Sheriff gets 5 more correctional officers
Undocumented immigrants targeted

Gilchrist County Sheriff Bobby Schultz begins to speak with the County Commission about the critical need to hire five more correctional officers. Even with approval, it will be another four to six weeks before the individuals tentatively hired for the jobs will be qualified to serve, due to processes instituted to assure security and safety for all concerned.

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By Jeff M. Hardison © Jan. 25, 2025 at 3:30 p.m.
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     TRENTON –The Gilchrist County Board of County Commissioners unanimously added $361,879.56 to the annual budget for Gilchrist County Sheriff Robert D. “Bobby” Schultz III on Thursday evening (Jan. 23).

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     This money is specifically to hire five more correction officers for the new Gilchrist County Jail, the sheriff said as he explained the need.
     Gilchrist County Commissioner Kendrick Thomas made the motion to approve the sheriff’s request, which was seconded by Commissioner Darrell Smith, with Chairman Tommy Langford, Commissioner Sharon A. Langford and Commission Vice Chairman Bill Martin concurring by casting their votes.
     The cost from the expanded jail was anticipated although the exact number had not been budgeted for the current fiscal year, which began on Oct. 1, 2024.


This video shows Gilchrist County Sheriff Bobby Schultz asking for a budget amendment to hire five more correctional officers to work at the new Gilchrist County Jail. He made the request Thursday (Jan. 23) and found a 5-0 vote of approval to grant it. Click on the PHOTO to see and hear the video.
Video By Jeff M. Hardison © Jan. 25, 2025 at 9:30 a.m.
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     Gilchrist County Clerk and Comptroller Todd Newton said the county will be able to pay this in the current fiscal year. It presents a challenge in the future, he added.
     The new GCSO budget total for FY 2024-2025 (Oct. 1, 2024-Sept. 30, 2025) is $7 million, about a 17 percent increase over the previous fiscal year, according to records.
     The corrections part of the budget is about $3 million.
     The GCSO law enforcement part of the budget is about $4.7 million, according to records. GCSO communication-dispatch budgeted so far in the 2024-25 FY is $960,273 and the judicial part of the budget is $406,055.
     The $361,879.56 increase the sheriff was granted for the five added correctional officers shows $72,375 for each officer, according to records. That is from an annual salary each of $55,231.11; 0vertime budgeted at $20,000 each in this fiscal year; FICA taxes at $5,250.14 each; insurance at $6,709.32 each; and payments into the Florida Retirement System budgeted at $15,930.99 each in this fiscal year.
     The sheriff said that as anticipated with the completion of the construction of the new Gilchrist County Jail, staffing issues require adding five correctional officers.
     Commission Chairman Langford reminded the other commissioners that in the previous fiscal year, Sheriff Schultz returned to the county about $186,000, and that is about half of the added funds he seeks needed now due to the vital increase of jail staff required.
     Commissioners mentioned before the 5-0 vote to approve that they had spoken individually with Sheriff Schultz about this necessary increase to the budget. By speaking with him one at a time, there was no conversation as a group where the commissioners discussed outside the earshot of the public, this budget amendment.
     One commissioner asked whether Sheriff Schultz could get by with four more correctional officers rather than five.
     The sheriff, as always, let the county commissioners know that he is a frugal steward of the county’s assets. The jail, Schultz said, is for people who must be there due to their actions as suspected criminals.
     Each inmate is some mother’s son, he said. While the jail is not a place anyone wants to go for a vacation or holiday, there are mandatory minimal standards of the sheriff’s care, custody and control for those humans who fail to abide by the laws that govern all people.


Gilchrist County Clerk Todd Newton tells the County Commission that funding is available to meet the sheriff’s request for a budget amendment this fiscal year. He advised people to pray for continued growth of taxable property, and there may be some alternative funding source for future years to meet the challenges of revenue needed.

