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By YVETTE C. HAMMETT SUN CITY CENTER − Tim and Kris Neldner met in the band at the University of Tampa about 40 years ago. These days, they spend some of their leisure time performing with dozens of others in the South Shore Community Chorus…
Read More South Shore Community Chorus begins another season of singing open to all
By YVETTE C. HAMMETT For 21 years, the Riverview community has come together to host hundreds of lonely seniors who might otherwise go through the holidays with little or no festivities. Each year, volunteers would come up with a location, theme, menu and gifts for…
Read More Riverview holiday dinner for seniors needs a new chair
By GEOFF FOX Dec. 7, 1941: There are still Americans who remember where they were when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, forcing the U.S. to defend itself and its allies in World War II. Plenty of Americans still have clear memories of their whereabouts on…
Read More Commentary: None of us should ever forget what happened on 9/11
By RICK MAYER Donations for Bahamas relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Dorian are being accepted at the Salty Shamrock Irish Pub in Apollo Beach. There is a tent for donations outside the pub, at 6186 N. U.S. 41, just south of Apollo Beach…
Read More Donations for Bahamas hurricane relief accepted at Salty Shamrock
By TIFFANI SHERMAN Shannon Dudley is only 22 years old and living her dream. “I’ve always had a passion for baking. Ever since I was a child and could be in the kitchen, I was making stuff,” she says. “As a teenager, I would go…
Read More Apollo Beach baker’s decorative cakes are sweet works of art
By YVETTE C. HAMMETT Less than a year in, the Emergency Care Help Organization location in Riverview is serving up to 40 in-need families a week with food, clothing and other life necessities. “We’ve had a really successful adventure here,” said Steven McKinnon, director of…
Read More ECHO’s Riverview location finds steady growth assisting needy in south Hillsborough
By BOB D’ANGELO RIVERVIEW — The Hapi Place at the Riverview Flea Market on U.S. 301 oozes nostalgia. The three booths boast records, concert posters, guitars, fiddles, a buffalo head and even a signed copy of Tim Dorsey’s novel, Florida Roadkill. That’s not what makes…
Read More The road has been mighty fine for local singing couple The Crabgrass Cowboys
By YVETTE C. HAMMETT Gus Muench was nothing if not persistent in his quest to save Tampa Bay from pollution and preserve its history as a water road for the native Uzita tribe. Born August Muench, the commercial blue crabber and tour guide died Aug.…
Read More Gus Muench, guardian of Tampa Bay, remembered for persistence, generosity
By PAUL CATALA RUSKIN − Until the late 1950s, firefighters would spring into action from the firehouse dorm, don their gear and leap into a fire engine before racing to douse out a disaster. But since 2013, the building that once housed crews ready to…
Read More Firehouse Cultural Center brings visual, performing arts to south Hillsborough