Project1:Layout 1 6/10/2014 1:13 PM Page 1 Gators: Defense looks to improve against Kentucky /B1 SATURDAY TODAY CITRUSCOUNTY & next morning HIGH 82 Partly sunny and LOW warm. Isolated showers. 63 PAGE A4 www.chronicleonline.com NOVEMBER 28, 2020 Florida’s Best Community Newspaper Serving Florida’s Best Community 50¢ VOL. 126 ISSUE 51 COMING SUNDAY: FHP arrests man linked to crash he tried to overtake northbound According to FHP’s report on Inverness collision left three women dead traffic in a no-passing zone of the crash, the motorists Sawhill South Pleasant Grove Road, south overtook stopped to help Sawhill #mikescottplumbing Expecting family for the Holidays? USTER HOMPSON into the Citrus County jail under of the intersection with East Amy escape the Highlander, which If your house isn’t the only thing that’s full, call us. B T We’re on call 24/7 with no overtime charges for nights, weekends, OR holidays! Straight Time, Any Time, ALL The Time! Staff writer a total bond of $90,000. Lane. had caught fire. 000ZDS1 1-866-314-4443 www.MikeScottPlumbing.com Sawhill faces three second- In doing so, Sawhill and his Emergency responders trans- 2020 Florida Highway Patrol ar- degree felony counts of vehicular white Toyota Highlander collided ported Sawhill to Regional Medi- Christmas Traditions rested a Pasco County man for homicide, according to a report head-on with a southbound Kia cal Center Bayonet Point for and Holiday Viewing causing a Christmas Eve vehicle from the FHP. Each charge, if Optima, killing its three occu- treatment of serious injuries. Guide . crash on an Inverness roadway there’s a conviction, is punish- pants: 62-year-old Amalia Go- According to prior Chronicle that left three women dead. able to up to 15 years in prison. mara, of Dunnellon; 86-year-old reports, Sawhill went to Pasco FHP troopers on Wednesday, FHP alleges Sawhill was driv- Clara Adela Gorrin, of Hialeah; County court in 2004 for DUI, and NEWS Nov. 25, 2020, booked Land O’ ing in a reckless manner at and 85-year-old Nilda Cordovi, of again in 2014 for speeding and BRIEFS Lakes 53-year-old Phillip Sawhill around 1 p.m. Dec. 24, 2019, when Pembroke Pines. driving with an invalid license. Citrus COVID-19 update According to the Florida Department of Health, one Pandemic shifts tourism focus hundred and twenty-five positive cases were re- ported in Citrus County Citrus County adapting to life since the latest update. Three new hospitalizations were reported; five new without international visitors deaths were reported. MICHAEL D. BATES To date in the county, Staff writer 4,623 people have tested positive (including 23 non- International visitors to Citrus County make up about 20% residents), 411 have been of its tourism base and the falloff of those folks due to travel hospitalized and 165 restrictions and lockdowns has hurt locals who depend on those travelers. have died. It may be some time before those tourists get on a plane to Crash kills man, Citrus County or anywhere in the INSIDE state or nation, for that matter. injures woman Florida’s tourism industry could n Missing Canadian A single-vehicle crash start to experience an uptick mid- ‘snowbirds’ could on a Crystal River-area way through 2021, although foreign have significant roadway killed a man and travel will continue to lag for sev- impact on critically injured a female eral years, according to informa- Florida’s winter tion posted online Tuesday, Nov. passenger. tourism industry . According to a Florida 24, by state analysts. See Page A3 Short- and long-term outlooks Highway Patrol (FHP) re- from a panel known as the Florida port, which doesn’t ID the Economic Estimating Conference indicate people, mostly motorists involved in the from other states, could travel to Florida in close to pre- 6:26 a.m. rollover on Fri- coronavirus pandemic numbers in 2022. day, Nov. 27, 2020, the John Pricher, Citrus County Visitors Bureau director, has 48-year-old man from said Citrus is fortunate to have so many outdoor activities to Crystal River was driving a attract tourists and, so far, visitors from inside the state are pickup truck north on North filling the gaps left by the absence of international visitors. Citrus Avenue, approach- “We’ve shifted a lot of our marketing efforts to the South- ing the intersection with east and in-state so we’re hoping that people are still look- West Dunklin Street. ing to take short trips,” Pricher said. For unknown reasons, Previous economic studies of disease outbreaks have shown the truck left the road, trav- that it can take as much as 12 to 15 months after the outbreak eled into the eastern grass ends for tourism to return to pre-disease levels, according to a shoulder, reentered the report compiled in September for the Legislative Budget Com- mission. “The magnitude of this event is greater.” road via northbound lanes The report said current expectations are that leisure driv- and spun into the entrance- ing vacations will recover first, and then — in order — busi- way of a nearby property. ness travel, domestic air travel, and international travel. There, the vehicle over- In the outlooks Tuesday, analysts projected overseas visi- turned several times, eject- tors could total about 3.7 million in the 2022 fiscal year, MATTHEW BECK/Chronicle file ing the man and partially nearly one-third of the 10.9 million from the 2019 fiscal year. Crystal River is the premier destination for many looking for an in-the-wild ejecting the passenger, a Overseas travelers could reach 6.8 million in the 2023 fis- manatee encounter. By fueling the local economy, travelers from across the 40-year-old woman from cal year, reach 9 million the next year, but not reach 10 mil- globe affect the bottom line in Citrus County. It may be some time before Beverly Hills, according to lion until the 2028 fiscal year. those tourists get on a plane to Citrus County or anywhere in the state or the FHP report, which News Service Florida contributed to this report nation, for that matter. stated neither occupant was wearing a seatbelt. According to FHP re- ports, the woman was criti- Economists project cally injured, and the man died from serious injuries. — Buster Thompson/Staff writer mid-2021 turnaround Christmas tree lighting set for tourism industry This year marks the 27th anniversary of the JOHN HAUGHEY Old Courthouse Heritage The Center Square Museum Christmas Tree Florida’s $90 billion tourism industry will begin to re- Lighting. The trees will be bound about mid-2021 with the number of visitors fore- lit at 6:30 p.m. Friday, cast to be near pre-pandemic levels in 2022, state analysts Dec. 4, in conjunction project. with the Light up Inver- According to a Florida Economic Estimating Confer- ness community event, at ence (EEC) outlook posted Tuesday, the state could see 1 Courthouse Square, In- Kayakers paddle their way way along a salt marsh. Paddling sports are a 30 million visitors a quarter again by the third quarter of verness. The museum popular activity along the Nature Coast drawing thousands of visitors each 2021 — July-September. will be open during the year. See TOURISM/Page A8 event, from 5 to 8 p.m. — From wire reports Classifieds . .B6 Crossword . .B9 INDEX Lottery Numbers . B3. Religion . A12, A13, A14 Comics . B5. Editorial . A9 Lottery Payouts . B3. TV Listings . .B4 Horoscope . A4 Entertainment . .A4 Obituaries . .A6 000ZF1H A2 SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2020 CITRUS COUNTY (FL) CHRONICLE Friday 7:30am-7:00pm Saturday 8:30am-7:00pm Credit less than perfect? Village Toyota can help! 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