     Gilchrist County Clerk of Court and Comptroller Newton said that as of the Jan. 23 meeting, he had not determined a funding method going forward after FY 2024-2025 for the added revenue needed for paying the added personnel at the new Gilchrist County Jail.
     Newton said commissioners should pray for more homes and businesses being added to the taxable property in Gilchrist County. 
     “We all know there’s potential challenges ahead,” Newton said. “You know the sheriff’s indicated what his needs are.”
     Newton said again that he questions the method to fund the added costs in the long term.
     Chairman Langford said the GCSO deputies are taking drug dealers and other criminals off the streets, and they must have a place to keep them as those people start their path through the justice system.
     One commissioner asked about Gov. Ron DeSantis and President Donald Trump both promising to find people who have come to the state and country in violation of immigration laws.
     The sheriff said there may be some of those people in Gilchrist County who commit crimes and are arrested. If they are put in the jail, then after a period of time before their exportation to some other country, the federal government may pay $50 per day, per undocumented immigrant.
     That bridge will be crossed when it appears.
     In the meantime, the 5-0 vote of approval puts five more people to work in Gilchrist County. The sheriff said the positions are filled with particular people already. As noted, some final steps are required before that part of the GCSO team begins – which is anticipated in the next four to six weeks.
     The County Commission appears to be onboard with the sheriff’s concept of “One Team, One Mission.”

City manager candidates
set for interviews in Williston
Application documents released

The graphic above shows how the City Council members ranked applicants. It is public record. To see the whole story by Jeff M. Hardison, go to the COMMUNITY PAGE.NCBDC Board of

Directors
quarterly meeting postponed
due to lack of a quorum

This screenshot from the NCBDC website shows its leadership.

By Jeff M. Hardison © Jan. 23, 2025 at 8:30 a.m.
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     LEVY COUNTY – The quarterly meeting of the Nature Coast Business Development Council (NCBDC) that had been scheduled for 9 a.m. today (Thursday, Jan. 23) has been postponed.
     The last-minute notice of delaying the meeting, which happens now only once every three months rather than monthly, was noted for the press by NCBDC Attorney Woodroe Blake Fugate via email at 4:21 p.m. on Jan. 22.
     The anticipated lack of a quorum combined with cold weather, Fugate noted, is why “the NCBDC meeting has been postponed to a date yet to be determined.”
     The list of directors who chose against attending or those who said they would attend was not provided. 
     The NCBDC is an organization that is supposed to help the economic health of Levy County. During its evolution within the past 20 years, “Nature Coast” replaced “Levy County” in its name. Also, during that time, the group hired a paid director.
     The current director is Scott Osteen, who was one of the candidates for Gilchrist County Supervisor of Elections who lost in that race in 2024. During Osteen’s campaign to get elected in Gilchrist County, some of the logistics of his NCBDC employment were revised to meet requirements of law.
     Osteen replaced former NCBDC Executive Director David Pieklik who went to work for Citrus County in economic development some years ago. According to his LinkedIn page, Pieklik now is in Orlando where he is an economic development specialist in technology and innovation. 
     After Pieklik left the NCBDC, CareerSource Citrus Levy Marion began giving state tax revenue to the NCBDC to supplement the county-generated tax revenue given to the NCBDC from the Levy County Board of County Commissioners’ coffers.
     As best as can be determined, Osteen still lives in Gilchrist County and still drives a vehicle leased by the NCBDC.
     The NCBDC hired a lawyer after Pieklik left, and the executive director no longer provides monthly updates to the Levy County Board of County Commissioners during its twice-a-month regular meetings, as Pieklik did at one of those two monthly meetings.
     As best as can be determined, the Levy County Commission now has no power to hire or fire the paid NCBDC director – as it had been able to do so since the evolution to the point of that group having a paid employee.
     It was the Levy County Commission that hired Pieklik as well as Osteen after Pieklik resigned to accept a job in Citrus County government for economic development.
     The NCBDC Board of Directors switched from monthly meetings to quarterly meetings in 2023 or 2024.
     The NCBDC website shows it is “a non-profit organization dedicated to growing and strengthening the economy of Levy County. Our Board of Directors has developed a strategic plan that guides our work.”
     The leaders of the board of directors, according to the website are Bronson Town Manager Sue Beaudet, George Buckner III; Greg Galpin, senior real estate development project manager, Phillip Geist, senior consultant, special projects team; and Richard Streeter.
     The website fails to show the current NCBDC Board of Directors membership as well as if there are vacant seats or methods where the directors are chosen, or by whom they are approved nowadays.
     The website shows “Meeting Information - Coming Soon!”


This screenshot of the NCBDC website shows its members.

