A vote is sacred

Editorial
Anna Liisa Covell

Today is election day - the day citizens finally get to voice their own opinion at the polls.

No more polling data for Floridians. This is where the rubber meets the road.  Who do you want as your Republican nominee for November elections?

For months, media has jammed unwanted opinions in our faces - opinions about their choice for the best Republican candidate for president. No wonder no one trusts honest journalists.  They are a rare breed in today's world of media glitz.

Don't let any polling data fool you into changing your vote...a vote is sacred to the America way of life.

Just remember in the words of Franklin D. Roosevelt, "An election cannot give a country a firm sense of direction if it has two or more national parties which merely have different names, but are as alike in their principals and aims as two peas in the same pod."

Keep this in mind when you vote next week

Brooksville, Fla. - Local county chairman gives food for thought as we approach election day.

Blaise Ingoglia, local chairman of Hernando County Republican Executive Committee makes sound points on economy as the Florida Presidential Preference Primary approaches next week.

Ingoglia states the best investment in our country is to be poor.  He contends low income citizens receive benefits equaling 10 dollars for every one dollar paid in taxes.  

Statistics indicate 144 million people, or 47 percent of the population, pay little or no taxes in our country under President Barrack Obama's administration. The number of low income people has increased 28 percent since President Ronald Reagan was in office. 

Nugent announces new USO Center

REP NUGENT:  “The USO Tampa project speaks volumes about the level of 

commitment in Florida to our troops and their families.”

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Following the announcement of final approval for a USO Center at Tampa International Airport, Rep. Rich Nugent (FL-05) released the following statement:

“Congratulations are in order for the team behind the USO Center project at Tampa International Airport.  As the staff at USO Headquarters put it, ‘Many have applied, but this is the first Chartered USO Center approved in the nation in over 20 years.’

“The USO Tampa Bay Board of Directors deserves a lot of credit for putting together a workable plan for the new center and seeing it through.  Hundreds of thousands of military personnel and their families will be served by this new center and as a father of three soldiers, I know how much means to our troops.

“Make no mistake about it, this is an all-volunteer, all-donation based project and their success so far speaks volumes about the level of commitment in Florida to our troops and their families. 

“It means a lot to our troops that this group of volunteers set out to try and get a new center approved, but to have the care and dedication needed to actually pull it off, that means the world.”  

Purple heart ceremony

Announcement

Seventh Annual Purple Heart Ceremony 

The combat wounded Patriots of Aaron A. Weaver Chapter 776 Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH) cordially invite all veterans and the public to attend the Seventh Annual Purple Heart Ceremony at the Florida National Guard Armory, Crystal River, 11 a.m., Saturday, February 18. 

The ceremony will commemorate the proud legacy of the Purple Heart and pay tribute to Florida’s fallen heroes of the Global War on Terror and America’s wounded warriors.  The ceremony will also feature the MOPH Department of Florida Afghanistan/Iraq War Memorial Portrait Mural. The mural honors over 300 Floridians who have fallen during the Afghanistan/Iraq campaigns and is the first memorial to bear both the engraved names and color portraits of those who fell.  Vocalists Paul and Jackie Stevio will provide patriotic music. 

For more information, visit the Chapter 776 web site at www.citruspurpleheart.org

No chain of command exists for leadership change

Brooksville, Fla. - The local civil rights organization is working under the assumption they have no chain of command to replace their outgoing president.

The president of NAACP/Chapter 5092 was met with disheartening news from their national office as he geared up to run for Hernando County Commission, district 5. The national office of  NAACP called to say they wanted his resignation due to a prior precedent set within their organization.  When the local president officially becomes qualified as a candidate he will have to step down.

Executive directors for the civil rights organization will decide the method of replacement for the outgoing president in a closed-door meeting later this month. A majority vote by their general membership is necessary to approve the executive directors' decision.

According to Suzanne Touchton, secretary for NAACP/Chapter 5092, the group is working on the assumption they have no vice presidents to assume the leadership position with the pending resignation of their president, Paul Douglas.  "Under normal circumstances we would have three vice presidents at our local chapter for replacement through succession," Touchton said.

Paul Douglas indicated he misspoke when he prematurely announced he would resign his position as president of local chapter of the NAACP in December.  "I just couldn't walk away from the organization after our only vice president, Ron Swanson told me he wouldn't take the position as president," Douglas said.

