HNS WEEK IN REVIEW---DECEMBER 19-20, 2009
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Most of our stories this week seem to qualify as "first and only at Hernando News Source" since the other local media websites were rarely updated more than once a day. Unfortunately, the top stories involved two violent crimes, with three alleged armed robbers behind bars and a fourth still being sought. Here in reverse chronological order are the top local stories of the week before Christmas.
FRIDAY
THREE ARRESTED IN BEST BUY COMPUTER ROBBERY
Ford 
Guillen
The Hernando County Sheriff's Office said Friday that three Pasco County residents have been arrested and charged in the armed robbery at Best Buy in Spring Hill on Tuesday. The three were identified as 36-year old David Ford, Jr., who was the male robber; 32-year old Winifred Guillen, the female robbery; and 29-year old Jessie McCambridge-Ford, who deputies said drove the getaway truck. A sheriff's spokesperson says the arrests were made after a Crimestoppers tip.
Ford and Guillen allegedly took four laptop computers worth almost $5,000 from the store, and Ford reportedly threatened a store employee with a knife to the chest when he was stopped on the way out. Ford was booked into the Pasco County Jail and Guillen was booked into the Hernando County Jail, both on charges of Robbery with a Deadly Weapon, and McCambridge-Ford is charged with principal to robbery.
MAN ROBBED AT GUNPOINT BEHIND COMMERCIAL WAY BAR
Pye Sheriff's deputies say they arrested one of a pair of armed robbers who stole cash, jewelry, a camera and car keys at gunpoint from a man in the parking lot of a Commercial Way nightspot near Northcliffe Boulevard. 26-year old Russell Pye was taken into custody after a short pursuit of the victim's stolen car. He was booked into the Hernando County Jail Thursday and charged with armed robbery and grand theft. Deputies are still looking for the second robber, who was identified as 34-year old Craig Kendrick. He's said to be armed and dangerous.
HERNANDO UNEMPLOYMENT RATE JUMPS IN NOVEMBER
Hernando County's unemployment rate jumped to almost 15 percent according to statistics for November released Friday by the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation. Hernando's 14.7 percent November jobless rate is up seven-tenths of a percent from October and compares with a rate of 10.2 percent for November of last year. Hernando and St. Lucie County are tied for the third worst rate in the state, behind only Flagler County at 16.8 percent and Hendry County at 14.9 percent. It's the biggest month-to-month jump in the local unemployment rate this year.
The state as a whole showed a November jobless rate of 11.5 percent, up two-tenths of a percent over October and more than four percent more than in November of 2008.
Local business leaders have cautioned that the state statistics are collected in ways that can distort the true picture of joblessness.
HERNANDO LEGISLATORS SCHEDULE NEW MEETING ON WEEKI WACHEE
State Representative Robert Schenck announced Friday that the Hernando County Legislative Delegation has scheduled a meeting for January 6. Schenck, the delegation's chair, says the meeting with other officials will focus on what the Legislature should do about the City of Weeki Wachee. The delegation voted earlier this month to introduce a local bill to dissolve the tiny city, but that plan hit a snag when the city's attorney, Joe Mason, said he would present a bill for more than a million dollars of legal work. Officials were concerned that county taxpayers could end up on the hook for Mason's fees if the city were dissolved. Sources have suggested that the delegation may consider leaving a smaller city in place by excluding businesses that are currently within the city limits. The delegation may also consider removing all city tax authority if the city is left in place. The January 6 meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m. in the council chambers of Brooksville City Hall.
COUNTY CHIEF SAYS HE'S WORKING ON NOBLETON MEETING
Hamilton 
Covell
County Administrator David Hamilton said Friday he is working on setting up a meeting on the change in zip codes for Nobleton residents. That meeting was requested by his bosses, the county commissioners, last week in response to complaints by Nobleton homeowner and civic activist Anna Liisa Covell. Thursday Covell accused Hamilton of ignoring the County Board's direction in a blog posting, but Hamilton says he still expects to get Covell together with county officials responsible for the zip code change. He said he was working on setting up the meeting she and the board wanted.
Covell's blog post had referred to a comment that she said Hamilton made in the phone call, that he didn't think a further meeting was necessary.
