Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 153

Police charge Zephyrhills man in botched heist of Wells Fargo guard, Section tJctcrsburg Slimes SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 1995 NORTH PASCO EDITION ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. IfDOiflXig 75 1 1 SecftiKfes top dBscoMBiry County's of parks is fired lhBp creek Octooifi) C)S JENNIFER ODOM By ADAM C. SMITH Times Staff Writer 5'- if SPRING HILL A couple searching for scrap metal in woods north of Spring Hill stumbled on what could be key evidence in the unsolved murder of Jennifer Odom. They found her clarinet case and book bag, which had been missing since the 12-year-old schoolgirl was found dead about 12 miles away in February 1993.

Detectives emphasized that the recovered items led to no immediate breaks in the case, but they were excited by the discovery. The property will be sent to the FBI for analysis. It was not clear whether fingerprints, if there had been any, could have survived extended exposure to the elements. Jennifer Odom was abducted near her home in east Pasco County and found dead in southeast Hernando County. The items found Thursday evening were among heavy brush in an undeveloped area north of State Road 50 and west of HCAOak Hill Hospital.

Timet photo ROBERT ROGERS Jennifer Odom's book bag and clarinet case were found in heavy brush north of State Road 50. iifS'S OOSS6SSEOB1S In a sudden move, county parks and recreation director Nils Hallberg was fired Friday. "We prefer a different direction right now, and a management change," said Dan Johnson, assistant county administrator for public services. Late Friday afternoon, minutes before Johnson confirmed the firing, Hallberg told the Times he knew of no significant personnel changes in his high-profile department. He did not return subsequent phone calls.

Hallberg was hired as Pasco's parks and recreation director in May 1991, coming on board just as the county was winding down the huge expansion of its park system, which was funded through a $13-million bond issue. His department handles perhaps Pasco's most highly touted amenities: neighborhood parks, large wilderness parks, swim centers and ball fields. But the department also has been highly vulnerable to budget cuts. Two years ago, county commissioners lopped nearly $700,000 out of the department's roughly $7-million budget to avoid a big tax increase. The cuts included scaled-back maintenance and reduced subsidies for youth athletic leagues and summer programs.

County Commissioner Ed Collinsj who had not heard of Hallberg's firing and said he seemed to do a "fairly good job," recalled that Hallberg had been particularly concerned about the effects of budget cuts proposed at the time. "He probably painted a far darker picture than what's happened. That's probably parochial, just protecting his turf," Collins said. Johnson refused to say what precipitated the firing. "I have no further comment," he repeated when asked if a specific incident prompted the move.

County Administrator John Gallagher, however, said Johnson had been talking about making changes in the parks and recreation department for some time. Johnson "was really unhappy and wanted to make some changes. I don't know if it was just stuff that had built up. I don't talk to Nils that much," said Gallagher, who said he knew Johnson was talking about making changes around the start of the new year. "The next thing I heard, he had given him his walking papers." The 38-year-old Hallberg, who earned $45,423, oversaw recreation at MacDill Air Force Base before taking the job with Pasco.

-5 iriny it all back The discovery of Jennifer Odom's clarinet, case, books and book bag jolts the community anew and raises some hope. r. 1 i By COLLINS CONNER Timet Staff Writer "9 4 JcNNIrtR KBHBE ODOM f. 1 I Friday, in a wooded area that attracts dirt-bikers and dumped appliances, two scrap-metal scavengers found the 12-year-old murder victim's black plastic clarinet case, her engraved clarinet, her nylon book bag and her books. Ms.

Piersall, Jen DADE CITY Hours after Jennifer Odom's possessions were found in a scrubby spot in west Hernando County, the news traveled through east Pasco County, jolting again the murdered child's da Timet filet The killing of Jennifer Odom haunts the community. Timet filet Jennifer Odom's stepfather Clark Converse, shown here with wife Renee and daughter Jessica, said he is not getting his hopes up. everyone, because here, neighbors search and evaluation, saw Jennifer's aren't strangers. family at last year's Future Farmers of Jennifer's band director John Lea- America banquet, sure is now teaching music to Jenni- iL fer's younger sister Jessica. Last year, the teachers and students at Weightman struggled through the Ms.

Piersall, who now works at the school district office as director of re- Please see GIRL Page 2 nifer's teachers, her friends, neighbors and relatives felt again the awful shock of the child's disappearance on Feb. 19, 1993, the discovery of her body six days later and the lingering fear and suspicion as time passed without an arrest. In this rural area, a crime like the murder of Jennifer Odom affects nearly family, neighbors, and teachers. "I knew this would happen I knew that, someday, when they found the book bag and the clarinet, one of these days, this would all come back," said Katherine Piersall, who was Jennifer's principal at Thomas E. Weight-man Middle School.

