On August 14th, Let’s Make a Difference
Vote For BOBBY McCALLUM
EXPERIENCED
For Lev y County Sheriff
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EDUCATED
THE NEWSCASTER
Political Advertisement Paid For And Approved By Bobby McCallum, Republican for Levy County Sheriff
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Deborah Russell - Editor/Publisher
A Publication of
Inglis, FL 34449
Wednesday August 8, 2012
Tom Russell - Consulting Editor
Newscaster Publishing
Permit No. 14
Sally Price - Correspondent
visit our website: http://thenewscaster.com
Mike Moore - Photojournalist
Squawk Box
Traffic Death
Appears to be
It's Time To Vote
"Drug Deal
With Doug Johnston
Gone Bad"
Members of the
Inglis  Recreation  Advi-
From Citrus County Sheriff Dept.
sory Board Committee hit
A drug deal gone bad is what inves-
a home run last Thursday
tigators believe ended the life of 26 year-old
night. It s obvious a lot of
Christopher Stofcheck of Crystal River dur-
hard work and planning
ing the late evening hours of Tuesday, July
went into the “Meet And
31.
Greet” political forum at the Inglis Com-
Two suspects were arrested the
munityCenter and the turnout was nearly
following morning: Christopher Allen Mar-
perfect among candidates for Levy County
tinez, 19, 471 N. Elmwood Pt. and Nicole
offices. The two candidates who were un-
Jennifer Davis, 22, 492 N. Elmwood Pt.,
able to attend had prior commitments, but
both of Crystal River.
each had a contingent of supporters pres-
The Citrus County Sheriff s Office
ent to hand out campaign information and
became involved in the case around 10:30
answer questions on their behalf.
p.m., when witnesses reported they d seen
The sheriff s race, as often the
a dark colored SUV traveling north on Hwy.
case in county politics, is drawing a lot of
19 in Homosassa with a man s body outside
interest. All four of the candidates spoke at
Local highschoolers, Dave Case, Blake Shidler and Quintin Valls were out fishing the Salt River  of the SUV and with his head and arms in-
the forum and each presented their case to
when they heard a splashing sound and steered over to see what was making the noise. What  side. Witnesses followed the SUV onto S.
be the next sheriff of Levy County. I am al-
they found was an endangered Green Sea Turtle struggling to free itself from a fishing net  Stonebrook Dr., then W. Michigan Blvd.
most glad that I am a Marion County voter
attached to a pole. They scooped the turtle up and removed the netting, then called the FWC  where they found the victim lying in the
because the choice is not going to be an
roadway with extensive head injuries. Wit-
easy one for most voters.
WIldlife Alert number (888) 404-3922 to complete the rescue. Photo by Stacy Dunn
Levy Candidates
Every voter should use whatever
nesses said the SUV fled the area and possibly turned west onto Hwy. 490.
According to the report, the victim, Christopher Stofcheck, was clutching an oxy-
resources they have to study the candidates
codone bottle. He “coded” at the scene with emergency medical services, was stabilized at
for all of the offices and make an educated
Greeted By Large
Sever Rivers Regional Medical Center in Crystal River then flown to Tampa General Hoapi-
decision. It is better to not vote on a par-
tal for treatment where he died from his injuries, a short time later.
ticular race at all than pull the lever not
Crowd
The man whose name was on the prescription bottle Mr. Stofcheck had been clutch-
really having an educated opinion on any
of the candidates in that race. Voting on
ing told deputies that the victim was scheduled to meet with Christopher Martinez, later that
blind hunches may well help a candidate
evening, to sell him oxycodone from a prescription. He believed this because he d gotten a
By Newscaster Contributor
who you would not support if you were
prescription for oxycodone filled that day, and the bottle was missing. He said he believed
Doug Johnston
better informed win an election. If you re-
Stofcheck had taken the pills to sell, as he had no money. He also said he d provided Stole-
The Inglis Recreation Advisory  heck with his cell phone so he could communicate with Martinez.
ally have no clue, leave it to the voters who
Board Committee sponsored a political
have been able to research their choices to
Investigators were told by a friend that Stofcheck has a history of substance abuse.
forum last Thursday evening at the Inglis  Chris Martinez s name again came up as a drug contact. Deputies placed a BOLO (be on
elect our officials.
Community Center and the candidates were  the lookout) for the 2004 gray Kia Sedona minivan the victim had been driving, which was
The forum last Thursday pre-
welcomed by a standing-room-only crowd  located at the A&Z Discount Store located at 3295 S. Suncoast Blvd. Homosassa with two
sented an excellent venue for all of us to at
of well over 100 citizens.
cell phones, lying in the center console of the vehicle.
least lay some groundwork to make choic-
Candidates for County Judge,
Continued on page 4 - Squawk Box
The detective viewed the video surveillance from the A&Z Discount Store. He
Sheriff, Superintendent of Schools, Clerk of  described seeing a dark colored Ford SUV pulling into the parking lot. A short time later, he
Court, School Board and County Commis-  observed Martinez get out of the passenger side of the vehicle, enter the store and later leave
Primary
sion each had one minute to speak and then  the store and get back into the passenger side of the SUV. He then saw Stofcheck s vehicle
manned a table with their respective cam-  pull into the parking lot and park behind the SUV. He saw Stofcheck get out ofthe Kia and
Election  Info
paign literature and materials to meet with  walk to the passenger side window of the Ford. After a short period of time, he saw the
members of the audience to explain their  victim go to the window on the driverís side. The detective reported that he was able to see
on Page 8
platform.
the victim's feet from underneath the vehicle, when
Continued on page 3 - Gone Bad
Continued on page 2 -Candidates