     The current NCBDC “members” listed on the NCBDC website are “Levy County,” with a logo that indicates it means the Levy County Board of County Commissioners; CareerSource Citrus Levy Marion; Central Florida Electric Cooperative; Duke Energy (U.S. rather than Florida); the United States Small Business Administration of Lecanto; and SCORE of Jacksonville.
     There is a link to select for an entity to join as a “member” of the NCBDC.   
     While there is no “2023-2024” document listed on the NCBDC website, the “2022-2023 NCBDC Strategic Planning Sessions Summary,” shows, under the title “Appendix A: Discussion Notes,” various questions followed by statements.
     One of those questions and statements is copied and pasted verbatim below.
     What is the one most important thing you hope to accomplish? 
     • Strategic plan for organization – expectations and priorities – recruiting and retention–small- to mid-size manufacturers.
      • Actions that are able to implement with the resources currently available.
      • Encourage a written set of processes to hand to potential businesses looking to locate here –development of a how-to manual – new businesses or expansion of existing.
      • Refocusing of mission and goals to current situations.
      • Identification/inventory of internal assets already present and how best to use those resources to drive economic development.
      • County is missing career technical education options matched to economic opportunity
 options; avenues to fill teaching voids so that training can be provided.
      • Bring city and county planners into alignment with each other.
     Osteen did not send notice of the meeting or cancellation of the meeting to the daily news website. While it currently seems unlikely Osteen will send a notice of the date, time and place of  the next meeting of the NCBDC Board of Directors to the daily news website, there are other people who provided that information for this quarterly meeting, which was postponed due to the reported lack of a quorum.
 

Governor gives update on winter weather
Information Provided By Governor’s Press Office
Sent Jan. 22, 2025 at 3:24 p.m.
Published Jan. 22, 2025 at 3:45 p.m.
     TALLAHASSEE -- Very slick and icy conditions can be expected today (Jan. 22) throughout North Florida as precipitation has fallen, accumulated and frozen over.
     Any wet spots that do not thaw today could refreeze Thursday morning (Jan. 23). Residents should exercise extreme caution if they must drive.
     Not only were single-day and event snowfall records broken for many Florida Panhandle locations, but the state snowfall record was broken with this system as 8-inches to 9-inches of snowfall was recorded in Milton. This more than doubles the 4-inch state record set in 1954.
     Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an Emergency Order on Monday, Jan. 20, declaring a state of emergency, which allows for state officials to make critical resources available to communities ahead of any potential storm impacts.
     As of 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time today (Wednesday, Jan. 22), approximately 18,000 accounts are without power, with crews actively working to restore power as conditions improve. We have already restored over 20,000 accounts statewide.
     Extreme Cold Warnings remain in effect for the Florida Panhandle tonight into Thursday morning for dangerous low temperatures and wind chills in the teens. Freeze Warnings and Cold Weather Advisories will be issued as conditions warrant.
     Watches and warnings in effect include:
     Extreme Cold Warning - Bay, Calhoun, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Leon, Liberty, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Wakulla, Walton and Washington counties.
     Cold Weather Advisory - Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lafayette, Madison, Nassau, Suwannee, Taylor and Union counties.
Freeze Warning - Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Duval, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Nassau, Suwannee and Union counties.
     Levy County is not listed for either a warning or advisory.
     Floridians are encouraged to know their risks from extreme cold hazards and stay safe due to varying impacts from the Winter Storm.
 

Some offices closed
or open later due to winter weather

This graphic from the Florida Supreme Court shows one of the many county, circuit and state functions impacted by the unusually powerful winter weather that hit the state. All Zoom proceedings in the Third Judicial Circuit.

