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PASCO WEEK IN REVIEW

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 19, 2008

Veterans Protest Council Leader
Veterans packed City Hall on Monday to protest one of their own, City Council President Luis Lopez.

With a guest column in a weekly newspaper, Lopez, an Air Force veteran, seems to have infuriated virtually the entire veterans' community. In his column, Lopez criticized local veterans groups for failing to "give back to the community."

He said military veterans seem to think they "walk on water," but that civilians tend to look down on veterans groups and clubs as little more than hangouts where people go for cheap beer.

In the column, Lopez addressed his comments to "veterans' groups that have recreational bars that serve alcohol." He described walking into one such location early one morning to find the bar packed with veterans who were already on their "second or third rounds."

"Not to be judgmental, but what reason is there to be drinking alcohol at 9 a.m.?" he wrote.

Kevin Dionne, captain of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars honor guard, said members volunteer hundreds of hours every year at funerals and public events. In addition, the post donated more than $12,000 this year to schools and charitable organizations.

"Our club is made up of loyal, courageous men and women, and to cast them as drunken bums is despicable," he said.

Board To Vote On Land Buy

The Pasco County School Board is scheduled Tuesday to vote on a contract to buy land for an elementary school that would provide relief to crowding at Oakstead Elementary and Longleaf Elementary.

The 20 acres the board wants to buy sit on Community Drive just south of State Road 54 near the Trinity area. The land is owned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg.

Superintendent Heather Fiorentino said Wednesday that she would like to get construction started on the new elementary quickly because both Oakstead and Longleaf are operating well over their student capacities.

"That's going to be an ASAP one," she said.

Man Takes Job Hunt To Streets

Larry Wainwright is at least the second person in the Tampa Bay area taking his job hunt to the streets. Wainwright, who has been laid off twice this year, began handing out his resumes Friday at the intersection of State Road 54 and U.S. 41 in a last-ditch effort to find work. He continued this week, holding a sign to attract motorists' attention has he marched up and down the median.

He finished his first day with sunburn, but is undeterred.

"I won't sit home anymore," said Wainwright, 49, a Zephyrhills resident. "I'm three to five weeks away from being homeless."

A week ago, Kathy Maloney, who has been jobless for five months, handed out resumes to motorists on Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa.

Wainwright holds an associate's degree in computer engineering and said he worked for nearly 10 years at BayCare Health Systems, most recently as a senior systems support analyst, before his position was eliminated in April.

School Deputy To Appeal Firing

The Pasco County school resource officer who was fired from the sheriff's office last week, accused of making an inappropriate comment to a 13-year-old student, is appealing his termination.

Former Cpl. Christopher Magavero submitted a letter to the sheriff's office human resources director late Friday stating his intent to appeal. The three-sentence letter was to the point and within the three-business-day deadline to contest his termination. His wife, Kendra, signed as a witness to the letter.

The agency's Career Service Board will convene, review the case and make a ruling as to whether Magavero may return.

Sheriff's officials say that on Oct. 8, Magavero, 42, took the girl out of a class at River Ridge Middle School and to an administrative office for a chat.

"I feel like I'm falling in love with you," a sheriff's official says Magavero told the girl.

The student told a guidance counselor what happened and an investigation began immediately. Magavero, said sheriff's spokesman Doug Tobin, said he made the comments.

Sheriff Bob White immediately terminated Magavero.

Reporters Laura Kinsler, Lisa A. Davis and Ronnie Blair contributed to this report.

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