Osprey Observer

12/30/2025

Get ready for a once-in-a-century celebration when the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters bring their 100 Year Tour to the RP Funding Center in Lakeland on January 9, 2026.

The Harlem Globetrotters are worldwide icons, synonymous with family entertainment and great basketball skills. For 100 years, they have represented breaking down barriers, acts of goodwill and a commitment to fans that goes beyond the game. Since their founding in 1926, the Globetrotters have entertained more than 148 million fans in 123 countries and territories worldwide, introducing many to the sport of basketball.

Known as pioneers of the slam dunk, fast break, forward and point guard positions and the famous figure-eight weave, the Globetrotters have become legends for their innovative play and larger-than-life personalities.

“100 Years of Thrills. 100 Years of Laughs.

Get ready for a once-in-a-century celebration when the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters bring their 100 Year Tour to the RP Funding Center in Lakeland on Janua

12/30/2025

Should the county fund more conservation land?

🌿 Hillsborough County Is Quietly Buying Land to Protect It — Here’s What’s Happening Next

Hillsborough County has continued acquiring environmentally sensitive land to protect it from future development through its voter-approved conservation program. Many of the nature preserves and parks we enjoy today are thanks in large part to ELAPP.

The county’s Jan K. Platt Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection Program (ELAPP) relies on a citizen advisory committee to recommend which properties should be preserved.

In the past year alone, Hillsborough County spent $8.7 million to conserve six properties totaling 996 acres.

The largest by far was an addition to the Lower Green Swamp, a critical wetland system that serves as the headwaters of the Hillsborough River. The county paid $4.8 million for development rights to a 929-acre property — marking the first conservation easement purchase in ELAPP’s history.

The conservation committee meets just twice a year, and it is already lining up major candidates for 2026:

600+ acres near the Alafia River’s north prong
• Under contract for $6.7 million
• Cost split with the Southwest Florida Water Management District

4,300 acres along the Little Manatee River (Mosaic land)
• About 3,000 acres to be donated
• Remaining land to be purchased by the county
• Part of a long-standing 1996 agreement tied to former mining operations
• Property restoration includes habitat recovery and gopher tortoise relocation

42 acres near the Alafia River’s south prong
• Would connect county land directly to Alafia River State Park
• Potential for new equestrian trail connections
• Small parcel, but critical for completing a wildlife corridor

ELAPP’s funding source — approved by voters in 2009 — now has about $20 million remaining. At current acquisition costs, that money won’t last long.

Once it’s gone:

No additional conservation land can be purchased
Any continuation would require another voter referendum
At the same time, high-quality conservation land is becoming harder to find as development spreads.

It can feel like every acre is destined to be developed — but Hillsborough County is actively doing the opposite in key areas, using public dollars to protect land before it’s gone.

These acquisitions don’t grab headlines, but they shape:

Flood protection
Water quality
Wildlife corridors
Public access to natural spaces

💬 Do you think Hillsborough County should renew conservation funding when the current money runs out — or let the program end?

➡️ Follow for coverage that looks beyond today’s projects and into Hillsborough County’s long-term future. (Map circa 2023 and does not include 2024 or 2025 acquisitions)

12/25/2025

Congratulations to the winners of the Osprey Observer Favorite Things Sweepstakes!! Grand Prize winner and Brandon resident Brant says he’s never won anything and can’t wait to use some of his prizes! Merry Christmas!!

12/23/2025

The winner!!

12/23/2025

Driving east on State Road 60, a colorful sight of a 2-story building painted a hue akin to a ripened Ruskin tomato — at 107 N. Kings Ave., just north of the thoroughfare also known as Brandon Boulevard, emerges from the cluttered signage.

It is the home of Babe’s Pizza, a Brandon family dining fixture since 1978, and now in the 21st century it continues not as merely a spot one plugs into a contraption for directions to fetch food, but as a neighborhood treasure seasoned with the flavor of a double-decker pizza.

The fact that the doors are still open after 47 years, reopening on October 7 after a hiatus, is a testament to a determination to fulfill appetites of neighbors with tasty food and an enjoyable atmosphere. The responsibility of keeping Babe’s doors open now rests with Naitik and Shivangi Patel, who recently bought the business from their friends Craig and Sofia Patel, who had operated the restaurant since 2019 after purchasing it from longtime owners Pat and Rich Paddock.

Driving east on State Road 60, a colorful sight of a 2-story building painted a hue akin to a ripened Ruskin tomato — at 107 N. Kings Ave., just north of the

12/22/2025

Going live for 2 more winners and still time to enter in link!!

12/22/2025

Last chance to enter! Drawing McAuley Fine Jewelry and True Lies Fishing Company prizes at 3:15 today!

12/20/2025

Big things happening in 2026!! We are selling our office! Almost our entire team works remote and some even live across the U.S. Technology and Zoom for the win! And… we are launching a 5th edition January 23… the Osprey Observer Apollo Beach/Ruskin/Wimauma targeting our demographic of single family homeowner in master-planned communities with average HH income of $85,000 and delivered by direct-mail! We need your good news leading into our 24th year of publishing!!!

Exceptional PD-zoned property with prime frontage on Lithia Pinecrest Road in the heart of Hillsborough County. Offering over 2300 square feet of interior space and approximately 110 feet of premium road frontage between West Lumsden Road and Bloomingd...

12/19/2025

Favorite Things first early bird winners! Link in comments for next week’s drawing!

12/19/2025

Enter NOW!!! We are going LIVE this afternoon with our first 3 Sweepstakes prizes including $1,500 worth of new tires from Express Oil Change & Tire Engineers and 2 EXCLUSIVE gifts from REED & REED! We sure hope you are entered! We’ll draw more winners on Monday and a GRAND PRIZE winner Tuesday!!

Our sweepstakes campaign, the Osprey Observer, A Few of Our Favorite Things, is so important this year and we need to spread some joy. We love partnering with our local businesses to help bring some positivity in whatever small way we can!