Dixie County Advocate, Cross City, Florida Thursday, April 7, 2005 Bixie Countp 2[bbotate PRINTERS & PUBLISHERS 174 NE 351 Hwy. P.O. Box 5030 Cross City, FL 32628-5030 Ph. (352) 498-3312 FAX (352)498-0420 E-mail: editor@dcadvocate.net $21.40...................:Tri-County Area $27.82 ...................Elsewhere Includes Tax Official Organ & Only Newspaper Published In Dixie County Sue C hew ning.................... .................. Editor Terri Langford..................................... Reporter Joyann Rogers.........................Office Manager Louis Russell Dosh.......................Web Master The Dixie County Advocate is owned by H & L Media, LLC of Dixie County. Deadline for church news and announcements is 12:00 Noon on Monday. Deadline for advertising and classified ads is 12:00 Noon on Tuesday. Classified ads are $5.00 for 20 words or less; 10o each additional word. Classified ads are payable in advance. Please mail ad with check to the above address. 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Internet: Summaries of news stories along with selected pictures, legal ads, and classified ads are posted weekly to www.dcadvocate.net THE DIXIE COUNTY ADVOCATE (USPS 158-760) is published weekly for $21.40 Tri-County Area and $27.82 - Out of County, per year by the Dixie County Advocate, 107 South Cedar Street, Cross-'City, FL 32628. Periodical postage paid at Cross City, Florida. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to DIXIE COUNTY ADVOCATE, P.O. Box 5030, Cross City, FL 32628. 37 , -. ., By ." Jerry Prater Remembering John Paul HI SPope John Paul II died last week at the age of 84 following a lifetime of service to his church. John Paul II went beyond the demands of his office, got out of the Vatican and took his message tothe rest of the world at a time when it needed to be heard. , He was born Karol Wojtyla in 1920, and was ordained a priest i6l 1946, a time when the Roman Catholic Church was on insecure footing in his native Poland, owing to the imposition of a secular communist government that made no secret of its animosity toward the Christian faith. But that didn't stop him from advancing in the ranks. He became a bishop in 1958, an archbishop in. 1963, a Cardinal in 1967, and Pope in October of 1978. 1 One unique thing about his ascending to the Papacy was the Jarct that he was Polish. For centuries, all Popes had been Italian, this despite the fact that his church recognizes the Apostle Peter, wlho was Jewish, as the first Pope. : Not being of the Roman Catholic persuasion myself I have a problem with a number of that church's doctrinal positions, as do most Protestants. And it is for this reason that I credit John Paul II with doing an extraordinary job of ameliorating relations among (hristians of various denominations, as well as reaching out to Persons of other faiths, and all the while without backing down from his convictions and the policies of his own church. Think about that, and you'll realize that it was not an easy task. : In 1981, a man named Mehmet Ali Agca attempted to assassin- ate Pope John Paul II, for which he was forgiven by the Pope; however the plot of which Agca was a part was traced to some ligh-ranking members of the Communist Party in Poland and elsewhere. Agca's failed assassination attempt resulted in the exposure of a heretofore unseen agenda of the communist world. SGetting rid of a Pope who was getting through to the down- tirdden in communist and third world countries was important to the leaders of the Communist Party. Here was a man preaching Christ to people in parts of the world where the government's official position was that God did not exist. After all, it was Karl 1Marx himself who called religion "the opiate of the masses." Plans for additional attempts on the Pontiffs life were on the drawing boards, but were never carried out. " Pope John Paul II played a significant role in the defeat of the Soviet Communist bloc in 1989. The following year, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, ,an honor which should have been shared by the Pope, US President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, none of whom ever received that award. -: In 1998, the Pope went to Cuba, which was and still is about as communist a country as you'll find anywhere this side of China. The population was predominately Catholic, but Fidel Castro kept tle church pretty much in limbo, educating the children in government-run schools where God was excluded the way the ACLU would prefer that He be excluded in our own schools. Letter From The Editor BE PROUD DIXIE.... By Sue Chewning If you have ever had a child participate in the Dixie County Little League program you know that the program has.been kept alive with a lot of heart, hardw6rk and not too much money. But thanks to a $50,000.00 grant acquired by the County Commissioners from the Parks and Recreation Department, Dixie County can stand up and be PROUD! The newly renovated Little League complex, located just off- US 19, on the Airport Road, is on its way to become a place for our children and grandchildren to play and play with PRIDE. Our county officials are to be commended for their dedication to this worthy cause. Keep up the good work ---- the more children we get involved in sports and other good clean fun the less trouble we will find them in elsewhere. Try spending some of your time coaching, umpiring or just cheering one of these or maybe all of them on -- you will definitely be a WINNER for