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THREE LOWES WORKERS ARRESTED IN $70,000 THEFT RING
Goldberg 
Fehling 
Celli
Three men, including two from store management, have been arrested in a scheme that involved the theft of $70,000 in merchandise from the Lowes home improvement store in Brooksville. The Hernando County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday that Lowes loss prevention managers contacted detectives last week about missing merchandise. The arrests were made as a result of the ensuing sheriff's investigation. Arrest affidavits identify the suspects as Lowes zone manager James Edward Goldberg of 16807 Diplomat Drive in Spring Hill, local lumber department manager Robert Celli of 8371 Diver Lane in Spring Hill, and store associate Barry Fehling of Homossassa. Goldberg allegedly admitted to removal of items including power tools, lawnmowers, lumber, wood, and other tools from the store with the aid of Fehling. Detectives reportedly found a stolen refrigerator and other items at Celli's home, who allegedly stated that Goldberg paid him for work done with the items. Goldberg and Fehling were charged with grand theft and dealing in stolen property. Celli was charged with grand theft. Arrest reports say about $46,000 of the missing merchandise was recovered. The thefts allegedly took place over a two-year period.
LAWYERS SUE CITY OF WEEKI WACHEE FOR UNPAID BILLS
A law firm that represented the City of Weeki Wachee six years ago in the fight with Hernando County over Florida Water Services has sued the city for more than $58,000 in unpaid bills. The lawsuit says the city has refused to pay for services aimed at preventing the county from buying the water utility, a move that eventually failed when Florida Water agreed to allow the county to take over the Spring Hill system in a condemnation case. But City Attorney Joe Mason says there are good reasons why the city didn't pay and promised a vigorous defense of the lawsuit on Wednesday. Mason says the city doesn't have the money to pay and doesn't owe the money in the first place. The Florida Legislature restricted the city's taxing ability several years ago, and exhibits attached to the lawsuit seem to suggest that Florida Water owes the lawyers' bill, not the city.
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 cooling 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 that workshop and make their feelings known.
LAST BUDGET TOWN HALL IS INTERACTIVE EVENT
County Administrator David Hamilton holds the last of seven budget town hall meetings at the Government Center in Brooksville Wednesday night at 6:30. The session will be televised and web-streamed, and Hamilton plans to answer questions that are e-mailed or phoned in, as well as taking audience questions and comments. He may have to modify his presentation to account for new taxable value figures received Tuesday from the Property Appraiser. Those figures show a smaller decrease in values than predicted, and officials will review the impact of the new numbers on the budget during the day Wednesday. Budget director George Zoettlein says he's still working on the figures but thinks the final revenue total will be about a million dollars more than initially expected. After tonight's session, Hamilton leaves on an 18-day vacation, which has raised some eyebrows among government watchdogs, given the contentious budget issues that remain on the administrator's plate.
HERNANDO NOT TARGETING SEAT BELT VIOLATIONS
Hernando County Sheriff's officials said they did not have any specific count of the number of citations issued on Tuesday for motorists not wearing seat belts. A spokesperson said that unlike other counties in the bay area, Hernando deputies did not conduct any targeted program to enforce the new law and that they did not have a way of confirming how many such citations were issued. The mandatory seat belt law that took effect Tuesday provides for a $99 fine for failing to use seat belts and authorizes a traffic stop and citation for a seat belt violation even if there is no other basis for the stop. In Hillsborough, sheriff's deputies in unmarked vehicles made a point of enforcing the law Tuesday and updated media throughout the day on the number of citations issued.
TheCity of Brooksville announced a partnership with the WalmartDistribution Center Wednesday for implementing a voluntary curbsiderecycling program. Starting September 2, the city will begin curbsidepickup of recyclables. Walmart will contribute recyclable plastic bagsfor residents to use for setting out recyclable solid waste. On thefirst Wednesday of each month, the city will pick up plastic, aluminum,and tin, which can be placed together in the supplied blue recyclingbag. The second Wednesday is for newspaper pickup, again in theWalmart provided bags. On the third Wednesday, the city will pickupcardboard in the bags. Residents who want to participate in theprogram should fill out a special form and return it with a cityutilities bill. The form is available online at
www.ci.brooksville.fl.us/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=114&Itemid=129, or residents can call Mike McQuown at 540-3865 for more information.
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 through the end of the month 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.
SWFWMD URGED TO CONTINUE PUTTING PERMITS ON BOARD AGENDA
The Tampa Bay Business Journal reports that Gov. Charlie Crist signed Senate Bill 2080 into law Tuesday, which renews Florida’s water management districts as well as encouraging more water conservation-based landscaping. Crist is asking governing boards and executive directors of the districts to continue to include surface water and consumptive use permits on all board meeting and other public meeting agendas, despite a measure in the bill that delegates final agency action on such permits solely to the executive directors. And among the new water conservation measures is a ban on homeowner association enforcement of grass types that require more water.
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 is 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.
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 start the week of July 13 with 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.
DRUG SUSPECT HELD ON $123,000 BOND
A 32-year old woman was ordered held in the Hernando County Jail on $123,000 bond Wednesday after her arrest on drug charges. Somjai Memakeo Maner was charged with drug trafficking, possession of a controlled substance, and unlawful use of a two-way communications device. The arrest location was listed in jail records as 20 North Main Street in Brooksville. No other information on the case was immediately available.
