Three roads, one week, and the parking lot that closed this morning

Good morning, East of Tampa family.

School starts Monday, August 10. That is 13 days from today.

Between now and then, three separate stretches of road in Brandon, Valrico and FishHawk are torn up for the South Hillsborough Pipeline, and Brandon High School’s teacher parking lot closes this morning, right as staff come back for preplanning.

If you drive Kings, Boyette, or Bell Shoals, read down before you leave the house.

Integrity Seawalls | The best time to find out your seawall is failing is not during a storm.

Hurricane season peaks between mid-August and early October. That gives waterfront owners in Apollo Beach, Ruskin and Wimauma about three weeks to look at their seawall, dock and lift while there is still time to do something about what they find.

Integrity Seawalls works out of Wimauma and builds and replaces seawalls, docks, boat lifts and boardwalks across the SouthShore area. They publish their pricing, which almost nobody in this trade does: vinyl seawall with a composite cap starts at $450 per lineal foot, concrete cap at $550. Third-party engineers design the walls. Free estimates and warranties on the work.

If you have been telling yourself you will deal with the cracked cap or the leaning panel after the season, that is the wrong order. Get the estimate now, while the calendar still cooperates.

Free estimate: (813) 535-1634

Locals doing business with locals.

⛈️ Tuesday: 92, 60% rain. Storms likely by early afternoon, then more showers moving in through the evening. Heat index hits 105. If you’re outside today, morning is your best window.

🌦️ Wednesday: 92, 50% rain. Mostly sunny with a stray storm possible. Heat index also runs to 105.

⛈️ Thursday: 91, 70% rain. The wettest day of the stretch, showers and storms likely both before and after 2 p.m. Plan around it if you can.

⛈️ Friday: 90, 60% rain. Storms possible from the morning on, not just the afternoon. Have a rain plan whatever you’re doing.

⛈️ Saturday: 89, 60% rain. Same story, storms possible all day, not just afternoon. If you’re going to the Back 2 School Bash, the 9 a.m. start is still your best shot at dry.

🌦️ Sunday: Low 90s, 40-50% rain. Routine afternoon storm chance, nothing unusual for this time of year.

🥵 The mid-100s heat index sticks around through Wednesday, then eases back as rain becomes the bigger daily nuisance for the second half of the week.

(Source: National Weather Service Tampa Bay)

Back 2 School Bash. Saturday, August 1, 9 a.m. to noon at the Hillsborough County Fairgrounds, 215 Sydney Washer Rd. in Dover. Free. Backpacks and school supplies while supplies last, walk-up only, no advance registration. Over 100 vendors, a kid zone, bounce houses, and HCPS resource tables. Get there early if the backpack is the reason you are going.

Teacher’s Happy Hour at Bullfrog Creek Brewing. Friday, July 31 at 2 p.m., 3632 Lithia Pinecrest Rd. in Valrico. Discounted pricing for teachers. Preplanning week ends, this starts. Same night, the Queen of Hearts drawing is at 7:30, tickets $2.

Graphic Novel Book Club. Wednesday, July 29, 7 to 8 p.m. at Riverview Public Library. Free. This month is Tongues, Volume 1 by Anders Nilsen.

Plant City Farm & Flea Market. Every day this week, 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 6 a.m. to noon Sunday. 708 W. Sam Allen Rd. Free to walk, accepts SNAP.

Football is close. Preseason classics are set for Friday, August 14. Spoto plays at Riverview, and Armwood plays at Edgewater in Orlando. Regular season opens August 21.

Three pipeline projects hit eastern Hillsborough this week, and one of them starts today.

Boyette Road, starting Monday. Crews mobilized on the south side of Boyette just east of Hammock Crest to install shoring for a tunnel running under the road. Cranes, excavators and pipe are being delivered. Work runs 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday. No long-term closures are planned, but expect short delays around deliveries. Dewatering wells run around the clock.

South Kings Avenue, overnight. Closed 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. from Bloomingdale Avenue to Ronele Drive on July 26 and 27, and from Bloomingdale to Princeton Street on July 28. Starting July 29, a new pattern takes over with lanes reduced and shifted west. Providence Road and John Moore Road were the posted detours for last week’s round.

Brandon High School teacher lot, closed today. Victoria Street construction moved east of Meade Street last Saturday, and the teacher lot closes July 28. Staff are directed to the student lot, entering from Limona Road. Victoria Street stays closed to through traffic.

And one piece of good news: McMullen Road reopened in both directions between Boyette Road and McMullen Loop.

Full detour map and updates at the South Hillsborough Pipeline site.

Johnson Barbeque, Plant City. 1407 W. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Elton Johnson started smoking pork shoulders at a converted gas station in 1954. Seventy-two years later his grandson Owen runs it, and Owen’s son works there too. In February the family had local artist Marianne Dawson paint a mural inside showing four generations of Johnsons, the smokers, and the Plant City around them.

Order the smoked rib eye. It runs Friday and Saturday nights only, and Owen has said out loud that you need to be there by 4:30 because they are usually out by 8:30. If you miss it, the brisket nachos and the sweet potato souffle are not a consolation prize.

Closed Sundays. (813) 759-0009

A $72 million school still has no name, and you have until Friday. Hillsborough County Public Schools is taking public name recommendations for the new Wimauma middle school through 5 p.m. Friday, July 31. The school sits on 87 acres at 1712 W. Lake Dr., will hold up to 1,600 students, and opens in August 2027. The School Board votes on the name September 1.

Early voting starts August 3. Hillsborough’s primary is Tuesday, August 18, with early voting running August 3 through 16. Mail ballots have already started going out. Sample ballots are up at votehillsborough.gov.

