Cabbage!


2009 Dixie County Advocate www. dcadvocate.net


Thursday, March 12, 2009
 VoL .87. No, 11 14 pages- 1 Section


 Brief

 Billy Keez

 Convicted
According to a press rE
lease.from The U.S. At
torney. former Dixie
County Building and
Zoning Inspector Willi
"Billy" Keen, Jr. was
convicted on Wednesd
afternoon for federal
program fraud.

The government claim
that Keen fraudulently
applied for CDBG and
SHIP funds to remodel
his house.; Keen was n
eligible for those fund.
because of his job but
apparently applied for
the funds: in his girl-
'friend's name, claiming
that she owned the
home. He received
$32,000 in grant money

Sentencing will be on
June 2 in GainesviUe.
Keen faces up to ten
years in jail, a $250,OOC
fine and could lose his
home. Keen also lost h
mining inspection con
tract with the county a
a result of his convic-
tion.


Thu 811
 81/51 M

Times of sun and clouds. Highs in,
the low 80s and lows in the low
50s.


Fri 79152
3113
Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the,
upper 70s and lows in the low 50s.



. 3114 77/53 -
3/14
Partly clou61. Highs in the upper
70s and lows in the low 50s.



Sun 79/54 .'
3/15
Partly cloudy. Highs in the upper.
70s and lows in the mid 50s.


6Mon 76/49 '
3/16. 71' 1.
Isolated thunderstorms. Highs in
the mid 70s and lows ih the upper
40s. .


L The Dixie County Commis-
  sion decided to pay the
 $5,000 to join the Nature
 Coast Regional Water Au-
 thority Thursday morning.'
ie' County Attorney Leenette
 McMillan removed language
 in the draft document that
ay required mandatory'
 hookups and
 added language
 that any major
.is decision would.
 require a unani- ,
 mous vote of all
 Water Authori-
 t ty members '
 s This change .
 was made-in or- ..,
 der to protect ...
 Dix.ie County .
 from being out-
 voted by
 Gilchrist and
 possibly Levy
 County mem-
 bers. The unan-


imous decision
rule would ap-
ply to taking on
dept. firing
managers, pur- .
chases, sales,
contracts, or ob-
taining funding.


The County also heard citi-,
zens' concerns about lower-
ing the base rate of' County
impact fees to $1,000. .
Charles Fornaciari spoke at,
length, saying that "The re-
duction of impact fees will
open the door of residence
to many more less fortunate
persons ard their families to
DLxie County While on the
surface, this may seem to be
a good thing. Dixie County


already ranks, as the fourth
poorest county in Florida."
There will be another hear-
ing on the impact fee change
before a final vote..

The Commission approved a
civil war monument in the
courthouse that was re-


quested by the Sons of Con-,
federate Veterans, subject to
a design change.

Holly Houghton appeared to
inform the Commission that
32 letters have been sent out
by the Suwannee River Fair
Association, telling children
that they will not be eligible
to compete at the Fair this
year because of the post-
mark date on their applica-
tions. "Some as young as


five years old will not be
able to show thier bunnies
for a green ribbon," she
said, because of the hard-
line attitude the Association
has taken on the matter.
Commissioner Troy John-
son sits on that Committee
and said although he did not
 agree with the de-
 cision, that rules
 .are necessary and
 that he hopes that
 it will be different
 next year.

 SPhil Bishop of
 Bailey, Bishop and
 Lane gave an up-
 date on several
 projects that are
 ongoing in the
 area, including
 the Suwannee
 Seawall, which is
 currently stalled
 due to an Army
 Corps of Engi-.
 neers Stop Work
 Permit that has
 been slapped on
 the project. Mr.
 Bishop said, "I
iy have never been
 so frustrated in all
 mY. life." He told the Com-.
 mission that the EPA has re-
 leased jurisdiction back to
 the Army Corps of Engi-
* neers and that all of the re-
quired paperwork has been
filed. On Tuesday morning,
Dixie County received the
USCOE permit and funding
was extended. Work should
begin on the seawall inmne-
d lately and be finished with-
in a few weeks.


T. ank Lee has bats in his belfry

 (Well, in his pool umbrella anyway.)


Spring cleaning got a little hairy at the Lee home in Cross City when a family of a few
dozen evening bats were discovered living in a pool umbrella. The Lees plan on installing a
bat house to encourage the fuzzy little mosquito-eaters to hang out throughout the summer-
time. Evening bats are common throughout North Florida and are harmless insectivores.


