Wednesday Edition — June 27, 2012 50 CENTS

Suwannee Democrat127th YEAR, NO. 73 | 4 SECTIONS, 44 PAGES

Serving Suwannee County since 1884, including Live Oak, Wellborn, Dowling Park, Branford, McAlpin and O’Brien

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flooddebby packS a punch

ROADS OUT, PEOPLE DISPLACED

By Jeffry Boatrightjeffry.boatright@

gaflnews.com

Residents of Suwan-nee County werestunned Tuesday morn-ing after waking up tohistoric water levels af-ter Monday night’s rain-fall that flooded down-town Live Oak and leftmany people throughoutthe county displaced. Aflood on this scale hasn’tbeen seen in this areasince Hurricane Doraflooded Live Oak in1964.

Thankfully, there wereno serious injuries re-ported Tuesday after-

noon. The flood waters were

so intense in some areasthroughout the countythat Suwannee CountyEmergency Managementofficials declared a vol-untary evacuation oflow-lying areas and lo-cations near rivers,streams and creeks.

Tropical Storm Debbydropped up to 16 inchesof rain throughout thearea in less than 24 hourscausing countless resi-dents to evacuate fromtheir homes and manybusinesses in downtownLive Oak under water.

First National Bank, nowthe law offices of HalAirth, after HurricaneDora in 1964.

Ivey Memorial Park Drive in Branford with Sugar Hill inbackground.

A woman wades through the water near a partially sub-merged car on Duval Street at Mussey Avenue.

Suwannee County Schools Director of Facilities Mark Carver uses an airboat to rescue people from their homes Tuesday.

Part of Mt. OliveRoad, near Wellborn,was washed away by

rushing water.

Local attorney Hal Airth stands in front of his sandbaggedbuilding with a photo of the building when it was flooded in1964 from Hurricane Dora. After the flood of ‘64, said to be theworst natural disaster in the history of Suwannee County, FirstNational Bank bought land, built a new building and moved tohigher ground at 201 South Ohio Ave. Bank of America occu-pies that building today.

w w w . s u w a n n e e d e m o c r a t . c o mSEE FLOOD, PAGE 3A

Stay current with up to date information online at Suwanneedemocrat.com

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2012PAGE 2A

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FUGITIVE FUGITIVE

Name: ROBERSON, RICKYRace: BLACKSex: MALEHair Color: BLACKEye Color: BROWNHeight: 5ʼ07ʼʼWeight: 145 lbs.Birth Date: 10/17/1986Supervision Begin Date: 05/09/2011Current Location: UNKNOWNCurrent Status: Absconder /FugitiveSupervision Type: DRUG OFFENDER PROBATION

Name: AKERLUND, DANIELLE ALEXISRace: WHITESex: FEMALEHair Color: BLONDE OR STRAWBERRYEye Color: BLUEHeight: 5ʼ05ʼʼWeight: 120 lbs.Birth Date: 10/23/1984Supervision Begin Date: 06/26/2006Current Location: UNKNOWNCurrent Status: Absconder /FugitiveSupervision Type: DRUG OFFENDER PROBATION

Remember, if you have information regarding this crime or others please call CRIME STOPPERS at 208-TIPS (8477). If your information leads to an arrest, or seizure of narcotics, the recovery of stolen property, you may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000. you do not have to testify in court and you will

remain anonymous.

Paid for by the office of Attorney General, Crime Stopper Trust Fund

208-8477(TIPS)

Looking west on Howard Street.

Pine Avenue near Millennium Park.

The law offices of Hal Airth seen straight ahead in down-town Live Oak. Staff photos

StormSceneS

� SUWANNEE DEMOCRAT/LIVE OAK

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HOW TO REACH USSwitchboard, 386-362-1734Fax, 386-364-5578Email, nf.editorial@gaflnews.comMail, P.O. Box 370Live Oak, FL 32064Office, 211 Howard Street East� Publisher,Myra Regan, ext. 122

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Walker Avenue.

Tax collector’s office onPine Avenue.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2012 � SUWANNEE DEMOCRAT/LIVE OAK PAGE 3A

Submit your photo for publication to: Suwannee Democrat

P.O. Box 370, Live Oak, FL 32064

Now THAT’S Something To Smile About!

7489

34ds

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Thank you for submitting this week’s SMILE photograph!

Congratulations Mandy Brown’s entire 3rd grade class passed the FCAT LaShanda Jones

MAKING SENSE OF INVESTING Edward Jones Ranks Highest in Investor Satisfaction According to J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Full Service Investor Satisfaction Study For the sixth year out of the past eight, financial-services firm Edward Jones ranks highest in investor satisfaction with full service brokerage firms, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Full Service Investor Satisfaction Study. The study measures overall investor satisfaction with full service investment firms based on seven factors: investment advisor, investment performance, account information, account offerings, commissions and fees, website and problem resolution. Edward Jones places its branch offices in the communities where its clients - long-term individual investors - live and work. This practice, which enables its branch teams to provide personalized service to all clients, has helped the firm attain the highest score in the “Investment Advisor” category of the study. “ We are gratified that our clients find it convenient to work with us on their long-term financial goals,” Keith Scott said. “We enjoy working one-on-one with our clients and believe that builds a collaborative relationship.” Edward Jones also received high marks in the “Account Information” category, an important factor in the study. “Hearing that we did particularly well in the account information factor is especially meaningful as we strive to help our clients make sense of investing,” Mr Scott said. Edward Jones’ overall score climbed 15 points over last year, highest among the 14 largest firms rated, as well as 28 points above the industry average. Edward Jones ranked highest in investor satisfaction by J.D. Power and Associates in 2010 and 2009, from 2005 through 2007, and in a tie in 2002, when the study began. Edward Jones in Canada ranked highest in the J.D. Power and Associates Canadian Full Service Investor Satisfaction Study in 2006 through 2008. The 2012 Full Service Investor Satisfaction Study is based on responses from 4,378 investors who primarily invest with one of the 14 firms included in the study. The study was fielded in February 2012. Edward Jones provides financial services for individual investors in the United States and, through its affiliate, in Canada. Every aspect of the firm’s business, from the types of investment options offered to the location of branch offices, is designed to cater to individual investors in the communities in which they live and work. The firm’s 12,000-plus financial advisors work directly with more than 7 million clients to understand their personal goals -- from college savings to retirement -- and create long-term investment solutions that emphasize a well-balanced portfolio and a buy-and-hold strategy. Edward Jones embraces the importance of building long-term, face-to-face relationships with clients, helping them to understand and make sense of the investment options available today. In January 2012, for the 13th year, Edward Jones was named one of the best companies to work for by FORTUNE Magazine in its annual listing. The firm ranked No. 5 overall and No. 3 in Large Size Companies. These 13 FORTUNE rankings include top 10 finishes for nine years, consecutive No. 1 rankings in 2002 and 2003, and consecutive No. 2 rankings in 2009 and 2010. FORTUNE and Time Inc. are not affiliated with and do not endorse products or services of Edward Jones. Edward Jones is headquartered in St. Louis. The Edward Jones website is located at http:/ /www.edwardjones.com/, and its recruiting website is http:// www.careers.edwardjones.com/ . Member SIPC.