doing so and so will the child. BE PROUD DIXIE! P.S. It ws a great feeling Saturday to see the faces of so many young women and men who once played on these very fields to be wearing coaching shirts. It gives you a great sense of satisfaction when you give back to a program that gave so much to you. Great things happen when we all work together and give of ourselves. Thanks. Kendrick's Proposals To Allow Local Government To Decide Where Tax Dollars Are Spent , TALLAHASSEE: Each year, the Legislature allocates millions of dollars to Florida's 67 school districts throughout the state, as well as local tax dollars. Each school district must follow certain restrictions, including class size requirements, to obtain the funds and the local districts do not have the opportunity to decide how these dollars are spent. Rep. Will Kendrick (D-Carrabelle) has filed a bill, (HB 1595) which will allow local school districts that meet specified class size requirements to use the proceeds that are generated by the district school tax for broader purposes. Currently, these dollars are used much more restrictively.Rep. Kendrick's bill, Uses of the School District Tax, will ensure that local school boards are able to make decisions based on their needs. "Anytime we can give local government the tools necessary to run effectively, it is good government policy," said Rep. Kendrick. The.bill passed the PreK- 12 Committee on Tuesday and has gone to the Education Appropriations Committee for consideration. If passed, the bill will become effective on July 1 of this year. Providing health care for the needy is an ongoing issue throughout the U.S. Each county in Florida has citizens that are in need of health care assistance. Rep. Kendrick has proposed a bill that will provide assistance to these families that are in need of healthcare. HB 55 will allow counties with a population of less than 50,000 to pass an additional half-cent tax for indigerit healthcare services. The tax increase would take effect pending voter approved referendum by each county that meets the requirements. The Voter-Approved Indigent Care Surtax will not only give an increase to funding, but it will also give local control on what these additional funds are used for. "This is a great opportunity to once again allow local governments the flexibility of funds to be determined at a local level, while helping some of Florida's most vulnerable," said Rep. Kendrick. With the passing of this bill, the affected counties will have an increase in funds to help provide indigent health-care as well as. health-care facilities. Rep. Kendrick hopes that this increase will assist even more families with health-care, which will in turn save lives. The bill has been passed favorably through both the Health Care and the Finance and Tax Committees. The bill awaits presentation by the Local Government Council. THANKS!! Tim & Diane Lord, Judy & Paul Corbin, James & Donna Hurley, Cheryl & Morgan Lord for purchasing my hog at the Suwannee River Livestock Show & Sale. Your support is greatly appreciated. Ridge Coe Soaring Eagles 4-H -- ----.- -- --- --I THANK YOU!' I Guy Crawford of Of Crawford Timber ? S for purchasing my hog at the || SSuwannee River Livestock Show & Sale. L Your continued support is greatly | appreciated. /- Callie Keen, Senior FFA -T- I ."".1 I.T. 1 Gallagher Seeks To Clarify Confusion With Storm Claims, Outlines Options To Help Consumers Florida's Chief Financial Officer Tom requiring the insurer, to pay interest on the Gallagher today raised concerns with confusing holdback. Gallagher said he would also like to policy language and recommended solutions for see insurers, every six months, re-contact,. helping consumers navigate through their policyholders entitled to recoverable depreciation homeowners insurance policies and storm but who have not applied for it. claims. Gallagher also said he is turning over Gallagher also pointed to a provision in consumer complaints he has received on Florida homeowners policies that requires K confusing policy language to the Office of policyholders to notify their insurers that all Insurance Regulation for further review, repairs and replacement of property be submitted: "Storm victims are dealing with a number of and finalized within 180 days to qualify for,: pressures financial, family, work and more. payment. Unfortunately, some Floridians have My goal is to alleviate some of the pressure by received correspondence from their insurers that: helping storm victims recover the insurance refers to this deadline and believe they must money due them to pay for losses," said make all repairs and purchase new contents; Gallagher. "And to make sure there is no pattern within this timeframe. of miscommunication to storm Victims, I am To make his point, Gallagher displayed turning over our consumer complaints to the correspondence from Mr. Robert Hoke, of Office of Insurance Regulation for further Perdido Key, which showed a message from an review." adjuster saying Mr. Hoke had 180 days to One such confusing situation deals with purchase his lost contents if he wanted to receive depreciation holdbacks. Gallagher said that recoverable depreciation. However, Mr. Hoke's Florida homeowners insurance policies contain a condominium probably won't be rebuilt for two provision that entitles the policyholder to the full to three years. replacement cost for their home and contents "Because of the incredible widespread without any depreciation for materials used. But