Florida Sentinel Bulletin

BY GWEN HAYES
Sentinel Editor

For the past few months, Iris Collins has devoted a great deal of her time to preparing for what she calls “an elegant evening for mothers.”

Owner of The Edge Beauty Salon, Collins has put together ‘A Mother’s Day Fashion Show Extravaganza,’ which will feature food, music, fashion and hair styles.

The show is being dedicated to her mother, Ms. Barbara Kelly, a member of College Hill Church of God in Christ. “My mother’s birthday is around Mother’s Day and she lost her mother on Mother’s Day.

That’s why I try to do something to honor her,” she said.

The theme of the Mother’s Day event is “When I was a child I walked as a child, but now that I am a woman, I walk in style.” The master of ceremonies will be Steve Marshall.

The youngest of 7 children, Collins is excited that her brother and sister-in-law will be a part of this event. Her brother, Ernest Collins, Jr. is a gospel recording artist. He and the Collins Family will be on the program.

Her sister-in-law, Jada Collins, former Ebony Fashion Fair commentator, will be the commentator for this event. Several of the former Fashion Fair models will also join local models for the fashion show.

Ms. Collins is excited about the tribute to Trayvon Martin by local talent, Tampa Bay’s Chosen Models, who will model their stylish hoodie outfits.

During dinner, the guests will be entertained by stylists who will be showcasing various hairstyles.

Also on the program will be Tatiana Denson (special guest) and award-winning gospel artist, Dana Mackey.

Tickets are on sale for a nominal fee. Vendors are also welcome. For additional information, please call (813) 361-0508 or (813) 503-2430.

BY IRIS B. HOLTON
Sentinel City Editor

A popular Ybor City club was closed for two days after police were denied entry. Three people were also arrested.

Early last Tuesday morning, Tampa Police officers responded to Club Manilla, 2620 E. 7th Avenue, to conduct a bar check. However, they were denied entry into the club.

According to the police report, “Upon approaching the front door, which was propped open with several patrons in line waiting to go in, we attempted to enter the establishment. The defendant, later identified as Robert Walker, (Manager, Security), along with Jorge Gonzalez, (Manager), saw us and immediately pushed several patrons away and unpropped the door and attempted to shut it.”

The officer wrote that he grabbed the door and “With Walker pulling from the inside and Gonzalez pushing from the outside, they slammed the door shut and Walker locked it from the inside.”

The officer wrote that they gained entry into the club after a female patron opened a side door and another officer entered.

Walker was arrested and charged with obstructing the police and refusing to allow inspection of a licensed establishment. He was given a misdemeanor notice to appear in court.

Police also arrested Fred Schwartz and Gonzalez, and charged them with refusal to allow inspection of a licensed establishment. They were also “determined to be the instigators and of locking the police out.”

The officers also wrote in their report that Schwartz told them he was acting on the advice of his attorney. He had reportedly been instructed not to allow the police inside without a warrant.

The police report further stated that the Fire Marshal’s Office responded to the business and “discovered some things that needed to be taken care of before they reopened.”

Police said during the inspection, they looked at the business and “it was still very dirty and not cleaned up from business from the past night.”

Police said they also saw evidence of “trace amounts of marijuana on the floor and counters of the business.”

Captain Lonnie Benniefield, spokesman for the Tampa Fire Department said, “We became involved after they refused to allow police to enter. That is a violation of the assembly permit.

“It was temporarily revoked because they had to get some things corrected, and was subsequently given back to them.”

When Patrick Williams was 4-years-old, his mother, Juanita Grey, said he suffered a head injury after falling three stories from an apartment in West Tampa.

Since that time, Ms. Grey said she’s tried to get help for her ailing son, but hasn’t been successful.

Williams, now 38, has been missing since April 25th, and Ms. Grey said she fears something may have happened to him, or she fears law enforcement officers may harm him.

“I’ve been trying for years to get him help, but I think they only see him as a criminal, and not a young man with serious mental issues. I think he gets overlooked because of his criminal background. He’s been on medication, but it makes him worse because it’s too strong. I’ve also been denied the right to be his caretaker.”

Ms. Grey said on April 25th, her son went for a walk and she hasn’t seen him since. She also said she’s alerted police, and filed a missing person’s report.

“I don’t expect the police to actually look for him, unless he breaks the law again. I just want them to listen to me when I try to tell them that he doesn’t know what’ he’s doing and he needs help.”

