THE NEWSCASTER
THE NEWSCASTER
PRESORTED
PLEASE
RECYCLE
STANDARD
US Postage
Paid
Deborah Russell - Editor/Publisher
A Publication of
Wednesday January 23, 2013
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
Recycling Makes
Cents!
By Mike Moore
Waste is a resource.
As a resource, it becomes a
heated issue with one side
(some consumers) not want-
ing to part with it without
compensation, and on the
other hand, our municipalities having to
dispose of it using taxpayer revenue. The
debate rages on. Last week we looked at
the private industry side - F.D.S. investing
millions of dollars and providing dozens
of jobs to locals and breaking even. This
week we look at the municipality’s side of
the issue – perhaps even more of a success
story.
This story actually starts at the
state level. The state of Florida mandated
by law a municipal recycling program that
requires a 75% recycling rate by 2020.
Currently the average is a little under
30%. This recycling mandate forced our
County Commission to devise a plan to
meet the new law. That is where the F.D.S.
Captain Tim Green assisting passengers aboard for a Manatee watching tour in Kings Bay, Crystal River during the Manatee Festival held there
proposal came in to play. Aside from that,
this past weekend. According to Chamber of Commerce volunteer Coy Merrick, between 800-1000 people were treated to a view of the local
the current landfill has a finite lifespan
Manatees via boat tour. In addition to the Manatee tours, the festival had arts, crafts, and food booths and stretched from Citrus Ave. all the
and to rebuild and relocate, or use garbage
way to the riverfront. TheNewscaster/Mike Moore
transfer operations was estimated to cost
Changes Coming Human Remains Found in Levy Co.
between $10-15 million.
The numbers don’t lie. Our
For Food Ranch I.D'd as Missing Brooksville Woman
‘valuable’ waste cost the county about
$350,000/ year to dispose of for the op-
erating costs associated with the landfill.
From Levy County Sheriff Dept.
Supermarket
When the waste is recycled and most
Detectives from the Levy County Sheriff s Office worked with neighboring law
importantly diverted from entering the
enforcement agencies in an effort to identify the decomposing remains of a human body
landfill, the net cost to the taxpayer is
For nearly 30 years the Food Ranch
found by a local hunter in a wooded area east of Otter Creek off S.R. 24 on Jan. 18.
zero. Yes, zero. And even more impor-
Supermarket has been bedrock of the retail
An autopsy completed by the 8th Circuit Medical Examiners Office in Gainesville
tant from a fiscal point of view is that
community in Inglis. The merchandising
provided enough information for Detectives to compare to a missing person report
by saving “air space” (landfill costs are
and product lines that have been so famil-
filed in Hernando County on Jan. 1, and the remains were identified as 18 year-old
measured by dollars/cubic foot) by recy-
iar to the customers of Food Ranch will be
Deanna Lee Stires of Brooksville.
cling, the useful life of the current landfill
undergoing a major overhaul starting Janu-
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call Lt. Scott Tummond at
is extended 7.5 years for every 4% of ‘air
ary 22nd, 2013. That is the date that Higdon
352-486-5111, or you can remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-877-349-8477.
space saved. According to landfill man-
Grocery will become Food Ranch’s major
Sweetbay Closing Homosassa Store
ager Casey Stevens, “our current system
supplier and the store will begin introduc-
is working, and working well”.
ing the IGA line of grocery products. “We
Keeping recyclables out of our
Sweetbay Supermarkets will be
they were selected.”
expect to be able to pass on some savings on
landfill is good for the Earth, good for
closing their Homosassa store, along with
Sweetbay rents all its store loca-
the cost of goods to our customers and also
our citizens and good for our municipal-
32 other “underperforming” grocery stores
tions, so refilling the space with a new tenant
are excited about Higdon being more sensi-
ity. The waste that would otherwise use
from its total fleet of 105 stores in Florida.
will be up to the landlord or property owner.
tive to the needs of stores such as ours in
Continued on page 2- Squawk Box
The company said all of them will be clos-
Sweetbay is part of a collection of grocery
rural areas”, said store manager Doug John-
ing by mid February. The closures will mean
brands owned by Delhaize that operates
ston.
Pet Patrol
layoffs for about 2,000 employees in Flori-
3,400 stores in 11 countries. In the United
The calling card for the Inglis Food
da, on average 50-70 employees per store.
States, that includes 1,500 stores under the
Ranch is its meat department and the man
Sweetbay spokeswoman Nicole LeBeau
brands Food Lion, Harvey’s, Bottom Dol-
responsible for that is longtime Food Ranch
On Page 2
said “Some of them, the leases were coming
lar, Reid’s and Hannaford. The “Sweetbay”
supervisor/manager Larry Henderson. He
up, and just based on the sales of the stores
Continued on page 2 - Sweetbay Closings
Continued on page 4 - Food Ranch Changes