HNS REPORTS---6/30/09
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FORECLOSURE PACE SLOWS IN JUNE
Statistics from the Hernando Clerk's office show a marked decrease in foreclosures for June, 2009, when compared with the previous two months and with June, 2008. According to the clerk's compilation of case filing data for the month through Tuesday, there were 229 foreclosure cases filed in Hernando County in the past 30 days. There were 281 cases filed in May of this year, which was consistent with April's figure of 272. In June, 2008, the clerk's office reported 276 foreclosure filings. The approximate 18% drop in month-to-month filings could be encouraging news for the real estate market, which has been plagued for more than a year now with a glut of foreclosed and often empty homes and plunging real estate values. At the same time the statistics indicate that substantial numbers of homeowners are not making payments and the total number of foreclosed properties continues to rise.
DOWNPOUR CAUSES STREET FLOODING IN SOUTH BROOKSVILLE
The first major rainstorm of the summer season caused havoc in parts of south Brooksville Tuesday as more than an inch and a half of rain fell in one hour, with almost three inches in all for the day. Clogged drainage ditches put several inches of water over Josephine and Twigg Streets, filling a church parking lot with flowing water and approaching the front porch of a nearby house.
Residents have complained for years about flood waters draining south from downtown Brooksville in heavy rains. County Engineer Charles Mixson was on the scene Tuesday, having been called out of a budget meeting to review the situation. Mixson said he was not aware of any structures that flooded, although he said the water came close to entering one home. He said the main problems were flooded streets in south Brooksville, such as Twigg Street pictured below.
Water at least a foot deep isolated two homes at the end of the road an hour or more after Mixson said the storm flow had peaked. He says part of the problem is that drainage ditches need to be cleaned and regularly maintained. Those ditches are on private property, and county staff are working on plans to deal with the drainage issues. Coincidentally Mixson, County Administrator David Hamilton and county lawyer Erica Moore met earlier Tuesday with a SWFWMD consultant working on flood maps for the area. Mixson says the new extent of a flood zone covering most of south Brooksville could complicate funding for the ditch project, as well as other area improvements.
HAMILTON, SHERIFF TALK COMPROMISE ON BUDGET CUTS
County Administrator David Hamilton and Sheriff Richard Nugent talked Tuesday and apparently reached an understanding that some compromise is needed on the size of the sheriff's budget cuts.
Hamilton told about 30 people at a budget town hall at Hernando Beach that demanding a $4.2 million dollar cut in the sheriff's requested budget was "probably unrealistic" given the importance of public safety to the county's residents. Hamilton said the duo was "working with a revised figure we can acknowledge as reflecting the need for public safety balanced with the need for budget reductions" and added that he would send the sheriff a memo to "recalibrate a more realistic reduction." The comments were the first indication of a thaw in the heat generated recently by the county's demand for the sheriff to cut his budget and Nugent's insistence on an adequate level of public safety funding. Hamilton said Nugent had committed to attending a July 28 County Board budget workshop and urged attendees at the beach meeting to come to next month's workshop and make their feelings known.
HERNANDO SCHOOLS GET NEW ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT
School District services director Sonya Jackson has been named the top assistant to superintendent Wayne Alexander, according to reports in other media Tuesday. Jackson was tabbed as Alexander's top choice from among more than 20 applications for the post, which caused some controversy among school board members when the superintendent announced his intent to fill the job even while he seeks employment elsewhere. Jackson had been appointed Nature Coast Tech High School principal two weeks ago, so that position will need to be filled again. Jackson also garnered attention recently as the primary architect of a proposed new grading scale for elementary students which involves the virtual elimination of zero grades.
BEACH DREDGE MEETING SET FOR JULY 15
County officials Tuesday confirmed a public meeting for 6 p.m. July 15 at the Coast Guard building in Hernando Beach to talk about the start of the channel dredge project. County Engineer Charles Mixson says he expected the county's contractor and consultant to attend the meeting, which will follow a pre-construction meeting with the contractor earlier in the day. Officials say they expect the project to begin the week of July 13 with beginning the process of removing and replanting sea grass to mitigate damage to vegetation in the dredge project. That work is pursuant to a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers that was reportedly in the mail to the county, based on an announcement Monday.