Ms. Grey said Patrick doesn’t communicate well with others, so you may not realize he has a mental problem.

“The only time anyone pays attention to him is when he acts out, or does something unlawful. He has a mental health history and has been in several mental health institutions, but all they do is let him out on medication. They don’t really help him and the system is keeping me from helping him.”

Ms. Grey said she hopes her son is found before something tragic happens.

If anyone has seen Patrick Williams, please contact the Tampa Police Department at (813) 231-6130.

Reporter Leon B. Crews can be reached at (813) 248-0724, or e-mailed at lcrews@flsentinel.com.

A Hillsborough County judge sentenced a 20-year-old man to a prison sentence. Last month, he was convicted for his role in a shooting that left a teenager dead and two others hurt nearly two years ago.

Hillsborough Judge Debra Behnke had only two options in the sentencing. She could have sentenced Khayri Rashaad McCray to 20 years in prison or to 6 years in prison as a youthful offender. She elected to sentence him to the minimum mandatory on the two attempted murder convictions. He was facing a 30-year sentenced on each count.

McCray attended a graduation party in Riverview held at the Winthrop Barn Theater May 23, 2010. Devante Dallas was the guest of honor at the party. After graduating from Durant High School, Dallas planned to attend Florida A & M University.

After uninvited teenagers arrived at the party several fights started. As the chaperones began ejecting those involved in the fights, someone began shooting into the crowd of more than 100 people.

Dallas was killed. Two adults, the dead teenager’s father, Jeffrey Thomas, 44, and a chaperone, DeRon Richardson, 23, were both shot. Richardson was hit in the lower back. Thomas was shot in the chest. Both men recovered from their injuries.

McCray was originally charged with Dallas’ murder. However, ballistics reports eliminated him as the person who killed Devante Dallas.

McCray was a senior at Spoto High School and looking forward to attending college at the time of the shooting.

During the trial, witnesses testified that several people, including the chaperones were shooting.

No one else has been charged with Dallas’ murder.

Daryl and Desh Bagley both have science degrees. In 2005, they came up with a concept of how to best apply computer technology to children while they are still young, and impress upon them to pursue it as a career.

That was the beginning of a new business called the Tech Play Zone, a science and tech center for kids, kindergarten through 8th grade.

“We want to concentrate on the S.T.E.M. concept (science, technology, engineering, and math), and we discovered if you wait until a child reaches high school, they won’t recognize how such fun it is because they are already into something else, especially the girls,” said Mrs. Bagley.

“My mentor, Ralph Smith (Computer Mentors), thought it would be great to include the software aspect of teaching computer skills to children and it’s really catching on.”

Mrs. Bagley said their summer camps and after school programs are really phenomenal and they have a vendor relationship with the school district.

“When we first started in 2005, Edison Elementary was our first school. Later we felt with our own facility, we could serve more kids. We’d like to have robotics summer camps at some of the schools this summer, targeting 4th and 5th graders.”

Mrs. Bagley said the Tech Play Zone is a very unique facility and a learning environment that’s also entertaining.

“We discovered that the kids get really fascinated with computer science technology and concepts. This also improves their attention span and level of concentration.

“We get great feedback from parents and even with the economy hurting, parents continue to invest for the future of their children.”

Mrs. Bagley said once the kids enter middle and high school, they’re ready for the advanced math and science courses.

“The kids aren’t intimidated by the course work they get in school, and this has improved them academically. I’m a mother of five and I can see the impact this has had on my children. They are Tech Play Zone benchmarks.”

The facility is located at 13208 Boyette Road in Riverview, Florida. Their number is (813) 453-8612.

BY IRIS B. HOLTON
Sentinel City Editor

It has often been said that children learn what they live. Also, in many instances, their past serves as an influence upon their futures.

Attorney Elita Cobbs McMillion grew up in a home where her father worked at the airport and her mother worked in a different form of transportation. Coming from such a background, it’s logical that her future endeavors would be linked to the field in some fashion.

However, after she graduated from high school, she earned her B. A. Degree, cum laude, from Wake Forest University. She continued her education at the University of Texas, School of Law, where she earned her Juris Doctorate Degree.

A law firm recruited the Atlanta native, and she began practicing law in Tampa. In 2002, she joined the Aviation Authority at Tampa International Airport as the Assistant General Counsel.