SPRING HILL MAN CHARGED FOR DRUGS, RESISTING ARREST
Sheriff's detectives arrested a Spring Hill man Thursday on drug charges and added a resisting arrest charge when the suspect allegedly became combative with a deputy. The Sheriff's office says detectives served a search warrant at 6134 Dorset Road and found Oxycodone, Xanax, marijuana and paraphernalia in a bedroom of the home. The room's occupant, 19-year old Michael Legere, was booked into the Hernando County Jail on two counts of possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, and resisting an officer with violence.
THURSDAY
TEACHERS' LEADERS BLAST STATE "RACE TO THE TOP" PLANS
Local teachers' union chief Joe Vitalo says he still backs the concept of the Race to the Top federal program for education funding, but he says Florida's implementation needs to be fixed. Thursday the statewide union president Andy Ford of the Florida Education Association said in a Tallahassee Democrat advertisement that the proposal is "fatally flawed." Ford and Vitalo laid the blame on state Department of Education Officials, who are requiring districts and teachers' unions to agree to local merit pay plans based on student test scores as a basis for collecting millions of dollars in federal school funding.
Viitalo told Hernando News Source Thursday that he is "still enthusiastic that we are still in the ballpark, but we will not step up to the plate as long as [the state education department] is trying to bring back . . . unattainable performance measurements" that aren't fair to all parties. He also said that local teachers and district officials are "in agreement" on local needs and will go forward with Race to the Top funding "only if certain conditions from the state can be met." The local district's participation in program dollars depends on sign off from teachers.
CITY FACES TOUGH CHOICES ON IMPACT FEES
A legal memo to the Brooksville City Council says opting out of an agreement on impact fees with the County may not be as easy as council members might think. The memo is a response to a council request earlier this month to adopt its own impact fee schedule rather than go along with the County's twelve-month experiment in cutting impact fees in half. It says there are separate interlocal agreements between the city and county for various impact fee components. They all rely on a county study of proper charges that is more than four years old. Assistant City Attorney Jennifer Rey and Community Development Director Bill Geiger say there are significant legal risks in adopting the four-year old study as the basis for the city's separate fees. They will be asking for further council direction at Monday's council meeting.
LAWYER CHASTISED AS ZONING APPEAL CASE MOVES FORWARD
Mason In a scathing five-page order, Circuit Judge Victor Musleh chastised Brooksville lawyer Joe Mason for what the order suggested was an attempt to move a zoning case from his court to another one. The order came in an appeal of a County Board decision to deny expansion of a drug rehabilitation center in western Spring Hill, off Toucan Drive. Mason, representating Toucan Partners, filed documents in the case in which a key part of the case number was altered. Mason's case number would have put the case before a three-judge appellate panel, instead of senior judge Musleh, who is one of two senior judges assigned to cases involving Hernando County. Mason did get one thing he was asking for out of the case...an order to the county to show cause, meaning that after almost five months on the docket, the county will have to file a brief explaining why the zoning denial should be upheld.
WEDNESDAY
JAIL ESCAPEE FOUND...AT HERNANDO SHERIFF'S OFFICE
A 55-year old man walked into the Hernando County Sheriff's Office Tuesday, announced that he was an escaped prisoner from a Florida jail, and turned himself in. The Florida Department of Corrections website said Jeffrey Goodhart escaped on November 30 from a Largo residential re-entry facility. He was convicted on several charges including grand theft, burglary and dealing in stolen property in Manatee County. He was booked into the Hernando County Jail on a new charge of escape.
BROOKSVILLE MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO FRAUD
The Buffalo News reported Wednesday that a Brooksville man faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine in connection with selling overvalued used vehicles at a South Buffalo auto dealership. 61-year old John P. Lafferty pleaded guilty to a felony charge of conspiracy to defraud. Authorities said. Lafferty overvalued the vehicles when involved in selling them at a Buffalo area used-car dealership where he worked as a manager.
Lafferty is scheduled to be sentenced March 24 by Chief U. S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.
