Project1:Layout 1 6/10/2014 1:13 PM Page 1 MLB: Ryu leaves early, but Jays beat Rays 1-0 / B1 MONDAY TODAY CITRUSCOUNTY & next morning HIGH 85 Mostly sunny LOW with lower humidity. 59 PAGE A4 www.chronicleonline.com APRIL 26, 2021 Florida’s Best Community Newspaper Serving Florida’s Best Community $1 VOL. 126 ISSUE 200 NEWS BRIEFS What Citrus County PAYING TRIBUTE COVID-19 cases up to do According to the Citrus turns out to honor Vietnam War heroes Florida Department of Health, 15 positive Photos & text by Julie Mancini/For the Chronicle cases were reported with in Citrus County since the latest update. he four-day visit for the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall came to a No new deaths were conclusion Sunday, April 25, at Crystal Harley-Davidson with a som- reported, for a total of ber closing ceremony. The event honored veterans, fallen and miss- For more $29M 438. To date in the T photos, click county, 10,872 people ing heroes and active duty troops. The wall is a 3/5-scale replica of the on this story at have tested positive Vietnam Veterans Memorial in memory of the 58,282 soldiers who never www.chronicle (including 97 non- returned from Vietnam. On Saturday, Crystal Harley-Davidson hosted a online.com. BOCC to residents). dealer-led ride to Bushnell National Cemetery. (For more photos, — From staff reports see Page A5.) mull stimulus One dies in Sunday crash money, trash A 19-year-old Citrus Springs woman died in MICHAEL D. a two-vehicle crash in BATES the afternoon hours of Staff writer Sunday, April 25, ac- cording to a Florida Universal trash collec- Highway Patrol report. tion and American Res- A van, driven by a cue Plan Act money will 63-year-old Beverly be discussed at a special Hills man, was travel- meeting of the county commissioners at 9 a.m. ing northbound at at the Citrus County 3:05 p.m. on County Courthouse, 110 N. Road 491 and had Apopka Ave., in stopped at the inter- Inverness. section of State Road It was recently an- 200, the report stated. nounced that $33 million The woman was trav- in federal aid was headed eling westbound in a Citrus County’s way as pickup truck on State part of the coronavirus Road 200 approaching relief stimulus package the intersection of signed into law by Presi- County Road 491. dent Joe Biden. Citrus According to the re- County will get $29 mil- port, despite the stop lion, Crystal River sign, the man entered $1.34 million and Inver- ness $3.12 million. the intersection and There are specific path of the woman’s guidelines as to how this truck so as to com- money can be spent and plete a left turn. ABOVE: A visitor finds the county commissioners As a result, the re- name of a loved one on the will explore some of their port stated, the front of Vietnam Traveling Wall options at the morning the van collided with Memorial on Sunday, meeting. the right rear of the April 25, at Crystal River The stimulus package, truck Post-impact, the Harley-Davidson. The called the American Res- truck rotated, departed traveling wall is a three- cue Plan Act, goes to the roadway, over- fifths replica of the actual states, counties and cities turned and collided monument in Washington, to cover increased costs, with a fence before DC. There are over 58,000 replenish lost money and coming to final rest. names on the wall listed in mitigate economic harm from the COVID-19 pan- The van came to rest chronological order from demic and set a path back the date of casualty. within the eastbound to economic recovery. LEFT: Members of Santa’s left turn lane of S.R. Citrus County and the Drill Team honor each 200. two cities can use the fed- The woman died in- branch of the U.S. armed eral funds to cover costs juries at the scene of forces Sunday, April 25, incurred after March 3, the crash, according to during the closing 2021. And pending an ex- the FHP report. The ceremony at the Vietnam tension from the feds, driver of the van was Traveling Wall Memorial they have until Dec. 31, not hurt. installation at Crystal 2024, to decide what proj- Harley-Davidson. The team - Jeff Bryan ects to spend the money performs patriotic on, according to presentations in honor of guidelines. POLL American heroes and at See BOCC/Page A5 What do other patriotic assemblies. you think? Florida education commissioner Richard Corcoran has asked Bottom of King’s Bay finally gives up its bounty school superintendents to update their policies to make facial coverings After seven years, the owner of a