Good morning, neighbors. Short week, big heart. The quietly staggering thing our community just pulled off for earthquake survivors in Colombia, Bay Care’s robotic surgery and a Labor Day weekend rodeo that's about as "fair fun" as it gets. Grab your coffee — let's go.

Three weeks ago, we told you the Tampa Bay Colombian community had mobilized after the devastating August 10 earthquake — a 7.4 that killed more than 300 people, leveled more than 12,500 homes, and left hundreds missing in the western Chocó region. This week, here's the part that'll stick with you: it worked.

What started as roughly 40 volunteers at Casa 21 on West Waters Avenue grew to more than 100. Eleven additional collection points sprang up across the bay, from Sarasota to Wesley Chapel to Brandon, all funneling toward one goal — filling an entire shipping container bound for Colombia. The response blew past what organizers expected. "Last night there were two big trucks that took all of our stuff to Miami," ASOCOL president Martha Gallagher said as the drive hit full stride. From Miami, Colombian government planes fly the supplies straight to the disaster zone.

Here's the detail that says everything about how this came together: ASOCOL doesn't normally do disaster relief. It's a nonprofit that raises scholarship money for Colombian students. When the earthquake hit, they redirected their entire operation — storage units, truck routes, volunteer network — toward getting food, medical supplies, and tents to people who'd lost everything. Foundations, businesses, and neighbors who don't always agree on much set it all aside under one banner: the Tampa Solidarity for Colombia Committee.

If you dropped something off, wrote a check, or just shared the word — you were part of that container. That's what this community does.

Still want to help? The need continues well beyond the first shipment. Vetted options for direct giving include the Colombian Red Cross (ground search-and-rescue and medical care), GlobalGiving's Colombia Earthquake Relief Fund, and Direct Relief (medicine and field kits in Chocó and Valle del Cauca).

Still quiet — and we won't pretend otherwise. As of our deadline all is the same. If you missed it, read below.

Apex Academy: Reconsideration Denied — Appeal Window Now Open

The fight over the 1,000-student Apex Academy in Lutz has moved past the reconsideration stage — and the appeal clock is now ticking again.

What happened: Preserve Rural Lutz, Inc. and resident Demelza Hays filed a Motion for Reconsideration on August 6, one day ahead of their original deadline, challenging the July 8 special use permit approval. Their attorney, Jane Graham of Sunshine City Law, argued two points: that the applicant's traffic engineer misrepresented FDOT's position on a proposed signal at Dale Mabry and Holly Lane, and that the hearing officer improperly considered other, unrelated school approvals as precedent.

Hearing Officer Susan Finch denied the motion on August 13. She found FDOT's actual concerns were about access-point spacing, not the signal itself, and that her original decision never relied on the precedent evidence in question.

Where it stands now: Filing the motion paused the 30-day appeal clock; the denial restarted it. Preserve Rural Lutz now has until roughly September 12 to file an appeal with the county's Land Use Appeals Board (LUAB) if they choose to. As of this writing, no appeal has been filed.

LUAB meets the first Friday of each month. If an appeal is filed before the deadline, the earliest it could realistically be heard is Friday, October 2.

We'll continue tracking this and will report immediately if an appeal is filed. Probably via Facebook.

SOOOO CLOSE. As your reading this it MIGHT be open. The most-asked question in the Carrollwood group chats hasn't changed its answer: the Cook Out going into the old Boston Market at 16215 N. Dale Mabry (across from Gaither) is still not open. The Temple Terrace location on Fowler is open and I already went and tried it. Not bad. I think our little community will enjoy it.

You've driven past it a hundred times on Van Dyke Road, probably without a second thought. But St. Joseph's Hospital-North — the Lutz hospital that's been part of the community since 2010 — has quietly become one of the most advanced surgical centers in the region, and most of its own neighbors have no idea.

Here's what's happening inside: this January, the hospital added its third robotic surgery system just to keep up with demand. The machines — the newest is da Vinci's latest DV5 platform — let surgeons operate through tiny incisions with a precision the human hand can't match, which for patients means less pain, less blood loss, smaller scars, and getting home faster. The hospital performed 908 robotic surgeries last year, part of a 70% jump since 2021, and it's now accredited as a Center of Excellence in Robotic Surgery. Not bad for a place that opened with fewer than 500 employees and now has more than 1,000.

The detail we can't stop thinking about: a local Girl Scout troop recently got to tour the hospital, pull on real surgical gear, step inside an operating room, and try their hands at robotic "surgery" — using, fittingly, a giant game of Operation as the training tool. Surgical services director Jennifer Downing and her team walked them through what everyone in the room actually does during a procedure. Somewhere in Lutz right now there's a ten-year-old who's decided she's going to be a robotic surgeon, and honestly? Good.

Tampa Bay Rodeo & Family Festival · Friday–Saturday, September 4–5 · Hillsborough County Fairgrounds, 215 Sydney Washer Rd., Dover · From $25

You asked for fair fun — here it is. After July's sold-out rodeo, the Tampa Bay Rodeo is back for Labor Day weekend with two full nights of competition: bull riding, bronc busting, barrel racing, and calf roping, all under a 150-foot American flag. Come early for the Family Festival — mechanical bull, axe throwing, giant inflatable slides, live music from Noah Hunton in the beer barn, and enough festival food to ruin your Monday diet plans. Gates open 4:30 p.m., music at 5:45, rodeo at 7:30. Rain or shine. It's out in Dover — about 40 minutes east — so it's a proper "worth the drive," but for a rowdy end-of-summer night, it delivers.

Craft beer deals + holiday burgers.

Live music, outdoor seating, classic Skipper’s vibe.

Discounted all‑day passes at Citrus Park Mall.

Ribs + sides under $15.

That shipping container bound for Colombia wasn't a metaphor — it was a literal steel box that had to be filled, and the logistics are wilder than they sound. Relief organizers specifically asked people to stop donating bottled water and clothing mid-drive. Why? Water is heavy and available closer to the disaster zone, and sorting mismatched clothing eats volunteer hours a fast-moving relief effort can't spare. The most useful donation in a crisis is usually money — it ships instantly, buys exactly what's needed, and clears customs without a forklift. Good intentions fill a truck; smart intentions fill the right truck.

The Daybreak Mug Awards race is coming to a close soon, and the long weekend is prime time for a leisurely coffee run at the local spot that actually knows your order. If your favorite hasn't been nominated yet, they're losing to someone else's favorite right now — sixty seconds fixes that. We read every single one.

Enjoy the long weekend, neighbors. See you next Thursday. 😉

— Citrus Park & Carrollwood Weekly