Local

Repairs costly, officials say

Utility workers were on the scene Friday to replace a damaged utility pole, which caused a power outage lasting more than nine hours.

A tractor trailer turning too sharply is apparently to blame for a snapped utility pole that left about 20 customers without power for much of the day Friday.

The driver of a 1999 Freightliner truck operating under Lee’s Trucking of Perry, Fla., reportedly struck a utility pole near the intersection of U.S. Highway 441 and NW 133^rd Terrace, Alachua Police Department Spokesman Jesse Sandusky said.  Traffic in the northbound lane of U.S. Highway 441 was re-routed for more than four hours.

The incident, which occurred at about 8:30 a.m., knocked out power to several business customers including Alachua Elementary School, City of Alachua Public Services Director Mike New said.  Crews finally restored power around 6 p.m.

The interruption in service meant that hundreds of students at the elementary school reportedly had a general field day in lieu of regular classes.  The City’s downtown water treatment facility was also affected.

The replacement utility pole and necessary components came at a price tag of more than $1,500, New said.  Including labor, equipment and contractor costs, New estimates the grand total will reach $10,000.

The City of Alachua is closed on Fridays, but nine City employees were called in to help with replacing the damaged utility pole and restoring power.

“The replacement of the damaged utility pole was not a simple matter,” New wrote in an e-mail about the incident.  “Our staff executed the work flawlessly under less than ideal conditions. The damaged pole was connected to one of the City’s two major feeder circuits serving all of western Alachua including the downtown business district and the Interstate 75 commercial corridor.”

After being struck by the trailer, the broken utility pole was left dangling free from the ground.  It was held up only by the utility lines that ran it.  The force of those lines exerted such pressure that the pole broke in a secondary location at its upper end.  A remnant section of the utility pole was still attached Wednesday to the lines overhead.

No injuries resulting from the accident were reported.  Authorities report that charges are pending.

Alachua resident and former teacher Diana Felver will be sitting on her front porch this weekend offering over 25 years of accumulated teaching supplies for sale at affordable prices.

“I want to give teachers the opportunity to buy these supplies at an affordable price,” Felver said.

Felver started teaching in California where she spent most of her career.  After she and her husband, Rob, moved their family to Alachua in 2005, Felver continued teaching for a few years.  She sold off her collection of teaching supplies before the move, but when she later learned that her mentor in California was retiring, Felver purchased from her some 800 pounds of classroom aids.

Every pound was shipped through the United States Postal Service, she said.

“The folks down there at the post office must have hated me because I was down there every day picking up shipments,” she joked.

Her mentor’s collection was similar to her own, and included everything from puzzles and books to puppets and maps, said Felver.

“In California, teachers are paid substantially higher, so when I needed to go out and buy items for my classroom, it wasn’t a big deal,” she said of the teacher pay disparity between Florida and California.  Salaries of Florida teachers fall about $8,000 short of the national average according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Felver spent the vast majority of her teaching career in elementary education, particularly kindergarten through 2^nd grade.  Her areas of specialty include clinical education, literacy, special education and early childhood development among others.  And the collection of school supplies she’s offering reflects the diversity in subject matter and materials.

Up for sale are over 1,000 literature books including trade, picture and big books.  She has buddy book kits, leveled libraries, literacy and math games, listening centers and puzzles. Also available are bulletin board supplies, bulletin board trim, pointers, professional teacher books, educational CDs and DVDs, teacher decor, clerical supplies and student supplies.

In her seemingly incessant quest to be organized, Felver has built complete kits around subjects with a variety of materials from books and pocket charts to puppets and visual aids.  Subjects for which she has kits include eggs, bees and ants, insects, pets, ocean life, geography, spiders, bats and many more.

The themed tubs will cost between $15 and $40 depending on the subject matter.  Paperback books will be up for just 25 cents and hardback books 50 cents.

Although Felver is stepping away from teaching, she has plenty keeping her busy.  In addition to being Alachua’s volunteer decorator responsible for keeping the downtown district’s seasonal flags and lighting displays in tip-top shape, she is also on the City of Alachua’s Citizens Advisory Task Force (CATF).

