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COVID-19 Kills 79 More In Fla.
COVID-19 Kills One More
From Levy County
6,277 More COVID-19
Positive Cases Found In Florida

Above are the results on Saturday (Nov. 28), according to the Tallahassee office of the Florida Department of Health (FDOH). These records are the current TOTAL numbers updated by the FDOH in the most recent period measured where the FDOH reported results. In the Tri-County Area, there are 44 people TOTAL who have died from COVID-19 so far. There have been 219 people TOTAL from the Tri-County Area who have been reported as hospitalized because their COVID-19 symptoms were so serious they needed to go to the hospital -- so far.
Published Nov. 28, 2020 at 4:10 p.m.

PUBLIC HEALTH ADVISORY
Residents are advised to wear masks
in public and to socially distance.
Avoid crowds, closed spaces & close contact.

     COVID-19 can be transmitted by people who show no symptoms.
     The best method to reduce the odds of infection and the subsequent symptoms of serious illness and even death from COVID-19 is to limit contact with other humans.
     To find the most updated information and guidance on COVID-19, please visit the FDOH’s dedicated COVID-19 webpage by clicking HERE. 
     For information and advisories from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), please visit the CDC COVID-19 website by clicking HERE.
     For another set of data, former Florida Department of Health geographic data scientist Rebekah Jones has created FloridaCOVIDAction.com. Those numbers are different than the FDOH, which are in the graphic above.

Tri-County positive COVID-19 cases increased by 273 in October, There were 11 more deaths in the Tri-County Area from COVID-19 in October. In Florida, there were 2,194 more people who died from COVID-19.
Graphic By Sharon Hardison © Nov. 1, 2020 at 4:10 p.m.

Unrecognized councilman
causes shortened meeting



Click on the still shot above to see the VIDEO of the meeting, from the point where Berlon Weeks first addressed the Town Council to the point where the vote to pay the bills was completed, and Mayor Beatrice Roberts adjourned the meeting. Seen here (from left) are Berlon Weeks, Jason Hunt, Beatrice Roberts and Aaron Edmondson. Town Councilman Robert Partin was absent due to illness.
Photo and video clip from video provided by Town of Bronson.

By Jeff M. Hardison © Nov. 24, 2020 at 7:10 p.m.
     BRONSON – Maybe he is a member of the Bronson Town Council. Maybe he is no longer a member of the Bronson Town Council.
     Within seven minutes from the start of the Town Council meeting Berlon Weeks on Monday night (Nov. 23) went to the podium as soon as Mayor Beatrice Roberts started the topic of replacing Weeks on the Council.
     Weeks opened his statements by saying he has repeatedly told the Town Council that he has not resigned from the Bronson Town Council. He recited that even before the meeting after he had said he was planning on submitting a written resignation, he had contacted Mayor Roberts to say he changed his mind and would not be giving that written resignation.
     “I am an elected official, elected by the people of the Town of Bronson,” Weeks said, “not appointed by City Council members, because you’ re elected just like me. I probably got more votes, but who knows?”
     Weeks said the voters elected him to sit in the seat at the dais as the Bronson Town Council member for Seat 5.
     Weeks then said he will be sitting in that seat for the remainder of the meeting.
     Mayor Roberts said “No you won’t.”
     Weeks said he would, and that someone would have to remove him, as he walked to the seat and sat down.
     Mayor Roberts asked Town Attorney Stephen Warm, who was attending via Zoom, if she could call law enforcement to remove Weeks.
     Attorney Warm advised the mayor to not sacrifice any interested parties’ interests in completing business that was needed to be done that night. He let the mayor know that Weeks does not have the power to cause her to stop the meeting.
     Weeks would have no vote, Warm said, but perhaps the mayor could let him sit at the dais. She said that is not an option she will allow.
     Attorney Warm said that it is “just plain wrong” to allow a person to bully his or her way into something, when the governing body has ruled on a matter. In this instance, the Town Council previously voted to accept Weeks’ verbal resignation – despite him repeatedly wanting to not make that statement binding, and by him noting that he never brought in the letter of resignation to which he had alluded when he verbally resigned from Town Council.
     The one action the Town Council completed Monday night was after a motion by Vice Mayor Jason Hunt, seconded by Town Councilman Aaron Edmondson and receiving a 3-0 vote with the mayor agreeing. That motion was to all Bronson Fire Chief Dennis Russell to seek bids on an exhaust system for the future fire station.
     Weeks did not voice a vote on the motion to allow a bid to be sought or on the final motion to pay the bills. The meeting ended.
     The next meeting of the Bronson Town Council is set for Dec. 7 starting at 7 p.m. in the Dogan Cobb Municipal Building, 660 E. Hathaway Ave. (U.S. Alt. 27).
    In a telephone interview Tuesday afternoon, Weeks said only Gov. Rob DeSantis by executive order, or the voters of Bronson by a recall election, can remove him from office before his term ends.
     Weeks said he prefers to not have to sue the Town of Bronson, his hometown, however his attorney W. Blake Fugate is going forward with that action.
     “I’m doing what I think is the right thing to do,” Weeks said.

