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Commerce Park S UBSCRIBE ONLINE AT Boys, Girls Expects Expansion THEHERALDADVOCATE.COM District Champs . Story 11A . Stories 1B,1C The Herald-Advocate Hardee County’s Hometown Coverage 114th Year, No. 22 3 Sections, 32 Pages 70¢ Plus 5¢ Sales Tax Thursday, May 1, 2014 Task Force: 30+ Pounds Of Meth Sold By CYNTHIA KRAHL away Jefferson Lee Kirkland, Also arrested as the result of a possess with intent to distribute counts possession of narcotic Hardee County Sheriff’s Office Of The Herald-Advocate 67, of Zolfo Springs, and his al- search warrant served by the 500 grams or more of metham- equipment. said details of this massive traf- A Hardee County man report- leged supplier, Jerry Mendez, Hardee County Sheriff’s Office phetamine in a criminal com- The amounts allegedly in- ficking operation unraveled over edly has admitted to selling “at 48, of Bowling Green. is Elizabeth Jim Kessler, 56, plaint filed with the U.S. District volved in the bust are stagger- a period of time. least” 30 pounds of metham- Both are in custody of the who resided with Kirkland in a Court for the Middle District of ing. He noted that several months phetamine within the past year. Drug Enforcement Administra- mobile home in the Golden Florida in Tampa. It generally takes dealing in ago, Sheriff Arnold Lanier as- Federal agents have whisked tion’s High Intensity Drug Traf- Oaks community south of Zolfo Kessler faces local charges of 14 grams of methamphetamine signed a Hardee County Sher- ficking Area, or HIDTA, Task Springs. possession of methampheta- to provoke the more-serious iff’s Office detective over to the Force. They are being held in the Kirkland and Mendez each mine, possession of less than 20 trafficking charge. Trafficking in DEA HIDTA Task Force, which Pinellas County Jail. are charged with conspiracy to grams of marijuana and two 28 grams or more often sparks covers a 16-county area, includ- federal charges. ing Hardee. In this instance, Kirkland is “It allows our local Drug Task accused of selling one full Force to work with the DEA and Lanier pound of the narcotic to a confi- for each of us to contribute to dential source for $17,000. A the other,” Dey explained. “Ob- pound equals about 453 grams. viously,” he added, “the federal Further, Kirkland allegedly government has a bigger war told investigators that he sells chest to fight against drugs than three pounds or more of the nar- we do.” Gets 15 cotic per month. Dey said that the DEA was Years Maj. Randy Dey of the See METH 2A Kessler Kirkland Mendez Teacher Rating By CYNTHIA KRAHL Of The Herald-Advocate Less than six months after his arrest on a capital-felony charge, System ‘Flawed’ the sheriff’s brother has pleaded ‘Savor The Flavor’ Of Mexico to a lesser crime and has been effective. Its counts rated 78.3 sentenced in Hardee Circuit By JOAN SEAMAN New Downtown Festival Spans 2 Days Of The Herald-Advocate percent of classroom teachers Court. (246 out of 329); 90.9 percent of Dennis Milton Lanier, 62, of Just how do you tell if a By MARIA TRUJILLO or those “tacos” made out of a Music is also a big part of the teacher is a good or bad one? non-classroom in-structional 6659 Lanier Road, Zolfo hard yellow shell. The festival Mexican culture, especially personnel (30 of 33); and 13 of Springs, was handed a 30-year Of The Herald-Advocate That conundrum has gotten a Viva Mexico! And all the will have all types of real Mexi- Mariachi singing their ranch- whole lot more confusing with 15 administrators as highly ef- split sentence this week by Cir- can cuisine such as tacos, enchi- eras. The Mariachi Invasor de fective. cuit Judge Marcus J. Ezelle. food that comes from there. the release of the state VAM As May 5 is approaching — ladas, tamales, tortas, tostadas Mexico will make their way scores for teachers, non-instruc- Hardee raters, on the other Fifteen years will be spent be- and much much more! down from Tampa to perform hand, were more realistic and hind bars in Florida State Prison. the Cinco de Mayo holiday — tional personnel and administra- Peace River Explorations Inc. The food will be so good that live tomorrow and maybe get a tors all over the state. followed the given guidelines in Then, Lanier will serve 15 years it will be almost impossible to few people dancing. assessing those highly effective. on supervised sexual-offender has created a new event, the Based largely on the state test “Savor the Flavor” Mexican stop. In fact, some might not On Saturday, dancers from St. scores from the previous two There were 8.6 percent of teach- probation. Further, Ezelle or- have to. There will be a churro- Michael Church will show off ers (31 of 359), 18.5 percent of dered Lanier permanently desig- Food Festival. This festival is a years, the Value-Added-Model way for the corporation to raise eating contest tomorrow (Fri- their best dance moves and cel- rates school staff, oftentimes non-instructional personnel (5 of nated as a sexual offender. day). Want to know what the ebrate the end of the festival. 