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Features
Dick Gregory Is Guest Speaker For Black Heritage Festival Luncheon
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
What started out as a 1-day event, evolved into 2 days and now covers 10 days. The Tampa Bay Black Heritage Festival is a family-friendly cultural event celebrated around the national celebration of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday, which is the third Monday in January. King was born Janu- ary 15, 1929.
This year’s festival theme is “Celebrating Sweet 16 in Tampa Bay.”
In addition to the 2-day music fest, through the years several activities have been added to the festival. One of those events is the Heritage Festival Leadership Luncheon, which will be held on Wednes- day, January 20, 2016 at the University Area Community Development Center. The luncheon will be held 11:30- 1:30 p. m. Tickets are $20 per individual.
Born Richard Clayton Gregory on October 12, 1932, “Dick” Gregory has been named the luncheon guest speaker. He is a comedian, an active civil rights activist, social critic, writer and entrepreneur. At 83 years old, Gregory re- mains active in the Black Power Movement.
He has many accomplish- ments in his career. He began his career as a comedian while serving in the military, having been drafted out of Southern Illinois University. He began his political career in 1967
RICHARD “DICK” GREGORY ...Luncheon guest speaker
when he ran against Richard J. Daley for the mayor of Chicago. He unsuccessfully ran for President of the United States as a write-in candidate in 1968. Gregory is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Since the late 1980s, Gre- gory has been a figure in the health food industry by advo- cating for a raw fruit and veg- etable diet. In 1984, he founded Health Enterprises, Inc., a com- pany that distributed weight loss products. His goal was to improve the life expectancy of African Americans, which he believes is being hindered by poor nutrition and drug and al- cohol abuse.
Gregory and his wife, Lil- lian had 11 children, including a son who died at 2 months old.
For additional information on the luncheon, contact William Sanders, (813) 325- 2539.
Mayor Plans To Use Amendment 1 Funds For Riverfront Park
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
A series of meetings was held at Howard W. Blake High School to get public input on the proposed redevelopment of Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park. The public was shown a presentation by developers that included an artist concept of what the completed project would look like, and Mayor Bob Buckhorn gave it his stamp of approval. Now, all that’s left is how to fund the project.
Mayor Buckhorn an- nounced that it would take in excess of $30 million to reno- vate the park, and the city was prepared to allocate $5 million for the project.
Mayor Buckhorn also announced that he plans to use a big piece of the city’s $20 million BP settlement for the project. After that, Mayor Buckhorn said that will leave $10 million that needs to be found for the project.
Mayor Buckhorn has announced he plans to solicit funds from a voter-backed constitutional amendment, Amendment 1. He’s also talked about funds through Florida Communities Trust. The Trust is part of the Forever Florida grant program that was cre- ated to help communities pro- tect natural resources, provide recreation and preserve the state’s working waterfronts.
Amendment 1 was ap- proved by voters in 2014 and it
JULIAN B. LANE RIVERFRONT PARK (After Renovations)
sets aside a third of the tax on real estate documents for land purchases, restoration and conservation.
According to the Sierra Club, what Mayor Buck- horn is proposing is not what Amendment 1 was created for. A spokesperson for that group said it was about acquiring land, not redeveloping or ren- ovating existing properties.
City Council Chair Frank Reddick said he truly believes Mayor Buckhorn has an opportunity to use the BP funds to move forward on the project.
“Right now, we have $20 million just sitting there and it hasn’t been specifically desig- nated for use.
“I think the Mayor is going to get a lot of opposition on his plan to use the Amendment 1
funds. There are funds in place now that would preclude the Mayor doing that.”
Council Chair Reddick
said originally, the project was projected to cost between $20 and $25 million. Now, it’s up to $30 million.
“We had actually allocated $8 million from the budget for the project, and we were hop- ing to get funds from other sources, including federal grants where funds could be matched.
“This project shouldn’t be delayed, because the longer it is delayed, the higher the cost will be. I just feel the environ- mentalist and the Sierra Club group will stop the Amend- ment 1 funds from being used and it is certainly something I wouldn’t be in favor of when it comes before the Council.”
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