damage caused by last year's storms and the insurers can impose a holdback provision and amount of time it has taken to settle all claims we initially pay a fractional or actual cash value do not expect this deadline to be enforced," said amount, but they must explain the procedure for Gallagher. "But if someone is threatened with recovering the remainder of the costs of the loss. such a deadline, I want to hear about it." Homeowners who have replacement cost Gallagher reminded policyholders that they coverage will get the amount of money it costs to need to keep all receipts for any work done and: complete their repairs or to replace destroyed for contents purchased to provide to their insurer. contents minus what is referred to as for reimbursement. Also, he recommended recoverable depreciation. If a homeowner did consumers get more than one estimate for repairs not refuse this coverage in writing when the and pick the lesser of the estimates to prevent policy was purchased, then the replacement cost conflicts over price gouging. coverage is automatically included. Policyholders may also have any estimate' Last week Gallagher met with Milton and approved by the insurer in advance, which could:: Denise Phillips at their home in Lakeland, which be helpful if short-term financial assistance is: was devastated by two hurricanes. "I was able to needed to complete repairs or to replace contents. explain the process the Phillips would have to go For more information or to request assistance through to rebuild their home, because even after consumers can contact the Department of all these months they were still having trouble Financial Services hurricane insurance hotline at getting their claim finalized and their home 1-800-22-STORM. Consumer guides explaining rebuilt," said Gallagher. Florida homeowners insurance policies can be Gallagher said he is exploring solutions to downloaded from the For the Consumer section' discourage insurance companies from holding at www.fldfs.com. back too much money or for too long by Rod Smith Signs Veteran Polling Firm for Gubernatorial Campaign ALACHUA Senator Rod Smith (Dem. Carolina, and Phil Bredesen Alachua) has hired Garin-Hart-Yang Research, firm also currently handles one of the top Democratic polling firms in the States Senators and 15 mem nation to assist his effort to become Florida's Representatives. next governor in 2006. "Garin-Hart-Yang was Garin-Hart-Yang handled the polling for victories," said Jim Krog, w Lawton Chiles's successful campaigns for win over Jeb Bush in 1994. Florida governor in 1990 and 1994. The firm very best in the business. N also handled the polling for Senator Bob pollsters, but their strategic Graham's successful Senate re-election none. campaigns in 1992 and 1998. Garin-Hart-Yang is the Garin-Hart-Yang is one of the pioneers in the Smith's campaign team. political polling field and has a long track record retained Murphy Putnam St of successful campaigns throughout the nation. of the nation's leading Demn Its current clients include four incumbent Ad campaigns produced governors: Rod Blagojevich of Illinois, Mark Shorr have helped elect Dei Warner of Virginia, Mike Easley. of North nine states. Dixie County Always behave as if nothing has happ Jail Log MARCH 28 SNELLGROVE, HEATHER M., 25, Warrant (Criminal Mischief). RICHARDSON, BRANDI M., 23, Warrant (Criminal Mischief). , ,HENRY, DOUGLAS R., 45, VOCC, Unlawful Sex Act On Minor. NELSON, RICHARD LEE, 39, Aggravated Assault W/Deadly Weapon. FARNHAM, WILLIAM FRANCIS, 29, Hold For Court. MARCH 29 FOWLER, BILLY WAYNE, 39, VOCC DWLS/R. WILLIAMSON, JAMES ALOYSIOUS, 24, VOP Warrant, Battery On Law Enforcement Officer., MARCH 30 MARCH 31 COFFEY, CLENNIE LLOYD, 59, Burglary, Violation of Injunction. APRIL 1 CLEMONS, LADMER, 44, Child Support Polk Co. APRIL 2 GREEN, WILLIAM DALE, 26, Trespass After Warning. RITCHESON, MARK ALLEN, 48, Warrant FTA. APRIL 3 BARBER, LOREN CHASE, 21, DUI, 1st Offense. Dear me, what was a dictator to do? If any harm befell the Pope, his subjugated Catholic population might rise up in unison and feed him to the sharks. Or possibly Christians throughout the World would foment a retaliatory strike with the air support that the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion lacked. All this, and no longer a Soviet Union to come to his rescue! :: While confronted with this dilemma, the aging despot proved ikhy he had been able to rule Cuba for 25 years: He was smart 6oough to do nothing, other than make sure that nothing bad happened to the Pope. Fidel was a gracious host, and while he didn't confess his sins or vacate his office, he chose to keep a lid on his contempt for Christianity until the Pontiff left, thus vindicating the authority that a man of peace can wield without a sword in,his hand. Let's hope that Pope John Paul II's successor can do as well. a of Tennessee. The polling for 10 United nbers of the House of essential to Lawton's mho managed Chiles's "They're one of the ot only are they great c advice is second to': e latest addition to- Last month, Smith, horr and Partners, one: nocratic media firms. by Murphy Putnam' mocratic governors in, opened no mat- ter what has happened. -Arnold Bennet Today's ODDLY CUBIT HEARTH WIDEST Jumbles What the cook did when the server Answers dropped the tray "DISHED" IT OUT SCross City Dental, PA Stephen M. Henry DMD (352)498-7001 David R. Schneck DMD New Patients Welcome S-a whiter 117 NE Hwy. 351 brighter Cross City, FL faster FAS FRINDL Page 2