Category Archives: News

Be Home Safe and Water Smart for the Time Change

It’s time to turn the clocks forward one hour on Sunday, March 8, and remember to test home safety devices and reset sprinkler system timers.

Sunday marks the beginning of daylight saving time and is a great opportunity to install fresh batteries and test smoke alarms and carbon monoxide (CO) detectors. When functional, these devices can double a family’s chance of surviving a home fire or an unsafe carbon monoxide level.

When resetting clocks, residents and property owners with automatic sprinkler systems should also consider having timers checked to avoid risking fines for watering at the wrong time and see if irrigation timers have back-up batteries that need changing. Continue reading →

Verizon sells its Tampa Bay TV, Internet, Landline Phone Services to Frontier

Combo_Verizon_Frontier1Verizon Communications is selling its telephone, Internet and video operations in Florida and two other states to Frontier Communications for $10.5 billion in cash.

After the scheduled close of the deal, in the first half of 2016, Frontier will provide wireline services to residential, commercial and wholesale customers.

The Verizon properties that Frontier is buying include 3.7 million voice connections, 2.2 million broadband connections, and 1.2 million FiOS video connections in Florida, California and Texas, a statement said.

Those three states are the three remaining Verizon GTE platform states, according to an investor presentation filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Frontier (NASDAQ: FTR), based in Stamford, Connecticut, earlier converted 13 GTE platform states as part of a 2010 deal with Verizon. Frontier currently operates the bundled phone-Internet-television high-speed FiOS service in Washington, Oregon, Indiana and South Carolina, and its system is ready for expanded FiOS operations, the filing said.

Verizon (NSYE, NASDAQ: VZ) said in its own press statement that it wants to concentrate its wireline operations on the East Coast.Verizon Wireless and Verizon Enterprise Solutions are not part of the deal, Verizon said.

Change for Hillsborough County Household Electronics Recycling

Hillsborough County’s residential recycling service for electronics is now available exclusively at the regional Community Collection Centers. Electronics are no longer being accepted during the County’s monthly Household Hazardous Waste collection events. Residents in unincorporated Hillsborough County will only need a photo ID for a no-cost drop-off of up to five electronic items a month containing a digital display or circuit board, including televisions, computers, laptops, mobile devices, stereo equipment, gaming consoles, VCR/DVD players, and printers.

The Community Collections Centers in Lithia, Seffner, Tampa, and Gibsonton already accept household electronics six days a week. The consolidation of electronics collection allows the Solid Waste Management Division to improve staffing and services at the centers and is expected to reduce wait times at Household Hazardous Waste collection events.

Not all items that plug in need to be disposed of at a collection center. Small items and appliances such as toasters, crock pots, electric skillets, blenders, phone and battery chargers, lamps, hair dryers, power tools, and curling irons may be discarded in regular trash.

The Community Collection Centers are self-unloading facilities open Monday through Saturday from 7:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., with the exception of holidays (New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day) at the following locations:

  • Alderman Ford, 9402 State Road 39 in Lithia
  • Hillsborough Heights, 6209 County Road 579 in Seffner
  • Northwest County, 8001 W. Linebaugh Ave. in Tampa
  • South County, 13000 U.S. Highway 41 in Gibsonton

Limited quantities of household paint can also be dropped off at the centers with a photo ID. Disposal of other items accepted at the centers, such as appliances, furniture, household quantities of construction materials, lead-acid batteries and tires, require a photo ID and a property tax bill showing the Hillsborough County Solid Waste Disposal Assessment.

For more information on items accepted at Hillsborough County Solid Waste facilities, locations, hours, and contact numbers, visit www.HillsboroughCounty.org/SolidWaste or call the Public Works Solid Waste Management Division at (813) 272-5680.

Continue reading →

Bright House Networks Line-Up Change Creates Local PEG Access Block

brighthoustAs of February 11, 2015, a channel realignment on the Bright House Networks cable system will create an access channel block, including all area Public, Educational and Government (PEG) access channels.

This change conveniently places previously scattered access channels into neighboring designations. For a short time following the realignment, Bright House Networks will post a message on each station’s prior channel number advising of the new location. In Hillsborough County, the new channel numbers will be as follows:

  • Tampa Bay Arts & Education Network (TBAE) Channel 635 (formerly Channel 614)
  • TBAE Uni Channel 636 (formerly Channel 620)
  • Hillsborough Television (HTV) Channel 637 (formerly Channel 622)
  • Tampa Bay Community Network (TBCN) Channel 638 (formerly Channel 949)
  • Tampa Bay Community Network 2 (TBCN2) Channel 639 (formerly Channel 950)
  • City of Tampa Television (CTTV) Channel 640 (formerly Channel 615)
  • Temple Terrace TV Channel 641 (formerly Channel 950 Temple Terrace only)

For more information, contact: Hillsborough Television, Terry McElroy (813) 276-2679

Hillsborough County Will Give You Money 4 Mercury

Hillsborough County residents can exchange hazardous mercury-containing devices for a $5 grocery store gift card at Household Hazardous Waste collections through April 2015, while gift card supplies last. Collection events are held monthly on selected Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.:

  • First Saturdayof the month – 9805 Sheldon Road in Tampa
  • Second Saturdayof the month – 13000 U.S. Highway 41 in Gibsonton
  • Third Saturdayof the month – 6209 County Road 579 in Seffner

Examples of mercury-containing devices that are eligible for a Money 4 Mercury gift card include thermometers, thermostats and switches. No commercial or business-related waste will be accepted. Gift cards are limited to one per eligible vehicle, while supplies last.

When a mercury-containing device is disposed of in a solid waste landfill or incinerator, the mercury can contaminate the air, surface water and groundwater. Residents are encouraged to always properly recycle mercury-containing devices at a hazardous materials collection site.

For more information about mercury collection events, visit www.HillsboroughCounty.org/Money4Mercury, contact Hillsborough County Solid Waste at (813) 209-3042, or email PUD-SpecialWaste@HillsboroughCounty.org.

Residents may also bring other household chemicals and hazardous wastes to the collection event for proper disposal, including compact fluorescent bulbs, other light bulbs and batteries; however, these items are not eligible for a gift card.

The goal of the Hillsborough County Solid Waste Management Division’s Money 4 Mercury program is to educate and safely manage mercury containing items. Funding for the program is provided in partnership with Covanta Hillsborough, Inc. and through a $5,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County Pollution Recovery Fund.