29) and four of 16 administra- Lanier had been arrested on money in order to continue to with surprising results. promote tourism in Hardee prize is? Enter the contest and Also on Saturday, the Latin Statewide, even teachers who tors listed as highly effective. Nov. 6 by the Hardee County you might find out! radio station La Zeta 105.3 will Rating Sheriff’s Office and the Florida County. earned Teacher Of The Year ac- It will start tomorrow (Fri- And for those 21 and over at- be broadcasting from the festi- claim were rated as satisfactory VAM says its rating accounts Department of Law Enforce- tending, there’s nothing better to val. for every child and has a for- ment. He was charged with sex- day) at Heritage Park at 6 and or even needing improvement, run through 10 p.m. It will then wash down that yummy food Although the festival mostly rather than the highly effective mula to account for students ual battery on a child under 12, than some ice-cold beer. A beer focuses on food, there will be a with problems, those receiving a capital felony, and lewd mo- resume on Saturday at 10 a.m. or effective one might expect. and end at 2 p.m. garden will be stationed on Main fun activity kids can participate Locally, over half of the Hardee free lunch, with many absences, lestation, a second-degree Street that will have several in. Kids will be able to make a with attitude or behavior prob- felony. It is a food fest, therefore High School teachers rated there will be lots of food. Forget brands, including Bud Light and piñata, decorate it and then “needs improvement.” lems making learning difficult His attorney, Lawrence Modelo. See MEXICO 2A for them and others in their Shearer of Lakeland, entered about that microwavable burrito Hardee Schools Superinten- dent David Durastanti is among classrooms. into plea negotiations with the The VAM ratings are done by See LANIER 2A the many objecting to the VAM ratings. a combination of grades of stu- Community Gathers To Observe “We’ve had concerns from the dents and a host of observational very beginning about VAM. It is and objective information about a flawed formula tied to a teachers and staff. flawed assessment. The State For classroom teachers, the National Day Of Prayer Today Board of Education has enacted evaluation is based 50 percent 38 changes in the past two years. on scores of students in a cial song. vival will be Pastor Jeff Fowler The ever-changing nature of the teacher’s classroom, showing By MARIA TRUJILLO Wauchula City Manager of Florida’s First As-sembly and school grading formula and its gains from year to year. If a Of The Herald-Advocate Terry Atchley will pray for the Mark Cintron of Amazing Grace resulting outcomes are a disserv- teacher had students with high The National Day of Prayer is cities, Hardee County Com-mis- Church. Sheriff Arnold Lanier of ice to our students, teachers and scores on the FCAT one year here once again. sioner Sue Birge will pray for the Hardee County Sheriff’s Of- community,” said Durastanti. and the same the next year, the This day is held annually on Hardee County and Pastor Billy fice will then pray for the armed An overview of the state eval- “lack” of improvement could the first Thursday of May, and Newell of Faith Assembly of forces and law enforcement. uation data shows some districts count against her. If, however, a encourages people of all reli- God, Bowling Green, will pray Pastor Harold Davis of may have expressed their disap- teacher had students score a 3 or gions and faith to come together for the state of Florida. See PRAYER DAY 2A proval with skewed numbers. 4 on tests one year and some and pray. It has been celebrated Praying for churches and re- For instance, Baker County went to a 4 or 5 that would since 1952, when it was signed rated most of its staff as highly See TEACHER 11A Lanier into law by then-president Harry S. Truman. It will be observed here at BROADWAY MUSICAL WEATHER noon today (Thursday) at Heri- DATE HIGH LOW RAIN tage Park on Main Street in 04/23 82 53 0.00 downtown Wauchula.