Third Annual Pre-Thanksgiving
food giveaway
helps hundreds of people

Tri-County Community Resources Center Manager Beverly Goodman speaks with a person who has come to accept food Saturday (Nov. 21) at Strickland Park.

Story and Photos
By Jeff M. Hardison © Nov. 21, 2020 at 3:10 p.m.
     CHIEFLAND – The Third Annual Thanksgiving Farm Share event held at Charles Strickland Recreational Park, 2340 N.W. Old Fanning Road in Chiefland was a resounding success Saturday (Nov. 21).


Volunteers organize a small mountain of food for distribution to people on Saturday morning (Nov. 21). Meanwhile at the park, soccer practice and games go uninterrupted.


Leisha Johnson of Farm Share gives a ‘Thumbs Up’ sign to show things are going smoothly during the free food giveaway.


Miriam Hiers of Central Florida Electric Cooperative carries a box full of food to give to people.


Central Florida Electric Cooperative General Manager Denny George (orange vest) helps distribute food to people. He was one of almost 30 volunteers that made the third annual event a resounding success.


Chiefland Fire Rescue Capt. John Lake adjusts a tape to help drivers know where to go through the parking lot of Charles Strickland Recreational Park. Among the other members of the CFR contributing to help in this event is CFR Assistant Chief A.D. Goodman.


Among the volunteers with the Levy County Sheriff’s Office’s Citizens On Patrol helping with traffic control is Larry Brown, seen here pausing for a moment next to his cruiser when requested for a photo opportunity.




Some of the more than three miles of cars and other vehicles move slowly in a line along Old Fanning Road.

     Even though one of the Farm Share trucks became disabled and did not make it, Tri-County Community Resources Center Manager Beverly Goodman said, there was enough food to provide for hundreds of families.
     Leisha Johnson of Farm Share said there was about 30,000 pounds of food brought by Farm Share to Strickland Park to distribute to people.
     Through this cooperative venture of Farm Share with the Partnership for Strong Families, the Tri-County Community Resources Center (TCCRC), Central Florida Electric Cooperative, the City of Chiefland, the Chiefland Police Department and others, the long, long line of vehicles moved smoothly through the process on Saturday, and vehicle after vehicle left with food in it to help people enjoy Thanksgiving.
     Among the Chiefland Police officers closest to the traffic at the park was K-9 Officer Willie “Pete” Barnes III, and once again he handled directing traffic with grace and skill. Other officers were posted at turning points on U.S. Highway 19 and Old Fanning Road.
     Among the volunteers with the Levy County Sheriff’s Office’s Citizens On Patrol at the park was Larry Brown, and he too guided people with friendly helpfulness.
     This event was a drive-through exercise only. There was no parking. People could not exit their vehicles. This was free food for anyone with a vehicle who drove up to accept it. The participating drivers made the process move relatively quickly, and yet safely.
     TCCRC Manager Goodman said there were 27 volunteers this year.
     At last year’s event, it was before the global COVID-19 pandemic had started.
     The TCCRC helps people throughout the year, and this annual event is just one example of how this branch of the Partnership for Strong Families assists individuals and families.
     Since the pandemic went full tilt in the Tri-County Area in early March, things have become more extreme regarding agencies’ staff members meeting the needs for many Tri-County Area families.
     One issue the Partnership for Strong Families and the Tri-County Community Resource Center address is food insecurity.
     This Farm Share cooperative venture on Saturday with the TCCRC, the City of Chiefland, and the CFEC is part of the current ongoing effort to help people eat, however, there is the added theme for this giveaway of Thanksgiving.
     The global COVID-19 pandemic has hit this rural part of North Central Florida, as it has affected the rest of the globe. Some people have been hospitalized, and some people have died as a result of COVID-19.
     Some people caught the virus and did not suffer significantly. Some caught it, were hospitalized, went home and now must deal with lifelong limitations from reduced lung capacity and other chronic health issues.
     Likewise, the COVID-19 pandemic has had an economic impact as well as a social and cultural influence on how people interact with one another. TCCRC Manager Goodman provided a gauge to see the difference a year can make.
     “Phone calls to our resource centers are up 700 percent,” Goodman said, “and a primary resource that people are often seeking is food. So, we are incredibly thankful that we can play a small part in meeting that need on a large scale in our community today.”
     To see the story and photos from last year’s event, click HERE.