914 North Ohio Avenue • Live Oak, FL 32064 Bus. 386-364-3699 TF Fax 888-240-7762 TF. 800-927-0734 Cell 386-208-3692

keith.scott@edwardjones.com www.edwardjones.com

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While some residents were evacuated,others were unable to leave their homesbecause access roads were flooded.Throughout the day Tuesday, water lev-els continued to rise as retention pondsreached their limits and extended intoneighborhoods, lawns and peoples’homes.Throughout Tuesday, volunteers and

emergency workers came to the aid ofmany throughout the county. Friends andstrangers alike helped one another andneighbors even became better acquainted.Motorists found difficulty navigating

the roads. One motorist was reportedhanging from a tree limb after her car be-came stuck in rushing flood waters on CR49 near 180th Street. According to reports,another car fell into a sink hole on 153rdRoad.According to Suwannee County Sheriff

Tony Cameron, the major concern at thistime is water. Cameron stated that Debbycould bring five more inches of rain to thearea on Tuesday, with more showers onWednesday. The National Weather Serviceforecasted 80 percent more chance of rainfor our area with a 40 percent chance onWednesday. One of Cameron’s concerns is that peo-

ple are wading or playing in flood waterthat poses potential danger. According toCameron, the floodwater in the city couldbe contaminated with raw sewage, makingit very unsafe. In addition to that danger,Cameron noted that sinkholes and electri-cal current could pose a threat. Cameronnoted that a downed power line could posethe threat of electrocution for someonewading in the water.Although water is one of the main con-

cerns at this point, potential winds comingin with Tropical Storm Debby could havean impact on the area as well. Accordingto Cameron, the wet ground will increasethe possibility of trees falling. Cameronsuggests that residents remain in a safepart of the homes to avoid the possibilityof being hit by a falling tree.The rains from Tropical Storm Debby

has caused flooding on most of the roadsand streets throughout the county, causingroad closures. Suwannee County schoolbuses could be seen throughout the countyTuesday blocking intersections and mainroads. Supervisor of Elections Glenda

Williams said, “The electronic electionsmachines have been moved to higherground and everything is safe.” There wasno water in the elections office as of 9 a.m.Tuesday morning despite water floodingthe road and parking lot to the north of thebuilding.Live Oak Fire Chief Chad Croft reiter-

ated the dangers of drivers ignoring thebarricades and driving through water any-way.Since early Tuesday, city and county

rescue workers have assisted residentsevacuate from their homes. Workers even-tually found it impossible to reach someresidents by truck and began using boats torescue them.Suwannee County Schools Director of

Facilities Mark Carver used an airboat torescue people from apartments on WalkerAvenue, near Silas Drive. Lyn Fletcher of the W.B. Howland Co.,

Inc. said he first got a call from the LiveOak Fire Department about 2 a.m., Tues-day.“When they told me they needed sup-

plies from our lumber yard and explained

the situation, I told them to cut the lockand take what they needed,” Fletcher ex-plained.In addition to homes flooding through-

out the community, a number of vehicleswere also flooded. Many vehicles havebeen damaged from the rising waters assome motorists have required the assis-tance from rescue workers.As Tropical Storm Debby brings imme-

diate threats and difficulties, the lasting ef-fect of the storm is certain to linger. LiveOak Post Master Donna Luse noted thatsome areas might require days for mailcarriers to deliver the mail.Luse explained that many major high-

ways in the area are closed, but mail carri-ers are going to attempt to safely deliverthe mail to the places they can. Luse em-phasized they are doing everything theycan to deliver the mail and asks for resi-dents to be patient.In Branford, some roads were impass-

able and Town Hall officials said that ifyou don’t have to be on the roads, don’t. "If you don't have to be out today, stay

in and stay safe," Town Clerk DonnaHardin said.Most businesses and government of-

fices in Live Oak remained closed onTuesday. Business owners and volunteersworked diligently placing sandbagsaround structures in attempt to keep waterout of buildings. In the Downtown Districtof Live Oak, concerns of flooding waterhad shopkeepers moving merchandise andequipment. Just one block away, recordswere being situated in the vault of theSuwannee County Courthouse to protectthem from unwanted water.According to Suwannee County Clerk

of the Court Barry Baker, there were norecords damaged.

As rescue workers helped residents findsafety throughout Tuesday, the First Bap-tist Church of Live Oak opened its doorsfor those residents who were displaced bythe storm.American Red Cross workers were

available when the doors were opened forshelter at the Suwannee County ColiseumExhibition Building. Cots remainstretched along the walls of the building asweary people of all ages wait to return totheir homes and assess the damages.American Red Cross workers said that

they were already serving between 30 and40 displaced residents Tuesday morning,but more were expected to arrive. Workersencourage those seeking shelter at the Col-iseum to bring their medication, a pillowand a blanket.Felicia Sellers said she is just thankful

her and her son, Michael Jr., are alright.“We lost everything. Our house is under

water and we lost clothes and all,” said Fe-licia who was staying at First BaptistChurch with her son Tuesday.According to Cameron, people were be-

ing evacuated in various parts of the coun-ty, but as of Tuesday morning most of theevacuations were occurring on the northside of the city.“There was about three feet of water we

had to walk through to assist our neigh-bor,” said Bruce Gardner, who heard hercry out for help around 5:30 Tuesdaymorning. While the storm has brought an enor-

mous amount of rain to the area, rescueworkers remain thankful that no seriousinjuries have been reported. As neighborshelp one another during this crisis, it ishard for many of them to realize that just afew days ago, substantial rainfall seemedforeign to a drought stricken community.

Continued From Page 1A

FLOODDebby packs a punch

ROADS OUT, PEOPLE DISPLACED

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2012PAGE 4A � SUWANNEE DEMOCRAT/LIVE OAK

732237 741383

Lamar Butts

June 22, 2012

Lamar Butts, 77,Live Oak, Flpassed away on

Friday, June 22, 2012 aftera long illness. The life longresident of SuwanneeCounty was a veteran ofPeacetime while serving inthe Air Force and retiredfrom VI USINA Construc-tion Co in St. Augustine, Flafter fifteen years. He wasalso a member of OrangeBaptist Church. Mr. Buttsis survived by his four step-daughters: Gayle Herring,Martha (David) Blevins,Mary (Romey) Luke,Jeanne Evans; step-son:Buddy Hollon; three sis-ters: June (Charlie) Jones,LaVera (Bill) Clow, Olga(Irvin) Dees; many grand-children, great grandchil-dren, great-great grandchil-dren and longtime soulmate: Regina Johnson. Hewas preceded in death byhis wife: Mary Sue Butts,brother: Burford Butts andparents: Clyde & OpalButts. Services will be heldat 4:00 pm on Sunday, June24th at Daniels MemorialChapel with Rev. RomeyLuke officiating. Intermentwill follow in the OrangeBaptist Church Cemetery.Visitation will be held Sun-day 3:00-4:00 pm prior tothe service. Daniels Funeral Homes

& Crematory, Inc., of LiveOak and Branford, FL incharge of arrangements.

Minnie Hines DowsonMarch 10, 1914 - June

18, 2012

Mrs. MinnieHines Dowson,a resident of

Live Oak, Fla., passedaway June 18, 2012 in theGood Samaritan NursingHome, Dowling Park, Fla.Mrs. Minnie Hines Dow-

son is survived by one sis-ter: Mrs. Catherine Aaron;nieces, Mrs. Florine Wil-son, Claudette Williams,Louse Stubbs, and VictoriaHines; nephews CharlieHines (Barbara); godsonAntonio Jones and many

other close relatives andfriends.Funeral services for Mrs.

Minnie Hines Dowson willbe Saturday, June 30, 2012at 11 a.m. in the EbenezerAME Church, Rev. CharlesGraham, pastor. Elder Hen-ry Smart officiating. Visita-tion for family and friendswill be Friday, June 29,2012 from 6-8 p.m. at D.M.Udell Funeral Home. Bur-ial will be in the EastsideCemetery, Live Oak, Fla.D.M. Udell and Sons Fu-

neral Home is in charge ofall arrangements. CallD.M. Udell at 386-362-4189 or cell 386-209-0223.

