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Veterans Services Officer Available at Homosassa Library
The Citrus County Veterans Service Department has announced effective March 5, 2015 they will have a Veteran Service Officer available the 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month from 10:00 am to 4:00 PM at the Homosassa Library, located at 4100 S. Grandmarch Avenue in Homosassa. To schedule an appointment, please call 352-527-5915.
Lecanto Veterans Clinic Will Administer DAV Van Schedule
Effective February 1, 2015, the scheduling of the DAV vans to the Gainesville VA Medical Center and the Villages VA Clinic will be administered through the Lecanto Veterans Clinic. The new number to call will be 352-746-8005. The pick-up times and locations will be remain the same. Citrus County Transit will still continue to provide transportation on the first Wednesday and the third Thursdays of the month. For questions regarding this service, please contact Angela Lennon or Robert Bruno at the Lecanto Veterans Clinic at 352-746-8005. To contact Citrus County Transit, please call 352-527-7630.
Free transportation for area Veterans to VA Hospital, Gainesville
Free transportation is available to take veterans to appointments at the VA (Veterans Administration) Hospital in Gainesville. However, all transportation must be scheduled, in advance of the appointment, by calling the Veterans Service Office in Lecanto at (352) 527-5915.
Two modes of transportation are available, depending on whether you are (1) ambulatory and require no assistance, or (2) if you require any assistance (the help of a person, cane or walker, etc.) in ambulating or the use of a wheelchair or scooter.
TRANSPORTATION FOR NON-AMBULATORY VETERANS: If you require any assistance in ambulating, a ride to the VA Hospital - leaving from the Citrus County Transit Office, located at 1300 S. Lecanto Hwy. , Lecanto - is available on a twice-weekly basis and can be scheduled by calling the Veterans Service Office at (352) 527-5915; further details will be provided.
TRANSPORTATION FOR AMBULATORY VETERANS: For ambulatory veterans requiring no assistance, rides are available Mondays through Fridays, excluding Federal Holidays, by way of a transportation van provided by Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Chapter 70 in Inverness. Again, all appointments must be scheduled in advance by calling the Veterans Service Office at (352) 527-5915. The DAV Van will pick up scheduled riders only, enroute from Lecanto to Gainesville, at designated locations in Lecanto, Inverness, Hernando and Dunnellon.
PICKUP LOCATIONS FOR DAV VAN RIDERS (fully ambulatory veterans):
6:10 a.m. - LECANTO - Veterans Service Office, 2804 W. Marc Knighton Ct.
6:40 a.m. - INVERNESS - K-Mart, 1660 Hwy. 41 N.
6:50 a.m. - HERNANDO - Party Store behind Cumberland Farms, 2805 N. Florida Ave. (Hwy. 41 N.)
7:00 a.m. - DUNNELLON - Tractor Supply Co., 11252 N. Williams St. (Hwy. 41 N.)
8:00 a.m. - DAV Van arrives at the VA Hospital in GAINESVILLE; Veterans should immediately check-in at the DAV Transportation Area on the Main Floor.
INSTRUCTIONS TO DAV VAN RIDERS:
For those veterans using the free transportation services to the VA Hospital, appointments must be scheduled between 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., and pharmacy visits should be made immediately upon completion of your doctor's appointment, without delay. The van makes the return trip from Gainesville upon completion of the last appointment, and no later than 2:00 p.m., without exception. If you have not boarded the van when it leaves Gainesville, you will miss the return trip.
Disabled Veterans Get Florida Property Exemption
Governor Bush signed legislation that would increase the "Ad Valorem" tax exemption (homestead tax exemption) from $500 to $5000 for veterans, rated at 10% to 90% service-connected disabled. This is the first increase in this exemption in nearly 60 years. Veterans currently receiving the $500 exemption will automatically receive the $5000 exemption for 2003. In order to apply for this exemption, a veteran must present a copy of his or her rating decision for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) or documentation from the military service department to the property appraiser (county tax office) in which the property lies.
In Defiance From the July 3, 2002 edition of The Newscaster
VFW posts in Inglis and Homosassa (shown above), along with others across the
nation, gathered by their flagpoles to recite the Pledge of Allegiance Friday, at
11:00 a.m., upset by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that the bill signed
by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 
1954 was unconstitutional. The bill inserted
the words, under God, into the Pledge of Allegiance. The court also issued a stay
on the ruling which, in effect, does not enforce the ruling and does not change anything,
contrary to the the fears of the majority. Posts around Florida were notified by
district commanders to stand at their flag poles and recite the pledge, as one Inglis
post member, Bob Freet said, "In defiance of the court ruling". As he signed the
bill in 1954 President Dwight D. Eisenhower said, "From this day forward, the millions
of our schoolchildren will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and
rural schoolhouse, the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty".