LILLY ROOKS
Candidate for the District 4 County Commission Seat
PUTTING THE PEOPLE OF LEVY COUNTY FIRST
A county commissioner should work for you, be accessible to you, and be willing
to put your interests ahead of politics.
Reach Lilly Rooks at (352) 221-5071 or lilyrooks@gmail.com
THE NEWSCASTER
Paid for and approved by Lilly Rooks, Republican, for Levy County Commissioner, District 4
THE NEWSCASTER
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Deborah Russell - Editor/Publisher
A Publication of
Wednesday August 20, 2014
Inglis, FL 34449
Tom Russell - Consulting Editor
Newscaster Publishing
Permit No. 14
Sally Price - Correspondent
Visit our website: thenewscaster.com
Mike Moore - Photojournalist
Community
Jobless rate hits
expected summer peak
CareerSource Citrus Levy Mari-
on's regional jobless rate was 7.8 percent
in July, up 0.5 percent from June. There
were 15,845 unemployed out of an ex-
panded labor force of 202,968. That rate
is down 1.0 percent over the year and 2.6
percentage points lower than two years
ago.
Citrus County had the highest
unemployment rate in the region at 8.0
percent, followed by Marion County with
7.7 percent and Levy County at 7.6 per-
cent. The not seasonally adjusted rate for
Florida is 6.6 percent and the national rate
is 6.5 percent.
At the same time, the numbers of
those working and looking for work was
also up across all three counties.
CareerSource Citrus Levy Mari-
on CEO Rusty Skinner said "we are see-
ing an expanded job market, there's hir-
Dozens of law enforcement K9 handlers from around Central Florida converged upon the waters of Weeki Wachee State Springs Park recently
ing and more people are working; but the
for an annual event. This special training prepares the dogs and their handlers for working in and around water. The dogs and their human
number of those entering the labor force,
partners worked equally hard - as the team they are. CCSO Photos
Citrus Man Charged With
or re-entering, is more than expansion of
Crystal River
the job market. That's pushing the rate
up."
Exploiting Elderly Woman
Skinner said that the number of
Woman Killed
those without jobs could reflect seasonal
employment changes among public edu-
From The Citrus County Sheriff Dept.
living facility.
cation support personnel, agriculture and
in Crash
The report stated that Haggard
tourism, as well as recent graduates enter-
has a Durable Power of Attorney and is re-
A 62 year-old In-
ing the labor force for the first time all
sponsible for the health and welfare of the
From The FHP
verness man was arrested by
of which are experienced statewide.
woman. However, he had failed to do so by
the Citrus County Sheriff's
Regardless of the state of the
A single vehicle crash on Thurs-
not making payments to the assisted living
Office, Aug. 13, charged with
economy, rates tracked back to 1990 show
day, August. 14, seriously injured the driver
facility where she resides.
exploitation of an elderly per-
that, in all but a handful of instances, un-
and one of the passengers and resulted in
During an interview on Aug. 7 at
son ($20,000-$100,000). Har-
employment returns to or drops below
the death of the other passenger. According
old Leland Haggard, 160 N. Haggard
the victim's residence, Haggard told the de-
pre-summer spike levels by September or
to the Florida Highway Patrol, 29 year-old
tective that he'd not held a job since he'd
Sportsman Pt., is accused of
October.
passenger Rachel T. Sauls of Crystal River
moved to Florida 12 years ago, and he'd
taking approximately $20,000 from an el-
In July, CareerSource Citrus
expired at the scene of the crash. The driver,
been living off the woman's income. He
derly woman. The report stated he'd used
Levy Marion placed 1,017 job seek-
23 year-old Ashley Christine Brown of Ho-
stated that the woman is an inbred idiot, and
the woman's Social Security and widow's
ers and 551 employers posted 1,837 job
mosassa and 34 year-old passenger Albert
he feels he is owed her money for staying
benefit monies to pay for his own expenses.
openings, up 42 percent over the year.
Russell Burlingham of Crystal River were
with her. He said he didn't want to see the
The Adult Protective Services Unit
Rebecca Rust, DEO's chief economist,
transported to Ocala Regional Hospital,
woman (he used a profane term), and that
informed a detective hat the woman is an
said that the "slack" summer economy
with serious injuries. The crash took place
would be the last thing he ever did.
abandoned, vulnerable person, suffering
is impacted by "relatively slow wage
in the Inverness area at 5:05 pm. Brown was
from dementia and residing in an assisted
Continued on page 4 - Exploiting
Continued on page 2
Continued on page 4- Crash