Horace Eugene (Gene) HollieJune 22, 2012

Horace Eugene (Gene ) Hollie,84, of Lee, FL.

passed away at his homeFriday, June 22, 2012, aftera short battle with lung can-cer.Mr. Hollie was a carpen-

ter and an avid fishermanthat loved telling about thebig one that got away. Hewas also a great gardenerthat loved to give his veg-etables to friends and fami-ly.Mr. Hollie was born in

Alabama. Later his familymoved to Live Oak, FL.where he spent his youngadult life. He moved toPanama City, FL then re-turned to Live Oak andLee, FL. where he met andmarried Laverta Williams.Mr. Hollie is preceded in

death by his son Kevin.Surviving are his wifeLaverta Hollie; children;Joan (Mike) McCrimon,John (Angie) Hollie, James(Judy) Corbin all of LiveOak, FL. Tammy (Tim)Sindt of Madison, FL.,Edith (Virgil) Morgan ofMorganton, GA., DebbieNolan and Leroy (Penny)Hollie of Brooksville, FL.,Earl (Vicky) Hollie ofPanama City, FL., Keith(Gwen) Hollie of Anchor-age, Alaska and one cousinGayle (Willie) Carter ofLee, FL., also surviving arethree stepdaughters and

four stepsons from sur-rounding counties; numer-ous grandchildren, greatgrandchildren and great-great grandchildren.A memorial service will

be held at Pine Grove Mis-sionary Church (3 miles onRocky Ford Rd.) in Madi-son, FL. on July 01, 2012 at2:00 pm. ICS Cremationsand Funeral Home of LakeCity, FL. are in charge ofall arrangements.

Robert “Bob” Douglas Law

March 23, 1947 - June13, 2012

Robert “Bob” Dou-glas Law went tobe with his Lord

and Savior on June 13,2012. Born in Wellborn,Florida on March 23, 1947.After graduating fromSuwannee County HighSchool, Bob enlisted in TheUnited States Army, wherehe served as a paratrooperwith the 82nd Airborne Di-vision during the VietnamConflict. After returninghome, Bob followed his en-trepreneurial spirit andfounded several privatebusiness ventures. Aftergraduating from The Bap-tist College of Florida,Bobby would later give uphis business pursuits for histrue calling, as a Minister,Bobby would go on toserve as Pastor of FlatCreek Baptist Church andfounder of New Life Min-istries and CommunityCenter Inc. of TallahasseeFlorida. He is predeceasedby his parents, Joe andElsie Law, his sister BettyMoseley, and brother DeanLaw. He is survived by hisloving wife of 43 years,Barbara “BJ” Law, sonRobby Law of Tallahassee,and Daughter Tonya Lawof Crawfordville. Bob waslaid to rest in Live Oak,Florida on Saturday, June16th at Mount Olive Bap-tist Church Cemetery. Inlieu of flowers memorialcontributions may be madeto New Life Ministries andCommunity Center Inc. –3227 Bahama Drive, Talla-hassee, FL 32305

Obituaries

The following couples applied for a marriagelicense the week of June 18 – 22, 2012:

Jonathan James Warner to Laura Rose Menezes

Daren Jerrod Gay to Danielle LaTrese Reed

Marriage licenseThe annual Cannon reunion will be held Wednesday,July 4, 2012 at Hart Springs in the pavilion. All ancestorsand descendants of the William (Bill) Jackson and Henri-etta (Aunt Hett) Clementine Townsend Cannon are invit-ed. Bring a covered dish, drinks, goodies, etc. All paperproducts, silverware, cups and ice will be furnished.Meeting starts at 12 p.m. and lunch at 12:30 p.m. Look-

ing forward to seeing everyone there. For more informa-tion, please call Rose Williamson at 352-463-7320 orKaren Prescott at 904-708-3399.

Cannon clan family reunion

Goff /Gentry

Mr. and Mrs. Brett C.Goff of Kathleen, Geor-gia, would like to re-mind you of the upcom-ing marriage of theirdaughter, Lindsey Eliz-abeth Goff, to GregoryCurtis Gentry Jr., son ofMr. and Mrs. Greg Gen-try of Perry, Georgiaand Mr. and Mrs.Richard Long of HotSprings, Arkansas.The wedding is

planned for June 30,2012, at First BaptistChurch of Perry.

New Guardian ad Litemvolunteer sworn in

The Honorable Darren Jackson ofLafayette County swore in Reba Traw-ick as a new Guardian ad Litem volun-teer recently. A Guardian ad Litem(GAL) is a volunteer appointed by thecourt to advocate for a child. Most ofthese children have been removed fromtheir homes, because of alleged abuse,abandonment or neglect. Essentially, therole of the GAL is that of InformationGatherer, Community Advocate, andCourtroom Advocate. The GAL be-comes familiar with the child and thechild’s case and makes recommendations

to the court to help ensure a safe, caring,stable and permanent environment is ob-tained. If you are interested in becoming a

champion for an abused or neglectedchild, are able to interact with people ofvarious educational, economic and ethnicbackgrounds, and can commit four to sixhours a month, you will be an effectiveGuardian ad Litem. For more informa-tion on how to become a Guardian adLitem, contact Linda Dedge, Circuit Di-rector at (386) 364-7720, ext. 102 or byemail at linda.dedge@gal.fl.gov

Marriagereminder Total calls for service: 83

Medical Calls 67Cardiac: 13Stroke/Cva: 3Motor vehicle crash: 4Miscellaneous medical call: 13Fall: 5Respiratory: 8Diabetic: 2Weakness: 3Abdominal pain: 1Seizure: 1Overdose: 2Nausea/Vomiting: 1Altered Mental Status: 4Heat Related: 1Medical alarms: 5Burns: 1Fire Calls 16Brush fire: 3Motor vehicle crash: 4Tree Down: 4

Vehicle Fire: 2Ems assist: 1Tree fire: 1Volunteer Fire Responses: 8Engine-1 medical calls inRescue 5-1

SCFR calls for servicefrom 6/17/12 @ midnightto 6/23/12 @midnight

VacationBible SchoolTheme: IncrediworldAmazement Park

Where: Antioch BaptistChurch

5203 CR 795Live Oak, FL

Phone: 362-3101Ages: 4 years old-6th

gradeWhen: July 9 - July 13From 9 a.m. until 12:00

p.m.VBS Director: Pam Green

386-364-4912abclo@windstream.net

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2012 � SUWANNEE DEMOCRAT/LIVE OAK PAGE 5A

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2012� SUWANNEE DEMOCRAT/LIVE OAKPAGE 6A

Duval Street at Mussey Avenue.

A street off US 129 North.

A local home with flood waters. Staff photos

Storm SceneS

Millennium Park in downtown Live Oak.

Wilbur Street, next to Paul Langford Stadium.

A man waves from a local hotel.

People help out a motorist.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2012 � SUWANNEE DEMOCRAT/LIVE OAK PAGE 7A

The retention pond on Walker Avenue flooded over. Staff photos

At the intersection of US 90 West and Goldkist Blvd.Pineview Circle.

Live Oak Motel on US 90 West.On Warren Street, next to the courthouse.

Storm SceneS

More of downtown Live Oak.

US 129 North. The person in the partially submerged vehicle was rescued shortly beforethe photo was taken.

Millennium Park.

116th Place in Live Oak, off CR 49.

Walker Avenue near Suwannee Middle School at the entrance leading to Suwannee Sport-splex.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2012� SUWANNEE DEMOCRAT/LIVE OAK

Cosmetology Department

Tuesday–Thursday 8:30 AM - 5 PM

Summer Specials $15 00 Mani/Pedi Combo (Includes polish)

Acrylic Nails (Includes full sets, overlays & fills)

$5 00 Off Facials (4 layer, 1 hour)

$15 00 Perms (Long hair extra)

$12 00 Roller Sets

415 S. W. Pinewood Dr., Live Oak, FL 32064

(386) 647-4240

749056

Never use flat iron again! ( Call for details & pricing)

Brazillian Blowouts!

