Court Tosses Medical Malpractice Caps HOROSCOPE? Our Daily BRENDAN FARRINGTON Clared Unconstitutional Rates and to Keep Doc- Antee in the State’S Con- Wrote
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SENIOR ALL STARS MAKE THEIR MARK, SPORTS B1 LEESBURG, FLORIDA Friday, March 14, 2014 www.dailycommercial.com CHALLENGED: ACLU, gay couples file suit FIDO-NOMICS: Spending on to force Florida to recognize marriages, A4 pets reaches record levels, B5 LOOKING FOR YOUR Court tosses medical malpractice caps HOROSCOPE? Our daily BRENDAN FARRINGTON clared unconstitutional rates and to keep doc- antee in the state’s con- wrote. horoscope and Associated Press by the Florida Supreme tors from moving out of stitution. Bridge features Thirty-five states have have been Court on Thursday. state. Supporters at the “The cap on non-eco- TALLAHASSEE — Caps some type of cap on moved. You The lawsuit limits were time called skyrocketing nomic damages serves can now find placed on how much medical malpractice part of a law then-Re- insurance rates a crisis. no purpose other than awards, according to them on the money people can re- publican Gov. Jeb Bush In a 5-2 decision, the to arbitrarily punish the Diversions the National Conference ceive in cases where a pushed in 2003 in an ef- court said the caps in most grievously injured page, which is doctor’s mistakes led to a fort to lower the cost of such cases violate the or their surviving fami- of State Legislatures. on Page C6 in today’s edition. patient’s death were de- malpractice insurance equal protection guar- ly members,” the court SEE COURT | A2 Semi-trucks no longer welcome on Eustis Road LIVI STANFORD | Staff Writer 8-sized semi-trucks or [email protected] larger. The Class 8 gross ve- In the middle of the night, Bob Schmeltz of- hicle weight rating is ten would wake to the anything above 33,000 disturbing sound of pounds, mainly tractor semi-trucks barreling trailers. down County Road 44A “What I am trying to at 65 mph. do is address the high- The semi-trucks way situation,” Cam- would use the coun- pione said at Tuesday’s ty road, also known as board of county com- Burlington Avenue, as a mission meeting. “It is AP FILE PHOTO shortcut to State Road through traffic as op- People tussle as the national flag of Ukraine is removed from a spire in front of the regional administrative building 19 in Eustis, he said. posed to local traffic.” during a pro Russian rally in Donetsk, Ukraine. “It just kept get- Referring to the num- ting increasingly loud- ber of companies in the er and louder,” he said. area, Commissioner ‘We thought we were the same people’ “Enough was enough.” Welton Cadwell asked if For two years, the commission would Woman reflects Schmeltz and other consider putting re- neighbors have been af- strictions for Class 8 size fected by the noise and trucks just in the eve- on conflict in her traffic on the road. nings. As a result, Schmeltz, “If we are going to go native Ukraine Lisa Cox and John Try- for the semi-trucks, I LIVI STANFORD | Staff Writer bulec came together think that would be too [email protected] and rallied neighbors to complicated,” Campio- ne said. ksana Hagerty never lost sign a petition to send to the Lake County Com- Commission Chair- sleep over Ukraine’s rela- man Jimmy Conner tionship with Russia un- mission to address the O issue. agreed. til Russian President Vladimir Specifically, they con- “We want to give the Putin rolled troops across the people out there some border recently. tacted their district commissioner, Leslie relief,” he said. “We were sure we were an in- Campione added the dependent country,” said the Campione about the problem. noise was creating a Ukrainian, who recently moved nuisance for the resi- to Oxford with her husband, This week, coun- ty commissioners ap- dents. George, the new president of “It is interfering with Beacon College. “We never proved a resolution to the use and enjoyment imagined he could do some- BRETT LE BLANC / DAILY COMMERCIAL designate the 44A cor- of the area as a quiet, ru- thing like this.” ridor from County Road Oksana Hagerty poses at her home in Oxford. ral residential area.” Russian troops reported- 437 east to State Road 44 Schmeltz said there ly poured into Crimea on Feb. Read the latest on the crisis in Ukraine. See Pages A2 and A5 as a no-through truck 28 after three months of pro- zone, applying to Class SEE ROAD | A2 tests in Kiev, Ukraine resulted Hagerty said she could not make up two thirds of the in the Ukrainian Parliament re- understand Putin’s reasoning. population. On Sunday, Crime- NO TRUCKS moving President Viktor Yanu- She described how she spent an residents will vote wheth- The Lake County Commission banned truck traffic