Paul Boston, community activist, made his intentions clear at their December meeting.  He announced he wanted to run for president of the organization when Douglas officially turns in his resignation. It is Boston's understanding an election would need to take place within 30 days to replace the outgoing president.  

"It is just something I remember," Boston said.  "But you might ask the secretary in charge of elections."

According the Touchton, their bylaws don't have provisions for officer replacement without a proper chain of command in place.  She said the bylaws only cover how bi-annual elections are conducted which is why the executive director will set up procedures at their closed-door meeting later this month.

Douglas intends to nominate Andrew Williams as a vice president for continuity within their organization.   Williams is the husband of Annie Williams, supervisor of elections.  He is also a past-president of the local NAACP.

"I want proper authority in place," Douglas said, before he turns in his resignation to the organization.

Get out your tin-foil hats & big pencils!

Editorial Comments

Anna Liisa Covell


Hernando County's annual list of New Year's resolutions should begin by addressing a few items left in the dustbin as our year draws to a close.  As we swing into the New Year, all eyes will be on bigger and brighter promises for the future. We'll listen to promise after promise from politicians wanting to take their turn at the helm.


But before we jump into 2012, let's tidy up a few loose ends to answer a few questions from this year.


 1.   How many mosquitoes does it take to make a swarm before the county will send the bug truck?
 2.   Did Satan really send pygmy goats to visit Commissioner Jim Adkins' farm last summer?
 3.   How many frequent-flyer miles has Commissioner Jeff Stabins really racked up?
 4.   Will Blaise Ingoglia take "Number 1" spot on YouTube in 2012?
 5.   Will Balloon Boy launch another flying machine once the airport tower is built?
 6.   How many spaghetti strands does Jeff Stabins expect his constituent to eat through a strainer?
 7.   Was Commissioner Wayne Dukes seen outside of Workforce Hernando wearing a tin-foil hat?
 8.   Will Jim Adkins loan the county his "two tin cans and a string" for broadband and data capability?
 9.   Will Jeff Stabins ask the fire chiefs to flip a coin to see who gets to wear the big red fire hat?
10.  Will the first "Blueberry Queen" be Lara Bradburn?
11.  Will commissioners resort to a Ouija board to choose the next administrator?
12.  Has Jim Adkins sent away for his super-secret decoder ring from John Kerry?
13.  Will Skater-girl take first place in district 3 roller derby?
14.  Did Commissioner John Druzbick cry uncle in silent as his arm was twisted for Big impact fee waivers?
15,  How many more gray hairs will David Russell get balancing next year's budget?
16.  Will Jeff Stabins do "man-on-the-street- interviews when the Elgin Road  project  is complete?
17.  Do new sidewalk plans for School Street include a scenic stroll past  toxic waste dump at old DPW?
18.  Will citizens be judged to eternal damnation for disbelieving Jason Sager's fire & brimstone speeches?
19.  Has David Russell really applied for a job of "straw boss" at FDOT for SR50 widening project?
20.  Will Regina Werder-McGuire drag her brother's big pencil around to the campaign sites?
21.  Do visions of "school board seats" dance in John Druzbick's head as he sleeps?
22.  When Alvin Mazourek retires will he leave bread crumbs for Nobleton residents?
23.  Where will the keys to the cookie jar be hidden when Karen Nicolai retires?
24.  Has unemployment office listed "open seats at supervisor of elections" as job offers for unemployed?
25.  Will Wayne Duke figure out how to remove "No" from his vocabulary to accentuate the positive?

Change of editor at local paper

Editorial Comments
Anna Liisa Covell


Several weeks ago, I emailed Michael Bates at the Hernando Today, after reading Tampa Tribune had down-sized their organization.  I asked Bates if his editor, Chris Wessel, had been laid off in their new round of personnel cuts.  It was my understanding that Michael Terry or Robert Hibbs had replaced  Wessel as the editor at the Hernando Today.

As you might imagine, I never received a reply from Bates. Even though I had a firm tip about the paper's personnel changes, I was hesitant to say anything without a second confirmation. So I waited for an updated staff list to be published on the Hernando Today web site.  

Michael Terry is now listed as the editorial editor for Hernando Today.  Several reporters survived the latest rounds of cuts.  Bates is still the reporter for Hernando County government news.  Jeff Schmucker has the city government and school board beat.  And Tony Holt is covering court reporting for the county.


Everyone has had to tighten their belts in this sluggish economy.  The newspaper business, in general, has been especially hard hit.  Good luck to everyone at the Hernando Today.