 There were days in my newspaper career where I’d tell the editor I don’t have anything for tomorrow’s paper, but I’ve got a bunch of stuff in the hopper.
I had planned on something but it required a fair amount of research, which I’m happy to do but ran out of time Monday.  Something to ponder this Valentines Day while wondering if it’s your imagination that traffic in Citrus County has gotten much worse.
It’s not your imagination.  You’re in for a treat today because I’m writing about economic development and I don’t like writing about economic development.
 As if the Suncoast Parkway opening soon and the uncertainty of the Florida Turnpike extension through Citrus County wasn’t enough, now there’s ANOTHER road project out there to keep on the radar. It’s the big U.S. 19 “free flow” study.  Well, that went…OK.
Just OK. But Citrus County commissioners are backing themselves into a corner in trying to find Randy Oliver’s replacement as county administrator.  The Citrus County Commission meets Tuesday, all day in fact, and while the agendas are packed many people are looking at the county administrator issue.
The last time the board met, it conducted a rather ugly public review of County Administrator Randy Oliver. The review itself was OK, but the board’s behavior, particularly from the chairman, was appalling.  In the last two weeks, three Citrus County residents in the making have reached out to me with similar stories about the potential turnpike extension from Wildwood.
 This is a story about a hippo.
His name is Lu and he lives in Homosassa. You may have heard of him. I visited Thursday with Lu, though he wasn’t feeling very sociable. Just sort of hung in the corner of his lagoon at the Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, ignoring my soothing calls of “Luuuu, Luuuu.”  Stopped by Liberty Park on Wednesday afternoon for a chat with some friends. They were members of the Citrus Coffee Coalition, folks who got together a few years ago to rail against the then-president.  Then there’s…Old Homosassa.
Turning onto Fishbowl Drive off Halls River Road sends me into an immediate time warp. More than anywhere in Citrus County, other than my hometown Inverness, my deepest memories in 35 years are of Old Homosassa. |
AuthorMike Wright has written about Citrus County government and politics for 36 years. 
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