It's a joy to go with the low flow TIMES DIGEST Two officials demoted over roving camera The county strips ranks of a pair of top emergency services officers who allegedly filmed close-ups of scantily clad female recruits. i BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN i Legislators to hold public hearing LAND O'LAKES The Pasco County legislative delegation, composed of state senators and representatives, will meet for an organizational session and public hearing Jan. 19 at the School Board, 7205 Land O'Lakes Blvd. The session will start at 9 a.m., break for lunch from noon to 1:30 p.m.

and continue until as late as 5 p.m. Those who wish to address the delegation must reserve time no later than Jan. 13. To do so, call Ralph Lair, assistant to delegation chairman Rep. Carl Littlefield, R-Dade City, at (904) 523-5025.

In addition to Littlefield, the session will be attended by Sen. John Grant, R-Tampa; Sen. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Brooksville; Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Palm Harbor; Rep. Jeff Stabins, R-Spring Hill; Rep.

Michael Fasano, R-New Port Richey; and Rep. Debra Prewitt, D-New Port Richey. Quote of the day "I knew this would happen. I knew that, someday, when they found the book bag and the clarinet, one of these days, this would all come back." Katherine Piersall, who was Jennifer Odom's principal at Thomas E. Weightman Middle School.

Church reaches out to pupils Volunteers from First Presbyterian Church in Zephyrhills have adopted kindergarten through second-grade pupils at Dade City's Centennial Elementary School. They provide the pupils with extra academic help and encouragement as well as help with their social and emotional development. Page 3 Correction A story Friday gave an incorrect phone number for information on low-income housing units being built by a branch of the Presbyterian Church in New Port Richey. For information, call Peggy Mountain at 849-2266. Oh, my, is this embarrassing or what? I've been identified as a profligate user me, the original "In this land of sun and fun, we never flush for No.

1" Toidy Tyrant. I found this out last week, when county officials left a water conservation kit on my doorstep. It's'one of 5,243 kits the county utilities department is giving out in big-user areas throughout the county in hope we'll cut down on our water use. Inside were two low-flow shower heads, three water-saving faucet aerators, two toilet tank water displacement bags, two blue tablets to test for water leakage and a bright red sign that says "We Saved" to put in my window. "We're giving them to high-use homes," said Bob Steinle, who is in charge of this pilot project in Pasco County.

The county plans to compare water usage by people like me with people without the kits to see if there's a difference. I'm tickled pink to get the kit, but it really wasn't necessary. If someone from the county had asked me, I could have identified the problem: my pampered lawn. When I lived in an apartment with no lawn, I used at most 2,000 to 3,000 gallons a month, which Steinle assures me is really good. It was only when I moved into my home with a lawn that my usage shot up to seven or eight times that amount, which Steinle assures me is really awful.

"Our suspicion is that irrigation is the cause of high usage for a lot of people," he said. Using reclaimed water would solve that problem, but putting the water lines into established neighborhoods like mine is ghastly expensive, what with tearing up streets, lawns and shrubbery. By ADAM C. SMITH Times StaflWriter Pasco County's emergency services director demoted two of his top staff members Friday after investigating a videotape that included inappropriate footage of female recruits in swimsuits. One of the officials, Fire-Rescue Training Chief Bill McMichael, ordered the camera operator to zero in on some of the recruits in swim-suits, concluded Emergency Services Director Amador Gonzalo.

The other official, Operations Chief Mike Morgan, wasn't present but did not investigate the matter sufficiently or dish out enough discipline when he learned of it, Gonzalo said. Morgan, who had been the second-ranking officer in the nearly 200-person Fire-Rescue department, was demoted to district chief. McMichael was demoted to a lieutenant. The two men combined have more than 30 years of service with Pasco County. The video was taken during water training exercises at the Land O'Lakes recreation complex pool last summer.

Much of that training tape has since been erased, but Gonzalo said it apparently included footage that zoomed in on the women there. The tape was later shown to the Please see DEMOTIONS Page 11 Photo by CHUCK WIRSHELS This water conservation kit is one of 5,243 that Pasco County is distributing this week. I'm perfectly willing to empty my washer onto my lawn, as we used to do in Texas during droughts, but that's a no-no around here. "We hope each home saves 5 to 17 gallons a day," Steinle said. Just 5 gallons of savings in each home would add up to almost 10-million gallons saved a year.

The goal isn't unrealistic. Pinellas County gave out 190,000 similar kits in 1990, and by the end of the year, the each user was saving 10 gallons a day. That's 1.9-million gallons a day almost 700 million gallons a year. In Pinellas, the problem was mostly leaks in older homes, according to Kathy Foley, water resource analyst for the Southwest Florida Water Management District. I'm not sure how much more I can do perhaps let my coddled lawn go to ruin but I'm willing to try.

I installed a low-flow shower head months ago, not necessarily to save water, but because I showered Please see FLOW Page 2.