THE NEWSCASTER
THE NEWSCASTER
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Deborah Russell - Editor/Publisher
A Publication of
Wednesday March 19, 2014
Inglis, FL 34449
Tom Russell - Consulting Editor
Newscaster Publishing
Permit No. 14
Sally Price - Correspondent
Visit our website: www.thenewscaster.com
Mike Moore - Photojournalist
Squawk Box
Perspective on the
Inglis Commission
By Ruth Ruppert
With this I join an elite
club. The Squawkers. A year of Town of
Inglis government. A new Mayor; four
new Commissioners (counting this past
election); a new attorney; major person-
nel changes (only two of fifteen original
full time employees still on staff); and
taking the personnel manual out of the
Charter and revising it.
The Charter and personnel man-
ual state the Commission (board) is for
policy making and not to run the day to
day operations of town hall. The per-
sonnel manual was in the Charter for a
reason - so it could not be revised in one
meeting. What worked well for twenty
years all of a sudden didn't work. Why
change it? The claim that an employee
was wrongly terminated and the board
did not have enough say in the hiring
process does not hold water. If the board
had read the `old' personnel manual, and
did their jobs, they would have seen the
power they already had in hiring and fir-
ing. Discipline encroaches on day to day
operation management.
The unnecessary and costly re-
Delicisioso! That's the first word that will come to your lips when you taste Rico Morris' culinary creations at his and his wife Antonia's
vision of the personnel manual by the
restaurant, `Simply Pizza' located at 111-D N. Florida Avenue (Hwy. 41) just a mile north of Inverness across from the Bowling Lanes
attorney (as opposed to the personnel
and next to Dan's Gun Room. For more information see People On The Nature Coast, page 3. - Paid Advertisement - Photo/Mike Moore
manager or even a board member) turns
Unemployment in Citrus, Levy,
Traffic Mishap
the board into the town manager and took
out any sort of employee grievance pro-
cedure. Instead of tabling this important
Marion Up From Previous Month
Fatal for Inglis
revision (some parts were handed to the
Town Clerk that day), it passed 3 - 1.
From CareerSource
When the issue is "all about
actual employment counts from Reemploy-
Man
the money" one month and it's not "all
ment Assistance (unemployment compensa-
The unemployment rate in the Ca-
about the money" the next (what?), the
tion) tax records.
reerSource Citrus Levy Marion region was
From A Press Release by the
board doesn'treally want to hear your
Nonagricultural employment for
7.4 percent in January, up 0.4 percentage
Levy County Sheriff Dept.
thoughts, and will be disrespectful to the
the Ocala MSA was 92,200, an increase of
points over the month and 2.2 percent lower
point of distraction. The meeting time
800 jobs for a 0.9 percent increase over the
than the same time last year. Out of a labor
The Levy County Sheriff's Of-
has changed twice to the now three in
year, compared to a 2.9 percent increase
force of 203,106, there were 15,082 unem-
fice responded to Rivals Bar located at 439
the afternoon on a Monday. Forget the
statewide.
ployed, an increase of 1,068 over the month
Highway 40 West in Inglis, Fl., shortly be-
working stiffs. The attorney gives out
CareerSource Citrus Levy Mar-
and 4,604 fewer than January 2013.
fore midnight on March 11, 2014. A patron
too much unsolicited advice and offers
ion CEO Rusty Skinner said that the an-
The employment summary, re-
called 911 reporting a fight between multiple
Continued on page 11 - Squawk Box
nual benchmarking that occurs in February
leased for the first time in two months by the
people inside the bar. 911 communications
"provides a more precise record of our un-
Florida Department of Economic Opportu-
officers continued updating Deputies as they
Expert Clock Repair
employment and job growth. While these
nity following annual benchmarking, shows
responded. The 911 caller described a Jeep
numbers are obviously not what we had ex-
that all 67 counties experienced increases in
leaving the scene and told dispatchers the
Vintage, Modern,
pected, they are the most accurate indication
unemployment rates due to seasonality.
Jeep was occupied by the people involved in
that is available."
The report also indicates the Ocala
the fight.
Historical,
The January unemployment rates
metropolitan statistical area (MSA) posted
A responding LCSO deputy locat-
were 7.4 percent for Marion County, the
slower job growth over the year than origi-
ed the vehicle east bound on SR 40 in the
see page 12
lowest since June 2008 when the rate was
nally believed. That revision is based on re-
Town of Inglis. He turned around to conduct
anchoring of employers' survey estimates to
Continued on page 8 - Unemployment Rate
Continued on page 11 - Fatal Accident