Dutch schooner to Mexico. The former Disston Mill property became the current town of St. Cloud and once again, new residents arrived. In 1909, hundreds of Union Veterans arrived by train from all parts of the country to make St. Cloud their new home.

Built in 1886, the narrow gauge Midland Railroad, was a logging railroad from Longwood to Kissimmee by way of Apopka and Windermere. The line to Kissimmee was completed in 1890 but it too was eventually changed to standard gauge and ran in the vicinity of the current location of the Pioneer

Village at Shingle Creek.With the arrival of

Peavy-Wilson Lumber Company in Holopaw and other industries; such as turpentine camps at Illahaw and Nittaw and large citrus groves and cattle ranches in Yeehaw and Kenansville; railroad lines began to crisscross Osceola County and small depots were built to transport goods into and out of the area.

The replica depot was completed in time for the annual Pioneer Day in November 2016. A small section of standard gauge rail was installed next to the depot and is currently on display at the Pioneer Village at Shingle Creek. Special thanks to the generosity of Middlesex/Herzog Joint Venture for the donation of the materials and installation. Middlesex/Herzog current venture is the construction of Sunrail Phase II.

The History of Rail Transportation in Osceola County

Article courtesy: Osceola County Historical SocietySources: “Osceola County The First 100 Years” by Aldus M. and Robert S. Cody, 1987, “The River of the Long Water” by Alma Hetherington, 1980, “Lines South”, The St. Cloud & Sugar Belt Railway Company by Robert A. Fisk, 2nd quarter 1996.Photo Courtesy: Florida Memory and Michael Bast Collection

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Thank you to our friends at the Osceola County Historical Society for providing the editorial content and photos to bring this section to you.


Local & National Sports • Sports Commentary

CONTACTKEN JACKSONOSCEOLA NEWS-GAZETTE SPORTS EDITOREMAIL [email protected]

Tennis previewCounty squads look to repeat 2017’s success.

Page 9.

2A & 3A STATE WRESTLING MEET

Hines’ title defense part of wrestlers’ big day

Football coaches: Liberty a gets new one; Tohopekaliga its first one

Kowboys fall in 9A hoops playoffs, but stay tuned

2 others earn 2nd place; 7 find the podium

By Ken JacksonSports Editor

Under Coach Nate Alexander, the Osceola Kowboys have a way of going out with a bang.

They won last year’s Class 9A boys basketball state championship, after getting a winning bucket in the waning seconds of the semifinals. This year, with a berth in the Final Four in Lakeland again on the line, they faced the same team it did last year at that point, in front of about a thousand of its loudest fans.

And in a game worthy of being the state championship game, Osceola fought valiantly and, despite leading with a minute to go, fell to Oak Ridge, 57-54, in the Region 2 final.

The Pioneers (28-4) move on to play West

Orange in Friday’s 9A state semifinal, with that winner going on to Saturday’s championship game.

A pair of Pioneer steals in that last minute proved costly for Osceola, which finished a season intent on defending its Class 9A title at 21-7.

“It was everything it was billed to be, just like last year,” an exasperated Alexander said following the game, referencing Osceola’s 63-60 win in Kissimmee in 2017. “We had chances to win it, the lead with a minute left, then we had some missed shots and turnovers. In a game like that, every possession’s gold. We kind of played at their pace more than our own, and they made the big plays.”

The game was played in front of a packed Oak Ridge crowd that overwhelmed the building’s air conditioning, filled with Pioneers fans mixed in with a contingent from Osceola. They got louder during the second half, in which the 29-24 lead Oak Ridge held at the break would be the largest of the half, and a fourth quarter in which neither team led by more than three points.

Isaiah Palermo, who was on the bench much of the first half after picking up a technical foul on a personal foul four minutes into

See Wrestling, Page 9.


Osceola High wrestler Malyke Hines won a second-straight state wrestling championship Saturday, taking down South Dade’s Tyler Khawly-Orta in a 16-3 major decision to win the Class 3A 126-pound weight class at Silver Spurs Arena. Hines, along with his brother, freshman Jaekus Hines, who was the 106-pound runner-up, the Kowboys placed fourth in the 3A team standings.

By J. Daniel PearsonFor the News-Gazette

Heading into this season the Osceola High wrestling team was riding two impressive streaks. For 11 seasons running, the Kowboy grapplers had finished no lower than sixth in the team competition and had seen at least one of its wrestlers win an individual state title in each of those 11 seasons.

Thanks to junior Malyke Hines and some unexpected support from teammates at several weight classes, both streaks have been validated and kept alive.

Hines, a junior, ran through the 126-pound weight class to capture a second consecutive individual title, while his team picked up points in four additional weight classes to capture fourth place in the Class 3A competition.

Osceola (97.5 points) trailed Hagerty (108), Fleming Island (140) and South Dade (230), who won the team championship for a fifth consecutive year, in the standings.

“I could not be more pleased or happy with our team’s performance,” Osceola Coach Jim Bird said. “I think the general consensus was that we were due for a down year. Instead, Malyke

won a state title, we had two freshmen place for the first time in school history, and we got fourth place points from a football player who never wrestled before. We just received some outstanding efforts all the way around.”

Bird said team wasn’t motivated by the two streaks.

“It’s something that we do know about and something that we take pride in,” he said.

Without question, Hines was the star of the meet for county wrestlers. After winning Friday’s first round and quarterfinal matches by first-period pin, he defeated

Fleming Island’s Jacob Sandoval by second-period pin fall in semifinals before dominating South Dade’s Tyler Khawly-Orta in a 16-3 major decision in the finals.

“I had a good meet and a good season,” Hines said following the match. “The most important thing is that I felt that I got better from last season. It’s always my goal to try to get better each year and I felt that I accomplished that.”

Hines went 60-2 last year and won the state 120-pound. weight class. He finished this season at 50-1 and has now gone 173-

4 in his high school career.Hines added that he was

more nervous watching his freshman brother Jaekus, the 106-pound runner-up. Jaekus was one of the two freshmen to place for the Kowboys. To do so he upset Hagerty’s Ryan Rowland, 4-2, in overtime in the semifinal, before losing a hard-fought 6-3 decision to South Dade’s Luis Peraza in the finals.

Osceola’s other freshman to place was Nolin Eaddy, who lost in the second round of the 152-pound class but won three straight

See Kowboys, Page 9.


Osceola’s Armani Thomas, shown in the Kowboys’ regional quarterfinal win over Vero Beach, led OHS with 11 points in its 57-54 regional final loss to Oak Ridge Friday.

See Coaches, Page 9.


Two of the three new head coaches for Osceola County football teams are signed, sealed and delivered.

Anthony Davis, who previously coached at Marathon and Key West down in the Keys, will be Tohopekaliga High’s first head coach when the Tigers take the field in August.

More familiar to locals, Brandon Pennington, who was a coordinator at St. Cloud in 2014-15 before coaching near his West Virginia roots, will take over at Liberty after Doug Gabriel led the Chargers to a 4-6 record in his lone year there.

Poinciana Athletic Director Rob Weilert, who

was hired by the school less than a month ago, is still sifting through resumes and conducting interviews for the Eagles’ head coaching job and should soon have a replacement for Ken Knapczyk, who stepped down after three seasons and a 3-27 record.

Davis, 46, played three seasons as a defensive back for Western Michigan Univers ity (1988-92) and played briefly in the Canadian Football League. He returned to football and coaching after a 10-year career in corrections and coached football and basketball at Key West High. He returned to his alma mater of Marathon High in the Middle Keys as the head football and boys track coach. The Dolphins were 7-2 last

season, despite losing games and practice time to Hurricane Irma, which plowed through the Keys just west of Marathon, and earned a conference title.

He will move north to Osceola County in April, and work with zoned incoming freshman during the spring.

“I know the area, I have family in Orlando and my dad is in Titusville,” Davis said of his connection to the area. “I really wanted more for me and my players, and I’m excited for the opportunity to build a strong foundation for the Tohopekaliga High School football program and help our student-athletes become productive citizens.

“(Toho High Athletic Director) Kevin Mays and

I share a philosophy of providing athletes with positive leadership. There were a lot of people just

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Former St. Cloud offensive and defensive coordinator Bradenton Pennington has been named Liberty High School’s new head football coach.

“I can’t say enough about my kids, they battled like crazy all season, and the best thing to say right now is they’re all juniors and they have another year at this.”

— NATE ALEXANDER

Thursday, March 8, 2018 OSCEOLA NEWS-GAZETTE SPORTS

Local & National Sports • Sports Commentary

CONTACTKEN JACKSONOSCEOLA NEWS-GAZETTE SPORTS EDITOREMAIL [email protected]

Tennis previewCounty squads look to repeat 2017’s success.

Page 9.

2A & 3A STATE WRESTLING MEET

Hines’ title defense part of wrestlers’ big day

Football coaches: Liberty a gets new one; Tohopekaliga its first one

Kowboys fall in 9A hoops playoffs, but stay tuned

2 others earn 2nd place; 7 find the podium


Under Coach Nate Alexander, the Osceola Kowboys have a way of going out with a bang.

They won last year’s Class 9A boys basketball state championship, after getting a winning bucket in the waning seconds of the semifinals. This year, with a berth in the Final Four in Lakeland again on the line, they faced the same team it did last year at that point, in front of about a thousand of its loudest fans.

And in a game worthy of being the state championship game, Osceola fought valiantly and, despite leading with a minute to go, fell to Oak Ridge, 57-54, in the Region 2 final.

The Pioneers (28-4) move on to play West

Orange in Friday’s 9A state semifinal, with that winner going on to Saturday’s championship game.

A pair of Pioneer steals in that last minute proved costly for Osceola, which finished a season intent on defending its Class 9A title at 21-7.

“It was everything it was billed to be, just like last year,” an exasperated Alexander said following the game, referencing Osceola’s 63-60 win in Kissimmee in 2017. “We had chances to win it, the lead with a minute left, then we had some missed shots and turnovers. In a game like that, every possession’s gold. We kind of played at their pace more than our own, and they made the big plays.”

The game was played in front of a packed Oak Ridge crowd that overwhelmed the building’s air conditioning, filled with Pioneers fans mixed in with a contingent from Osceola. They got louder during the second half, in which the 29-24 lead Oak Ridge held at the break would be the largest of the half, and a fourth quarter in which neither team led by more than three points.

Isaiah Palermo, who was on the bench much of the first half after picking up a technical foul on a personal foul four minutes into

See Wrestling, Page 9.


Osceola High wrestler Malyke Hines won a second-straight state wrestling championship Saturday, taking down South Dade’s Tyler Khawly-Orta in a 16-3 major decision to win the Class 3A 126-pound weight class at Silver Spurs Arena. Hines, along with his brother, freshman Jaekus Hines, who was the 106-pound runner-up, the Kowboys placed fourth in the 3A team standings.

By J. Daniel PearsonFor the News-Gazette

Heading into this season the Osceola High wrestling team was riding two impressive streaks. For 11 seasons running, the Kowboy grapplers had finished no lower than sixth in the team competition and had seen at least one of its wrestlers win an individual state title in each of those 11 seasons.

Thanks to junior Malyke Hines and some unexpected support from teammates at several weight classes, both streaks have been validated and kept alive.

Hines, a junior, ran through the 126-pound weight class to capture a second consecutive individual title, while his team picked up points in four additional weight classes to capture fourth place in the Class 3A competition.

Osceola (97.5 points) trailed Hagerty (108), Fleming Island (140) and South Dade (230), who won the team championship for a fifth consecutive year, in the standings.

“I could not be more pleased or happy with our team’s performance,” Osceola Coach Jim Bird said. “I think the general consensus was that we were due for a down year. Instead, Malyke

won a state title, we had two freshmen place for the first time in school history, and we got fourth place points from a football player who never wrestled before. We just received some outstanding efforts all the way around.”

Bird said team wasn’t motivated by the two streaks.

“It’s something that we do know about and something that we take pride in,” he said.

Without question, Hines was the star of the meet for county wrestlers. After winning Friday’s first round and quarterfinal matches by first-period pin, he defeated

Fleming Island’s Jacob Sandoval by second-period pin fall in semifinals before dominating South Dade’s Tyler Khawly-Orta in a 16-3 major decision in the finals.

“I had a good meet and a good season,” Hines said following the match. “The most important thing is that I felt that I got better from last season. It’s always my goal to try to get better each year and I felt that I accomplished that.”

Hines went 60-2 last year and won the state 120-pound. weight class. He finished this season at 50-1 and has now gone 173-

4 in his high school career.Hines added that he was

more nervous watching his freshman brother Jaekus, the 106-pound runner-up. Jaekus was one of the two freshmen to place for the Kowboys. To do so he upset Hagerty’s Ryan Rowland, 4-2, in overtime in the semifinal, before losing a hard-fought 6-3 decision to South Dade’s Luis Peraza in the finals.

Osceola’s other freshman to place was Nolin Eaddy, who lost in the second round of the 152-pound class but won three straight

See Kowboys, Page 9.


Osceola’s Armani Thomas, shown in the Kowboys’ regional quarterfinal win over Vero Beach, led OHS with 11 points in its 57-54 regional final loss to Oak Ridge Friday.

See Coaches, Page 9.


Two of the three new head coaches for Osceola County football teams are signed, sealed and delivered.

Anthony Davis, who previously coached at Marathon and Key West down in the Keys, will be Tohopekaliga High’s first head coach when the Tigers take the field in August.

More familiar to locals, Brandon Pennington, who was a coordinator at St. Cloud in 2014-15 before coaching near his West Virginia roots, will take over at Liberty after Doug Gabriel led the Chargers to a 4-6 record in his lone year there.

Poinciana Athletic Director Rob Weilert, who

was hired by the school less than a month ago, is still sifting through resumes and conducting interviews for the Eagles’ head coaching job and should soon have a replacement for Ken Knapczyk, who stepped down after three seasons and a 3-27 record.

Davis, 46, played three seasons as a defensive back for Western Michigan Univers ity (1988-92) and played briefly in the Canadian Football League. He returned to football and coaching after a 10-year career in corrections and coached football and basketball at Key West High. He returned to his alma mater of Marathon High in the Middle Keys as the head football and boys track coach. The Dolphins were 7-2 last

season, despite losing games and practice time to Hurricane Irma, which plowed through the Keys just west of Marathon, and earned a conference title.

He will move north to Osceola County in April, and work with zoned incoming freshman during the spring.

“I know the area, I have family in Orlando and my dad is in Titusville,” Davis said of his connection to the area. “I really wanted more for me and my players, and I’m excited for the opportunity to build a strong foundation for the Tohopekaliga High School football program and help our student-athletes become productive citizens.

“(Toho High Athletic Director) Kevin Mays and

I share a philosophy of providing athletes with positive leadership. There were a lot of people just

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Former St. Cloud offensive and defensive coordinator Bradenton Pennington has been named Liberty High School’s new head football coach.

“I can’t say enough about my kids, they battled like crazy all season, and the best thing to say right now is they’re all juniors and they have another year at this.”

— NATE ALEXANDER

March for Meals 5KThe Osceola Council on

Aging “Meals on Wheels” program will presents the March for Meals 5K & Walk on March 17 at Kissimmee Lakefront Park at 8 a.m. The event includes a 5K run/walk for individuals and/or corporate and family teams,

largest and most spirited team competition, a free Kid’s Run, silent auction, and more.

P a r t i c i p a n t s a r e encouraged to bring some non-perishable food items to be entered into a special prize drawing.

Registration is $30 until

the day of the event and $35 on March 17. All participants receive a medal. To register online go to www.osceolagenerations.org or on Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ 2018-march-for-meals-5k-r unwalk-k i d s - r u n -registration-41719779985.

SPORTS BRIEFS

WRESTLINGContinued from Page 8.

the game, ignited an 8-2 Osceola run right out of the half with a three-pointer. His bucket a minute later gave the Kowboys a 32-31 lead, but after another five minutes of back-and-forth action and a trading of baskets, Oak Ridge took a 40-38 lead to the fourth quarter.

The Kowboys scored the first five points of that quarter, and seven of the first nine, to take a 45-42 lead with six minutes left, starting a stretch when each team would answer a score or a defensive stop with one of their own, and the action got hotter than the temperature in the gym.

An Omar Payne dunk gave OHS a 49-47 lead with 2:43 left. Rob Perry, who had 14 of his 17 points in the second half, nailed a three-pointer on Oak Ridge’s next trip down, only to see Armani Thomas nail one of his own on the Kowboys next possession to keep Osceola in the lead, 52-50, with 1:45 left.

Center Emmitt Williams hit a free throw to pull Oak Ridge to within one, and with 48 seconds, Osceola looked to run a halfcourt offense, but Perry short-

circuited it, stepping in front of a pass and taking it to the hole to give the Pioneers a 53-52 lead. Déjà vu happened 10 seconds later when Damon Harge stole the ball, and his lay-up put Oak Ridge up 55-52 with 27.6 seconds left.

Osceola’s Jahdukiss Soto hustled the ball up court himself, and was fouled attempting a tying three-pointer with 18 seconds left. Able to tie the score from the free throw line, he hit two shots.

“We left a lot of them empty at the free-throw line,” Alexander said — OHS was 14-for-26 at the line Friday. “People will look at Jaduhkiss’ at the end but they count the same in the first quarter as the fourth.”

Marcus Taylor then hit a pair for Oak Ridge after getting fouled to build the lead back to three with just 3.5 seconds left. Soto got a good look on a half-court shot at the buzzer, but it glanced off the backboard.

Foul trouble dictated the first half as Palermo, Payne and Taylor were hit with double-trouble technicals on first-quarter fouls. Thomas led the Kowboys with 11 points, followed by

Palermo (10), point guard Josh Marte (9), Soto and Payne (7 each). Tyvion Woodard (5), Deshawn Jones (2) and Jeremiah Palermo (3), who went down in the second quarter with a knee injury, came off the bench to contribute in the high-profile setting.

While Oak Ridge, with a new coach and new transfer talent, started five seniors Friday, Osceola started a sophomore (Thomas) and four juniors, of which three of them played in the 2017 title game.

And, armed with even more big-game experience this year — three of the Kowboys’ losses came to teams ranked in MaxPrep’s top seven in the state, by a combined 14 points — Alexander’s squad should be a favorite for another deep playoff run.

“I can’t say enough about my kids, they battled like crazy all season, and the best thing to say right now is they’re all juniors and that have another year at this,” the coach said. “They’ve got a big AAU season so I imagine they took a couple of days to sulk about this then be right back in the gym at work.”

KOWBOYSContinued from Page 8.

Tennis preview: Celebration, Harmony eye regional returnsmatches in the consolation

bracket to make it to the third place match where he fell to Haggerty’s Logan Perkins in a close 9-7 match.

Dion Bergan, a senior defensive lineman on Osceola’s football team, came out for wrestling for the first time in his career and earned all-state honors with a fourth-place finish at 285 pounds. Osceola’s other points came from Easau Bazilme, who placed fifth at 113, and junior Josue Calderon, who won two matches at 120.

In Class 2A, the Harmony Longhorns sent four wrestlers to the state tournament, led by senior Carter Harris at 285 pounds. In his return trip to the state tournament, Harris advanced all the way to the finals where he lost an 8-0 decision to Braden River’s Brendan Bengtsson in the championship match, capping a 62-5 season.

At 113 pounds, Owen Wetzel finished his senior season with a fourth-place finish and 59-19 record.

Dylan Jones (126) and Dhvanha Hill (160) did not place but scored team points for Harmony (46 points), which finished 11th in Class 2A. Lake Gibson (160.5) won the state championship long-time power Brandon (139.5).

The only other county wrestler to earn all-state honors was Liberty senior Jonathan Figueroa (51-10),

who placed sixth in 2A at 138 pounds. Celebration sent three wrestlers to the state tournament, with Alfonso Serrano scoring the only points for the Storm with a pair of wins at 182 pounds.

Orlando’s Lake Highland Prep (333 points), ranked

seventh nationally among all high school wrestling teams, won seven individual weight classes, put 11 wrestlers in finals and successfully defended its Class 1A championship with a record-breaking win over second place Clay (109).

like that who got me to where I am. There’s a new excitement about starting a program. I’ve got goosebumps and I can’t wait to get started.”

Davis said the Tigers will play as an independent in 2018 and are piecing together a schedule before entering a district in 2019. He said he’s worked in all sorts of sets — single back, speed option and the spread on offense, 4-3 and 3-4 Cover-2 defenses — and will fine tune a scheme to the Toho talent.

“If we have athletes willing to work, we’ll be fine. I come from a group of kids who fought through the adversity of Irma, thinking they might not have a season after the storm. We practiced and played in a park for a while. I understand it will take time.”

Pennington, 45, is a West Virginia native,

like Osceola High Coach Doug Nichols, who was Liberty’s first coach from 2007-09. Pennington will be a first-year head coach, but was a defensive (2014) and offensive coordinator (2015) for St. Cloud under Coach Bryan Smart. That 2015 Bulldogs offensive featured a 1,000-yard rusher (Brian Johnson, 1,169 yards, 10 touchdowns) and passer (Hunter Weismore, 1,795 yards, 24 TDs) and three receivers who all caught for more than 350 yards.

He went back home last year and was the defensive coordinator at South Hagerstown (Md.) High.

“I’m very excited, I’ve met with the kids and am anxious to get them lifting and in 7-on-7,” he said. “If anything, Liberty’s got plenty of athleticism.”

Pennington is blessed to have one more season with quarterback Jaelen Ray, who

threw for 2,200 yards and 14 touchdowns and ran for 420 more, under center.

“Jaelen’s proved to have a big-game arm, he can be a real dual threat,” the coach said. “We’ve got some good-looking guys at wide receiver, so we have some guys to look at. I can do whatever needs to be done. I want the best fits on the field.”

Pennington noted a mentor in West Virginia, Toby Peer, who he played for and coached against.

“He taught me football, as well as making our young men better husbands and fathers,” he said.

Smart said Pennington knows his football.

“He’s a great guy and it’s been a long time coming for him to run a program,” Smart said. “We look forward to competing with him year in and year out. I’m super proud of him and he will do great things over there.”

COACHESContinued from Page 8.


Three Osceola County tennis teams advanced to last year’s regional playoffs and district runners-up, and three players qualified for the state tournaments.

But, much of the county ’s top ta lent graduated, so we’re still getting to know this year’s crop of top talent — as are their opponents.

Celebration and Osceola play in 4A District 5 with Polk County foes Lakeland, Georg Jenkins, Haines City and Ridge Community.

Gateway and St . Cloud are in district 4A-9 against Lake Nona, Oak Ridge, Cypress Creek and Freedom.

Poinciana, Harmony and Liberty compete in 3A-7 with Deltona, East River, Edgewater, New Smyrna Beach and Pine Ridge.

CelebrationBoth Storm squads, now

coached by Darren Holt, have been the standard in the county for several seasons, and while the top of the lineup might not feature the star power of past seasons, the rosters run deep.

The boys team will be led by Alex Moutran, Angel Partidas and Jamal Scaggs, and will also see contributions from Sagar Shah, Pedro De Oliveira, Zachary Moore, Edward London and Julian Landin.

The girls team features Maria Fregonezi, Bea C o e l h o , M a n u e l a Vasconcelos, Daniela Torres, Sophia DeLeon, Pi lar Vazquez, Alex G o n z a l e z , Ju l i a n n e Moura, Stefany Vargas and Robcybel Labarca.

“We do have top three guys who are very solid players,” Holt said. I see them fairing well at district and team has a good chance to go to regional. Top two singles and a double team

may stand chance of going to state. On the girls side, there are also possibilities, but it is not so clear cut, too early to make predictions there.”

St. CloudThe Bulldog boys team,

coached again by Jason Eno, features returning players Austin Logan, Blake Peele and T.J. Miller.

The rest of the lineup does not hurt for players, with Joshua Whiteacre, Nicholas Coamey, Yahir Rivera, Robert Nieves, Zachary Facey, Emanuel Diaz Berrios and Jonathan Naicken on the roster.

Jeff Bean takes over the girls program from Chad Ansbaugh, and led by sophomore Jeanne Gearity and senior Gwen Andrews the Lady Bulldogs will challenge Celebration for the county’s top spot.

“Fortunately I inherited a good group of girls,” Bean said. “We are returning our top 6 players plus some very talented freshmen that will be competing for seeds.”

The girls won season-opening Orange Belt Conference matches over Osceola and Gateway, and will play Friday at Celebration.

HarmonyThe Longhorns’ boys and

girls teams were runners-up at the 3A-7 district tournament last year and advanced to the regionals.

Coach Ann Moss’ boys team features a lineup of returning players Chris Magnaye and Fabian Malave at No. 1 and 2, and Turner Smal, Santi Parra and Luis Sanchez behind them.

“I have three new players this year, Moss said. “My one and two players are returning, and are having a great year so far.”

Girls coach Jessica Pocaisk returns seniors Mary Jacobsen, Kalin Abernathy and Emma

Torpey and sophomore Tanea Spruill. Jacqueline Ryals is a top newcomer, and plays doubles with Jacobsen. Spruill and Abernathy play No. 2 doubles.

PoincianaNicholas Devore and

Coach Daniel Joyner take over the Eagles program that now has full rosters.

Senior Jamal Calmont, Poinciana’s lone boys player last year, returns and leads a team, for a change, that includes Daniel Colon, Gian Olivieri, and Vere Cruz.

“The boys are looking forward to having a full roster and being able to compete in every match throughout the season,” Devore said.

S e n i o r s A n g e l a Carrasquillo and Reina Cesar return for their final season with the Lady Eagles.

“They play with the a joy of having 6 additional teammates for the first time,” Joyner said. “The Girls are excited to be able to compete for the full 7 matches all season long.”

OsceolaIn Kowboys’ Coach

Reggie Beeks’ third season, he returns five players, including a player of the year candidate, Jacob Johnson.

“I’m expecting, Jeremy McCleery, Kevin Lewis, Justin Funes, and Gabriel Gonzalez to make some noise at district and beyond,” Beeks said. “The girls are returning four players from last year team who could make some noise at districts.”

That girls lineup includes Naomi Yap, Margaux Dospueblos, Isabelle St. Maria, Paulie Correa and Katelyn Schneider.

Yohandri Acosta (boys) and Gianna Renteria (girls) will also compete.

GatewayThe Panthers are led by

Katherine Clark.


Harmony wrestler Carter Harris (right) battled Braden River’s Brendan Bengtsson in the Class 2A 285-pound class championship match Saturday en route to earning a state runner-up finish.


Go green in your lawn and garden this spring

Spring cleaning can alleviate allergies

Everyday Living • Fitness • Trends • Tips • Hobbies

CONTACT BRIAN MCBRIDE EDITOREMAIL [email protected]

Allergies affect people of all ages. The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology reports that allergic rhinitis affects between 10 and 30 percent of the world’s population. In addition, the prevalence of allergic diseases has risen in industrialized nations for more than 50 years.

Seasonal allergies tend to be the strongest in spring and autumn. Allergies can be exacerbated by many factors, including in homes where improvements are being made. Regular housecleaning can remove many common allergy triggers and help alleviate symptoms. Knowing which common home improvement mistakes can aggravate allergies can help homeowners avoid them.

Suit upBefore any cleaning begins, allergy

sufferers should don face masks and rubber gloves to prevent themselves from breathing in allergens or having them touch their hands, where they can be transferred to the face or elsewhere. Those cleaning should also wear clothes that can be easily removed and laundered after a day’s work.

Clean windows singularlyProlonged exposure to outdoor

allergens, such as pollen, mold or ragweed, can aggravate allergies. Therefore, if windows are being cleaned, do one at a time and then promptly close the window. Having the air conditioning running can help filter the air as well.

Use exhaust fansThe AAAAI recommends using an

exhaust fan in the kitchen and bathrooms to reduce the levels of moisture in these

rooms and filter out potential allergens and odors. Moisture can eventually lead to the growth of mold and mildew, which isn’t healthy for anyone, including allergy sufferers, to breathe in.

Invest in a HEPA filterVacuums with HEPA filters can trap

allergens that are so small that they pass through regular vacuum filters. That means instead of containing them, these small particles are only being shot back into the air where they are easily breathed in. WebMD suggests vacuuming once or twice a week to keep carpets and floors as clean as possible. Plus, don’t forget to vacuum upholstered furniture and drapes as well.

Launder with hot waterWhen it comes time to wash linens, do

so in hot water, which can kill dust mites residing in sheets and blankets. Employ mattress covers to further protect against dust mite allergies.

Shampoo smartShampooing a carpet may cause moisture

to become trapped in the carpet fibers, leading to increased dust mites or mold growth. Spot-clean stains instead. Otherwise, hire a professional cleaner who will clean and dry the carpet as quickly as possible.

Damp dusting is betterWhen cleaning up dust or home

renovation debris, use a damp cloth or a vinegar solution to wipe down surfaces. This helps trap small particles instead of sending them into the air.

Treat mold issuesMold can trigger allergic reactions, so it

is best to keep it out of a home. Solutions that contain at least 10 percent bleach can be effective at killing mold, but it’s best to prevent mold from growing entirely. That means keeping tabs of any moisture issues and addressing them immediately.

Allergies can be problematic, but routine home cleaning in the right way can help alleviate symptoms.

How to control common spring pests

Spring is a season of rejuvenation. As the cold days of winter drift away, spring blooms begin to sprout and grass regains its lush green look.

Green is certainly a color that’s synonymous with spring. Gardening enthusiasts can find a way to make spring even more green by embracing several eco-friendly gardening practices as they bring their lawns and gardens back to life in the months to come.

Create a compost pile. Composting is an eco-friendly way to enrich lawns and gardens. Composting helps to conserve water because compost promotes moisture retention in soil, reducing homeowners’ need to water their lawns and gardens while also helping them to save money on their water bills. Composting also helps homeowners avoid the need to use potentially harmful chemical fertilizers because compost is a natural, slow release fertilizer. In addition, according to Canada’s Green Action Centre, compostable materials make up 40 percent of residential waste. So composting can dramatically reduce the amount of waste homeowners ultimately send to landfills.

Replace gas-powered mowers with reel lawn mowers. Reel mowers may seem like relics from simpler times, but today’s reel mowers, while just as eco-friendly as their predecessors, are unlike those of yesteryear. According to the Planet Natural Research Center, an online resource for organic gardeners, gas-powered engines emit more than 10 times the hydrocarbons per amount of gas burned than auto engines. But reel mowers are fuel-free and less expensive than gas-powered mowers. Planet Natural also notes that reel mowers snip grass like scissors, leaving finer trimmings that can serve as nourishing, weed-deterring mulch for yards.

Water at the right times of day. Homeowners who water their lawns and gardens at the right time of day can help the planet and reduce their energy bills. As spring gradually gives way to summer, temperatures typically rise. Watering during the coolest times of the day means less water will be lost to evaporation, ensuring water-needy soil will get all it needs to help lawns and gardens thrive. Early morning watering before the sun reaches its midday peak and/or evening watering as the sun is setting are typically great times to water lawns and gardens, rather than when temperatures are at their hottest.

Use a rain barrel. Rain barrels provide another great way to conserve water while tending to lawns and gardens. Rain barrels collect and store rain water from roofs and downspouts, keeping water from washing into sewage systems where it can’t be put to good use. Water collected in rain barrels can be used in various ways. Many homeowners can use water from rain barrels to water their lawns, gardens and houseplants, saving money on their water bills along the way.

Spring gardening season provides a great opportunity for lawn and garden enthusiasts to embrace a variety of eco-friendly practices that can save them money and protect the planet.

Just when winter thaws out and people are anxious to enjoy the blooming flowers and luscious lawns of spring, pesky pests can appear and impact comfort levels and safety.

Many pests resume their levels of activity as spring draws closer and temperatures warm up. The presence of these insects and rodents may cause problems in and around a home, which makes it essential to recognize them and avoid issues. The following are some of the more common spring pests and how to remedy infestations.

Pavement antsPavement ants are some of the most

common pests residents encounter inside and outside of their homes. These ants are light brown to black with appendages that are lighter than the rest of their bodies. Small in stature, pavement ants have parallel lines on their heads and thorax, according to pest extermination company Orkin.

Although pavement ants nest outdoors, they can enter homes through small crevices in search of food scraps. Their large colonies may not disappear until treatment is introduced. Keep foods in tightly sealed containers, clear counters and floors of crumbs, and address water sources, such as leaks. Pesticides may be needed in extreme conditions.

FleasFleas are tiny, jumping, biting pests that

must find a host upon which to live. As ectoparasites, they feed on blood while living on the body of living hosts. Pets can bring fleas inside the yard and home in warm weather. According to the University of California Statewide Integrated Pest

Management Program, flea larvae develop more quickly at higher temperatures. At normal room temperatures, the entire life cycle of a flea is about 18 days.

Several flea control products are available to control fleas on cats and dogs. There also may be powders and sprays to alleviate flea infestations in the home. Vacuuming is also very effective in killing larvae in the carpet and at picking up adults.

WaspsAn errant wasp, hornet or yellow jacket

may have survived winter and ridden out the colder temperatures within a home. Once the weather warms, queens will begin to look for places to lay eggs and establish colonies. Treating areas where wasps are seen entering and leaving the home is key. Seal holes as soon as possible.

Although wasps help control other insect populations, their painful stings

and potentially aggressive nature can make them challenging to have around a home. If a nest is found, hire a professional to remove it.

