All Excerpts are from the Citrus County Chronicle
1. Title: Local school board member asks school-safety commission to discuss 'legal issues' criminalizing threats
Link: https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AFCCCB%21Citrus%2BCounty%2BChronicle%2B%2528Crystal%2BRiver%252C%2BFL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0820%21August%2B20&action=browse&format=text&fld-base-0=alltext&docref=news/1757AE82EDD14750
Description of Story: After a man made threats against Floral City Elementary, School Board member, Doug Dodd, asked the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Commission, a group which he is also a member of, to change how Florida statute defines threats. The state representative and state senator have both said they plan to introduce legislation that will clarify the threshold for a viable threat. It was reported that the individual made these threats to law enforcement, on the jail phone, a jail psychologist and several others. Because the states attorneys office was only "considering" charges they received a lot of political pushback.
Description of Problem: Florida statute requires that if a threat is to be considered viable it must be written down or documented in a way beyond verbally. Considering the people that have heard the threat it seems unnecessary for the individual need to write it down for it to be considered an arrestable offense. Because Florida statute does not consider these other sources as evidence beyond reasonable doubt for them to pursue charges.
Who has the Problem: This would be a general public problem because the idea that a threat meeting the threshold could affect anyone. More specifically to the article, it would effect local authorities ability to prosecute people that are a threat to the public. Here we see the School Board and the Sheriff's Office's inability to prosecute this individual.
2. Title: Citrus needs more handicapped parking spaces
Link: https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AFCCCB%21Citrus%2BCounty%2BChronicle%2B%2528Crystal%2BRiver%252C%2BFL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0819%21August%2B19&action=browse&format=text&fld-base-0=alltext&docref=news/17571948464A4678
Description of Story: To paraphrase from the article and make clear the main point, Citrus County has an elderly population of about 36%, which is high even for the State of Florida. With that being said, the article wanted to articulate that there are not enough spots to park at many locations in Citrus County. This is partially because of the nature of the county having a greater senior need but also because he thinks there is an abuse of the system. He urges people to take down the license plate and speak with a manager of the business to ensure the situation is properly handled. Other suggestions made included differentiating the types of handicap parking to accommodate different needs.
Description of Problem: There were many angles to the problem that were included in the article. The first being that there is not enough handicap accessible parking in relation to Citrus County's need. Second, even in the locations that have ample parking, people are abusing the spots. The author mentions that some illnesses that would require the parking are not clearly visible, but he also mentioned that there is clearly an abuse of the system. This problem was attributed to people pressuring their physicians into getting a decal.
Who has the Problem: This problem would be experienced by the people of Citrus County who need handicap accessible parking.
3. Title: Annexation flap is a symptom of a larger problem
Link: https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AFCCCB%21Citrus%2BCounty%2BChronicle%2B%2528Crystal%2BRiver%252C%2BFL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0816%21August%2B16&action=browse&format=text&fld-base-0=alltext&docref=news/175655255F717810
Description of Story: Property Owner, Greg Williams, wants to annex his property into the city of Inverness because the county land development committee has been forcing permitting requirements beyond what the law requires and are slow in the process. To avoid this, Greg Williams chose to annex his property into the city which would increase his taxes, but allow him more flexibility in dealing with government. The county government did not accept the annex and decided to take Mr. Williams to court. Bad move for the county (entirely my opinion) because Mr. Williams is a lawyer and in the end, the case was settled allowing him to be annexed.
Description of Problem: Florida Statute allows for property owners to willingly annex themselves into the city if they chose. The County attorney did not agree with this and urged the county commission to oppose this annexation. Although that is the major issue, the underlying factors that caused this blow up is the lack of leadership involved with members of the county staff and their political agendas.
Who has the Problem: Because the issue has several elements, the County Commission has an issue with its staff and the requirements they are promoting. Both the city and the county have issues because they have squandered tax dollars on a lawsuit that is easily cleared up by just following state statute. Finally, the property owners wishing to be annexed have an issue too because they are unable to truly express their property rights preventing local entrepreneurship.
4. Title: District’s model program enhances student safety
Link: https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AFCCCB%21Citrus%2BCounty%2BChronicle%2B%2528Crystal%2BRiver%252C%2BFL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0802%21August%2B02&action=browse&format=text&fld-base-0=alltext&docref=news/1751BEF8CCA86310Description of Story: After the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting the Aaron Feis Guardian Program was established. This program is now being implemented in Citrus County Schools. With an applicant pool of over 40 individuals, 8 were chosen as a second layer of defense for the students and staff of the school. The article mentions the squabble that occurred between the Sheriff's Office and the School Board and how hard it was to implement the program. After a year of debate, the program is now being used with training being done by the Citrus County Sheriff's Office above and beyond the state requirements.
Description of Problem: Like I previously said, this idea was highly contested when it was first presented to the Sheriff's Office because of their overall lack of training. In this case, much of that was corrected by only hiring seasoned vets of law enforcement and the military. However, there are still problems associated with the guardians as there is still not a clear comprehension about how much they are legally allowed to get involved with and what happens if the funding is not there in the future.
Who has the Problem: This problem is primarily between the Citrus County Sheriff's Office and the Citrus County School Board. In turn, it can have a great effect on the School Resource Deputies, the students, the teachers, and other staff of the schools.
5. Title: Deputies placed on administrative leave following shooting; man who was shot recovering, not yet charged
Link: https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AFCCCB%21Citrus%2BCounty%2BChronicle%2B%2528Crystal%2BRiver%252C%2BFL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0723%21July%2B23&action=browse&format=text&fld-base-0=alltext&docref=news/174E185E3A59ED60
Description of Story: In this story, a Citrus County man barricaded himself in his residence with what sheriff's deputies thought were two hostages (the article mentioned that it could not be confirmed if they were hostages or occupants when law enforcement arrived). At the time of the incident, the Citrus SWAT team was leaving training in another county so the Hernando County SWAT responded. After hours of standoff, the Citrus SWAT took control of the scene. In the end, four SWAT members discharged their weapons and were put on administrative leave which is standard protocol.
Description of Problem: In the situation, the suspect had PTSD from when he was in the military according to his mother. Mental health is a big issue across the United States, and Florida is trailing behind in its support of those who need the help. Another issue that was presented from the situation is that many individuals in these situations want to create an intense situation where they can commit suicide by law enforcement. The problem associated is how do we ensure the situation cannot escalate to that point and prevent the need for the use of lethal force?
Who has the Problem: The problem is with those who suffer from mental health disabilities and are not receiving the help that they need. Also, from the deputies perspective, they need to live with the fact that they shot someone. They will need proper mental health services as well.
Hey Nicole,
ReplyDeleteI noticed you reported a story regarding the extremely high rates of older people in south florida and the issues they are having with the lack of handicapped parking. In my hometown, we tend to have very high number of snowbirds and older people in general. Parking tends to be much more of an issue during the winter months, not to mention the traffic. I always think more parking is helpful no matter where you are and it definitely think that your hometown could benefit.
Hi Nicholas,
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your third story it made me upset. I do not understand why we go to court for little things like this but there are millions of different drugs being smuggled into our country. We as a country do not have our priorities straight causing the people of this country to go insane. Like your fifth story for example. They had to put these cops on leave. Just imagine having to shoot at someone who is already struggling to stay alive in the moment. Whether he had other in the building or not it is still a hard situation to deal with.