County moves ahead with water fee New funds will help pay for stormwater systems ... Page 7A. American Idol finalist stops in Largo to visit summer campers Also, make your Fourth of July plans with events in Largo and beyond ... Page 2B. Volume XXXV, No. 49 www.TBNweekly.com June 27, 2013 INSIDE Firefighters resign over handgun Three Largo firefighters didn’t report 9 mm Glock turned into fire station By JULIANA A. TORRES an anonymous worker rang the doorbell of Station 40, Instead, Bradford donned medical gloves and showed at 2990 Whitney Road, and gave the gun to the gun to his fellow firefighters when they woke from a LARGO – Two Largo firefighters resigned and one was firefighter/paramedic Lewis Bradford. nap, the investigation revealed. suspended in the wake of an internal investigation in- He told Bradford that he had called police but they “Look what I got,” Bradford said, displaying the gun to volving a loaded handgun turned into Station 40. never came, and he couldn’t wait for them any longer, firefighter/paramedic Mike Ledford, who was acting lieu- The 9mm Glock 26, complete with a loaded 32-round Bradford would later explain. tenant at the station, and firefighter/EMT Brad Lonkey. magazine, was found by a lawn service crew in a ditch But Bradford didn’t call law enforcement that day to re- According to Lonkey’s statements, Bradford speculated along Whitney Road and Shoreline Drive June 10, ac- port the gun. Per city policy, firearms and weapons are cording to the city’s investigation report. That afternoon, not permitted around city facilities, including fire stations. See FIREFIGHTERS, page 4A ENTERTAINMENT Capturing a legacy of love This year’s Miss Largo works to help children deal with Alzheimer's in their family By JULIANA A. TORRES and nurses.” gling and really create aware- By then, Stacey was growing ness for programming what I LARGO – Olivia Stacey used up and realized that she could was building,” she said. to be one of the youth she’s now help other families in the same After graduating from the trying to reach through her way. She began to hone the University of Florida, Stacey nonprofit, Olivia’s Legacy of concept of the program, as well moved back to Pinellas County Love. as her own knowledge, with where she had grown up. She When Stacey, now 23, was in other professionals and those started a graduate program in fourth grade, her grandmother studying the disease. strategic communications at the was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Her idea was to host work- University of South Florida. She disease. shops for children where she currently works as a marketing Opening this week “I really feared that she would talk to them about the director for a financial planning wouldn’t know who I was and disease and emphasize to them company. FBI Special Agent Sarah Ashburn she wouldn’t remember the re- that their grandparent, or some- And in February, Stacey was (Sandra Bullock) and Boston cop Shan- lationship that we had,” she ex- times a parent, still loved them, crowned Miss Largo. She will non Mullins (Melissa McCarthy) couldn’t plained. “I wanted to create despite their actions. Then, she compete in the Miss Florida be more incompatible. But when they something that would honor her would lead them in the creation Pageant in St. Petersburg in join forces to bring down a ruthless drug legacy but also create some- of their own scrapbook. July. lord in “The Heat,” they become the last thing that would help me cope “Through talking to people in She deferred her graduate thing anyone expected: buddies. with the changes that were hap- the Alzheimer’s community, I studies for a semester, but just Also opening is “White House Down,” pening.” realized that there wasn’t a pro- working a fulltime job and ad- starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Stacey started going through gram like this. That was a little vancing Legacy of Love takes a Foxx. her house, looking for photos, bit surprising to me,” Stacey lot of time. But her efforts with ... Page 1B. mementos and recipe cards that said. “I realized the potential the nonprofit never feels like memorialized her grandmother. this had.” work, she said. Stacey and her mother enjoyed Since 2011, Legacy of Love “It’s an outlet for me, just as POLICE BEAT scrapbooking as a family activi- has been introduced at 45 dif- much as it is for the families ty. It was a natural fit to create ferent healthcare facilities, and the kids that I work with. It Photo courtesy of OLIVIA STACEY one for her grandmother. schools and community organi- Contractors Above, Miss Largo Olivia Stacey reads “What’s Happening to does just as much for me as it The process helped her family zations. Stacey has personally does for them,” she said. Grandpa?” a story that helps her introduce how Alzheimer’s disease and later, when