Observer News Online Edition

August 7, 2003

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Finding Florida: Heading Home

By Mitch Traphagen

Part Two of a Series

CEDAR KEY - The simple basics of life have been discarded for a more complex 50 varieties-of-breakfast-cereal life that provides virtually unlimited choices but little in the way of happiness. How could we be happy? With 50 varieties of cereal, which is your favorite? It is too complex. Basic happiness, it seems, stems from a more basic existence.

Searching for the REAL Florida was, in essence, a search for that basic existence. The REAL Florida, it seems, is thought of as the Florida of the past - a time before we had 50 varieties of breakfast cereal. More

Part One: Searching From the Beginning

Mitch Traphagen Photo

Lowe's Looks to South County

By Mitch Traphagen

RIVERVIEW - If all goes to plan, Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse may be the first of the two giant home centers to enter south county.

According to Harry Lerner, president of the Westshore Development Group, Lowe’s has agreed to build a 170,000 square foot store at the proposed Riverview Town Center near U.S. 301 and Gibsonton Drive. More

School's Back! Keep An Eye Out for Children

Hillsborough County Schools began the 2002-2003 school year on August 6. Please keep an eye out for children while driving through school zones. Flashing yellow lights will indicate a 15 mile per hour limit near schools and will be enforced in the times before and after classes.

Pictured above Hillsborough County Sheriff's Deputy Scott Radtke checks the speed of oncoming traffic near Ruskin Elementary School. It was a busy day for Dep. Radtke and Ruskin Community Resource Deputy Jeff Service as several motorists failed to observe the school zone speed limit.

Mitch Traphagen Photo

Coming Up in the Observer News

A group from King’s Point in Sun City Center gets a glimpse of a completely different world, a rare look at the other side of life’s spectrum. It is shocking and impressive at the same time. It is also uncomfortable.

Riding the Orient Road Express - next week in the Observer News.

Also - We asked for stories from readers about where they thought the REAL Florida was. Coming up, we'll share some of them and even pay a visit or two.

Mitch Traphagen Photo

Also Coming Up

We are working to make the Online Edition of the Observer News your one source for local news and more. Our new look will be available soon! In the meantime, we've added a few new features such as the ability to search our archives. While not every article from the print edition runs in the online edition, our new search feature may help you find the story you are looking for.

The Observer News is South Hillsborough County's Number One source for news and information!

In The Archives:

The Changing Face of South Hillsborough: The rumors are flying about several big box retailers moving into south county. The facts, however, are few. Yet one in every ten new jobs created in the entire nation came from the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater Metropolitan area. South county communities are joining forces to become a strong player in that prospering market. How will all of the changes effect our communities and area businesses and what can south county shoppers expect from the future?

The three-part series is available on the web:

Part 1 - Welcome to SouthShore
Part 2 - Meet the Neighbors
Part 3 - It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's a Home Depot!

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