Project1:Layout 1 6/10/2014 1:13 PM Page 1 Football: AP preseason All-America teams revealed /B1 TUESDAY TODAY C I T R U S C O U N T Y & next morning HIGH 88 Mostly cloudy LOW with showers and thunderstorms. 72 PAGE A4 www.chronicleonline.com AUGUST 24, 2021 Florida’s Best Community Newspaper Serving Florida’s Best Community $1 VOL. 126 ISSUE 325 NEWS Feds greenlight Pfizer shot BRIEFS Register to vote First time FDA has granted full in Homosassa The Supervisor of Local vaccinations rise, Elections Office invites approval to COVID vaccine the public to an outreach event from 9 to 11 a.m. governments to make vacci- LAURAN Aug. 26 at Winn Dixie, nations mandatory. NEERGAARD AND 3792 S. Suncoast Blvd. in MATTHEW PERRONE The Pentagon promptly infections slow, for now Homosassa. Associated Press announced it will press ahead with plans to force FRED HIERS for now as vaccinations That was a near 5% This is a convenient WASHINGTON — The members of the military to Staff writer continue to creep drop from the previous way to register to vote, U.S. gave full approval to get vaccinated amid the steadily upward. seven days, according make changes to your Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine battle against the extra- The coronavirus that The number of new to the U.S. Centers for voter record or request a Monday, potentially boost- contagious delta variant. has been spreading re- cases during the past Disease Control and vote-by-mail ballot. Infor- ing public confidence in the The University of Minne- lentlessly through Cit- seven days in Citrus Prevention. mation to apply for elec- shots and instantly opening sota likewise said it rus County for the first County, ending Satur- tion worker positions will the way for more universi- time in weeks slowed day, Aug. 21, fell to 916. See COUNTY/Page A8 also be available. ties, companies and local See SHOT/Page A2 To have the elections office staff at your organi- zation or business, con- tact Supervisor Maureen “Mo” Baird. For more information, visit votecitrus.gov, email ‘Big Three’ leads to big payoff [email protected] or call 352-564-7120. HANNAH Hospitals SACHEWICZ Staff writer face staffing shortages or the second year in a row, the Crys- Forty-nine Florida hos- Ftal River Middle pitals reported critical School Bearcats were staffing shortages on honored for their exem- Monday and 51 hospitals plary sportsmanship were anticipating short- among athletic teams. ages within the week as They earned first the state continues to place in the middle lead the nation in the per- school class of the 2020- centage of inpatients with 21 FHSAA Fred E. Ro- COVID-19, according to zelle Sportsmanship Award. The Bearcats data posted by the U.S. were among two middle Department of Health schools recognized. Human Services. The prestigious sports- Florida had 17,143 manship award has been COVID-19 hospital ad- presented annually since missions reported by 257 1991 and is named in hospitals. It led the nation honor of the FHSAA in the percentage of hos- commissioner emeritus, pitalized patients with Fred E. Rozelle. It is COVID-19, at more than awarded to schools 35%. The swell in the whose entire sports pro- number of hospitaliza- gram exemplifies sports- tions is due to the spread manship through their of the highly contagious players, coaches and spectators. delta variant of the “The last two years, we coronavirus. have specifically put The hospitalizations are things in place to pro- occurring mostly in unvac- mote sportsmanship,” cinated people. Hospitals CRMS principal David report the data to the De- Roland said. partment of Health and Roland attributes the Human Services. The Flor- student body’s excep- ida Department of Health tional behavior on and on Friday published a off the field to the “Big weekly COVID-19 report Three,” coined by former that showed Florida had college and professional totaled 3,027,954 cases football coach Lou Holtz. since the pandemic started The student body is in early 2020, an increase encouraged to live up to three simple rules: “Do of 150,740 cases from the what’s right, do your best previous week’s report. and treat others the way The death toll in Florida you want to be treated,” had climbed to 42,252 Roland said. deaths as of Thursday, an To receive the award, MATTHEW BECK/Chronicle increase of 1,486 from the an FHSAA school must ABOVE: Turner Messer keeps his eye on the football while previous week. be nominated and, Ro- practicing his receiving skills at Crystal River Middle Diner leaves land said, “you can’t School practice. The school’s athletes have been honored have any sportsmanship with the Fred E. Rozelle Sportsmanship Award for $10,000 tip at violation or any ejections exemplifying excellent