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Good Morning From Lutz,

Apologies for the longer email than usual. We've got a few featured events and plenty of other fun things happening this weekend. There's also an exciting update on the North Tampa Buzz Dinner Club, along with lots of news from around town, including cheesesteaks, road projects, and an unclaimed lottery ticket.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the forecast doesn't look much better over the next few days. Maybe it's time to go bowling.

Have a great weekend regardless!

-Mike

Access local events in different ways:

Community Calendar
Event List w/Links
Join our Facebook Events Group

Each newsletter includes the latest event information available at the time of publication.

Splish Splash Bash: Summer Finale
Starkey Market, New Port Richey
Friday, July 31 | 10:00 AM–9:00 PM (GellyBall opens at 5:00 PM)
Saturday, August 1 | 10:00 AM–9:00 PM (Sensory-friendly hour: 9:00 AM–10:00 AM)
Sunday, August 2 | 10:00 AM–7:00 PM
Monday, August 3 | 10:00 AM–7:00 PM

Splish Splash Bash returns to Starkey Market for four days of water slides, splash attractions, GellyBall, and outdoor activities before the school year begins. Daily and weekend wristbands include unlimited access to the giant slides, GellyBall target gallery and field of play, and the rock wall water slide.

Historic Dade City Farmers Market
Agnes Lamb Park, Dade City
Saturday, August 1 | 10:00 AM–2:00 PM

Spend the final weeks of summer exploring Historic Downtown Dade City during this monthly farmers market at Agnes Lamb Park. Local vendors will offer honey, handmade goods, baked treats, home décor, gifts, and a variety of locally made products and food options.

Under the Oaks Night Market
Under the Oaks Wellness Center & Event Venue, Tampa
Saturday, August 1 | 5:00 PM–8:00 PM

This outdoor night market features local vendors, artisans, food vendors, and pet-friendly activities in a peaceful setting beneath the oak trees. Visitors can browse handmade goods and locally made products while spending the evening at Under the Oaks Wellness Center & Event Venue.

🍽️ North Tampa Buzz Dinner Club

The response to Tuesday's poll was pretty overwhelming. It's clear that the community is receptive to the idea, with around 150 readers already saying they'd be interested in participating. A few people even reached out and offered to help make it happen.

We're putting the finishing touches on the first North Tampa Buzz Dinner Club, which is tentatively planned for sometime in mid to late August. The first dinner will likely take place at restaurants around the Tampa Premium Outlets area, but all of your suggestions were heard.

The plan is to rotate locations in the future, and we may even add multiple smaller dinners so more people have a chance to attend one closer to home.

Everything, from the restaurants to the sign-up process and logistics, will be finalized in time for Tuesday's newsletter, when registration officially opens. We're excited to see where this goes.

Big Dave's Heads To Tampa

Well, it's a little south, but it's still pretty exciting: Big Dave's Cheesesteaks is opening its first Tampa Bay location in late August near USF.

The fast-casual chain is taking over the former Little Greek space on Fowler Avenue, in the same plaza as Dave's Hot Chicken, Chipotle, and Mojo Books & Records. Known for its West Philadelphia-style cheesesteaks, the menu includes beef, chicken, salmon, and veggie options, along with cheesesteak egg rolls, loaded fries, and banana pudding.

New Signal Coming To Lake Patience

Over the next decade, there will be changes to parts of State Road 54, the intersection with U.S. 41, and up and down Land O' Lakes Boulevard. One of the first projects is now underway at Lake Patience Road.

FDOT is installing a new traffic signal at the intersection of U.S. 41 and Lake Patience Road, along with resurfacing the roadway and adding sidewalk, pedestrian, and lighting improvements. Construction began earlier this month and is expected to wrap up in summer 2027.

Also, if you've driven through Dade City lately, you've probably noticed that years of construction along the U.S. 98 bypass have finally wrapped up.

The project widened the 1.6-mile stretch from two lanes to four, added roundabouts at 7th Street South and Old Lakeland Highway, installed new traffic signals, and built sidewalks along both sides of the road. Construction officially ended on July 22 after more than two years of work.

Major Repaving Starts In August

This edition of NTB is a little heavier on the construction front than usual, and here's another one to add to the list.

A $19.8 million repaving project on State Road 56 and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard is set to begin Aug. 25, less than two weeks after Pasco students return to school. The project covers 7.3 miles, from Bruce B. Downs to Meadow Pointe Boulevard on SR 56 and from SR 56 north to SR 54 on Bruce B. Downs.

Beyond new pavement, drivers can expect safety improvements at the SR 56 intersection, upgrades to traffic signals and lighting, and a redesigned merge area near Meadow Pointe Boulevard. Construction is expected to continue through fall 2027.

Pasco Schools Scale Back Screen Time

Here's a topic that makes my head explode when I'm at home with the kids: screen time.

Starting this school year, Pasco County Schools will limit classroom screen time, with younger students capped at 30 minutes a day and high school students limited to 60 to 90 minutes. The district plans to put more emphasis on reading, handwriting, discussion, problem-solving, and other foundational skills, while using technology mainly for reinforcement and research.

Emu Chase Hits Dade City

I guess they don't cover "loose emu pursuit" at the police academy.

Dade City officers were dispatched Monday after an emu was spotted wandering around town. Police managed to track down the bird and bring the situation under control, and thankfully nobody was injured — including the emu. The department later joked that chasing down a runaway emu isn't exactly part of standard academy training.

Someone In Florida Got Rich

Check your glove box, your junk drawer, and that stack of receipts you swore you'd clean out one day.

An $800 million Mega Millions jackpot ticket was sold Tuesday at a Wawa in Manatee County, making it the 10th-largest prize in the game's history. As of Wednesday morning, nobody had claimed the winning ticket. The winner can choose between annual payments over 30 years or a lump-sum payout of about $344 million. The next drawing is Friday night, with the jackpot reset to $50 million.

Lions And Hyenas Get New Home

Busch Gardens just opened Lion & Hyena Ridge, a new 38,000-square-foot habitat featuring five lions and two spotted hyenas.

The attraction includes floor-to-ceiling viewing areas, interactive caves, overhead bridges, and new enrichment spaces designed for the animals. It's the latest addition to Busch Gardens' $200 million park expansion, which will bring more attractions and upgrades over the next several years.

Hillsborough Sets Property Tax Cap

As you know, there is a lot going on about property taxes in the state of Florida. At some point, local governments still have to go through the budget process.

Hillsborough County Commissioners recently set the maximum property tax rates for the 2027 budget, advancing a proposed $14.1 billion spending plan. The rates can still be lowered before the budget is finalized in September.

The proposal includes a slight decrease in the countywide tax rate, more funding for services in unincorporated areas, and major investments in water infrastructure and disaster recovery. Public hearings are scheduled for Sept. 10 and Sept. 24.

A Huge Thank You to our wonderful local partners!

Events reminder:

We’ll be on Instagram with updates wherever we end up. Feel free to slide into our DM’s.

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