HNS REPORTS---WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2010
THREE MEN QUESTIONED AFTER HOME INVASION AND SEARCH
Three men who roused suspicions of residents near WPA Road and Gordon Loop were the subjects of a three-hour search Wednesday before they were captured. Authorities said they were questioning the unidentified men about a home invasion Tuesday night a few miles away on Weatherly Road.
According to a media release, three black males forced their way into a home at 9195 Weatherly Road, punched the two occupants of the residence, and fled after dumping the contents of a woman's purse in a bag. Deputies said 35-year old Killean Johnson was treated at a local hospital for a small laceration to the back of her head and released. The other victim, 35-year old Chad Varhaul, did not seek treatment.
Wednesday morning a resident in the 8100 block of WPA Road reported three black males walking around an abandoned house and said it appeared they were armed. Deputies on foot and in the air, with assistance from K-9's, searched the area and took three suspects into custody at about 10:30 near Gordon Loop and Granat. Deputies said the suspects were not armed when they were found.
The media release says investigation is continuing to determine whether the trio had any involvement in the Weatherly Road home invasion.
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DREDGE CONTRACTOR RETURNING TO HERNANDO BEACH
Hernando Beach residents have told county officials that Orion Dredging Services trucks and trailers with equipment began arriving back at the dredge site Tuesday. The sighting came a few hours before Orion officials delivered a discouraging message to county staff on Wednesday. While some of the dredge contractor's workers are reported back in Hernando Beach, the firm's president said the low bidder on the dredge project can't start working again until a modified state permit is final and a request to add millions of dollars to its contract is finalized.
The permit is due to become final Friday, and Hernando News Source has been told that County Administrator David Hamilton and legal staff are still negotiating final details to prevent a challenge to the modified permit. Jake Varn, a lawyer for the Manuel family, told commissioners earlier this month that a new agreement for dredge spoils will be needed to avoid a legal challenge to the permit. County documents indicate that the last disputed item revolves around details of water sampling in Minnow Creek, which runs along the north side of the spoil site at the old Hernando Beach sewer plant.
County commissioners have said they won't approve the Orion request for $7.8 million more, which Orion says it needs to comply with provisions of the modified permit. Though county staff won't comment for the record, they are saying they remain optimistic that a solution can be found to keep the project within budget, and they pointed to the reports that the contractor's workers and equipment are coming back to the beach, five days after they gave Orion written notice to get back to work.
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SWFWMD BOARD CUTS MILLAGE RATE
The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board reduced the proposed new millage rate to 0.3770 mill for the District’s General Fund, which is a reduction of a fraction of a mill from the current fiscal year’s rate of 0.3866. The move will reduce the district's ad valorem tax revenue an additional $2.65 million from the current fiscal year. The board's action came Tuesday at a district meeting in Wauchula.
The reduction is a change from the July 29 meeting, when Board members voted to keep the millage unchanged. This lowered millage rate, combined with a reduction in property values as certified by county property appraisers, will result in a $15.5 million decrease in ad valorem property tax revenue.
The last time the Governing Board lowered the District’s millage rate was three years ago, when the Board reduced the millage rate by 0.0354 from 0.422. Before that reduction, the millage rate held steady at 0.422 for the previous 13 years.
Two required public hearings on the District’s total budget will be held in September, with the second hearing scheduled September 28 at 5:01 p.m. at the District’s Brooksville Headquarters.
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HAMILTON: COUNTY COULD GO "OUT OF BUSINESS" WITHOUT CHANGES
County Administrator David Hamilton told a group of about a dozen people at a budget meeting Wednesday that the county could be "out of business" in two years. He showed graphs indicating that revenues plus reserves will exceed expenses in 2013 unless something changes. He noted that some funds, such as the Development Services enterprise fund, will be out of money even sooner. He told the gathering at the Spring Hill VFW that a big part of the organizational change he''s tried in instill in top management is the need to look long-term at the future of county government. Hamilton also defended the county sheriff's takeover of the jail, and he said the privatization of the jail just wasn't working under a contract negotiated a number of years ago under different conditions. Hamilton said "the general theory that government is always more expensive isn't necessarily true." He pointed to the sheriff's plans to run the jail "military-style," with organized inmate work crews inside and outside the jail.
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NUGENT, ROWDEN, DUKES, SPRING HILL "NO" ARE EASY ELECTION WINNERS
Hernando Sheriff Rich Nugent won an easy primary victory Tuesday over self-proclaimed Tea Party candidate Jason Sager in the contest for the District 5 U.S. House Republican nomination. Nugent will face Democrat Jim Piccillo of Land O'Lakes in November to determine who succeeds retiring Representative Ginny Brown-Waite. Nugent is the odds-on favorite in one of Florida's most heavily Republican districts, although Piccillo presents himself as a conservative Democrat.