BAR FIGHT LEADS TO AGGRAVATED BATTERY CHARGE
Sheriff's deputies say they arrested a 45-year old woman Tuesday on aggravated battery charges in connection with a bar fight earlier in June. An arrest affidavit says Carolyn Taliaferro struck another woman with her hand while holding a beer mug, causing lacerations, and followed up by hitting the victim three times on the head with a beer bottle until the bottle broke. The victim, who was identified as Dianna Faso, was later treated at a Citrus County hospital for a concussion, contusions and lacerations incurred during the attack. Witnesses said she was bleeding profusely from the incident. The affidavit indicated that the suspect had been dating a James Faso and became agitated on finding James and Dianna Faso together at the bar. Detectives say the suspect admitted the allegations of the witnesses on Tuesday and was being held at the Hernando County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bond.
HOMELESS DRUG SUSPECT ARRESTED, SENTENCED, ALL IN 14 HOURS
A homeless man was arrested and sentenced all in less than 14 hours on a drug paraphernalia charge. Tuesday at first appearance County Judge Don Scaglione gave 44-year old Richard Alan Polaske a ten day County Jail sentence after reviewing a sheriff's report on his arrest Monday night at the Mobil station near US 19 and Cortez Boulevard in Weeki Wachee. Deputies said Polaske was arrested shortly after 7 p.m. when he was found behind the station with a missing shoelace, which a deputy deduced was used for injecting drugs. Deputies found a syringe and a white substance which Polaske reportedly admitted to injecting. He allegedly said it was a melted-down prescription drug. Although the substance was to be sent to state officials for testing, Scaglione looked at the misdemeanor paraphernalia charge, listened to Polaske say he was trying to get to the Florida panhandle, took his sworn admission to the charge, and then sentenced him to serve ten days in jail, with the case disposed of by 8:30 Tuesday morning.
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FORECLOSURE PACE SLOWS IN JUNE
DOWNPOUR CAUSES STREET FLOODING IN SOUTH BROOKSVILLE
HAMILTON, SHERIFF TALK COMPROMISE ON BUDGET CUTS
County Administrator David Hamilton and Sheriff Richard Nugent talked Tuesday and apparently reached an understanding that some compromise is needed on the size of the sheriff's budget cuts.
HERNANDO SCHOOLS GET NEW ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT
School District services director Sonya Jackson has been named the top assistant to superintendent Wayne Alexander, according to reports in other media Tuesday. Jackson was tabbed as Alexander's top choice from among more than 20 applications for the post, which caused some controversy among school board members when the superintendent announced his intent to fill the job even while he seeks employment elsewhere. Jackson had been appointed Nature Coast Tech High School principal two weeks ago, so that position will need to be filled again. Jackson also garnered attention recently as the primary architect of a proposed new grading scale for elementary students which involves the virtual elimination of zero grades.
BEACH DREDGE MEETING SET FOR JULY 15
County officials Tuesday confirmed a public meeting for 6 p.m. July 15 at the Coast Guard building in Hernando Beach to talk about the start of the channel dredge project. County Engineer Charles Mixson says he expected the county's contractor and consultant to attend the meeting, which will follow a pre-construction meeting with the contractor earlier in the day. Officials say they expect the project to begin the week of July 13 with beginning the process of removing and replanting sea grass to mitigate damage to vegetation in the dredge project. That work is pursuant to a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers that was reportedly in the mail to the county, based on an announcement Monday.
BAR FIGHT LEADS TO AGGRAVATED BATTERY CHARGE
Sheriff's deputies say they arrested a 45-year old woman Tuesday on aggravated battery charges in connection with a bar fight earlier in June. An arrest affidavit says Carolyn Taliaferro struck another woman with her hand while holding a beer mug, causing lacerations, and followed up by hitting the victim three times on the head with a beer bottle until the bottle broke. The victim, who was identified as Dianna Faso, was later treated at a Citrus County hospital for a concussion, contusions and lacerations incurred during the attack. Witnesses said she was bleeding profusely from the incident. The affidavit indicated that the suspect had been dating a James Faso and became agitated on finding James and Dianna Faso together at the bar. Detectives say the suspect admitted the allegations of the witnesses on Tuesday and was being held at the Hernando County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bond.
HOMELESS DRUG SUSPECT ARRESTED, SENTENCED, ALL IN 14 HOURS
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