By Jeff M. Hardison © Jan. 22, 2025 at 8:15 a.m.
     NORTH FLORIDA – The state experienced record snowfall on Tuesday night and some services stopped on Wednesday – while others started later in North Florida.
     As noted yesterday in the daily news website, in the Tri-County Area of Levy County, Gilchrist County and Dixie County, parents were forced to determine methods for watching their children who would normally be in school on Wednesday (Jan. 22) after School Board members in those three counties decided to be part of the 30 or so counties closing schools.
     Fear of school buses and other vehicle crashing into each other as drivers unfamiliar and ill-equipped to drive on icy roads were one consideration. Concerns of massive power outages as wires failed in their mission of power transmission was another matter leading to not send children to school in those 30-plus counties in Florida today.
     While the typical pre-hurricane rush for water, food and toilet paper did not empty shelves at every grocery store, there may have been some “disaster buying,” and typical kneejerk hurricane behavior is to be anticipated in some parts of the state.
     As noted on the Business Page last night, Capital City Bank took the extra step to let customers know about office opening changes in its multi-state financial services.
     Palms Medical Group sent a notice at 10 p.m. on Jan. 21 to note the following:
     Due to the weather conditions in the North Florida Area, Palms Medical Group will close the following offices until 1pm on Jan. 22 – Branford, Lake City East, Lake City West, Live Oak and Starke.
     “The safety of our patients and staff is our priority!” Palms Medical Group noted.
     In Bronson, a paper sign on the front door of the Levy Government Complex showed visitors that the Property Appraiser’s Office and the Tax Collector’s Office in that county are closed on Jan. 22 due to inclement weather. The office of the Levy County Board of County Commissioners is open today (Wednesday, Jan. 22).
     Levy County Clerk of Court Matt Brooks announced closures near the start of the regular twice-monthly meeting of the Levy County Board of County Commissioners.
     The Eighth Judicial Circuit (which includes Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Gilchrist, Levy and Union counties) provided insight via the Eighth Judicial Circuit’s website, which noted the following announcement yesterday (Jan. 21) at 4 p.m.:
     On Wednesday, Jan. 22, Baker, Gilchrist, Levy, and Union County Courthouses will be closed all day.
     Alachua County Courthouses will open at 12 p.m. The Bradford County Courthouse will open at 1:00 p.m.
     Circuit-wide in the Eighth Judicial Circuit, first appearances, shelters, and juvenile detention hearings will take place using the weekend protocol at 12 p.m. in Courtroom 1A of the Judge Stephan P. Mickle Sr. Criminal Courthouse in Gainesville, with Judge Van Vorst presiding.
     The Third Judicial Circuit includes Columbia, Dixie, Hamilton, Lafayette, Madison, Suwannee and Taylor counties.
     All courthouses in the Third Judicial Circuit will be closed on Wednesday (Jan. 22) due to inclement weather and potentially hazardous conditions. All Zoom proceedings will continue as scheduled.
     No ice formed at The Ink Pad in Jemlands, an unrecorded subdivision in some of the woods between Chiefland and Cedar Key. Nevertheless, drivers in North Florida will want to not drive unless they must and any consumer or person seeking services may want to check before going to places that are normally open on Wednesdays.

Governor declares state of emergency
due to cold weather
Tri-County Area schools closed tomorrow
By Jeff M. Hardison © Jan. 21, 2025 at 8 a.m.
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     TALLAHASSEE – Gov. Ron DeSantis declared Florida to be in a state of emergency, effective as of Monday evening and for the next 60 days unless it is extended, according to information in “EXECUTIVE ORDER NUMBER 25-13 (Emergency Management-Gulf Winter Weather System).”  
     This order follows the template used when hurricanes hit the Sunshine State. This time, it is for snow, sleet and other cold weather impacts.
     Meanwhile, all public schools in 22 counties and “Florida A&M University DRS,” are closed tomorrow (Wednesday, Jan. 22), according to information on the Florida Department of Education website. Those schools include all of the public schools in Dixie, Gilchrist and Levy counties.
     Alachua, Citrus and Marion counties are NOT on the list provided by the Florida Department of Education.

Martin Luther King Jr. Parade
and festivities focus on love and unity

Xavier Macon (left) and Levy County Property Appraiser Jason Whistler pause for a moment before the start of festivities in Trail Head Park. They are both among the members of Chiefland High School’s Class of 1993. They both played on the same basketball team. They continue on the same team in a metaphoric manner. Fellowship with one another and unity are among the top ideals shared on Saturday as people spoke about the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during a program in Chiefland on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 18).
See the Story, Photos and Video ON THE LIFE PAGE
By Jeff M. Hardison © Jan. 19, 2025 at 4 p.m.
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Levy County sheriff fires finance director
FDLE asked to investigate
possible criminal activity

Levy County Sheriff Bobby McCallum tells the County Commission on Tuesday morning (Jan. 7) about his choice to fire the Levy County Sheriff’s Office finance director, and who is now serving in that division of the LCSO with that title.’