Sager's grass-roots campaign just didn't show the results his supporters expected, especially in Hernando County, home to both candidates. Nugent won almost 70 percent of the local Republican votes, while maintaining a district-wide 62-38 edge in percentage of votes.
Diane Rowden is on her way to a November race against incumbent State Representative Rob Schenck. The Democrat handily beat political newcomer Jay Thompson and perennial candidate Dave Werder in the District 44 primary race. Rowden, a former Hernando county commissioner and school board member, will also have to decide when to move. She currently lives outside the district but has vowed to establish a residence in the district before she would take office, as state law allows.
Wayne Dukes, who's lost in two previous bids for the County Board, will take on incumbent Democrat Rose Rocco in November in the only contested commission race. Dukes won 50 percent of the vote in a three-way Republican primary. Ty Mullis got 27 percent to William Kingeter's 22 percent. Dukes may have a tough road ahead, as a number of prominent Brooksville Republicans have donated to Rocco's campaign already.
And in Spring Hill, voters gave an overwhelming thumbs-down to a referendum to grant ad valorem taxing authority to the Spring Hill Fire Board. The issue was hotly contested, with supporters urging a vote to "Cap the Fire Tax" while opponents questioned whether the current fire board would try to use tax authority to find other ways to raise revenue. Roughly six in every ten voters said no to the referendum, which now leaves the fire district in the hands of the Legislature. Lawmakers may be asked to authorize another referendum, and that could put the onus back on Hernando County to provide assistance in keeping the money flowing to the district.
In other races of local interest, incumbent District 43 State Representative Ron Schultz was locked in a tight battle with Jimmie Smith. There is no Democrat in the race, so whoever prevails in the primary goes to Tallahassee. Wednesday morning, final returns gave Smith a narrow 415-vote lead out of more than 31,000 cast, and a final result appeared to hinge on absentee counts Wednesday in the three counties covered by the district, including the northwest corner of Hernando.
And incumbent Hernando School Board members had leads in three races, with two of the non-partisan contests decided in favor of John Sweeney and Dianne Bonfield, who each won a second term on the board. Four-term veteran Sandy Nicholson was getting less than 40 percent of the vote in her three-way race and will face a run-off in November against Cynthia Moore, who finished in a solid second place over Mike Bainum.
Elections officials said only 22 percent of Hernando's voters went to the polls during early voting or braved the rain Tuesday to cast ballots. Absentees were to be counted Wednesday.
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HOMETOWN HERO NOT A BIG HERNANDO WINNER
Hernando High graduate and Brooksville-raised Bill McCollum didn't take his putative home county by storm in Tuesday's election. In fact, McCollum got less than 50 percent of the votes of Hernando Republicans and was less than two percent ahead of multi-millionaire rival Rick Scott in local balloting for the Governor's race. Obscure candidate Mike McCallister was the choice of 10 percent of Hernando's voters. McCollum lost the statewide vote to Scott by a similar margin as he won in Hernando, a little less than three percent.
And Spring Hill's Brian Moore took 22 percent of the votes of Hernando Democrats in his campaign against heavy favorite for the gubernatorial nomination, Alex Sink. Statewide, Moore did even better, with 23 percent of the vote and almost 200,000 total votes.
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JARDIN TRIAL JURY PICKED, TESTIMONY CONTINUES WEDNESDAY
Prosecutor Pete Magrino continues presenting his case against double murder suspect Robert Jardin Wednesday in Hernando County Circuit Court. The state's first witnesses included deputies, detectives and crime scene technicians who were the first to arrive at the Masaryktown home where the bodies of two elderly murder victims were found in 2006. Tuesday, Magrino and Assistant Public Defender Alan Fanter made opening arguments to 14 men and women who were picked as the 12-person jury and two alternates. Jury selection took most of the trial's first two days.
Jardin is charged with two counts of first degree murder in the 2006 stabbing deaths of Patrick and Evelyn DePalma in their rural home near Masaryktown. Magrino's evidence includes Jardin's DNA found on a milk carton in the home and stolen property of the DePalmas allegedly found in his residence. The defense is expected to claim that Jardin was in the home and saw the bodies but did not kill the elderly couple. Fanter's claim that another man did the killing may have been helped by a ruling from Circuit Judge Jack Springstead that the jury can hear evidence of statements made by David Bostick, a relative of the victims who was the first person arrested in the case in 2008 but who was later released for what prosecutors said was a lack of evidence. Magrino sought unsuccessfully to keep the jury from hearing about Bostick.
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LAST MISSING DOG FROM SHELTER BREAK-IN RETURNED
Nature Coast Humane Society Director Joanne Schoch said Wednesday that the last of the missing dogs stolen last week from the society's Mobley Road shelter has been returned. The mixed breed named Moe has now been reunited with siblings Curly and Larry. Schoch said an unidentified man who found Moe and brought him to the shelter has plans to adopt him.