Last year, after Joe Lopano became the Chief Executive Officer at the airport, he began re-organizing. One of the areas of his concentration was with ethics and diversity.

Attorney McMillion said Lopano brought all areas pertaining to Ethics, Compliance, and Diversity into one office and she was named as its manager. Last fall, she became the department’s Director.

In her role, Attorney McMillion provides guidance to employees on issues that include conflict of interest, the Florida Sunshine Law, requirements pertaining to financial disclosure and public records laws.

Her focus also includes the Authority’s commitment to diversity and policy against discrimination in employment, services to the public, and procurement.

Her role also includes ensuring that business ventures with the Aviation Authority are conducted consistent with its Code of Ethics.

“I practiced law for 16 years so the attorney side gives me the ability to analyze facts and the law from that perspective,” she said.

She further stated that many of her responsibilities were handled by other departments in the past. However, Lopano wanted a more comprehensive focus.

Attorney McMillion, 41, is the first to serve in this newly created position. “This is a new area of ethics and diversity and I’m glad I was asked to step into this role.”

She further stated that her new position has brought her full circle with her childhood and her parents working in transportation.

Attorney McMillion is married to John McMillion and she is the mother of one child. She enjoys spending time with her family.

BY TAMECA JOHNSON
Freelance Writer

Norman and Alexander (Alex) Harris are two phenomenal young men.   They are brothers who grew up in a small Georgia town just southeast of Atlanta. They are both barely in their thirties, one might call them gifted; but in light of the challenges they’ve overcome, many call them blessed.

Their story goes far beyond the degrees they’ve earned, or the professions they hold.  Their history serves as inspiration on the power of prayer and the importance of faith.

The Harris brothers are natives of Manchester, Georgia.  They are the sons of a preacher and a teacher and were born with the gifts of music and song.  Both were members of the award winning singing group A7, which included their three brothers and a god brother.

In 2006, the group released the single “Don’t Walk Away;” a hit that spent weeks on Billboard’s Gospel top 20 charts. Alex, 31, served as lead vocalist and through the years, his music has evolved into more than a passion.  It’s now his profession.

After completing undergraduate studies in Sociology and Psychology at LaGrange College in Georgia, Alex attended graduate school at Harvard University, earned Master’s Degrees in Social Work and Theology at Boston University and studied classical voice extensively.

He’s shared his talents with the world and has performed with artists that include Al Green, Patti Labelle, Eric Benet and John Legend.   He even founded his own consulting firm, LX Entertainment, based in St. Petersburg.

“I always tell my kids ‘don’t forget your story,’” says Pastor James Harris, father of Alex and Norman.  He and his wife, Carolyn have a total of eight children.  “We didn’t plan it,” Mrs. Harris admits. “I just said ‘however many the Lord will, that’s how many I would have.’”

Their trust in God was consistently put to the test.  Pastor Harris reflects on a time just before Alex was born. “The Lord spoke and said ‘His name should be Alexander, for he shall conquer’.” But it seemed that prophesy would not come to pass.

Shortly after Alex’s birth, doctors discovered he had a hernia.  Months later the condition worsened, leaving the toddler at the brink of death.  Pastor Harris carried Alexander’s limp body to “A House of the Living God Church of Jesus Christ,” the church where he still serves as Senior Pastor today. He laid his son at the altar and cried out to God.  “I prayed and the Holy Spirit said ‘at 11:30 I will heal him’.”  Pastor Harris stood on that promise and returned home with his son.

He remembers, everyone watching the clock.  Then a miracle happened.  At 11:30 that chilly fall night in 1981 the family says Alexander was miraculously healed and has not had a health issue since.

His older brother Norman has a similar story.  The 34-year-old Tampa attorney and founder of the Ybor City based law firm, Harris Law Group, is an ordained minister who considers himself a “miracle child whose life demonstrates the ‘yes’ of God in a ‘no’ situation.”

Shortly after Norman’s mother learned she was pregnant with him, doctors discovered she had a rare blood type that put her life and her unborn baby’s life in jeopardy.

Norman’s dad remembers how doctors called him and strongly suggested that his wife abort the baby.  “I was working as a high school teacher and drove home crazy to get to her.” But, when Pastor Harris arrived to follow through on doctors’ orders, his wife had a proclamation of her own.  “She said, ‘you’re going to do what you need to be doing, which is to pray’.”