sportsman-like qualities. restaurant from games.” RIGHT: Eighth-grade volleyball player Rebekah Adkins, Once nominated, the 14, returns a ball during volleyball practice Thursday, GAINESVILLE — A school can fill out an ap- Aug. 18, at Crystal River Middle School practice. The diner at a north Florida plication to explain how school was awarded the Fred E. Rozelle Sportsmanship restaurant gathered the they are implementing Award in the 2019-2020 school year. staff of 10 together to sportsman-like qualities. thank them for their hard For example, each used daily in the class- and then ask students to work before leaving them CRMS sports team and room. Coaches talk with model appropriate be- a $10,000 tip to share. club is assigned to an students daily about ap- havior when they ate in It happened last Tues- area on the campus. propriate behavior on the gym or fields,” Ro- day night as the man, his During their season, they and off the field. land wrote in the award are responsible for main- To reach the entire application. wife and son finished taining the area and student body, for one By using these prac- their dinner at the Wahoo keeping it clean. week each month, physi- tices, disciplinary refer- Seafood Grill, the Gaines- Alyssa Mayer, CRMS cal education classes are rals at CRMS were ville Sun reported. athletic director, said taken inside to work on reduced by 20% during Shawn Shepherd, who this teaches students to social and emotional the 2019-20 school year owns Wahoo, told the take pride in what their skills and topics. and by 49% in the 2020- newspaper he’s very school looks like. “Our P.E. coaches have 21 school year. thankful to the diner be- In addition, Mayer become very skilled at cause his employees said the Big Three is teaching the curriculum See BIG/Page A7 have been loyal to the restaurant through the pandemic. When the coronavirus pandemic began, Shep- herd said he temporarily New book shares stories of hope from pandemic closed the Wahoo and lost some $30,000 in NANCY KENNEDY 2020, author Teresa Werth As a certified funeral had a grieving family and broke my heart,” she said. food. He said he’s in- Staff writer was struck by the stories celebrant, she was espe- friends and community “All I could think of was, debted to his employees of all the ways people ev- cially moved by the left to mourn their loss. who’s tending to the fami- because they’ve helped From the beginning of erywhere were being af- mounting death count, “When I saw those re- lies and helping them get keep the restaurant afloat the coronavirus pan- fected, and how they that each number repre- frigerated (morgue) during hard times. demic in the spring of coped. sented a real person who trucks in New York, it See BOOK/Page A5 — From staff and wire reports Classifieds . .B7 Crossword . .B10 INDEX Lottery Numbers . .B3 Obituaries . A6 Comics . .B6 Editorial. A9 Lottery Payouts . .B3 TV Listings. .B5 Horoscope . A4 Entertainment . A4 Movies . .B6 A2 TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2021 NATION CITRUS COUNTY (FL) CHRONICLE strongly warned that the systems, such as organ Pfizer vaccine should not transplant recipients. For SHOT be used “off-label” for everyone else, the Biden Continued from Page A1 children under 12 — a administration is planning warning echoed by the for boosters starting in the will require its students American Academy of fall. But the FDA is evalu- get the shot, as did Loui- Pediatrics. ating that question siana’s major public uni- Both Pfizer and Mod- separately. versities, including LSU, erna have vaccine studies In reaching Monday’s though state law there underway in youngsters, decision, the FDA said se- allows broad and they are using lower rious side effects remain exemptions. doses than those available very rare, such as chest More than 200 million for people 12 and older. pain and heart inflamma- Pfizer doses have been ad- Pfizer’s Bourla said he tion a few days after the ministered in the U.S. expects study results from second dose, mostly in under emergency provi- 5- to 11-year-olds by the young men. sions — and hundreds of end of September, but data As for effectiveness, six millions more worldwide for those younger than 5 months into Pfizer’s orig- — since December. In will take a couple of inal study, the vaccine re- going a step further and months. mained 97% protective granting full approval, the Also, Woodcock said against severe COVID-19. Food and Drug Adminis- health providers are offer- Protection against milder tration cited months of ing COVID-19 vaccines infection waned slightly, real-world evidence that under agreements with from a peak of 96% two serious side effects are ex- the government that months after the second tremely rare.