THE NEWSCASTER
THE NEWSCASTER
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Deborah Russell - Editor/Publisher
Wednesday November 3, 2010
Inglis, FL 34449
Tom Russell - Consulting Editor
A Publication of
Sally Price - Correspondent
Permit No. 14
Newscaster Publishing
Mike Moore - Photojournalist
Squawk Box
Hunger - “God has been pushing
me, and now I know why”
By Deborah Russell
Newscaster Editor
Diane Toto, president of the We
Care Food Pantry in Homosassa, says that
God has been pushing her to get to work
feeding the hungry, and now she knows
why - after learning the latest statistics
about free and reduced school lunch pro-
grams in Citrus County.
Toto says that 58% of all students
in the county, and an “alarming rate” of
72% of students in Homosassa qualify
for these lunches. “That is frieghtening,”
she said. “72% of our neighbors are below
the poverty level and do not have enough
food. No wonder our pantry has lines out
the doors, with people signing up for our
food program. 72% of our students are
hungry. That also means that 72% of the
families are hungry. Look around at four
families and realize that three out of every
four families you see - with children - are
hungry. That figure is only the tip of the
iceberg. What about the elderly and the
people with no children? What about the
(Inverness) Cooterfest 2010 visitors are pressed into service for Dragon Boat duty on Lake Henderson on Saturday. The Dragon Boat was only
homeless? They are not even figured into
one attraction keeping the crowds occupied during this year’s event. TheNewscaster/Mike Moore
Williston
the hunger totals. After reading those fig-
Couple arrested at South Levy
ures, I just want to sit down and cry for my
friends and neighbors.”
youth killed
Park on drug charges
Toto says she feels an increased
sense of urgency to encourage the food
banks and churches in the area to come
in single-car
A security check of the South Levy
questioning, Dean said that the substance
together and work out their differences
Recreational Park by an Inglis Police Offi-
was what he’d inhaled through his nose.
in handling the issue of free food for the
cer, around 1:10 a.m., Oct. 24, resulted in
The officer asked Dean (again) if he had any
hungry in the county. “We can’t wait any
crash
the arrests of a Dunnellon couple, David Mi-
weapons, guns, drugs, or open containers of
longer,” said Toto. “We are all out of time.
chael Dean, 35, and Kimberly Ann Fluty, 44,
alcohol
We must have a solution. The problem is
both of 5220 S.W. 175th Ave.
in his vehicle, and he stated that he didn’t.
growing, and we can’t keep throwing in-
According to the Florida Highway
The report stated that the officer
He gave the officer verbal consent for a
creasing amounts money at the problem
Patrol, a single-vehicle, single-occupant
came upon a red Chevy pickup truck near
search of his vehicle.
forever. There has to be an end in sight...
crash at 11:45 p.m., Saturday night, Oct.
the spillway; Dean was standing next to the
By then, Fluty was awake and
Hunger is not like a broken arm or broken
30th, claimed the life of a Williston man.
truck, and Fluty was in the front passenger
complied with the officer’s request to get out
leg. Hunger is invisible, but the problem
Preliminary findings by Florida Highway
side of the truck and appeared to be asleep.
of the vehicle for the search. In the center
can no longer be avoided. Three out of
Patrol Investigators indicate that Shannon
The officer asked Dean why he was
console, the officer found another clear plas-
Continued on page 3 - Squawk Box
Douglas Gunnels, 23, was traveling south
in the park after it was closed. The report
tic container which was the same as the one
on N.E. 140th Ave., a two-lane rural road-
stated that Dean appeared to be “extremely
Dean’s
way, “at an excessive high rate of speed.”
nervous, and his hands were shaking uncon-
pocket, and also contained a white pow-
As Gunnels 1998 Chevrolet Lumi-
trollably.” The officer reported that he no-
dery substance. A short white plastic straw
na approached the area of the crash, it en-
ticed a white powdery substance in Dean’s
“which is commonly used to inhale narcot-
tered into a slight left curvature of the road,
right nostril and asked him what was in his
ics into the nose,” the report stated, was
and Gunnels oversteered to the left to com-
nose, and Dean replied, “what are you talk-
found in Fluty’s wallet.The report stated that
pensate for the curve, which caused the car
ing about?” The officer then asked Dean if
Dean and Fluty both admitted to inhaling the
to swerve rapidly to the left, crossing both
he had any weapons or narcotics on his per-
white substance through their noses.
lanes, onto the sloped, eastern grassy shoul-
son and he replied, “Just this,” and handed
The white powdery substance in
der, leading with its rear. The car then struck
the officer a clear plastic container that con-
both containers tested positive for cocaine.
and drove through a field fence, overturning
tained a white powdery substance, which
Fluty and Dean were placed under arrest
he said was “over the counter stuff.” Upon
Continued on page 3 - Drug Arrest
Continued on page 3 - Fatal Crash