Hardee County Judge

Pirates Sail To Drivers: Smooth World Series Roads Ahead B1 A3 Herald-THE Advocate HARDEE COUNTY’S HOMETOWN COVERAGE 118th Year No. 33 2 Sections www.TheHeraldAdvocate.com 70¢ Plus 5¢ Sales Tax Thursday, July 12, 2018 IDA Works To Replace Lost Jobs By MICHAEL KELLY Sync’s services is looking to location in Sarasota, is consid- and they talked about the diffi- Of The Herald-Advocate “spin CareSync back up” with ering busing employees for culties they have faced since Regardless of what you think The Hardee County Indus- up to 200 employees, and he is training while it works to open losing their jobs and all health trial Development Authority is hopeful he can find new jobs a facility here. benefits. of Bill Lambert, he has working to find new employ- for the terminated workers. Vanessa Hernandez of the One employee is putting off ment for the 125 former Care- Another company, he said, is IDA said she felt for the dis- a previously planned breast- “ worked tirelessly since then Sync workers who lost their seriously considering opening placed employees, and that the cancer surgery after losing her (CareSync’s closing) to get jobs here last month as the a medical-field-related busi- board is “committed to finding insurance last month. company abruptly closed its ness soon in the former Florida jobs for these folks as quickly At last Thursday’s County another company here and doors. Hospital location, and it could as possible.” Commission meeting, an ex- find the people new jobs. Executive Director Bill employ up to 125. Several affected employees pectant mother in her third Lambert said a large national Lambert said that company, were in attendance at Tuesday trimester said she now has to company that utilized Care- which already has an existing morning’s meeting of the IDA, See JOBS A2 — Gene Davis, IDA Chairman ” WES RESCUE & RETIREMENT Lawsuit Ends Leads Out Of Court In 3 R’s County Agrees To Pay $25,000 By CYNTHIA KRAHL Pendas Law Firm in Tampa. By TOM STAIK Of The Herald-Advocate Added to that fee, which Of The Herald-Advocate Hardee County has reached amounts to $6,250, will be in- Wauchula Elementary an out-of-court settlement in a house costs of $288.57 and ex- School is successful in the ba- negligence claim filed against tended legal costs of $2,432.41, sics: reading, writing and arith- it. leaving $16,029.02 to cover metic. Following a two-hour and any past and/or recurring med- The school has led the 45-minute mediation session ical bills and to fund the child’s Hardee County School Dis- last fall, the county agreed to restricted account. trict’s five elementary schools settle the claim brought by The civil action, which was in third-grade proficiency on Melisa Sigin, a minor, and filed in Hardee Circuit Court the language arts portion of the Ilaiza Borrego, her mother, fol- on Oct. 13, 2016, had sought an Florida Standards Assessment lowing a tumble which oc- unspecified amount of dam- two years running. curred on Sept. 30, 2014. ages and a trial by jury. Mathematics proficiency, The county assented to pay It alleged the county failed to too, is soaring as Wauchula El- the plaintiffs a total of $25,000. properly inspect the area of ementary raced to the top of the Circuit Judge Marcus J. Sumner Road and Boyd Cow- local pack in success on the Ezelle recently approved the art Road for any hazardous arithmetic portion of the FSA. settlement and dismissed the conditions, and to maintain and “Third grade is really setting case from the court docket. repair that area. students up for success,” said In his order, Ezelle instructed Consequently, the lawsuit Sonja Bennett, principal at the Borrego to execute a legally went on to claim, Sigin fell in school. binding release of claim on be- a hole on the side of the road WES saw 80 percent of the half of her daughter. Further, while riding her bicycle in her 108 third graders tested pass the judge directed her to sign a neighborhood on Sept. 30, the mathematics assessment final accounting and disburse- 2014. She was 11 years old at this year with an average score ment schedule for the funds. the time. of 309 points. By comparison, Ezelle ordered that any According to the document, the next closest school in stu- money remaining after pay- the child suffered permanent dent success, Bowling Green ment of medical and legal ex- and continuing injury, aggrava- Elementary, had 71 percent of penses be placed into a tion of a pre-existing condition, students pass with an average restricted account for the child, scarring, and pain and suffer- score of 302. who is now 15 years of age. ing, among other losses. Statewide, only 