News Archive

Tuesday afternoon, a Dixie County Grand Jury issued an unsealed indictment for John William Kalisz in the shooting death of Captain Chad Allan Reed on January 14th.  Kalisz was charged with First Degree Murder While Armed, a Capital Felony.  The indictment reads that Kalisz “unlawfully and from a premeditated design and intent to effect the death of Chad Reed, or any human being, did kill the said Chad Reed, by shooting him with a firearm, thereby inflicting in and upon the said Chad Reed, mortal wounds and injuries, of and from which said mortal wounds and injuries Chad Reed died, and during the commission of said murder, John William Kalisz used a firearm, to-wit: a pistol, contrary to Florida Statutes 782.04(1)(a) and 775.087.”

(Here’s wishing him a “fair trial and a FINE hanging.”–Ed)

At least one suspect in the shooting of four people in Brooksville, in which two elderly women were killed and a pregnant juvenile was wounded, has been apprehended in Cross City at the Foodland intersection.  There was a shootout after the suspects were chased from Fanning Springs. Apparently the suspect was wounded in the face and his on his way to Shands.  The story is breaking and exact details are difficult to confirm.

According to witnesses on the scene, DCSO Officer Chad Reed was seriously hurt –witnesses on the scene are reporting that he was shot in the face–while apprehending the suspect and is on his way to the hospital.  Please keep him and his family in your prayers.

According to the Hernando County Sheriff’s office, the suspect’s name is John Kalisz and at least two of the women shot were his own family members.

Good lord.

From Scott Garner, with the Emergency Management Office:

The National Weather Service has some concern about a storm system approaching from the west. While there is some uncertainly in the forecast, they have a “Slight Risk” for severe storms in the forecast for Thursday.

Below is an excerpt from the 3:26 AM Area Forecast Discussion produced by the National Weather Service - Tallahassee Forecast Office, which explains the current thinking of their meteorologists.

VERY CHALLENGING FORECAST THIS CYCLE AS THE MODELS ARE INDICATING A VERY STRONG STORM SYSTEM HEADING OUR WAY BY TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY.
THIS SYSTEM LOOKS TO PRESENT A MULTIFACETED HAZARDOUS WEATHER THAT WILL INCLUDE NOT ONLY SEVERE POTENTIAL…BUT HEAVY RAIN…COASTAL FLOODING AND MARINE HAZARDS. FOR A SYSTEM THAT IS BETWEEN 48 AND 60 HOURS AWAY…THERE IS STILL SOME SUBTLE DETAILS TO WORK OUT…BUT WHAT IS REMARKABLE IS THAT THE MODELS ARE DOING A REASONABLY GOOD JOB WITH THE SYNOPTIC DETAILS AND DELIVERING SOME RUN TO RUN CONSISTENCY.

You can monitor forecasts from the National Weather Service on their website: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/tae/

Suwannee River flood levels are expected to be as bad as the 1948 flood: if you have any property that is movable near the Suwannee River, move it today!!!

The County Commissioners are having an emergency meeting today at 3:00, but by then it will be too late.  A full press release will appear in the Advocate tomorrow.

A&K Nursery, Ace Hardware and  Rick’s Seafood were among the victims of a theft spree that was discovered on Wednesday morning in and around Cross City.  Art Wyckoff stated that “A&K was broken into early Wednesday morning with the rascals getting off with the overnight cash box only.”

At Rick’s Seafood, the masked thieves managed to break in through a window around 2 am, bust open the safe and steal the money from within.  They also took a pistol, vandalized the flooring with profanity, and trashed the office.  Luckily, Rick’s Seafood has video cameras and the two-hour crime-fest was caught on video in its entirety.

Naveen Rana, the owner of Rick’s Seafood said that “This is the third break-in in fourteen months.  I spoke to Dewey (Hatcher) yesterday and told him they need to patrol this area more often.”

Ace Hardware was hit early Thursday morning.  The cash drawer and safe were broken into and the money was removed.  No merchandise was stolen, and no vandalism was reported.

The Advocate requested police reports on the break-ins from the Cross City Police Department and the DCSO, but none was provided by press time.  The cases are being jointly investigated by both agencies.

Cross City Councilman Marcellus Dawson and City Superintendent Johnny Green were arrested today along with two sitting Levy County Commissioners and face bribery & making false statement charges.  Both men are accused of taking “several hundred dollars” from an undercover agent at the Bonefish Grill in Gainesville, in exchange for trying to influence the council to approve building projects.  The two Levy County Commissioners, William Samuel Yearty and Robert Anthony Parker, allegedly made a sweeter deal and got $10,000.

The charges apparently stem from a visit from the same “Sean Michaels” who allegedly bribed Billy Keen, Alton Land and “Big” John Driggers during the same time period.

In an ironic twist, both county commissioners and Marcellus Dawson had all just been re-elected.  It seems likely that all three will have to be replaced, since the indictment forbids them from making any decisions on behalf of the government.

by Kathy McKinney

Well, this is different.  I don’t normally have to write in hospital waiting rooms.  I usually wait for some sort of inspiration to strike over the weekend to write this editorial…but by late on Sunday afternoon, in the words of Jack O’Neil on Stargate, “I got nothin’.”  My daughter Casey was here for the weekend, and she showed up at the house, complaining that her back was hurting.  Turns out that she (and the Advocate’s Brandi, along with several other accomplices who I won’t name here in case I need to blackmail them later) had been out Saturday night at a Fanning Springs bar, and my daughter, the one who is “graceful like a baby deer,” (i.e. she’s as clumsy as an intoxicated hippopotamus), was standing on the sidewalk and a Jeep, driven by a jerk who was  apparently “playing” by gunning the gas pedal, jumped the curb and hit her.

Mariah Hamilton has been battling AVMED to get the insurance company to cover the cost of her craniosacral therapy.  Craniosacral therapy involves gentle manipulation of the body, and has allowed Mariah to avoid the life-threatening and extremely painful surgery that the Advocate reported that she was facing earlier this year.  AVMED has been refusing to cover the cost of the therapy, demanding that Mariah get the $250,000 surgery instead.  Her family, quite sensibly, prefers the gentler, cheaper, more effective treatment for their 13 year old daughter who has already had 13 surgeries in her short life.

Today,  the Hamiltons had a mediation meeting with AVMED at the Dixie County Library.  The Hamiltons, who have had extreme difficulty getting AVMED to return calls, were accompanied by a news crew from TV20, who have been covering the Hamilton’s fight for coverage.  The Hamiltons explained that the news crew was there at their request, and that they had nothing to hide.  Apparently, AVMED does, because according to Mrs. Hamilton, they immediately closed, and then, cancelled the meeting while demanding that the media be removed.

The TV20 reporter is fighting to cover what she feels is a very important story about the insurance industry; please call the executive producer at TV20 and let him know that this is a story of interest to you.  You can reach TV20 at 352-377-2020.

by Kathy McKinney

Friday is Independence Day.  While you’re out at the Stephenson’s barn, watching the fireworks or eating baby back ribs, and maybe downing a cold one or two, I hope you’ll spare a few minutes to contemplate the day…and to think about freedom.

Collette Hill Davidson, 81, of Gainesville and Horseshoe Beach passed away on June 18th, 2008 at her home in Gainesville with friends and family.  Her mother was the late Rebecca Frank of Gainesville.  Ms. Davidson grew up in Knoxville, TN and began her long and distinguished nursing career after graduating from Fort Sanders Hospital School of Nursing in 1950.  She went on to earn her Associate Degree at Lake City Junior College; her Baccalaureate and Masters Degrees at the University of Florida; and, completed additional graduate work at the University of Connecticut.