This is the week of dibs and dabs

If the report on the Levy County budget situation was not clear, that’s because it is not. About the only thing that could be divined is that fuel taxes are going down. Sales taxes are also down.

Granted there will be a hiccup now and then, but overall, expect taxes to keep shrinking.

The only sure thing is the Board of County Commissioners will be keeping an eye on spending, and the public can expect a discussion on where cuts could be made.

The Levy School Board is wrangling with a $1 million plus decline in revenues in this school year, so the commissioners are probably watching what the board does.

Those of us who have cut our budgets can only sympathize with Superintendent Bob Hastings’ dilemma.

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The Chiefland Chamber of Commerce is seeking nominations for the Citizen of the Year Award. Let’s forget all the gloomy economic news and consider nominating someone. It could be the next volunteer, business, professional or friend you encounter.

Let’s make this a hot competition by involving many nominations.

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It’s easy to tell who the farmer is on the Chiefland City Commission. During a presentation on the drug task force, Police Chief Robert Douglas was explaining how a marijuana grow house operates, when he was interrupted by Commissioner Rollin Hudson Jr.

“Is it a perennial, or do they have to plant it every time?” Hudson asked.

Douglas said he didn’t know but said that in harvesting the leaves and buds the plant is pretty much destroyed.

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I need to set the record straight on a couple of items…

In this column last week Clerk of Court Danny Shipp was called Danny Stevens. The title was right, the name wrong. Apologies to both men.

The NAACP action in the termination of Mary Golding by Levy County Property Appraiser Oz Barker.

I contacted the group for comment after learning Golding was being represented by the NAACP The person who returned my call said there would be a press conference that afternoon. I told Barker I would give him a chance to comment on anything said in the press conference before the Citizen went to press.

But it was not a press conference. It was basically me interviewing two NAACP representatives. I did not ask the gentlemen whether the competing media had passed on covering the issue.

And it was unfortunate that I did not tell Barker in our later conversation that it was just me talking to the gentlemen.

Lou Jones is the news editor of the Chiefland Citizen. She may be reached at news@chieflandcitizen.com