62 percent of Each party to the lawsuit will For its part, the county de- third graders tested passed. pay their own legal fees. nied all of the allegations laid Their average score was 301. COURTESY PHOTO For the plaintiffs, that means out in the civil action, and The results are consistent Joe and Bo were recently rescued in an emergency trip to Oklahoma. Upon arrival that 25 percent of the $25,000 stated no dangerous conditions with those in 2017, when 82 at the Center for Great Apes in Wauchula, the pair, newly introduced, began laugh- recovered from the county will existed on or prior to Sept. 30, percent of WES third graders ing, hugging and grooming each other. The center’s staff members were even more go toward attorney fees for 2014. sitting for the assessment surprised when they learned the chimps’ history. You will be, too. See B1. Jonathan Sanclemente of The See LAWSUIT A2 passed with an average score of 311 points. Only one school, Hilltop Elementary, did better WATER WAYS on the assessment that year, Peace River See WES A2 Suit Drifts WEATHER To Hearing DATE HIGH LOW RAIN By TOM STAIK 07/03 93 72 0.49 Of The Herald-Advocate 07/04 90 70 0.69 Wauchula will gets its day in 07/05 92 69 1.80 court – eventually. 07/06 91 72 0.00 The Florida Division of Ad- 07/07 90 71 0.05 ministrative Hearings has 07/08 92 71 0.01 07/09 93 73 0.03 agreed to hear the city’s chal- Rainfall to 07/01/2018 - 27.56 lenge to a plan by the Peace Same period last year - 20.44 River Manasota Regional Ten Year Average - 49.17 Water Authority to monopolize Source: Univ. of Fla. Ona Research Center water from the Peace River for diversion to the Gulf Coast. INDEX The hearing has been set for Classifieds . .B6 February of 2019 before ad- ministrative law judge Courthouse Report . .A9 Francine Ffolkes. Crime Blotter . .A9 “All seven challenges to the Entertainment . .B10 permit have been consolidated Hardee Living . .B8 and will be heard as one pro- Obituaries . .A4 ceeding,” said Olivia Minshew, assistant city manager. Puzzles . .A6 Wauchula is being joined in Save The Date . .A2 the challenge by the Polk Re- Solunar Forecast . .A4 gional Water Cooperative, Polk PHOTO BY TOM STAIK County Commission, and the Above-average rainfall is continuing to push local waterway from their banks – and onto local streets. The rising cities of Bartow, Fort Meade, water prompted Hardee County Emergency Management to issue a travel warning on Friday for Hobb Road. Winter Haven and Lakeland. Waters from a nearby creek escaped their bank and spilled onto the road near a bridge crossing a short distance The hearing will challenge a from State Road 62. Barricades and detour signs were placed by the Hardee County Road & Bridge Department. plan — supported by the “Please do not drive through water-covered roads,” cautioned Jill Newman, emergency management director. See RIVER A2 Residents can access the road past the flooded bridge zone by using Doc Coil Road in Bowling Green. A2 The Herald-Advocate, July 12, 2018 THE WES Continued From A1 erald- dvocate with 85 percent of students ciency from 67 percent in 2017 and committed to student SAVE H HARDEE COUNTY’SAHOMETOWN COVERAGE passing with an average score to 71 percent in 2018. learning, and I couldn’t ask for MICHAEL R. KELLY of 314. Learning gains in math, a better staff.” Co-Publisher and Editor The third grade FSA lan- however, were moderate as the A story in last week’s edi- THE JAMES R. KELLY guage arts assessment saw 67 school rose only one percent, tion of The Herald-Advocate Co-Publisher percent of WES’s students from 58 percent in 2017 to 59 incorrectly included Wauchula CYNTHIA M. KRAHL reach proficiency – the highest percent in 2018. Elementary in a listing of the of any school in the district – “We only had a one percent district’s “C” schools. DATE Managing Editor with an average score of 307. increase in math learning gains Bennett said the school NOEY DeSANTIAGO The statewide average for from 58 percent to 59 percent plans on expanding its focus Production Manager TOM STAIK proficiency on the exam was and will focus on increasing on improving learning gains JULY Sports Editor 57 percent with an average gains in the upcoming year,” and “consistently helping stu- DARLENE WILLIAMS score of 302. Bennett said. dents grow from one year to 12 – Storytime, HC Public Assistant “Our third grade has, really, To that end, school officials the next in both reading and Library/315 N. 6th Production Manager the past two years excelled in have scheduled training in Au- math.” Ave., Wauchula/ 10 am 115 S.

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