Herald-THE Advocate HARDEE COUNTY’S HOMETOWN COVERAGE 119th Year • No. 32 • 2 Sections www.TheHeraldAdvocate.com 93¢ Plus 7¢ Sales Tax Thursday, July 4, 2019 Man’s Body Found With Alligator By CYNTHIA KRAHL Of The Herald-Advocate A body found partially con- sumed by an alligator in a Mo- saic waterway last week was that of a Hardee County man, authorities said. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office has identified the man as Michael Ford II, 45, of Wauchula. A Mosaic employee discov- ered Ford’s body floating in what was described as a “hy- draulic ditch” at the old Fort Meade mine near the Peeples Road “fishing gate” and County Road 630. The 911 call was logged in at 7:43 a.m. last Thursday. PCSO public information officer Carrie Horstman said when the mining worker came across the scene, a large alliga- tor had a part of Ford’s body in its mouth. When first respon- ders arrived, however, the gator “had disengaged.” A contracted nuisance-alli- gator trapper dispatched by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Con- servation Commission cap- tured and killed the gator. It was 11-feet 10-inches long, ac- cording to Melody Kilborn, See ALLIGATOR A3 Man Dies Following Bar Punch By CYNTHIA KRAHL Of The Herald-Advocate A 54-year-old Bowling Green man has died after being punched at an area bar. William “Bill” Forrester succumbed to his injuries on Thursday while hospitalized at Lakeland Regional Health, where he had been transported by medical helicopter follow- PHOTO COURTESY FISH & WILDLIFE COMMISSION ing the Saturday, June 22, in- Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission officers work to load a trapped and killed alligator into the bed of an FWC truck on Thursday. cident. The alligator had been discovered with a man’s body parts in its mouth on Mosaic mining property in western Fort Meade. His alleged attacker, Shane Barrington, 35, of 505 Myrtle St. N.W., Fort Meade, was jailed shortly after the punch was thrown, booked into the Polk County Jail at 11:30 p.m. Blaze Damages Church Put It Down! on a charge of aggravated bat- By TOM STAIK the blaze was reported at 8:12 to the scene. tery causing serious bodily Of The Herald-Advocate p.m. “Pre-arrival given by dis- The cause was ruled electri- By JENNIFER McCONKEY harm, a second-degree felony, The smell of smoke still patch was that the church had cal. “Command’s origin and Of The Herald-Advocate See PUNCH A3 lingers this week at the New smoke coming out of the eaves cause investigation pointed to Florida’s new law prohibiting texting while driving Mt. Zion AME Church in and visible fire,” noted Lt. an electrical light fixture above went into effect on Monday, allowing law enforcement Wauchula after fire ripped Greg Pfeiffer. the foyer,” Pfeiffer noted. officers to pull drivers over for that offense. WEATHER through the house of worship Firefighters reportedly ar- The church’s main breaker But what exactly does the new law entail? Saturday evening. rived to find “smoke coming panel also showed a tripped Essentially, you can’t operate a motor vehicle while DATE HIGH LOW RAIN entering characters into a cellphone or other communi- 06/25 98 70 0.01 John Corbett, the church’s out of the eaves and fire visible breaker for the main air condi- 06/26 97 69 0.01 property manager, was hard at through the windows located tioning condenser, according cation device, or while sending or reading a text, email, 06/27 95 70 0.00 work Tuesday afternoon set- above the front entryway.” to the report. etc. 06/28 93 72 0.03 ting up the fellowship hall for The fire, according to the re- Duke Energy was called to “Five seconds is the average time a driver’s eyes are 06/29 88 71 0.13 Wednesday’s services. port, was seated above the the scene and pulled the build- off the road while texting,” says AAA, which is head- 06/30 92 70 0.02 “We were blessed,” Corbett ceiling of the church’s main ing’s meter. quartered in Central Florida. “At 55 mph, that would be 07/01 95 71 0.00 said. “It could have been much foyer. It was confined to the Corbett said the blaze has the equivalent of driving the length of a football field, Rainfall to 07/01/2019 - 20.41 main entranceway and did not not stopped members from blind.” Same period last year - 23.17 worse.” Ten Year Average - 49.17 According to an incident re- spread to adjoining attic space. gathering to worship. Voice-based, hands-free texting is allowed, but can still Source: Univ. of Fla. Ona Research Center port released Monday by The State Fire Marshal was Sunday services, he said, See DOWN A2 Hardee County Fire Rescue, contacted but did not respond See BLAZE A3 INDEX Classifieds . .B8 