SpidersMany spiders are not harmful enough

to humans and pets to be much of a problem. In fact, spiders can be helpful to have around to control the populations of other insects. Still, many homeowners would prefer these web-slinging friends remain outdoors. Therefore, sealing cracks in a home’s foundation and repairing small openings around windows and doors can help keep spiders out. Also, alleviating moisture issues in basements, garages or attics may keep out other bugs that would be prey to spiders.

Homeowners can take the steps necessary to cut down on pests in and around their homes.


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By Pete CovinoFor the News-Gazette

Spring is still more than two weeks away, but it’s already all about the days of wine and roses at the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival.

The most popular event on the Epcot calendar, after the Food & Wine event, there are more things to do at the festival than there are Dalmatians in a Walt Disney movie.

First stop: Check out the Festival Welcome Center at the World Showcase and pick up a Garden Passport. The free book is your guide to Outdoor Kitchens, music events, garden showcases, merchandise and more. Plus the passport includes stickers so you can mark your journey as you travel through Future World and the World Showcase.

Among this year’s many food highlights is a brand-new kitchen for 2018, The Honey Bee-stro. Yes, the accent is on honey at this kitchen.

Located at Showcase Plaza, food highlights include:

Roasted Cauliflower with Buckwheat Honey Carrot Puree; Wild Rice Pilaf; Asparagus, Honey-blistered Grapes and Sunflower Brittle.

Honey Tandoori Chicken Flatbread with White Cheddar Cheese, Charred Vegetables; Clover Honey Sour Cream and Micro Watercress.

Local Wildflower Honey-Mascrpone Cheesecake with Orange Blossom Honey Ice Cream, garnished with Fennel Pollen Meringue Kisses.

Beverages at the new Bee-Stro include Florida Orange Groves Winery Orange Blossom Wine; Orange Blossom Brewing’s Orange Blossom Pilsner; Honey-Peach Cobbler Freeze with Blueberry Vodka. Also available in a non-alcoholic variety.

The garden festival will also feature many returning kitchens serving up favorites from past years including Pineapple Promenade (you know the theme here, Spicy Hot Dog with pineapple chutney, etc.); La Isla Fresca, with its Caribbean influence (Sugar Cane Shrimp Skewer, Caribbean Conch Salad); The Berry Baskets, which is most definitely, all about the berries (Lamb Chop with Blackberry Gastrique; Field Greens with Fresh Strawberries); Jardin de Fiestas, featuring everything that is not a Taco Bell taco (Pork Taco with slow braised pork, apple relish, goat cheese and chile de arbol sauce); Lotus House, with a Chinese menu that includes Fried Chicken Dumplings with peanut sauce; the German Farmer’s Market (Bauernmarket) featuring Potato Panckes, Toasted Pretzel Bread, Warm Cheese Struedel.

Other kitchens include Primavera Kitchen (Italy); The Smokehouse Barbecue and Brews; Hanami (Japan); Taste of Marrakesh (Morocco); Florida Fresh; Fleur de Lys (France); Cider House (United Kingdom); Northern Bloom (Canada) and Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Company.

Also scattered throughout Epcot as the topiaries, those sculpted garden landscapes that have been a part of the festival since the beginning. Featured topiaries include

Daisy Duck and Chip ‘n’ Dale; Bambi and Friends; Butterflies; Stitch; Figment, Buzz Lightyear; Bromeliad Dragon; Lady and the Tramp; Beauty and the Beast, Tinker Bell, Winnie the Pooh and many more.

The many Garden Destinations include the Bamboo Garden (China); Tropical Rainforest (Mexico); Garden Italiano (Italy); Bonsai Collection (Japan); Shakespeare Garden (United Kingdom).

There are several Play Gardens throughout Epcot that are made with youngsters in mind.

And try to make time for the various garden tours like the English Tea Garden Tour featuring the history of tea and the plants used to make the finest tea blends. You can sign up for the tour at the United Kingdom. A Royal Tea Garden Tour, which includes a sampling of tea and scones, also is available for $18. Call 407-WDW-TOUR.

If you visit during a weekend (Friday through Monday), make sure you check out the Garden Rocks Concert Series. The upcoming schedule includes Starship, Simple Plan, Little River Band, The Orchestra with former members of ELO, Fog Hat, Smash Mouth, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Village People, The Guess Who and The Spinners.

Dining package, with reserved seating available for the concerts. Call 407-WDW-DINE.

Concerts are held at 5:30 p.m., 6:45 p.m. and 8 p.m.

For more information on the Epcot Flower & Garden Festival, visit https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT AROUNDOSCEOLA COUNTY & CENTRAL FLORIDA

ONLINEVisit www.aroundosceola.com for the latest news.

CONTACTJENNIFER DIDOMENICOOSCEOLA NEWS-GAZETTE A&E EDITOR

EMAIL [email protected]

SATURDAY, MARCH 10 DINE WITH THE

DEPARTED, at Rose Hill Cemetery. The event will run 6-9 p.m. Tickets are available at www.osceolahistory.org.

SUNDAY, MARCH 11 THE MANELLO

MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, is hosting Free Family Funday from 12-4:30 p.m. Free fine art project and docent tour from 12 to 2:30 p.m.

TROUT STEAK REVIVAL, will perform in Celebration in part of the Celebration Foundation’s Concert Series. Tickets are $25, $10 for students with ID. For tickets and more concert dates, visit www.Celebration Foundation.org.

FRIDAY, MARCH 16 THE WINTER

PARK SIDEWALK ART FESTIVAL,will run through Sunday. Tickets are not required. For more information, visit https://cityof winterpark.org/event/58th-winter-park-sidewalk-art-festival-2/. S

SATURDAY, MARCH 17 MARCH FOR

MEALS 5K & WALK, presents a 5K (3.1-mile) run and walk for individuals and/or corporate and family teams. A Kid’s Run, silent auction, spirit competitions and more will also take place. The run and walk will begin at 8 a.m. For more info / to register, visit www.osceolagenerations.org.

Epcot is in full bloomFlower & Garden Festival returns for another season

NEWS-GAZETTE PHOTOS/JENNIFER DIDOMENICO

OSCEOLA NEWS-GAZETTE Thursday, March 8, 2018ARTS & ENTERTAINMENTARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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For details on summer camp activities, contact the Osceola County YMCA at 407-847-7413 or visit ymcacf.org/camp.

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By Jennifer DiDomenicoA&E Editor

One of Sarasota’s biggest events is back for another year. The Sarasota Balloon Festival will take flight tonight, Thursday, March 8, and run through the weekend.

Dozens of hot air balloons of all colors and patterns will take to the skies, performing night glows each evening.

The gates will open at 5 p.m. tonight, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Tethered rides are $20 per person and will begin at 6 p.m. The night glow will begin at 8 p.m.

Balloon rides and activities are subject to change, due to weather conditions.

While the balloons are the hot subject of this festival,

guests can expect much more than just that.

Reithoffer Shows will present a carnival of fun for all ages. In addition to a wide variety of family attractions, the carnival will offer thrilling rides including Speed, Freak Out and Fireball.

The Kids Zone will offer face painting, coloring, a petting zoo and pony rides.

The event that was created to drive economic benefits within the local community will also feature food trucks, craft beers, a wine garden and a wide range of retail vendors.

Guests of all ages are welcome. There is no admission fee. Parking is $20 per vehicle. For more information, visit www.sarasotaballoonfestival.com.

TAKE FLIGHT AT SARASOTA BALLOON FESTIVAL

BOK TOWER 5K RUN & WALKBy Jennifer DiDomenicoA&E Editor

The seventh annual Carillon Classic 5K will take place Saturday, March 10, at Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales. Considered one of Florida’s most challenging 5K courses, it features various elevation changes and a variety of running surfaces.

The race will begin at 7:30 a.m., registration is at 6:30

a.m. Race day fee is $30, and includes free admission to Book Tower Gardens for the runners and their families.

The race was established in 2012 as a charity fundraiser by the Dick Pope/Polk County chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association (FPRA). Over the years, the race has raised more than $20,000 for charity.

For more information, visit www.visitcentral florida.org.

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By Pete CovinoFor the News-Gazette

A very happy first birthday to Midici, the Neapolitan Pizza Company.

The Kissimmee location (the casual Italian restaurant has been expanding rapidly since it first came to Osceola County) recently invited media guests for a tasting event, and based on my previous visits, this was one of those opportunities that just could not be missed.

If you have not been yet, you definitely need to stop by for lunch or dinner. Just about everything, from meat to cheeses, is imported from Italy. Ordering a platter is like going to a real Italian deli, except you don’t have to order by the pound and you get to experience several different taste sensations, all on one plate.

Of course the pizza is outstanding, all made with high quality Italian ingredients like prosciutto, ricotta, mozzarella and more, but you really need to indulge at Midici and start off with a cheese or meat board, or maybe both.

The house meat board includes prosciutto, Calabrese salami, Neapolitan salami, rosemary ham, served up with mustard and kalamata olives. Note: That really is a live olive tree decorated with lights near the front entrance.

The house cheese board features black truffle cheese, fresh mozzarella, goat cheese, gorgonzola, parmiagiano-reggiano, served with dried appricots, dates, walnuts and honey.

Both boards are $9.50 each.

Other not-to-miss apps include Burata Caprese, feature burrata (soft cheese), arugula, grape tomatoes, Italian vinaigrette dressing, housemade pesto and extra virgin olive oil. It’s $7.50.

You can also try the burrata with melon and prosciutto, $9.50.

If you can’t decide between the meat or cheese board, not to worry. Midici has got

you covered. You can get the combination plate, which serves up pretty much every all on one plate for $15.50, and it serves two.

Order the combo board, and share two pizzas, and save a few thousand dollars and not go to Italy this summer.,

There are more than 20 pizzas on the menu, including classic Neapolitan style (The ubiquitous Margherita, as well as white, house pesto, truffle and red marinara pizzas). Neapolitan style is light and thin, and here they always include non-gmo Neopolitan flour, water, sea salt and yeast.

If you are feeling more like Frank Sinatra or Sophia Loren, and want something more exotic, the specialty pizzas can include everything from truffle cream, beef meatballs, gorgonzola, housemade pesto and so much more.

Neapolitan pizzas are in the $6.50-$7.50 range, while specialty pizzas range in price from $9-$13. And everything is cooked in the restaurant’s Italian ovens.

Elsewhere on the menu, Midici has some very nice salads (walnut & gorgonzola, Greek, purple kale & ricotta) priced at about $7 to $9.

And you definitely have to finish the evening with something from the Italian coffee bar (espresso, cappuccino, etc.). If you can save some room for dessert, the Nutella Calzone is a classic or get really buzzed with the decadent Affogato (Italian vanilla bean gelato, drowing in expresso.

A date night at Midici (two pizzas, coffee and share the meat and cheese board combo) will cost about $40-$45. It’s practically a fine dining experience, but at a more casual kind of price. Beer and wine also is available.

Ordering at Midici is done at the open kitchen. Your pizza and more will be brought to your table. Service has also always been first-rate during my visits.

Midici is located at 720 Centerview Blvd. Call 407-201-3824 for more information.

MIDICI CELEBRATES ONE YEAR


INSIDERSTips and Advice from Local Professionals

Basic tips for achieving financial security

No one likes the fear of meeting disaster around the corner. This is true in all areas of life, and money is certainly

no exception. The threat of finances spiraling out of control from a few hefty unforeseen bills or life circumstances produces anxiety for millions of people every day. Yet, people often live in such a way that they are less financially secure than they are actually capable of being. Here are some things you can do to help you achieve financial security:

Check your credit scoreKnowing exactly where your credit

stands is crucial for financial security. As Experian has said, it gives you a realistic idea of your ability to apply for new credit, can help you catch any discrepancies, and can be a critical tool for catching identity theft.

BudgetIt may seem obvious, but the easiest

way to lose control of your finances is by ignoring them. Regular budgeting- whether weekly, twice-monthly, or monthly- is a built-in security method for identifying financial difficulties before they spiral.

Get helpThere are a lot of things you do in life

that are better done with others, and that’s especially true for something as sensitive and emotionally straining as finances.

You probably don’t spend all waking hours analyzing your financial position, but you can speak to people who live and breathe such assessments every day and can guide you in what is and is not good for your security.

Set aside an emergency fundThe very definition of security is

being able to withstand challenges and difficulties.

That’s exactly what an emergency fund is for. It might be $1,000, or it might be two to three months’ income. The choice is yours, but the point is to have something set aside for unforeseen circumstances like car trouble, sickness, and so on.

ConclusionYou can make yourself more

financially secure by practicing diligence. Regularly creating a budget and checking your credit score is comparable to looking under the hood of your automobile to make sure everything is in good working order.

THEInsiders Tips & Advice From Local Professionals

— BANKING —

Brett BarnhardtCommunity PresidentOsceola, Orange, and Seminole CountiesCenterState Bank

Tips & Advice From Local Professionals

Jennifer R. BondyPartnerOverstreet, Miles, Cumbie & Finkenbinder P.A.

— LEGAL —

v


Locating Paperwork: Important Documents To Find Upon The Death Of A Loved One

Once the shock and surprise of a loved ones death eases, there is work to do. Namely, paperwork. It’s important to locate all of the

important documents your loved one had in order to expedite the closing of the estate, but many people have no idea where to even begin. To help make the process easier for you, we’ve created this list of important papers that you’ll need to find after the death of a loved one.

Checklist of Important Papers •Death Certificates. You will need multiple

original copies of the death certificate to submit to the Probate court, financial institutions, and life insurance companies, etc.

•EstatePlanningDocuments. 3 Last Will and Testament and

Codicil(s). Must be originals. 3 Living Trust and Amendment(s). •AssetInformation. 3 Financial Account Statements 3 Life Insurance Policies 3 Real Estate Deeds 3 Auto and Boat Titles 3 Stock and Bond Certificates •BusinessDocuments. These documents

only apply to business owners. 3 Corporate, LLC, or Partnership

Documents 3 Financial Account Statements 3 Vehicle Titles

3 Contracts such as leases, loans, and employment agreements.

3 Income Tax Returns •ContractsandAgreements. 3 Pre- and Postnuptial Agreements

and amendments 3 Mortgage/ Promissory Notes owed

to the deceased person 3 Property Leases •Bills. 3 Mortgages, Loans, and Lines of Credit 3 Real Estate Tax Bills 3 Medical Bills 3 Funeral Bill 3 Credit Card Statements 3 Utility bills •TaxReturns. 3 Personal Income Tax Returns. 3 Business Tax Returns (if applicable) 3 Gift Tax Returns.

Consult An Estate Planning Attorney For Assistance After The Death Of A Loved One

Planning ahead is one of the best ways to stay ahead when a death occurs in the family. We strongly encourage all families to create a file of important documents, passwords, and/or where to find this information upon their deaths. Doing so will make the passing easier on loved one who are left behind to manage the estate and will greatly ease an already stressful situation.

Did you know on an annual basis household leaks waste one trillion gallons of water nationwide? That’s enough

water for over 11 million homes. Fixing those leaks makes you more water efficient and lowers your water bill. Leaks around the home are usually easy and cheap to fix and parts can be found at home improvement stores.

Don’t ignore those leaks, they could get worse over time driving up your water bill. March celebrates Fix a Leak Week from March 19 – 25. So now’s the time to inspect your home for leaks. Here are a few tips to get you started. Check your meter: When no water is being used check your water meter. If the dials or counter are moving, you may have a leak. Please note you may find critters inside the meter box. Toilet flapper: Place a drop of food coloring in the toilet tank. If any color shows up in the bowl after 10 minutes, you have a leak (Be sure to flush toilet afterwards to avoid staining.) A leaking toilet flapper can waste 1,000 gallons per day. Faucets: Over time washers and gaskets frequently cause faucets to leak. One drip per second can waste more than 3,000 gallons per year. That’s enough for 180 showers.

Fittings and hoses: Check the water pipe fittings and hoses to your fixtures for any signs of leaking water. Showerheads: Some leaky showerheads can be fixed by making sure there is a tight connection between the showerhead and the pipe stem by using pipe tape to secure it. Please note: If your shower fills a one-gallon bucket in less than 20 seconds, replace the showerhead with a water-efficient model.Outdoors: Check your garden hoses for leaks where they connect with the faucet. Replacing the hose washer can stop it from leaking. If you have an irrigation system check for leaks or contact a licensed professional to inspect your system.

If you have any questions concerning a leak contact our customer service department at 407-944-5000. There are many online tutorials on how to fix leaks. If you are not comfortable with making the repairs yourself contact a licensed plumber. For more information regarding Fix a Leak Week visit: www.epa.gov/watersense/fix-leak-week.

— WATER AUTHORITY —


Fix those leaks

Bathroom remodels can be overwhelming and frustrating, many times people underestimate the

work and cost of labor, and only shop for the tile. Ending up with a quality job should be your number one priority.

Personally, bathroom remodels are one of my favorite projects to work on. From start to finish they are exciting, taking an outdated bathroom and creating new feel of serene luxury. There are so many options to create your new personal space, so do not rush into it, make sure your budget is realistic.

I usually recommend to start with the “jewelry” of bathroom. In short, fall in love with your accent pieces, usually these tend to be a bit more expensive than your field tiles, but are well worth it. Then match your shower floor tile, make sure it is either slip resistant or a smaller

mosaic where the grout will help to make it slip resistant. Lastly, choose your wall and floor tiles. Now its time to configure your layout options, tile direction and design, bull noseing or not, shower niches, benches, designer drains, fixtures, cabinets etc.

Keep in mind, it is very important to get a qualified installer who knows how to waterproof and prep all surfaces correctly and then install all tiles level.

Give us a call or stop in, we’d love to create your new bathroom, 407-870-2727.

Time for a bathroom remodel?

Rita IrvinOwnerModern Floorz & Shutters


— FLOORING —


DAILYFRIDAY

03-09ROBIN TROWER With Damon Fowler. The Plaza Live, 425 N. Bumby Ave., Orlando, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $39.50 - $64.50. This event is for all ages. For tickets or for more information, visit PLAZALIVEORLANDO.COM

SANDRA MCCRACKENCelebration Community Church and Acoustic Nights hosts Christian singer/songwriter Sandra McCracken, at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 advance/$20 at the door and can be purchased at CCC or at CELEBRATIONCOMMUNITY CHURCH.COM/MINISTRIES/ACOUSTIC-NIGHTS/

FIT FOR THE CURE CAMPAIGNIs coming to Central Florida to raise funds for breast cancer research, patient care and community health programs. Visit Dillards at the Florida Mall on March 9, or to see other events in March visit FITFORTHECURE.COM

SATURDAY

03-10

SING ALONG MUSIC HISTORY TOUR Sing along with New York Blues Hall of Fame inductee, Marc Black, for a music history tour throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Catch the performance at Hart Memorial Library at 11 a.m., or at the St. Cloud Library at 3 p.m.

NONA CHAMBER FESTIVAL From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Lake Nona campus of Valencia College (12350 Narcoossee Road in Orlando). The annual festival celebrates and promotes the success of the Lake Nona region, featuring live entertainment, games and activities, and booths by more than 50 local businesses and non-profit organizations. Local restaurants will provide their signature burger type slider sandwiches for a “Burger Showdown”. For more information, visit LAKENONACC.ORG

ART AFTER DARKIs taking over Lake Nona Town Center. This is your chance to mingle amongst local artists from Orlando’s bustling art scene. The event will run 6-9 p.m., with live music by Abby Baird. All ages welcome. Admission is free.

LINEMAN COMPETITIONKissimmee Utility Authority will host the 18th annual Florida Lineman Competition at Osceola Heritage Park. The rodeo-style competition is where electric linemen from utilities throughout Florida come together for training and to demonstrate the skill, safety and teamwork of lineworkers in a series of timed events. The event kicks off with opening ceremonies at 8 a.m. and the competition continues until approximately 3 p.m. Admission and parking are free.

SUNDAY

03-11TROUT STEAK REVIVALWill perform at Community Presbyterian Church in Celebration at 5 p.m., in part of the Celebration Foundation’s Concert Series. Tickets are $25 for adults, $10 for students with ID. For more information, visit CELEBRATIONFOUNDATION.ORG

MONDAY

03-12GARDEN THEATRE SEASONThe Garden Theatre has announced the seven productions to be offered as part of the Garden’s 2018-2019 theatrical season. The season of extravagant stage adaptations, powerhouse musical productions, and regional premieres starts with the award-winning classic musical Gypsy opening Aug. 24. New season subscriptions start at $84 and go on sale March 12 through the box office at 407-877-4736 ext. 0, and at gardentheatre.org. Single tickets go on sale on May 1.

CRUISE AND TOUR EXPOGroup Travel Specialists Inc. will host a Cruise and Tour Expo from 1-3 p.m. at the Elk’s Lodge (1655 Kings Hwy in Kissimmee). Presenters include Celebration Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Celtic Tours, Collette Tours, MSC Cruises, Mayflower Tours, Riviera River Cruise, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and Trafalgar Tours. Everyone is invited, no charge. RSVP to 407-846-0088.

THURSDAY

03-15AXIOM GALLERYThe new gallery in Winter Park grand opening will feature the exhibition Certainty of the Tides, March 15 at 7 p.m. The show highlights the works of Orlando based artists: PJ Svejda and New York based artist Madison Bloch. The gallery is located at 268 W. New England Ave.

CELEBRATING DAVID BOWIEPlaza Live at 8 p.m. For ticket info, visit PLAZALIVEORLANDO.COM

FRIDAY

03-16ST. AUGUSTINE LIONS SEAFOOD FESTIVAL ST. Will take place all weekend long, featuring seafood dishes, live music and art exhibits. 25 W Castillo Drive, St. Augustine. For more information, visit LIONSFESTIVAL.COM

SATURDAY

03-17CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE CHARITY DINNER Presented by Presbyterian Women’s Association at St. Cloud Presbyterian Church. 909 10th St, St. Cloud. Eat in or carry out, 4-7 p.m. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for children and seniors. Ticket proceeds will benefit local charities. Call 407-892-2813.

MARCH FOR MEALS 5K & WALK Presents a 5K (3.1-mile) run and walk for individuals and/or corporate and family teams. A Kid’s Run, silent auction, spirit competitions and more will also take place. The run and walk will begin at 8 a.m. For more information and to register, visit OSCEOLAGENERATIONS.ORG

FRIDAY

03-232018 RUNAWAY COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL Will be from March 23-25 starting everyday at noon at Osceola Heritage Park. Get your tickets early for the 2018 Runaway Country Music Festival! Take advantage of the best deals on Florida’s Spring Tradition. Brantley Gilbert, Darius Rucker and John Anderson confirmed lineup with more on the way. For more information, go to OHPARK.ORG

SATURDAY

03-24PINT N’ PAWSCraft beer and charity come together Saturday, March 24 in Sanford with the 7th annual Pints n’ Paws Craft Beer Festival to benefit Dolly’s Foundation and Pet Rescue by Judy. This pet-friendly event features 100-plus of the top craft brews, local food trucks and live entertainment. It begins at 2 p.m. (1 p.m. for VIP ticket holders). Advance tickets are $30 and includes free samples of all craft beer. VIP Tickets are available for $45 and include: early entry into the event, a commemorative 7th Annual Pints n’ Paws t-shirt and koozie, discounted pint glasses and 20 percent off growlers at Celery City (day of the event day only). Tickets at the gate are $40 for General Admission and $55 for VIP (if available). Will-call tickets can be purchased online at pintsandpaws.com and picked up day of the event.

SPRING HEALTH FAIRPoinciana Medical Center is hosting its Spring Health Fair from 9 a.m. to noon. This interactive health fair is free and open to the community and will take place in Poinciana Medical Center’s main lobby. The event will feature community physician practices, information about health resources in the community, free health screenings, healthy meal demonstrations and an on-site Zumba class (10 am start time). Attendees will also have an opportunity to tour a variety of first responder vehicles, including a medical helicopter. For more information about Poinciana Medical Center, visit POINCIANAMEDICAL CENTER.COM

SATURDAY

03-31MANDY HARVEYOld Town will host a spring concert by America’s Got Talent Golden Buzzer Winner, Mandy Harvey. The concert will be in the South Entertainment Area of Old Town in Kissimmee. A limited amount of VIP Meet & Greet tickets are also available online and includes free parking. Guests can save up to 30% by purchasing general admission tickets online at MYOLDTOWNUSA.COM

FRIDAY

04-06PIE BAKERSThe AOC National Pie Championship, coming to the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, April 6-7, has announced a new chocolate category using Guittard chocolate. This category will replace the existing chocolate category. For pie baking guidelines and rules, email [email protected].

SATURDAY

04-28PAINT OUTSave the date for the Winter Park Paint Out Garden Party. This year’s event will be held at the Polasek Museum. For more information go to WINTERPARKPAINTOUT.ORG

SPRING BREAK CAMPRegistration is open for Camp LOL, a sketch comedy camp for kids at Osceola Arts is now open. Cost of the camp is $125 for the week and will be held Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a final showcase on Friday at 3 p.m. Call 407-846-6257 for more information.

SHAKESPEARE THEATEROrlando Shakespeare Theater in Partnership with UCF (Orlando Shakes) has announced that Lin-Manuel Miranda’s and Quiara Alegría Hudes’ Tony Award-winning musical, In the Heights will open their 30th Season. Tickets for In the Heights will go on sale June 2018. For more information call (407) 447-1700 ext. 1, or visit in person at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center (812 E. Rollins St.).

CONNECTIONS PROJECTPlanning a road trip to South Florida? The Connections Project: A Mosaic to the Keys is a series of six exhibitions featuring nearly 400 individual canvases throughout the keys. There also are several events scheduled with the exhibit, on display now through May 8. For more information, go to KEYSARTS.COM

HISTORY TRUNKEarly Learning Coalition of Osceola County is offering the Early Learning History Trunk for rent, for free. The trunk is designed for pre-K classrooms to bring history and nature alive in exciting and interactive ways. For information contact [email protected] or visit OSCEOLAHISTORY.ORG/TRAVELING-TRUNKS-2/

Weekly and Monthly Events

Pig on the Pond will bring delicious barbecue, live entertainment, thrilling carnival rides, fireworks and more to Clermont this weekend— all for a great cause. An event of 501(c)3 non-profit organization Project Scholars, the festival will help support and provide educational scholarships to local students. The fun will run Friday-Sunday. Visit www.pigonthepond.org for more information.

CONTACT BRIAN MCBRIDE EDITOREMAIL [email protected] IS NO CHARGE FOR A SUBMISSION.

WHAT - Pig on the Pond Community Festival

WHERE - 103rd Street, Clermont, FL 34711

WHEN - Friday, March 9 (5-10 p.m.), Saturday, March 10 (10 a.m. - 10 p.m.),

Sunday, March 11 (11 a.m. - 6 p.m.)

TICKETS & INFORMATION - Daily Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children.

Carnival tickets sold separately.

Editor’s note: Due to space constraints, the News-Gazette cannot guarantee that all events submitted will be published in the Daily Planner in every Thursday and Saturday edition.

ONGOINGTAI CHI FOR ENERGYTai chi for energy. Saturdays at Hart Memorial Library, 211 E. Dakin Ave. Kissimmee; 10 a.m.; 407-900-9003

GRIEFSHAREA non-denominational support group for people who have lost a loved one. Good Samaritan Village, 1441 Hoeger Circle, Kissimmee. Every Friday until March 31, 10 a.m.- noon; 407-572-8284.

CELEBRATE RECOVERY A recovery ministry that applies the eight Biblical Recovery Principles (based on the Beatitudes) with a goal to let God work through us in providing His healing power. Open to everyone in the community who experiences pain, brokenness and needs support and encouragement. Some of the hurts, habits and hang-ups that are addressed are: anger, food addiction, co-dependency, grief and loss, abandonment, divorce, self-mutilation, tobacco, all types of abuse, work-alcoholics, bitterness, all addictions, sexual integrity, selfishness, unforgiveness and so much more. Every Friday night; Kissimmee Christian Church, 415 N. Main St., Kissimmee, at 6:30 p.m. on the 2nd floor in rooms 206 and 208; 407-847-2543




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OBITUARY NOTICES• Terry Lee McGee, 64, of St. Cloud, passed away Thursday, February 23, 2018. Fisk Funeral Home, Saint Cloud is handling the arrangements. 407- 892-2511.

• Marian Kay Quick, 86, of Intercession City, passed away February 28, 2018. Osceola Memory Gardens, Kissimmee is handling the arrangements. 407-847-2494.

• Patty Dudley, 57, of St. Cloud, FL passed away Tuesday, February 27, 2018, Osceola Memory Gardens, St. Cloud.

• Rosa Maria Mourino, 90, of Kissimmee, Passed away Thursday, March 1, 2018. Osceola Memory Gardens, Kissimmee is handling the arrangements. 407-847-2494.

• Allan E. Reynolds, 80, of St. Cloud, died Thursday, March 1. Funeral Home: Ammen Family Cremation and Funeral Care, Phone: 321-724-2222.

For daily obituaries and services please visit www.aroundosceola.com

QUARANTELLO-Helen Quarantello, 81, of Niagara F a l l s , NY, and Kissimmee, FL passed a w a y peacefully on Monday, F e b r u a r y 12, 2018 surrounded by her loving family. Born in Niagara Falls, NY, she was the daughter of the late Lloyd and Christine (Reed) Oliver.Helen attended local

schools and graduated from Niagara Falls High School. On April 4, 1956 she married her beloved husband, Bernardino Quarantello at St. Joseph’s Church.Helen was employed as the

manager of Central Lanes and Luchese Lanes Bowling Alley for many years prior to her retirement. She also volunteered as an election poll officer and for the N.F. Boys and Girls Club.Helen was an avid bowler

and was inducted into the Niagara Falls Women’s Bowling Hall of Fame in 1980 for her accomplishments. In her leisure time, she enjoyed arts and crafts, as well as, taking care of children. She especially enjoyed traveling with her husband, in

particular to Florida where they owned a home for the past 20 years.In addition to her husband

of 61 years, she is survived by her children; Bernard “Bernie” (Sue Solley) Quarantello, Diane (fiance’ Ray Roffle) Quarantello, Russell (Cheryl) Quarantello, Jean (Anthony) Pascuzzi; and was predeceased by one daughter, Michele (Joseph) Sirianni. She is also survived by her grandchildren; Justin, Danielle, Alyssa, Vincent, Valerie, Steve, Frank, Annina, Russell, Christain, William, Carmine, and Ashley; and five great-grandchildren. Two siblings; Christine (William) McCabe and Bernice (late Jack) Browning; many nieces, nephews, and cousins. And her loving friends and caretakers, Sonja Williams and family.She was predeceased by

her siblings; William (late Helen) Oliver, George (late Marge) Oliver, Barbara (late Fred) Cooper, Catherine (late Thomas) Bearsley, and Shirley (late Jack) Long.Helen had over 2,000

volunteer hours at Florida Hospital Kissimmee, and she was a “more” than average bowler at AMF Kissimmee Lanes.Services and interment were

held in Niagara Falls, NY.

Whether it’s advice from their parents, a response to television ads urging viewers to save for retirement, or their own financial savvy, many of today’s young professionals recognize the importance of saving for retirement from the moment they receive their first paychecks. But men and women over 50 may not have been so practical, and many such professionals may feel a need to save more as their retirements draw ever closer.

Saving for retirement might seem like a no-brainer, but the National Institute on Retirement Security notes that, in 2017, almost 40 million households in the United States had no retirement savings at all. In addition, the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that Americans have a retirement savings deficit of $4.3 trillion, meaning they have $4.3 trillion less in retirement savings than they should.

Men and women over 50 who have retirement savings deficits may need to go beyond depositing more money in their retirement

accounts in order to live comfortably and pay their bills in retirement. The following are a few simple ways to start saving more for retirement.

Redirect nonessential expenses into savings. Some retirement accounts, such as IRAs, are governed by deposit limits. But others, such as 401(k) retirement plans, have no such limits. Men and women can examine their spending habits in an effort to find areas where they can cut back on nonessential expenses, such as cable television subscriptions and dining out. Any money saved each month can then be redirected into savings and/or retirement accounts.

Reconsider your retirement date. Deciding to work past the age of 65 is another way men and women over 50 can save more for retirement. Many professionals now continue working past the age of 65 for a variety of reasons. Some may suspect they’ll grow bored in retirement, while others may keep working out of financial need. Others may

simply love their jobs and want to keep going until their passion runs out. Regardless of the reason, working past the age of 65 allows men and women to keep earning and saving for retirement, while also delaying the first withdrawal from their retirement savings accounts.

Reconsider your current and future living situation. Housing costs are many people’s most considerable expense, and that won’t necessarily

change in retirement. Even men and women who have paid off their mortgages may benefit by moving to a region with lower taxes or staying in the same area but downsizing to a smaller home where their taxes and utility bills will be lower.

Adults who decide to move to more affordable areas or into smaller, less expensive homes can then redirect the money they are saving into interest-bearing retirement or savings accounts.