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Cherry Lumbert Pharmacist

305 SW US Highway 27 Branford, Florida 32008

(386) 935-6905

Everything For Your Home Recovery From Prescriptions to Medical Supplies

OF BRANFORD

Mon.-Fri. 8:30 am-6:00 pm Saturday 9am-1pm Sunday-Closed

Now accepting Blue Cross Blue Shield

Health Options

NORTH FLORIDA PHARMACY

695947-F 642413-F 386-935-1728

To advertise your business here, call 386-362-1734

for more information

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Byrd’s Power Equipment Sales & Service

All Makes & Models

11860 E. U.S. 27, Branford, FL 32008 (386) 935-1544

Open Saturdays

Hours: Mon.-Fri. 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday 7 a.m. - Noon

School buses are being used to block intersections that are impassable such as this one on US 129 South.US 129 North, just past Duval Street.

StormSceneS

PAGE 8A

Downtown Live Oak.

Looking to the Supervisor of Elections Office next to Veterans Park.

Madison Street.

View of Wilbur Street.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2012 � SUWANNEE DEMOCRAT/LIVE OAK PAGE 9A

Viewpoints/Opinions

1. Install a county manager2. Update our LDRs and comp. plan to better

protect resources and plan for growth3. Multidisciplinary study to look at our

diminishing water supply4. Continue progress on Perimeter Road5. Reduce duplication of effort by city/county

offices and agencies

Editorial objectives for 2012

Suwannee Democrat

MYRA C. REGANPublisher

JEFF WATERSEditor

Members of the Suwannee Democrat editorial board are Myra C. Regan, publisher, and

Jeff Waters, editor. Our View is formed by that board.

By Jim HolmesSo Suwannee County finally has an administrator.

It’s first! In my way of thinking, that’s a good thingand probably should have happened several years ago.I really don’t know much about County Administra-

tor Randy Harris, other than to say that he looks per-fectly presentable in a suit and tie and appeared botharticulate and informed on the two separate occasionswhen I saw him make brief reports to the county com-mission. But that’s not a bad beginning point. I mean, day-

in-and-day-out, Harris will be the front man forSuwannee County. He will be one of the first peopleto be in contact with prospective employers whomight be looking to set up shop here…or visitingVIPs. And if my first impression means anything,Harris appears to be up to that task.Now much has been made by some folks over the

fact that he lacks a college diploma. A more importantquestion to me however, is whether Harris has com-mon sense. A sheep skin means the person with thedegree has been exposed to new and challengingideas, which are designed to encourage him or her tosee issues from different prospectives. It also meansthe graduate should know how to do research, so hecan answer pressing questions.And while those are both important skills, they

don’t automatically equate to being a person withcommon sense. Heck, I have known a number ofPhDs who were nearly idiot savants; brilliant in theirfield of study, but clueless in handling real life situa-tions. And I have known grade school drop-outswhose street savvy earned them a fortune.Don’t get me wrong. I’m not minimizing the im-

portance of a formal education. In fact, I would en-courage Harris to start enrolling in college courses thatwould benefit him in his new job. After all, an impor-tant aspect of having common sense is knowing one’spersonal and professional weaknesses…and then ad-dressing them. Then there is the question of whether the county ad-

ministrator’s job description was written specificallywith Harris in mind. My guess is, probably. My hopeis that happened, not because of political cronyism,but because Harris---during his time as Public WorksDirector---had proven himself deserving of more re-sponsibility. To me, our new county administrator is off to a good

start. His idea of adding the tasks of Public Works Di-rector to those he has as Administrator is a gutsy oneand certainly worth a try. With one maneuver, he hassaved the county money, demonstrated he’s not afraidto challenge the governmental status quo and givensome of his subordinates the opportunity to shine. Not a bad day’s work.Ironically, my biggest concern about our new coun-

ty administrator doesn’t relate to the individual, atleast at this point.It deals with the split 3 to 2 county commission

vote, where Harris was selected. I’ve seen other governmental bodies hire chief ex-

ecutives on split votes, but after the ballot, a secondvote is taken, usually made on a motion by one of thedissenting officials. The second ballot is unani-mous…telling the new hire, “OK, you may not havebeen our first choice, but we ALL want you to suc-ceed…as your success benefits us and our county.”Unfortunately, that didn’t happen in Suwannee

County. Perhaps it was just an oversight. After all, thecounty commission has never hired an administratorbefore. I hope that was the case. If not, it may wellmean that Harris is not going to get a fair shake. Andthat would be unfortunate, not only for him, but for allof us. Look, administering a county government isn’t

easy. You are dealing with voters who always feelthey are paying too much for too little and elected of-ficials whose egos often outweigh their abilities. It is like walking a tightrope over Niagara Falls.

And Suwannee County won’t benefit, if two of ourcommissioners feel that their primary objective in thecoming months is to cut that rope.

Jim lives in Live Oak.

THE SUWANNEE SCRIBBLER

Some thoughtson Randy Harris

Letters To The Editor, Suwannee Democrat,PO Box 370, Live Oak, FL 32064. Please include your full name, address and daytimephone number. We ask this so we can verify yourletter and discuss any questions about it with you.

In President Barack Obama's2012 State of the Union ad-dress, he said that "higher edu-cation can't be a luxury. It is aneconomic imperative that everyfamily in America should beable to afford." Such talkmakes for political points, butthere's no evidence that a col-lege education is an economicimperative. A good part of ourhigher education problem, ex-plaining its spiraling cost, is that a large percentage ofstudents currently attending college are ill-equipped andincapable of doing real college work. They shouldn't bethere wasting their own resources and those of their fam-ilies and taxpayers. Let's look at it.Robert Samuelson, in his Washington Post article "It's

time to drop the college-for-all crusade" (5/27/2012),said that "the college-for-all crusade has outlived its use-fulness. Time to ditch it. Like the crusade to make allAmericans homeowners, it's now doing more harm thangood." Richard Vedder -- professor of economics atOhio University, adjunct scholar at the American Enter-prise Institute and director of The Center for College Af-fordability & Productivity, or CCAP -- in his article"Ditch ... the College-for-All Crusade," published onThe Chronicle of Higher Education's blog, "Innova-tions" (6/7/2012), points out that the "U.S. Labor De-partment says the majority of new American jobs overthe next decade do not need a college degree. We have asix-digit number of college-educated janitors in theU.S." Another CCAP essay by Vedder and his col-leagues, titled "From Wall Street to Wal-Mart," reportsthat there are "one-third of a million waiters and wait-resses with college degrees." More than one-third of cur-rently working college graduates are in jobs that do notrequire a degree, such as flight attendants, taxi driversand salesmen. Was college attendance a wise use ofthese students' time and the resources of their parentsand taxpayers?There's a recent study published by the Raleigh, N.C.-

based Pope Center titled "Pell Grants: Where Does Allthe Money Go?" Authors Jenna Ashley Robinson andDuke Cheston report that about 60 percent of under-graduate students in the country are Pell Grant recipi-ents, and at some schools, upward of 80 percent are. PellGrants are the biggest expenditure of the Department ofEducation, totaling nearly $42 billion in 2012.The original focus of Pell Grants was to facilitate col-

lege access for low-income stu-dents. Since 1972, when theprogram began, the number ofstudents from the lowest in-come quartile going to collegehas increased by more than 50percent. However, Robinsonand Cheston report that the per-centage of low-income stu-dents who completed collegeby age 24 decreased from 21.9percent in 1972 to 19.9 percent

