Old news is new if it's news to me

A little truth: 

I subscribe to a daily newspaper.

I do not read it daily.

You may have read we’ve moved into a new Just Wright Citrus World Headquarters III. In the moving process, some habits went to the sidelines. Such as reading the daily Chronicle.

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Welp, a few weeks went by, and I had to decide. Am I tossing the old newspapers without reading them? Or do I set aside an hour Monday afternoon to pore through them all, getting a blog topic out of it?

Decided on the latter. All links today are to Chronicle stories. In no order, some highlights:

OCT. 1

— More school kids have iPads than textbooks, which means there’s little need these days for school lockers. I had a philosophy in school. If I couldn’t fold it up into my pockets, I didn't study it. Probably explains my strong C- average.

— In case we’ve forgotten, reporter Mike Bates reminds us there are thousands of new homes planned at numerous developments. Think I’ll just stay under the covers today.

OCT. 2

— Interesting story about the county’s transit plan. Transit has always been an odd duck around here. I know this: Transit folks are constantly trying to make it work. It’s a very valuable service.

— Ralph Massullo easily wins the Republican primary for Senate District 11. He faces Democrat Ash Marwah in a special Dec. 9 election.

SEPT. 30

— Pine Ridge Property Owners Association says it will appeal the County Commission’s approval of 80 homes on the Pine Ridge Golf Course. 

As I wrote a few weeks back, Pine Ridge is not unified on this issue. I read several Sound Off comments from people who are not happy with the POA’s decision because they see nothing wrong with a housing development on the closed golf course.

We’ll keep an eye on this one.

OCT. 3

— “Commission to decide Tuesday on one-cent sales tax referendum.” Or not.

— Three in 10 Citrus County renters are “rent burdened,” meaning they spend more than a third of their income on housing needs. I don’t have a solution here, but something’s gotta give between people who can’t afford rent, and the county approving developments with half-million-dollar homesites.

I look forward to hearing from 2026 County Commission candidates about bridging that gap.

— In Sound Off, someone is quite agitated about the new traffic signal on S.R. 44 at Gospel Island Road. It’s a constant reminder that we live in our own worlds. Many people wanted that signal for safety, but to this person, it’s a boondoggle of massive proportions.

— Another caller wants CFO Blaise Ingoglia to rain his DOGE down on the Citrus County government. This is a common Sound Off theme. Here’s some news: The county sent the CFO’s office everything it asked and also welcomed a review.

So, for all those folks who think Blaise will ride in here on his high horse, I'd say that's unlikely.

OCT. 10

-- Pirates Cove seller agrees to the county’s $1.17 million offer. It's not quite a done deal. For one thing, the county has to come up with $300,000 in private money.

And, you know, an actual plan for the property would be nice. I keep hearing the term “passive” park. What does that mean?

— County files a counterclaim against Right Rudder Aviation, hoping to force Andy Chan from the Inverness Airport. I dropped this issue a few months back after Andy sued the county, but I keep hearing the county has someone in the wings (ha!) ready to follow Right Rudder once this all goes away. Someone with local political connections.

My feelings on this haven’t changed. Something’s up.

OCT. 9

— “County delays decision on sales tax plan.” Um…that’s not what happened. There was no “delay.” A better headline: “County drops ball on sales tax promise.”

OCT. 11

— “Q&A; Sales tax initiative: Where do we go from here?” I have more questions than answers. Many more questions.

I’ll get into this later, but it’s a little concerning when our community sales tax initiative starts sounding more like a marketing plan.

OK, I’m all caught up with the news. I feel enlightened.

Have a great Tuesday, friends.

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