Story, Photo and Video
By Jeff M. Hardison © Jan. 7, 2025 at 11:30 a.m.
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     BRONSON – During the first regular meeting of the Levy County Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday (Jan. 7), Commission Chair Desiree Mills announced a new lineup for regular agenda matters, and consequently the new year opened with a tough moment required of Levy County Sheriff Bobby McCallum. 
     Mills said that rather than putting the “public officials” part of the agenda farther down during the planned parts of the meeting, she was moving it up. After calling the list of possible elected officials who may be present, and hearing from some who were there but who did not have anything to say at the moment, the sheriff went to the lectern.
     Sheriff McCallum said “Happy New Year” to the commission as a collective body, noting that he believes he had seen every individual member since Jan. 1. He mentioned that he looks forward to working with the County Commission in 2025.
     Then, he shared some unfortunate news from the Levy County Sheriff’s Office.



Levy County Sheriff Bobby McCallum tells the Levy County Board of County Commissioners that he has fired the Levy County Sheriff's Office Finance Director Nicole Gore and replaced her with a new director – Tammy Meadows. The sheriff said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has agreed to investigate possible criminal action. He made the announcement on Tuesday morning (Jan. 7) at the County Commission meeting. The sheriff noted he wanted to tell the County Commission members because of the close working relationship the LCSO has with the commission. Click on the PHOTO to see and hear the video.
Video By Jeff M. Hardison for HardisonInk.com
© Jan. 7, 2025 at 11:30 a.m.
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     McCallum said he fired the LCSO Finance Director Christina “Nicole” Gore. 
     “Yesterday (Monday, Jan. 6), I terminated her,” McCallum said.
     The termination occurred after LCSO personnel discovered irregularities in credit card statements and other LCSO funds. Gore had been employed in the LCSO Finance Division since June of 2015. She was promoted to finance director on Dec. 30, 2019.  
     Since she had worked closely with the Levy County Commission and its financial staff members, the sheriff wanted to make those five elected leaders aware of this significant personnel change at the LCSO.
     The sheriff noted Gore was “terminated for cause” and he has invited the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate to determine if there are criminal charges that must be brought against this now-former employee.
     “I have brought back Tammy Meadows, a former employee and financial assistant in that division,” McCallum said. “She was willing and wanted to come back. She’d been gone only five or six months.”
     The sheriff said Meadows is the new finance director.
     Brinley Bedford continues as the finance assistant. Like Meadows, she will continue working with the County Commission and other interested parties having to deal with financial matters at the LCSO.
     The sheriff said the termination of the employee is from her suspected violation of LCSO policy, including the alleged theft of funds from the taxpayers of Levy County.
     This is an active investigation, and the sheriff could not speak more about the details of whether it was “extremely substantial” or not. He said that whether it is one dollar, or two dollars, it is irrelevant. There is no leeway for theft of public funds by a member of this accredited law enforcement agency.
     Commission Chair Mills thanked the sheriff for making this difficult decision and announcement.

Levy County accepts
$1.5 million federal grant for generator

The four Levy County commissioners voting to accept the grant are (from left) Vice Chairman Tim Hodge, Chair Desiree Mills and commissioners Charlie Kennedy and Rock Meeks.

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By Jeff M. Hardison © Dec. 26, 2024 at 7 p.m.
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     BRONSON – The four members of the five-member Levy County Commission who attended the special meeting on Thursday afternoon (Dec. 26) granted a request from the county’s newest director of Levy County Emergency Management.
     Levy County Emergency Management Director Leatha Keene requested the County Commission’s approval of the $1.5 million American Rescue Plan (ARPA) federally funded subaward and grant agreement for the purchase and installation of a permanent generator at Bronson Middle High School for its use as an emergency shelter.
     On a motion by County Commissioner Rock Meeks, seconded by Commission Vice Chairman Tim Hodge, and with Commission Chair Desiree Mills and Commissioner Charlie Kennedy also voting in favor of it, the $1.5 million grant was accepted.
     Levy County Commissioner Johnny Hiers was absent from the special meeting, which had to be called for the county to accept the grant due to deadlines for acceptance of it once the grant had reached the approval point.
     Commission Chair Mills explained that this matter was not able to be delayed for consideration until the first regular commission meeting in 2025. Consideration of approval or rejection of the request from Emergency Management Director Keene to accept the grant was the singular reason for the special meeting on Dec. 26, Mills said.
     Now that Levy County has an agreement from the Florida Department of Emergency Management to use federal funds to reimburse the county for the purchase and installation of a permanent generator at Bronson Middle High School for its use as an emergency shelter, the process goes into the next step – seeking bids to meet that end.
     Levy County Procurement Director Alicia Tretheway said she believes there is a state contract price for this, and if that method is not available, then the county will seek bids through its established method.
     As Mills opened the meeting, she thanked her fellow commissioners for showing up for the special meeting, despite the short notice and with it being the day after Christmas.
     Mills said it was only on the evening of Dec. 17 that the county learned the federal grant had been awarded. She said the county must send notification to the state government before the end of regular business on Dec. 27 if it approves acceptance of the grant.
     Hence, the special meeting was called, and proper public notice was provided before the special meeting started.