More recently, Felver started a new business called De-Clutter Bugs, a service in which she uses her passion for decorating and organizing to help clients clean out the clutter from their rooms, homes and offices.

The teacher supply sale is slated for this weekend at Felver’s downtown Alachua home located at 14503 NW 148th Place.  The sale runs Saturday, Sept. 3 through Monday, Sept. 5 from 8 a.m. until noon daily.

Santa Fe and Newberry face off in annual rivalry game Friday

This 2005 game marked the last time the Santa Fe Raiders defeated the Newberry Panthers in an intense rivalry that annually kicks off the local high school football season.  Bottom: Newberry’s rise to power was evidenced in their run to a state championship appearance against Pahokee High School in 2007.

This season, the storyline has set a similar stage as Santa Fe travels to Newberry Friday night, Sept. 2, for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff in Panther Stadium.  Former Newberry coach Tommy Keeler bid farewell to the Panthers after six seasons and a state championship appearance and now leads the Raiders into Panther Stadium against his former squad.

As if this annual rivalry game didn’t have enough storylines, Keeler’s former assistant at Newberry – Chris Baker – is now the head coach of the Panthers after returning from Trenton High School where he served as head coach for three years.

It’s no surprise the personnel involved in this Friday’s game have shared the same sidelines in the past.  The programs have been playing each other in the season opener since 1991 and only 12 miles of asphalt separate the two small schools.  The players involved in both schools have played area youth league football for years and know each other a little better than the average opponent.  Personnel mingling and new head coaches in each program are bound to cross paths in the northwest rural area of Alachua County.

“The only time I’ve ever been on that other sideline [visitor’s sideline at Panther Stadium] was for an intrasquad scrimmage,” said Keeler.  “So it’s going to be quite odd coming off a bus and going to the visitor’s sideline.

“[Newberry] was a young team last year, quite a few of those kids played for me last year so I know most of the team still.”

Baker, who posted a 7-3 mark with Trenton last season, is well aware of the storylines, but is pleased to be back in blue and gold.

“It’s very exciting. I’m happy to be back in Newberry,” explained Baker.  “I’ve lived here the whole time I was in Trenton, but it’s great to be back over here coaching this team.

“Regarding Coach Keeler, we’re used to playing each other. I think it’s going to be more emotional for him, but once the thing gets kicked off, I have a gut feeling things will smooth out to a normal game.”

Santa Fe has struggled over the last decade as each new Raider team after team tried to restore the program to its once prominent status highlighted by a pair of state titles in 1991 and 1994.  The closest a team has come was 2004 in which the Raiders posted a 7-5 record and reached the Class 3A regional semifinals.  Outside of the 2004 campaign, Santa Fe has produced subpar results including a 2-18 record over the last two seasons.

While Keeler may not be decreeing a state title run just yet, he has expectations for this year’s team to put Santa Fe football back on track and it starts against the Panthers.

“As always, we’re trying to treat it as another game,” said Keeler who takes over a team that posted a 1-9 mark a year ago.  “We’re well aware that it’s a big rivalry and a huge game for us.”

Newberry found recent success under the direction of Keeler.  He led the Panthers to a state runner-up finish in 2007 and his teams reached the playoffs three times in six years.  Baker was the defensive coordinator for the Panthers during its 2007 state championship appearance run, but now takes over a team that won just a pair of games last season.  He’s looking for a fresh start against the Raiders Friday night.

“I just think we’re going to have to come out and play very well,” explained Baker.  “I think they’re going to be pretty jacked up.  It’s a good test for us because it’s a bigger school. I want to see if we can clean up some of the mistakes from our preseason game.”

Santa Fe has come up on the short end of the rivalry game for the past five years as its current head coach led the Panthers to five consecutive victories over the Raiders.

“I think the motivation’s there,” said Keeler.  “The kids want it bad and the coaches want it bad.