soggy, damaged camera gets her photos back voluntary (not mandatory) for students, NANCY KENNEDY teachers and staff in Staff writer upcoming school year. What do you think? It was spring 2014 and Lori Ste- A. Masks are no longer phens and her husband, Brian necessary. Gass, were in Crystal River to try B. Facial coverings stand-up paddle boarding. should have never been “It was our first day, and we mandated. were in King’s Bay with lots of C. They should still be manatees, and we were excited,” a requirement in Stephens said in a phone inter- view Friday from her home in confined, indoor school Waynesville, North Carolina. “I spaces. don’t remember if my camera D. To each their own. was in my hand or not ... but it fell If you want to wear one, into the water.” fine. If not, also fine. She didn’t think it would be dif- To vote, visit www. ficult to retrieve it, but the water chronicleonline.com. was murky and she had to dig Scroll down the home through the eel grass. Then a tour boat arrived and Special to the Chronicle page and look for the This is the photo that unlocked the mystery of who the camera belongs to. The man in the "Maui" hat is wearing poll box in the right- all of a sudden there were a lot of people in the water, and Ste- a T-shirt with the web address of a church, the church Lori Stephens attends. hand column. phens gave up looking for her Results will appear Olympus camera. and I take lots of pictures,” she time trying to find it,” she said. information and said someone next Monday. Find last “I had no idea how many pic- said. “So, that was sad to know we A tour boat captain, who said would call if it was found. week’s online poll tures were on it, but I knew it was had lost them. they were out in the area every results./Page A3 a lot because we go a lot of places “That’s why we spent so much day, took Stephens’ contact See PHOTOS/Page A5 Classifieds . .B8 Editorial. A6 Extra puzzles . .B5 Lottery Numbers . .B3 Comics . .B7 Entertainment . A4 INDEX Horoscope . A4 Lottery Payouts . .B3 Crossword . .B10 TV/Movies . .B6 A2 MONDAY, APRIL 26, 2021 STATE/LOCAL CITRUS COUNTY (FL) CHRONICLE Farm, animals, boats top BOCC agenda MICHAEL D. BATES Staff writer Citrus County received the 350-acre Betz Farm property north of Turkey Oak Drive in 2003 and it has sat vacant ever since. County commissioners said that makes no sense, especially since the site near Crystal River is in a prime de- velopment area and it is now a red-hot market for commercial property. With that in mind, commissioners at their last meeting said they would be open to accepting offers for the property. The board will discuss the Betz prop- erty further during its meeting Tuesday, which begins at 1 p.m. at the Citrus County Courthouse, 110 N. Apopka Ave., Inverness. “There are folks who are interested in that property right now that want to do some developing out there,” Com- missioner Jeff Kinnard said Friday. This isn’t the first time development of the Betz Farm tract has been broached. During a goal-setting work- MATTHEW BECK/Chronicle file shop in 2006, county commissioners A motorist prepares to launch his pontoon boat at the county boat ramp at MacRae's of Homosassa. The county commission on Tuesday discussed setting aside the property for is expected to formalize new user fees at county boat ramps. affordable housing. But that never got beyond the discus- The Betz Farm site near Crystal fees at $75 per year, with a discount to County Administrator Randy Oliver sion phase. River was given to the county in 2003 by $25 for residents. The money will be said Restore funds could be used to pay County commissioners in 2017 voted the Tamposi family in exchange for used to help fund improvements and for this project. to approve the Betz site as surplus Citrus Hills impact-fee credits. parking upgrades. I Staff will update the board on plans property for eventual sale. The property is appraised at about $5 I Commissioners will be asked to di- to either build a new county animal The property would be especially at- million. rect staff to evaluate the feasibility of shelter (for about $8 million) or retrofit tractive for developers if plans go Also Tuesday: building a 3-mile multi-use path on the current facility. through to move traffic on State Road I Commissioners will vote on a reso- Halls River Road, from U.S. 19 to Riv- The goal is to bring back information 44 onto Turkey Oak, making it a state lution formally setting annual boat erhaven Village.