her grandmoth- spoken to more than 5,000 peo- Stacey has been building the can affect children’s family members during a Legacy of Love arrested in sting er moved into an assisted living ple, many of them children, program slowly, giving herself workshop. Stacey’s nonprofit helps children cope with the disease The Pinellas County Office of Con- facility and continued to lose about the impact of Alzheimer’s time to try out what activities through education, discussion and the creation of a scrapbook that sumer Protection announced results her memory, the book benefited disease on families. and conversation starters work memorializes their loved one’s life. from a sting June 21 aimed at cracking her directly. The program really took off in with children. For teenagers, down on unlicensed contractors. “When she got to the point 2011 after Stacey competed in resented her sorority, Zeta Tau promote Legacy of Love and she shows a video to introduce In all, nine individuals were arrested where she couldn’t tell stories the Miss University of Florida Alpha, and was named first highlight her efforts to help the the idea. The scrapbook activity and charged with 15 misdemeanor about herself, the book told pageant, a Miss America prelim- runner up. Alzheimer’s community. helps them discover their loved counts of unlicensed contracting and those stories for her,” Stacey inary competition. At the sug- Aside from enjoying her first “When I made it my platform, one’s history. nine felony counts of failure to secure said. “I saw then how that book gestion of a friend who knew beauty pageant experience, it just really opened up so many For the younger children, workers compensation insurance. was able to spark a connection she needed scholarship money Stacey realized that the Miss opportunities for me to meet ... Page 5A. between medical practitioners for graduate school, Stacey rep- America organization could help new families who were strug- See LEGACY, page 4A COUNTY Drug court restarts Team works to end fatal Largo contractor, diversion program domestic violence cases activist dies at 82 With newly allocated funding by the By JULIANA A. TORRES Florida Legislature becoming available By JULIANA A. TORRES on July 1, Pinellas Adult Drug Court has restarted its diversion program that al- Believe, Speak and Act TALLAHASSEE – Norman This year, the Pinellas County team that con- lows some felons to choose treatment Lyell Barringer, retired building venes to analyze domestic violence cases that end over time in Florida’s prison system. Pinellas County Domestic Violence Task contractor, longtime Largo in death decided to take a different approach in ... Page 6A. Force offers the following tips to residents community supporter and fa- the publication of their findings. who want to help stop domestic violence in ther to former Florida Secretary The factors surrounding fatal cases of violence their community. of State Sandra Mortham, died VIEWPOINTS between intimate partners hasn’t changed much. • Believe it’s a community problem that af- at midnight in Tallahassee In 70 percent of the cases they’ve analyzed over fects and kills women … still. June 23, 2013. He was 82. the years, the couple’s friends, family, co-workers • Believe when women speak up and be- If the family man with 15 Debra Saunders or neighbors knew about the violence but didn’t lieve there is a solution. great-grandchildren had one re- know what to do about it. And then it was too • Encourage women to speak up and listen gret, it was that he never President learns late, and their loved one, friend or acquaintance to them. moved back to Largo, his from Egypt and was dead at the hands of their abuser. • Speak on behalf of women who are being daughter said. Libya events, That statistic in particular frustrates the fatality abused. “The one thing he wanted to review team of the Pinellas County Domestic Vio- • Act to empower victims and help them columnist says. do was to come back. He hadn’t Norman Lyell Barringer … Page 12A. lence Task Force, a team that has been trying to leave. been able to because of health identify patterns in order to prevent more fatal • Act to build communities that are con- and so forth,” Mortham said. “I think his heart never left Largo.” cases, year after year, since 2000. Their annual scious of local resources to help domestic vi- The critical health trouble for Barringer started 24 days before report for 2012, released this month, is designed olence victims. his death. The octogenarian, known for his indomitable work ethic, with laypersons in mind instead of the profession- For more specifics, download the annual was in the backyard working on a project “he really shouldn’t have Features als who are working on the front lines of domestic report on domestic violence fatalities at been doing,” when he fell, Mortham said.