Levy County Assistant Emergency Management Director Rick Rogers reads the request of the County Commission, which had been made by Levy County Emergency Management Director Leatha Keene.


Levy County Superintendent of Schools Tammy Boyle tells the County Commission that she just recently learned about some of the hardships faced by people who needed to use a shelter when they had to evacuate from their homes.


Bronson Middle High School Principal Jennifer Bray speaks to the Levy County Board of County Commissioners on Dec. 26, 2024 about the $1.5 million grant the county accepted to improve electric service at the school when it is used as an emergency evacuation shelter.

     Levy County Assistant Emergency Management Director Rick Rogers read the request of the County Commission, which had been made by Levy County Emergency Management Director Keene.
     Keene, who has been a planner in Levy County Emergency Management Department for some decades now, was selected as the new director of that county department as she replaces John MacDonald, the former director, who replaced Mark Johnson after Johnson retired.
     MacDonald was the assistant director when Johnson was the director.
     Four applicants were interviewed on Dec. 19 to replace MacDonald, Levy County Manager Mary-Ellen Harper told HardisonInk.com. Levy County Emergency Management Director Keene began serving in her new position effective on Dec. 20, County Manager Harper told HardisonInk.com.
     With Keen’s absence from the Dec. 26 special Levy County Commission meeting, Assistant Emergency Management Director Rogers read the request.
     Immediately after Rogers read the request, Commissioner Meeks made the motion to approve it, and while Hodge and Kennedy both seemed to simultaneously second Meeks’ motion as soon as he made it, Chair Mills said she was going to note it was Hodge who made the second.
     Mills then opened the matter for discussion before the vote on the motion. With that, she mentioned that (then) Levy County Emergency Management Planner III Keene on Aug. 8, 2024, applied for a $900,000 grant for a generator through ARPA.
     The commission chair said she felt it was amazing that the county was awarded the $1.5 million grant.
     The Florida Department of Emergency Management is going to reimburse Levy County through ARPA funds for the cost of the generator. The American Rescue Plan Act was signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021. ARPA guaranteed direct funding to all cities, towns and villages in the United States. The United States Department of the Treasury is responsible for overseeing the program. 
     The global COVID-19 pandemic and the corresponding economic crisis undermined the health and economic wellbeing of American workers, and President Biden and the United States Congress did what they could to help the nation recover.
     Meanwhile on Thursday, people had a chance to learn about how this generator will improve BMHS as a shelter in the future.
     Bronson Middle High School Principal Jennifer Bray and Levy County Superintendent of Schools Tammy Boyle spoke to the four County Commission members present on Thursday afternoon – the day after Christmas 2024.
     Chair Mills first recognized Principal Bray to help the commissioners and others understand the significance of this improvement at BMHS.
     With this new generator, Principal Bray said, it will make the provision of electric service easier to start as well as more prolific than it has been in the past there. The high school is about 20 years old.
     She has gone out in the rain to start the giant portable generator that exists now for emergency shelter needs. That generator powers only the lights in the cafeteria, the freezer and refrigerator in the cafeteria, and it powers a few sockets in one of the offices there. As a result, people who have a need for electricity to aid them as they breathe when they sleep, and people who need to charge their cellphones become upset when they lack access to electric power, Principal Bray said.
     Principal Bray said that as a shelter manager she is happy to know not only that she will no longer need to go out in the rain and deal with high-powered electric matters as she starts a generator, but even more that the guests who are seeking shelter from the storm will have more access to electricity for the CPAP ((continuous positive airway pressure) machines and cellphones.
     Also in the shelter, she said, the shelter hosts like to “stream the weather” (watch weather channels via the Internet to follow updates on storms’ progress) for guests to watch.
     Principal Bray has served as a shelter manager at the school during all of the evacuations during the past five years. 


