Dining out on Shell Point The move to serendipity Road...literally! Mitch was full of boxes, PRST STD Traphagen checks out the furniture, and other PAID roadside dining choices belongings, but worth the RUSKIN, FLORIDA 33570 on Ruskin’s famed road. hassle in the end. See PERMIT NO. 8 INSIDE: See page 12 Observations on page 6 September 29, 2011 Volume 55 Number 36 THE OBSERVER NEWS www.ObserverNews.net Ten-year study Election office services now illustrates weather in South pattern changes Hillsborough ■ By MELODY JAMESON ■ By PENNY FLETCHER [email protected] [email protected] GIBSONTON — In time for a busy RUSKIN — Results of a ten-year weather pattern study show presidential election year just around that Florida’s average temperatures are going down while the the corner, a South County satellite of averages of all the other continental states are rising. Hillsborough’s Supervisor of Elections “All the countries in the world do a study every 20 years, but office is scheduled to open next week. some more affluent countries, like the United States and Great While an official opening is set for 10 Britain, perform it every 10 years,” said Logan Johnson, senior a.m., Tuesday, October 11, the doors will forecaster at the National Weather Service in Ruskin. “The be open and staff prepared to offer services World Meteorological Organization says normal temperatures beginning Monday, October 3, said Travis and rainfall amounts in all locations must be reported every 20 Abercrombie, Supervisor of Elections years.” spokesman. Office hours will be 8 a.m. to The 10-year U.S. program is mandated by Congress and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, he added. averaged all temperatures from 1980 to 2010. The recent U.S. The new South County facility is housed study took about a year to complete and seven months to “crunch in 1,200 square feet of the Riverview all the data,” Johnson said. Town Center anchored by Lowe’s Home The study proved that Florida’s normal daily winter Improvement Store on Gibsonton Drive, temperatures and monthly averages both went down, he said. Abercrombie said. The elections office Florida may have been in a very warm cycle since 1960, but location is east of the hardware retailer, it is impossible to tell exactly what will happen now. Still, it is close to U.S. 301. See WEATHER PATTERNS, page 2 In announcing opening of the new office, Earl Lennard, Hillsborough’s Supervisor of Elections and a South County native, emphasized the convenience of the facility ABWIG goes door to door for waterways “to area residents who may not have the ability to travel to our other offices. We’re ■ By MITCH TRAPHAGEN permits, however, come with a deadline: on Saturday to knock on doors, armed with excited,” he added, “to be able to open this [email protected] they are good only until 2013. pamphlets containing information about satellite and bring voter services closer to citizens in the southeast part of the APOLLO BEACH - ABWIG, the Apollo With that challenge in mind, a group of 20 the problem and offering various means county.” Beach Waterway Improvement Group, volunteers fanned out across Apollo Beach See ABWIG, page 13 Among the voting services to be provided went door to door on Saturday looking for in the new office will be registration of new support to improve the waterways in the voters as well as updating of voters’ address, waterfront community. The goal is large signature and party affiliation records. In and a deadline is looming, but organizers addition, during timeframes designated for are confident that their efforts will pay off voting prior to and in connection with the for the entire community. 2012 elections, voters will be able to obtain ABWIG is a volunteer organization and return vote-by-mail ballots through the created 15 years ago to dredge the main new office, Abercrombie said. channels from Tampa Bay into the canals The coming year will be an active one of Apollo Beach. In the years since its from the elections standpoint. Three major founding, the channels have since filled elections will be conducted in Hillsborough in with sediment, decreasing the depth of County during 2012. Although the date is the channels making boating much more not yet set, it is anticipated that Florida’s difficult. The organization has come back presidential primary will be conducted together in order to raise awareness and early in the year, probably in the first money towards resolving the issue. quarter. The challenge is daunting: the group Later in the year, the August primary hopes to raise more than $350,000 to election will involve candidates in all other dredge the channels to a minimum of 6 races vying to carry their party’s banners feet deep and 60 feet wide in all