Three other stolen dogs were found in the Fullington Road area of Brooksville last week, and two men were arrested and charged with breaking in to the shelter. One stolen dachshund was found killed on the road near the shelter.
Schoch said there is still one dog missing from a July burglary at the animal shelter, a four-year old pit bull mix named Shayna. A reward for her return is offered.
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DEVELOPER'S BANKRUPTCY LEAVES CITY HOLDING BAG OF BONDS
The Brooksville City Council met Tuesday night to figure out what to do about a $20 million default by the Southern Hills Plantation developer, who's left a lot of committed projects undone. Foremost among them were upgrades to city wastewater treatment facilities, a plan for wastewater reuse, and plans for a road from Cortez Blvd. to the development.
The agenda for the special meeting included a resolution that would demand payment of performance bonds securing the cost of the projects. Those bonds are for a total of almost $20 million.
The first step would be to demand payment from the various companies guaranteeing the obligations. The city is already involved in litigation over payment of a performance bond for the Cascades development, which was part of the original project proposed and approved for Hampton Ridge developers.
The company was one of Florida's most prominent at the time the city stretched its limits south to include the Brooksville Ridge property between U.S. 41 and the CSX railroad. But its Southern Hills development has many more vacant lots than upscale homes, and after emerging from bankruptcy court, Hampton Ridge is no more, its assets, but not its liabilities, now the property of GreenPointe Communities. GreenPointe is still in negotiations with Brooksville over an amended development agreement, with impact fee credits a major bone of contention.
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REGULATORS PROBE "SUBSTANTIAL INCREASE" IN SINKHOLE CLAIMS
Florida insurance regulators are seeking information from the commercial and residential property insurance industry in Florida on sinkhole claims. Regulators say they have seen a "substantial increase" in sinkhole claims around the state, not just in the traditional “sinkhole alley” in Hernando and Pasco Counties. In a media release, the state insurance office said it has heard reports from the industry on the claims increase and is "conducting a data call to learn more information about sinkhole activity including the frequency and severity of claims, and the geographic location of these claims."
The release says the data call will encompass sinkhole claims opened in Florida between 2006 and 2010. Companies are required to report data to the Office by Tuesday, September 21, to more clearly define the types of claims being filed, testing procedures, inspection costs, locations, fees to lawyers and public adjusters, and the amount of structural loss.
Regulators say they will use the information to determine potential regulatory actions and whether additional authority is needed through legislative action.
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WATER DISTRICT LOOKS AT NEW DROUGHT RULES
The Southwest Florida Water Management District will reportedly consider re-writing many of its drought emergency rules when it meets next month at its Brooksville headquarters. The Ocala Star-Banner said in a story Monday that SWFWMD staff has been working on the new rules for the past year because the district felt some of the current rules weren't very effective during the most recent three year drought.
The story says some of the changes would involve new measures for determining drought severity and when to implement water use restrictions. New rules would also provide guidelines for working closer with the local governments who face the task and expense of enforcing the restrictions.
A SWFWMD spokesman told the Star-Banner's Fred Hiers that modifying phases and the different watering rules for each "gets confusing as hell" and said people should be able to understand the rules better.
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CITRUS DEPUTIES CHARGE MAN WITH MOLESTING BROOKSVILLE GIRLS
Citrus County deputies have reportedly charged a Floral City man with molesting two Brooksville teenaged girls. According to a report at CitrusDaily.com, 67-year old Thomas Andrew Ellis is charged with lewd and lascivious molestation and is being held without bond. The report says Ellis, a convicted sexual predator, was named by the two girls, who were under 12 years old at the time. They reportedly told deputies that Thomas Andrew Ellis touched their private areas on more than one occasion.
One of the girls told deputies that one occasion was when she was in elementary school. The other girl said Ellis fondled her over her clothing when she was about six years old. Both girls said that Ellis this activity also occurred at Ellis' home.
The arrest report says he was involved in a prior case in 2009, also involving girls younger than 12. Ellis reportedly refused to talk to investigators and requested a lawyer.
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SPRING HILL MAN FACES ARSON, INSURANCE FRAUD CHARGES
Authorities say a 34-year old Spring Hill man turned himself in Tuesday to face charges of arson, insurance fraud, and false report of a crime. A warrant charges Steven Roque of 12318 Glen Raven Street with burning a car, damaging a structure, submitting false reports to an insurance company and to law enforcement, and littering. The warrant says the crime was committed in March 2010 but doesn't provide much else in the way of details. Roque was booked into the Hernando County Jail on the charges.
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I would like to congratulate Mr. Dukes on his victory and I pledge my support for his campaign should he be willing to accept it. I ask that all Republicans help him defeat Miss Rocco in November.
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McCollum should have won hernando big, like Nugent and Bondi!! He had a terrrible campaing manager who just did not know how to campaign. What an absolute shame!!!!!!!
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