This is a video of Bronson Middle High School Principal Jennifer Bray speaking to the Levy County Board of County Commissioners on Dec. 26, 2024 about a $1.5 million grant the county accepted. The grant is to purchase a new electric generator for the school, which is used as a hurricane shelter when people must evacuate from their homes in Levy County due to impending or active disasters -- such as hurricanes. Click on the still PHOTO to watch and listen to the video.
This video is by Jeff M. Hardison
All rights reserved. © Dec. 26, 2024 at 7 p.m.

     Next to speak at the lectern was Levy County Superintendent of Schools Boyle.
     The first thing Superintendent of Schools Boyle said was that she is thankful to the County Commission for conducting a special meeting the day after Christmas and approving the request to accept the grant.


This is a video of Levy County Superintendent of Schools Tammy Boyle speaking to the Levy County Board of County Commissioners on Dec. 26, 2024 about a $1.5 million grant the county accepted. The grant is to purchase a new electric generator for the school, which is used as a hurricane shelter when people must evacuate from their homes in Levy County due to impending or active disasters -- such as hurricanes. Click on the still PHOTO to watch and listen to the video.
This video is by Jeff M. Hardison
All rights reserved. © Dec. 26, 2024 at 7 p.m.

     “I also want to give kudos to Leatha Keene for writing this grant (application),” Boyle said, adding that grant applications require extreme attention to details as well as being long and intensive.
     Boyle, who was a School Board member before being elected as superintendent of schools, said she did not know until very recently what a shelter manager and shelter workers must do as they try to help people who seek this last resort during an evacuation.
     This improvement to help assure electric service when the main powerlines no longer carry electricity, Boyle said, will make the stay at shelters more comfortable, and this will ease a source of emotional distress from not having electric service during a stay at an evacuation shelter.
     Boyle, who took her office in November, said she looks forward to working closely with the County Commission in the coming years.
     “When we work together,” Superintendent Boyle said, “we can accomplish amazing things.”
     Mills thanked Boyle and Bray for coming to share their insight about how this generator will help that school become an even better evacuation shelter during future disasters.
     Commission Vice Chairman Hodge said some people are not aware of what the Levy County Emergency Management Department does before, during and after disasters – including manning the Emergency Operations Center in Bronson, 24-hours-day during the disaster as well as every weekday of the year, other than holidays.
     Commissioner Meeks intimated that he is thankful for the cooperative work between the County Commission, the School Board, the Sheriff’s Office, the Emergency Management Department, and everyone else who gives selflessly to help everyone during disasters.
     Mills reminded commissioners that the current generator is not permanently in place, and it is several years old.
     Like Superintendent Boyle, Chair Mills recognizes the benefits from people working toward the same goals.
     Mills mentioned the specific work by County School Board staff members and County Commission staff members of moving books out of Cedar Key School and elsewhere to save them, and the moving and storage of tables from the BMHS cafeteria as it is transformed into an emergency evacuation shelter.
     She also mentioned her appreciation of the work by county employees at the solid waste transfer sites (landfill and satellite stations), where they had to work 24-hours-a-day (in shifts) for stretches of time as a result of hurricanes hitting Levy County.

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179^th Performance

Alfonso Kerney sings the HardisonInk.com Jingle before the celebration to honor the memory of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Trail Head Park of Chiefland on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. Kerney, a 1976 graduate of Chiefland High School, was serving as the DJ and sound technician for the event. Jeff M. Hardison asks people to sing the jingle, and some of them agree to sing it. (Thanks people!) CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO SEE AND HEAR THE VIDEO ON YouTube.com. The very first person to sing the jingle was in Chiefland in March of 2013. HardisonInk.com started as a daily news website on Feb. 1, 2011.
Photo and Video by Jeff M. Hardison © Jan. 18, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
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