BEN EXPERIENCE A FRESH START VOTE AUG 18th LOVEL Hardworking Honest FOR Accountable WĂŝĚƉŽůŝƟĐĂůĂĚǀĞƌƟƐĞŵĞŶƚƉĂŝĚĨŽƌĂŶĚĂƉƉƌŽǀĞĚ Property Appraiser ďLJĞŶ>ŽǀĞů͕ZĞƉƵďůŝĐĂŶ͕ĨŽƌWƌŽƉĞƌƚLJƉƉƌĂŝƐĞƌ 20202020ElectionElection County Commission District 3 candidates answer questions Starts on Page 9 Another online candidate forum is held Page 12 $1 Published Weekly, Read Daily Our 122nd Year, 31st Issue One Section Serving Wakulla County For 122 Years Thursday, July 30, 2020 SCHOOLS School opening moves forward But school board gives superintendent authority to delay Aug. 13 opening if necessary By WILLIAM SNOWDEN district’s $60 million to provide more time to Editor budget. prepare and see how oth- Open Houses set Several school board er schools that opened The district released a sched- Moving forward with members and the presi- early fared. reopening schools on dent of the local teachers School Board Chair ule for school Open Houses last Aug. 13, the Wakulla union expressed concern Greg Thomas offered a week. Because of Covid pre- County School Board about safely reopening different perspective, cautions, the Open Houses are voted Monday to give Su- schools. noting that “Pay doesn’t geared to students transitioning perintendent of Schools Superintendent Pearce start til school starts.” to new schools, such as Pre-K, Bobby Pearce the author- reiterated his projection Moving the start date to Kindergarteners, 6th graders at ity to delay the opening of that 90% of students September would mean the middle schools, 9th graders schools without a special will return to physical no pay for teachers in at the high school, as well as meeting. classrooms when school School Superintendent August. The school board opens. He noted that, Bobby Pearce Thomas said parents students new to the district. unanimously approved of some 5,000 students have lots of choices: Attendance is restricted to par- School Board mem- the matter at a special in the district, only 130 classroom, virtual, dis- ents/guardians and their student. ber Verna Brock said meeting set for the first have so far signed up for tance, home school and The full schedule appears on she supported reopening public hearing on the distance learning classes. Page 2. schools after Labor Day Turn to Page 2 CORONAVIRUS AFTER BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTEST Covid surges, fueled by A productive talk prison cases Wakulla has 535 cases as of Tuesday, and adds another death, the second, due to the virus, this one at the prison By KEVIN DEL ORBE Staff Writer Wakulla County reported 535 coronavirus cases as of Tuesday, July 28, an increase of 226 since Tuesday, July 21, according to the Department of Health. Wakulla reported a new death on Tues- day, July 27. It was a male in his 40s who was an inmate at WCI.That makes two deaths so far in the county. More than half of all cases in the county come from Wakulla Correctional Institution, PHOTO BY NOAH HERTZ with the Department of Corrections report- County Commissioner Ralph Thomas at the board conference room with some of the ing 272 cases, as of Tuesday, July 28, an in- organizers of last week’s Black Lives Matter protest – Chancellor Crump, Rachel Harrell, crease of 185 cases since Tuesday, July 21. and Turelle Farmer – to listen to their concerns. Currently 213 inmates and 59 staff have tested positive for coronavirus at WCI with Commissioner Ralph h omas meets with BLM activists 644 inmates in medical quarantine. When asked about the outbreak of cases By NOAH HERTZ “There’s a lot of trust in Wakulla,” she Staff Writer in WCI, Tonya Hobby, assistant administra- said. “We want to maintain that trust.” Farmer told Thomas that she was un- tor at the Wakulla County Health Depart- On Tuesday, July 21, County Commis- comfortable with his standing on the side ment, confirmed an outbreak. “But,” she sioner Ralph Thomas and a number of of the counter-protesters and with his said, “there is not a lot we can say.” local activists met to discuss how to move description of the protesters as a mob. Hobby said the outbreak at the prison be- forward after the July 18 Black Lives Mat- Thomas maintained that while he was gan in July. She stressed health guidelines ter protest in Crawfordville. physically on the side of the counter- for the public to limit the spread by following Among the activists were Wakulla lo- protesters, he was there as a neutral social distancing and wearing a mask when cals Turelle Farmer and Rachel Harrell observer. within 6 feet of another person. as well as Chancellor Crump, an activist “I was physically on that side, there’s The Wakulla News has continued to from Tallahassee who helped with the no doubt about that,” he said. He