from a stretch kovych. many summers in Crimea, and er to secede from Ukraine. The of 44A because of complaints from area residents. Lake Norris Rd. Critics say the protests found that Russians and Ukrai- area has remained an autono- stemmed from corruption nians have gotten along well mous republic within Ukraine BLACK BEAR GOLF CLUB in the presidency and Yanu- there. since 1954. kovych’s decision not to join “We all spoke Russian and we Putin’s argument for poten- 44A the European Union. just did not think about it,” she tially annexing Crimea does The president fled the coun- said. “This is the worst part of not make sense, Hagerty ex- try, prompting Russia’s show of this conflict. People start think- plained. 44 force on behalf of its ally. Pu- ing about the things that did She said the earliest res- 437 tin reportedly has defended the not really matter but now cre- idents of Crimea were Per- effort as a way to protect Rus- ate a lot of tension.” sians, Greeks and Tatars. About sians in the Crimea region who Ethnic Russians in Crimea, a N SEE UKRAINE | A2 are in danger. peninsula in southern Ukraine, WHITNEY WILLARD / STAFF GRAPHIC BARBECUE, NIGHT FOR BLUEGRASS BREWS & BLUES THE IRISH FESTIVAL Barbecue, Brews & Blues will A Night for the Irish The East Lake County WEEKEND’S be from 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday kicks off with a 5 p.m. Library, 31340 County 1 in downtown Leesburg. Tick- 2 happy hour tonight at 3 Road 437 South in ets are $10 for adults and $5 for the Mount Dora Community Sorrento, will host a Bluegrass TOP children under 10. There will awards Building, 520 N. Baker St. Festival from 10 a.m. to 3 for best pork and chicken, with Traditional Irish music at 7 p.m. Saturday. There will be cash prizes. There also will be a p.m. Tickets start at $15 at live music, face painting, a 3 trophy for Best Homemade Sauce. MountDoraEvents.com. bake sale and flea market. INDEX DIVERSIONS C6 OBITUARIES A4 Vol. 138 LEGALS D1 SPORTS B1 TODAY’S WEATHER CLASSIFIED D1 No. 73 50¢ BUSINESS B5 VOICES A7 Detailed forecast 72˚/52˚ COMICS C7 5 sections CROSSWORDS D6 NATION A2 WORLD A5 on page A8. Mostly sunny and cool A2 DAILY COMMERCIAL Friday, March 14, 2014 FLORIDA LOTTERY MARCH 13 CASH 3 ...............................................9-0-7 Afternoon ..........................................4-8-7 PLAY 4 .............................................9-8-2-8 Afternoon .......................................3-1-1-4 MARCH 12 FANTASY 5 ............................. 4-8-17-28-29 FLORIDA LOTTO ............. 12-14-20-25-36-52 POWERBALL.................. 14-15-28-37-54-10 THE NEWSPAPER OF CHOICE FOR LAKE AND SUMTER COUNTIES SINCE 1875 The Daily Commercial (ISSN 0896-1042) is published daily for $90.74 per year (plus Florida sales tax) by Halifax Media Group at 212 East Main Street, Leesburg, Florida. Periodicals postage is paid at the USPO, Leesburg, FL. POSTMASTER: Send all address changes to The Daily Commercial, P.O. Box 490007, Leesburg, FL 34749-0007. All material contained in this edition is property of The Daily Commercial and is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Reproduction is forbidden without written consent from the publisher. SERGEI CHUZAVKOV / AP MISSED YOUR NEWSPAPER? HOW TO REACH US People shout slogans during a pro Russian rally at a central square in Donetsk, Ukraine on Sunday. REDELIVERY NOT AVAILABLE IN ALTOONA OR SUMTER 365-8200 experienced such tur- Hagerty’s family, who er conflict between Call 352-787-0600 in Lake In Sumter County: UKRAINE County or 877-702-0600 in 877-702-0600 moil since World War II. are still living in Lu- Ukrainian and Russian Sumter County 6 a.m. to 10 FROM PAGE A1 Her dark eyes convey gansk, are waiting anx- forces. a.m. Monday through Friday. ADVERTISING anguish as she shares iously in anticipation of Call 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Satur- “If you move into other day and 7 to 10 a.m. on Sunday. Retail ................... 365-8200 how she feels betrayed Putin’s next move. Classified ............. 314-3278 300,000 Tatars were dis- parts of eastern Ukraine, GOING ON VACATION placed during World War by Russia. “What they are tell- all bets are off,” he said. CIRCULATION Lake Co. ....... 352-787-0600 In Crimea, she said, ing me is that it is very Call the Circulation Depart- II by Joseph Stalin. Hagerty says her Sumter Co. ... 877-702-0600 propaganda has been unstable,” she said. ment 48 hours ahead to stop “Who do we give mother, who is Russian, service. Circulation Billing . 787-0600 Crimea to?” she asked spread about the Ukrai- “We should have never feels a strong sense of ACCOUNTING ...... 365-8216 nians not doing enough thought that after fight- “You say it is Russian.