TUESDAY
COUNTY BOARD OK'S NEW DPW WORK BY $2 MILLION+ CONSULTANT
Gantt and Mixson
The 13th supplemental agreement for more testing at the old DPW compund proved unlucky for almost everyone involved Tuesday. County Engineer Charles Mixson asked for the $45,000 addition to a contract that's already netted consultant CES more than $2 million. County Administrator David Hamilton and Purchasing chief Jim Gantt recommended re-bidding. But Mixson was concerned about timing and a potential missed deadline with state regulators who asked for the new testing. Hamilton said he was simply sticking with a policy for no more agreements with CES. (AUDIO) But County Board members said so long as actual remediation work at the site is bid out, they were willing to give CES the new testing job to make sure the state deadlines are met.
BUDGET REPORT HAS COMMISSIONER CONCERNED
County Commissioner Jeff Stabins says he's worried about what he read in a report to the County Board on spending. Stabins noted that most departments and constitutional officers were on target to spend their entire budgeted funds for the 2010 fiscal year. Stabins said unless the agencies are more careful with their expenses, the county may be facing a worse budget crisis next summer. (AUDIO Stabins said he would like to see departments and officers make an effort to spend only 90% of their budgets so that next year's spending plan can use carryover funds.) Commissioners Tuesday got the first of several regular budget reports they requested recently.
AVIATION AUTHORITY MEMBER DISPUTES CONTROL TOWER NEED
What started as a routine item for planning for a Hernando County Airport control tower wound up as a lengthy discussion on the need for the the tower Tuesday. Airport officials wanted the County Board to approve an agreement with the FDOT for federal and state money to plan for a control tower. But Aviation Authority David Lemon questioned whether the tower was a good use of taxpayer money. He said the airport had not documented the level of aircraft operations to justify a tower and noted that it could cost three million dollars to build. (AUDIO) But commissioners disagreed, saying an airport control tower was a key to economic development. John Druzbick said businesses and most pilots at the airport were in favor of a tower. AUDIO)
COUNTY OFFICIALS TALKING WITH JUDGES ON ALTERNATE INCARCERATION
County Administrator David Hamilton said Tuesday he has been talking with Hernando County judges about using ankle monitor bracelets to cut down on jail costs. Hamilton told the County Board he will be meeting this week with judicial authorities and plans to push the plan for reducing the jail population. Commissioners have asked their staff to push the judges for alternate incarceration methods that would lower the amount they pay to jail operator CCA for daily inmate costs.
MONDAY
QUARRY PRESERVE GETS NARROW P & Z APPROVAL
The Quarry Preserve, a new development so large that its proponents called it a "new city", got a thumbs up in a close vote by the Planning and Zoning Commission Monday.
Lawyer Jake Varn and a parade of expert witnesses argued that the comp plan amendment to make the project possible would not create urban sprawl, infrastructure was available, timing was proper, and there would be need for the development's mixed uses. All those issues were raised in a staff report that took no firm position on the project. Testimony, questions and debate on those issues occupied almost four hours at the P & Z meeting. Public comments pro and con ranged from business community representatives saying the project was good for the local economy to nearby residents who wanted to know how they would be affected, to local activists who said there was no need for new development and that the Quarry Preserve was urban sprawl.
At full completion the project would add 5800 residential units on more than 4200 acres in north central Hernando County. Varn said that the phased project likely would take 20-25 years to buildout. The P & Z voted 3-2 to recommend approval of the the comp plan amendment, which now goes to the County Board for a final decision.
WAL-MART MANAGER JAILED ON FRAUD CHARGE
A customer service manager at the Commercial Way Wal-Mart has been charged with organized fraud after an investigation showed a theft of more than $1,350. A loss prevention employee alerted the Sheriff's Office, and a report says 47-year old Patricia Dickensheet was arrested Friday. The report says Dickensheet used a cash register that was not under video surveillance to process customer returns and would then use gift receipts to pay herself refunds without returning any items. According to the report, the scheme was foiled after cash inconsistencies were noted and loss prevention workers redirected a camera to the register in question. The report says store employees are still reviewing computer records to determine if any other fraudulent returns occurred.
AUTHORITIES FIND LIVE, DEAD ANIMALS IN SQUALOR IN BROOKSVILLE
More than two dozen dogs, cats, a squirrel and chinchillas were removed Monday from a Brooksville home after animal officers and sheriff's deputies found them living in conditions of squalor. A report says multiple dead animals were also removed from a home at 172 Lark Avenue, off Howell Avenue. Workers reportedly had to use respirators when going through the home, and more than a thousand pounds of refuse were said to have been removed. County officials were still deciding on a course of action for the home's occupants, who were identified as Douglas Holt and Lorri Schiller. They were reportedly allowed to keep 11 of more than three dozen animals found at the residence.
