THE NEWSCASTER
THE NEWSCASTER
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Deborah Russell - Editor
A Publication of
Wednesday April 15, 2015
Inglis, FL 34449
Tom Russell - Publisher
Newscaster Publishing
Permit No. 14
Sally Price - Correspondent
Please visit our website: thenewscaster.com
Mike Moore - Photojournalist
Community
Crystal River siren testing
ends after thirty years
From CCSO
For many residents in northwest
Citrus and southwest Levy counties, the
sound of siren testing every Friday at noon
is a normal weekly event; however, this
week, the testing was discontinued. With
the Crystal River Nuclear Plant being de-
commissioned, the sirens are no longer
required as part of the emergency plan.
Since a new plan has been approved by the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC),
the siren system is being dismantled, and
the sirens will not be tested from this point
forward.
The sirens were installed over
30 years ago to meet Federal Emergency
Preparedness requirements for the Crystal
River Nuclear Plant. Since 2009, the nu-
clear plant has been shut down and is in the
process of being decommissioned. When
a nuclear plant is shutdown, radioactivity
levels decrease
Photo right: local Crystal River Captain Bobbie Stevens about to cast his trawler nets in to the Gulf of Mexico aboard his boat the "Mary Jane".
naturally. After
Fishing for the famous "Brown Shrimp", he and his crew will catch and sort hundreds of shrimp by hand; tomorrow someone will sit down to
five and a half
dinner and enjoy the fruits of his labor. Photo left: Crystal River based deck hand Dalton Day inspecting the night's catch for quality. These
years, the levels
live-caught and airline-shipped shrimp are competing with Asian "farm raised" shrimp: there can be no compromising or short cuts in this
have decreased
battle. These are the world's finest shrimp. Read full story on page 11. TheNewscaster/Mike Moore
to the point that
Crystal River
Woman held without bond after
the risk it pres-
ents to the public
motorcyclist
is extremely low,
stabbing incident
and the NRC
no longer re-
killed in traffic
inch and a half in length and appeared to be
From Citrus County Sheriff Dept.
quires the plant's
deep. The victim appeared to be in distres.
emergency plan
Melanie Hope Ashwood, 38, of
Ashwood was handcuffed while
to include ar-
crash
Hernando, was arrested by the
the deputy spoke further with witnesses and
rangements with
Citrus County Sheriff s Office,
the victim.
state and county
April 7, accused of stabbing an
The victim said he did not want
governments
From The FHP
elderly man with a knife. She
Ashwood to be arrested, that she did not stab
for sheltering or
was charged with aggravated
A traffic crash in northern Citrus
him; he'd stabbed himself. According to the
battery on a person 65 years of Ashwood
evacuations.
County, April 12, took the life of a 57 year-
report, the victim was defiant and said he did
age or older (a second degree
old Crystal River man who was identified
not want medical assistance for his injury.
Classified Ads in The Newscaster
felony reclassified to a first-degree felony)
as David Leibert. According to the Florida
However, the wound continued to bleed,
You can now place classified print
She was given no bond.
Highway Patrol, the crash occurred at 8:35
and he eventually consented to have medi-
On April 7, a deputy with the Cit-
ads on our website:
pm when the man who lost his life, was
cal treatment.
rus County Sheriff s Office, arrived at a
driving a 2012 Honda motorcycle, travel-
www.thenewscaster.com.
He also eventually stated that Ash-
You can also place classified ads at
residence about 5:40 pm due to a domestic
ing north on Hwy. 19 in the inside lane ap-
hwood had stabbed him. He said, the past
battery that had already occurred. When he
the Food Ranch Service Desk - 25
proaching W. Riverwood Drive. Anish Pa-
four days, he and Ashwood had been drink-
arrived at the home, the deputy was informed
words/$12. New deadline: Monday 12 noon
tel, 35, of Inglis, was also traveling north on
ing a lot and arguing constantly, that Ash-
by Ashwood that nothing was wrong, but a
at the Inglis Food Ranch service Desk. Cash
Hwy. 19 in the outside lane. For unknown
wood stabbed him with a four inch steak
witness told the deputy to go inside the resi-
reasons, the driver of the motorcycle lost
knife, then washed-off the knife and placed
dence because the victim was there, bleed-
control of the motorcycle, which then trav-
it back into the drainer, which had small par-
ing.
eled into the grass median. The motorcycle
ticles of blood visable.
The deputy found the victim inside,
overturned and ejected the driver as it trav-
Ashwood said that she and the vic-
holding a towel to the left side of his chest
eled back onto the roadway. The motorcycle
tim had been on a four-day drinking binge,
area, where there was a stab wound about an
Continued on page 11 - Fatal Crash
Continued on page 4 - Stabbing