 Discount Drug Card Available to Dixie


 Bears


have bad week


by Angel Lee

On March 3rd, the Bears
played host to cross-county
rivals Chiefland Indians in a
district game. The Bears
looked to score a victory on
home field turf, as pitcher
Duane Lord took to the
mound. In the 3rd inning I
the Indians scored a total of
5 runs, and the Bears were
unable to score in the bot-
tom of the inning, leaving


the score 5-0. The Bears
weren't giving up yet, but
the Indians'managed to
push 6 more runs across the
plate in the 4th, and held the
Bears scoreless again, mak-
ing the score 11-0.
.The Bears weren't able to
get any runs off the Indians
pitching, and took a hard
loss 11-0.
 See B3ARS, page 5


Marines get exception

Cross City approves "private club" zoning


The Town of Cross City ap-
proved the Marine Corp
League's requested special
exception for a building
near the "old jail" that will
be used as a meeting place
and storage for thdir Toys'
for Tots projects. Citizen"
Cas Akins expressed some
concerns about alcohol use
on the property, but was in-
formed that no alcohol ser-
vice would be permitted.
"You can always trust a Ma-
rine," he stated. Council-
man:Herbert Hurst joked
that "Thirty years ago they,
might have partied loud;
you can look at 'em now and
know they want to be in bed
at 9:00."

The Council also decided to
join Dixie County in paying
the $5,000 in seed money to
join the Nature Coast Re-
gional Water Authority.
Councilman Rick Gooding


expressed his reservations
about being an active mem-
ber of the GUA, but stated
that 'At some point in time,
we will most likely be a
member of a GOA," '
whether it is. a joint Dixie
County-Cross City project,
or the NCRWA.

Letter was presented by
SCity Attorney Greg
Beauchamp in response to
threats of a "Bert Harris
Act" lawsuit from Buddy
Lamb. The Bert Harris Act
provides that an unfair tak-
ing of'-land be compensated
by government. Mr.
Beauchamp stated that "Our
position on that is not,
changed,," referring to a zon-
ing change requested by Mr.
Lamb for some property he
owns and wishes to develop,
but that violates Cross
City's existing Land Devel-
opment Regulations.


You might be a


 redneck if...


THIS is your wedding photo


INDEX
 2........Viewpoints
 3...Law Enforcement
 4....Announcements
 5 .................Hoops
 6.............Local
 7...................Local
 8.................School
 9...............StufftoDo
 10...............L..Local
 11............Classifieds
 12..............Local
 13................Legals
 14.....O.0bits & faith
 15.......Entertainment
 16..........In Closing


5 Dixie County, on March 12, 2009, will be
 launching a discount card program to help
 ininsuireds cope with the rising price of
 prescription drugs. Dixie County's Board
 of County Commissioners introduced the
 program today-in Cross City. The county
 .. is making this free prescription drug dis-
 count card available under a program
 sponsored by Coast2Coast Rx that provides
 average annual savings of 38% off the re-
 tail price of more than 60,000 available
 drugs.-

 The cards may be used by, all county resi-
 dents, regardless of age, income or exist-
 ing health coverage and is accepted at
 Cheek Pharmacy in Cross City and nearby
 pharmacies including Wal-Mart, CVS, Wal-
 greens; Winn-Dixie, North Florida Phar-
 macy, Best Drugs of Trenton, Trenton
 Pharmacy, Bell Pharmacy, Mayo Family
 Pharmacy, North Florida Pharmacy of
 Mayo and Publix. There are over 58,000
 pharmacies throughout the nation that
 honor the card.

 "Dixie County is proud to provide its resi-


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dents with additional relief in terms of the
rising cost of prescription drugs," said
Chairman Marvin Hunt. ,"The Dixie Coun-
ty prescription discount card, offers signifi-
cant savings for the uninsured and under-
insured residents of our county, and even
residents with prescription coverage can
use the card to save money on drugs that
are not covered by their health plan."
Most importantly, there is no cost to Coun-
ty taxpayers for the Dixie County prescrip-
tion discount card or to Dixie County
Cards are available at many of the phar-
macies listed above and county depart-
ment locations across the County. County
residents can visit
www.coast2coast.com/dixiefl to locate par-
ticipating pharmacies that honor the card.
The website has a list of pharmacies and
County Departments where residents can
pick-up the card. Residents can also print
a card on the website.

"Using the Coast2Coast Rx discount card is
easy," said Chairman Hunt. "Simply pre-
sent it at a participating pharmacy There
is no enrollment form, no membership fee
and no restrictions or limits on frequency
of use. Cardholders and their family mem-
bers may use the card any time their pre-
scriptions 'are not covered by insurance or
other means."

The discount card program is adminis-
tered by Financial Marketing Concepts,
Inc., Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.


Joe and Trina Giles cele-
brated their nuptuals on
Saturday, March 7 at their
camp on the Suwannee Riv-
er. When they' decided to tie
the knot, Dixie-style, they
went "whole-hawg."
Entertainments included a


mullet toss, toilet seat ring-
toss, a live band, and the
groom's cake was an ar-
madillo.

See all the pictures on page
14.


51P


 County joins GUA

Joins Cross City in paying "Seed Money" to stay in the Water Authority Loop