How to save more for retirement after 50


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IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OFTHE 9th JUDICIAL CIRCUIT,

IN AND FOR OSCEOLACOUNTY, FLORIDA

CIVIL DIVISIONCase #: 2016-CA-001361 MFJPMORGAN CHASE BANK,NATIONAL ASSOCIATION,Plaintiff,

vs.CHRISTOPHERMARSHALL; UNKNOWNSPOUSE OF CHRISTO-PHER MARSHALL; LAKELIZZIE RESERVE HOME-OWNERS' ASSOCIATION,INC.; UNITED STATES OFAMERICA DEPARTMENTO F T R E A S U R Y ; U N -KNOWN PERSON(S) INPOSSESSION OF THESUBJECT PROPERTY,

Defendants,RE-NOTICE OF

FORECLOSURE SALENOTICE IS HEREBY GIV-

EN pursuant to an OrderRescheduling ForeclosureSale filed February 13, 2018,and entered in Case No.2016-CA-1361 MF, of theCircuit Court of the 9th Judi-c ia l C i rcu i t i n and fo rOSCEOLA County, Florida,w h e r e i n J P M O R G A NCHASE BANK, NATIONALASSOCIATION, is Plaintiff,and CHRISTOPHER MAR-S H A L L ; U N K N O W NSPOUSE OF CHRISTO-PHER MARSHALL; UN-KNOWN PERSON(S) INPOSSESSION OF THES U B J E C T P R O P E R T Y ;LAKE LIZZIE RESERVEHOMEOWNERS' ASSOCI-A T I O N , I N C . ; U N I T E DSTATES OF AMERICA DE-PARTMENT OF TREAS-URY, are the Defendants.ARMANDO RAMIREZ, theClerk of the Circuit Court, willsell to the highest and bestbidder for cash IN SUITE2600/ ROOM 2602 OF THEO S C E O L A C O U N T YC O U R T H O U S E , a t 2COURTHOUSE SQUARE,KISSIMMEE in OSCEOLACounty, FLORIDA 34741, at11:00 A.M., on the 15th dayof MARCH, 2018, the follow-ing described property as setforth in said Final Judgment,to wit:LOT 29, LAKE LIZZIE RE-SERVE, ACCORDING TOTHE PLAT THEREOF, ASR E C O R D E D I N P L A TBOOK 14, PAGE(S) 55 AND56, OF THE PUBLIC RE-CORDS OF OSCEOLACOUNTY, FLORIDA.A person claiming an in-

terest in the surplus from thesale, if any, other than theproperty owner as of the dateof the lis pendens must file aclaim within 60 days after thesale.

In accordance with theAmericans with DisabilitiesAct, if you are a person witha disability who needs anyaccommodation in order toparticipate in this proceeding,you are entitled, at no cost toyou, to the provision of cer-tain assistance. Please con-tact the ADA Coordinator,C o u r t A d m i n i s t r a t i o n ,Osceola County Courthouse,2 Courthouse Square, Suite6300, Kissimmee, Florida34741, (407) 742-2417, atleast 7 days before yourscheduled court appearance,or immediately upon receiv-ing this notification if the timebefore the scheduled appear-ance is less than 7 days; ifyou are hearing or voice im-paired, call 711.DATED on this 22nd day of

February 2018.By: /s/ Eric M. KnoppEric M. Knopp, Esq.

Bar. No.: 709921Submitted by:Kahane & Associates, P.A.8201 Peters Road,Suite 3000Plantation, FL 33324Telephone: (954) 382-3486Telefacsimile:(954) 382-5380Designated service email:[email protected] No. 16-01105 JPCMarch 1, 8, 2018

NOTICE OF ACTION

RE: The Florida EducatorCertificate of:

Cheryl Lynn Parke Heineman2475 Yellow Brick RoadSaint Cloud, FL 34772

Notice is hereby given toCheryl Lynn Parke Heine-man, Respondent of an ad-ministrative complaint seek-ing disciplinary action againsther Florida Educator Certific-ate. This notice shall consti-tute service of the adminis-trative complaint, which shallbe filed with Education Prac-tices Commission.

If Respondent wishes to re-spond to the administrativecomplaint, she must contactProfessional Practices Ser-vices at 850/245-0438 byApril 13, 2018. Respondentwho fails to file a written re-quest for a hearing by thisdate shall waive her rights,and the complaint will beconsidered by the EducationPractices Commission forfinal action.March 1, 8, 15, 22, 2018

SEARCHING"Anyone knowing the where-abouts of MARTA BERROARAMIREZ, please contactIMMIGRATION SERVICES,525 N. Lakewood Avenue,Ocoee, FL 34761 or Tele-phone (407) 654-2371.February 15, 22, 2018March 1, 8, 2018

IN THE CIRCUIT COURTOF THE NINTH JUDICIAL

CIRCUIT, IN ANDFOR OSCEOLA

COUNTY, FLORIDAGeneral Jurisdiction Division

Case #: 2015-CA-000427 MFU.S. Bank Trust, N.A.,as Trustee for LSF9 MasterParticipation Trust,Plaintiff,

vs.James L. Schmidt, et al.,Defendants.

NOTICE OFFORECLOSURE SALE

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVENpursuant to a Final Judg-ment of Foreclosure datedJanuary 31, 2018, entered inCase No. 2015-CA-000427MF of the Circuit Court of theNinth Judicial Circuit, in andfor Osceola County, Florida,wherein U.S. Bank Trust,N.A., as Trustee for LSF9Master Participation Trust, isthe Plaintiff, and The Un-known Heirs , Devisees,Grantees, Assignees, Lien-ors, Creditors, Trustees, andall other parties claiming aninterest by, through, under oragainst the Estate of JamesL. Schmidt, a/k/a JamesLawrie Schmidt, Deceased;Nutchaya Siricharudham;The Villas at Somerset Con-dominium Association, Inc.;Heinrich Gerhart Schmidt,a /k /a Heinr ich Schmidt ;Lawrie J. Schmidt, a/k/aLawrie Wilson; James LawrieSchmidt II; Linda Barton Cro-noble, a/k/a Linda Borgan,are the Defendants, thatA r m a n d o R . R a m i r e z ,Osceola County Clerk ofCourt will sell to the highestand best bidder for cash at,Suite 2600/Room 2602, 2Courthouse Square, Kissim-mee, FL 34741, beginning at11:00 A.M., on the 20th dayof MARCH, 2018, the follow-ing described property as setforth in said Final Judgment,to wit:UNIT 116 THE VILLAS ATSOMERSET CONDOMINI-UM, AS SET FORTH IN THEDECLARATION OF CON-DOMINIUM RECORDED INO F F I C I A L R E C O R D SBOOK 941, PAGE 810 ANDAMENDMENTS THERETO,TOGETHER WITH AN UNDI-VIDED PERCENTAGE OFTHE COMMON ELEMENTSAS SET FORTH IN THE DE-CLARATION OF CON-DOMINIUM, PUBLIC RE-CORDS OF OSCEOLACOUNTY, FLORIDA.Any person claiming an in-

terest in the surplus from thesale, if any, other than theproperty owner as of the dateof the lis pendens must file aclaim within 60 days after thesale.If you are a person with a

disability who needs any ac-commodation in order to par-ticipate in this proceeding,you are entitled, at no cost toyou, to the provision of cer-tain assistance. Please con-tact the ADA Coordinator,C o u r t A d m i n i s t r a t i o n ,Osceola County Courthouse,2 Courthouse Square, Suite6300, Kissimmee, Florida34741, (407) 742-2417, atleast 7 days before yourscheduled court appearance,or immediately upon receiv-ing this notification if the timebefore the scheduled appear-ance is less than 7 days; ifyou are hearing or voice im-paired, call 711.Dated on this 23rd day of

February 2018.BROCK & SCOTT, PLLCAttorney for Plaintiff1501 N.W. 49th Street,Suite 200,Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309Phone: (954) 618-6955ext. 6177Fax: (954) [email protected]: /s/ Jimmy K. EdwardsJimmy K. Edwards, Esq.Florida Bar No. 981855File No. 14-F03630March 1, 8, 2018

NOTICE OF SALETo Satisfy owner lien for rentin accordance with FloridaStatutes – The Self StorageFacility Act Section 83.801and 83.809 contents of theleased storage units as wellas leased outside storagespaces (individuals identifiedbelow) including all personalproperty consisting of mis-cellaneous household items,furniture, clothing, boxes andother items will be sold atPublic auction to the highestbidder (or otherwise dis-posed of) at the followinglocation and time.

600 E Donegan Ave.Kissimmee, Fl 34744407-846-8551

Tenant Names:YAHAIRA SIERRA unit # 320YESSICA CORDERO

unit # 334ALIS JIMENEZ unit # 410

Auction Date:MARCH 17, 2018Time: 10:00 A.M.March 1, 8, 2018

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT,IN AND FOR OSCEOLA

COUNTY, FLORIDA.Case #: 2018-CA-000222 MFLAND TRUST 508, ROADHOUSE, REALTY INC.TRUSTEE,Plaintiff,

vs.THE ESTATE OF RITAKING, any unknown partywho may claim as heir,devisee, grantee, assignee,lienor, creditor, trustee, orother claimant by, through,under or against THE ES-TATE OF RITA KING; AS-SOCIAT ION OF POIN-CIANA VILLAGES, INC.;POINCIANA VILLAGE ONEASSOCIATION, INC.; ANDUNKNOWN OCCUPANT(S),Defendants.

NOTICE OF ACTIONTO: THE ESTATE OF RITAKING, any unknown partywho may claim as heir, de-visee, grantee, assignee,lienor, creditor, trustee, orother claimant, by, through,under or against THEESTATE OF RITA KING.YOU ARE NOTIFIED that an

action to quiet title on the fol-lowing rea l proper ty inOsceola County, Florida:Lot 4, Block 1418, Poin-ciana Neighborhood 1South, Village 1, accordingto the map or plat thereof,as recorded in Plat Book 3,Page(s) 9, of the Public Re-cords of Osceola County,Florida. a/k/a 508 MaricopaDrive, Kissimmee, FL:34758has been filed against youand you are required to servea copy of your written de-fenses, if any, to it on: J.R a n d y E d m o n s o n , o fManzo & Associates, P.A.,Plaintiff’s attorney, whose ad-dress is 4767 New BroadStreet, Orlando, FL 32814,telephone number (407) 514-2692, on or before MARCH27, 2018, and file the originalwith the Clerk of this Courteither before service onPlaintiff’s attorney or immedi-ately thereafter; otherwise adefau l t w i l l be enteredagainst you for the relief de-manded in the Complaint orpetition.If you are a person with a

disability who needs any ac-commodation in order to par-ticipate in these proceedings,you are entitled, at no cost toyou, to the provision of cer-tain assistance. Please con-tact: Court Administration at2 Courthouse Square, Suite6300, Kissimmee, Florida34741, Telephone: (407) 7422417, within two (2) workingdays of your receipt of thisdescribed notice; if you arehearing or voice impaired,call 1-(800) 955-8771.DATED on this 7th day of

February 2018.(CIRCUIT COURT SEAL)

ARMANDO RAMIREZClerk of the Circuit Court

By: /s/ S.M.As Deputy Clerk

February 22, 2018March 1, 8, 15, 2018











































IN THE CIRCUIT COURT,IN AND FOR OSCEOLA

COUNTY, FLORIDA.Case #: 2018-CA-000222 MFLAND TRUST 508, ROADHOUSE, REALTY INC.TRUSTEE,Plaintiff,

vs.THE ESTATE OF RITAKING, any unknown partywho may claim as heir,devisee, grantee, assignee,lienor, creditor, trustee, orother claimant by, through,under or against THE ES-TATE OF RITA KING; AS-SOCIAT ION OF POIN-CIANA VILLAGES, INC.;POINCIANA VILLAGE ONEASSOCIATION, INC.; ANDUNKNOWN OCCUPANT(S),Defendants.

NOTICE OF ACTIONTO: THE ESTATE OF RITAKING, any unknown partywho may claim as heir, de-visee, grantee, assignee,lienor, creditor, trustee, orother claimant, by, through,under or against THEESTATE OF RITA KING.YOU ARE NOTIFIED that an

action to quiet title on the fol-lowing rea l proper ty inOsceola County, Florida:Lot 4, Block 1418, Poin-ciana Neighborhood 1South, Village 1, accordingto the map or plat thereof,as recorded in Plat Book 3,Page(s) 9, of the Public Re-cords of Osceola County,Florida. a/k/a 508 MaricopaDrive, Kissimmee, FL:34758has been filed against youand you are required to servea copy of your written de-fenses, if any, to it on: J.R a n d y E d m o n s o n , o fManzo & Associates, P.A.,Plaintiff’s attorney, whose ad-dress is 4767 New BroadStreet, Orlando, FL 32814,telephone number (407) 514-2692, on or before MARCH27, 2018, and file the originalwith the Clerk of this Courteither before service onPlaintiff’s attorney or immedi-ately thereafter; otherwise adefau l t w i l l be enteredagainst you for the relief de-manded in the Complaint orpetition.If you are a person with a

disability who needs any ac-commodation in order to par-ticipate in these proceedings,you are entitled, at no cost toyou, to the provision of cer-tain assistance. Please con-tact: Court Administration at2 Courthouse Square, Suite6300, Kissimmee, Florida34741, Telephone: (407) 7422417, within two (2) workingdays of your receipt of thisdescribed notice; if you arehearing or voice impaired,call 1-(800) 955-8771.DATED on this 7th day of




February 22, 2018March 1, 8, 15, 2018



Case No.: 2009-CA-008732DEUTSCHE BANK NATION-AL TRUST COMPANY, ASTRUSTEE FOR NOVASTARM O R T G A G E F U N D I N GTRUST, SERIES 2006-4,Plaintiff,

vs.SHAMIROON KHALIL,NAZEER KHALIL, et al.,Defendant(s),

NOTICE OF SALEPursuant to CHAPTER 45NOTICE OF SALE IS

HEREBY GIVEN pursuant tothe order of Final Judgmentof Foreclosure dated Decem-ber 14, 2010, and entered inCase No. 2009-CA-008732of the Circuit Court of the 9thJudicial Circuit in and forOsceola County, Florida,wherein DEUTSCHE BANKNATIONAL TRUST COM-PANY, AS TRUSTEE FORNOVASTAR MORTGAGEFUNDING TRUST, SERIES2006-4, is the Plaintiff, andSHAMIROON KHALIL,NAZEER KHALIL, et al., areDefendants, the Office ofArmando Ramirez, OsceolaCounty Clerk of the Court willsell to the highest and bestb idder fo r cash at theOsceola County Courthouse,2 Courthouse Square, Room2602, Kissimmee, Florida at11:00 A.M. on the 28th day ofMARCH, 2018, the followingdescribed property as setforth in said Final Judgment,to wit:LOT 87, OF MALLARDPOND PHASE ONE, AC-CORDING TO THE PLATTHEREOF AS RECORDEDI N P L A T B O O K 1 7 ,PAGE(S) 127 THROUGH131, OF THE PUBLIC RE-CORDS OF OSCEOLACOUNTY, FLORIDA.and all fixtures and personalproperty located therein orthereon, which are includedas security in Plaintiff’s mort-gage.Any person claiming an in-

terest in the surplus fundsfrom the sale, if any, otherthan the property owner as ofthe date of the Lis Pendensmust file a claim within 60days after the sale.If you are a person with a

disability who needs accom-modation in order to particip-ate in this proceedings, youare entitled, at no cost to you,to the provision of certain as-sistance. Please contact:Court Administration at 2Courthouse Square, Suite6300, Kissimmee, Florida34741, Telephone: (407)742-2417, within two (2)working days of your receiptof this described notice; ifyou are hearing or voice im-paired, call 1-(800) 955-8771.Dated this 1st day of March

2018.McCabe, Weisberg

& Conway, LLCBy: /s/ Jonathan I. JacobsonJonathan I. Jacobson, Esq.

FL Bar #: 37088McCabe, Weisberg& Conway, LLCAttorney for Plaintiff500 S. Australian Avenue,Suite 1000West Palm Beach, FL 33401Telephone: (561) 713-1400Email: [email protected] 8, 15, 2018



Case No.: 2009-CA-008732DEUTSCHE BANK NATION-AL TRUST COMPANY, ASTRUSTEE FOR NOVASTARM O R T G A G E F U N D I N GTRUST, SERIES 2006-4,Plaintiff,

vs.SHAMIROON KHALIL,NAZEER KHALIL, et al.,Defendant(s),


HEREBY GIVEN pursuant tothe order of Final Judgmentof Foreclosure dated Decem-ber 14, 2010, and entered inCase No. 2009-CA-008732of the Circuit Court of the 9thJudicial Circuit in and forOsceola County, Florida,wherein DEUTSCHE BANKNATIONAL TRUST COM-PANY, AS TRUSTEE FORNOVASTAR MORTGAGEFUNDING TRUST, SERIES2006-4, is the Plaintiff, andSHAMIROON KHALIL,NAZEER KHALIL, et al., areDefendants, the Office ofArmando Ramirez, OsceolaCounty Clerk of the Court willsell to the highest and bestb idder fo r cash at theOsceola County Courthouse,2 Courthouse Square, Room2602, Kissimmee, Florida at11:00 A.M. on the 28th day ofMARCH, 2018, the followingdescribed property as setforth in said Final Judgment,to wit:LOT 87, OF MALLARDPOND PHASE ONE, AC-CORDING TO THE PLATTHEREOF AS RECORDEDI N P L A T B O O K 1 7 ,PAGE(S) 127 THROUGH131, OF THE PUBLIC RE-CORDS OF OSCEOLACOUNTY, FLORIDA.and all fixtures and personalproperty located therein orthereon, which are includedas security in Plaintiff’s mort-gage.Any person claiming an in-


disability who needs accom-modation in order to particip-ate in this proceedings, youare entitled, at no cost to you,to the provision of certain as-sistance. Please contact:Court Administration at 2Courthouse Square, Suite6300, Kissimmee, Florida34741, Telephone: (407)742-2417, within two (2)working days of your receiptof this described notice; ifyou are hearing or voice im-paired, call 1-(800) 955-8771.Dated this 1st day of March

2018.McCabe, Weisberg

& Conway, LLCBy: /s/ Jonathan I. JacobsonJonathan I. Jacobson, Esq.

FL Bar #: 37088McCabe, Weisberg& Conway, LLCAttorney for Plaintiff500 S. Australian Avenue,Suite 1000West Palm Beach, FL 33401Telephone: (561) 713-1400Email: [email protected] 8, 15, 2018

View all Public Notices online www.aroundosceola.com and

CONTACT: GARY LUGO EMAIL [email protected] PHONE 407-846-7600



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IN THE COUNTY COURTOF THE 9th JUDICIAL


COUNTY, FLORIDACASE NO: 2017-CC-2188

HARMONY RESIDENTIALOWNERS ASSOCIATION,INC., a not-for-profit Floridacorporation,Plaintiff,

vs.LORENZO J ABELLA andELSA N ABELLA, Trustees,or their successors in trust,under the Abella Living Trust,dated June 13, 2006, andUNKNOWN TENANT(S),Defendants.

NOTICE OF SALENOTICE IS HEREBY GIVENthat, pursuant to the FinalJudgment entered in thiscause, in the County Court ofOsceola County, Florida,Armando Ramirez, Clerk ofCourt, will sell all the prop-erty situated in OsceolaCounty, Florida described as:Lot 7C of BIRCHWOODNEIGHBORHOODS B & C,according to the Plat there-of as recorded in Plat Book14, Pages 67 through 73, ofthe Public Records ofOsceola County, Florida,a n d a n y s u b s e q u e n tamendments to the afore-said.Property Address:3326 Cat Brier Trail,Harmony, FL 34773at public sale, to the highestand best bidder, for cash, inSuite 2660/Room # 2602, ofthe Osceola county Court-house, 2 Courthouse Squareat 11:00 A.M. on MARCH 29,2018.

IF THIS PROPERTY ISSOLD AT PUBLIC AUC-TION, THERE MAY BE AD-DITIONAL MONEY FROMTHE SALE AFTER PAY-MENT OF PERSONS WHOARE ENTITLED TO BE PAIDFROM THE SALE PRO-CEEDS PURSUANT TOTHIS FINAL JUDGMENT.IF YOU ARE A SUBORDIN-

ATE LIENHOLDER CLAIM-ING A RIGHT TO FUNDSREMAINING AFTER THESALE, YOU MUST FILE ACLAIM WITH THE CLERKNO LATER THAN 60 DAYSAFTER THE SALE. IF YOUFAIL TO FILE A CLAIM,YOU WILL NOT BE EN-TITLED TO ANY REMAIN-ING FUNDS.If you are a person with a

disability who needs any ac-commodation in order to par-ticipate in this proceeding,you are entitled, at no cost toyou, to the provision of cer-tain assistance. Please con-tact: Court Administration at2 Courthouse Square, Suite6300, Kissimmee, Florida34741, Telephone: (407)742-2417,within two (2) work-ing days of your receipt ofthis Notice of Sale; if you arehearing or voice impaired,call 1-800-955-8771.MANKIN LAW GROUPBy: /s/ Brandon K. MullisBRANDON K. MULLIS, ESQ.Attorney for PlaintiffE-Mail: [email protected] Landmark Drive,Suite 212Clearwater, FL 33761(727) 725-0559FBN: 23217March 8, 15, 2018



COUNTY, FLORIDACase #: 2017-CA-000271 MFTHE PALMS COUNTRYCLUB AND RESORT,A Condominium,Plaintiff,

vs.D E A N N A M I C H E L L ECOUCH AND THE HEIRSAND/OR BENEFICIARIESOF THE ESTATE OF DAR-REN GLENN COUCH; et. al,Defendants.

NOTICE OF ACTIONTO: WILLIAM T. MAY, ASTRUSTEE OF THE DEANNAMICHELLE COUCH FAMILYTRUST, and any and allother parties claiming in-terests by, through, under oragainst William T. May.YOU ARE NOTIFIED that an

action to foreclose a mort-gage on the real property inOsceola, Florida, describedas:BUILDING 20 UNIT 406WEEK 42 DURING AS-SIGNED YEAR (S) EVEN, ofThe Palms Country Cluband Resort, a Condo-minium, according to theDeclaration of Condomini-um thereof, as recorded inOR BOOK 1545, PAGE2911, of the Public Re-cords of Osceola County,Florida.has been filed against youand you are required to serveyour written defenses, if any,to the plaintiff’s attorney,Leslie S. Stewart, Esq.,whose address is StewartLaw Group, P.L., 238 N.Westmonte Drive, Suite 200,A l tamon te Spr ings , FL32714, within 30 days afterthe first publication of thisNotice of Acton, and file theoriginal with the clerk of thiscourt either before service onthe plaintiff’s attorney or im-mediately thereafter; other-wise a default will be enteredagainst you for the relief de-manded in the complaint.

In accordance with theAmericans with DisabilitiesAct, if you are a person witha disability who needs anyaccommodation in order toparticipate in this proceeding,you are entitled, at no cost toyou, to the provision of cer-tain assistance. Please con-tact the ADA Coordinator,C o u r t A d m i n i s t r a t i o n ,Osceola County Courthouse,2 Courthouse Square, Suite6300, Kissimmee, Florida34741, (407) 742-2417, atleast 7 days before yourscheduled court appearance,or immediately upon receiv-ing this notification if the timebefore the scheduled appear-ance is less than 7 days; ifyou are hearing or voice im-paired, call 711.DATED: February 13, 2018.

(COURT SEAL)ARMANDO RAMIREZ

Clerk of the Circuit CourtBy: /s/ SN

As Deputy ClerkBill to:Leslie S. Stewart, Esq.Stewart Law Group, P.L.238 N Westmonte Drive,Suite 200Altamonte Springs, FL 32714Attorneys for PlaintiffMarch 1, 8, 2018



COUNTY, FLORIDA.Case #: 2017-CA-2549-OC

ANTHEM PARK MASTERHOMEOWNERS’ASSOCIATION, INC.,Plaintiff,

vs.CARLOS I. RAMIREZ, et al.,Defendants.

NOTICE OF ACTIONTO: CARLOS I. RAMIREZ

1841 Soldiers PassSt. Cloud, FL 34758

WANDA I. SAEZ1841 Soldiers PassSt. Cloud, FL 34758

UNKNOWN PARTIES IPOSSESSION1841 Soldiers PassSt. Cloud, FL 34758

YOU ARE NOTIFIED thatan action to enforce a lienforeclosure on the followingproperty in Osceola County,Florida:Lot 254, ANTHEM PARK -PHASE 3A, according tothe Plat thereof, as recor-ded in Plat Book 20, Pages86 through 89, inclusive, ofthe Public Records ofOsceola County, Florida.A lawsuit has been filed

against you and you are re-quired to serve a copy ofyour written defenses, if any,to it on: CARLOS R. ARIAS,ESQUIRE, Plaintiff’s Attor-ney, whose address is :ARIAS BOSINGER, PLLC,140 N. WESTMONTE DR.,SUITE 203, ALTAMONTESPRINGS, FL 32714, withinthirty (30) days after the firstpublication of this noticeAPRIL 3, 2018, and file theoriginal with the Clerk of thisCourt either before serviceon Plaintiff’s attorney or im-mediately thereafter; other-wise a default will be enteredagainst you for the relief de-manded in the Lien Foreclos-ure Complaint.If you are a person with a

disability who needs any ac-commodation in order to par-ticipate in these proceedings,you are entitled, at no cost toyou, to the provision of cer-tain assistance. Please con-tact: Court Administration at2 Courthouse Square, Suite6300, Kissimmee, Florida34741, Telephone: (407) 7422417, within two (2) workingdays of your receipt of thisdescribed notice; if you arehearing or voice impaired,call 1-(800) 955-8771.DATED on February 13,

2018.ARMANDO RAMIREZ

Clerk of the Circuitand County Court

By: /s/ SNAs Deputy Clerk

March 1, 8, 2018





NOTICE OF ACTIONTO: SUSAN L. QUINN-GOTT, and any and all otherparties claiming interests by,through, under or againstSusan L. Quinn-Gott.YOU ARE NOTIFIED that an

action to foreclose a mort-gage on the real property inOsceola, Florida, described,as:Building 13 Unit 205 Week43 During Assigned Year(s) Even (first occupancyday -Saturday), of ThePalms Country Club andResort, a Condominium,according to the Declara-tion of Condominium there-of, as recorded in OR.BOOK 1545 PAGE 2911 ofthe Public Records ofOsceola County, Florida.has been filed against youand you are required to serveyour written defenses, if any,to the plaintiff’s attorney,Lesl ie S. Stewart, Esq. ,whose address is StewartLaw Group, P.L., 238 N.Westmonte Drive, Suite 200,A l tamon te Spr ings , FL32714, within 30 days afterthe first publication of thisNotice of Acton, and file theoriginal with the clerk of thiscourt either before service onthe plaintiffs attorney or im-mediately thereafter; other-wise a default will be enteredagainst you for the relief de-manded in the complaint.







COUNTY, FLORIDACase #: 2017-CA-2768

DIVISION: ___RONALD A. HIBBELN;MARY ANN HIBBELN,Plaintiff,

vs.ANGEL ENCARNACION,a/k/a ANGEL C. ENCAR-N A C I O N ; O S C E O L AC O U N T Y C L E R K O FC O U R T ,Defendants.

NOTICE OF ACTIONTo the above-named De-

fendant: ANGEL ENCAR-NACION, a/k/a ANGEL C.ENCARNACION; AND ANYUNKNOWN HEIRS DE-V I S E E S , G R A N T E E S ,CREDITORS, AND OTHERU N K N O W N P E R S O N SCLAIMING BY, THROUGHAND UNDER THE ABOVE-NAMED DEFENDANT:YOU ARE HEREBY NOTI-

FIED that an action to QuietTitle to real property de-scribed as:Lot 313, Happy Trails Sub-division Unit IV, accordingto the Plat thereof, recor-ded in Plat Book 2, Page(s)196, of the Public Recordsof Osceola County, Florida.Has been filed by RONALDA. HIBBELN; MARY ANN HI-BBELN, Plaintiffs, and youare required to serve a copyof your written defenses, ifany, to i t on: ALISA D.WILKES, Esq., 13400 Sut-ton Park Dr. S., Suite 1204,Jacksonville, FL 32224, (904)620-9545 within 30 days afterthe first publication and filethe original with the Clerk ofthis Court and Plaintiff’s attor-ney, otherwise a default andjudgment will be enteredagainst you for the relief de-manded in the Petition.If you are a person with a

disability who needs any ac-commodation in order to par-ticipate in these proceedings,you are entitled, at no cost toyou, to the provision of cer-tain assistance. Please con-tact: Court Administration at2 Courthouse Square, Suite6300, Kissimmee, Florida34741, Telephone: (407)742-417, within two (2) work-ing days of your receipt ofthis described notice; if youare hearing or voice im-paired, call 1-(800) 955-8771.Witness my hand and the

seal of this court on this 1stday of February 2018.



Alisa D. Wilkes, Esq.Wilkes & Mee, PLLC13400 Sutton Park Dr., S.Suite 1204Jacksonville, FL 32224February 15, 22, 2018March 1, 8, 2018



COUNTY, FLORIDAGENERAL CIVIL DIVISION

Case #: 2017-CA-002126-MFMNA REAL ESTATEINVETMENTS, LLC,A Florida Limited Liabilitycorporation,Plaintiff,

vs.JORGE L. MANGUAL304 Parque del Sol,Bayamon, Puerto Rico 00959

AndAMANDA E. MANGUAL.304 Parque del Sol,Bayamon, Puerto Rico 00959Defendants.NOTICE BY PUBLICATION

TO: JORGE L. MAUGUALAddress Unknown

AMANDA E. MANGUALAddress Unknown

YOU ARE HEREBY NOTI-FIED that a Complaint toQuiet Tax on the followingproperty in Osceola County.Florida:Lot 14, Block 582, VIL-LAGE 2, NEIGHBORHOOD1, POINCIANA SUBDIVI-SION, according to the Platthereof as recorded in PatBook 3, at Page 69, of thePublic Records of OsceolaCounty, Florida.has been filed against youand you are required to servea copy of your written de-fenses, if any, to it on HaynesE. Brinson, Esq., of Brinsonand Brinson, Attorneys atLaw, P.A., 28 North JohnYoung Parkway, Kissimmee,Florida 34741, on or beforeAPRIL 3, 2018, and file theoriginal with the Clerk of theabove-styled court eitherbefore service on Plaintiff’sat torney or immediatelythereafter: otherwise a de-fault will be entered againstyou for the relief prayed for inthe complaint or petition.If you are a person with a

disability who needs any ac-commodation in order to par-ticipate in these proceedings,you are entitled, at no cost toyou, to the provision of cer-tain assistance. Please con-tact: Court Administration at2 Courthouse Square, Suite6300, Kissimmee, Florida34741, Telephone: (407)742-417, within two (2) work-ing days of your receipt ofthis described notice; if youare hearing or voice im-paired, call 1-(800) 955-8771.This notice shall be pub-

lished once a week for four(4) consecutive weeks in theOsceola News-Gazette.DATED on this 14th day of


ARMANDO RAMIREZAs Clerk of the Court

By: /s/ S.N.As Deputy Clerk

Haynes E. BrinsonFL Bar No. 66305028 North John YoungParkway, Kissimmee,Florida 34741Telephone: (407) 847-8674Attorney for the Plaintiff17-077March 1, 8, 15, 22, 2018

PUBLIC NOTICEFOR DIVORCE REQUEST

I, Heidy Alexandra BussiRavelo, Want to request adivorce from Juan FernandoGalvez.Ph: 321-704-7676March 1, 8, 2018

LEGAL ADVERTISEMENTO S C E O L A C O U N T YBOARD OF COUNTY COM-MISSIONERS PROJECTS:1) RFP-18-10056-TP - Pre-

qualification of Contractorsfor Fencing Services on aTask Authorization Basis.Deadline for questions isThursday, MARCH 22, 2018,at 2:00 P.M., Local Time.DUE DATE: Tuesday, APRIL3, 2018, at 2:00 P.M., LocalTime. Contact: Ted Phillips at(407) 742-0929.2) LOI-18-9861-TP – Post

Incident Bio-HazardousMaterials Cleanup Services.Deadline for questions isThursday, MARCH 22, 2018,at 2:00 P.M., Local Time.DUE DATE: Tuesday, APRIL3, 2018, at 2:00 P.M., LocalTime. Contact: Ted Phillips at(407) 742-0929.FOR MORE INFORMATION,VIS IT THE PROCURE-MENT SERVICES WEBSITE AThttp://www.osceola.org.March 8, 2018




Case #: 2016-CA-000940 MFHSBC BANK USA, NationalAssociation, as Trustee, forthe registered holders ofNomura Home Equity HomeLoan, Inc. Asset-Backed Cer-tificates, Series 2007-2,Plaintiff,

vs.JANET SANABRIA, et al.,Defendants.


NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVENpursuant to an Order datedJanuary 23, 2018, entered inCase No. 2016-CA-000940MF of the Circuit Court of theNinth Judicial Circuit, in andfor Osceola County, Florida,wherein HSBC BANK USA,National Associat ion, asTrustee, for the registeredholders of Nomura HomeEquity Home Loan, Inc.Asset-Backed Certificates,Series 2007-2, is the Plaintiff,and Fredrick Eli Maldonado,a/k/a Fred Maldonado, a/k/aFredrick Maldonado, a/k/aFre Maldonado; Janet San-abria, a/k/a Janet M. Sanab-ria; Poinciana Village FiveAssociation, Inc.; Associ-ation of Poinciana Villages,Inc. are the Defendants, thatA r m a n d o R . R a m i r e z ,Osceola County Clerk ofCourt will sell to the highestand best bidder for cash at,Suite 2600/Room 2602, 2Courthouse Square, Kissim-mee, FL 34741, beginning at11:00 A.M., on the 20th dayof MARCH, 2018, the follow-ing described property as setforth in said Final Judgment,to wit:LOT 3, BLOCK 2081, POIN-CIANA NEIGHBORHOOD 1,VILLAGE 5, A SUBDIVI-SION ACCORDING TO THEPLAT OR MAP THEREOFD E S C R I B E D I N P L A TBOOK 3, AT PAGE (S) 144-158, OF THE PUBLIC RE-CORDS OF OSCEOLACOUNTY, FLORIDA.Any person claiming an in-


disability who needs any ac-commodation in order to par-ticipate in this proceeding,you are entitled, at no cost toyou, to the provision of cer-tain assistance. Please con-tact the ADA Coordinator,C o u r t A d m i n i s t r a t i o n ,Osceola County Courthouse,2 Courthouse Square, Suite6300, Kissimmee, Florida34741, (407) 742-2417, atleast 7 days before yourscheduled court appearance,or immediately upon receiv-ing this notification if the timebefore the scheduled appear-ance is less than 7 days; ifyou are hearing or voice im-paired, call 711.Dated on this 22nd day of


NOTICE OF SALERainbow Title & Lien, Inc.

will sell at Public Sale atAuction the following vehiclesto satisfy lien pursuant toChapter 713.78 of the Flor-ida Statutes on MARCH 22,2018 at 10 A.M.* AUCTION WILL OCCURWHERE EACH VEHICLE ISLOCATED *1) 2006 VOLKSWAGON

VIN: WVWEK93C86P1863642) 1997 LINCOLN,

VIN# 1LNLM82W2VY673040L o c a t e d a t : P O B O X422381, KISSIMMEE, FL34742Any person(s) claiming any

interest(s) in the abovevehicles contact:Rainbow Title & Lien, Inc.,(954) 920-6020

* ALL AUCTIONS AREHELD WITH RESERVE *Some of the vehicles may

have been released prior toauction.March 8, 2018

NOTICE UNDERFICTITIOUS NAME LAW

Pursuant to Section 865.09FLORIDA STATUTES

To Whom It May Concern:NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVENthat the undersigned, desir-ing to engage in businessunder the fictitious name of:HERR LITTLE LOVESlocated at: 3141 StonehurstCircle, in the County ofOsceola, in the Ci ty ofKissimmee, Florida 34741,intends to register the saidname with the Division ofCorporations of the FloridaDepartment of State, Talla-hassee, Florida.That the party interested in

said business enterprise is asfollows:

MEREDITH HERRDATED at Kiss immee,

Osceola County, Florida onthis 5th day of March, 2018.March 8, 2018




Case #: 2016-CA-001533 MFDeutsche Bank NationalTrust Company, as Inden-ture Trustee for AmericanHome Mortgage InvestmentTrust 2005-2,Plaintiff,

vs.STEVE TROVER, et al.,Defendants.


NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVENpursuant to an Order datedFebruary 12, 2018 entered inCase No. 2016-CA-001533MF of the Circuit Court of theNinth Judicial Circuit, in andfor Osceola County, Florida,wherein Deutsche BankNational Trust Company, asIndenture Trustee for Americ-an Home Mortgage Invest-ment Trust 2005-2, is thePlaintiff, and Steve Trover,a/k/a Steven P. Trover; HollyTrover a/k/a Holly L. Trover;Formosa Gardens MasterAssociation, Inc., a/k/a For-mosa Gardens Master Prop-erty Owners' Association,Inc.; Formosa Gardens Res-idential Community Associ-ation, Inc.; State of FloridaDepartment of Revenue;SunTrust Bank, are theDefendants, that Armando R.Ramirez, Osceola CountyClerk of Court will sell to thehighest and best bidder forcash at, Suite 2600/ Room2602, 2 Courthouse Square,Kissimmee, FL 34741, begin-ning at 11:00 A.M., on the20th day of MARCH, 2018,the following described prop-erty as set forth in said FinalJudgment, to wit:LOT 48, FORMOSA GAR-DENS, UNIT 1, ACCORD-ING TO MAP OR PLATTHEREOF AS RECORDEDIN PLAT BOOK 7, PAGES19 THROUGH 24, INCLUS-IVE, OF THE PUBLIC RE-CORDS OF OSCEOL ACOUNTY, FLORIDA.Any person claiming an in-




NOTICE UNDERFICTITIOUS NAME LAW

Pursuant to Section 865.09FLORIDA STATUTES

To Whom It May Concern:NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVENthat the undersigned, desir-ing to engage in businessunder the fictitious name of:ZALM INVESTMENTCOMPANYlocated at: 3767 Cedar Ham-mock Trail, in the County ofOsceola, in the City of St.Cloud, Florida 34772, in-tends to register the saidname with the Division ofCorporations of the FloridaDepartment of State, Talla-hassee, Florida.That the party interested in

said business enterprise is asfollows:

AMUCHE CLAIREJOE-ADIGWE

DATED at St. Cloud, Osce-ola County, Florida on this1st day of March, 2018.March 8, 2018



Case No.: 12-CA-503 MFTHE BANK OF NEW YORKMELLON, AS INDENTURETRUSTEE ON BEHALF OFTHE NOTEHOLDERS ANDTHE NOTE INSURER OFABFS MORTGAGE LOANTRUST 20004,Plaintiff,

vs.MAUREEN LENAHAN, A/K/AMAUREEN L. LENAHAN,et. al.,Defendants.


HEREBY GIVEN pursuant tothe order of Final Judgmentof Foreclosure dated Janu-ary 2, 2014, and entered inCase No. 12-CA-503 MF ofthe Circuit Court of the 9thJudicial Circuit in and forOsceola County, Florida,wherein THE BANK OF NEWYORK MELLON, AS INDEN-TURE TRUSTEE ON BE-HALF OF THE NOTEHOLD-ERS AND THE NOTE IN-SURER OF ABFS MORT-GAGE LOAN TRUST 20004,is Plaintiff, and MAUREENLENAHAN, A/K/A MAU-REEN L. LENAHAN, et. al.,are Defendants, the Office ofArmando Ramirez, OsceolaCounty Clerk of the Court willsell to the highest and bestb idder fo r cash at theOsceola County Courthouse,2 Courthouse Square, Room2602, Kissimmee, Florida, at11:00 A.M. on the 20th day ofMARCH, 2018 the followingdescribed property as setforth in said Final Judgment,to wit:Lot 161, Indian CreekPhase 1, according to thePlat thereof as recorded inPlat Book 10, Pages 167and 168, of the Public Re-cords of Osceola County,Florida.located- 2618 AutumnCreek Center, Kissimmee,FL. 34741and all fixtures and personalproperty located therein orthereon, which are includedas security in Plaintiff’s mort-gage.Any person claiming an in-


disability who needs accom-modation in order to particip-ate in this proceedings, youare entitled, at no cost to you,to the provision of certain as-sistance. Please contact:Court Administration at 2Courthouse Square, Suite6300, Kissimmee, Florida34741, Telephone: (407)742-2417, within two (2)working days of your receiptof this described notice; ifyou are hearing or voice im-paired, call 1-(800) 955-8771.

Dated on this 23rd day ofFebruary 2018.McCabe, Weisberg& Conway, LLCBy: /s/ Jonathan I. JacobsonJonathan I. Jacobson, Esq.FL Bar #: 37088McCabe, Weisberg& Conway, LLCAttorney for Plaintiff500 S. Australian Avenue,Suite 1000West Palm Beach, FL 33401Telephone: (561) 713-1400Email: [email protected] 1, 8, 2018



COUNTY, FLORIDAGENERAL CIVIL DIVISION

Case #: 2017-CA-002126-MFMNA REAL ESTATEINVETMENTS, LLC,A Florida Limited Liabilitycorporation,Plaintiff,

vs.JORGE L. MANGUAL304 Parque del Sol,Bayamon, Puerto Rico 00959

AndAMANDA E. MANGUAL.304 Parque del Sol,Bayamon, Puerto Rico 00959Defendants.NOTICE BY PUBLICATION

TO: JORGE L. MAUGUALAddress Unknown

AMANDA E. MANGUALAddress Unknown

YOU ARE HEREBY NOTI-FIED that a Complaint toQuiet Tax on the followingproperty in Osceola County.Florida:Lot 14, Block 582, VIL-LAGE 2, NEIGHBORHOOD1, POINCIANA SUBDIVI-SION, according to the Platthereof as recorded in PatBook 3, at Page 69, of thePublic Records of OsceolaCounty, Florida.has been filed against youand you are required to servea copy of your written de-fenses, if any, to it on HaynesE. Brinson, Esq., of Brinsonand Brinson, Attorneys atLaw, P.A., 28 North JohnYoung Parkway, Kissimmee,Florida 34741, on or beforeAPRIL 3, 2018, and file theoriginal with the Clerk of theabove-styled court eitherbefore service on Plaintiff’sat torney or immediatelythereafter: otherwise a de-fault will be entered againstyou for the relief prayed for inthe complaint or petition.If you are a person with a











NOTICE OF ACTIONTO: WILLIAM T. MAY, ASTRUSTEE OF THE DEANNAMICHELLE COUCH FAMILYTRUST, and any and allother parties claiming in-terests by, through, under oragainst William T. May.YOU ARE NOTIFIED that an

action to foreclose a mort-gage on the real property inOsceola, Florida, describedas:BUILDING 20 UNIT 406WEEK 42 DURING AS-SIGNED YEAR (S) EVEN, ofThe Palms Country Cluband Resort, a Condo-minium, according to theDeclaration of Condomini-um thereof, as recorded inOR BOOK 1545, PAGE2911, of the Public Re-cords of Osceola County,Florida.has been filed against youand you are required to serveyour written defenses, if any,to the plaintiff’s attorney,Leslie S. Stewart, Esq.,whose address is StewartLaw Group, P.L., 238 N.Westmonte Drive, Suite 200,A l tamon te Spr ings , FL32714, within 30 days afterthe first publication of thisNotice of Acton, and file theoriginal with the clerk of thiscourt either before service onthe plaintiff’s attorney or im-mediately thereafter; other-wise a default will be enteredagainst you for the relief de-manded in the complaint.







COUNTY, FLORIDA.Case #: 2017-CA-2549-OC

ANTHEM PARK MASTERHOMEOWNERS’ASSOCIATION, INC.,Plaintiff,

vs.CARLOS I. RAMIREZ, et al.,Defendants.

NOTICE OF ACTIONTO: CARLOS I. RAMIREZ

1841 Soldiers PassSt. Cloud, FL 34758

WANDA I. SAEZ1841 Soldiers PassSt. Cloud, FL 34758

UNKNOWN PARTIES IPOSSESSION1841 Soldiers PassSt. Cloud, FL 34758

YOU ARE NOTIFIED thatan action to enforce a lienforeclosure on the followingproperty in Osceola County,Florida:Lot 254, ANTHEM PARK -PHASE 3A, according tothe Plat thereof, as recor-ded in Plat Book 20, Pages86 through 89, inclusive, ofthe Public Records ofOsceola County, Florida.A lawsuit has been filed

against you and you are re-quired to serve a copy ofyour written defenses, if any,to it on: CARLOS R. ARIAS,ESQUIRE, Plaintiff’s Attor-ney, whose address is :ARIAS BOSINGER, PLLC,140 N. WESTMONTE DR.,SUITE 203, ALTAMONTESPRINGS, FL 32714, withinthirty (30) days after the firstpublication of this noticeAPRIL 3, 2018, and file theoriginal with the Clerk of thisCourt either before serviceon Plaintiff’s attorney or im-mediately thereafter; other-wise a default will be enteredagainst you for the relief de-manded in the Lien Foreclos-ure Complaint.If you are a person with a

disability who needs any ac-commodation in order to par-ticipate in these proceedings,you are entitled, at no cost toyou, to the provision of cer-tain assistance. Please con-tact: Court Administration at2 Courthouse Square, Suite6300, Kissimmee, Florida34741, Telephone: (407) 7422417, within two (2) workingdays of your receipt of thisdescribed notice; if you arehearing or voice impaired,call 1-(800) 955-8771.DATED on February 13,

2018.ARMANDO RAMIREZ

Clerk of the Circuitand County Court


March 1, 8, 2018



Case No.: 12-CA-503 MFTHE BANK OF NEW YORKMELLON, AS INDENTURETRUSTEE ON BEHALF OFTHE NOTEHOLDERS ANDTHE NOTE INSURER OFABFS MORTGAGE LOANTRUST 20004,Plaintiff,

vs.MAUREEN LENAHAN, A/K/AMAUREEN L. LENAHAN,et. al.,Defendants.


HEREBY GIVEN pursuant tothe order of Final Judgmentof Foreclosure dated Janu-ary 2, 2014, and entered inCase No. 12-CA-503 MF ofthe Circuit Court of the 9thJudicial Circuit in and forOsceola County, Florida,wherein THE BANK OF NEWYORK MELLON, AS INDEN-TURE TRUSTEE ON BE-HALF OF THE NOTEHOLD-ERS AND THE NOTE IN-SURER OF ABFS MORT-GAGE LOAN TRUST 20004,is Plaintiff, and MAUREENLENAHAN, A/K/A MAU-REEN L. LENAHAN, et. al.,are Defendants, the Office ofArmando Ramirez, OsceolaCounty Clerk of the Court willsell to the highest and bestb idder fo r cash at theOsceola County Courthouse,2 Courthouse Square, Room2602, Kissimmee, Florida, at11:00 A.M. on the 20th day ofMARCH, 2018 the followingdescribed property as setforth in said Final Judgment,to wit:Lot 161, Indian CreekPhase 1, according to thePlat thereof as recorded inPlat Book 10, Pages 167and 168, of the Public Re-cords of Osceola County,Florida.located- 2618 AutumnCreek Center, Kissimmee,FL. 34741and all fixtures and personalproperty located therein orthereon, which are includedas security in Plaintiff’s mort-gage.Any person claiming an in-


disability who needs accom-modation in order to particip-ate in this proceedings, youare entitled, at no cost to you,to the provision of certain as-sistance. Please contact:Court Administration at 2Courthouse Square, Suite6300, Kissimmee, Florida34741, Telephone: (407)742-2417, within two (2)working days of your receiptof this described notice; ifyou are hearing or voice im-paired, call 1-(800) 955-8771.

Dated on this 23rd day ofFebruary 2018.McCabe, Weisberg& Conway, LLCBy: /s/ Jonathan I. JacobsonJonathan I. Jacobson, Esq.FL Bar #: 37088McCabe, Weisberg& Conway, LLCAttorney for Plaintiff500 S. Australian Avenue,Suite 1000West Palm Beach, FL 33401Telephone: (561) 713-1400Email: [email protected] 1, 8, 2018

Commonwealthof Massachusetts

The Trial Court Probateand Family Court

Docket No. W018D0288DR

Worcester Probate andFamily Court,

225 Main Street,Worcester, MA 01608

DIVORCE SUMMONSBY PUBLICATION

AND MAILING

Amy E. C. Bonillavs.Edwin Bonilla

To the Defendant:The Plaintiff has filed a Com-

plaint for Divorce requestingthat the Court grant adivorce for i r retr ievablebreakdown. The Complaint ison file at the Court.An Automatic Restraining

Order has been entered inthe matter preventing youfrom taking any action whichwould negatively impact thecurrent financial status ofeither party. SEE Supple-mental Probate Court Rule411.You are hereby summoned

and required to serve upon:Lauren N. Schaal, Esq.,Community Legal Aid, 405Main St reet , 4 th F loor ,Worcester, MA 01608 youranswer, if any, on or before05/08/2018. If you fail to doso, the court will proceed tothe hearing and adjudicationof this action. You are alsorequired to file a copy of youranswer, if any, in the office ofthe Register of this Court.WITNESS,Hon. Leilah A. Keamy,First Justice of this Court.Dated: February 13, 2018Stephanie K. Fattman,Register of Probate CourtMarch 8, 2018




CASE No.: 2017-CA-002802DIVISION: AW

FBN: 987300WILLIAM BOSWELL,Plaintiff,

vs.PRESTIGE HOMES LLC,a Florida Limited LiabilityCompany; UNKNOWN TEN-ANT(S) IN POSSESSION OFTHE SUBJECT PROPERTY;IF ANY; and REUNIONRESORT & CLUB OF OR-LANDO MASTER ASSOCI-ATION, INC., a Florida Not-For-Profit Corporation,Defendants.


NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVENpursuant to a Final Judg-ment of Foreclosure datedFebruary 22, 2018, andentered in Case No. 2017-CA-002802, of the CircuitCourt of the 9th Judicial Cir-cuit, in and for OSCEOLACounty, Florida. WILLIAMBOSWELL, i s P la in t i f f ,PRESTIGE HOMES LLC, aFlorida Limited LiabilityCompany; UNKNOWN TEN-ANT(S) IN POSSESSION OFTHE SUBJECT PROPERTY,IF ANY; and REUNION RE-SORT & CLUB OF OR-LANDO MASTER ASSOCI-ATION, INC., a Florida Not-For-Profit Corporation, arethe Defendants. We will sellto the highest and best bid-der for cash at BY ELEC-TRONIC SALE AT: WWW.OSCEOLA.REALFORECOS-URE.COM, at 9:00 a.m., onthe 10th day of APRIL 2018,the following described prop-erty as set forth in said FinalJudgment, to wit:Lot 163, REUNION PHASE1, PARCEL 1, UNIT 1, ac-cording to the map or platthereof, as recorded in PlatBook 14, Pages 15 through23, inclusive, of the PublicR e c o r d s o f O s c e o l aC o u n t y , F l o r i d a .PARCEL IDENTIFICATIONNUMBER:352527484600011630A person claiming an in-

terest in the surplus fromsale, if any, other than prop-erty owner as of the date ofthe lis pendens must file aclaim within 60 days aftersale.This notice is provided pur-

suant to Administrative Or-der No. 2.065.

In accordance with theAmericans with DisabilitiesAct, if you are a person witha disability who needs anyaccommodation in order toparticipate in this proceeding,you are entitled, at no cost toyou, to provision of certainassistance. Please contactthe Court Administrator at 2Court House Square, Kissim-mee, Florida 34741, PhoneNo. (407) 742-3479 within 2working days of your receiptof this notice or pleading; ifyou are hearing impaired, call1-800-955-8771 (TDD); if youare voice impaired, call 1-800-995-8770 (V) (Via Flor-ida Relay Services).Dated on this 22nd day of

February 2018Submitted By:By: /s/ Bruce HornsteinBruce Hornstein, P.A.6961 Indian Creek DriveMiami Beach, Florida 33141Telephone: (305) 397-8476Facsimile: (305) 713-1158March 8, 15, 2018

IN THE CIRCUIT COURTFOR OSCEOLA

COUNTY, FLORIDAPROBATE DIVISION

File No.: 2018-CP-000055IN RE: ESTATE OF: LUISORLANDO SUAREZ, SR.,Deceased.NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The administration of theestate of LUIS ORLANDOSUAREZ, SR., deceased,whose date of death wasJanuary 31, 2016, is pendingin the Circui t Court forOsceola County, Florida,Probate Division, the ad-dress of which is 2 Court-house Square, Kissimmee,FL 34741. The names andaddresses of the personalrepresentative and the per-sonal representative's attor-ney are set forth below.All creditors of the decedent

and other persons havingclaims or demands againstdecedent's estate, on whoma copy of this notice is re-quired to be served, must filetheir claims with this courtO N O R B E F O R E T HELATER OF 3 MONTHSAFTER THE TIME OF THEFIRST PUBLICATION OFTHIS NOTICE OR 30 DAYSAFTER THE DATE OF SER-VICE OF A COPY OF THISNOTICE ON THEM.All other creditors of the de-

cedent and other personshaving claims or demandsagainst decedent's estatemust file their claims with thiscourt WITHIN 3 MONTHSAFTER THE DATE OF THEFIRST PUBLICATION OFTHIS NOTICE.ALL CLAIMS NOT FILED

WITHIN THE TIME PERI-ODS SET FORTH IN FLOR-IDA STATUTES SECTION733.702 WILL BE FOREVERBARRED.NOTWITHSTANDING THE

TIME PERIOD SET FORTHABOVE, ANY CLAIM FILEDTWO (2) YEARS OR MOREAFTER THE DECEDENT'SD A T E O F D E A T H I SB A R R E D .The date of first publication

of this notice is: March 8,2018.

BRENDA FIGUEROAPersonal Representative

1833 South Semoran Blvd.Orlando, FL 32822

ROBERT D. HINESAttorney forPersonal RepresentativeFlorida Bar No. 0413550Hines Norman Hines PL1312 W. Fletcher AvenueSuite BTampa, FL 33612Telephone: 813 265-0100Email: [email protected] 8, 15, 2018



COUNTY, FLORIDACase #: 2017-CA-002089 OCMNA REAL ESTATEINVESTMENTS, LLC,A Florida Limited LiabilityCorporation,Plaintiff,

vs.VANDA K. M. COLLIS2 Sherwood RoadUpper Saddle River,New Jersey 07451;andOSCEOLA COUNTY,c/o Board ofCounty Commissioners1 Courthouse SquareKissimmee, Florida 34741,Defendants.NOTICE BY PUBLICATION

TO: VANDA K. M. COLLISAddress UnknownYOU ARE HEREBY NOTI-FIED that a Complaint toQuiet Tax on the followingproperty in Osceola County.Florida:Lot 12, Block 1526, VIL-LAGE 1, NEIGHBORHOOD2, POINCIANA SUDIVISION,according to the Plat there-of, as recorded in PlatBook 3, at Pages 17-31, ofthe Public Records ofOsceola County, Florida.has been filed against youand you are required to servea copy of your written de-fenses, i f any, to i t on:Haynes E. Brinson, Esq., ofBrinson and Brinson, Attor-neys at Law, P. A., 28 NorthJ o h n Y o u n g P a r k w a y ,Kissimmee, Florida 34741,on or before APRIL 3, 2018,and file the original with theClerk of the above-styledcourt either before service onPlaintiff’s attorney or immedi-ately thereafter; otherwise adefau l t w i l l be enteredagainst you for the reliefprayed for in the complaint orpetition.If you are a person with a







IN THE CIRCUIT COURT,FOR OSCEOLA

COUNTY, FLORIDA.PROBATE DIVISION

File No.: 18-0099 PR XXXXDivision: _____.

IN RE: ESTATE OF COYLEE BRASHEARS, SR.,Deceased.NOTICE TO CREDITORS

(Summary Administration)TO ALL PERSONS HAVINGCLAIMS OR DEMANDSAGAINST THE ABOVEESTATE:You are hereby notified that

a Petition for SummaryAdministration and Petition toDetermine Homestead Statushas been e-filed in the estateof COY LEE BRASHEARS,SR, deceased, File Number:18-0099 PR XXXX, by theCircuit Court for OSCEOLACounty, Florida, Probate Divi-sion, the address of which is:2 C o u r t h o u s e S q u a r e ,Kissimmee, FL 34741; thatthe decedent’s date of deathwas December 21, 2017, thatthe total value of the estateis: $61,000, and that thenames and addresses ofthose to whom it has beenassigned by such order are:Name:MONICA R. BRASHEARSAddress:304 1/2 Moreland Avenue,Baltimore, MD 21234ALL INTERESTED PER-

S O N S A R E N O T I F I E DT H A T :All creditors of the estate of

the decedent and. personshaving claims or demandsagainst the estate of the de-cedent other than those forwhom provision for full pay-ment was made in the Orderof Summary Administrationmust file their claims with thiscourt WITHIN THE TIMEPERIODS SET FORTH INFLORIDA STATUTES SEC-TION 733.702. ALL CLAIMSAND DEMANDS NOT SOFILED WILL BE FOREVERBARRED.NOTWITHSTANDING ANY

OTHER APPLICABLE TIMEPERIOD, ANY CLAIM FILEDTWO (2) YEARS OR MOREAFTER THE DECEDENT’SD A T E O F D E A T H I SB A R R E D .The date of first publication

of this Notice is: March 1,2018.

Person Giving Notice:/s/ Monica R. Brashears

MONICA R. BRASHEARS3043 1/2 Moreland Avenue

Baltimore, MD 21234Attorney forPerson Giving Notice:BERGER LAW, LLC/s/ Terry Abrams BergerTERRY ABRAMS BERGER,AttorneyFlorida Bar No. 46000P.O. Box 60519Telephone: (321) 574-5295Fax #: (321) 574-5551E - M a i l : t a b @ b e r g e r -l a w l l c . c o mSecondary E-Mail: [email protected] 1, 8, 2018



Case No.: 2013-CA-000252BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.,Plaintiff,

vs.CARMEN A. MOJICA, A/K/ACARMEN MOJICA, et al.Defendants.

NOTICE OF SALEPursuant to CHAPTER 45

N O T I C E O F S A L E I SHEREBY GIVEN pursuant tothe order of Consent FinalJudgment of Foreclosuredated August 23, 2017, andentered in Case No. 2013-CA-000252 of the CircuitCourt of the 9th Judicial Cir-cui t in and for OsceolaCounty, Florida, whereinBANK OF AMERICA, N.A., isPlaintiff, and CARMEN A.MOJICA, A/K/A CARMENMOJICA, et al., are theDefendants, the Office ofArmando Ramirez, OsceolaCounty Clerk of the Court willsell to the highest and bestb idder fo r cash at theOsceola County Courthouse,2 Courthouse Square, Room2602, Kissimmee, Florida at11:00 A.M. on the 20th day ofMARCH, 2018 the followingdescribed property as setforth in said Final Judgment,to wit:Lot 8, Block 82, BUENA-VENTURA LAKES, Unit 3,according to the Plat there-of, as Recorded in PlatBook 2, Pages 124 through133, of the Public Recordsof Osceola County, Florida.and all fixtures and personalproperty located therein orthereon, which are includedas security in Plaintiff’s mort-gage.Any person claiming an in-

terest in the surplus fundsfrom the sale, if any, otherthan the property owner as ofthe date of the lis pendensmust file a claim within 60days after the sale.If you are a person with a

disability who needs accom-modation in order to particip-ate in this proceedings, youare entitled, at no cost to you,to the provision of certain as-sistance. Please contact:Court Administration at 2Courthouse Square, Suite6300, Kissimmee, Florida34741, Telephone: (407)742-2417, within two (2)working days of your receiptof this described notice; ifyou are hearing or voice im-paired, call 1-(800) 955-8771.DATED on this 23rd day of

February 2018.McCabe, Weisberg& Conway, LLCBy: /s/ Jonathan I. JacobsonJonathan I. Jacobson, Esq.FL Bar #: 37088McCabe, Weisberg& Conway, LLCAttorney for Plaintiff500 S. Australian Avenue,Suite 1000West Palm Beach, FL 33401Telephone: (561) 713-1400Email: [email protected] 1, 8, 2018



Case #: 2012-CA-002364 MFOCWEN LOANSERVICING, LLC,Plaintiff,

vs.ALEX KORNILOV; et. al.,Defendant(s).

NOTICE OF SALEPursuant to CHAPTER 45

N O T I C E O F S A L E I SHEREBY GIVEN pursuant tothe Order of Final Judgmentof Foreclosure dated Janu-ary 31, 2018, and entered inCase No. 2012 CA 002364MF of the Circuit Court of the9th Judicial Circuit in and forOsceola County, Florida,where in OCWEN LOANSERVICING, LLC, is Plaintiff,and ALEX KORNILOV; et.al., are the Defendants, theOffice of Armando Ramirez,Osceola County Clerk of theCourt will sell to the highestand best bidder for cash atthe Osceola County Court-house, 2 Courthouse Square,Room 2602, Kissimmee,Florida, at 11:00 A.M. on the20th day of MARCH, 2018the following described prop-erty as set forth in said FinalJudgment, to wit:Lot 122 of LAGO BUENDIAPHASE 1, according to thePlat thereof as recorded inPlat Book 18, Page 191, ofthe Public Records ofOsceola County, Florida.and all fixtures and personalproperty located therein orthereon, which are includedas security in Plaintiff’s mort-gage.Any person claiming an in-


disability who needs accom-modation in order to particip-ate in this proceedings, youare entitled, at no cost to you,to the provision of certain as-sistance. Please contact:Court Administration at 2Courthouse Square, Suite6300, Kissimmee, Florida34741, Telephone: (407)742-2417, within two (2)working days of your receiptof this described notice; ifyou are hearing or voice im-paired, call 1-(800) 955-8771.Dated on this 23rd day of

February 2018.McCabe, Weisberg& Conway, LLCBy: /s/ Jonathan I. JacobsonJonathan I. Jacobson, Esq.FL Bar #: 37088McCabe, Weisberg& Conway, LLCAttorney for Plaintiff500 S. Australian Avenue,Suite 1000West Palm Beach, FL 33401Telephone: (561) 713-1400Email: [email protected] 1, 8, 2018

NOTICE OF SALERainbow Title & Lien, Inc. willsell at public sale at auctionthe following vehicles tosat is fy l ien pursuant toChapter 713.585 of theF l o r i d a S t a t u t e s o n03 /29 /2018 a t 10 A.M.*Auction will occur wherevehicles are located*2007 JeepVIN# 1J8FF47W77D138172Amount: $5,056.99At: 1460 E Osceola Pkwy,Kissimmee, FL 34744Notice to owner or Lienor

that he has a right to a hear-ing prior to the scheduleddate of sale by filing with theclerk of the court. Notice tothe Owner or Lienor that hehas the right to a hearingporior to the scheduled dateof sale by filing with the Clerkof Courts. Owner has theright to recover possession ofvehicle by posting bond inaccordance with Fla. Stat-utes Sect. 559.917 Proceedsfrom the sale of the vehicleafter payment lien claimed bylienor will be deposited withthe clerk of the court.Any person (s) claiming any

interest(s) in the abovevehicles contact: RAINBOWTITLE & LIEN, INC.,(954-920-6020)ALL AUCTIONS ARE HELDWITH RESERVE.25% Buyers Premium. Somevehicles may have been re-leased prior to the sale date.Lic #AB-000125

Interested Parties must callone day prior to sale. NoPictures allowed.March 8, 2018



COUNTY, FLORIDA.CIVIL DIVISION

Case #: 2017-CA-001453 MFWILMINGTON TRUST,NATIONAL ASSOCIATION,NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUALCAPACITY BUT AS TRUS-TEE OF ARLP SECURITIZA-TION TRUST, SERIES 2014-1,Plaintiff,

vs.ARCHI TRUST LLC ASTRUSTEE FOR TRUSTNUMBER 080415-2418;JORGE JUAN MEJLA; UN-KNOWN BENEFICIARIESO F T R U S T N U M B E R080415-2418; HAMILTON'SRESERVE COMMUNITYASSOCIATION INC; UN-KNOWN TENANT NO. 1;UNKNOWN TENANT NO. 2;a n d A L L U N K N O W NPARTIES CLAIMING IN-TERESTS BY, THROUGH,UNDER OR AGAINST ANAMED DEFENDANT TOTHIS ACTION, OR HAVINGOR CLAIMING TO HAVEANY RIGHT, TITLE OR IN-TEREST IN THE PROP-ERTY HEREIN DESCRIBED,Defendant(s).

NOTICE OF ACTIONTO: ARCHI TRUST, LLC, ASTRUSTEE FOR TRUSTNUMBER 080415-2418Last Known Address:C/O President, Vice-Presi-dent, or any other officerauthorized to accept service2418 BERKSHIRE CTKISSIMMEE, FE 34746Current Residence isUnknownTO: UNKNOWN BENEFI-CIARIES OF TRUST NUM-BER 080415-2418Last Known Address:ADDRESS UNKNOWNCurrent Residence isUnknownYOU ARE NOTIFIED that an

action to foreclose a mort-gage on the following de-scribed property in OsceolaCounty, Florida:LOT 10, BAY POINTEPHASE I, ACCORDING TOT H E O F F I C I A L P L A TTHEREOF AS RECORDED[N PLAT BOOK 6, PAGES179 AND 180, OF THE PUB-LIC RECORDS OF OSCE-OLA COUNTY FLORIDA.has been filed against youand you are required to servea copy of your written de-fenses, if any, to it on SHDLegal Group P.A., Plaintiff'sattorneys, whose address isP.O. BOX 19519, Fort Laud-erdale, FL 33318, (954) 564-0071, [email protected], on or beforeAPRIL 3, 2018, and file theoriginal with the Clerk of thisCourt either before serviceon Plaintiff's attorneys or im-mediately thereafter; other-wise a default will be enteredagainst you for the relief de-manded in the complaint orpetition.If you are a person with a

disability who needs any ac-commodation in order to par-ticipate in this proceeding,you are entitled, at no cost toyou, to the provision of cer-tain assistance. Please con-tact the ADA Coordinator,C o u r t A d m i n i s t r a t i o n ,Osceola County Courthouse,2 Courthouse Square, Suite6300, Kissimmee, Florida34741, (407) 742-2417, atleast 7 days before yourscheduled court appearance,or immediately upon receiv-ing this notification if the timebefore the scheduled appear-ance is less than 7 days; ifyou are hearing or voice im-paired, call 711.

DATED on this 14th day ofFebruary 2018.

ARMANDO RAMIREZAs CLERK OF THE COURT


1491-165788/ANDMarch 1, 8, 2018




CASE NO.:49-2017-CA-001871 MF

NATIONSTARMORTGAGE LLC,Plaintiff,

vs.VERONICA NARANJO,et al.,Defendant(s).


NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVENpursuant to a Final Judg-ment of Foreclosure datedDecember 13, 2017, andentered in 49-2017-CA-001871 MF of the CircuitCourt of the NINTH JudicialCircuit, in and for OsceolaCounty, Florida, whereinNATIONSTAR MORTGAGELLC, is the Plaintiff, andVERONICA NARANJO;LUIS GUERRA; GLADYSVIDAL; CAPSTONE FUND-ING GROUP, INC.;ORANGE BRANCH BAYHOMEOWNER'S ASSOCI-ATION, INC., are the Defend-ant(s). Armando Ramirez, asthe Clerk of the Circuit Court,will sell to the highest andbest bidder for cash at Suite2600/Room # 2602, 2 Court-house Square, Kissimmee,FL 34741, at 11:00 A.M., onMARCH 27, 2018, the follow-ing described property as setforth in said Final Judgment,to wit:LOT 118 OF ORANGE-BRANCH BAY, ACCORD-ING TO THE PLAT THERE-OF AS RECORDED INPLAT BOOK 18, PAGE(S)65 THROUGH 71, INCLUS-IVE, OF THE PUBLIC RE-CORDS OF OSCEOL ACOUNTY, FLORIDA.Property Address:3999 BLOSSOM DEW DR.,KISSIMMEE, FL 34746

Any person claiming an in-terest in the surplus from thesale, if any, other than theproperty owner as of the dateof the lis pendens must file aclaim within 60 days after thesale.

IMPORTANTAMERICANS WITH DIS-ABILITIES ACT. If you are aperson with a disability whoneeds any accommodation inorder to participate in thisproceeding, you are entitled,at no cost to you, to the pro-vision of certain assistance.Please contact Court Admin-istration at Two CourthouseSquare, Suite 6300, Kissim-mee, Florida 34741, Tele-phone: (407) 742-2417 atleast 7 days before yourscheduled court appearance,or immediately upon receiv-ing this notification if the timebefore the scheduled appear-ance is less than 7 days; (de-scribe notice); If you arehearing or voice impaired,call 711 to reach the Tele-communications Relay Ser-vice.DATED on this 22nd day of

February 2018.ROBERTSON, ANSCHUTZ& SCHNEID, P.L.Attorney for Plaintiff6409 Congress AvenueSuite 100Boca Raton, FL 33487Telephone: 561-241-6901Facsimile: 561-997-6909Service Email:[email protected]: /s/ Thomas JosephThomas Joseph, EsquireFlorida Bar No. 123350Communication Email:[email protected] 1, 8, 2018

CLAIM OF LIEN NOTICEClaim of Lien and Sale ofMotor Vehicles Lien Law F.S.713.78,WILDER WRECKERInc., 2021 N. Main Street,Kissimmee, FL 34744, (407)846-1010, will sell for cash atabove address the followingvehicles:1) 2001 CHRYSLER

4 DOORVIN: 3C8FY4BB21T632378Pursuant to Florida Statute

713.78, these vehicles will besold at the public auction onMARCH 19, 2018, at 9:00A.M. Vehicles sold as is,seller reserves the right to bidand guarantees no titles.March 8, 2018

NOTICE OFFOUND PROPERTY

These items are being heldat the Kissimmee PoliceDepartment Evidence Unit:Electronic tablets, hand-guns and cell phonesIf the above property is not

claimed within (90) days, itwill be disposed of in accord-ance to F.S.S. # 705. Theowner will be liable for costsof newspaper ad and publica-tion. Any questions should bedirected to KPD EvidenceDepartment (407) 518-2460.March 1, 8, 2018

WARNINGNotice of Application for Tax Deed

Notice is hereby given that DUSTY L BRANTON, the holder oftax certificate No. 9606, issued on June-01-2011, has filed saidcertificate in this office and has made application for a tax deedto be issued thereon. The tax certificate information is as fol-lows: Apparent Titleholder(s): ANDREW G JONES, MARION RJONES Assessed to:Legal Description: BEG. 2640 FT E OF SW COR. GOVN.LOT 1, RUN E 644.76 FT, N 330 FT, W 651.87 FT, S 330 FTTO POB AKA 150, 151, 152 Parcel No.: 36 27 31 6000 000L1500All of said property being in the County of Osceola, State of

Florida.Unless said certificate be redeemed according to law, the

property described therein will be sold to the highest bidder online at www.osceola.realtaxdeed.com on, the 20th day ofMarch, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. Property is sold subject to any addi-tional outstanding taxes.Dated this day, February 01, 2018, publication of this notice is

requested. Notice to be published in the OSCEOLA NEWS-GAZETTE.ARMANDO RAMIREZClerk of the Circuit Court, Osceola County, FloridaBy: SEL, DEPUTY CLERKFebruary 15, 22, 2018March 1, 8, 2018


Notice is hereby given that DUSTY L BRANTON, the holder oftax certificate No. 9994, issued on June-01-2011, has filed saidcertificate in this office and has made application for a tax deedto be issued thereon. The tax certificate information is as fol-lows: Apparent Titleholder(s): OSCAR FERNANDEZ, ROSAFERNANDEZ Assessed to:Legal Description: BEG 1321.52 FT S & 989.52 FT W OF NECOR OF SE 1/4 RUN W 329.84 FT, S 330.32 FT E 329.94 FT,N 330.33 FT TO POB AKA 103,104 Parcel No.: 19 27 32 00004422 000FAll of said property being in the County of Osceola, State of





Notice is hereby given that DUSTY L BRANTON, the holder oftax certificate No. 9568, issued on June-01-2011, has filed saidcertificate in this office and has made application for a tax deedto be issued thereon. The tax certificate information is as fol-lows:Apparent Titleholder(s): SILVERIA F SESCON Assessed to:Legal Description: BEG 990 FT N & 2310 FT E OF SW COROF NW 1/4 RUN N 330 FT, W 165 FT, S 330 FT, E 165 FT TOPOB Parcel No.: 36 27 31 6000 000K 0670All of said property being in the County of Osceola, State of





Notice is hereby given that ALAN M BONWIT AJA INVEST-MENTS OF CUTLER BAY LLC, the holder of tax certificate No.2645, issued on June-01-2015, has filed said certificate in thisoffice and has made application for a tax deed to be issuedthereon. The tax certificate information is as follows:Apparent Titleholder(s): TARPON IV LLC Assessed to:Legal Description: MARYDIA BLK 72 E 140 FT OF 14 PB BPG 067 Parcel No.: 02 25 29 4080 0072 0140All of said property being in the County of Osceola, State of





Notice is hereby given that JONATHAN R BOND, the holderof tax certificate No. 6590, issued on June-01-2015, has filedsaid certificate in this office and has made application for a taxdeed to be issued thereon. The tax certificate information is asfollows: Apparent Titleholder(s): FRANK J BRAMANTEAssessed to:Legal Description: W 165 FT OF S 1/2 OF N 1/2 OF N 1/2 OFSE 1/4 AKA 41 Parcel No.: 24 27 31 9996 0222 002BAll of said property being in the County of Osceola, State of





Notice is hereby given that DUSTY L BRANTON, the holder oftax certificate No. 9462, issued on June-01-2011, has filed saidcertificate in this office and has made application for a tax deedto be issued thereon. The tax certificate information is as fol-lows: Apparent Titleholder(s): JOANNE M RODRIGUE, PAULE RODRIGUE Assessed to:Legal Description: E 1/2 OF NE 1/4 OF SW 1/4 OF NE 1/4OF SW 1/4 Parcel No.: 25 27 31 0000 3131 001DAll of said property being in the County of Osceola, State of





Notice is hereby given that WAGNER SOARES, the holder oftax certificate No. 6781, issued on June-01-2014, has filed saidcertificate in this office and has made application for a tax deedto be issued thereon. The tax certificate information is as fol-lows: Apparent Titleholder(s): JAY E DOUGLAS Assessed to:Legal Description: S 1/2 OF NW 1/4 OF NE 1/4 OF SW 1/4OF SW 1/4 Parcel No.: 12 27 31 0000 3312 0020All of said property being in the County of Osceola, State of


property described therein will be sold to the highest bidder online at www.osceola.realtaxdeed.com on, the 10th day of April,2018 at 11:00 a.m. Property is sold subject to any additionaloutstanding taxes.Dated this day, February 21, 2018, publication of this notice is

requested. Notice to be published in the OSCEOLA NEWS-GAZETTE.ARMANDO RAMIREZClerk of the Circuit Court, Osceola County, FloridaBy: SEL DEPUTY CLERKMarch 8, 15, 22, 29, 2018


Notice is hereby given that DUSTY L BRANTON, the holder oftax certificate No. 9467, issued on June-01-2011, has filed saidcertificate in this office and has made application for a tax deedto be issued thereon. The tax certificate information is as fol-lows: Apparent Titleholder(s): PHILLIP D MCLAUGHLINAssessed to:Legal Description: W 1/2 OF NE 1/4 OF SE 1/4 OF NW 1/4OF SW 1/4 Parcel No.: 25 27 31 0000 3241 002DAll of said property being in the County of Osceola, State of





Notice is hereby given that DEAN TRAUDT, the holder of taxcertificate No. 3769, issued on June-01-2012, has filed saidcertificate in this office and has made application for a tax deedto be issued thereon. The tax certificate information is asfollows: Apparent Titleholder(s): HIDDEN CREEK HOA INC,HIDDEN CREEK HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATIONAssessed to:Legal Description: HIDDEN CREEK PB 21 PG 189 TRACT DCOMMON AREA Parcel No.: 19 25 29 1458 0001 00D0All of said property being in the County of Osceola, State of





Notice is hereby given that DUSTY L BRANTON, the holder oftax certificate No. 9416, issued on June-01-2011, has filed saidcertificate in this office and has made application for a tax deedto be issued thereon. The tax certificate information is as fol-lows: Apparent Titleholder(s): JORGE J PARIS Assessed to:Legal Description: W 1/2 OF SW 1/4 OF NE 1/4 OF SE 1/4OF SE 1/4 AKA93 Parcel No.: 23 27 31 6000 4413 002AAll of said property being in the County of Osceola, State of





Notice is hereby given that DEAN TRAUDT, the holder of taxcertificate No. 7124, issued on June-01-2011, has filed saidcertificate in this office and has made application for a tax deedto be issued thereon. The tax certificate information is as fol-lows: Apparent Titleholder(s): JUICY LUCYS INC Assessed to:Legal Description: ST CLOUD PB B PG 34 BLK 219 BEG ATSE COR LOT 12, W 10 FT, N 45 DEG E 14.14 FT, S 10 FT TOPOB Parcel No.: 01 26 30 0001 0219 0125All of said property being in the County of Osceola, State of






COUNTY, FLORIDA.CIVIL DIVISION

Case #: 2017-CA-001453 MFWILMINGTON TRUST,NATIONAL ASSOCIATION,NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUALCAPACITY BUT AS TRUS-TEE OF ARLP SECURITIZA-TION TRUST, SERIES 2014-1,Plaintiff,

vs.ARCHI TRUST LLC ASTRUSTEE FOR TRUSTNUMBER 080415-2418;JORGE JUAN MEJLA; UN-KNOWN BENEFICIARIESO F T R U S T N U M B E R080415-2418; HAMILTON'SRESERVE COMMUNITYASSOCIATION INC; UN-KNOWN TENANT NO. 1;UNKNOWN TENANT NO. 2;a n d A L L U N K N O W NPARTIES CLAIMING IN-TERESTS BY, THROUGH,UNDER OR AGAINST ANAMED DEFENDANT TOTHIS ACTION, OR HAVINGOR CLAIMING TO HAVEANY RIGHT, TITLE OR IN-TEREST IN THE PROP-ERTY HEREIN DESCRIBED,Defendant(s).

NOTICE OF ACTIONTO: ARCHI TRUST, LLC, ASTRUSTEE FOR TRUSTNUMBER 080415-2418Last Known Address:C/O President, Vice-Presi-dent, or any other officerauthorized to accept service2418 BERKSHIRE CTKISSIMMEE, FE 34746Current Residence isUnknownTO: UNKNOWN BENEFI-CIARIES OF TRUST NUM-BER 080415-2418Last Known Address:ADDRESS UNKNOWNCurrent Residence isUnknownYOU ARE NOTIFIED that an

action to foreclose a mort-gage on the following de-scribed property in OsceolaCounty, Florida:LOT 10, BAY POINTEPHASE I, ACCORDING TOT H E O F F I C I A L P L A TTHEREOF AS RECORDED[N PLAT BOOK 6, PAGES179 AND 180, OF THE PUB-LIC RECORDS OF OSCE-OLA COUNTY FLORIDA.has been filed against youand you are required to servea copy of your written de-fenses, if any, to it on SHDLegal Group P.A., Plaintiff'sattorneys, whose address isP.O. BOX 19519, Fort Laud-erdale, FL 33318, (954) 564-0071, [email protected], on or beforeAPRIL 3, 2018, and file theoriginal with the Clerk of thisCourt either before serviceon Plaintiff's attorneys or im-mediately thereafter; other-wise a default will be enteredagainst you for the relief de-manded in the complaint orpetition.If you are a person with a

disability who needs any ac-commodation in order to par-ticipate in this proceeding,you are entitled, at no cost toyou, to the provision of cer-tain assistance. Please con-tact the ADA Coordinator,C o u r t A d m i n i s t r a t i o n ,Osceola County Courthouse,2 Courthouse Square, Suite6300, Kissimmee, Florida34741, (407) 742-2417, atleast 7 days before yourscheduled court appearance,or immediately upon receiv-ing this notification if the timebefore the scheduled appear-ance is less than 7 days; ifyou are hearing or voice im-paired, call 711.

DATED on this 14th day ofFebruary 2018.

ARMANDO RAMIREZAs CLERK OF THE COURT


1491-165788/ANDMarch 1, 8, 2018


Restaurants from all over Central Florida gathered at Kissimmee’s Lakefront Park on Saturday for the 3rd annual Cuban Sandwich Smack Down where they competed for the 2018 title of “The Best Cuban Sandwich in the World!” The contest featured entries in both traditional and non-traditional Cuban sandwiches. Guests also enjoyed great music by our official DJ: Johnnie Rivera -Vaya DJ plus live music by Grammy nominated Orchestra Fuego. Elected city officials along with volunteers also made the BIGGET Cuban Sandwich in the World, a whopping 152 feet. The previous record was 128 foot by Latin Times Media, Inc., in Tampa. After the sandwich was made, Kissimmee city Commissioner Olga Gonzales, seat 1, and the Church and Community group she works with, distributed the sandwich to local homeless people within the community. Top row: Isaiah Bentinez cooks up some meat for Bentinez Bistro to Go’s entry in the competition. Solange Ortiz, owner of Boca Fresca, toasts her non-traditional vegan Cuban sandwiches. Third row: Volunteers from the various restaurants competing in the Cuban sandwich contest, lent a hand building the 152 foot sandwich. Walt Smith with Manolito’s Cubans from Lakeland, starts adding meat and mustard. Bottom: Olga Gonzales is helped out by Kissimmee Mayor Jose Alvarez.

News-Gazette Photos by Martin Maddock

152 FOOT SUB SPOTTED AT LAKEFRONT

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Section E March 8, 2018

Tribune Triple EWednesday, July 15, 2015 EEE-1 www.citizentribune.com

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BY MELISSA D’ARABIANAssociated Press

Life is busy. We don’t always have the luxury of thumbing through our favorite cookbooks, marking appeal-ing recipes with sticky notes for din-ners sometime off in the future when we will somehow have time to salt-cure a cod or dry-age a side of beef in our garage fridge. Sometimes, we just need to get dinner on the table. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but it should still be tasty and nutritious.

Enter the chicken leg and thigh!Often overlooked by the healthy

cook due to its higher fat content, dark chicken meat is underappreciated. Yes, the dark meat has a few more grams of fat than the white meat of the breasts (a 3 1/2-ounce serving of breast meat has about 4 grams of fat, while the same amount of dark meat has just under 6 grams). And the high-er cholesterol of the dark meat means the breast probably still should be in your rotation.

But chicken legs and thighs are lus-cious in texture and full of flavor and protein (about 28 grams per serving). They also are much lower in saturated fat than most cuts of red meat, and they offer more iron per serving than chicken breasts. Perhaps most impor-tant of all for the busy weeknight cook is that bone-in dark meat chicken is very forgiving in terms of cooking time. Which is to say, it is very hard to overcook dark chicken meat.

So on weeknights when my hus-band and I both have to work and one daughter has dance and the other three have soccer, lacrosse and more soccer,

I totally appreciate the forgiveness of-fered by the dark meat.

One of my favorite weeknight chicken leg and thigh strategies is to load them up in a large plastic bag in the morning, dump in some veggies and a quick marinade, then just toss the whole thing into the refrigerator to sit all day. After work, I dump the con-tents of the bag into a baking dish and pop it into the oven while I change into something more comfortable (by which I mean sweats). Dinner, done!

WEEKNIGHT LEMON CHICKEN DINNER-IN-A-BAG

Start to Finish: 1 hour, plus marinat-ing

Servings: 48 bone-in chicken drumsticks or

thighs, or a mix1/4 cup lemon juice1/4 cup olive oil3 cloves garlic, minced2 teaspoons dried thyme1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (op-

tional)Kosher salt and ground black pep-

per1 large red or yellow onion, cut into

8 wedges4 medium red potatoes, halvedUsing a paper towel in each hand to

help grip the chicken pieces, remove and discard the skin by pulling it off.

In a 2-gallon zip-close plastic bag, mix together the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, thyme, red pepper flakes (if using), and a hefty pinch each of salt and pepper. Add the chicken, onion and potatoes, seal the bag and gently turn over several times to evenly coat the contents with the marinade. Re-frigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 12 hours, turning the bag once or twice if convenient.

When ready to cook, heat the oven to 375 F. Coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Dump the con-tents of the bag onto the pan, spread into an even layer, then bake uncov-ered until the chicken registers 175 F at the thickest parts, about 40 minutes. If the potatoes and onions brown too quickly on one side, turn them for more even cooking.

Nutrition information per serving: 610 calories; 220 calories from fat (36 percent of total calories); 25 g fat (5 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 240 mg cholesterol; 540 mg sodium; 40 g car-bohydrate; 5 g fiber; 5 g sugar; 55 g protein.

Food Network star Melissa d’Arabian is an expert on healthy eating on a budget. She is the au-thor of the cookbook, “Supermarket Healthy.” http://www.melissadara-bian.net

AP

This June 22, photo shows weekend lemon chicken diner in a bag in Concord, N.H. Chicken legs and thighs are luscious in texture and full of flavor and protein. They also are much lower in saturated fat than most cuts of red meat, and they offer more iron per serving than chicken breasts. This dish is from a recipe by Melissa d’Arabian.

AP

This June 22, photo shows weekend lemon chicken diner in a bag in Concord, N.H. Chicken legs and thighs are luscious in texture and full of flavor and protein. They also are much lower in saturated fat than most cuts of red meat, and they offer more iron per serving than chicken breasts.

Cooking Corner

It’s in the bagFor crazy weeknights, dinner in a bag that isn’t takeout

www.cfljobnet.comPost Your Resumé online At:

StARt YouR cAReeR with A job thAt iS Right foR You!

Tribune Triple ETuesday, March 6, 2018 EEE-1 www.citizentribune.com

Tribune Expanded Electronic Edition

AP

In this March 15, 2017, file photo, an Uber car drives through LaGuardia Airport in New York. Uber offering to take patients in every U.S. market where it operates to their next medical appointment. The ride-hailing service said Thursday, March 1, 2018, that its Uber Health business will handle rides set up by doctor’s offices or other health care providers and then bill that business, not the patient, for the service.

Uber starts offering rides to the doctor

Need a lift?

Uber is driving deeper into health care by of-fering to take patients in every U.S. market where it operates to their next medical appointment.

The ride-hailing ser-vice said Thursday its Uber Health business will handle rides set up by doctor's offices or other health care pro-viders and then bill that business, not the patient, for the service. The com-pany said rides can be set up within a few hours or days in advance. Patients won't need access to a smartphone to use the service.

Uber began testing the service last summer. More than 100 health care providers have signed up including hospitals, clin-ics and physical therapy centers.

Company leaders said they are expanding be-cause there's a need. They cite federal govern-ment research that esti-mates that more than 3 million people do not ob-tain medical care due to transportation problems.

"There are a lot of people out there who are not going to the doctor simply because they can't physically make it there,"

said Uber Health execu-tive Jay Holley.

He added that the ser-vice also represents a business opportunity for Uber by connecting the company with a lot of first-time users.

Uber will bill care pro-viders who sign up for the service monthly based on their usage. Holley said some may pass the cost on to their customers, but most of the providers it has worked with so far pay for the rides out of their operating budget.

Uber rival Lyft offers a similar service called Concierge, which allows

health care providers to set up rides for patients to get to appointments. The providers pay for the rides. Lyft also has patient transport partner-ships with larger health care providers.

Health insurers and others have long recog-nized the need to help some patients, especially those with low incomes, make their medical ap-pointments.

Molina Healthcare Inc. has offered a trans-portation benefit to its customers for around 25 years and says that more than 3 million people are

eligible. Molina special-izes in administering the state- and federally fund-ed Medicaid programs for poor people and the disabled.

Spokeswoman Laura Murray said the insur-er found that covering transportation expenses helps patients keep regu-lar appointments and pre-ventive care visits, which can include things like flu shots or checkups. She said that can improve pa-tient health and cut down on unnecessary emergen-cy room visits.

Adams Clinical runs clinical trials for drug

companies and started using Uber Health in the middle of last year. Since then, trial participation has grown and patients have started staying in the studies longer, CEO Nelson Rutrick said.

The Watertown, Mas-sachusetts, company had used taxis before switch-ing to Uber. Rutrick said taxis were more expen-sive and required ad-vance planning to get a cab to drive an hour or two to pick someone up.

"Uber is already where the patient lives," he said.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Amid the outcry over the Florida school shootings, the Trump administration says it is "actively explor-ing" ways to help states expand inpatient men-tal health treatment using Medicaid funds.

President Donald Trump again brought up the is-sue of mental hospitals in a meeting with governors this week, invoking a time when states maintained facilities for mentally ill and devel-opmentally disabled people.

"In the old days, you would put him into a men-tal institution," Trump said, apparently referring to al-leged shooter Nikolas Cruz, whose troubling behavior prompted people close to him to plead for help from authorities, without suc-cess. "We have nothing be-tween a prison and leaving him at his house, which we can't do anymore."

Organizations represent-ing state officials and peo-ple with mental illness say no one wants to go back to warehousing patients. But they also say that federal action is needed to reverse a decades-old law known as the "IMD exclusion," which bars Medicaid from pay-ing for treatment in mental health facilities with more than 16 beds. IMD stands for "institution for mental diseases."

Last year, the Trump ad-ministration opened the way for states to seek waiv-ers from the policy in cases involving treatment for substance abuse. A spokes-man said states are press-ing the administration for similar waivers for mental health care, and officials are looking for ways to address those requests.

"We've continued to receive ... proposals and strong interest from states to allow similar demon-strations for individuals with serious mental ill-ness," Johnathan Monroe, a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said in a state-ment. "We are actively ex-ploring how best to provide states with new opportuni-ties to improve their mental health delivery systems."

Illinois, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Ver-mont have waiver requests pending.

There's no telling if a more robust mental health care system would have saved the 17 lives lost in Parkland, Florida, as well as other victims of mass shootings that have become tragically commonplace. Democrats say it's no sub-stitute for stronger gun con-trol laws.

But state officials would welcome a change to Med-icaid's exclusionary rule, said Matt Salo, head of the nonpartisan National Asso-ciation of Medicaid Direc-tors, which supports full re-peal of the policy and, short of that, expanded waivers.

"There is a need for a spectrum of services for people suffering from men-tal illness and substance

abuse," Salo said. "That spectrum should include everything from communi-ty-based resources as well as more structured institu-tional care."

Medicaid's restrictive policy is likely to come un-der scrutiny in the Senate, where the Finance Commit-tee is planning action on the opioid epidemic.

"Finding ways for states to maximize mental health treatment through all health care avenues, including Medicaid, continues to be a topic of bipartisan dis-cussions," Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said Tues-day in a statement. The pan-el oversees Medicare and Medicaid.

Medicaid is the federal-state health program for low-income people, a major source of coverage for men-tal health treatment. Experts

say the program's long-standing restriction on in-patient treatment is at odds with changes in federal law over the last 20 years to cre-ate parity between coverage for mental and physical dis-eases.

The government's top mental health official said the president is acknowl-edging that more needs to be done to make Americans safe in their communities.

"The IMD exclusion makes it very difficult for people with serious mental illness to get a bed when they need that care, and the 24-7 safety, security and treatment that an inpatient facility provides," said Eli-nore McCance-Katz, assis-tant secretary of Health and Human Services for Mental Health and Substance Use. "That contributes to jails and prisons becoming de

facto mental institutions in this country."

McCance-Katz also said expansion of community-based and outpatient treat-ment is needed.

Last year a government advisory panel recommend-ed repealing Medicaid's IMD exclusion, and the idea has bipartisan support in Congress. But the cost of full repeal has been esti-mated at $40 billion to $60 billion over 10 years, daunt-ing for lawmakers. State waivers may provide a more manageable path.

Advocates question the cost estimates, saying that savings from keeping men-tally ill people out of jail should be factored in as well.

Whether mental illness contributes to violence is a debate rife with misconcep-tions. On the whole, medi-

cal experts say people with mental illness are no more likely to be violent than oth-ers.

But McCance-Katz and others say research shows that untreated serious men-tal illness is a risk factor for violent behavior. Treatment effectively reduces risks, said McCance-Katz.

Advocates are making the same point.

"There is no argument that stepping forward and addressing the IMD exclu-sion would have a huge benefit to mental health systems in states across the country," said John Snook, executive director of the Treatment Advocacy Cen-ter, a nonprofit trying to broaden access to mental health treatment.

CITIZEN TRIBUNEHealthEEE-2 Tuesday, March 6, 2018

AP

Gov. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., right, speaks about school safety during an event with President Donald Trump and mem-bers of the National Governors Association in the State Dining Room of the White House, Monday, Feb. 26, 2018, in Washington.

Can ride-hailing companies cure medical transportation woes?

Lyft and Uber are at-tempting to cure a major medical problem for poor people and the elderly: Getting a ride to the doc-tor.

The ride-hailing servic-es are expanding their of-fer to take patients around the country to and from non-emergency health care appointments, and they have a huge market to target.

More than 7 million Americans miss medical care every year due to a lack of transportation, ac-cording to health econo-mist Paul Hughes-Crom-wick.

Health insurers and care providers have been try-ing to solve this problem for years. Those who have studied it say Lyft and

Uber will help, but im-proving access to health care involves more than just lining up a ride.

A closer look:Q: What are these com-

panies offering?A: Lyft said Monday

it is partnering with the information technology company Allscripts to ex-pand the number of rides it offers through doctor's of-fices and other health care providers. The company already provides trans-portation to millions of patients each year through partnerships with insurers, large health care systems and others.

Uber announced last week that it will offer health care transporta-tion in every U.S. market where it operates, the con-

tinuation of a venture it has been testing since last summer.

Both companies say they will operate in cities and less-populated rural areas, and they will bill the care provider or an insurer — not the patient — for the rides. Patients don't need a smartphone or an applica-tion to use their services.

They're digging into an issue that has long been a concern for insurers and health care providers. The state- and federally fund-ed Medicaid program for poor people and the dis-abled covers transporta-tion costs.

The insurer Molina Healthcare, which spe-cializes in Medicaid, has offered a transportation benefit for around 25

years. Molina provides bus passes and works with transportation brokers to arrange rides.

Q: What are the ben-efits?

A: Health care providers say rides with Uber or Lyft can be easier to schedule and cheaper than other al-ternatives like taxis. Uber, for instance, says it can schedule rides within a few hours or up to 30 days in advance.

These companies help people who might other-wise have to wait around for a friend or family member to pick them up, said Carlos Ospina, chief clinical officer of New Jer-sey-based Pro Staff Physi-cal Therapy.

"It gives the patient more independence or

power to get to and from visits," he said.

The company has had a "significantly lower" num-ber of cancellations due to transportation problems since it started using Uber last fall, Ospina said.

Q: Can they erase the problem?

A: Researchers at the University of Pennsylva-nia offered Lyft to help around 300 Medicaid pa-tients make primary care appointments at two prac-tices in Philadelphia. They were surprised to find that relatively few people ac-cepted the offer in their study, and it did not lead to a drop in missed appoint-ments.

Lead author Dr. Krisda Chaiyachati said there were several possible rea-

sons for the low interest. The offer was made over the phone, and patients might have been more re-ceptive if it was done in person, like at a doctor's office.

He also noted that many of the patients were famil-iar with Lyft but hadn't used it. They may have been reluctant to switch from rides they were used to like public transporta-tion.

Chaiyachati said he's optimistic that ride-hail-ing services will ease transportation problems for some, but other op-tions like home visits or telemedicine may also be needed.

"It's just not that easy or that straightforward," he said.

Administration pressed to expand mental health treatment


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WASHINGTON (AP) — A cautious President Don-ald Trump spoke of pos-sible progress Tuesday after South Korea announced that North Korea would halt nu-clear weapons and missile tests and put its entire atom-ic arsenal up for discussion if the U.S. agrees to enter a negotiation. It could also be "false hope," the American leader said.

Trump credited all sides with a "serious effort" as U.S.-allied South Korean envoys returned home from a rare visit to their northern neighbor with the news of an inter-Korean summit planned for late April. But given the North's long his-tory of broken promises on a nuclear program that now threatens the U.S. main-land, it wasn't surprising that Trump hedged.

"Possible progress being made in talks with North Korea. For the first time in many years, a serious effort is being made by all parties concerned," Trump tweeted Tuesday. "The World is watching and waiting! May be false hope, but the U.S. is ready to go hard in either direction!"

North Korea has yet to confirm details of the an-nouncements from Seoul that appeared to open the door to dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang after a year of escalating threats by Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and escalating fears of war.

While the offer of talks could ease tensions, the ad-versaries will still have to overcome deep mutual sus-picion. The U.S. has consis-tently demanded North Ko-rea give up its nukes, which the reclusive socialist state had previously insisted was off the table until Wash-ington abandoned its "hos-tile policy" toward it. At a minimum, the Americans wanted a halt in nuclear and missile testing for talks to begin.

Since taking office, Trump has championed a policy of "maximum pres-sure" on North Korea, cranking up international sanctions to limit the coun-

try's trade. The North's commerce with China, its main trading partner, ap-pears to have plummeted in recent months. The U.S. has said the pressure is de-signed to force North Korea to negotiate on giving up its nukes, but Trump hasn't ruled out military action.

Diplomatic prospects had appeared bleak until a flurry of interactions between the two Koreas that sealed their joint participation in last month's Winter Olympics in South Korea, and a rare visit by Kim's sister to the country. The momentum has continued since then. The high-level South Ko-

rean delegation that visited Pyongyang this week was the first to meet Kim since he took power after his dic-tator father's death in late 2011.

Tuesday's announce-ments were the most prom-ising indication that the U.S. and North Korea could now talk.

On returning from Pyongyang, Chung Eui-yong, South Korea's presi-dential national security director, said North Korea expressed willingness to hold a "candid dialogue" with the United States to discuss its nuclear disar-mament and establish dip-

lomatic relations. Chung said North Korea "made it clear that it won't resume strategic provocations like additional nuclear tests or test-launches of ballistic missiles" while such talks are underway.

North Korea also said it would not need to keep its nuclear weapons if the U.S. drops its military threats and provides a credible security guarantee, Chung said. That reflects a longstanding de-mand from North Korea, which opposes the presence of nearly 30,000 U.S. forces in South Korea. Chung said the North promised not to use its nuclear and con-

ventional weapons against South Korea.

If U.S.-North Korean talks do start, a likely first step would be exploratory discussions to see if a seri-ous nuclear negotiation is possible. The last such dia-logue happened in 2012 and collapsed weeks after a pro-visional deal on a nuclear freeze was reached.

Arms control advocates said the developments greatly improve the pros-pects for peace and security in the region. Daryl Kim-ball, executive director of the U.S.-based Arms Con-trol Association, urged the Trump administration and

Congress to support "this important diplomatic open-ing."

But the administration will have difficult ques-tions of its own as it gauges North Korea's intentions. An initial hurdle could be presented by U.S.-South Korean military drills that were postponed during the Olympics and are due to resume next month. North Korea is likely to push for a suspension of the drills which it views as a provo-cation and a threat, and may ask for relief from U.S.-led economic sanctions.

CITIZEN TRIBUNE Politics Tuesday, March 6, 2018 EEE-3

AP

In this Monday, March 5, 2018 photo, provided by the North Korean government on March 6, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, front right, meets South Korean National Security Director Chung Eui-yong, front left, in Pyongyang, North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: “KCNA” which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency.

Trump on Korean news: Could be 'progress' or 'false hope'

With Democratic support, Senate eyes rollback of banking lawWASHINGTON (AP)

— Ten years after a finan-cial crisis rocked the na-tion's economy, the Senate is poised to pass legislation that would roll back some of the safeguards Congress put into place to prevent a relapse.

The move to alter some key aspects of the Dodd-Frank law has overwhelming Re-publican support and enough Democratic backing that it's expected to gain the 60 votes necessary to clear the Senate. Several Democratic lawmak-ers facing tough re-election races this year have broken ranks with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

The legislation would in-crease the threshold at which banks are considered too big to fail. Such banks are sub-ject to stricter capital and planning requirements, and lawmakers are intent on pro-viding them relief in hopes that it will boost lending and the economy.

