Page 15 - Florida Sentinel 12-29-17

2017 In Review
and Al Higginbotham. But Commissioners Stacy White, Sandy Murman, Ken Hagan, and Victor Crist voted to keep the statue at its current location.
Members of New Salem Missionary Baptist Church voted to fire their pastor, Rev. Dr. Henry Lyons. Dr. Lyons had led the con- gregation since 2003.
George Tinsley, Sr.,
shared his journey from an abandoned child, who grew up poor, to a successful en- trepreneur as President and CEO of Tinsley Family Con- cessions with attendees at the 100 Black Men of Tampa’s 5th Annual June- teenth Luncheon. He en- couraged those in attendance to change “negatives into positives.”
Willie and Wilma Weems have been Christian music enthusiasts for more than 30 years. They intro- duced a Christian music app, Joy Cometh 24hr Gospel, Inc.
Willie Monroe was a Tampa Police officer for 17 years until he was injured in a motorcycle accident. Then, he remained in law enforce- ment with the Hillsborough County Public School Dis- trict. He retired after reach- ing the rank of Lieutenant during his 39-year career.
At least 12 families were displaced when a fire took place at the Knollwood Manor Apartment Complex. The entire building housing the families was destroyed. However, there were no in- juries reported.
Clive Gobern, a former Sentinel driver and deliv- eryman died after a lengthy illness. He was 55-years-old.
A ceremony was held for the demolition of Tampa’s
oldest housing complex. In place of the apartments, the 44 acres will be used to con- struct 1,240 Market rate, multi-housing rental proper- ties and 96 townhomes for sale. It will house 842 in- come-restricted affordable family and senior housing with a broader range of in- comes.
Officials with the City of Tampa Fire Marshal’s Office conducted an investigation into a series of fires in the West Tampa area. All of the fires took place during a six- day period and have been ruled as arson.
Governor Rick Scott
signed 38 bills into law. Two of those bills pertained to the use of medical marijuana.
A Tampa nurse, well-re- spected nationally and inter- nationally, passed away Monday, June 26, 2017 after a brief illness. Dr. Doris Williams Campbell was 81 years old.
A popular employee of a local housing apartment complex died following a brief illness. Mr. Peterkin Alfred Berry, Jr., was 78- years-old.
JULY
Five people died in an ex- plosion at the Tampa Electric Company’s plant in Apollo Beach. Christopher Irvin, 40, and Michael McCort, 60, died at the scene.
The other injured em- ployees were admitted into Tampa General Hospital with life-threatening in- juries. Frank Lee Jones, 55; Armando J. Perez, 56, and Antonio Navarrete died later. Gary Marine, Jr., 32, who received life- threatening injuries, sur- vived.
After a visit to the Univer- sity of Oregon, Warren Thompson, Jr., decided to join Head Coach Willie Taggart, former USF coach, as a member of its football team.
Hillsborough Community College (HCC) announced a new program in health navi- gation as part of the college’s health sciences division. The new program offers students the opportunity to earn an associate in science degree (A.S.) or a college credit cer- tificate (C.C.C.).
A former Tampa resident, Jimmie C. Gardner, now 51, was getting his life back together after spending 27 years of a 110-year sentence in prison for a crime he did not commit.
Tampa Police Chief Eric Ward announced his retire- ment to pursue other inter- ests. Mayor Buckhorn appointed Assistant Chief Brian Dugan to serve as Acting Tampa Police Chief.
Johnny Johnson
promised his son that he would have a big party when he turned 18. However, Jayquon Johnson, who would have turned 18 on Sat- urday, July 8th, died on New Year’s Day. His father hosted a Memorial Service in his son’s honor instead.
After a six-month delay, the Hillsborough County Branch NAACP held its elec- tion. The voters elected Ms. Yvette Lewis to lead the or- ganization for the next two years. Her term in office will last until November 2019. She defeated sitting presi- dent Bennie Small.
Mr. Derrick Leggett, a longtime volunteer with the Belmont Heights Little League died. Mr. Leggett was 45-years-old.