Maskless man says no concern
for spreading
potentially deadly disease;
Michael Cox appointed
to Williston City Council;
$175,000 moved
from one fund to the next

Mayor Jerry Robinson and City Council President Justin Head confer before the start of the meeting Tuesday night. The mayor has no vote on City Council matters. Hence, he and the president can discuss matters to be discussed without violating Florida law regarding open government.

By Jeff M. Hardison © Nov. 18, 2020 at 2:10 p.m.
     WILLISTON -- As America experiences a widespread increase in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths, most municipal and county elected leaders in the Tri-County Area of Levy, Dixie and Gilchrist counties are demonstrating no modeling of behavior to reflect compliance with the Florida Department of Health's (FDOH) public health advisory or the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advice for reducing the spread of COVID-19.


Jacqueline Appling (at the podium) and Vonda Williams hope to rejuvenate Cornelius Williams Park. Appling said her involvement with the park goes back to 2011 when she was part of a group named Citizens Seeking Improvement. She hopes to have a committee created to work with the City Council’s park liaison to improve Cornelius Williams Park and the other parks in Williston. At the direction of City Council President Justin Head, City Clerk Latricia Wright will put this on the agenda for discussion at the regular Williston City Council meeting on Dec. 8.


City Council President Justin Head made a statement about a matter that was not on the agenda Tuesday night. The statement was a response to a previous question about an alleged secret meeting between Mayor Jerry Robinson and former City Council President Charles Goodman at the Williston Municipal Airport. President Head said he was there with the mayor and Goodman was not. It was not a meeting that was required to be open to the public, Head said. The City Council did vote to have an environmental study. That study will be funded by a grant Head said. The study is part of what needs to be done for a company to consider locating in the industrial park that is on the airport property. Mayor Robinson does not have the power to vote on anything. The five members of the City Council do. Head said he was at the meeting at the request of former City Manager Scott Lippmann, in the absence of Lippmann being there. The door to the meeting room was locked, Head said, because airport staff were not to b privy to the discussion. Some matters are not open to the public as the city is in competition with other venues for business locations. Florida law requires some meetings to be advertised and open to the public. This was not one of those. Head said he dislikes the term ‘secret meeting’ being used for this information get-together in the conference room at the Williston Municipal Airport with a business interest that may locate to that property.


In Williston City Hall on Tuesday evening (Nov. 17), are (from left) City Councilman Elihu Ross, City Councilwoman Debra Jones and Mayor Jerry Robinson.


Among the staff serving the needs of the Williston City Council as those elected people serve the interests of residents and visitors to this easternmost municipality in Levy County are (from left) City Manager Jackie Gorman, City Attorney Frederick L. Koberlein Jr., City Clerk Latricia Wright and Deputy City Manager C.J. Zimoski.


Dennis Davis, senior client service manager with Wright-Pierce Engineering of Orlando, speaks about the 25 percent match required of the City of Williston for a $963,00 grant from the Southwest Florida Water Management District to fund a project to improve stormwater management at John Henry Park in Williston. The City Council voted 4-0 to move forward with that project, which will include replacing certain water and sewer pipes in the area for another $10,000. City Manager Jackie Gorman said this project is coming to fruition after years of planning. She mentioned that the potential of reaching the dream of including a splash park at John Henry Park is in the future.