today.Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa, authors of "Academ-

ically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses"(2011), report on their analysis of more than 2,300 un-dergraduates at 24 institutions. Forty-five percent ofthese students demonstrated no significant improvementin a range of skills -- including critical thinking, com-plex reasoning and writing -- during their first two yearsof college.Citing the research of AEI scholar Charles Murray's

book "Real Education" (2008), Professor Vedder says:"The number going to college exceeds the number capa-ble of mastering higher levels of intellectual inquiry.This leads colleges to alter their mission, watering downthe intellectual content of what they do." Up to 45 per-cent of incoming freshmen require remedial courses inmath, writing or reading. That's despite the fact that col-leges have dumbed down courses so that the studentsthey admit can pass them. Let's face it; as Murray ar-gues, only a modest proportion of our population has thecognitive skills, work discipline, drive, maturity and in-tegrity to master truly higher education.Primary and secondary school education is in sham-

bles. Colleges are increasingly in academic decline asthey endeavor to make comfortable environments for theeducationally incompetent. Colleges should refuse ad-mission to students who are unprepared to do real col-lege work. That would not only help reveal shoddy pri-mary and secondary education but also reduce the num-ber of young people making unwise career choices. Sad-ly, that won't happen. College administrators want warmbodies to bring in money.

Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics atGeorge Mason University. To find out more about Wal-ter E. Williams and read features by other Creators Syn-dicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndi-cate Web page at www.creators.com.

OPINION

AMINORITY

VIEW

BY WALTER WILLIAMS© 2012 Creators Syndicate

~~

Too much college

BIBLE VERSE“Who can hide in secret places sothat I cannot see them?” declaresthe LORD. “Do not I fill heavenand earth?” declares the LORD.”

Jeremiah 23:24 NIV

�

PrimaryJuly 16 - Last day to register or change party affiliation for PrimaryAug. 4 - 11 - Early voting begins and endsAug. 14 - Primary Election

General ElectionOct. 9 - Last day to register or change party affiliation for General ElectionOct. 27 - Nov. 3 - Early voting begins and ends Nov. 6 - General Election

Qualifying for judicial, state attorney and public defender ended at noon, April 20.Qualifying for state and county offices is noon, June 4 to noon, June 8.

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June 20, 2012 8.13 June 21, 2012 8.07 June 22, 2012 8.11 June 23, 2012 8.05

June 24, 2012 8.36 June 25, 2012 8.77 June 26, 2012 9.72

The water levels provided here refer to the height at the US Hwy. 27 bridge in Branford in feet above mean sea level (ft-msl) at the gauging station. In the past the levels were read as gauge height not mean sea level.

Looking east on Howard Street (US 90). Staff photos

Red Cross workers register a displaced member of the community.

INSIDE:

Hurricane

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� SUWANNEE DEMOCRAT/LIVE OAK PAGE 11A

Pine Avenue near Millennium Park. Staff photos

Tara Trace subdivision off 11th Street. Downtown Live Oak.

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Section BWednesday, June 27, 2012

Suwannee Democrat

SPORTSSPORTS

Stoudemire’s Restaurant 12U baseball team is the 2012 Live Oak Recreation League championship team. Frontrow, from left to right, Cayden Sanders, Kolby Pickles, Nathaniel Rodriguez, Suave White, Jamond Perry andRonnie Layton; middle row, from left to right, Armanie Hunter, James Brakefield, Toby Reliford, Ridge Sadler andKorrie White; back row, from left to right, coaches Daniel Moses, John Pickle, James Perry and Matt Moses.

Live Oak Recreation League 12Ubaseball 2012 Championships

The Jordan Agency 12U baseball team is the 2012 Live Oak Recreation League runner-ups. First row, JamesonGardner; second row, from left to right, Randy Hutchins, Dustin Contrus, Chason Howle, Dillion Koon, BrandonKilby and Spencer Yunes; third row, from left to right, Jacob Parsons, Hunter Moman, E.J. Alverez, GarrettGreaves, Lance Gamble, Bobby Phender and Jarrett Gardnerp; fourth row, from left to right, coaches Kevin Par-sons, Eveilo Alverez, Randy Hutchins and Ryan Lawson. - Photos: Paul Buchanan (SuwanneeSports.com)

Jordan Agency’s Lance Gamble slides into base, whileStoudemire’s catcher Kolby Pickles is ready for the tag.

Stoudemire’s Restaurant’s Suave White rounds the bases at thechampionship game.

Nathaniel Rodriguez pitches for Stoudemire’s Restaurant 12Urecreation league.

Jordan Agency’s Randy Hutchins hits the ball during the champi-onship game against Stourdemire’s Restaurant in a 12U recre-ation league game.

Branford 10U Minors to compete in StateSmall League Championship tourney

The Banford 10U Minors will travel to FortWhite this weekend to compete in the State SmallLeague Championship tournament.

There are 55 teams competing in the tournament

in Fort White. The Minors competed in the Lake City tourna-

ment over the weekend, where they were eliminat-ed from play on Saturday.

Clay Williams, pitcher for Branford10U Minors

Dawson Hall waits for thepitch at the Lake City tourna-ment over the weekend.

Branford 10U Minors playerBrock Lewis pitches the ball atthe tournament in Lake Cityover the weekend.

Seth Heidermancelebrates

scoring his runat the Lake City

tournamentover the

weekend.

Keyon Henryswings the batat a game dur-ing the LakeCity tourna-ment over theweekend.

Branford 10U Minors centerfielder Jerry Easler readieshimself to throw the ball.

INSIDE: Law banning sex biasstruck a national sports nerve 2A

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2012� SUWANNEE DEMOCRAT/LIVE OAKPAGE 2B

By Maureen HaydenCNHI News ServiceIt's easy to forget just how

different things were 40 yearsago until you listen to formerU.S. Senator Birch Bayh talkabout the daughter of an Okla-homa wheat farmer whochanged his life.Title IX: 40 Years of ChangeThat girl was Marvella

Hern, who'd been a straight-Astudent, class president andnational speech champion inhigh school when she was de-nied admission to the collegeof her choice in 1951. The re-jection letter from the Univer-sity of Virginia was terse:"Women need not apply."

Bayh married that girl andhas told her story again andagain to explain how he be-came known as the father ofTitle IX – the 1972 federal lawthat forbids gender discrimina-tion at schools that get federalaid and changed the male-dominated culture of Americansports.As the retired Indiana sena-

tor recounts it now, Marvellaconvinced him it was foolishto waste the brainpower ofhalf the population by denyingwomen access to equal oppor-tunity in educational institu-tions."You're not exactly asking

anybody to be a profile incourage when you're askingthem to support a law thatbenefits so many people,"Bayh, 84, said in a recent in-terview. "Still, we had no ideajust how far it would go."Championed by Bayh in the

