TWO HERNANDO CAR LOTS CALLING IT QUITS

Multiple media sources confirm now that two Hernando car dealerships, Hernando Mitsubishi and Hernando Suzuki, and an affiliated Pasco dealership, Gulfview Motors, are shutting down.  Up to 80 employees will reportedly get pink slips.  All three lots were closing at the end of business on Sunday, although some administrative operations will continue at the U.S. 19 Hernando location for up to 30 days.  Gulfview Automotive Group's president said in a news release that the company and its staff "are victims of an economy that made it impossible to continue doing business." 

More details from  various sources in the Local News from Google section below.



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SATURDAY ARREST LEADS TO MULTIPLE DRUG CHARGES

From the Hernando County Jail arrest reports comes word of the arrest of 23-year old Samuel Alan Sanders on multiple drug charges.  Booking info says Sanders was arrested in the 200 block of Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard in south Brooksville Saturday afternoon.  Sanders is charged with two counts of trafficking in drugs and conspiracy to traffic cocaine, as well as possession and sale of cocaine and unlawful use of a two way communication device.  Further details were not immediately available.  Hernando News Source includes a direct link to the jail booking information, which you can always find in the left sidebar under quick crime links..

MAY RAINS DON'T DO MUCH FOR LAKE LEVELS

A just-released SWFWMD report shows the high May rainfall totals haven't done much to help refill Hernando County's thirsty lakes.  The Water Management District's May lake levels for the northern part of the district that includes Hernando pegs levels continuing to fall, almost a quarter foot below April measurements.  Northern lakes are almost two feet below levels measured last year.  That's by far the biggest year to year drop in the District's four areas.  Lake levels in the Tampa Bay and Polk Uplands regions showed continued decline from the prior month as well.  Only the Lake Wales ridge in central Polk County posted an increase in measured lake level over the prior month,.  Those lakes are now only about three inches below last year's levels.

The report does suggest that the 10+ inches average May rain in the northern part of the district, seven inches above normal rainfall, has helped recharge the aquifer.  In the north, aquifer levels are almost back to the lower end of the normal range, after being a foot and a half below normal in April.  But that's still below the reading in May of last year, when aquifer levels were barely into the normal range.

May rains also doubled streamflow at Trilby and Holder on the Withlacoochee River, but other streams in the district saw much more dramatic increases.  Stream flow is measured by percentile, and the Withlacoochee remains the only one the three major rivers in the district which is below the normal range.  The Hillsborough and Peace Rivers have recovered more from last year and are now showing normal range percentiles.

IRS VILLAGES TAX RULING HAS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DISTRICTS SCRAMBLING

Officers, attorneys and accountants of Hernando's Community Development Districts are watching the latest Internal Revenue Service actions against CDD's in the Villages development.  According to documents obtained by the Orlando Sentinel, a preliminary IRS report is saying that hundreds of millions of dollars in bonds sold as tax-free may have been improper.  The IRS report questions loans from the bond sales which financed recreation facilities like the Villages multiple golf courses and suggests that tax-free bonds can't be used for facilities that aren't available to the public.  Hernando County has several of the CDD's, including Sterling Hill on Elgin Boulevard and Spring Ridge off Sunshine Grove Road.   In a CDD residents commit to regular monthly assessments which go to both current maintenance and bond service for improvements.  The CDD's have government status under Florida law, but the IRS concerns detailed in the Sentinel report raise questions about whether some improvements are proper for governments.

The IRS report says $355 million in loans to the Villages CDD should be repaid, and tax liability of almost $17 million is also involved, though a compromise would waive most of that if the Villages agrees.  However, given the high stakes for hundreds of other Florida CDD's, agreement that the bonds and improvements weren't proper seems unlikely.

HERNANDO GOVERNMENT THIS WEEK

Monday night the Brooksville City Council takes another look at a vehicle impoundment ordinance and a new personnel policy for city workers.  As drafted, the ordinance allows seizure of vehicles for misdemeanor and city code violations, such as excessive noise, improper parking, and even honking your car's horn if no one is in danger.  City police chief George Turner has said he will propose a  a warning on first offfense, rather than seizure.  Later the Council will decide on new personnel policies, including a dress and appearance code that would bar most body piercing, visible tattoos, skimpy or revealing clothes, and even banning employees with body odor.  That's right, the policy proposes to discipline workers who don't use deodorant or have other hygiene issues.

On Tuesday the County's Budget committee gets a report from staff on budget reductions still needed to meet the projected revenue shortfall.  A staff memo says more than nine million dollars in budget cuts are still needed from constitutional officers and county departments.  Some of those departments, including parks, public works, and community relations, will make presentations to the committee.

And the Hernando County Port Authority holds its monthly meeting Wednesday night for the latest update on dredge work and other waterways isues.

JASMINE DRIVE CONSTRUCTION DETOURS BEGIN

Monday marks the first day that Jasmine Drive will be closed to through traffic between Cortez Boulevard and Mondon Hill Road.  The County says the nine month project will require through traffic to access Mondon Hill or McIntyre Road from Broad Street or Croom Road.  The first phase of Jasmine widened the narrow two lanes of the east side collector road.  The second phase will continue lane-widening and will take the road on an east jog along old railroad right of way to a four-way intersection at Mondon Hill and McIntyre.  Plans call for future collocation in the old rail corridor with the long planned city-county Good Neighbor Trail.