Williston Finance Director Stephen Bloom speaks to the City Council regarding the city’s finances, and he makes recommendations moving forward.

     The FDOH has noted for several months the following public health advisory: "Residents are advised to wear masks in public and to socially distance. Avoid crowds, closed spaces and close contact."
     The task force created by President Donald Trump recently noted the virus has not been brought under control by the various state governments’ attempts to do so.
     There is "now aggressive, unrelenting, expanding broad community spread across the country, reaching most counties, without evidence of improvement but rather, further deterioration," The White House Coronavirus Task Force noted in its most recent weekly report regarding COVID-19.
     As of yesterday (Tuesday, Nov. 17), the FDOH had confirmed 17,644 people died in Florida from the COVID-19 in the past nine months. As of yesterday, the COVID-19 death toll in the Tri-County Area is at 42 for the number of humans that the Medical Examiner's Office attributed to COVID-19, according to the FDOH. And the FDOH noted there have been in excess of 200 people from the Tri-County Area who have required hospitalization so far from COVID-19.
     County and city meetings across the area show a continued modeling of leaders not wearing facemasks, although there has been an application of methods to put more space between occupants in meeting rooms.
     Meanwhile, last night, by a 3-1 margin, Williston City Council's members demonstrated a choice against wearing facemasks. Only Councilman Elihu Ross wore a facemask as he entered the meeting room. Councilman Ross then removed it once at his seat behind the dais.
     One man who did not wear a facemask in the audience, when asked, said he chose against wearing one because he did not come into contact with many people in his day-to-day life. When he was reminded that the virus is airborne and that the room in which he was sitting is enclosed, and uses central air circulation, he shrugged it off.
     Another man in the audience, when he was asked if he was not concerned about contracting the virus himself said "not particularly." When he was asked if he cared that he could be unknowingly spreading COVID-19, which could hurt or kill other people, he answered "not particularly."
     Two of the three people voted upon, who were seeking to be selected as the fifth City Council member by the current four Williston City Council members wore masks. Albert Fuller Sr. and Angela Pompeo wore facemasks as they sat in the audience.
     Michael Cox, the third nominee -- who was selected -- was not wearing a facemask on Tuesday night as he sat in the audience.
     In addition to Fuller, Pompeo and Cox, the other three people who submitted applications to fill the seat vacated by former City Councilman Charles Goodman are Tammy Johns, Perry Adam Clark and Deedee Merando.
     As the City Council conducted its process to choose the next sitting member of that group of local legislators, Councilman Ross opened by nominating Johns. There was no second to his nomination.
     After it was assured there were no other members choosing Johns, Councilwoman Debra Jones then said Johns had told her that she (Johns) was no longer interested in being appointed, after having completed the application form to be considered. Then, Jones nominated Cox, which City Council Vice President Marguerite Robinson seconded as her nomination.
     City Council President Justin Head then nominated Fuller.
     Ross then moved and there was agreement to stop nominations.
     After a little more discussion, there was a vote. Ross voted for Pompeo. Head voted for Fuller. Jones and Robinson voted for Cox.
     A vote to certify the choice of the City Council to select Cox was conducted after a motion and second to do so, and there was a 4-0 vote of approval for Cox.
     City Clerk Latricia Wright was tasked with finding a person to administer the oath of office at the Dec. 8 meeting for Cox to take the seat vacated by Goodman.
     That Williston City Council post will open again with qualifying for election to that seat starting in January. A Williston municipal election in March will be conducted by City Clerk Wright, who is the supervisor of elections for that city, according to the City Charter.
     The qualified voters in Williston are scheduled to decide who will be on the Williston City Council in that seat, and for any other elected posts and more details about that election are set to be published closer to the point where those voters will choose their city leaders.
     As for people wearing a facemask in City Hall during the meeting Tuesday night, there were four or so of the 20 or so people in the audience and at the dais who wore masks.
     The only two city employees wearing a mask were City Attorney Frederick L. Koberlein Jr. and City Finance Director Stephen Bloom.
     City Attorney Koberlein is an independent contractor for the city, providing advice and other services normally offered by an attorney practicing in this specialized form of law.
     City Finance Director Stephen Bloom is an independent contractor for the city, providing advice and other services normally offered by a professional practicing in this specialized form of finance. Bloom is part of Inframark.
     Inframark Infrastructure Management Services is a team of professionals providing a full range of customized management and financial services to special districts, municipalities and community associations across the southern United States.
     When Bloom arrived at the meeting room after the available seats were all occupied, he waited in the hall area outside until it was his time to speak to the City Council about its need to transfer $175,000 from the Utility Fund to the General Fund.
     Williston City Finance Director Bloom that night provided the four voting leaders, and Mayor Jerry Robinson, and other listeners with an overview of the city budget as well as advice on the best management practice in regard to maintaining reserve funds rather than a continued depletion of reserves.
      As for public health and wearing facemasks, there is no federal, state, county or municipal mandate in the United States, Florida, the Tri-County Area (or any of its municipalities) currently for people to abide by the CDC’s or FDOH's public health advisories. People are left to their own devices regarding the probable spreading of an extremely contagious disease that can harm and even kill other individuals.
     There are strong requirements, however, that every person in a courtroom in the Eighth Judicial Circuit wear a mask, get screened by questions and by the taking of their temperature for them to participate in courtroom issues.
     Although humans aged from infancy through post-retirement have been hospitalized to treat COVID-19, and people in all age ranges have died from COVID-19, the highest percentage of people to go to the grave as a result of contracting the virus are the elderly and folks with chronic health issues such as obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma and the like.
     Most elected leaders in the Tri-County Area currently are mirroring the feeling that they do not particularly care to participate in a united effort to stop the spread of COVID-19, regardless of its impact on public health or the economy.