Senate and Hawaii's PatsyMink and Oregon's EdithGreen in the House, Title IXwas signed into law by Presi-dent Richard Nixon 40 yearsago on June 23, 1972.What started out as a means

to compel equal access to edu-cation - especially in medicaland law schools - also openedarenas of sport to girls andwomen in ways Bayh neverimagined. There are nearly 10times as many female playersin intercollegiate athletics asthere were in 1972; the num-

ber of girls in high schoolsports has jumped nearly1,000 percent.Bayh thinks those numbers

would have pleased Marvella,who died of cancer in 1979.They also make him think ofhis father, who coached foursports at Indiana State Univer-sity and told his son, back inthe 1930s, that “little girlsneed strong bodies to carrystrong minds around in, justlike little boys do.”'Fairness to our daughters'Much has been written about

the cultural war over Title IXas schools at all levels acrossthe nation wrestled with howto enforce it. It has been em-braced and resisted, even liti-gated and challenged all theway to the U.S. SupremeCourt. A 1984 decision involv-ing tiny Grove City College, aprivate Pennsylvania school,and the 1988 Civil RightsRestoration Act extended thelaw’s reach to indirect federalaid such as student loans andgrants.Thus Title IX remains true

today to its original intent, andeven those who find fault withhow its policy of equality fallsshort when put into practicestill praise it."Title IX is about one

thing," said Christine Grant,the former athletic director ofthe Department of Women'sAthletics at the University ofIowa. "It's about fairness toour daughters in the same waywe have fairness to our sons."In two generations, it has

changed the look of sports.Before Title IX, 1 in 27 highschool girls played organizedsports. Now it's close to 2 in 5.The number of women play-

ing intercollegiate sports hasrisen more than 600 percentsince the law's inception, fromless than 30,000 to more than186,000. (That’s still less thanthe nearly 250,000 NCAAmale athletes.)Title IX's impact on num-

bers off the field is evident, aswell. In 1972, seven percent ofthe law degrees and nine per-cent of the medical degreeswent to women; now nearly

half those degrees are earnedby women.Bayh, who grew up on a

farm in rural Indiana raisinghogs, chickens and cattle, fa-vors another barometer: Be-fore the law was passed, lessthan 10 percent of the studentsin veterinary medicine schoolswere women. Today it's nearly80 percent.Judith Sweet, who pushed

for better compliance with thelaw when she served as presi-dent of the National CollegiateAthletic Association (NCAA)in the 1990s, worries there's adownside to that progress.Sweet cites a recent emailfrom a female student-athletewho said her teammates didn'tknow the law even existed."That's so common when we

ask the question to youngwomen: 'How many of youknow about Title IX?'" Sweetsaid. "So many of them don't."It doesn't bother Bayh quite

as much to know there's a gen-eration of athletes who take

Law banning sex bias strucka national sports nerve

888-906-4056

SEE LAW, PAGE 7B

TITLE IX

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2012 � SUWANNEE DEMOCRAT/LIVE OAK PAGE 3B

HURRICANE SEASON - June through November forthe Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea & Gulf of Mexico.Peak threat to United States is from the middle of Augustthrough late October.HURRICANE - maximum sustained winds of 74 mph

or greater.TROPICAL DEPRESSION - an organized area of low

pressure where sustained surface winds are 38 mph orless.TROPICAL STORM - a strong area of low pressure

associated with maximum sustained winds of 39 to 73mph. It is at this point a tropical cyclone gets a name.SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE WIND SCALE -

The scale provides examples of the type of damages andimpacts in the United States associated with winds of theindicated intensity.

Definitions

HURRICANE WARNING - issued by the NationalHurricane Center when hurricane conditions are expectedin coastal areas within 36 hours or less.HURRICANE WATCH - issued by the National Hur-

ricane Center when hurricane conditions are possible incoastal areas generally within 48 hours.TROPICAL STORM WARNING - issued by the Na-

tional Hurricane Center when tropical storm conditionsare expected in coastal areas within 36 hours or less.TROPICAL STORM WATCH - issued by the Nation-

al Hurricane Center when tropical storm conditions arepossible in coastal areas generally within 48 hours.HURRICANE LOCAL STATEMENT - issued by

your local National Weather Service Office.TROPICAL CYCLONE IMPACTS - Graphical Hur-

ricane Local Statement

Watches/Warnings

In recent years, hurricanes have almost become synony-mous with Florida in the thoughts of many across thecountry. Close to the tropics and surrounded on three sidesby warm water, Florida can be particularly vulnerable tothese systems as they develop and move generally west-ward across the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, andCaribbean Sea. During a typical year, one or more tropicalstorms or hurricanes threaten to impact portions of thestate.

The Atlantic hurricane season begins on June 1 and con-tinues through November 30. Although the number oftropical storms and hurricanes typically peaks during Au-gust and September, it is important to remember thatFlorida can be impacted by tropical weather systems anytime during the six-month-long season.

A recent example is Hurricane Wilma, which struckFlorida during late October 2005, bringing damagingwinds, flooding rains, and tornadoes to the southern halfof the state. Residents and visitors need to plan ahead andremain ready for possible hurricane impacts as early asJune and as late as November.

When a cyclonic (counter-clockwise flow) circulationdevelops at sea level, coincident with persistent thunder-storm activity, the weather system is designated a TropicalDepression. Once sustained winds in the weather systemreach 39 mph, they system is classified as a TropicalStorm. If winds increase further and reach 74 mph orgreater, the system is declared a hurricane. Hurricaneswith winds 111 mph or greater are designated Major Hur-ricanes, and are capable of catastrophic damage.

Hurricane HazardsHurricanes and tropical storms bring storm surge and

coastal flooding, flooding from heavy rain, and tornadoes.For those away from the immediate coastline, inlandflooding and tornadoes are often the most hazardous im-pacts from these systems.

Tornadoes associated with tropical systems typicallyform in the right-front quadrant of the circulation, relativeto the direction of forward motion. If viewing the tropicalsystem as a clock, this would be the area from noon tothree o’clock in the direction that the storm is traveling.While normally not as intense as tornadoes produced bynon-tropical severe thunderstorms, these tornadoes oftenmove at speeds of 50 mph or greater. Regardless of origin,all tornadoes have the potential to be damaging and dead-ly. Another common area for tornado development iswithin the far outer rain bands, often hundreds of milesaway from the tropical cyclone center. These tornadoescan affect locations that otherwise would not experiencedirect impacts from the tropical storm or hurricane.

Flooding from tropical cyclones is not correlated withthe intensity of the system, but instead is related to thespeed of forward motion. Slow moving tropical stormsand hurricanes often produce large amounts of rain, whichcan lead to significant inland flooding. As with tornadoes,flooding impacts can occur hundreds of miles away fromthe cyclone center, or from the remnants of a former trop-ical system.

Flooding from torrential rains can produce a lot of dam-age. In fact, Florida’s record for the most rainfall in a 24-hour period came from a hurricane. Hurricane Easy in1950 dumped more than three feet of rain in Yankeetownalong the northern Gulf Coast in Levy County.

Other recent storms, such as Hurricane Irene in 1999,Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne in 2004 and Hurricane Ka-trina in 2005, caused extensive flooding of many streetsand neighborhoods across Florida. In some cases, streetsand towns were flooded for days after the storm.

Storm surge is the term used to describe the wall of wa-ter that is pushed toward the shoreline as a hurricanemoves onshore. Storm surge combines with the local tideand the battering, wind-driven waves to push a tremen-dous volume of water onto the shore, often resulting insignificant damage. In the strongest hurricanes, this stormsurge can be as high as 15 to 20 feet above normal waterlevels. The combination of rising water and poundingwaves is often deadly. Worldwide, approximately 90 per-cent of all deaths in hurricanes are caused by drowning ineither storm surge or rainfall flooding. Those living incoastal and near coastal communities should know if or inwhich evacuation zone they reside, as well as the eleva-tion of their property. When local officials declare an

evacuation for your area, move to the nearest evacuationdestination outside of the danger zone. Your may chooseto stay with friends or relatives, at a hotel/motel, or at anevacuation shelter.

Winds are the most well-known impact of tropicalstorms and hurricanes. The highest winds occur just out-side the eye (or center), within a region referred to as theeye-wall. Hurricane force winds can easily damage or de-stroy mobile homes and other non-permanent structures,often moving them well away from their foundations.Roofs, pool enclosures, trees, and power lines are also fre-quently damaged by hurricane force winds. Although thewinds of a hurricane typically weaken rapidly followinglandfall, Florida’s flat terrain and narrow width allowstrong winds to survive farther inland than other parts ofthe country.

