Some of the most popular stories of the week
George Harty, front, and Koty House are regulars atMellodies Body Image Gym in Inverness.
Business Spotlight: Inverness gym owner weathers virus shutdown
Mellodie Farfaglia said she was fearful back in March she might have to close her long-time, family-run gym in Inverness for good.
But with the help and generosity of members and staff, Farfaglia weathered the storm. Being an Inverness fixture for 37 years and developing a solid reputation also helped. She calls it amazing a gym can be in existence that long under the same owner and survive a pandemic shutdown.
Gym members not only stuck with her, many agreed to help her financially and refused to take the credit she offered for the time closed and even pitched in the day before reopening with helping sanitize her gym. Staff members offered to work without pay until things returned to some sense of normalcy and the gym was back on its feet.
Mellodies Body Image Gym is at 1101 Middle School Road, Inverness.
School bus involved in wreck
Citrus County Sheriff's Deputy directs traffic Friday, Sept. 25, 2020, at the intersection of North Turkey Oak Drive and State Road 44 in Crystal River following a crash involving a Citrus County School District bus. Traffic in the westbound lanes were slowed as a result of the crash that happened around 10:48 a.m., according to a CCSO spokesman. Five students were on the bus, said Sgt. Lee Carey, spokesman for CCSO.
A three-vehicle wreck, which involved a Citrus County school bus, occurred at 10:48 a.m. Friday, Sept. 25, 2020, at State Road 44 and North Turkey Oak Drive, according to a Citrus County Sheriff's Office spokesman.
The bus carrying five students was returning to Crystal River High from Withlacoochee Technical College in Inverness where the students had spent a portion of the day.
The students, as well as the driver, were not hurt in the crash, said Lindsay Blair, school district spokeswoman.
CR man accused of breaking into rehab center armed with knife; threatening staff with dogs
Mark Vladimir Khokhlov
Staff at Crystal River Health and Rehab feared for their lives after Mark Vladimir Khokhlov, 34, of Crystal River, allegedly broke into their facility armed with a knife and threatened to sic his dogs on them.
Citrus County Sheriffs Office deputies arrested Khokhlov the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2020, on charges of armed burglary and assault.
Rehab staff told deputies Khokhlov was banging on windows with a knife visible on his waist. He then forced open a locked door, entered the building with his two dogs and cornered a pair of employees before he walked in and out of residents rooms clutching the knife, according to his arrest report.
When a staff member approached him, Khokhlov gestured for the dogs to attack them. He then left the building before deputies apprehended him.
Local restaurants can now open to 100% capacity
Morgan Kane and Kason Sundberg said Friday Kane's Cattle Co. in the historic District of Crystal River, will not be open inside just because the limited capacity makes it difficult for a steakhouse.
On Friday, Sept. 25, Gov. Ron DeSantis lifted all restaurant and business COVID-19 restrictions and moved the state into Phase 3 reopening, a move that was celebrated by local restaurant owners and their staff.
This means restaurants can now have a 100% occupancy, up from 50%.
For the consumers fearful of the governor's decision, know that this changes nothing in the amount of precaution, screening, and cleanliness that we will hold our restaurants to, said Morgan Sundberg, owner of Kane's Cattle Co., The Loft Bar & Grill and Lollygaggers Sports Pub & Grill. Im sure there are plenty that think this is the wrong decision, but to me (its) the right decision to a pandemic this unknown.
Josh Wooten, president/CEO of the Citrus County Chamber of Commerce, said he thought DeSantis would up capacity to 75% and was a bit surprised at his decision to fast-track Phase 3 to 100%.
Its certainly good for businesses, Wooten said. Some people may question that for health reasons.
But Wooten said as long as business owners and customers observe the health basics and observe common sense, it should be fine.
That should have been the rule of thumb all along, he said.
Stan Olsen stands with his wife Betty in Nov. 2014 as they officially donate 18 acres of land along County Road 486 in Lecanto for the new Citrus County YMCA. Stan Olsen, developer of both the Black Diamond and Meadowcrest communities, died Wednesday.
When New Englander Stan Olsen first saw the watermelon fields in central Citrus County, he didnt see just watermelons. He, along with Sam Tamposi and Jerry Nash, envisioned home developments that later became Citrus Hills.
Black Diamond. Meadowcrest. Rock Crusher Canyon. K.C. Crumps Stan Olsen saw it all before anyone did.
He and his wife, Betty, also donated the 18 acres that now holds the Citrus Memorial Foundation YMCA in Lecanto.
Its easy to say he was one of the most significant developers and entrepreneurs that ever came to the county, Chronicle Publisher Gerry Mulligan said. He changed the face of Citrus County by developing places like Meadowcrest and Black Diamond. He made huge things happen.
Stan Olsen died Sept. 30, 2020, at age 92.
Hot topic of the week: The CDC recently announced that trick or treating on Halloween during the coronavirus pandemic is a high-risk health activity and should be avoided this year. Chronicle Facebook readers had opinions:
Eddie Gruman: LOL...everyone can go to Walmart, Publix, McDonalds theme parks, etc. but trick or treating is being a high risk (activity)? Whateverrrrr.
Pat Sanders: DeSantis has opened the state of Florida it's time to let parents select how they let their children live and enjoy holidays and any other outings.
Emmy Broadhurst: We wont be doing trick-or-treating this year. Its not the door-to-door thing that bothers me; its the shoulder-to-shoulder and crowds of 1,000 people. My kids will still dress up and still get candy; they just wont have to beg for it.
Lauren Bell: We hand out glow bracelet candy and ice pops every year; well just make the kids get a hand sanitizer squirt beforehand this time.
Quote of the week: And they all cheered in joy, one almost blowing an eardrum with her squeal; its been a long, long six months and Im so glad to come to the end of it." Morgan Sundberg, local restaurateur, about the reaction of her staff when she got word that Gov. Ron DeSantis had lifted all restaurant and business COVID-19 restrictions and moved the state into Phase 3 reopening.
Good news item of the week: Inverness Sertoman Rainer Jakob was recently recognized for 40-plus years of outstanding and dedicated service by both the Inverness City Council on Sept. 15, and the Citrus County Board of Commissioners (BOCC) on Sept. 22.
Jakob was not only instrumental in forming the Inverness Sertoma Club in 1980, he also was the person behind building Citrus Countys first and only speech and hearing clinic in Lecanto and was also the founder of the Oktoberfest held for over 35 years in Crystal River and the annual Golf for Kids golf tournament, which has raised over $200,000 for speech and hearing programs in Citrus County.
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1004 Chronicle week in review: Gym longevity, man with a knife, restaurants open -- and the loss and legacy of Stan Olsen - Citrus County Chronicle
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