Banks have long com-plained about the cost of complying with the many

requirements of Dodd-Frank. Under the Senate bill, some of the nation's biggest banks would no longer have to un-dergo an annual stress test conducted by the Federal Reserve. The test assesses whether a bank has enough capital to survive an econom-ic shock and continue lend-ing. Dozens of banks would also be exempted from mak-ing plans called "living wills" that spell out how the bank will sell off assets or be liq-uidated in a way that won't create chaos in the financial system.

The House version of the bill is a "recalibration" of Dodd-Frank to help commu-nity banks and credit unions increase their capitalization, the Financial Services Com-mittee chairman said Tues-day. "A community bank that's 0.002 percent the size of J.P. Morgan shouldn't be laboring under a similar set of regulatory burdens," Texas Republican Rep. Jeb Hensar-ling said.

The Senate legislation in-creases from $50 billion to $250 billion the threshold at

which banks are considered critical to the system. The change would ease regula-tions on more than two dozen financial companies, includ-ing BB&T Corp., Sun Trust Banks Inc. and American Express.

Opponents of the bill argue that the same banks getting regulatory relief through the Senate bill also got about $50 billion in taxpayer-funded bailouts during the financial crisis. They note Country-wide Financial, which was at the center of the mortgage crisis, was smaller than some of the banks targeted for re-lief now.

"There is no reason at all to roll back the rules on these big banks so they can pad their pockets even more - and cut them loose to take on wild risks again," wrote Warren, who before joining the Senate led a congressio-nal oversight panel for the bailout programs.

The Senate bill emerged from lengthy negotiations between Sen. Mike Crapo, the Republican chairman of the Senate Committee on

Banking, Housing and Ur-ban Affairs, and Democratic members on the committee. The ranking Democrat, Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, said the changes go too far and he walked away.

But many Democrats stayed on board, and the bill has 13 Republican and 13 Democratic or independent co-sponsors, a rare level of bipartisanship for substan-tive legislation in the cur-rent Congress. By contrast, the House effort to roll back Dodd-Frank didn't generate a single Democratic vote in support.

Commercial banks are ma-jor players on Capitol Hill, spending $66 million on lob-bying Congress last year and $44 million on federal elec-tion campaigns in the previ-ous election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks cam-paign spending. About two-thirds of the money went to Republican campaigns and about a third to Democratic campaigns.

This cycle, commercial banks have targeted their

campaign donations to major players on committees with jurisdiction over banking is-sues, including the incum-bent senators in competitive races: Among the top 10 recipients of commercial bank donations are Demo-cratic Sens. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Don-nelly of Indiana, Jon Tester of Montana and Republican Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada. All four are co-sponsors of Crapo's bill.

Crapo said the Federal Reserve will have the author-ity to tailor tougher capital and liquidity requirements for individual banks when it believes it's necessary. For the others, compliance costs should drop.

"It's going to free up a phe-nomenal amount of capital in this country that right now for no good reason, no safety or soundness reason, is being held back," Crapo said.

The Federal Reserve con-ducts annual stress tests of banks with $50 billion or more in assets. Under the Senate bill, banks with under $100 billion in assets won't

have to undergo the Fed's yearly test. Banks with be-tween $100 billion and $250 billion in assets will be ex-empted from the yearly stress test after 18 months. The Federal Reserve will have authority to accelerate the ex-emption or extend it.

Federal Reserve Chair-man Jay Powell seemingly endorsed that approach when he appeared before the Sen-ate's banking committee last week.

"I think it gives us the tools that we need to continue to protect financial stability," Powell said of the bill.

The largest dozen or so banks in the country will still have to undergo the yearly test.

The bill also exempts banks with less than $10 bil-lion in assets from what is re-ferred to as the Volcker Rule, which limits banks from us-ing their own capital to trade the markets.


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When first-time renter Angelica Fattu-Logan, 20, started applying for apartments, she braced for rejection. But those rejec-tions never came — in part because she had good credit.

"I applied to about three or four different apart-ments, and they all accept-ed me right away," says Fattu-Logan, a drugstore manager and college stu-dent from Peoria, Arizona, who recently moved into an apartment with her fian-cee. "It was a pretty quick process, like two days. It was just a matter of pick-ing which one I liked bet-ter." She maintains her credit by paying for gro-ceries with her credit card and paying off the balance right away.

For young folks fearing rejection from landlords, Fattu-Logan's positive ex-perience is heartening. It also illustrates an impor-tant point: Good credit can be especially helpful for first-time renters.

BETTER CHANCES OF APPROVAL

When you're new to renting, good credit can make up for other short-comings in an application.

"If (applicants) have a good credit score, even if they haven't rented before, that means that they've handled their finances well and that they're responsi-ble," says Laura Agadoni, a landlord and real estate writer based in Marietta, Georgia. That could be enough to make up for a lack of a rental history, otherwise a major factor in rental decisions, she says.

"My bottom line is, I just want to get my rent on time," she says.

Requirements can vary, but Agadoni says many landlords look for credit scores of 640 or higher for renters. They also consider factors such as income, debt and employment.

In some cases, those with good credit scores might not need to find a co-signer, a person — often a parent — who's equally re-sponsible for making pay-ments. But Agadoni notes that she might still require a first-time renter with good credit to get a co-

signer if they've worked at their job for less than a year and have limited sav-ings, for example.

"Every situation is dif-ferent," she says.

SAVINGS ON RENT AND DEPOSITSIf you're approved with

good credit and meet all the landlord's require-ments, you'll generally just have to pay the security deposit and rent described in the rental listing. But if you're approved with bad credit, you may have to pay a premium — not just on rent, but potentially for utilities, too.

"We've definitely seen consumers with more chal-lenged credit having to put

higher deposits down in order to rent a property," says Jim Triggs, senior vice president of counsel-ing at Money Management International , a nonprofit credit counseling agency. The firm offers counsel-ing to renters, among other services. He adds that landlords sometimes also charge higher rents to these applicants.

Many utility compa-nies — such as electricity and gas providers — also charge upfront deposits to those with poor credit.

"Normally, the better your credit, the better ar-rangements you'll have with any of those utility companies, up to and in-cluding zero deposits," Triggs says.

MORE BARGAINING

POWERIn cities where the rent-

al market is extremely competitive — say, San Francisco or New York — having good credit is just table stakes. But in ar-eas where landlords have trouble finding tenants, a good score can give you bargaining power.

That's because good credit is a crystal ball that tells landlords you're reli-able. "How you pay your bills is predictive of how you're going to pay your bills in the future," says credit expert John Ul-zheimer . "That includes

rent."If a landlord is eager to

find a renter and you have good credit, "the apart-ment (landlord) is abso-lutely going to want you to move in, and move in lick-ety-split, because they're going to want to start getting paid," Ulzheimer says. "And you can lean on them a little bit."

For example, he says, you may be able to negoti-ate a good parking spot or extra garage remote con-trols, even as a first-time renter.

BEFORE RENTING, CHECK YOUR

CREDITBefore you go apart-

ment-hunting, check your credit reports and credit scores to see where you stand.

Doing so is free and doesn't hurt your scores. If you have good credit, you can walk into property viewings with confidence, knowing you're set up for success. If you have bad or no credit, you can focus on making improvements. Be upfront with landlords about what steps you're taking to work on your credit and, in the mean-time, budget for a larger security deposit. It may take longer to find a space that's right for you, but with persistence — and maybe some help from a co-signer — you'll get there.

CITIZEN TRIBUNENationEEE-4 Tuesday, March 6, 2018

AP

This Jan. 8, 2017, file photo shows a “For Rent” sign outside an apartment building in Sacramento, Calif. In cities where the rental market is extremely competitive, having good credit is just table stakes. But in areas where land-lords have trouble finding tenants, a good score can give you bargaining power.

Cosby lawyers fight to block testimony from other accusers

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Bill Cosby's law-yers fought Tuesday to block a parade of women from testifying against him at his sexual assault retrial, saying the accus-ers are peddling "ancient allegations" that would prejudice the jury against the 80-year-old comedian.

Stung by a hung jury the first time around, prosecu-tors are pushing to widen the scope of Cosby's April retrial to cast him as one of the biggest serial predators in a Hollywood suddenly aware of sexual miscon-duct in the #MeToo era.

The defense argued that prosecutors want to call as many as 19 other accus-ers to the stand because they're desperate to bol-ster an otherwise weak case. Cosby lawyer Becky James told a judge that none of the women should be allowed to tell their sto-ries to a jury because that would subject Cosby to "multiple mini-trials."

"Even one would be too prejudicial here," she said. "The inference is too tempting to say, 'He must've done it here, be-cause he did it before.'"

Cosby has pleaded not

guilty to charges he as-saulted Andrea Constand, a Temple University wom-en's basketball administra-tor, while he was a power-ful alumnus and trustee. He has said the encounter was consensual. He re-mains free on bail.

Prosecutors say they are trying to insulate Constand from what they called the defense's "inevitable at-tacks" on her credibility.

Of the other potential witnesses that prosecutors want to call, the oldest allegation against Cosby dates to 1965 and the most recent is from 1990 or

1996, at least eight years before prosecutors say he assaulted Constand.

The allegations are im-possible to defend against, James argued.

"It's not about what hap-pened 50 years ago. It's not about what happened with other people," she said. "The jury has to be focused on that one issue."

Pennsylvania allows prosecutors to present evi-dence of alleged past mis-deeds if they demonstrate the defendant engaged in a signature pattern of crime. Prosecutors argue Cosby used his power and appeal

as a beloved entertainer to befriend younger women, then plied them with drug or alcohol before assault-ing them.

Seeking to rebut the de-fense arguments, prosecu-tor Adrienne D. Jappe said Tuesday the other accus-ers show that Cosby had a long history of sexual mis-conduct.

"I didn't pick the 19," Jappe said. "The defendant picked the 19."

Judge Steven O'Neill said Monday he would not rule on whether to allow the testimony by the end of the two-day hearing,

calling it an "extraordi-narily weighty issue" that he needs time to review.

O'Neill allowed just one other accuser to take the stand at Cosby's first trial last year, barring any men-tion of about 60 others who have come forward to accuse Cosby in recent years.

The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they grant permis-sion, which Constand has done.

When renting your first place, good credit can open doors

Thursday, March 8, 2018 • Online All The Time • www.aroundosceola.com • NEWS-GAZETTE, Page E5CITIZEN TRIBUNE World Tuesday, March 6, 2018 EEE-5

Trial to begin in case of journalist killed in submarineCOPENHAGEN, Den-

mark (AP) — As div-ers found mutilated body parts in plastic bags on the ocean floor one by one, a gruesome puzzle as dark as any Scandinavian noir emerged in Denmark: A young Swedish reporter who had embarked on a submarine journey to in-terview its maker was tor-tured, murdered and dis-posed at sea.

Businessman Peter Madsen stands trial at Co-penhagen's City Court on Thursday for the killing of Kim Wall, 30, in his submarine off the usually quiet northern European country.

Madsen denies killing Wall and says she died ac-cidentally inside the UC3 Nautilus while he was on deck. However, he has ad-mitted cutting her up be-fore he "buried her at sea."

Some don't want to talk about Madsen or be asso-ciated with him anymore. Others do.

"He had two sides: He could be a well-spoken and charismatic per-

son who could speak for hours about his subma-rine. And then ... a much darker side," said retired adult movie actress Dorthe Damsgaard, 48, who met him several times.

Damsgaard told The As-sociated Press she had de-clined invitations to join Madsen in his submarine because she has claustro-phobia.

"He made it no secret to me about having sexu-al fantasies," Damsgaard said, describing him as "funny, manipulative, seri-ous and scary."

Madsen's wife, who re-portedly has sought a di-vorce, has told investiga-tors that he openly spoke about attending fetish par-ties without her.

His former workshop, a low building of corrugated iron, sits on Refshale is-land, a once-bustling ship-yard and industrial area across from downtown Copenhagen.

It was here that Wall em-barked on the submarine journey on a sunny sum-mer evening last year.

On Aug. 10, she and her Danish boyfriend, Ole Sto-bbe Nielsen, threw a good-bye party before moving to China. That evening, she received a text mes-sage from Madsen saying an interview was possible. For months, she had been trying to speak with him and she left the party to join the now 47-year-old Dane. Alone.

Wall grew up in south-ern Sweden, just across a narrow waterway from Copenhagen. She studied at Paris' Sorbonne univer-sity, the London School of Economics and Columbia University in New York, from where she graduated with a master's degree in journalism in 2013.

She wrote for The New York Times, The Guard-ian and other publications, reporting on topics such as tourism in post-earthquake Haiti and nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands.

Caterina Clerici, a friend from Columbia, said Wall had "a soft spot for misfits, for places and people that did not conform."

Madsen doesn't fit into any boxes. According to a 2014 biography, he grew up in a small town west of Copenhagen with an au-thoritarian father. Consid-ered a nerd at school, he challenged science teach-ers and built rockets in his past time.

In 2008 he co-founded Copenhagen Suborbitals, a private aerospace con-sortium to develop and construct manned space-craft. In 2011, it launched a homemade nine-meter (30-foot) rocket eight kilo-meters (five miles) into the sky over the Baltic Sea, a step toward its unrealized goal of launching a person into space.

However, differences led to a split with his busi-ness partner in 2014. Mad-sen, known for his shifting moods and for hating to be contradicted, moved into another workshop.

In an interview with Danish weekly Soendag-savisen the same year, Madsen said he one day "hoped to have a criminal career," adding he didn't

want to rob a bank because "no one must be hurt."

On the evening that he contacted Wall, Madsen also texted his associate Steen Lorck to call off a planned trip the following day in the submarine that first launched in 2008.

After Wall left to meet Madsen, her boyfriend received several text mes-sages from her. He started worrying when the mes-sages stopped coming and eventually alerted au-thorities, who launched a search for the submarine, which didn't have a satel-lite tracking system.

The 33-ton, nearly 18-meter-long submarine sank south of Copenhagen shortly after being spotted afloat. Madsen was picked up unharmed. Initially, he told police he had let Wall off on Refshale island sev-eral hours into the trip.

Investigators found dried blood inside the sub-marine, and divers even-tually found Wall's body parts in plastic bags held down on the Baltic Sea bed by metal pieces. Her

torso had been stabbed multiple times.

Police believe Madsen sank the submarine on purpose, and found videos of women being tortured and killed on his personal computer in his hangar. He did not make the videos himself, investigators said.

Prosecutor Jakob Buch-Jepsen claims Madsen tied up and tortured Walls be-fore killing her, either by cutting her throat or stran-gling her. The murder has been called premeditated because he had brought along tools he normally wouldn't take with him on the submarine.

Madsen has undergone a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation and is deemed fit for trial. His defense lawyer, Betina Hald Eng-mark, won't discuss the case before the trial be-gins.

Wall's family has de-clined to comment "for the time being."

Ex-spy's illness stirs UK to warn of action against RussiaSALISBURY, England

(AP) — Britain will re-spond "appropriately and robustly" if Russia's in-volvement is established in the case of an ex-Rus-sian spy who became criti-cally ill after coming into contact with an "unknown substance" in southern England, the U.K. foreign secretary said Tuesday.

Boris Johnson told law-makers in the House of Commons that he wasn't "pointing fingers" as to who might be responsible for the collapse of Sergei Skripal, who was found slumped on a bench to-gether with his daughter Yulia on Sunday. But he stressed that if state in-volvement was proven, Britain would take action.

"I say to governments around the world that no attempt to take innocent life on U.K. soil will go either unsanctioned or un-punished," he said.

Johnson said the crisis could affect British par-ticipation at the soccer World Cup in Russia this summer. He said that if Russian involvement is proved, "it will be very difficult to imagine that

U.K. representation at that event will go ahead in the normal way."

The Foreign Office clarified that the comment referred to dignitaries and officials, not the England team, which is scheduled to compete at the tourna-ment.

British counterterror specialists took over the investigation from local authorities as they sought to unravel the mystery of why Skripal and his daughter collapsed in Salisbury, 90 miles (145 kilometers) southwest of London. Though authori-ties were trying to keep an open mind, the incident drew parallels to the death of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned with radioactive polonium in 2006 in London.

"I think we have to re-member that Russian exiles are not immortal. They do all die and there can be a tendency for some conspiracy theories," Met-ropolitan Police assistant commissioner Mark Row-ley told the BBC. "But likewise we have to be alive to the fact of state

threats as illustrated by the Litvinenko case."

Skripal, 66, was convict-ed in Russia on charges of spying for Britain and sen-tenced in 2006 to 13 years in prison. He was freed in 2010 as part of a spy swap, which followed the expo-sure of a ring of Russian sleeper agents in the U.S.

The Kremlin said Rus-sia hasn't been approached by British authorities to help in the investiga-tion. But Dimitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, said Tuesday at a daily conference call with media in Russia that "Moscow is always ready to cooperate."

Both Skripal and his daughter are in critical condition in intensive care. A small number of emer-gency services personnel were assessed immediate-ly after the incident, and police said Tuesday that all but one had been dis-charged.

The discovery led to a dramatic decontamination effort. Crews in billowing yellow moon suits worked into the night spraying down the street, and the Salisbury hospital's emer-

gency room was closed. A pub and a restaurant re-main "secured," but police didn't say how long the cordons would be in place.

A security camera im-age of a man and woman walking through an alley-way connecting the Zizzi restaurant and the bench where Skripal and his daughter were found is be-lieved to be of interest to police.

"Police had a good look at the footage and were in-terested in these two peo-ple. It was the only image they took away," said Cain Prince, 28, the manager of a nearby gym. "They wanted a list of everyone in the gym between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. as well."

Public records list Skri-pal as having an address in Salisbury.

Skripal served with Rus-sia's military intelligence, often known by its Rus-sian-language acronym GRU, and retired in 1999. He then worked at the For-eign Ministry until 2003 and later became involved in business.

After his 2004 arrest in Moscow, he confessed to having been recruited

by British intelligence in 1995 and said he provided information about GRU agents in Europe, receiv-ing more than $100,000 in return.

At the time of Skripal's trial, the Russian media quoted the FSB domestic security agency as saying that the damage from his activities could be com-pared to harm inflicted by Oleg Penkovsky, a GRU colonel who spied for the U.S. and Britain. Pen-kovsky was executed in 1963.

The circumstances sur-rounding Sunday's inci-dent were still murky and police urged the public not to speculate. But few could avoid invoking the name of Litvinenko — the former Russian agent who died after drinking polonium-210-laced tea in a swanky London hotel in 2006.

His illness was initially treated as unexplained. Evidence eventually emerged indicating he had been deliberately poisoned with the radioactive mate-rial.

A British judge wrote in a 2016 report that Lit-

vinenko's death was an as-sassination carried out by Russia's security services — with the likely approval of Putin. The Russian gov-ernment has denied any re-sponsibility.

Despite the swirling discussions, little is clear. Mark Galeotti, the head of the Center for European Security at the Institute of International Relations in Prague urged caution, noting that it wasn't yet clear what happened. He pointed out that in the past, Russia hasn't tried to eliminate swapped spies "as this would spoil their chances of getting future exchanges" with the West.

"The mythology that Moscow always gets back at those who betray them is just that, a mythology - not every exiled spy or Kremlin enemy has been killed." he said. "It is more likely that Skripal was still a spy or he was working for a private intelligence firm or they (Kremlin) thought he was."

Saudi crown prince winds up trip to Egypt with mosque visitCAIRO (AP) — Saudi

Arabia's crown prince wound up his three-day visit to Egypt on Tuesday with a symbolically sig-nificant visit to Al-Azhar, the world's foremost seat of learning for Sunni Mus-lims.

Accompanied by Egyp-tian President Abdel-Fat-tah el-Sissi, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was given a tour of the mosque at the heart of old Cairo to see the outcome of three years of restora-tion work financed by a Saudi grant. Also at hand was Al-Azhar's Grand

Imam, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb.

The mosque, built in the 10th century, is now part of a sprawling university teaching Islam as well as secular subjects and a nationwide network of schools. It is perceived to be a bastion of moderation whose teaching counters radicalism and violence, but it has in recent months been accused of theologi-cal rigidity and of resisting calls to renew Islam's reli-gious discourse.

Egypt and Saudi Ara-bia are viewed to be Sun-ni powerhouses whose

weight, together with that of smaller Sunni Arab al-lies like Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, is called upon to counter the growing influence of non-Arab and Shiite Iran in the region.

Al-Tayeb thanked Prince Mohammed profusely for the kingdom's help.

"This is our duty and every Saudi hopes that he can contribute, even in a simple way, to the renova-tion and improvement of Al-Azhar," the Saudi heir apparent said in reply to al-Tayeb.

The prince was given a

warm welcome in Egypt, whose government views Saudi aid and investment as key to reviving the country's battered econo-my. Posters featuring the prince alongside el-Sissi lined major roads in cen-tral Cairo. Pro-government television networks broad-cast promotional videos about Saudi Arabia and the prince's efforts to modern-ize the oil-rich kingdom.

In what is perhaps a first for a Saudi heir apparent, Prince Mohammed and el-Sissi watched a play on Monday night at Cairo's Opera House. In another

first, he visited the spiri-tual leader of Egypt's Cop-tic Orthodox church, Pope Tawadros II, at the Cathe-dral of St. Mark in central Cairo.

He and el-Sissi trav-eled through one of sev-eral tunnels being built under the Suez Canal link-ing mainland Egypt with the Sinai peninsula. They later boarded a boat from a red-carpeted dock as an army band played march-ing music. The two coun-tries have plans to build a causeway across the Red Sea's Gulf of Aqaba and to develop areas on both

sides, including a multi-billion dollar city stretch-ing across Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan.

The current close rela-tionship between the two countries follows a period of tension in late 2016 and early 2017 when Riyadh unexpectedly froze ship-ments of fuel to Egypt in response to sharp differ-ences over Syria.

The prince left later Tuesday for London where he would be visiting be-fore he travels on to Wash-ington.

Page E6, NEWS-GAZETTE • Online All The Time • www.aroundosceola.com • Thursday, March 8, 2018 CITIZEN TRIBUNESportsEEE-2 Monday, March 5, 2018

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Minkah Fitzpatrick understands the value of his skill set.

At 6-foot-1, 201 pounds, he hits like a safety. His speed, hip move-ment and feet might make him more tailored to cornerback.

So the Alabama star is spending this weekend explaining to NFL scouts he can excel at either, both or some combination of the posi-tions.

“It’s a different kind of position, kind of like a combination between safety and corner,” said Fitzpat-rick, describing the slot corner spot he played in college. “I like to play both safety and corner, so I think slot corner is optimal for my abili-ties.”

If true, Fitzpatrick would be one of the rarest commodities in foot-ball — a tweener with an actual fit.

Traditionally when players at the NFL’s annual scouting com-

bine are explaining what position suits them best, it’s because team executives aren’t sure where they should play and the player’s draft stock sinks.

But Fitzpatrick’s physical gifts could make him a trend-setter in a league that has become increas-ingly more pass-happy and places a premium on versatility.

He was recruited as a true cor-nerback, moved to slot corner before the 2015 season, won the starting job and never relinquished it. Coach Nick Saban was so im-pressed he usually paired Fitzpat-rick on the opponent’s top receiver, one-on-one.

It didn’t take long for Fitzpatrick to make an impact.

After being selected to the SEC’s all-freshman team in 2015, he earned first-team All-American honors in 2016 and 2017.

Now he’s off to the NFL, where

teams are trying to figure out what Saban once did — the best place for Fitzpatrick to play.

“I think he could play all six defensive back positions. Both corners, both safeties, nickel and dime linebacker,” NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock said Saturday. “He’s the only guy I can say that about. Now, is that a good thing or a bad thing? I’ve had a couple of coaches say to me, ‘Hey, is he a difference-maker? Is he a nickel? Where’s his ball produc-tion?’ He had six picks two years ago, but only had one this year. But I look at (his versatility) as a posi-tive.”

Mayock’s sentiment may ex-plain why Fitzpatrick appears to have a slight edge on his competi-tion right now. He’s projected to be a top-five pick.

Some expect Ohio State’s Den-zel Ward, a true cornerback, to be

selected in the top 10 with Florida State safety Derwin James the only other defensive back tabbed for the top 20.

The workouts in Indianapolis, which conclude Monday, will help determined the actual pecking or-der in April.

But one thing working in Fitz-patrick’s favor: work ethic.

While growing up in New Jer-sey, he sometimes helped his father fix trucks.

After the family’s home col-lapsed during Hurricane Irene in 2011, Fitzpatrick helped his par-ents rebuild.

And when the Catholic high school he attended provided peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to stu-dents who couldn’t afford school lunches, Fitzpatrick ate them up.

So when he arrived at the com-bine, less than two months away from possibly hitting a multimil-

lion-dollar jackpot, the reality fi-nally hit.

“It’s really crazy,” Fitzpatrick said. “I remember the second I got here, I was laying in bed, looked up at the ceiling and just started smiling.”

Yes, it’s been a long trek here for Fitzpatrick and his family.

Yet he hasn’t forgotten his blue-collar roots, his humble perspec-tive on life or his passion for foot-ball. It’s served him well, so far.

“I think he’s going to go out there and run like a corner, have the size of a safety, and if you’re a defensive coordinator and take him in the top 10, you’ve got to have a plan,” Mayock said. “What is he? Is he my safety, is he my corner, is he my nickel? Or is he a piece that I can match up week to week against a big wideout or a tight end? How you use him is ultimately going to determine the value of him.”

Fitzpatrick’s skills may force NFL teams to rethink position

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — There’s always energy in the bench press room at the NFL scouting combine when play-ers grip the crossbar and begin pumping the 225 pounds of free weights as everybody nearby counts the repetitions.

But never like this.Even Shaquem Griffin, the

one-handed do-it-all defender from Central Florida and a late invitee to the combine, didn’t ex-pect to do what he did Saturday with his prosthetic left hand .

His personal max was 11 reps, but he had a much more modest benchmark in mind here.

“My goal was six,” Griffin ac-knowledged.

Griffin clipped his prosthetic hand onto the bar, then leaned back.

This wasn’t his brother spot-ting him — the one who he was sure used to surreptitiously help him — but this new spotter was hyping him up and the crowd joined in as did his fellow line-backer prospects.

“Everybody in the stands was hyping me up. I got the guys I’m here with hyping me up. It felt amazing,” Griffin said. “I was ready to go. I was ready to at-tack it.”

His chest heaved.And the counting began.One, two, three.“I said, this thing feels like

135. Let’s go!” Griffin recount-ed. “And I just started cranking them out.”

Four, five, six.That was easy.Seven, eight, nine.The crowd was hollering by

now.Ten, 11 — this was his per-

sonal best.Twelve.A new high.Thirteen ... 14 ... 15 ... 16.The crowd was roaring is dis-

belief.Seventeen.Can this really be happening?Eighteen!That’s one more than his twin

brother, Shaquille, managed at last year’s combine before the Seattle Seahawks selected the speedy cornerback in the third round of the NFL draft.

Nineteen!One more ... 20!“I got chill bumps watch-

ing him do 20 reps,” said NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock. “I literally choked up a little bit watching him do that and I can’t wait to watch him tomorrow.”

On Sunday, Griffin will run the 40-yard dash, do some quickness drills and some on-field testing at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Griffin was 4 years old when doctors amputated his left hand a day after his mother found him in the kitchen attempting to cut off his jelly-like fingers, which were in scorching pain whenever he touched anything, the result of amniotic band syndrome, a

congenital birth defect.Despite having just one hand,

he kept up with his twin brother on and off the field.

As dozens of reporters and photographers gathered around him Saturday, Griffin said, “I thought I was going to walk over here and it was going to be like three people.”

Not after becoming the best feel-good story of the combine so far — and by far.

“It was amazing, hearing the crowd and having the juices flowing, I mean I felt it,” Grif-fin said. “I didn’t know I had it in me.”

Griffin said he’s mind-set is he always has to do more than those around him to impress coaches.

“I always hold myself to a higher standard than a lot of people just because if we’re running drills, if I drop a ball, they’re going to like, ‘Well, he dropped the ball because he has one hand.’ If anybody else drops a ball, they’re going to be like, ‘Well, maybe it was a bad ball,’” Griffin said.

As a freshman, he couldn’t even lift the 45-pound bar, but then he was fitted with the pros ethic and his mom cried when he did his first pull-up.

“It’s amazing to see how far I’ve come from not being able to bench the bar to throwing up 20 reps of 225 and being able to compete with the best here,” said Griffin, the 2017 American Athletic Conference defensive player of the year.

Griffin, who played D-line, linebacker and safety at the Se-nior Bowl, said he’s going to try to join the defensive back drills Sunday after doing his work with the linebackers.

“I feel like I could just start curling 225 right now and I’m pretty sure come tomorrow, it’s going to be adrenalin just going crazy. I’m excited about tomor-row. If I feel this good doing the bench press, I can’t wait to see how I am tomorrow.”

Griffin said he hopes he’s an inspiration to kids everywhere.

“If I can inspire one, and they can inspire another and (soon we’ll) inspire a thousand,” Grif-fin said.

As evidenced by the way they were cheering him on in the bench press, he’s inspiring his fellow draft prospects at the combine.

“That’s kind of cool when you have guys at that top level, the best of the best, and they come and talk to you about you moti-vating them and inspiring them,” Griffin said. “I feel really good hearing that from them. It mo-tivates me to do more and keep pushing when you’ve got guys all over the place, the top in the country, and they’re proud of me.

“That was an amazing feeling, and it makes you enjoy it that much more.”

One-handed prospect posts 20-rep bench press

AP

In this Jan. 27 file photo, South Squad outside linebacker Shaquem Griffin, of Cen-tral Florida, gestures during the first half of the Senior Bowl NCAA college football game in Mobile, Ala,. Griffin was 4 years old when doctors amputated his left hand a day after his mother found him in the kitchen attempting to cut off his jelly-like fingers, which were in scoring pain whenever he touched anything, the result of amniotic band syndrome, a congenital birth defect.


WASHINGTON (AP) — They spent their first year in Washington as an untouchable White House power couple, command-ing expansive portfolios, outlasting rivals and enjoy-ing unmatched access to the president. But Jared Kush-ner and Ivanka Trump have undergone a swift and stun-ning reckoning of late, their powers restricted, their en-emies emboldened and their future in the West Wing un-certain.

Kushner, long the second-most powerful man in the West Wing, is under siege. President Donald Trump's son-in-law has lost influen-tial White House allies. He remains under the shadow of the Russia probe and has seen his business dealings come under renewed scru-tiny. He has been stripped of his top security clear-ance, raising questions how he can successfully advance his ambitious agenda — in-cluding achieving Mideast peace, a goal that has eluded presidents for generations.

Kushner's most powerful patron, the president him-self, has wavered recently on whether his daughter and son-in-law belong in the White House anymore.

A frustrated Trump has griped about the wave of bad headlines generated by probes into Kushner's busi-ness dealings and the status of his security clearance, according to two people fa-miliar with the president's thinking but not authorized to publicly discuss private conversations. The presi-dent also has wondered aloud if the couple would be better off returning home to New York.

At the same time, though, Trump has said he believes many of the attacks against Kushner are unfair and has lamented that the couple is going through such a turbu-lent time, according to the two people close to the situ-ation who spoke on condi-tion of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly about Trump's private comments.

"I think he's been treated very unfairly," Trump said late last month. "He's a high-quality person."

Kushner's woes mush-roomed in the past month, when accusations of spou-sal abuse emerged against White House staff secretary Rob Porter. Initially, the re-sulting firestorm — includ-ing questions about how Porter had interim clear-ance for top-secret informa-

tion despite red flags in his background — threatened to engulf Chief of Staff John Kelly, the retired Ma-rine hired to bring order to Trump's chaotic West Wing.

Kelly seemed to stabilize his own standing, in part by ordering a reform of the White House security clear-ance process. And among senior aides, that change fell the hardest on Kush-ner, who had been working with interim access to top-secret information. And he was doing that as investi-gators worked through his family's complicated real estate dealings and as spe-cial counsel Robert Mueller probes Russian connections to the Trump team.

A week ago, Kushner's security clearance level was downgraded, leaving White House aides to wonder just how many indignities Kush-ner and Ivanka Trump are willing to suffer. Even if re-cent events and revelations don't trigger a departure, they have demonstrated that the West Wing clout of "Javanka," as the couple is often referred to, is a far cry from what it once was.

Since taking office last year, Kelly has prioritized creating formal lines of authority and decision-making. Kushner resisted efforts to formalize his role — which early in the administration made him something of a shadow sec-retary of state — and he has grown frustrated with the chief of staff's attempts to restrict the couple's access to the president.

The couple perceives Kelly's crackdown on se-curity clearances as a di-rect shot at them, according to White House aides and outside advisers. But one White House official dis-puted that account, suggest-ing that Kushner welcomed Kelly's efforts to organize the West Wing, allowing him to more singularly fo-cus on his portfolio.

Kelly, in turn, has been angered by what he views as the couple's freelancing. He blames them for chang-ing Trump's mind at the last minute and questions what exactly they do all day, ac-cording to one White House official and an outside ally. Kushner prevailed in previ-ous power struggles within the White House, including one against former chief strategist Steve Bannon, but allies of the president on the outside openly cheered the power couple's weakened position.