SpaceX manned launch
filmed from a distance

Flames shoot from the Falcon 9 rocket Dragon as it sends the SpaceX capsule named Resilience into space with four humans on Sunday (Nov. 15). This is the view from a hayfield in Levy County -- looking east toward Kennedy Space Center.

Story, Photos and Video
By Jeff M. Hardison © Nov. 15, 2020 at 9:10 p.m.
All copyrights reserved
A Column
     LEVY COUNTY – With 20 minutes until launch Sunday evening (Nov. 15), I carried a rocking lawn chair out 50 yards deep into one of my friendly neighbor’s hayfields.


CLICK ON THE STILL PHOTO ABOVE TO WATCH THE VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRnN23RS0ro

     I unfolded the chair and noticed the fog was starting to form. This was not my first rocket launch observation from that hayfield. Some conditions are different each time. This was the best long distance video of a rocket launch so far from Levy County looking over toward Kennedy Space Center.
     Launch was on time at 7:27 p.m. on Nov. 15. It had been set back one day due to weather. If the rocket did not launch Sunday, it would have to wait for Wednesday to have the right timing for leaving Earth to reach the International Space Station.
     This was the Falcon 9 rocket carrying the SpaceX Dragon capsule with four astronauts bound for the International Space Station. Three American astronauts Victor Glover, Michael Hopkins and Shannon Walker, were joined by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi as those four sojourners began their flight to the ISS Sunday evening from the East Coast of Florida.
     This Dragon capsule was named Resilience by its crew. This launch was the first full-fledged taxi flight for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration by a private company.
     Meanwhile, 10 minutes before SpaceX launched its rocket and capsule, my Canon camera flashed a red blinking red light to show me that I needed to walk indoors and replace the battery with a new one. A brisk 100-yard walk back and forth, flashlight in hand, landed me in the lawn chair with a fresh battery. From my perspective, all systems now were Go For Launch.
     Needles the community cat of Jemlands meowed. And then he rubbed on my bare leg. I was wearing shorts. (By the way, on a trip to see one launch as a journalist, I was getting ready to get on the bus for the NASA Vehicle Assembly Building rooftop view, but I was wearing shorts – which was a dress code violation to be on the VAB roof. I watched from a beachfront with other journalists.)
     During a previous launch session in the very dark hayfield in the past year-plus, Needles the silent-pawed cat rubbed on my leg. He experienced a kneejerk reaction from me that inspired him to always meow before rubbing against my leg when I am out in the almost absolute darkness of a hayfield near woods.
     My reaction was nowhere near as fast as when I saw my late brother Jim move as fast as light to disable a young man years ago when that fellow erred in making a bad move. That is another long story.
     As for the pre-launch fun in the freshly cut grass Sunday eve, for about three minutes I enjoyed petting Needles as I looked east. He purred away and made me feel comfortable sitting alone in the darkness surrounded by fog.
     I saw what has become a familiar red ball to me as it illuminated a spot going upward through the forest to the east of the hayfield. This launch was about 15 degrees north in the woods in contrast with another recent launch that took off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base.
     There have been a relatively higher number of launches this year in contrast with the previous decade or so.


