July 2018

During the weekend of July 7-8, 2018, Hernando County Aquatics Manager Keith Kolasa led a team of SCUBAnauts to conduct fish surveys at recently deployed artificial reefs.  Everyone participating remarked about the unusual clarity of the water, which was ideal for diving and counting the new reef inhabitants.

Senior SCUBAnaut Noah Heskin reported that the team counted a “couple hundred bait fish” between three sites.  He also reported counting a shark, a few sea turtles, and a lot of Gag Grouper, each approximately one foot long.   

Spring Hill, Florida (July 17, 2018) –The Maternity Suites at Oak Hill Hospital has announced the following OB program community events that will be held during the month of August. All events will be held at Oak Hill Hospital, 11375 Cortez Boulevard, Maternity Suites Education Room, North Tower third floor, Brooksville, Florida 34613.

On Friday June 22, 2018, I had the opportunity to attend a guided Wild Foraging program.  This took place at Chinsegut Conservation Center, and was presented by Kristin Wood of Dade Battlefield Historic State Park.  The purpose of the program was to educate the attendees in the wild edible plants native to Florida, and found in your backyard.  

The fire assessment fee is a “non-ad valorem special assessment.” There are two tiers. Tier 1, for developed properties, is based on a fraction of improved value and tier 2 is assessed a flat rate ( for vacant parcels). The fire assessment fees have been increasing steadily since they were implemented in 2012. FY 2016 fire assessment for tier 1 properties was $.80 per $1000 of improvement value and $100 per parcel for tier 2 properties. FY 2017 approved fire assessments for tier 1 was $.85 per $1000 of improved value and $125 per parcel for Tier 2.

The Hernando County Supervisor of Elections Office began sending Vote by Mail ballots on Friday, July 13, 2018 to all eligible military and overseas voters. Vote by Mail ballots to eligible domestic voters will be mailed on Thursday, July 26, 2018. Currently over 35,000 Vote by Mail ballots will be sent to all voters who have a request on file.

It is important to remember that politicians are people. They have children and pets. They have worries and hopes. They have faced obstacles and suffered losses.

Too often we gain only a very shallow understanding of who the politicians are. If you know that a politician has lost a child or survived cancer, it makes it easier to see them as a person. Even if you do not agree with them politically you may find that you have a lot in common.

Chrome will begin marking sites not secure with the release of Chrome 68 on July 24. This is a major change that is causing many website owners problems trying to figure out how to add https to their websites. Websites can either be http or if they add a secure (SSL) certificate they can be https. If the website is https all communications between the website and the user are encrypted.

Hernando County baseball teams are headed to their age group World Series where they will represent the state of Florida as state champs.

Spring Hill Rookies (7-8 year olds)

Congratulations to the Spring Hill American Rookies team for winning the Florida State Championship as well as the Sportsmanship award. They are headed to the World Series at the end of the month.

Spring Hill American Baseball (13 and under)

The one historical fort in Hernando County that we have sign for, indicating its location  is Fort Taylor. The sign does not actually list the fort but rather Fort Taylor Cemetery. Fort Taylor appears to have been mainly a Third Seminole War fort which lasted from 1855 to 1858. 

It is not mentioned in the list of Second Seminole War forts in Hernando County from the 1830s and 40s which were Fort Cross, Fort Annutteliga, and Fort De Soto. The Second Seminole War lasted from 1835 to 1842.

Endeavor Academy is a program for students with ongoing documented behavior problems from grade 6 through high school seniors. It has been in operation since 1976, with a one year hiatus in 1992.  Some students come to the program after committing student code of conduct infractions as a second chance before expulsion. Others have committed felonies in the community and are referred to the program by committee.