"Only a son-in-law could withstand this sort of expo-sure and not be fired," said Jennifer Palmieri, former communications direc-tor for President Barack Obama. "Kushner's vul-nerable and in an acceler-ated fall from grace. Even though his departure would leave Trump even more iso-lated, a decision could be made that it's just not worth it for him to stay."

Those close to the cou-ple insist the duo has no plans to leave Washington. But a soft landing spot has emerged if they choose to take it.

At a senior staff meet-ing Wednesday, Kushner spoke about the 2020 cam-paign at Kelly's behest, talking up the selection of Brad Parscale to run the campaign, according to an administration official who was not authorized to speak publicly about inter-nal discussions. Kushner has a close relationship with Parscale, whom he re-cruited to work on the 2016 campaign.

News of Parscale's ap-pointment was first reported in the Drudge Report, a fa-vored outlet of Kushner's, in a move that was seen by

some in the West Wing as an attempted reminder of Kushner's clout just hours before his humbling secu-rity clearance downgrade became public.

One veteran of the 2016 campaign suggested that there had always been a tentative plan for Kushner to resume a role on the re-election campaign but not this early in the president's first term.

In a White House popu-lated with attention-seek-ers, Kushner has been an ascetic, discreet figure. Almost always standing at the periphery in dark busi-ness suits, Kushner is rarely heard in public, his impact felt but not seen. His dip-lomatic trips abroad have either been shrouded in secrecy or conducted with minimal media coverage.

"I am not a person who has sought the spotlight. First in my business and now in public service, I have worked on achieving goals, and have left it to others to work on media and public perception," Kushner told congressional investigators in a prepared statement last July.

But it is not immediately obvious what he's achieved.

There has been little prog-ress on Mideast peace and relations with Mexico, an-other top Kushner prior-ity, remain contentious over Trump's proposed border wall. Kushner's much bal-lyhooed project to reinvent the federal government has gained little traction. And questions persist about his family business's global hunt for cash just a year be-fore a $1.2 billion mortgage on a Manhattan skyscraper must be paid off by the company.

The Kushner Co. says it is in solid financial shape, but skeptics note that the company has been scram-bling to raise funds from investors in nations with which Kushner has had government dealings and questions about potential Kushner conflicts of interest have scuttled some efforts.

Ivanka Trump, mean-while, promotes the ad-ministration's tax overhaul, including a family-friendly tax credit she championed. She continues to talk with lawmakers about paid fam-ily leave and recently led the U.S. delegation to the closing ceremonies at the Winter Olympics in South Korea.

But her role has come with unique challenges and calculations. Trump has portrayed herself as an advocate for women and families within the adminis-tration, which at times puts her in an awkward position given the allegations against her father and some of his public comments about women.

Trump recently said in an NBC interview that she believes her father's denials of sexual misconduct, but argued that questions to her on the topic were "pretty in-appropriate" — an answer that prompted eyerolls in some quarters of the West Wing yet again.

Some West Wing ob-servers suggested that the mercurial president, who prizes loyalty and family, could at some point move to re-establish Kushner and Ivanka Trump's clout. But at Washington's annual Grid-iron Dinner on Saturday, he opted for a laugh line about their situation.

"But before I get started, I wanted to apologize for arriving a little bit late," Trump said. "You know, we were late tonight because Jared could not get through security."

CITIZEN TRIBUNE Politics Monday, March 5, 2018 EEE-3

AP

In this photo taken Friday, March 17, 2017, Ivanka Trump, the daughter of President Donald Trump, and her husband Jared Kushner, senior adviser to President Donald Trump, attend a joint news conference with the president and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Jared Kushner is increasingly a headache for Trump on multiple fronts, security clearance problem, business entanglements, but also one of the last remaining members of the president’s inner circle.

Roles reduced, Kushner and Ivanka Trump's fate uncertain

Trump links tariff relief for Canada, Mexico to NAFTA talksWASHINGTON (AP) —

President Donald Trump said Monday that North American neighbors Canada and Mexico will get no re-lief from his new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports unless a "new and fair" free trade agreement is signed.

The Trump administration says the tariffs are necessary to preserve the American industries — and that doing so is a national security im-perative. But Trump's latest tweets suggest he's also us-ing the upcoming tariffs as leverage in ongoing talks to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement. The latest round of a nearly year-long renegotiation effort is concluding this week in Mexico City.

"Tariffs on Steel and Alu-minum will only come off if

new & fair NAFTA agree-ment is signed," Trump tweeted. "Also, Canada must treat our farmers much better. Highly restrictive. Mexico must do much more on stopping drugs from pouring into the U.S. They have not done what needs to be done. Millions of people addicted and dying."

The tariffs will be made official in the next two weeks, White House of-ficials said Monday, as the administration defended the protectionist decision from critics in Washington and overseas.

Speaking on "Fox and Friends," White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said: "25 percent on steel, and the 10 percent on aluminum, no country exclusions — firm line in the sand."

Trump's pronouncement last week that he would impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, roiled markets and rankled allies.

The across-the-board ac-tion breaks with the recom-mendation of the Pentagon, which pushed for more targeted tariffs on metals imports from countries like China and warned that a wide-ranging move would jeopardize national secu-rity partnerships. But Com-merce Secretary Wilbur Ross, whose agency over-saw reviews of the indus-tries that recommended the tariffs, said Sunday ABC's "This Week" that Trump is "talking about a fairly broad brush."

Republican South Caro-lina Sen. Lindsey Graham said the sweeping action

would let China "off the hook," adding the tariffs would drive a wedge be-tween the U.S. and its allies.

"China wins when we fight with Europe," he said on CBS's "Face the Na-tion." ''China wins when the American consumer has higher prices because of tar-iffs that don't affect Chinese behavior."

Trump has threatened to tax European cars if the EU boosts tariffs on American products in response to the president's plan to increase duties on steel and alumi-num.

British Prime Minister Theresa May raised her "deep concern" at the tariff announcement in a phone call with Trump Sunday. May's office says she noted that multilateral action was

the only way to resolve the problem of global overca-pacity."

But Ross rejected threats of retaliation from Ameri-can allies as "pretty trivial" and not much more than a "rounding error."

And Navarro argued Mon-day that "there are virtually no costs here."

"If you put a 10 percent tariff on aluminum, it's a cent and a half on a six pack of beer and it's $25,000 on a $330 million (Boeing 777)," Navarro said.

Trade politics often cut along regional, rather than ideological, lines, as politi-cians reflect the interests of the hometown industries and workers. But rarely does a debate open so wide a rift between a president and his party — leaving him almost

exclusively with support from his ideological oppo-sites.

Labor unions and liberal Democrats are in the un-usual position of applaud-ing Trump's approach on grounds it will bolster jobs in a depleted industry, while Republicans and an array of business groups are warning of dire economic and politi-cal consequences if he goes ahead with the tariffs.

Trump's criticism of trade agreements and China's trade policies found support with white working-class Americans whose wages had stagnated over the years. Victories in big steel-pro-ducing states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana demonstrated that his tough trade talk had a receptive au-dience.


WILLOW, Alaska (AP) — Competitors took to the snowy trail as the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race kicked off Sunday in Alaska fol-lowing a trying year for the annual event.

Musher Cody Strathe of Fairbanks and his 16-dog team were the first to take off across frozen Willow Lake, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of An-chorage.

Before taking off on the trail, Strathe said he was excited to be the first to leave. He said he had a har-monica in his pocket and he plans to teach himself to play during the race.

"I have plenty of time while I'm out there," he said, adding he will play "bad harmonica music" to his dogs along the way.

Sixty-seven teams are signed up for the 1,000-mile (1,600-kilometer) trek over mountain ranges, fro-zen rivers and other dan-gerous terrain. The winner is expected to reach the finish in the old Gold Rush town of Nome in about nine days.

The race is taking place after organizers spent much of the year dealing with multiple problems, including a champion's dog doping scandal, the loss of a major sponsor and esca-lating pressure from animal rights activists.

Iditarod officials ac-knowledge they've weath-ered a challenging year. But they say it's been a learning experience, not a sign the race faces an un-certain future as some crit-ics believe.

On Sunday, it was all about the race ahead.

Anja Radano of Talk-eetna, Alaska, said she was excited to run her first Iditarod with her team, in-cluding two dogs named after carnival rides, Skee-

ball and Tilt-A-Whirl."My mind, personally,

is just that I get out on the trail and hopefully, I don't forget anything important," said Radano, who is origi-nally from Germany.

The race had its tradi-tional ceremonial start Sat-urday with a short sprint through downtown An-chorage that gave fans a chance to get up close to the teams.

A dog on the team of Norwegian musher Lars

Monsen got loose and bolted from his trailer ken-nel before Saturday's event. The dog, Hudson, was later found and was securely leashed in Willow as Mon-sen geared up, with just one thing on his mind heading into his third Iditarod.

"It's just going out on the trail and having fun and keeping the dogs hap-py and making the right moves along the way," he said. "Not getting too eager in the beginning."

Competitors are vy-ing for a total purse of $500,000 in the 46th run-ning of the race, with the winner's share to be deter-mined later in the race. The winner also receives a new truck.

Of the troubles facing race organizers, perhaps the most high-profile issue was the October disclosure that four dogs belonging to four-time winner Dal-las Seavey tested positive for a banned substance, the

opioid painkiller tramadol, after his second-place fin-ish last March behind his father, Mitch Seavey. The race's governing board faced criticism for the tardy release of the information.

The Iditarod didn't pun-ish the younger Seavey, who has denied adminis-tering the drugs to his dogs. Race rules have since been changed to hold mushers liable for any positive drug test unless they can show something beyond their

control occurred.Dallas Seavey is sitting

out this year's race in pro-test over the handling of the doping investigation. He is in Norway instead, gearing up to participate in another sled dog race.

Dog deaths in last year's Iditarod also played a role in increasing pressure from animal rights activists, who are protesting the race in person this year. The Iditar-od went without dog deaths in several recent years.

CITIZEN TRIBUNENationEEE-4 Monday, March 5, 2018

AP

Dogs on the sled dog team of Ryan Redington of Wasilla, Alaska, leave the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race starting chute Sunday, March 4, 2018, in Willow, Alaska. The winner is expected in Nome in eight or nine days.

Mushers hit the snowy trail as Iditarod kicks off in Alaska

AI's dirty little secret: It's powered by peopleSAN FRANCISCO (AP)

— There's a dirty little se-cret about artificial intel-ligence: It's powered by an army of real people.

From makeup artists in Venezuela to women in conservative parts of India, people around the world are doing the digital equivalent of needlework —drawing boxes around cars in street photos, tagging images, and transcribing snatches of speech that computers can't quite make out.

Such data feeds directly into "machine learning" algorithms that help self-driving cars wind through traffic and let Alexa figure out that you want the lights on. Many such technolo-gies wouldn't work without massive quantities of this human-labeled data.

These repetitive tasks pay pennies apiece. But in bulk, this work can of-fer a decent wage in many parts of the world — even in the U.S. This burgeon-ing but largely unseen cot-tage industry represents the foundation of a technology that could change humanity forever: AI that will drive us around, execute verbal commands without flaw, and, possibly, one day think on its own.

This human input indus-try has long been nurtured by search engines Google and Bing, who for more than a decade have used people to rate the accuracy

of their results. Since 2005, Amazon's Mechanical Turk service, which matches freelance workers with temporary online jobs, has also made crowd-sourced data entry available to re-searchers worldwide.

More recently, investors have poured tens of mil-lions of dollars into startups like Mighty AI and Crowd-Flower, which are develop-ing software that makes it easier to label photos and other data, even on smart-phones.

Venture capitalist S. "Soma" Somasegar says he sees "billions of dollars of opportunity" in servicing the needs of machine learn-ing algorithms. His firm, Madrona Venture Group, invested in Mighty AI. Hu-mans will be in the loop "for a long, long, long time to come," he says.

Accurate labeling could make the difference be-tween a self-driving car dis-tinguishing between the sky and the side of a truck — a distinction Tesla's Model S failed in the first known fa-tality involving self-driving systems in 2016.

"We're not building a sys-tem to play a game, we're building a system to save lives," says Mighty AI CEO Daryn Nakhuda.

Marjorie Aguilar, a 31-year-old freelance makeup artist in Maracai-bo, Venezuela, spends four to six hours a day drawing

boxes around traffic objects to help train self-driving systems for Mighty AI.

She earns about 50 cents an hour, but in a crisis-wracked country with runaway inflation, just a few hours' work can pay a month's rent in bolivars.

"It doesn't sound like a lot of money, but for me it's pretty decent," she says. "You can imagine how im-portant it is for me getting paid in U.S. dollars."

Aria Khrisna, a 36-year-old father of three in Te-gal, Indonesia, says doing things like adding word tags to clothing pictures on websites such as eBay and Amazon pays him about $100 a month, roughly half his income.

And for 25-year-old Shamima Khatoon, her job annotating cars, lane markers and traffic lights at an all-female outpost of data-labeling company iMerit in Metiabruz, India, represents the only chance she has to work outside the home in her conservative Muslim community.

"It's a good platform to increase your skills and support your family," she says.

Major automakers like Toyota, Nissan and Ford, ride-hailing companies like Uber and other tech giants like Alphabet Inc.'s Waymo are paying reams of label-ers, often through third-party vendors.

The benefits of greater accuracy can be immediate.

At InterContinental Ho-tels Group, every call that its digital assistant Ame-lia can take from a human saves $5 to $10, says infor-mation technology director Scot Whigham.

When Amelia fails, the program listens while a call is rerouted to one of about 60 service desk workers. It learns from their response and tries the technique out on the next call, freeing up human employees to do other things.

"We've transformed those jobs," Whigham says.

When a computer can't make out a customer call to the Hyatt Hotels chain, an audio snippet is sent to AI-powered call center In-teractions in an old brick building in Franklin, Mas-sachusetts.

There, while the custom-er waits on the phone, one of a roomful of headphone-wearing "intent analysts" transcribes everything from misheard numbers to pro-fanities and quickly directs the computer how to re-spond.

That information feeds back into the system. "Next time through, we've got a better chance of being successful," says Robert Nagle, Interactions' chief technology officer.

Researchers have tried to find workarounds to human-labeled data, but

the results are often inad-equate.

In a project that used Google Street View images of parked cars to estimate the demographic makeup of neighborhoods, then-Stanford researcher Timnit Gebru tried to train her AI by scraping Craigslist pho-tos of cars for sale that were labeled by their owners.

But the product shots didn't look anything like the car images in Street View, and the program couldn't recognize them. In the end, she says, she spent $35,000 to hire auto dealer experts to label her data.

The need for human la-belers is "enormous" and "dynamic," says Robin Bordoli, CEO of label-ing technology company CrowdFlower. "You can't trust the algorithm 100 per-cent."

At the moment, figuring out how to get computers to learn without so-called "ground truth" data pro-vided by humans remains an open research question.

Trevor Darrell, a ma-chine learning expert at the University of California Berkeley, says he expects it will be five to 10 years be-fore computer algorithms can learn to perform with-out the need for human la-beling.

His group alone spends hundreds of thousands of dollars a year paying people to annotate images.

"Right now, if you're sell-ing a product and you want perfection, it would be negligent not to invest the money in that kind of anno-tation," he says.

Several companies like Alphabet's Waymo and game-maker Unity Tech-nologies are developing simulated worlds to train their algorithms in con-trolled scenarios where every object comes pre-defined.

For the most part, even companies trying to push humans out of the loop still rely on them.

CloudSight, for instance, offers website and app de-velopers a handy tool for uploading a photo and getting a few words back describing it. The retailer Kohl's uses the service for a "Snap and Shop" visual search feature on its app.

But it's not just a fancy computer program spitting back responses. If the algo-rithm doesn't have a good answer, one of its 800 em-ployees in places like India, Southeast Asia or Africa type in the answer in real time.

"We want to be the ones that can label any im-age without any human involvement," says Ian Parnes, CloudSight's head of business development. "How long that will take is anyone's guess."


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CAIRO (AP) — Egypt gave a warm welcome to Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday, with military fan-fare and a trip to the Suez Canal meant to underline a growing strategic partner-ship.

It is the first trip abroad for the 32-year-old Salman since he became heir to the Saudi throne, and comes after a tumultuous year in which he consolidated power by sidelining rivals, vowed to modernize the country and stepped up its rivalry with Iran.

In Egypt, posters featuring Salman alongside President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi lined major roads in central Cairo, where Salman will later visit the main Muslim and Chris-tian institutions and see a per-formance at the Cairo Opera. He will travel to Britain and the United States later this week.

The prince and el-Sissi travelled through one of the new tunnels being built under the canal, before boarding a boat from a red-carpeted dock as an army band played marching music. He later cut the ribbon at a ceremony to inaugurate a nearby army-built resort.

Egypt seeks investment from oil-rich Saudi Arabia to help develop the area, where Cairo wants to establish an international transport, logis-tics and production hub. On the first day of the three-day visit, the two signed agree-

ments on common invest-ment funds and environmen-tal protection, the Saudi news agency SPA reported.

The leaders are also ex-pected to discuss the ongoing wars in Syria and Yemen, as well as their joint boycott of tiny Gulf nation Qatar, which they accuse of fomenting ex-tremism across the region.

Salman's trip comes just a week after he triggered his most recent shake-up, re-placing the kingdom's mili-tary chief of staff and other defense officials in what ap-peared to be an attempt to re-think tactics in the stalemated war in Yemen.

A Saudi-led coalition has been battling Iran-allied Shi-ite rebels known as Houthis since March 2015. The war had killed more than 10,000 people and devastated the Arab world's poorest coun-try, while the Houthis remain firmly in control of the capi-tal and much of the north.

Egypt, the most populous country in the Arab world, and Saudi Arabia, one of the wealthiest, tightened their longstanding alliance after el-Sissi led the military overthrow of an elected but divisive Islamist president in 2013, with Riyadh providing tens of billions of dollars in aid. As el-Sissi has consoli-dated power and global oil prices have fallen, however, the emphasis has shifted to investment.

The two countries have plans to build a causeway across the Red Sea and to

jointly develop areas on both sides.

El-Sissi faced a backlash, however, over the transfer of two strategic Red Sea islands to the Saudis, denounced by critics as a quid pro quo for the massive aid package. The move sparked some of the largest protests against el-Sissi's rule, which were

swiftly dispersed.The government insists the

islands were always part of Saudi Arabia, and that Egypt only assumed temporary custodianship of them in the 1950s at a time of soaring Arab-Israeli tensions.

On the eve of the crown prince's visit, Egypt's Su-preme Constitutional Court

dismissed all previous rul-ings on the islands, including those that struck down the deal. The agreement has been ratified by Egypt's parlia-ment, which is packed with el-Sissi supporters.

Egyptians have a generally favorable view of Saudi Ara-bia, where many have worked in the booming oil economy

during Egypt's decades of stagnation since the 1970s. Remittances from Egyptians there play an important part in the local economy, while conservative religious cus-toms have also taken root in Egypt, in part due to expats' exposure to them in Saudi Arabia.

CITIZEN TRIBUNE World Monday, March 5, 2018 EEE-5

AP

In this Sunday, March 4, 2018 photo provided by Egypt’s state news agency, MENA, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, right, greets Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Cairo, Egypt.

Egypt seeks closer ties during visit by Saudi crown prince

Turkish soap operas latest casualty of Mideast conflictsDUBAI, United Arab

Emirates (AP) — A major Middle Eastern satellite network now believed to be majority-owned by Saudi Arabia has stopped airing Turkish soap operas, the latest entertainment casual-ty from the region's volatile politics.

The Dubai-based MBC Group stopped broad-casting its popular Ara-bic-dubbed Turkish soap operas this month, a deci-sion that came just after its chairman, Waleed al-Ibrahim, was released from being detained in a mass arrest by Saudi authorities. The network declined to discuss who made the deci-sion.

Saudi-Turkish relations have plunged in recent months. Turkey has strong-ly backed Qatar as Saudi Arabia and three other

Arab nations have boycot-ted it, and Ankara main-tains ties to Iran, the king-dom's regional rival.

"There is a decision to remove all Turkish drama off several TV outlets in the region," MBC spokes-man Mazen Hayek told The Associated Press Mon-day. "I can't confirm who took the decision."

Hayek declined to say whether the decision came from inside MBC's man-agement or outside of the broadcaster.

The National, a state-aligned English-language newspaper in Abu Dhabi, first reported MBC's deci-sion in its Monday edition.

A Turkish government official told the AP his nation was "not worried" about MBC's decision as Turkish soap operas re-main popular worldwide.

The official said that those hooked on them likely would find "other means" to watch them.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with Turkish govern-ment rules that bar civil servants from making statements to journalists without prior authoriza-tion.

In theory, MBC operates in Dubai Media City, a free zone where foreign out-lets like the AP and others have offices and face little government oversight in the United Arab Emirates. Its free-to-watch entertain-ment channels offer a mix of syndicated program-ming, both local and from around the world, as well as Hollywood films.

In practice, however, MBC increasingly has found itself under the sway

of Saudi Arabia's govern-ment, even before al-Ibra-him's arrest. Its 24-hour news channel, Al-Arabiya, functions as an extension of the Saudi government's messaging on the war in Yemen and the boycott of Qatar.

Al-Ibrahim was among dozens of princes, busi-nessmen, military leaders and government officials rounded up in what Saudi authorities described as an anti-corruption campaign. The arrests also consoli-dated of the power of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has grown increasingly assertive as he is now next in line to the throne.

The Saudi government has said detainees agreed to hand over $106 billion in assets in exchange for their freedom. It's unclear

if al-Ibrahim made a simi-lar agreement.

Asked Monday about MBC's current ownership structure, Hayek said al-Ibrahim retains a 40 per-cent stake and has "nomi-nal management control" of the network. Hayek said he could not confirm who held the other 60 percent of the company.

Saudi Arabia's Informa-tion Ministry did not re-spond to questions about al-Ibrahim's settlement and the ownership of the MBC Group.

MBC is no stranger to controversy since its founding in 1991. One of its biggest off-screen dramas stemmed from its broadcasting of the Turk-ish soap opera "Noor" in 2008. Dubbed into Syrian colloquial Arabic, "Noor" took the Mideast by storm

with its depiction of a love story with its male and fe-male lead as equals, as well showing people kissing and drinking alcohol.

A Saudi religious schol-ar went as far as to call al-Ibrahim and others "no less dangerous ... than drug dealers" for airing the pro-gram and others like it.

Regional politics also have affected another major broadcaster. Qatar's paid-subscription BeIN satellite network found itself cut off from the four countries that are boycotting Doha — Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. How-ever, that access has come back as BeIN holds the broadcast rights to major international soccer match-es, including the upcoming FIFA World Cup.

Shattered hopes: Workers in Putin's stronghold speakNIZHNY TAGIL, Russia

(AP) — Yevgeny Solozhnin, a 61-year-old welder and Vladimir Putin supporter, is looking for a telephone number to call the Russian president and complain about the harsh wage cuts that halved his paycheck at the state tank and railroad car plant.

Solozhnin doesn't blame Putin for this, he just won-ders if Putin is aware of the trouble.

"We thought maybe we'd call and reach him," Solozh-nin said as he hovered over a pot of borscht in his apart-ment in the central Russian city of Nizhny Tagil. "Peo-ple who are representing the government — they are spoiling things, they are let-ting Putin down."

The view of Putin as a good president misled by

bureaucrats is widespread in Russia. Putin himself culti-vates the image by maintain-ing a certain distance from United Russia, the party that is his power base. He's not a member and is running in the March 18 presidential election as an independent — a vote he is expected to win handily.

Putin is expected to visit Nizhny Tagil on Tuesday for a campaign event.

In the run-up to the last election in 2012, Nizhny Tagil became an emblem of fealty to Putin when the foreman at the Uralvagonza-vod factory appeared on Pu-tin's annual marathon call-in show and denounced the large protest rallies that had arisen in some Russian cities as a threat to the "stability" that is at heart of Putin's ap-peal.

"I want to say about those rallies: If our police can't work, can't handle it, me and the guys are ready to come over and stand up for our stability — but certainly within the framework of the law," foreman Igor Khol-manskikh said.

"Do come over!" Putin re-sponded, smiling.

Kholmanskikh's tough words led to Russian media dubbing Nizhny Tagil "Put-ingrad." In the 2012 elec-tion, the town's electoral dis-trict around the factory gave Putin about 70 percent of its vote.

These days, enthusiasm for Putin at Uralvagonza-vod, the major employer in the Ural mountains city of 400,000, appears to be wan-ing.

Two of Solozhnin's sons, who also work at the plant,

won't be voting for Putin like their father — one supports the Communist candidate and the other nationalist fire-brand Vladimir Zhirinovsky.

As thousands of workers streamed out of the plant at shift's end on a recent work-day, many laughed when asked if the city lives up to its "Putingrad" nickname.

Some, like 38-year-old Anton Udintsev, were re-signed to Putin winning a fourth term — he will cast a ballot for Putin because "Who else is there to vote for?"

He acknowledged that the factory's pay cuts were diffi-cult, yet adds "but it's okay."

Last fall, Uralvagonzavod sharply reduced its piece-work rates. The company says the cut reflects new procedures that cut the pro-duction times for each piece.

Workers dispute that — Solozhnin said his January paycheck was just 30,000 rubles ($530), half of what he used to earn. Twenty-five employees in Solozhnin's workshop at the plant have taken the company to court for unjustified pay reduc-tions. They lost two cases last month and are now pre-paring to lodge an appeal.

"We're not asking for a pay rise — we just want our money back," Solozhnin ex-plained.

The factory was in poor financial condition when Kholmanskikh made his "me and the boys" pledge. But after Putin was elected — and after Putin appointed Kholmanskikh his envoy for the sprawling Urals region that includes Nizhny Tagil — more government orders for tanks began coming in.

But the factory still faces headwinds. The Freight One cargo company canceled an order for railway cars in De-cember, saying that working with a company blacklisted by U.S. sanctions over Pu-tin's annexation of Crimea could jeopardize its foreign operations.

Solozhnin said the work-ers had appealed to Khol-manskikh for help but they now suspect he is a gate-keeper for Putin "not letting our (pleas) through to him."

"We don't see the envoy and don't really know much about him," said Natalya Vakhonina, editor-in-chief at the local independent website Mezhdu Strok. "The farther we are from the mo-ment when he was going to 'come over and stand up for stability' with his guys, the less ... he visits here."


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CITIZEN TRIBUNEHome and GardenEEE-2 Sunday, March 4, 2018

BY ANITA SNOWAssociated Press

PHOENIX (AP) — When I moved to Phoenix last sum-mer, I was bewildered by all the bright green grass I saw smack in the middle of the Sonoran Desert — in resi-dential yards, on golf cours-es, at community parks.

While the temperatures were hitting nearly 120 de-grees, these perfect lawns sucked up huge amounts of water delivered by the shussssh-chik-chik-chik of sprinklers before the brutal orange sun rose each sum-mer morning.

But I was drawn to the more natural-looking, drought-tolerant yards, the kind of landscaping I saw in Southern California when water rationing forced home-owners several years ago to trade their lawns for chap-arral. Instead of big shade trees, there were saguaro cacti and whip-like ocotillo plants stretching their long branches into the cloudless sky. Crushed red rock took the place of Bermuda grass. Golden barrel cactus re-placed rose bushes.

The newly published "Desert Gardens of Steve Martino" (The Monacelli Press, 2018) shows us how a celebrated Phoenix land-scape architect uses native flora to create such natural outdoor spaces for his cli-ents.

With a text written by fel-low architect Caren Yglesias and photographs by Steve Gunther, we see how Mar-tino creates what Yglesias characterizes as comfort-able outdoor rooms. Terra-cotta pots, concrete benches and cantilevered stairs add character while hidden light fixtures provide nighttime drama.

Playing with geometric

shapes, light and shadow, Martino's work recalls the functionalist influence of the late Mexican architect Luis Barragan. Rectangular slab walls painted in ceru-lean blue, burnt orange-red, cheery yellow or deep purple provide privacy.

Martino combines desert flora with steel, rocks and those colored walls to create quiet spaces where you can reflect alone or gather with others. Tapered concrete paths lead through grounds covered by crushed rock to outdoor fireplaces or water sources such as fountains or a pipe sticking out of a wall. Splashing water drowns out the roar of a nearby high-way, while a wall hides a yard from hikers traversing through an adjacent wildlife area.

Arizona's state tree, the Blue Palo Verde, and Mexi-can fence-post cactus stand

tall and straight like sentries alongside buildings. But there's no grass in Martino's projects.

"Lawn has its place in a public park, but it's ridicu-lous to have it at your home," Martino said, explaining his landscaping philosophy during a recent telephone interview. "Using grass at your home really is a kind of crime. Lawn mowers are not environmentally friendly."

"And we need to save our water," the 70-year-old add-ed. "I always like to say, 'Kill your lawn, save your grand-children.'"

Martino differentiates his projects from traditional desert landscaping, that old-fashioned mix of cacti, green-painted gravel and rusty wagon wheels that he likes to call "gardens of de-spair."

Instead, Martino builds habitats, with native plants

attracting their symbiotic pollinators. In the book, he describes finding a vagabond plant known as a sacred da-

tura in a bed of salvia, and being startled one evening when he saw a huge Hawk Moth suddenly fly away

from the big nighttime bloom.

Martino's relationship with the desert goes back to his years as a troubled youth sent to live on a ranch, where he was charged with wrangling horses. He later served in the Marine Corps and studied art at a community college.

The landscape architect wrote in a separate introduc-tion in the book that he found his life's calling after a col-lege instructor suggested he visit the workshop of Paolo Soleri, an Italian architect known for his ceramic and bronze wind bells. Soleri had been a disciple of Frank Lloyd Wright when the American spent his winters at the desert home he dubbed Taliesin West.

Martino noted his dislike of Phoenix's manufactured feel, and the millions of dol-lars spent to make it look like it's not in the desert.

"The desert was far more interesting to me than any-thing man-made in the city," he wrote. "Unfortunately, the desert historically was viewed as a wasteland, where anything done to it was an improvement. The West was a resource to be exploited, and native plants were to be eradicated."

So Martino populated his landscapes with the desert's ironwood trees and Big Bend yuccas. Along with huge sa-guaro, he used organ pipe, silver torch, cereus and stag-horn cholla cactus, as well as brittlebrush with its sunny, bright blossoms. He spilled hot pink bougainvillea and trailing lantana plants with white, yellow, and purple blooms over his trademark walls.

As he wrote in the book: "I just wanted to use desert plants in my projects, which became the idea to bring the desert into the city."

BY KATHERINE ROTHAssociated Press

There is nothing quite as devastating for many older people as having to leave the comfort of home because of poor health or limited mobil-ity.

But a new generation of services and technology is making it possible to stay at home longer, safely and hap-pily, experts say.

"Most people would rather stay in their own homes as they age, and technology has made that easier in so many ways," says Amy Goyer, a family and caregiving expert with the AARP and author of "Juggling Life, Work, and Caregiving," published by the AARP and the American Bar Association.

"There are a lot of resourc-es to tap into, even for those on a limited budget."

She recommends starting with the "caregiving" page of AARP.org and your local Area Agency on Aging net-work (see www.n4a.org ), which is federally funded and also can lead you to a range of state and local resources.

Beyond technology, a little creativity often goes a long way toward helping people manage to live at home lon-ger, Goyer says.

"If a person can't do stairs, for example, consider ways to put everything they need on the main floor, like maybe bringing a washing machine up from the basement," she says.

Some of the latest services

and technologies that make it easier to "age in place":

SAFETYDigital locks, which can be

part of a smart home system, can be set so the door is un-locked for a small window of time to allow a caregiver into the house. Different codes can be set up for different people. They can be moni-tored from afar on phones, as can digital doorbells, which might help both the hearing and mobility impaired.

Digital medication dis-pensers can send text notifi-cations to loved ones to let them know whether someone has taken their pills. Cameras can be installed so loved ones know whether home health aides have come by. And there is a wide range of medi-cal alert systems, some even including a GPS.

"My aunt fell in a parking lot and luckily someone was there and picked her up, but if they hadn't been there, a medical alert system could have made a world of a dif-ference," Goyer says.

Also, simple things like lowering thresholds, improv-ing lighting, putting in rail-ings and removing small rugs can make a home much safer.

TRANSPORTATIONMany counties and com-

munity agencies have some kind of senior taxi run by volunteers to take seniors to doctors' appointments, grocery stores, senior cen-

ters and other errands. Ride-sharing companies have also proven helpful for many. The site www.GoGoGrandpar-ent.com , for example, is de-signed to be easy to use for seniors — they don't need to use a phone — and taps into local ride-sharing services. It can be paid for by relatives living out of town, who also receive notifications of pick-ups and drop-offs.

Justin Boorgaard co-founded the company with friend David Lung in 2016 to help Boorgaard's grandmoth-er maintain her mobility and independence.

"Her independence, and the independence given back to her family is something we believe the world needs," he says. "We screen drivers and use only those with the best reviews. We filter them to make sure they have cars with room for walkers, canes, foldable wheelchairs or ser-vice dogs, and we step in to help if something's not going right."

FOOD"Meals are a big thing

when you're trying to set everything up for aging at home, and a lot of people don't have the energy or abil-ity to cook for themselves," Goyer says.

In addition to Meals on Wheels , which is admin-istered by local communi-ties and delivers reasonably priced prepared meals to those unable to cook for themselves, "there are all

kinds of interesting options out there for all kinds of bud-gets," she says. Services like BlueApron and HelloFresh will deliver either ingredients or meals, and Pea Pod , Ama-zon Fresh and InstaCart can deliver groceries and other items across most of the country.