“For a game like this you don’t have to get the kids hyped up, they’re pretty much ready to go.”

While the Raiders are trying to snap the streak, for Baker the challenge is just the opposite – extend the win mark to six consecutive.

“We’ve got to cut down on our mistakes,” said Baker.  “If we make too many mistakes Santa Fe is going to overpower us.

“Me and Coach Keeler are going to be great friends.  I’m going to pull for Coach Keeler every night but one.”

Undoubtedly that one night is this Friday.

Photo 1:  Big yellow buses were back on the road Monday as the school year started in Alachua County. Santa Fe High School students congregated at the bus zone waiting for their ride home at the end of the first day. Photo 2: Students at Mebane Middle School in Alachua leave campus as the final bell rang marking the end of the first day of school in Alachua County.

Students were back to the books, back to the busses and back to school Monday morning.  But Monday marked a first of many things, not just the first day of school.

Eva Copeland has checked off her first school day as the new principal at Alachua Elementary School, where roughly 425 students welcomed her.

Copeland was tapped to fill a vacancy left by retiring principal Jim Brandenburg.  After some 20 years as the school’s principal, Brandenburg decided over the summer he wanted to spend more time with his family and community organizations.

But Brandenburg apparently left Copeland in good hands.

“It has been an extremely smooth start to the school year,” said Copeland.  “Students were quickly placed and it’s been great.”

Copeland is no stranger to Alachua Elementary.  She previously taught at the school for some 16 years.

“This has just felt so natural coming back home. The way things are done around here came back so quickly,” she said.

Down the road at High Springs Community School, Principal Jeff Means welcomed aboard two full-time teachers.  Ms. Jamie North, who previously taught at Ft. Clarke Middle School, and Ms. Heather Fultz, who was a part-time music teacher at Mebane Middle School, have both been hired at High Springs Community School.  The school also has a new part-time agriculture teacher.

With a combined total of some 840 middle and elementary-aged students, Means said the first three days have gone off without a hitch.

“We’ve had a terrific start to the school year,” he said, crediting a high level of participation at the school’s Meet the Teacher event Friday.

Students at Santa Fe High School walked into a newly constructed expansion on campus.  An excited Principal Bill Herschleb said the school officially opened the doors on eight new mathematics classrooms and two teacher planning rooms, all of which are part of a science building that opened on the campus last year.

The classrooms are equipped with the latest audio/visual technology.  Using a digital setup similar to a SMART Board, the classrooms have a system called Sympodium, which includes wireless slates that can be passed around the room, allowing students to interact with instruction media.  The rooms also have student response systems, allowing the teachers to gauge student comprehension of subject matter in real time.

The new addition also includes two computer labs, each of which are outfitted with 34 computers.

Along with the expansion of the science and mathematics building, the school is now an official WeatherBug reporting site, Herschleb said.

Complete with an anemometer for measuring wind speed and direction, a thermometer, barometer and a live camera, the system has been operational for just a few weeks, said Herschleb. Weather measurements and video from the site can be found by searching for the zip code 32615 on www.weatherbug.com.

Herschleb echoed the sentiments of Means and Copeland, saying the first few days have been smooth-running.

“We’ve had very few requests for schedule changes because we do a lot of personal contact with parents and students over the summer to ensure that schedules are indeed what students had requested,” he said.

Santa Fe High School has about 1,000 students on campus and another 100 or so who are dual-enrolled at Santa Fe College.

Police Chief Jim Troiano will receive severance pay

Fire Chief Verne Riggall resigned

L-R: Troiano, Reggall

The City of High Springs is losing both its police chief and fire chief this Friday at 5 p.m.

The employment contract for High Springs Police Chief James Troiano will be terminated according to a press release issued by Interim City Manager Jenny Parham.  The press release also noted that on Monday Fire Chief Verne Riggall submitted his resignation, which will also be effective Friday.

“The proposed FY 2011/2012 budget contains a salary reduction for the Chief of Police and proposes elimination of the Fire Chief’s position,” Parham stated in the release.