In August 2004, Hurricane Charley made landfall insouthwest Florida, exhibiting a fast forward motion of 25mph (nearly twice the typical speed for Florida hurri-canes) and brought hurricane force winds to the OrlandoMetro area – over 100 miles inland from the point of land-fall.

The strongest hurricanes can have winds in excess of155 miles per hour. Storms of such strength are classifiedas Category 5 hurricanes on the Saffir-Simpson hurricanescale. Hurricane Andrew, which struck South Florida in1992, was the last Category 5 hurricane to make landfallin the United States, causing almost $30-billion in damageand killing a total of 40 people.

Detecting and Forecasting HurricanesThe National Hurricane Center in Miami tracks tropi-

cal systems from their birth until they make landfall anddissipate, or move out over cold waters. Meteorologistsuse several data sources to observe and track developingtropical storms and hurricanes. When systems are devel-oping very far from land, satellite imagery is used to lo-cate the center and estimate the strength of the winds.

Other data sources, such as ocean buoys, ships and re-mote sensing instruments aboard satellites, are also used.When storms begin to threaten land areas, planes areflown into the center of the systems and release instru-ments known as dropsondes onto the ocean surface belowin order to accurately determine thestorm’s location andstrength.These planes are known as hurricane hunterplanes, and are flown by United States Air Force Re-serve and NOA A(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-ministration) personnel. The planes fly at altitudes of5,000 to 10,000 feet, often encountering a lot of turbu-lence as they enter the center of the storm.

Once meteorologists know a storm’s location andstrength, the next step is to predict its track and strengthout to five days. To do this, meteorologists use very so-phisticated aids known as computer models, which take innumerous amounts of data and produce their own fore-casts. One of the most important jobs of the hurricaneforecaster is to determine which model is the best for aparticular forecast. The official forecast is then issued bythe National Hurricane Center, and National Weather Ser-vice offices all across Florida step in to provide locallyspecific information on the storm’s potential effects inyour neighborhood.

Planning for a HurricanePlanning in advance for possible impacts will go a long

way toward keeping your family safe when a tropicalstorm or hurricane affects your area. Be prepared beforethe hurricane season begins by having a family emergencyplan, as well as an disaster supply kit. Review and updateyour family emergency plan prior to each season. When astorm threatens, the National Hurricane Center, togetherwith your local National Weather Service forecast office,will issue Tropical Storm and Hurricane Watches andWarnings in plenty of time for you to prepare for a storm.Watches are issued 48 hours in advance of the time dam-aging winds are possible within the specified area. Warn-ings are issued 36 hours prior to the time when damagingwinds are expected. Remain informed of possible threatsthroughout the season, and put your plan into action whenthe time comes. Following this advice will help keep youand your family weather-safe.

By Arlena Moses and Scott Spratt, National Weather Service, Melbourne

When we think of Floridaseveral things come to mind:sunshine, beautiful beaches,orange juice and hurricanes.Vulnerable to storms thatarise in the Atlantic,Caribbean and Gulf of Mex-ico, there is a good reasonwhy hurricanes come to theforefront of people’s memo-ries.

Florida has a history ofhurricanes that goes all theway back to the originalSpanish exploration of “LaFlorida. ” The Spanish ex-ploration fleets encounteredseveral hurricanes between1545 and 1554, but our firsttrue Florida hurricane oc-curred in 1559 when a Span-ish fleet and the newlyemerging port town ofOchusa was destroyed by ahurricane in what is nowPensacola Bay. If not for thishurricane, Ochusa, now pre-sent-day Pensacola, mayhave been the first city estab-lished in America. Thefounding of the city of SaintAugustine owes much to the1559 hurricane and a hurri-canein the fall of 1565 whenthe French Huguenots andSpanish were battling forcontrol of northeast Florida.The French, under Jean Rib-ault, had established FortCaroline, along the banks ofthe St. Johns River in mod-ern day Jacksonville and theSpanish, under PedroMene�ndez de Avile�s, estab-lished a base in present daySaint Augustine. During ahowling hurricane, bothsides attempted to surprisethe other. The Spanishmarched from Saint Augus-tine to Fort Caroline whileJean Ribault’s French fleetwas utterly destroyed by thestorm. Thus, the Spanish se-cured control of not justFlorida but the southeasternstates as well.

Hurricanes were frequentvisitors through the 1600sand 1700s, sinking an islandin Saint Augustine’s harbor,damaging many forts andSpanish settlements alongthe Panhandle and FloridaEast Coast. On July 31st of1715 a Spanish Treasurefleet was destroyed near FortPierce by a hurricane, whichis why that part of Florida

coastline is known as the“Treasure Coast." Millionsof dollars in treasure werelost and Spanish coins arestill found along the beachesto this day.

One of the biggest hurri-canes in the nineteenth cen-tury occurred in October of1846. A hurricane, estimatedby some to be a category 5storm, moved over Havana,Cuba and then just west ofKey West. Much of the is-land was submerged andsome believe it is the worsthurricane ever experiencedon that island. In the 1850s,the Florida Panhandle washit by many big hurricaneswith strong storms in 1837,1841, 1843, 1850, 1851 and1856, causing a lot of dam-age to the area.

South Florida wasn’theavily populated until theearly 1900s, but it didn’t takelong for hurricanes to makethemselves felt there either.Long before Hurricane An-drew came, that area was hitby the Great Miami Hurri-cane of 1926 and the 1928 Lake Okeechobee Hurricane.The Great Miami Hurricanewas a Category 4 storm withwinds of 150 mph and unlikeHurricane Andrew, the worstpart of the storm struck thecore of the City of Miami.Buildings were destroyed,ships sunk and roads tornapart as the strong winds and15 foot high storm surgeraced inland. The storm wasso bad that it ended a landboom in South Florida and ifa similar storm occurred to-day it would cause $140 to$157 billion dollars in dam-age.

To give you an idea howmuch money that is, the costof running the InternationalSpace Station for 30 years isestimated to be $100 billiondollars. In 1928, Florida’sdeadliest hurricane, and thesecond most deadly hurri-cane in American history,struck the area around PalmBeach and Lake Okee-chobee, killing approximate-ly 2,500 people.

While Hurricane Andrewwas a Category 5 hurricane,Florida was also stuck by the

A historyhaunted byhurricanes

SEE HISTORY, PAGE 5B

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2012PAGE 4B � SUWANNEE DEMOCRAT/LIVE OAK

most intense hurricane to ever strike theUnited States, the Labor Day Hurricane of1935. The winds of this hurricane may havebeen over 200 mph in strength and in someareas of the Keys the islands were wipedclean of all buildings and roads. More than400 people died in the Keys, primarily WorldWar 1 veterans working in the area on theOverseas Highway.