TEEN ARRESTED FOR LEWD, LASCIVIOUS BATTERY
A 19-year old Land o' Lakes man was charged with lewd and lascivious battery Tuesday after a sheriff's deputy found him and a 15-year old girl parked behind a shopping center in Spring Hill. An arrest report says Tristan Daniel Harris fled after the deputy asked about the presence of his vehicle shortly before 5 a.m. Tuesday morning. The deputy later spotted the vehicle on Linden Drive and took Harris into custody. The report says subsequent investigation indicated that Harris and the 15-year old teen engaged in consensual intercourse. but under the law consensual intercourse with a person under 16 is lewd and lascivious battery.
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 last month. 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 after 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.
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THREE LOWES WORKERS ARRESTED IN $70,000 THEFT RING
Goldberg Fehling CelliLAWYERS SUE CITY OF WEEKI WACHEE FOR UNPAID BILLS
A law firm that represented the City of Weeki Wachee six years ago in the fight with Hernando County over Florida Water Services has sued the city for more than $58,000 in unpaid bills. The lawsuit says the city has refused to pay for services aimed at preventing the county from buying the water utility, a move that eventually failed when Florida Water agreed to allow the county to take over the Spring Hill system in a condemnation case. But City Attorney Joe Mason says there are good reasons why the city didn't pay and promised a vigorous defense of the lawsuit on Wednesday. Mason says the city doesn't have the money to pay and doesn't owe the money in the first place. The Florida Legislature restricted the city's taxing ability several years ago, and exhibits attached to the lawsuit seem to suggest that Florida Water owes the lawyers' bill, not the city.
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.
LAST BUDGET TOWN HALL IS INTERACTIVE EVENT
County Administrator David Hamilton holds the last of seven budget town hall meetings at the Government Center in Brooksville Wednesday night at 6:30. The session will be televised and web-streamed, and Hamilton plans to answer questions that are e-mailed or phoned in, as well as taking audience questions and comments. He may have to modify his presentation to account for new taxable value figures received Tuesday from the Property Appraiser. Those figures show a smaller decrease in values than predicted, and officials will review the impact of the new numbers on the budget during the day Wednesday. Budget director George Zoettlein says he's still working on the figures but thinks the final revenue total will be about a million dollars more than initially expected. After tonight's session, Hamilton leaves on an 18-day vacation, which has raised some eyebrows among government watchdogs, given the contentious budget issues that remain on the administrator's plate.
HERNANDO NOT TARGETING SEAT BELT VIOLATIONS
Hernando County Sheriff's officials said they did not have any specific count of the number of citations issued on Tuesday for motorists not wearing seat belts. A spokesperson said that unlike other counties in the bay area, Hernando deputies did not conduct any targeted program to enforce the new law and that they did not have a way of confirming how many such citations were issued. The mandatory seat belt law that took effect Tuesday provides for a $99 fine for failing to use seat belts and authorizes a traffic stop and citation for a seat belt violation even if there is no other basis for the stop. In Hillsborough, sheriff's deputies in unmarked vehicles made a point of enforcing the law Tuesday and updated media throughout the day on the number of citations issued.
| BROOKSVILLE PARTNERS WITH WALMART ON RECYCLING PROJECT | |
TheCity of Brooksville announced a partnership with the WalmartDistribution Center Wednesday for implementing a voluntary curbsiderecycling program. Starting September 2, the city will begin curbsidepickup of recyclables. Walmart will contribute recyclable plastic bagsfor residents to use for setting out recyclable solid waste. On thefirst Wednesday of each month, the city will pick up plastic, aluminum,and tin, which can be placed together in the supplied blue recyclingbag. The second Wednesday is for newspaper pickup, again in theWalmart provided bags. On the third Wednesday, the city will pickupcardboard in the bags. Residents who want to participate in theprogram should fill out a special form and return it with a cityutilities bill. The form is available online at
www.ci.brooksville.fl.us/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=114&Itemid=129, or residents can call Mike McQuown at 540-3865 for more information.
FORECLOSURE PACE SLOWS IN JUNE
SWFWMD URGED TO CONTINUE PUTTING PERMITS ON BOARD AGENDA
The Tampa Bay Business Journal reports that Gov. Charlie Crist signed Senate Bill 2080 into law Tuesday, which renews Florida’s water management districts as well as encouraging more water conservation-based landscaping. Crist is asking governing boards and executive directors of the districts to continue to include surface water and consumptive use permits on all board meeting and other public meeting agendas, despite a measure in the bill that delegates final agency action on such permits solely to the executive directors. And among the new water conservation measures is a ban on homeowner association enforcement of grass types that require more water.
DOWNPOUR CAUSES STREET FLOODING IN SOUTH BROOKSVILLE
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 start the week of July 13 with 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.
DRUG SUSPECT HELD ON $123,000 BOND
TEEN ARRESTED FOR LEWD, LASCIVIOUS BATTERY
BAR FIGHT LEADS TO AGGRAVATED BATTERY CHARGE
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