By this point, the flames looked green.

     I filmed the Falcon 9 flames from the first stage as long as it was visible on the camera monitor. The red ball seen through the woods went into the air and began to stretch out to be a red moving line in the air stretching out. The rocket flames appeared to turn blue and then green from my point of view looking through the ground fog. It became a white dot moving in the air.
     Then, I turned the camera off and saw only with my eyes as the white dot continued with what appeared to be a very wide lit up mist behind it.
     Soon, I picked up the lawn chair and returned it to the lawn, and then entered the house, where I watched more of the event as Sharon Hardison shared the view on her cell phone.
     I was saddened to learn that Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX was suffering from COVID-19. He had to watch this from a place offsite from Kennedy Space Center, because it has rules to help reduce the spread of the virus on that campus.
     I have been at KSC a few times, including for one launch that I covered as a journalist for HardisonInk.com. United Launch Alliance and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration were genuinely extremely pleasant and accommodating hosts some years ago when I went for that visit.
     By the way, I lived in Melbourne for a time as the bureau chief of the Palm Bay Sun. That was more than 33 years ago – when I met the lovely and talented Sharon, who married me when I was the editor of the Glades County Democrat.
     I intend to visit KSC again after the global pandemic significantly subsides. Meanwhile, I like watching launches from the hayfield. Perhaps I will find some place relatively closer to the launch point for watching a launch. Time and space will tell.

Levy County School Board
warns of COVID-19 spreaders
By Jeff M. Hardison © Nov. 12, 2020 at
     BRONSON – The Levy County School Board on Tuesday (Nov. 10) issued a letter to family and staff members of the School District to note it is aware of people knowingly and willingly performing action that endangers the public’s health.
     Failure to abide by accepted practices to reduce the odds of causing other humans to be sick, even to the point of hospitalization and death, apparently became so abundant by students and workers in the Levy County School District, that the Levy County School Board issued a letter on Nov. 10 with the greeting “Levy Family & Staff.”
     Incoming Levy County Superintendent of Schools Chris Cowart, who is moving from being a School Board member to being the superintendent of schools as a result of an election, confirmed that the leaders in the district saw a need to issue the following letter.
     Cowart said he and other school leaders recognize the best public health practices in regard to the global COVID-19 pandemic including wearing face masks, maintaining distance when possible between individuals, and avoiding being in enclosed spaces with groups of people, especially when ventilation is inadequate for reducing the spread of an airborne microscopic virus that is very dangerous to health.
     The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) note methods for prevention of the novel Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19).
Wear a mask
     Wearing a mask helps to protect others in your community.
Social Distancing
     Keep a Safe Distance to Slow the Spread.
If you are sick
     Stay home except to get medical care. Stay home. Most people with COVID-19 have mild illness and can recover at home without medical care. Do not leave your home, except to get medical care. Do not visit public areas.
     For more information about COVID-19 and what to do if you are sick, click HERE.
     The Florida Department of Health issued a Public Health Advisory at least seven months ago that is still in effect and has not changed for people. Residents are advised to wear masks in public and to socially distance. Avoid crowds, closed spaces and close contact.
     Following is a retyped letter sent Nov. 10 that indicates to the public in Levy County, and elsewhere, that there are people who are knowingly refusing to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 – both children and adults.
     Some finer points of grammar and style have been revised in the letter. For instance, where the original writer uses “Covid-19” for the acronym COVID-19 (the novel Coronavirus 2019), the retyped version uses “COVID-19.” This is like the acronym “LASER” (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) becoming “laser.”