History Repeats ItselfOne thing we can learn from history is that

hurricane cycles and paths tend to repeatthemselves. In 1837, several hurricanesstruck Florida, just like during the 2004 hur-ricane season, and Florida was even hit by ahurricane, near Jacksonville, on August 6thand then hit by a second hurricane the nextday near Pensacola! This occurred again in2004 when Florida was hit by TropicalStorm Bonnie on August 12th and HurricaneCharley on August 13th.The cycle of storms in the Panhandle dur-

ing the mid-1800s is very similar to the mod-ern day cycle of hurricanes, with HurricanesOpal, Dennis, and Ivan all causing extremedamage to the Panhandle area within a fewyears of each other.Florida was also hit by a series of extreme

hurricanes in the 1890s, with one storm in1896 making landfall near Cedar Key. Thismajor hurricane raced inland with verystrong winds tearing up everything in its paththrough Gainesville and Lake City all theway north to Savannah, Georgia. A very sim-

ilar storm would strike southwest Florida inAugust of 2004 and caused tremendousdamage across the state through Orlando tonear Daytona Beach. We call that storm Hur-ricane Charley, but we know other stormshave behaved the same way as Charley did,such as Hurricane Donna in 1960, which lefta path of destruction from the Florida Keysto Daytona BeachIn 1878, a slow-moving hurricane made

landfall in the Florida Keys and slowly madeits way through the center of the state, simi-lar to Tropical Storm Fay in 2008.Before hurricanes Frances and Jeanne

made landfall along the Treasure Coast in2004, a pair of hurricanes also struck thatsame area in 1928 within a few weeks ofeach other. A Category 4 hurricane madelandfall just north of Hobe Sound on Sep-tember 17, 1928, three weeks after a Catego-ry 2 hurricane struck near Ft. Pierce on Au-gust 8.Tampa Bay was struck by a hurricane with

a massive storm tide on September 25, 1848and then a similar storm hit the same area onOctober 25, 1921. Railroads were torn upand vessels pushed inland all around TampaBay. It is only a matter of time before a sim-ilar storm strikes that part of the state.Busy and record-breaking hurricane sea-

sons have also occurred in the past. Beforethe 2005 season, 1995 was also a very busyyear for hurricane activity. However, it hasnot just been in the past two decades that hur-ricane activity was very active. The 1933hurricane season saw 21 named storms

across the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf ofMexico. Some researchers believe that thehurricane seasons in the 1930s and 1940smay have had more storms than actuallyrecorded due to the absence of data. Beforethe first weather satellites were used, the onlyway to know of a hurricane was if it struckland, a boat or a plane.

Florida Hurricane Statistics

No county in Florida is immune to thedangers of hurricanes. Each of Florida’s 67counties has experienced hurricane forcewinds at some point in the past 150 years. Ofall of the recorded hurricanes to hit the U.S.since 1851, 36 percent have made landfall inFlorida, and 60 percent of all Category 4 orhigher U.S. hurricane strikes have occurredin either Florida or Texas, including five ofthe eight most powerful hurricanes onrecord. Both the earliest and latest hurricanesto strike the U.S. in any hurricane seasonyear have occurred in Florida: HurricaneAlma which struck the Florida Panhandle on

June 9, 1966, and Hurricane Kate, whichalso struck the Florida Panhandle and BigBend on November 21, 1985. The latest ma-jor hurricane to strike the U.S. during a giv-en year was the Great Tampa Bay Hurricane,which occurred on October 25, 1921. De-spite seasonal predictions which give a gen-eral picture of the expected activity in a hur-ricane season, the most intense U.S. hurri-cane (1935), and the second costliest, Hurri-cane Andrew in 1992, occurred in yearswhich had much below-average hurricaneactivity.Hurricanes over the past decade provide a

grim reminder of what can happen in a hur-ricane landfall. However, sociologists esti-mate that people only remember the worsteffects of a hurricane for about seven years.Without a hurricane landfall since 2005, oneof the greatest concerns is that people will becaught off guard and unprepared for the nexttime a storm threatens their area.

By Al Sandrik, National Weather Service, Jacksonville

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2012 � SUWANNEE DEMOCRAT/LIVE OAK PAGE 5B

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A history haunted by hurricanesContinued From Page 3B

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• Always operate a generator in accordance with manufacturerʼs guidelines and instructions. • To avoid CO poisoning , never use a generator indoors or in attached garages. Only operate the generator outdoors in a well-ventilated, dry area from air intakes to the home. • To avoid electrocution , plug individual appliances into the generator using heavy duty, outdoor rated cords with a wire gauge adequate for the appliance load. • If connecting into the house wiring is necessary on a temporary basis, homes must have a transfer switch installed by a licensed electrician. A transfer

switch allows your house to receive power directly from a portable generator as opposed to power normally supplied by SVEC. Transfer switches isolate the circuits supplied by the generator and prevent backfeeding - inadvertently energizing circuits in both systems. • Backfeeding can most commonly occur when a generator is connected directly to the electric panel or circuit in a home. Feeding power back into the utility system during an outage will energize the transformer serving the house and could pose a serious threat to line and service and tree crews working to restore power in the area who may not know they are working with an energized line.

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TITLE IX

Title IX, and his role in its passage, forgranted. "Maybe that's the way itshould be," Bayh said. "Equal rightsshould be a given."Knock-down, drag-out fight"It was a long, hard path," is how

Bayh describes the struggle for con-gressional approval.Passage of Title IX was relatively

easy. Equal access to education seemedless radical, Bayh said, than a compan-ion cause he was championing at thetime: a constitutional change to forcegender equity through the Equal RightsAmendment.Still, it took three years to get the

regulations to enforce Title IX into fi-nal print, and signed into law by Presi-dent Gerald Ford in 1975. And, in themeantime, the NCAA unleashed amassive lobbying effort to squash it.The organization's executive director,Walter Byers, warned his memberschools of "impending doom aroundthe corner" for popular male collegesports if the law was enforced.

Bayh still remembers the visit he gotin his Washington, D.C., office fromtwo titans of college sports: Universityof Alabama football coach Paul "Bear"Bryant and University of Notre DameAthletic Director Edward "Moose"Krause."They said, 'You better get off this

Title IX thing. It's going to destroy ourfootball programs.'"Bayh didn't buy it. Nor did Ford, a

former University of Michigan footballplayer who got a similar message fromthe athletic director at his alma mater.Title IX backers also had to rebuff

influential Texas Senator John Tower,who wanted to amend Title IX to ex-empt football and men's basketball –the revenue gold at most big schools."It was a knock-down, drag-out

fight," Bayh said. "But I used to boxwhen I was a kid, and I grew upwrestling hogs on the family farm. Iwasn't going to back down from a fightlike that."'Confidence to face adversity'Tower's amendment was defeated,

but many more fights ensued, in and

out of Congress. The guidelines set outto enforce the law were exhaustive inwhat they covered, but plenty of edu-cational institutions had to be poked,prodded, sued or embarrassed intocompliance.On a March day in 1976, the

women's rowing team at Yale Universi-ty made headlines when they strippednaked in the office of the women's ath-letic director. Denied access to thewarm showers of the Yale boathouse -reserved only for the men's team - theywere fed up having to wait a half-houror more on the team bus after drench-ing workouts in the freezing cold.On their chests and backs, written in

bold marker, was: "Title IX." The teamcaptain who led the protest was 19-year-old Chris Ernst, who would go onto become an Olympian.There are quieter stories that tell of

the revolution brought by Title IX.When the law was passed, Bob Gard-ner was both a teacher and the boys'teams coach at rural Milan HighSchool in Bayh's home state of Indi-ana.

Gardner said he couldn't help but besympathetic to the Title IX cause. "Inthe same classes, I had players fromthe girls' team and players from theboys' team," Gardner said. "I wantedthem all to be successful in academicsand athletics."Gardner is still pushing the merits of

Title IX as executive director of theNational Federation of High SchoolAssociations, the umbrella organiza-tion for state high school sports.He sees Title IX as the gateway that

has given millions of girls access tothe playing field - including his owntwo daughters who played varsitysports in high school and college. Oneis now a bio-molecular engineer inMinnesota; the other is a college ad-ministrator in New York.“The lessons they learned playing

sports have benefited them as adults,”Gardner said. “It's given them confi-dence to face adversity."

Maureen Hayden is the CNHI statereporter in Indianapolis. Contact herat maureen.hayden@indianamedia-group.com.

Continued From Page 2B

Law banning sex bias strucka national sports nerve

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2012� SUWANNEE DEMOCRAT/LIVE OAKPAGE 8B

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