“My family, her family our friends were enraged because we didn’t listen to the doctors.”  Pastor Harris says living through that time marked one of his lowest points in his life.  He wanted to believe in the power of God, but the ridicule from others made him weak.  That weight became almost unbearable for Mrs. Harris as well.  “I was feeling very strong at first and I felt an unwavering in my faith, but towards the end [of the pregnancy] I started to get a little shaky because of the doctors’ reports and the persecution from everyone.”

Doctors felt the situation was so dire, they refused to deliver the baby, so the couple called on a mid-wife to help them deliver at home. Norman was born May 14, 1978.  His father remembers being too afraid to even look at the newborn.  “I was just that weak,” he admits. But all of the fear was put to rest when Norman was given a clean bill of health.

Doctors advised Mrs. Harris not to get pregnant again; but despite their concerns, she went on to give birth to nearly half a dozen more healthy babies.  All of the couple’s children are gifted in music and song and all have at least a Master’s degree, with the exception of their youngest child who is finishing her undergraduate studies at a college in Virginia.

Norman and Alex are the only two of the eight children to make the Tampa area their home and they are committed to making a difference in the community.

Alex spends countless hours working with children at the Boys and Girls Club. He co-founded the Royal Theater Senior Conservatory in St. Petersburg, the only arts academy of its kind affiliated with the Boys and Girls Club that focuses on visual, performing, voice and recording.

He is currently single and attends Grace Family Church in Lutz where he performs, on occasion, as a guest vocalist.  He is set to take his singing talent abroad later this year, touring in Brazil and parts of Africa.

Norman earned his Master’s in Divinity at Emory University, before completing law school and earning a Doctorate degree in Law Prudence at Mercer University in Georgia.

He serves as a mentor with the Big Brothers program, as well as with elementary and college students in Tampa and St. Petersburg. He also volunteers for the Legal Redress Committee with the local NAACP and was appointed General Counsel for the Southeastern Jurisdiction of the Church of God in Christ.

He attends Brown Memorial C.O.G.I.C. and is an ordained Elder at his dad’s church in Georgia. He proudly acknowledges longtime Tampa attorney Delano Stewart as “a mentor and faithful friend.”

Norman is single, but desires to have a wife and children of his own one day. In addition to all of the professional and volunteer work he’s doing, he manages to find time to assist his mother as she works to complete her Doctorate degree in Education and Administration.

For more information on Norman Harris, log onto his website at www.MyHarrisLawGroup.com.  Additional information on Alexander Harris can be found at www.LXEntertainment.com.

On Saturday at 4 a. m., Yashica Johnson, 30, and Masema Bount, 34, were parked on the street in front of a house in the 3100 block of 16th Street. Police said they saw a vehicle circle the block and park behind them.

According to the report, Bount saw someone get out of the vehicle with a rifle. She saw him walking toward them and told Johnson to leave. They drove off quickly, and heard several shots being fired. Johnson drove directly to the District III office.

Police said Johnson and Bount approached an officer and told him what happened. Johnson then realized she had been shot in the back.

Police said it did not appear Johnson’s injuries were life threatening, and no further information was released.

The shooting suspect was described as a Black male in a silver 4-door Hyundai.

Tampa Police are investigating a shooting that occurred early Saturday morning and left a 14-year-old boy wounded.

Police said Jontavious Gainous, 14, was sleeping in the rear bedroom of the house at 8510 North 15th Street when the shooting began about 5;25 a. m. An 8-month-old baby, 2-year-old child, and a 4-year-old child were sleeping near him. There were about 10 people inside the home when the shots were fired.

The homeowner, Tommy Moreland, told police the shooting may have been related to a disagreement Friday at the home. Police said Moreland’s young nephews had been fighting over a computer and the argument spilled onto the front lawn. A few men visiting at a neighbor’s house tired to intervene.

Police said the men threatened his nephews, and someone called police, causing everyone to scatter.

According to reports, Moreland said there were two gunmen and he saw shotgun shells. Several shots went straight into the sofa and through a bathroom wall.

Gainous was initially reported to be in critical condition, but he has been released from the hospital.

Police spokesperson, Laura McElroy, said Gainous was hit by bullet fragments. Police are searching for suspects in the shooting.

It was also reported that a woman shot earlier that morning, Yashica Johnson, is Gainous’s cousin.

McElroy said the two shootings are being investigated as separate incidents.