HCA Florida Brandon Hospital has a new CEO. Steve Young was named CEO on July 21. He was the hospital’s COO in 2019 and 2020 and most recently ran HCA Florida Blake Hospital. Brandon is HCA’s largest acute care facility in its West Florida Division, serving roughly 220,000 patients a year across six freestanding ERs in Hillsborough and Polk.

Two new places open. D1 Training opened at 1915 W. Lumsden Rd. in Brandon, run by Dennis and Camilla Santa Paula, doing Division I-style training for youth athletes and adults. And Dancing For Joy launched after-school care at 11691 Boyette Rd. in Riverview, running until 6 p.m.

We are still looking for people to help cover high school sports across eastern Hillsborough. Scores, photos, student journalists, coaches, anyone. If your kid plays and you are already at the game, you are exactly who we need. Reply to this email.

The businesses that keep this free.

Roof Rejuvenate SH. Veteran-owned, and they work only in southern Hillsborough. They treat asphalt shingle roofs with a 96% bio-based formula that restores flexibility instead of replacing the roof, which runs $15,000 to $30,000. Five-year transferable warranty, free 21-point inspection, and the application takes under two hours. They cap it at 15 to 20 roofs a month. (813) 652-2777

Ivy Plumbing. Johnathan Ivy runs it out of Riverview, state license CFC1430034, more than 20 years in the trade. Leak detection, repipes, water heaters, softeners, stoppages. Nextdoor Neighborhood Favorite in 2024 and People’s Choice Best in 2025, which for a plumber means the neighbors picked them twice. (813) 590-1443

Maid Pure Cleaning. Dionne Cona was a teacher and a mother of four before she started this, after twenty years of hiring cleaners who did not show up or did not do the job. Recurring, deep, and move-out cleaning across Brandon, Valrico, FishHawk and Riverview. Over 250 local customers, and they partner with Cleaning for a Reason to clean free for people in cancer treatment. (813) 670-2004

VHIN Cares. Family-owned assisted living, three state-licensed homes in Valrico and Brandon. Small by design, with low resident-to-caregiver ratios, communal meals, and emergency response in every room. Licenses 13321, 13921 and 13693. If you are starting that conversation about a parent, they will walk you through a tour. (813) 678-2363

Tampa Bay Pro Services. Lawn care done right, every time. Call them. (813) 770-8721

K&D Law. Kou Jacobo’s firm in Riverview. Licensed in Florida since 2019 and in good standing, general practice with immigration and asylum work. (786) 496-2918

Boulevard Supper Club. Joel Granata, Jennifer Adamo and Elier Velasquez opened it in FishHawk last September. It started as fine dining and has moved somewhere more approachable: burgers and pizza, done properly. Music bingo, trivia and karaoke through the week. 15260 FishHawk Blvd., Lithia. (813) 657-5700

Action Karate. Paul Kuzemka and Gina run the River Hills Plaza school, 5.0 stars across 55 Google reviews. Back to school only: two weeks of classes plus a uniform for $29, normally $109. Ninja Sharks for ages 3 to 6, kids classes for 7 and up, adult classes, and a special needs program. 4365 Lynx Paw Trail, Valrico. (813) 535-4191

The Root Studio 7. Natalie Kozlowski danced on Broadway and for Disney, then opened this studio in Lithia after a breast cancer battle. Heated and warm yoga, sound bowls, meditation, and a kids yoga class for unique abilities. Founding memberships are $99 a month locked for life, capped at 50 people. 16144 Churchview Dr., Suite 109. (813) 407-6298

Stoner’s Pizza Joint. 3428 Lithia Pinecrest Rd. in Bloomingdale. Pizza, wings, calzones, subs, cheesy bread. The Pick 2 deal runs $6.99 each. (813) 436-0016

The #1 Meat Man. Thirty-one pounds of meat for $220, dropped at your door. If you have a freezer and a family, run the math on that.

Gaines Construction Rentals. Lifts, excavators, mini track loaders, dump trailers, stump grinders, trenchers. Daily rates run $49 to $435 and they deliver. 16185 Boyette Rd., Riverview. (813) 322-2668

Trinity Junk Removal. Hayley and Alberto Anaya. Over 800 five-star reviews, which in junk hauling is the entire ballgame. Residential cleanouts, furniture and appliance removal, yard debris, construction cleanup, hoarder houses. Same-day and next-day, upfront pricing. (813) 426-9257

H2O Detections Emergency Restoration. Jason Brown’s family-run shop out of Riverview. Water damage, leak detection above and below ground, mold remediation. Open 24 hours, IICRC certified, and they handle the insurance paperwork. Senior, military and veteran discounts. (941) 545-7612

Riverview Towing. Around the clock. Flatbed and light duty, jump starts, motorcycle tows, recovery. A standard local tow runs about $100, and they will check whether your insurance covers it before you pay. (813) 405-5973

FitParentBod Apparel. Formerly FitDadBod. Gym and lifestyle gear for parents who still train. Tees, hoodies, joggers, and crossover leggings with pockets that actually hold a phone. (813) 415-5745

Team Plumstead. John and Danielle, licensed Florida agents covering Apollo Beach, Plant City, Valrico, Lithia, Riverview and Brandon. If you want to know what your house is actually worth right now, just ask. (813) 495-2136

Free to list. In front of 5,000+ local inboxes. Send it here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd17B5ir0AdLL_fbdTehlStiEKeiXexyQkSB2bHo7g3cxAQ3g/viewform

If you know someone who drives Boyette or Kings and has no idea what is coming this week, forward this to them before Monday morning.

See you Friday.

John

The East of Tampa Guy

Thirteen days until the bell. Somewhere in your house there is a lunchbox from last year that nobody has opened since May. You know the one.