later receive calls from concerned families of in- protest in Crawfordville. added, “I didn’t think I was taking a side.” mates at the prison who have alleged there Thomas said he and Crump met at the As for his comment about protesters are unfit living conditions, inmates are not protest and decided on a time to meet and as a mob, he clarified: “I think there was receiving adequate amounts of food, and talk with him. a mob on both sides.” living in overcrowded pods. Crump told Thomas the main reason Farmer pushed back on him and said, The Department of Corrections issued he and the others wanted to speak with “Why didn’t you go from their side to our a statement that said the agency is taking him was to “create transparency and ac- side?” precautions to prevent the outbreak from countability.” But Thomas maintained that he The activists pitched several ideas to couldn’t have done that in the moment. Turn to Page 2 Thomas including a citizen’s review board “You think it would have been received OBITUARIES of the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office and well?” he asked. body cameras for sheriff’s deputies. Thomas also questioned the purpose of Ida B. ‘Ruth’ Snodgrass DeLong Harrell said the review board would be the protest, but the activists responded in the model set by cities that have them saying it needed to happen. Lynn Fernandez in Florida like Tampa and Orlando. Crump said he wanted to focus on mov- Colton Edwin McKinney She said these suggestions were not ing forward and said the protest laid the Brittany Nicole Steier because they were critical of the WCSO, foundation for future changes in the area. but because they want to keep their re- “It’s just like building a house,” he Alexis Brook Revells Tully lationship with them. Philip Oliver Vause Sr. Turn to Page 15 Page 2 – THE WAKULLA NEWS, Thursday, July 30, 2020 www.thewakullanews.com Refuge experiencing high traffic this summer By NOAH HERTZ alligator with shotgun outdoors,” she said. wildlife first situation,” the refuge that can be With the refuge open Staff Writer shells near the body. “On the bay fishing you she told The News. viewed on the Wakulla and charging visitors “Being a wildlife aren’t near anyone and St. Marks Wildlife WeatherSTEM website for entrance again, Will St. Marks Wildlife refuge, we’re different you’re observing social Refuge has seen an- at https://wakulla. said she was happy Refuge has seen an ir- than a city or county distancing and you’re other change, too: the weatherstem.com/ they could produce regularly high number boat ramp,” she said. in a beautiful, healthy addition of Weather- fswnstmarks. revenue for the county. of visitors this sum- “We’re also supposed environment.” STEM cameras at the Will said she and But she stressed that mer, said Supervisory to provide places for She also said an- refuge and lighthouse. the other rangers were visitors must treat the Refuge Ranger Robin wildlife to be safe.” other factor could be WeatherSTEM, a excited for the new ad- environment and wild- Will. Summers always the good scalloping company based out dition that had uses life respectfully. Will said the in- lead to an influx of season. of Tallahassee, pro- beyond just checking “We want people to crease in visitors has visitors, Will said, but But Will said visi- duces cameras and the weather at the ref- be able to enjoy their also lead to an increase this summer’s increase tors need to not rush other equipment that uge. public land, to fish, to in trash and dead ani- may also be due to the on their way out to the are used to collect data “For safety you could observe wildlife care- mals. Covid-19 pandemic. wildlife refuge. about weather across see if it’s packed and fully and be able to Among an increased “There’s a very in- “People are in such Florida. crowded. I think it’s experience what this quantity of trash, rang- teresting thing with a hurry that they may The cameras provide kind of a wonderful part of Florida is like,” ers also found a dead people wanting to be not remember this is a a constant live feed of tool,” she said. she said. with 117 hospitaliza- four hospitalizations. es in Florida are in tions and 14 deaths, Liberty County had Miami-Dade County Covid up, fueled by prison cases an increase of 684 340 cases with six with 110,352 cases, From Front Page since last week. tal cases, as of Tues- cases, 22 hospital- hospitalizations and with 5,267 hospital- Of the cases, 350 day, July 28, an in- izations, and three two deaths, an in- izations and 1,425 worsening. are men and 179 are crease of 72,143 cases deaths over the past crease of 24 cases and deaths; since Tues- Precautions include women, with an age from last week.