Burgin Reacts to Charges, Tobacco Road Reopens, Clerk Beat in Seffner

Here’s just a sampling of stories that posted in Brandon Patch for the week that ended July 28. To review additional stories, go to Browse News for a listing of stories in chronological order. (Also, you can search there by month, with the links posted in the left-hand column.)

• Valrico attorney Paul Phillips files accuses state Rep. Rachel Burgin of violating election laws. She said the charges are "completely and entirely unfounded." ()At issue is a mailer from The American People Committee showing Republican Tom Lee in an unfavorable light. Burgin said she had no prior knowledge of the mailers. Reported earlier: .

• Sam Bontempo, partnership owner of 13 Tobacco Road, roll-your-own cigarette shops in the Tampa Bay area, said he was . The Tobacco Road stores closed as a result, but after a federal court injunction issued in Ohio stalled enforcement of that law. The Tobacco Road store in Brandon is one othe chain's most popular sites.

• A , the attack captured on a surveillance video that was later distributed by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Later in the week, two fugitives, escapees from a correctional facility in Wisconsin, were captured in the case. James Newman, 29, and James Mislevek were captured in Broward County.

• "Look Twice. Save a Life. "That's the message from the Florida Department of Transportation that a Hillsborough Community College driver improvement program coordinator is committed to sharing with motorists. Toward that end, was posted.

• The are on display in the Mook Art Gallery at Center Place in Brandon, in an exhibit entitled, "Contrast." Mandese is past president of the Brandon League of Fine Arts.

• District 3 of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office is piloting "," an effort to rid the roadways of habitual traffic offenders and aggressive and impaired drivers. The aim is to reduce the number of traffic-related fatalities.

• The on Sept. 1, instead of the originally scheduled Aug. 31, in light of security issues and the Republican National Convention. All Aug. 31 games for the Hillsborough County School Distirct have been rescheduled for Sept. 1. The Eagles will face the Hawks at Armwood, on the field named for Lyle Flagg, who served as principal for both schools.

• Newly opened in the newest wing at the Westfield Brandon shopping mall is a 1,200- square-foot play area, near Gymboree, likened after "" at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.

• B. Lee Elam presents a , for its general scholarship initiative. Elam raised the money in his bid for honorary mayor of Brandon.

• The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency , servingwarrants at several suspected manufacturing and retail locations in Hillsborough County. A Brandon business was targeted in the sweep.