[Times files, 1998: Michael Weimar] Robbie Graham's 528-foot airboat drag strip can be filled with as much as 340,000 gallons of water a day. Some neighbors say that's a waste.

April 30, 2000

Drought won't strand airboats
A Sumter County man got a permit to pump millions of gallons for airboat races. Some say the water could be put to better use.

Examiner operated in virtual absence
Officials in five counties didn't know their medical examiner was residing in Maine while associates ran his office in Leesburg.

State seeks county help with linear park
The state-built expanse of green and trails is planned to open in 2002. But funding problems may require the county to chip in.

Greg Hamilton
Vietnam's scars still linger, 25 years later
I have no standing to write on this subject. Only those who were there have an unquestioned right to speak about it.

Gene therapy excites cancer 'stakeholder'
Imagine you have millions of dollars at your fingertips. Then imagine a host of the nation's brightest people are trying to convince you that, if they could get just a bit of that money, they might help save, or at least improve, countless lives.

Enrollment drops in local X-ray tech program
INVERNESS -- Jody Blackburn started working at Citrus Memorial Hospital in 1990, handling clerical duties. Eight years later, Mrs. Blackburn sought a change.

Sports
Lecanto's Kenney gets high praise from coach
"This is one of the most deserving qualifiers in all my 18 years of coaching," Freddie Bullock says of Kenney's state-bound finish in the 3,200-meter run.

A breath of fresh air at Lecanto
I have searched the world over (okay, the state) and have found conclusive proof that a team does not always need an ultra-competitive side to be successful, that the search for enjoyment in competition and the building of friendships can produce as many winners as any win-at-all-costs training method.

Letters
Kelly has led School Board far enough
Editor: The April 25 Citrus County School Board meeting was another example of the inept management prowess of our superintendent of schools. It also may have been the rebirth of our School Board as they screamed "enough."

Jeff Webb column
Taxes, impact fees vital to education
If ignored, most problems become worse, or at least more complicated, over time. The sting of that truism must be hitting home for the Citrus County Commission as it discusses how to regulate impact fees.