channels into the general election contests. Those leading into the community. Already they ballots usually have been marked only by have collected approximately $75,000 and registered voters in the two major parties they have the necessary permits in place, MITCH TRAPHAGEN PHoto – Democrats and Republicans. However, no small feat in itself as environmental ABWIG organizer Len Berkstresser works with other volunteers to prepare informa- there can be occasions when competing regulations have changed considerably in tional pamphlets on Saturday to hand out to residents of Apollo Beach. The organi- the years since the group’s founding. The zation is hoping to raise $350,000 to dredge the three channels from Tampa Bay into See ELECTION OFFICE, page 17 the waterfront community. 2 • OBSERVER NEWS • RIVERVIEW CURRENT • SCC OBSERVER SEPTEMBER 29, 2011 Weather patterns ■ Continued from page 1 generally warmer than anywhere most advanced weather reading else in the country, he added. equipment in the world, it is “December 2010 and early 2011 about to get another upgrade. In had some of the coldest daytime February 2012 the large Doppler temperatures ever recorded,” he tower installed 17 years ago will said. “This is a climate change, be upgraded to a new system that different from the global warming can differentiate between rain and they talk about on television. We’re hail. talking about cycles.” “This change was begun in If meteorologists had 500 years 2007,” Johnson explained. “The of data they could predict how system we have now can detect often this type of cycle is felt precipitation, but can’t tell the on the planet but they don’t, he difference between rain and hail. explained. Now we will be able to see more While Europe has kept track of of what’s coming.” its weather for about 400 years, In hurricane season, for instance, the U.S. only has about 120 they know that if there is a large years of data and Florida was ridge of high pressure over the settled rather late in our country’s Bermuda area of the Atlantic history compared to other states. Ocean, it steers hurricanes away “The first recorded U.S. data was from the U.S. taken when Jefferson had the Data from the 1850s has tracked Army take readings in Washington where the storms hit, and shows D.C.,” Johnson added. “That was that if one hits, more that year in the 1840s. We’re pushing our are likely due to the climate PENNY FLETCHER PHOTOS forecasts farther and farther out conditions. Then, when conditions Logan Johnson, Tony Reynes and Nicole Carlisle man their positions at the National Weather Service th with seasonal projections, but change again, no more may come on 14 Avenue in Ruskin. how do we connect the dots? We for several years, or much longer know what’s happening elsewhere periods of time, until the right affects us. We know if a big ridge conditions appear again. of high pressure is over the Caspian “For example in 2004 the high Sea (in Russia) usually two weeks pressure steered them right into later we get an arctic blast but we Florida. And there were lots of don’t have data far enough back to hurricanes and tropical storms see how the patterns interact.” in the 1920s and then hardly Several government agencies anything for a long time until we are now devoted to researching were heavily impacted again in the this and other weather-related early 2000s. These are repeated issues and are finding many global cycles.” connections but the Ruskin station The National Meteorological is there mainly to predict and warn, Organization in Washington D.C. more than conduct research. recently sent a representative to Johnson says he likes being on Ruskin to help set up three new the battle lines of meteorology. emergency response positions He has been at the Ruskin who will be hired not to predict Logan Johnson, senior fore- station for two years, having come weather, but to meet with caster. from Indianapolis and before emergency responders including that, Kansas. In the Midwest, FEMA and the Red Cross, and Tony Reynes listens to the weather service’s radio station. meteorologists are challenged also with private groups like the by storms in the plains that have Tampa Bay Pilot’s Association. CLIP & SAVE super cells — only one big cell — They want to learn all aspects of but in Florida there are large lines emergency response so they can of weather coming through with work better with the communities many small cells and tornados directly impacted when emergency inside. conditions arise. “The job is much more The weather service in D.C. will challenging here,” he said. help the Ruskin staff in filling 101 Trinity Lakes Dr. • Sun City Center, FL • SunTowersRetirement.com The weather station has polar these positions, Johnson said.