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# CB-CA15418
THE
NEWSCASTER
THE
NEWSCASTER
PRESORTED
PLEASE
RECYCLE
STANDARD
US Postage
Paid
Deborah Russell - Editor/Publisher
Yankeetown, FL
Tom Russell - Consulting Editor
A Publication of
Wednesday June 20,
2007
Permit No. 4
Mike Moore - Photojournalist
Newscaster Publishing
Hometown News for the Nature Coast
Hometown
Squawk Box Man
With Doug Johnston
Arrested
Inglis hasn't changed much
for
Retail
When I was hired in Au-
gust of 1987 to manage the Food
Ranch Supermarket I was tak-
ing on the smallest grocery
Theft
store I had ever managed. Most
of my
experience was in stores about twice
the size in footage and even more than double
A Brooksville man was arrested at
the volume. The last store I ran before Food
the Inverness Wal-Mart Supercenter, June
Ranch was a store in Ocala that had 125 em-
18, after a store loss prevention officer spot-
ployees and a scratch bakery. I have lived in
ted him allegedly at-
small towns all of my life so Inglis wasn't a
tempting to leave the
culture shock to me even if the pace of the
store without paying for
business was slower than I was used to.
items in his cart.
If you look at the businesses are still
According
to
around today that were operating the day I
the arrest report, the
started at Food Ranch, you could probably
store officer observed
count them on one hand. Food Ranch is still
50
year-old Mitchell
One
of the first severe thunderstorms of the season rolled through Citrus County last week leaving a
selling groceries and is stronger than ever.
Earl Rodgers walk into
swath of wind damage and dumping nearly 5 inches of rain in less than an hour, but not enough
Harold Beasley is still the best man in the tri-
the electronics depart-
moisture to lessen the severe fire threat conditions. The aftermath of hundreds of lightning strikes;
county area to buy tires from. James Risher,
m e n t
and place an
Withlapopka Isles was left ablaze and fire lit up the sky for 5 miles in all directions. Luck was on the
who has proven to be a reliable and solid busi-
Earl
Rodgers
Everex Home Computer
subdivision's side as the fire was naturally contained to the marsh area left by the receded Tsala
nessman, still owns and operates Risher's
and a Samsung Home Theatre System into
Apopka lake bed. The cattle here are seen in silhouette and are actually a safe two miles from the
Auto Parts and Service. Fred Clacher is still
his cart. The report stated that Rodgers then
blaze. Newscaster Photo by Mike Moore
operating Buddy and Freds Hardware Store,
walked through the hardware department
Inglis Man Busted for
the best little hardware store in any small town
and the grocery section, then past the
that I know of. I know I have probably missed
checkout registers and into the vestibule
a few businesses that are still around and
of the store, with the two items still in the
Growing Marijuana
owned by the same people, but aside from
cart.
some of
the local real estate companies I know
When Rodgers was about two feet
there aren't many.
from exiting the store, the report stated, he
A tip to the Levy County Drug Task Force by an officer with the Florida Wildlife
Martha Eiland served as Mayor of
was stopped by a greeter and the loss pre-
Commission ended with the arrest of an Inglis man, June 13, on charges of drug cultivation.
Inglis when I first arrived, but four years later
vention officer. The loss prevention officer
According to the arrest report, the Florida Wildlife Commission officer told the investigator
the unsinkable Carolyn Risher took over that
asked Rodgers if he had a receipt, and he
that he had discovered several marijuana plants growing behind the residence of 26 year-old
post and she is still there today. Devon
replied that his wife had it. Rodgers walked
Joshua James Wright who lives at 16234 S.E. Hwy. 19, Inglis. The report stated that Wright had
Continued on page 3- Squawk Box
into the security office with the officer while
told FWC that the plants belonged to him. Wright also admitted to the Levy County Drug
his wife was paged, four times, without a
Task force investigator that the plants belonged to him.
Adopt A
Pet
response. Meanwhile the officer checked
The officers found 38 marijuana plants growing at two locations behind the resi-
items sold on June 18 and did not find the
dence. One area of plants was located about 20 yards behind the residence and the other
two items on that day's purchases. Accord-
plants were growing about 100 yards behind the residence. The plants were growing in black
ing to the store's records, the last time the
plastic pots and red plastic cups. Wright was arrested on the charge and transported to the
same home theatre system had been pur-
Levy County Jail. His bond was set at $15,000.
chased was on April 29 and the last time the
same home computer had been purchased
had had attempted to leave the store with
and he did not know where she had parked
was on
June 16.
the merchandise. A Citrus County Sheriff's
the vehicle. Rodgers was unable to provide
M r. Rodgers stated that he
Office deputy walked around the store with
a current address, but a violation of proba-
thought his wife had purchased the items,
Mr. Rodgers, in an attempt to locate his
tion warrant out of Hernando County
because he had approached her in the store
wife, but they did not find her. He said his
showed Brooksville as his last known ad-
and she'd said it was "taken care of," so
wife had dropped him off at the front door,
Continued on page 2 - Retail Theft