Destinee, Tevin, Faith, Angel and Angela, children of Ms. Tonja An- derson-Dell, requested an article be written in the Sen- tinel about their mother. She had been working for the past 16 years trying to bring home the military men who have been missing since 1952.
A Miami judge ruled that the current “Stand Your Ground” Law is unconstitu- tional. However, his ruling only applied to cases in his jurisdiction. In keeping with the controversy surrounding the law, and other issues of concern, Hillsborough County State Attorney An- drew Warren addressed the subject in a community workshop.
Residents, authors, per- spective authors and others
interested in books, gathered for the 2017 Tampa Inde- pendent Authors Convention And Book Festival. The event took place at the Chic Venue, 1339 E. Fletcher Avenue. Bill Liggins was one of the fifty-one authors who at- tended the festival.
Two organizations and individual citizens united and filed a lawsuit against Ken Detzner, Florida Sec- retary of State, and a White House Commission. In the lawsuit, the Coalition ac- cused them of potentially vi- olating state and federal laws to try to build a nationwide voter database.
The Coalition filed the legal challenge in the South- ern District of Florida. Its members are the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida, the Florida Immi- grant Coalition, Attorney Arthenia Joyner, former State Senate Minority Leader, Tampa City Coun- cilman Mike Suarez, Joshua Simmons, of Broward County, and Brenda Shapiro, of Miami-Dade County.
Earlier this month, the Council of Bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal Church issued a challenge to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The Bish- ops called on the NAACP to restructure and redefine its mission.
Hundreds of children from the Riverview area began their education at a new elementary school. The doors of Warren Hope Daw- son Elementary, Hillsbor- ough County’s only new public school this year, opened.
The dedication of the re- naming of a highway took place. State Senator Dar- ryl Rouson passed a bill in the Senate earlier in the year to have a portion of Inter- state 375 renamed in honor of an African American pio- neer, Mrs. C. Bette Wim- bish.
In an attempt to help keep young adults safe, Pas- tor Moses Brown launched a new initiative in the community. He passed out cards with instructions on how to “be safe” during encounters with police offi- cers.
The NAACP’s 108th An- nual Convention began with the NAACP ACT-SO (Acade-
mic, Cultural, Technical and Scientific Olympics for high school students) final com- petition and awards.
Five students from the Bay Area went to Baltimore, MD to compete. They were: Aaliyah Harris, Middleton High School, Ming Wash- ington, recent Blake High grad, Destinee Fillmore, recent Blake grad, Daijah- nah White, Harris School of the Arts in Lakeland, and Mahalia Brookes, a recent Blake graduate.
Omar Billups, an in- mate who has been housed at Marion Correctional Insti- tute for the past 3 years, died after being stabbed. His fam- ily said he feared for his life.
Hillsborough County Commissioners voted 4-2 to remove the statue. Com- missioner Les Miller, Jr., led the campaign to re- move the statue. He was sup- ported by Commissioners Al Higginbotham, Pat Kemp, and Sandy Mur- man supported his vote.
Commissioners Stacy White and Ken Hagan voted to keep the statue in place. Commissioner Vic- tor Crist did not attend the meeting.
A heart attack claimed the life of Ms. Linda Renee Black, a well-known East Tampa woman. Ms. Black was 52-years-old.
The Florida Trend Magazine published its list of attorneys honored as members of the 2017 “Florida Legal Elite.” The organization selected Attorney Arthenia Joyner as one of the 1,080 attorneys chosen for the honor. The list was published in the July 2017 edition of the magazine.
King’s Kids Christian Academy began its 33rd year of operations. The facility was the vision of Bishop Thomas and Mrs. Marva Scott to offer a Christian Academy to members of the community.
AUGUST
Ralph Smith launched Computer Mentors in 1997, with 5 students who met once a week at the then Ybor City Public Library (Robert Saunders, Sr., Public Li- brary), 1505 N. Nebraska Av- enue. The organization prepared to celebrate its 20th Anniversary.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2017 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 3-B