MCCAIN AND HILLIARY TAKE DIXIE BY STORM E-4 9-10 s 3OTO I 10 u vi m Q EUGENE MCDOWELL PARK On Tuesday January 29, 2008 the Cross City Fire Depart- ment responded to a report of a structure fire near Oliver Street at around 2:00 P.M. Fire Engines 1 and 45 were on the scene in moments and quickly got the blaze con- tained. The building, which was lo- cated on the property Dol- phus Peppers, was uninhabit- ed. At this time the cause of the fire is unknown. See more pictures on the Back Page Thu 75157 1/31 Few showers. Highs in the mid 70s and lows in the upper 50s. i 69/40 A few thunderstorms possible. Sat 67140 Sunshine. 'Highs in the upper 60s and lows in the low 40s. Sun 2/3 69144 Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the upper 60s and lows in the mid 40s. Mon24 71/52 .214 Sunny, Highs in the low 70s and lows in the low 50s. It is illegal to take pho- tographs within 100 feet of a polling station, so that ended that story. I did, however, meet Mr. Connie "Slim" Mc- Dowell, whose late son's name will grace the new city park, being built behind the Cross City Water Plant. Eu- gene "the Dunk" attended the University of Florida be- tween 1982 and 1985 and played pasketball for the Gators. He started 117 games (4th all time Gator), 162 Dunks (2nd overall), 43 Dou- ble Doubles (1st overall) and had a 0.597 field goal percent- age (3rd overall). Eugene con- tinued to play basketball, af- AMERICAN LEGION POST 383, OLD TOWN ENROLLS FRONT LINE TROOPS ter'colleg6, in Italy, Spaini, Turkey and the US. His greatest successes achieved in the FC Barcelona where he only played one season (1987 - 1988), but won three titles: the CBA League, the Champi- ons League and the Cup Prince of Asturias basket- ball. In the early '90's he played for the Pensacola Tor- nadoes and the Birmingham Bandits. He was taken at the. age of 32 August 25th 1995, but will live on in our memo- ries and in his namesake park. INDEX 2..........Viewpoints 3...Law Enforcement 4..Announcements 5..Annbuncements 6..Spotlight on Dixie 7..Spotlight on Dixie 8.Pathways to Faith 9....Entertainment 10.......Real Estate 11..i......Classifieds 12 ...........TV Guide 13..,........Legal 14................School 15................Home 16.....Family Fun 17.... .... F.Y.I. 18........In Closing SCH 3-DIGIT 326 L. IBR ARY OF FLOR PO BOX 117007 GAINESV ILLE FL | ~~n ii~~ifiiii~n American Legion ANiviuMtAir ost a33 located m uia Town, M'ioriaa, mignt nave come up witn a iirst among au American Legion Posts. The Post Commander's nephew, Curtis Christians, a member of Post 383, while serving in Iraq, has enrolled 18 fellow members of his Unit into the Legion. According to Post Commander Chris Christians, "It makes sense to enroll active duty combat troops in Iraq and have them become familiar with the American Legion, its goals and programs". Christians added, "We stay in touch with these members through our website, www.post383.org, and Post email"., Post 383 was chartered in 2004 and currently has 300 members. The Post is named in honor of all military services ANM- CGAF (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Air Force. CRIME SPREE HAS CITY COUNCIL CONCERNED By David Ryman L .full house of Mr Herbert Hurst, Ms. Kay Hardin, Mr Clay Locklear, Mr Marcellus Dawson, Mr. Rick Gooding, and Mayor Lee attended the first 2008 meeting of the City Council of Cross City on Monday 15th January After the usual preliminaries, Mayor Lee asked for nominees for the posi- tions of President and Vice-President for the coming year. Mr. Hurst and Ms. Hardin where unanimously, respectively, reinstated. The council approved the minutes from the last meeting, reports from the Fire and Police departnients, and the Clerks reports. The Council heard from Ralph Hansen who is seeking general approval of his plans to build professional offices on the vacant commercial site South of Drummond bank. The City Manager, Mike Cassidy, reported that Alco are interested in opening a store in Cross City. The site being concidered is opposite Putman Lodge where a 27,000 sq ft retail store will be constructed. Alco's mission O00000 is to be the best general merchandise retailer I DA HIS STORY in America, serving smaller, hometown com- munities. The council understands that Cross 3261 1-7007 City is in need of scnienT' l. iipsses. lliimi, [, ii j The recent huiii invasions at the Dsbois:and Gooding residences has caused conciderable consternation amongst residents. Major con- it has closed and kids roaming the streets in the early hours of the morning. After much discussion, Councilor Rick Gooding proposed a motion that all City parks adhere to new opening hours being 7:30am to 7pm in the Winter and 7:30am to 9:30pm in the Summer. The council further defined Winter as the period between Oct 1st and the end of April, Summer being the remain- der. The Police Department has been given the responsibility of locking the park whilst City staff will ensure it is opened in the morning. Organised events, approved by the City Manager, are excluded from the time restric- tions. The City Lawyer confirmed that one would need a very good reason to impose a curfew. Councilor Gooding asked if Armed Robbery would be suffi- cient. Councilor Gooding expressed his deep appreciation to the Dixie County Sher- iff, Cross City Correctional Facility and Cross City Police Departments for their excellent work during the recent Gooding home invasion. Police Chief Wesley Jones also had high praise for his officers. Great job guys!!! Councilor Locklear's pet project, to change the election of council members so that terms are staggered, which will remove the possibility of a complete change of membership and subsequent loss of knowledge, will be put to the electorate by referendum on Sept 23rd. ii a move to foster collaberation between the City and County, the City will donate the old Fire Truck back to the Fire Department, providing that the City can borrow it back when mobile ...Continued on page 7 FIRE IN CROSS CITY SEXU^^KAL REATORSj^ SEE RETDODU RE... PAGES 18II IID|)I WICCM1'T4D M BSS^^ufThursday? 501 January 31, 2008HM