It's the third time in three months that county animal officers have removed animals from so-called animal rescue facilities whose owners have proved unable to care for the animals they have taken in.
LATEST DPW TEST REQUEST HAS COUNTY HEADS FEUDING
County Purchasing Director Jim Gantt is telling the County Board not to approve the latest supplemental contract for DPW testing. County Engineer Charles Mixson fired back Monday with a memo to County Administrator David Hamilton. Mixson says new bidding for the work requested by state regulators could result in a missed deadline for starting cleanup work at the contaminated South Broooksville compound. The board postponed the request for another $45,000 contract to CES consultants. Hamilton had said previously that he didn't want any more supplements to a contract that has already netted CES more than $2 million. Gantt wrote a memo to the board recommending against a new contract. But Mixson says the extra work needed to bring a new contractor in now could make for trouble with the state DEP, who he says will likely demand cleanup start sooner than a new contractor could complete the latest preliminary testing required by the regulators.
Most of our stories this week seem to qualify as "first and only at Hernando News Source" since the other local media websites were rarely updated more than once a day. Unfortunately, the top stories involved two violent crimes, with three alleged armed robbers behind bars and a fourth still being sought. Here in reverse chronological order are the top local stories of the week before Christmas.
FRIDAY
THREE ARRESTED IN BEST BUY COMPUTER ROBBERY
Ford GuillenThe Hernando County Sheriff's Office said Friday that three Pasco County residents have been arrested and charged in the armed robbery at Best Buy in Spring Hill on Tuesday. The three were identified as 36-year old David Ford, Jr., who was the male robber; 32-year old Winifred Guillen, the female robbery; and 29-year old Jessie McCambridge-Ford, who deputies said drove the getaway truck. A sheriff's spokesperson says the arrests were made after a Crimestoppers tip.
MAN ROBBED AT GUNPOINT BEHIND COMMERCIAL WAY BAR
PyeHERNANDO UNEMPLOYMENT RATE JUMPS IN NOVEMBER
The state as a whole showed a November jobless rate of 11.5 percent, up two-tenths of a percent over October and more than four percent more than in November of 2008.
Local business leaders have cautioned that the state statistics are collected in ways that can distort the true picture of joblessness.
HERNANDO LEGISLATORS SCHEDULE NEW MEETING ON WEEKI WACHEE
COUNTY CHIEF SAYS HE'S WORKING ON NOBLETON MEETING
Hamilton CovellCounty Administrator David Hamilton said Friday he is working on setting up a meeting on the change in zip codes for Nobleton residents. That meeting was requested by his bosses, the county commissioners, last week in response to complaints by Nobleton homeowner and civic activist Anna Liisa Covell. Thursday Covell accused Hamilton of ignoring the County Board's direction in a blog posting, but Hamilton says he still expects to get Covell together with county officials responsible for the zip code change. He said he was working on setting up the meeting she and the board wanted.
Covell's blog post had referred to a comment that she said Hamilton made in the phone call, that he didn't think a further meeting was necessary.
SPRING HILL MAN CHARGED FOR DRUGS, RESISTING ARREST
Sheriff's detectives arrested a Spring Hill man Thursday on drug charges and added a resisting arrest charge when the suspect allegedly became combative with a deputy. The Sheriff's office says detectives served a search warrant at 6134 Dorset Road and found Oxycodone, Xanax, marijuana and paraphernalia in a bedroom of the home. The room's occupant, 19-year old Michael Legere, was booked into the Hernando County Jail on two counts of possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, and resisting an officer with violence.
THURSDAY
TEACHERS' LEADERS BLAST STATE "RACE TO THE TOP" PLANS
Viitalo told Hernando News Source Thursday that he is "still enthusiastic that we are still in the ballpark, but we will not step up to the plate as long as [the state education department] is trying to bring back . . . unattainable performance measurements" that aren't fair to all parties. He also said that local teachers and district officials are "in agreement" on local needs and will go forward with Race to the Top funding "only if certain conditions from the state can be met." The local district's participation in program dollars depends on sign off from teachers.