“Since coming to the City of High Springs, Chief Rigall and Chief Troiano have made a positive impact and improvement to both departments and the overall safety of the community,” she wrote.

In Riggall’s resignation letter, he wrote, “Current issues and the proposed elimination of the Fire Chief’s position make it impossible for me to continue with my employment.”

Troiano will receive a severance pay of one half his annual salary, which is currently set at $77,000.

It may have been Troiano’s salary that ultimately led to the termination of his contract.

Troiano said the City wanted him to take a pay cut of as much as $20,000 annually.

“I’m a married man, I’m a family man and I have kids and college,” he said.  “I can’t afford to do that.”

By lowering Troiano’s pay, the commission could more easily hire a permanent city manager at a salary greater than the police chief’s, but still well below that of former City Manager James Drumm.

Facing termination, Drumm resigned Oct. 21, 2010.  He was provided with a severance of $66,434 and health benefits for six months.

Over the last year, commissioners have contemplated combining the police and fire departments into one public safety office, thereby eliminating the need for two chiefs.  It appears that those considerations may be coming full circle as both men will leave their posts Friday.

But Troiano said he believes the move is a mistake.

“Right now, we have two working chiefs, but we’re going to create one position with someone who is so overworked that they can’t do anything but push paperwork every day,” he said.

The police department will be working with an even small staff given Troiano’s departure on Friday.  The High Springs Police Department (HSPD) currently has 11 police officers, including Troiano, an office assistant and a police service technician/office assistant.  On Friday, that number will change to just 10 officers.

During the weekdays, the police chief, a lieutenant and a police officer are the only officers on duty, Troiano said.

“The [City] has put us in a position that we are below critical staffing levels,” said Troiano.  “I work for [the commission] and if they say this is what happens, then I carry the flag, and I do it.”

Although Troiano has been criticized in the past for his management style, he believes much of it was unwarranted.  “It was a contrived attempt by the PBA and a few other people to try to overcome the changes we’ve made here,” he said.

In defending the department and his own record, Troiano said, “This has absolutely nothing to do with performance…if it did, I would have an ‘A’ right now according to the city manager.”

“I’ve been honored to be the police chief here; I’ve learned a lot and I’ve made a lot of good friends,” he said.  “We’ve had a huge impact here on the City.”

In a memo to his staff, Troiano wrote, “Together, many of us have had to endure much and have grown stronger by overcoming the obstacles many have put in our way. This change and strive for excellence has resulted in a new department; one where you have all embraced a philosophy of change that included training, technology, accountability, integrity and professionalism.”

Although he’s leaving HSPD, Troiano said he wouldn’t be leaving law enforcement as he said he plans to be a “strong advocate for the employees of the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office.”

“I’m concerned that the changes at the Sheriff’s Office have not been productive,” Troiano explained, adding that he believes some people at the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) are paid “exorbitant salaries.”

Troiano’s tenure as Chief of HSPD began in March 2008 after some 20 years at ACSO where he rose through the ranks to become a lieutenant.  The City of High Springs hired him on a $75,000 per year salary and a five-year contract slated to end in 2013.

Filling Troiano’s position on an interim basis will be Lieutenant William Benck.  Riggall’s interim replacement at the High Springs Fire Department will be Captain Bruce Gillingham.

Lotus Mango Blanchard, age 30, of Alachua was arrested Friday morning at his home. 

According to a police report filed by the Alachua Police Department (APD), the child claims the molestation occurred about 10 times.  The incidents date back to as early as December 2010.  The last such incident reportedly took place in July.

Blanchard has been charged with two counts of lewd or lascivious offenses committed upon or in the presence of persons less than 16 years of age.  The first charge is for lewd or lascivious battery.  The second charge is lewd or lascivious molestation.  Both charges are second degree felonies.  If convicted, Blanchard could be sentenced to a maximum of 15 years in prison for each of the felonies, APD officials say.

Blanchard was released from jail earlier this week on a $50,000 bond and ordered not to have any contact with the victim.