Levy Family & Staff.
     This is a COVID-19 update. Our county has seen a rise in the number of COVID-19 positive cases over the last month. The school health registered nurses and school administration have spent hours evaluating each case and trying to limit sending any student home to quarantine that has not been in contact.
     We have identified an issue and need your help! We have seen firsthand, and had multiple phone calls, about students who are supposed to be at home on quarantine; but who instead are out in public areas and even more risky, hanging out together.
     This kind of behavior increases the likelihood of the virus continually spreading in our community, and in the school system, and causing additional and even repetitive quarantines for students.
     A student or staff member sent home to quarantine or isolate means they should avoid contract with others. For example, they should avoid public areas, attending public places, extracurricular practices and events, riding in cars and other close contact activities until their quarantine or isolation period is completed.
     If it is an emergency that you should go out in public, a mask should be worn at all times. Frequent handwashing and remaining six-feet or more from others will help.
     This has been a very difficult and frustrating time for all of us. We, as a community always have pulled together and done what is needed to get through challenges. We now we can get through this as well.
     Remember, we all are on the same team. We want to keep our community safe, our kids and teachers at school, and our parents able to work. We thank you for your support!
 

Engineers propose dredging
Suwannee River mouth
Comments must be received
by Dec. 1 for consideration

By the Department of the United States Army
Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District
Corporate Communications
Received Nov. 2, 2020 at 2:42 p.m.
Published Nov. 3, 2020 at 11:10 a.m.
     JACKSONVILLE – The United States Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District has proposed a project for maintenance dredging of the McGriff Channel at Suwannee River to restore the channel depth and width for safe and efficient navigation along the length of the extant federal navigation project.
     The proposed dredging will take place at McGriff Pass (Wadley Pass), at the mouth of the Suwannee River in Dixie County, and encompasses a portion of the Suwannee River Federal Navigation Project, which borders Levy and Dixie counties. The district proposes to dredge 50,000 to 60,000 cubic yards of material for placement at Cat Island, restoring beach area lost in recent decades to erosion and sea level rise.
     The placement will beneficially create some 10 acres of bird habitat and help protect archaeological deposits affected by erosion. The project is tentatively scheduled to be constructed from December 2021 through March 2022 to avoid impacting the Gulf sturgeon migration period. Future periodic maintenance dredging may occur anywhere within the federally authorized channel.
     A copy of the Draft Environmental Assessment and supporting documents are available for public review at the link https://www.saj.usace.army.mil/SuwanneeRiverDredgingEA/. Go to the link, find listings by Florida counties, then click on Dixie County and scroll down to Maintenance Dredging of the McGriff Channel at Suwannee River.
     Interested individuals and parties are invited to review the EA and submit comments for consideration either via email or by the United States Postal Service. The district strongly requests that comments be submitted via email due to staffing impacts of the USPS from the global COVID-19 pandemic.
     Send comments via email to SAJ-SUWANNEE-COMMENTS@usace.army.mil
     Mail comments via U.S. Postal Service to:
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District
701 San Marco Blvd.
Jacksonville, FL 32207-8175
     Comments must be received by Dec. 1, 2020, for consideration.
     For more information about United States Corps of Engineers’ projects, please visit https://www.saj.usace.army.mil/.
 

Repaving U.S. Alt. 27
continues in Levy County;
Expect daytime traffic delays
By FDOT Communications
Published Oct. 16, 2020 at 10:10 a.m.
     CHIEFLAND -- A resurfacing project started yesterday (Thursday, Oct. 15) on State Road 500 (Alternate U.S. Highway 27) in Levy County.
     The $5.8 million Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) project will take place on the road in the area from just west of Levy County Road 124 in Chiefland to just west of State Road 24 near Bronson.
     FDOT has hired Anderson Columbia Co. of Lake City to complete the work.
     In addition to milling and resurfacing, the project will include shoulder and drainage improvements, traffic monitoring upgrade, bridge joint repairs, and other incidental construction.
     Motorists should expect some daytime delays; however, during construction, at least one lane will remain open in each direction at all times.
     Additionally, Levy County Road 32 (Ishie Avenue) may be closed for a maximum of seven consecutive days one time during the project.
     Work is expected to be completed in the spring of 2021.