"Even grocery stores that don't have a delivery service will often deliver grocery bags out to the car for those who can drive up," Goyer says.

SUPPORTThe Agency on Aging and

other local groups often have lists of services, many run by volunteers, that can provide

help with household chores as simple as changing a light bulb or doing the laundry.

Caregivers, too, should make sure they have supports in place for themselves as well as their loved ones.

SOCIAL NETWORKIsolation and loneliness are

health threats that should not be taken lightly, Goyer says.

Faith-based organizations often have networks of peo-ple who can stop by and say hello every so often. Goyer says it's also worth looking into national programs like the Foster Grandparent Pro-gram, which pairs seniors with younger people, and also the Senior Compan-

ion Program and the Senior Corps volunteer program. All are administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service, the same organization that runs the Americorps volunteer program, and can be found at www.nationalservice.gov.

Many communities have started a Village to Village Network , where people can pool resources to get things done more efficiently; for example, someone who can drive might deliver groceries to a neighbor in exchange for a cooked meal.

"Sometimes it takes some creative thinking to figure out all the pieces of the puzzle," Goyer says.

New services, technologies can help with aging in place

Phoenix landscaper brings desert to urban yards

AP

In this undated photo a Meals on Wheels America volunteer delivers a meal to homebound senior in Takoma Park, M.D.

AP

Top: A garden featured in the book “Desert Gardens of Steve Martino,” by Caren Yglesias. Above: This undated photo courtesy of The Monacelli Press shows the cover of “Desert Gardens of Steve Martino.”


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CITIZEN TRIBUNE Politics Sunday, March 4, 2018 EEE-3

It’s clear Trump is hazy in outlining gun measure prioritiesBY CATHERINE LUCEY

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — In his quest to tackle gun violence, President Donald Trump has alternated be-tween calling for tougher laws and declaring his fealty to the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms, leaving a trail of befuddled lawmakers and advocates in his wake.

One thing he still has not done: clearly outline his leg-islative priorities.

Washington’s week closed Friday without further expla-nation from the president, the White House indicating that for now, he is backing an incremental proposal on background checks and a bill that would provide new federal dollars to stem school violence.

Just what Trump would like to see in the “beautiful” and “comprehensive” bill he called for earlier in the week remained unclear. That comment came at a biparti-san meeting with lawmak-ers Wednesday, which was quickly followed by a private session with the National Ri-fle Association on Thursday.

“Good (Great) meeting in the Oval Office tonight with the NRA!” Trump tweeted Thursday night.

He had outlined some of his preferences via Twitter earlier Thursday, saying that

both good and bad ideas had come out of the bipartisan meeting. He said: “Back-ground Checks a big part of conversation. Gun free zones are proven targets of kill-ers. After many years, a Bill should emerge. Respect 2nd Amendment!”

Amid the confusion, Sen-ate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has shelved the gun debate for now, say-ing the Senate will turn next week to other measures.

Disagreement continues among legislators over the appropriate response after the Florida school shooting that left 17 dead. Republi-cans have largely backed away from stricter gun limits, while Democrats embold-ened by Trump’s rhetoric are pushing for ambitious action, including expanded background checks and even a politically risky ban on as-sault weapons.

As is often the case, the president has been an unreli-able negotiator.

Sen. Chris Murphy, a Con-necticut Democrat who is a leading advocate of tougher gun laws, predicted on Twit-ter: “The White House is going to bob and weave on guns. Accept it.”

Still, he added: “Trump’s instinct on this issue is not wrong — if his party doesn’t get behind background checks soon, they’re cooked

in 2018 and 2020.” And he argued that Trump’s “will-ingness to buck the gun lobby in public, rule out the NRA agenda and talk up back-ground checks, has changed this debate nationally.”

White House spokeswom-an Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Friday that Trump sup-ports a limited proposal from Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Murphy that would boost participation in the existing federal background check program, as well as a bill that would provide new federal grant funding to stem school violence.

Sanders said Trump had not signed on to a more sweeping background check bill that would require the review of firearm purchases online and at gun shows. The measure, from Sens. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and Joe Man-chin, D-W.Va., has found new momentum since it was first introduced after the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Ele-mentary School in Connecti-cut that left 20 children dead.

Sanders sought to clarify Trump’s comments earlier in the week expressing sup-port for tougher background checks and interest in rais-ing the minimum age to buy certain weapons. She said he was interested in improving background checks, but “not necessarily universal back-ground checks.” And she said

that while Trump “conceptu-ally” supports higher age re-quirements to purchase cer-tain weapons, “he also knows there’s not a lot of broad sup-port for that.”

The president also wants to use an executive order to bar the use of “bump stock” de-vices that enable guns to fire like automatic weapons.

After Republican anxiety about Trump’s comments seeming to express open-ness to tougher gun con-trols, the executive director of the NRA, Chris Cox was positive about their Thursday night meeting. He tweeted

that Trump and Vice Presi-dent Mike Pence “support the Second Amendment, support strong due process and don’t want gun control.”

As part of Trump’s efforts to consider various responses to gun violence, he plans to host members of the video game industry this coming week. He has repeatedly ref-erenced the violence in mov-ies and video games during conversations about guns and school safety since the Flori-da shooting.

Sanders said invitations started going out Thursday, and event details were being

finalized. The Entertainment Software Association, a trade group that represents the vid-eo game industry, said Friday the group and its members had not been invited.

Nicole Hockley, who lost a child at Sandy Hook, has attended two White House meetings with Trump and said she remained optimistic.

“By listening to President Trump’s words I do feel he is committed to finding a way forward and he is committed to putting a plan together,” she said. “I don’t know what the content will be.”

Trump’s tariff talk provokes rarely seen urgency among GOP

BY LISA MASCAROAP Congressional Correspondent

WASHINGTON (AP) — Repub-licans in Congress have learned to ignore President Donald Trump’s policy whims, knowing whatever he says one day on guns, immigration or other complicated issues could very well change by the next.

But Trump’s decision to seek steep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports has provoked rarely seen urgency among Republicans, now scrambling to convince the presi-dent that he would spark a trade war that could stall the economy’s recent gains if he doesn’t reverse course.

The issue pits Trump’s populist promises to his voters against the party’s free trade orthodoxy and the interests of business leaders. Unlike recent immigration and gun policy changes that require legislation, Trump can alter trade policy by ex-ecutive action. That intensifies the pressure on Republican lawmakers to change his mind before he gives his final approval for the penalties as early as this coming week.

Trump on Saturday showed no sign of backing away, threatening on Twitter to impose a tax on cars made in Europe if the European Union responds to the tariffs by tax-ing American goods. He also railed about “very stupid” trade deals by earlier administrations and said oth-er countries “laugh at what fools our leaders have been. No more!”

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., called Trump after the presi-dent’s surprise announcement, and continues to hope the White House will reconsider the decision. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., and others have offered the president their own pri-vate counsel. Some are appealing to his desire for a robust stock market and warning that the trade penalties could unravel some of the gains they attribute to the tax bill he signed last year.

Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, chair-man of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, tried one of the most direct lines that lawmakers have to the White House: talking to Trump through cable TV news.

“The president has not yet issued

these tariffs,” Brady told Fox News on Thursday, hours after Trump an-nounced the tariff targets. “He’s been continuing to listen.”

Listening to various viewpoints, though, has never been the gripe against Trump.

Unlike President Barack Obama, who often irked lawmakers for lec-turing them during meetings, Trump retains a level of popularity among Capitol Hill Republicans in part be-cause he’s more than happy to invite lawmakers in and hear them out.

But problems have arisen when members of the legislative branch leave the White House under the im-pression Trump was on their side — or at least willing to consider their views — only to find out later that his support drifted away.

The dynamic played out repeat-edly during last year’s health care debate over replacing the Afford-able Care Act. This past week, Trump publicly belittled a modest gun background check bill from the second-ranking GOP Senate leader, John Cornyn of Texas, dur-ing a televised White House meet-ing. Democrats appeared giddy with the president’s praise of gun con-trol proposals, while Republicans fumed.

“I love the president, but people disagree sometimes,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La.

True to form, Trump’s flirtations with gun control showed signs of subsiding by week’s end. A day after his meeting with lawmakers, the president tweeted that he had a “Good (Great!) meeting” in the Oval Office with the National Rifle Association. The gun lobby’s execu-tive director also tweeted afterward that Trump and Vice President Mike Pence “don’t want gun control.”

It’s unclear what gun control mea-sures, if any, Trump may endorse. But his back-and-forth on the matter was reminiscent of his waffling on immigration this year.

Earlier this year, with a govern-ment shutdown looming, Trump welcomed lawmakers for a meeting at the White House to discuss im-migration law changes. During the televised session, he told them he would take the political “heat” and

sign into law whatever Congress could agree to pass.

Two days later, Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., dashed to the White House to present their bipartisan agreement. But the session ended in heated ex-changes after Trump rejected the bill and used crude language to question why the U.S. would want to welcome immigrants from Africa and some other nations.

“Let’s talk about two Trumps - the Tuesday Trump and the Thursday Trump,” Graham said later during a Senate Judiciary Committee hear-ing. “Tuesday we had a president that I was proud to golf with, call my friend.”

“I don’t know where that guy went. I want him back,” Graham said.

Republicans, who hold a major-ity in the House and Senate, have largely learned to take these set-backs in stride. They all but shrug off the president’s policy pivots, just as Ryan and Senate Majority Lead-er Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., often decline to comment on the Trump tweet of the day.

But on trade tariffs, Republicans say the stakes are too high for them to sit back and wait for Trump to change his mind. Indeed, their re-lentless public condemnation of the tariffs was notably sharper than their typical handling of the presi-dent’s policy whims.

Not wise, said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. A “big mistake,” said Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Penn. “Kooky,” said Sasse.

Trump, after the White House’s own internal deliberations, proposed a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum. That quickly sparked global warnings of retaliation and left the financial mar-kets reeling.

Republican lawmakers, and some outside groups, want Trump to at least consider a more targeted ap-proach, or exemptions for countries that engage in what they view as fair trade practices.

“We’re all urging the president, look, continue to narrow this to these unfairly targeted products,” Brady said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Citing mysterious “health at-tacks” in Havana, the United States says it is making perma-nent its withdrawal of 60 percent of its diplomats from Cuba, extending an action that has hurt the island nation’s economy and cramped Cubans’ ability to visit the U.S.

Last October, the State Department ordered non-essential embassy personnel and the families of all staff to leave Ha-vana, arguing the U.S. could not protect them from unex-plained illnesses that have harmed at least 24 Americans. But by law, the department can only order diplomats to leave for six months before either sending them back or making the reductions permanent.

The six months expire Sunday. So the department said Fri-day it was setting in place a new, permanent staffing plan that maintains a lower level of roughly two-dozen people — “the minimum personnel necessary to perform core diplomatic and consular functions.” The department also said that the embassy in Havana would operate as an “unaccompanied post,” meaning diplomats posted there will not be allowed to have spouses or children live with them in the country.

The downsizing of the embassy staff — and a travel warn-ing the U.S. issued warning Americans to reconsider travel to the island — have had significant effects for Cuba’s economy and for its citizens. With fewer employees on hand, the U.S. Embassy in Havana halted visa processing, forcing Cubans who wish to visit the United States to seek visas through U.S. embassies in other countries. The U.S. is also expected to fall far short of granting the 20,000 immigrant visas to Cubans that have been allotted annually for decades.

In Havana, hundreds of Cubans waited in line Friday out-side the Colombian Embassy seeking visas to visit that coun-try, from which they would have to apply for a separate visa at the American Embassy in Bogota to travel to the United States. Some slept under trees, having traveled to Cuba’s capital from the provinces.

“This whole situation is making me very sad,” said Ana Maria Velazquez, an accountant from neighboring Matanzas Province with two children in Florida. She had been waiting for her appointment with Colombian officials for three days. “There should be normal relations between the two coun-tries, but if the U.S. doesn’t want them, at least they should do something that doesn’t hurt people.”

Maria Angeles Reyes said she and her husband paid $1,400 for flights to Bogota and lodging there. “Those who are paying are ordinary Cubans,” she said.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson signed off on the perma-nent plan for reduced staffing out of concern for “the health, safety and well-being of U.S. government personnel and family members,” the department said in a statement Friday.

“We still do not have definitive answers on the source or cause of the attacks, and an investigation into the attacks is ongoing,” the department said.

Cuba has repeatedly denied either involvement in or knowledge of any attacks, and has said its own investigation into the illnesses has turned up no evidence of deliberate ac-tion. The United States has not accused Cuba of such action but has said Havana holds responsibility nonetheless, argu-ing that such incidents could not have occurred on the small, communist-run island without the knowledge of Cuban of-ficials.

Cuba ‘health attacks’ a puzzle; embassy cuts

permanent

AP

President Donald Trump speaks in the Cabinet Room of the White House, in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018, during a meeting with members of congress to discuss school and community safety.

Page E12, NEWS-GAZETTE • Online All The Time • www.aroundosceola.com • Thursday, March 8, 2018 CITIZEN TRIBUNENationEEE-4 Sunday, March 4, 2018

One-handed prospect posts 20-rep bench press

Mushers, fans gather for world’s most famous sled dog race

BY ARNIE STAPLETONAP Pro Football Writer

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — There’s always energy in the bench press room at the NFL scouting combine when players grip the crossbar and begin pumping the 225 pounds of free weights as everybody nearby counts the repetitions.

But never like this.Even Shaquem Griffin, the one-handed do-it-all de-

fender from Central Florida and a late invitee to the com-bine, didn’t expect to do what he did Saturday with his prosthetic left hand.

His personal max was 11 reps, but he had a much more modest benchmark in mind here.

“My goal was six,” Griffin acknowledged.Griffin clipped his prosthetic hand onto the bar, then

leaned back.This wasn’t his brother spotting him — the one who he

was sure used to surreptitiously help him — but this new spotter was hyping him up and the crowd joined in as did his fellow linebacker prospects.

“Everybody in the stands was hyping me up. I got the guys I’m here with hyping me up. It felt amazing,” Grif-fin said. “I was ready to go. I was ready to attack it.”

His chest heaved.And the counting began.One, two, three.“I said, this thing feels like 135. Let’s go!” Griffin re-

counted. “And I just started cranking them out.”Four, five, six.That was easy.Seven, eight, nine.The crowd was hollering by now.Ten, 11 — this was his personal best.Twelve.A new high.Thirteen ... 14 ... 15 ... 16.The crowd was roaring is disbelief.Seventeen.Can this really be happening?Eighteen!That’s one more than his twin brother, Shaquille, man-

aged at last year’s combine before the Seattle Seahawks selected the speedy cornerback in the third round of the NFL draft.

Nineteen!One more ... 20!“I got chill bumps watching him do 20 reps,” said NFL

Network analyst Mike Mayock. “I literally choked up a little bit watching him do that and I can’t wait to watch him tomorrow.”

On Sunday, Griffin will run the 40-yard dash, do some quickness drills and some on-field testing at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Griffin was 4 years old when doctors amputated his left hand a day after his mother found him in the kitchen attempting to cut off his jelly-like fingers, which were in scorching pain whenever he touched anything, the result of amniotic band syndrome, a congenital birth defect.

Despite having just one hand, he kept up with his twin brother on and off the field.

As dozens of reporters and photographers gathered around him Saturday, Griffin said, “I thought I was go-ing to walk over here and it was going to be like three people.”

Not after becoming the best feel-good story of the combine so far — and by far.

“It was amazing, hearing the crowd and having the juices flowing, I mean I felt it,” Griffin said. “I didn’t know I had it in me.”

Griffin said he’s mind-set is he always has to do more than those around him to impress coaches.

“I always hold myself to a higher standard than a lot of people just because if we’re running drills, if I drop a ball, they’re going to like, ‘Well, he dropped the ball because he has one hand.’ If anybody else drops a ball, they’re going to be like, ‘Well, maybe it was a bad ball,’” Griffin said.

As a freshman, he couldn’t even lift the 45-pound bar, but then he was fitted with the pros ethic and his mom cried when he did his first pull-up.

“It’s amazing to see how far I’ve come from not being able to bench the bar to throwing up 20 reps of 225 and being able to compete with the best here,” said Griffin, the 2017 American Athletic Conference defensive player of the year.

Griffin, who played D-line, linebacker and safety at the Senior Bowl, said he’s going to try to join the defensive back drills Sunday after doing his work with the line-backers.

“I feel like I could just start curling 225 right now and I’m pretty sure come tomorrow, it’s going to be adrenalin just going crazy. I’m excited about tomorrow. If I feel this good doing the bench press, I can’t wait to see how I am tomorrow.”

Griffin said he hopes he’s an inspiration to kids every-where.

“If I can inspire one, and they can inspire another and (soon we’ll) inspire a thousand,” Griffin said.

As evidenced by the way they were cheering him on in the bench press, he’s inspiring his fellow draft prospects at the combine.

“That’s kind of cool when you have guys at that top level, the best of the best, and they come and talk to you about you motivating them and inspiring them,” Griffin said. “I feel really good hearing that from them. It moti-vates me to do more and keep pushing when you’ve got guys all over the place, the top in the country, and they’re proud of me.

“That was an amazing feeling, and it makes you enjoy it that much more.”

BY RACHEL D’OROAssociated Press

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Cheering fans lined the streets as mushers took their dog teams for a short sprint in Alaska’s largest city Sat-urday for the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

The morning trek along snow-heaped paths in downtown Anchorage gave supporters a chance to mingle with mushers and their furry teams before the competitive portion of the 1,000-mile (1,600-kilometer) race to Nome begins Sunday to the north in the community of Willow.

Two hours before Saturday’s ac-tion got started, a dog on Norwegian musher Lars Monsen’s team got loose and disappeared during preparations for the 11-mile (18-kilometer) run through town. The dog, Hudson, was later found, KTVA reported.

This year’s Iditarod comes amid a plethora of troubles for race organiz-ers, including a former winner’s dog doping scandal, the loss of a major sponsor and increasing pressure from animal rights activists following the deaths of five dogs connected to last year’s race.

But on Saturday, the focus for mush-ers was on the race ahead.

“It’s all about the dogs now,” said defending champion Mitch Seavey, a three-time winner. “Dogs are what we focus on. I think that’s why everybody showed up down here on the streets to-day, it’s because we love the dogs.”

Veteran musher Scott Janssen of An-chorage said that for now, he is letting

all “the negative stuff go in one ear and out the other,” but will do everything in his power after the race to change the face of the Iditarod.

“I run this race because I love the Iditarod and I love my dogs,” said Jans-sen, a funeral home director known as the Mushing Mortician. “My dogs have been training all year to do this and we’re going to go out there and we’re going to have a great time.”

Fans also were concentrating on the race itself. Among them were sisters Liz and Jenny Ott of Bradford, Eng-land. The pair first got a desire to see the Iditarod in person after going on a sled dog ride with Iditarod veteran Ryan Redington, grandson of late race co-founder Joe Redington Sr., as part of an Alaska cruise land excursion five years ago.

“It’s a bucket list thing,” Liz Ott said.“Something you have to do before

you die,” her sister added.Also present for the parade of dog

teams were members of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which brought five headstones with the names of the Iditarod dogs that died in 2017, including two dogs that died after being dropped from the race. Stuffed toy dogs topped with long-stem red roses were placed in front of the gravestones.

PETA, a longtime Iditarod critic, says more than 150 dogs have died in the race over the years, a number dis-puted by Iditarod officials who have not provided their count despite nu-merous requests by The Associated Press. PETA also plans to protest at Sunday’s official start of the race and

at the finish in Nome.“These dogs are being treated like

machines,” said spokeswoman Tricia Lebkuecher. “And they are literally be-ing run to death.”

Iditarod officials acknowledged the various problems they’ve faced over the past year have been a growing pro-cess for organizers.

Perhaps the most challenging is-sue was the October disclosure that four dogs belonging to four-time win-ner Dallas Seavey, one of defending champion Mitch Seavey’s sons, tested positive for a banned substance, the opioid painkiller tramadol, after his second-place finish last year behind his father. The race’s leadership faced criticism for not releasing the informa-tion sooner.

The Iditarod said it couldn’t prove Dallas Seavey administered the drugs to his dogs and didn’t punish him. Since then, the rules have been changed to hold mushers liable for any positive drug test unless they can show some-thing beyond their control happened.

Seavey has denied administering tra-madol to his dogs. He is sitting out this year’s race in protest over the handling of the doping investigation. Instead, he is in Norway to participate in another sled dog race, the Finnmarkslopet, which begins next week. Mitch Seavey said Dallas called him from Norway Friday night to wish him well in the Iditarod.

For this year’s Iditarod, 67 teams are vying for a total purse of $500,000. Or-ganizers say the winner’s share of the prize money will be determined later in the race.

AP

Anchorage resident Terry Fischer, with his Alaskan Husky Litho, happens into the People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals protest prior to the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Saturday.

Unions representing West Virginia teachers and service personnel say they will stay out on strike after the state Senate voted to cut the 5 percent pay raise they had negotiated with Gov. Jim Justice.

In a joint statement Saturday, the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia, West Virginia Edu-cation Association and the School Service Personnel Association said Senate President Mitch Carmichael and his leadership team had left them with no choice after they voted to re-duce the raise to 4 percent.

The statement said all public schools in West Virginia would be closed again Monday “and remain closed until the Senate honors the agreement that was made.”

The Republican-controlled Senate voted Saturday evening to approve the lower pay raise, bucking teachers, Republican Gov. Jim Justice and the Republican-controlled House, which approved the 5 percent raise on

Wednesday. The two bills will now have to be reconciled. It was unclear how soon that process would begin.

The Senate’s vote came as the teachers’ strike rolled into its sec-ond weekend. Republican Sen. Greg Boso of Nicholas introduced the amendment to lower the raise, which the full Senate adopted by a vote of 19-15.

Senate Republicans have repeat-edly emphasized exercising restraint with state spending, while agreeing that teachers and West Virginia’s oth-er public workers are all underpaid.

“That compensation increase is long overdue,” said Sen. Charles Trump, a Berkeley Springs Repub-lican. “We’ve been able to do this without tax increases.”

Approving a 4 percent raise, in-stead of the 5 percent hike, will save the state $17 million, Boso said.

Democratic lawmakers said their Republican counterparts should ap-prove the deal the governor negotiat-

ed with union leaders for a 5 percent raise.

“We’re all caught up in our egos,” said Democratic Sen. Douglas Face-mire of Sutton. He noted the impact of the impasse on students, includ-ing those who depend on schools for their meals. “For 1 percent we’re go-ing to let kids go hungry,” he said.

Hundreds of teachers and support-ers, including students, rallied at the Capitol on Friday, the seventh day they’ve shuttered classrooms.

Teachers are protesting pay that’s among the lowest in the nation, ris-ing health care costs and a previ-ously approved 2 percent raise for next year after four years without any increase.

Justice told school superinten-dents gathered at the Capitol on Friday that he believed the votes for the raise were there. One adminis-trator noted the impasse is affecting 277,000 students and 35,000 em-ployees.

West Virginia teachers: No raise? No school; strike goes on

Thursday, March 8, 2018 • Online All The Time • www.aroundosceola.com • NEWS-GAZETTE, Page E13CITIZEN TRIBUNE World Sunday, March 4, 2018 EEE-5

Swiss to vote on mandatory public TV fee as Europe watchesBY JAMEY KEATEN

Associated Press

BERN, Switzerland (AP) — Voters in Switzerland are deciding whether they should have to keep paying hundreds of francs every year for public television and radio programming, a referendum that’s being watched closely elsewhere in Europe.

The vote to eliminate the manda-tory national TV fee was sponsored by free-market proponents and other fee critics, who say residents shouldn’t have to pay for public broadcasting if they don’t watch or listen to it. The critics propose alternatives such as paid subscrip-tions for programming, or say the publicly supported broadcasters should rely more on advertising.

Opponents of the “No Billag” vote — named for the company that collects the fees — argue that ensuring quality programming in an era of “fake news” and a sen-sationalized media landscape is in the public interest. Balloting con-cludes Sunday.

Polls last year suggested that most Swiss were ready to scrap the fees paid for by all households and Switzerland’s top-earning busi-nesses, but more recent surveys in-dicated about two-thirds of voters will reject the proposal.

Supporters of fee-supported ra-dio and TV stations have mounted a public relations blitz that all but painted Swiss culture as being at dire risk. They enlisted celebrities to push their message, warning that cherished news shows, music and film programming and free access to Olympics coverage could end.

Both Switzerland’s parliament and its seven-member executive body, the Federal Council, back keeping the fee requirement.

The issue resonates across Eu-rope, where other fee-supported broadcasters have faced grumbling about mandatory charges.

Currently, Swiss households pay just over 450 francs ($480) per year. The fee is to decrease next year to 365 francs ($389), but the referendum is based on principle.

Defenders of the fees insist Switzerland needs to charge more because the country has a high cost of living and four national lan-guages. Public broadcasters strive

for balance and to make sure even the tiny Romansh-speaking com-munity in southeast Switzerland gets time with German, French and Italian speakers.

“What would be obviously ter-rible is that the great moments that unite the country — I think of course the news, but also film, culture, and music production — all that will disappear,” said Gilles Marchand, director of SRG SSR, the parent company for publicly supported broadcasters that reaps 1.2 billion francs from the TV fees each year.

The initiative’s backers say it’s a question of free choice in a demo-

cratic society. By ending what they call a “quasi-monopolistic” Swiss broadcasting universe, families would have another 450 francs to spend.

The referendum’s organizers in-sist the aim is not to kill off public TV and radio, but open it to com-petition. While the initiative’s lan-guage does not mention SRG SSR and its affiliates, critics have taken shots at what they see as the overly high salaries of its executives.

“It’s fake news to say that ‘No Billag’ is the end of (German-language network) SRF and all the other medias, because we are sure that this company with 6,000

employees and a very good infra-structure can win in a free market,” said Christian Riesen, one of the leaders of the campaign against the fees.

Switzerland’s European neigh-bors will be watching the vote closely.

In Germany, each household is required to pay 210 euros ($260) a year, though some people get exemptions. The right-wing Alter-native for Germany party has cam-paigned to abolish the fee, calling it a “compulsory tax” and accusing public broadcasters of being over-funded and spreading government propaganda.

Lower-cost Poland has radio and TV fees of about 5 euros a month ($74 a year) to pay for publicly-supported TV and radio, though people over 75 are exempt. But the government has struggled to get many people to pay and is working on a controversial bill to make the payments automatic.

People in the pricier Scandina-vian countries of Denmark, Nor-way and Sweden generally pay the equivalent of about $300 and up a year for publicly supported broad-casting each year.

In Finland, households pay a special tax, based on income, of between 51 and 143 euros ($63 to $176) annually to support the na-tional public broadcaster.

In Britain, television license fees vary but often are about 145 pounds ($200) a year. France, Ireland and Italy are among other countries that pay separately for publicly supported programming, while the Dutch pay indirectly through income taxes.

BY GILLIAN WONG,Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — Presi-dent Xi Jinping is poised to make a historic power grab as China’s legislators gather from Monday to approve changes that will let him rule indefinitely and undo decades of efforts to prevent a return to crushing dictator-ship.

This year’s gathering of the ceremonial National People’s Congress has been overshadowed by Xi’s sur-prise move — announced just a week ago — to end constitutional two-term lim-its on the presidency. The changes would allow Xi, al-ready China’s most powerful leader in decades, to extend his rule over the world’s sec-ond largest economy possi-bly for life.

“This is a critical moment in China’s history,” said Cheng Li, an expert on elite China politics at the Brook-ings Institution in Washing-ton.

The move is widely seen as the culmination of the 64-year-old Xi’s efforts since being appointed leader of the ruling Communist Party in 2012 to concentrate power in his own hands and defy norms of collective leader-ship established over the past two decades. Xi has appointed himself to head bodies that oversee national security, finance, economic reform and other major ini-tiatives, effectively sidelining the party’s No. 2 figure, Pre-mier Li Keqiang.

Once passed, the consti-tutional amendment would upend a system enacted by former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in 1982 to prevent a return to the bloody excess-es of a lifelong dictatorship typified by Mao Zedong’s chaotic 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution.

“Deng Xiaoping’s abol-ishment of lifetime tenure

for the leadership and more institutionalized transitions in power are very much in question,” Li said.

Passage of the proposed constitutional amendment by the congress’ nearly 3,000 handpicked delegates is all but certain. But observers will be looking to see how many delegates abstain from voting as an indication of the reservations the move has encountered even within the political establishment.

Chinese authorities have tightly controlled discussion about the removal of term limits, scrubbing social me-dia of critical and satirical comments. State media have been largely muted about the topic, but the official Peo-ple’s Daily sought to reas-sure the public by saying in a commentary that the move did not signal a return to life-long rule.

“This amendment does not mean changes in the sys-tem of retirement for party and state leaders and also does not imply that leaders will have lifetime tenure,” the party’s mouthpiece said

Thursday.Still, a number of promi-

nent Chinese figures have publicly protested the move, despite the risk of official re-taliation.

Li Datong, a former editor for the state-run China Youth Daily, wrote that lifting term limits would “sow the seeds of chaos” and urged Bei-jing’s lawmakers to exercise their power by rejecting the amendment. Wang Ying, a businesswoman who has ad-vocated government reforms, called the proposal “an out-right betrayal.”

Many expressed shock and disbelief at what they perceived to be a return to the Mao era, and the massive upheaval, violence and chaos of the Cultural Revolution 50 years ago that has barely faded from memory.

Already, the blanket and entirely positive coverage of Xi in official propaganda has drawn comparisons of a cult of personality to rival Mao’s.

State network China Cen-tral Television broadcasts near-daily segments featur-ing anyone from factory

workers and farmers to space engineers and soldiers ap-plauding for Xi in uniform enthusiasm for several min-utes. His airbrushed, blem-ish- and nearly-wrinkle-free face often dominates the front pages of state newspa-pers.

But some analysts note there are a number of key differences between Xi and communist China’s revolu-tionary founders that mean any major policy failure could obstruct Xi’s ambi-tions.

“Xi Jinping is not loved and admired the way that Deng Xiaoping was. Xi Jin-ping is feared within the par-ty,” said Steve Tsang, direc-tor of the China Institute at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies.

Xi has also overseen an expansive anti-corruption crackdown that some per-ceive as at least in part a purge of his rivals. This has surely won him many en-emies, making the prospect of ceding power potentially risky.

Tsang said the party would

follow Xi as long as things went well but that any seri-ous economic misstep over the next five years would threaten Xi’s ability to extend his rule.

“I don’t think it’s a fore-gone conclusion that he will have a third term,” Tsang said.

Xi’s power grab will be seriously tested by how he tackles grave challenges at home and abroad.

Chief among them is slowing growth in the state-dominated economy that is forecast to fall further as reg-ulators try to get rising debt in check by tightening con-trols to cool booms in bank lending and real estate sales.

Abroad, China is faced with the task of maintain-ing stability and avoiding the outbreak of war on the neighboring Korean Penin-sula, while also managing escalating frictions with the U.S. that threaten to evolve into a trade war.

Some observers say ex-tending Xi’s rule gives him greater authority to address such challenges and carry out his vision of fighting cor-ruption, eliminating poverty and transforming China into a modern leading nation by midcentury. The argument goes that lower-level offi-cials tasked with carrying out needed changes won’t be able to assume they can do the bare minimum and wait for his term to end.

Others say the risk of policy missteps is multiplied because Xi has made it polit-ically risky for people to dis-agree with him and challenge his unbridled power.

The decision to scrap term limits was a case in point, Tsang said, noting that party leaders must have foreseen that such a move was going to be deeply unpopular, yet seemed unable — or unwill-ing — to steer Xi away from it.

“What it does reveal is Xi

Jinping is creating and deep-ening a moral hazard that now people will not want to say anything to contradict him, not only in public but even in private,” Tsang said.

“If this is the kind if pat-tern of policymaking, mov-ing forward, the risk of bad decisions being made be-cause they were not properly debated before they were made is getting higher and higher,” he added.

What has been particularly alarming to many about the proposed removal of term limits was not only the move itself but seeming hastiness with which it was introduced. The Chinese public has grown accustomed to some measure of public debate about new laws or changes to existing laws. Some laws go through three or even four readings, but not in this case, observers pointed out.

“When it comes to the revi-sion of the constitution, how could it be that there is not a significant public comment-ing process, that there is not a more deliberative review process?” said Dali Yang, a China expert at the Univer-sity of Chicago. “That’s truly a remarkable contrast.”

Few experts expected Chi-na to adopt a Western-style, freewheeling democracy. But a return to one-man rule di-minishes the likelihood that China’s one-party system could move — as some had hoped — toward governing with greater accountability through the establishment of rules-based, impartial institu-tions.

This shows “the one-party system cannot be fully insti-tutionalized. They operate as secret societies; nothing is public,” said Jean-Pierre Ca-bestan, an expert on Chinese politics at Hong Kong Bap-tist University.

“He’s kind of a ‘Godfa-ther’ and he will remain the Godfather until the next one comes along.”

China sets stage for Xi’s historic grab to rule indefinitely

AP

In this Saturday, March 3, 2018, photo, Chinese President Xi Jinping is seen a large screens at the opening session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.

AP

In this Jan. 27, 2018 file photo a poster against the ‘No Billag’ initiative is displayed at a meeting of the Christian Democratic party CVP in Bern, Switzerland.