CITY FACES TOUGH CHOICES ON IMPACT FEES
LAWYER CHASTISED AS ZONING APPEAL CASE MOVES FORWARD
MasonWEDNESDAY
JAIL ESCAPEE FOUND...AT HERNANDO SHERIFF'S OFFICE
BROOKSVILLE MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO FRAUD
The Buffalo News reported Wednesday that a Brooksville man faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine in connection with selling overvalued used vehicles at a South Buffalo auto dealership. 61-year old John P. Lafferty pleaded guilty to a felony charge of conspiracy to defraud. Authorities said. Lafferty overvalued the vehicles when involved in selling them at a Buffalo area used-car dealership where he worked as a manager.
Lafferty is scheduled to be sentenced March 24 by Chief U. S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.
TUESDAY
COUNTY BOARD OK'S NEW DPW WORK BY $2 MILLION+ CONSULTANT
Gantt and MixsonThe 13th supplemental agreement for more testing at the old DPW compund proved unlucky for almost everyone involved Tuesday. County Engineer Charles Mixson asked for the $45,000 addition to a contract that's already netted consultant CES more than $2 million. County Administrator David Hamilton and Purchasing chief Jim Gantt recommended re-bidding. But Mixson was concerned about timing and a potential missed deadline with state regulators who asked for the new testing. Hamilton said he was simply sticking with a policy for no more agreements with CES. (AUDIO) But County Board members said so long as actual remediation work at the site is bid out, they were willing to give CES the new testing job to make sure the state deadlines are met.
BUDGET REPORT HAS COMMISSIONER CONCERNED
AVIATION AUTHORITY MEMBER DISPUTES CONTROL TOWER NEED
What started as a routine item for planning for a Hernando County Airport control tower wound up as a lengthy discussion on the need for the the tower Tuesday. Airport officials wanted the County Board to approve an agreement with the FDOT for federal and state money to plan for a control tower. But Aviation Authority David Lemon questioned whether the tower was a good use of taxpayer money. He said the airport had not documented the level of aircraft operations to justify a tower and noted that it could cost three million dollars to build. (AUDIO) But commissioners disagreed, saying an airport control tower was a key to economic development. John Druzbick said businesses and most pilots at the airport were in favor of a tower. AUDIO)
COUNTY OFFICIALS TALKING WITH JUDGES ON ALTERNATE INCARCERATION
MONDAY
QUARRY PRESERVE GETS NARROW P & Z APPROVAL
The Quarry Preserve, a new development so large that its proponents called it a "new city", got a thumbs up in a close vote by the Planning and Zoning Commission Monday.
Lawyer Jake Varn and a parade of expert witnesses argued that the comp plan amendment to make the project possible would not create urban sprawl, infrastructure was available, timing was proper, and there would be need for the development's mixed uses. All those issues were raised in a staff report that took no firm position on the project. Testimony, questions and debate on those issues occupied almost four hours at the P & Z meeting. Public comments pro and con ranged from business community representatives saying the project was good for the local economy to nearby residents who wanted to know how they would be affected, to local activists who said there was no need for new development and that the Quarry Preserve was urban sprawl.
At full completion the project would add 5800 residential units on more than 4200 acres in north central Hernando County. Varn said that the phased project likely would take 20-25 years to buildout. The P & Z voted 3-2 to recommend approval of the the comp plan amendment, which now goes to the County Board for a final decision.
WAL-MART MANAGER JAILED ON FRAUD CHARGE
AUTHORITIES FIND LIVE, DEAD ANIMALS IN SQUALOR IN BROOKSVILLE
More than two dozen dogs, cats, a squirrel and chinchillas were removed Monday from a Brooksville home after animal officers and sheriff's deputies found them living in conditions of squalor. A report says multiple dead animals were also removed from a home at 172 Lark Avenue, off Howell Avenue. Workers reportedly had to use respirators when going through the home, and more than a thousand pounds of refuse were said to have been removed. County officials were still deciding on a course of action for the home's occupants, who were identified as Douglas Holt and Lorri Schiller. They were reportedly allowed to keep 11 of more than three dozen animals found at the residence.
It's the third time in three months that county animal officers have removed animals from so-called animal rescue facilities whose owners have proved unable to care for the animals they have taken in.
LATEST DPW TEST REQUEST HAS COUNTY HEADS FEUDING
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