Courthouse Report . .A8 Crime Blotter . .A9 Hardee Surpasses State In Math Scores Entertainment . .B11 of federal programs. “There are still “It was great news,” Hall said. Mosley said. “It takes everyone moni- Fort Meade Times . .B2 By TOM STAIK Of The Herald-Advocate some areas we need to work on, but we Hardee Junior High School recorded toring our data and targeting those kids Hardee Living . .B6 are making gains across the board.” significant gains in the assessment, as that might have weaknesses in certain Obituaries . .A4 Hardee County schools are solving the equation for successfully teaching The Florida Standards Assessment students in grades 6-8 passed at a rate areas or standards, and keying into Puzzles . .A5 math. grades student achievement on a five- of 55 percent – a jump of seven percent areas where we need to focus.” Save The Date . .A2 The School District of Hardee point scale. Grades of one or two are over last year. The success at the junior high still Solunar Forecast . County surpassed the state average in considered below average. Ratings of “Hardee Junior High has some fan- lags the state average for grades 6-8, math proficiency on the Florida Stan- three through five are considered pass- tastic teachers, and I am very proud of though, which was 59 percent. dards Assessment exam, according to ing. the work they are doing,” said Dr. Sh- Local elementary students in grades data published Friday by the Florida Hardee students in grades 3-8 passed eryl Mosley, principal. 3-5 also made gains. Hardee elemen- Department of Education. the mathematics portion of the annual Mosley credits the gains to the team- tary schools saw 68 percent of students “Overall we are really pleased with test at a rate of 62 percent. work of the entire school community. tested pass the assessment. The our scores,” said Theresa Hall, director The state average was 61 percent. “Everyone worked together,” See SCORES A2 A2 The Herald-Advocate, July 4, 2019 SCORES THE Continued From A1 erald- dvocate success marks a two percent increase over the Students in grades 9-10 had a success rate of SAVE H HARDEE COUNTY’SAHOMETOWN COVERAGE 66 percent of students who passed last year. 42 percent – a three percent jump over last MICHAEL R. KELLY The statewide average for elementary students year. Co-Publisher and Editor finding success on the eam was 62 percent. According to Hall, the consistent rate of Neighboring DeSoto County tied with Jef- growth in student achievement across all grade THE JAMES R. KELLY ferson County as the second worst performing levels is significant. Co-Publisher districts in the state, with a 40 percent pass rate “It shows that the foundations we are build- CYNTHIA M. KRAHL on the math assessment. The worst district was ing in elementary school are beginning to carry DATE Managing Editor the Florida School for the Deaf & Blind, with over to the other grades,” she said. NOEY DeSANTIAGO a 22 percent pass rate. Neighboring DeSoto County was the third Highlands County had a 53 percent pass rate worst performing district in the state, with 34 JULY Production Manager TOM STAIK and Polk County had a 51 percent pass rate. percent of students passing the language arts 4 – 4th of July Fireworks/ Sports Editor component. Second worst was Jefferson DARLENE WILLIAMS Pioneer Park/231 Algebra Excels Here County at 32 percent. The worst was the Assistant Wilbur C King Production Manager Hardee students also outpaced the state av- Florida School for the Deaf & Blind with 17 Blvd, Zolfo erage in successful completion of Algebra 1. percent. Springs/Dusk 115 S. Seventh Ave. • P.O. Box 338 Hardee Junior High saw 99 percent of stu- Highlands County earned a 46 percent pass Wauchula, FL 33873 dents enrolled in Algebra 1 successfully com- rate and Polk County earned a 47 percent pass 5 – Games at Heritage Phone: (863) 773-3255 • Fax: (863) 773-0657 plete the end-of-course assessment. That state rate. Park/Heritage Park/ average for eighth graders was 86 percent. [email protected] All Day Ninth graders taking Algebra 1 at Hardee Scores Up Statewide 5 – Friday Night Magic/ [email protected] Senior High School also bested the state aver- Florida Education Commissioner Richard [email protected] Sanctuary Gaming age, with 50 percent of students successfully Corcoron lauded increased student success on Club/1 pm passing the exam. The state average was 45 the annual assessments in a statement to media Published weekly on Thursday at Wauchula, Florida, by the percent. last week. Herald- Advocate Publishing Co. Inc. Periodical Postage paid at 8 – Pokémon Limited “High-quality education is a basic right for League/Sanctuary U.S.