Hendry And Glades Business Tax Delinquents

Clewiston Inn - Delinquent In Taxes

LABELLE, FL. -- The Florida Department of Revenue received authority from the 2010 Legislature to publish a list of the names of taxpayers who have large unresolved tax liabilities. These taxpayers have tax liens against them and tax warrants filed against them and have failed to pay or arrange to pay their debt, despite repeated attempts by the Department to collect the amount due.

In Hendry County, E.E. Cruz Enterprise, Inc., doing business as Nick's Country Store of 6480 Flaghole Road has six warrants against him for a total of $37,543 owned in back taxes. Big Lake Hotels LLC doing business as the Clewiston Inn owes $58,369 to the state in back taxes.

In Glades County, Joseph Hernandez of 699 S. Highway 27 in Moore Haven owes $21,834 to the revenue department for three tax warrants, Cassie Williams of 3025 Ortona Locks Rd. SW owes $11,020 and Moore Haven Package and Lounge Inc. owes taxes in the amount of $21,118.

The names were selected according to the following criteria:

• Taxpayers who have unsatisfied tax warrants or liens totaling $100,000 or more, and
• In counties where no taxpayer has warrants or liens totaling $100,000, the two taxpayers with the highest amount of warrants or liens are included.

Taxpayers who are in bankruptcy, who have entered into and are current on a stipulated payment agreement, or who have in place a payment agreement with the Department, are excluded from this list.

The warrant or lien is a public record filed with the Clerk of Court or other government office in the county where the taxpayer is located.

The list will be updated every 30 days. The current list was posted on December 3, 2010.

Clewiston Man Dead - Hit By Auto

Auto Hits Pedestrian In Clewiston

CLEWISTON, FL. -- Bipinchandra A. Patel, 67 , a pedestrian, was northbound, attempting to cross US 27, west of West Arcade in Clewiston, in an area where it is illegal to do so, according to the Florida Highway Patrol report, and was struck by a car while attempting to cross the street.

The accident happened about 6 p.m. Friday, December 3rd.

Johnny Jones, 58 was west bound on US 27 in a left turn lane when his 2002 Mercury Grand Marquis hit Patel. Patel was transported to Hendry Regional Medical Center, where he died as a result of his injuries. Jones had no injuries.

An investigation is pending on whether alcohol was a contributing cause regarding Patel.

LaBelle's Angelica Ramirez Basic Training Grad

In The Service

LABELLE, FL. -- Army Pfc. Angelica A. Ramirez has graduated from Basic Combat Training at Fort Sill, Lawton, Okla.
    
During the nine weeks of training, the soldier studied the Army mission and received instruction and training exercises in drill and ceremonies, Army history, core values and traditions, military courtesy, military justice, physical fitness, first aid, rifle marksmanship, weapons use, map reading and land navigation, foot marches, armed and unarmed combat, and field maneuvers and tactics.
    
She is the daughter of Renato Ramirez of Greentree Drive, Labelle, Fla. Ramirez graduated in 2010 from Labelle High School.

Should I Get An HIV Test?

Answers to HIV Questions On World AIDS Day

LABELLE, FL. -- Today, December 1st is World AIDS Day. In the United States, over one million people are estimated to be living with HIV infection, and approximately one in five of those are unaware of their infection.

Do you need an HIV test? The Hendry County Health Department offers free confidential testing.

The following are behaviors that increase your chances of getting HIV. If you answer yes to any of them, you should definitely get an HIV test. If you continue with any of these behaviors, you should be tested every year. Talk to a health care provider about an HIV testing schedule that is right for you.

• Have you injected drugs or steroids or shared equipment (such as needles, syringes, works) with others?
• Have you had unprotected vaginal, anal, or oral sex with men who have sex with men, multiple partners, or anonymous partners?
• Have you exchanged sex for drugs or money?
• Have you been diagnosed with or treated for hepatitis, tuberculosis (TB), or a sexually transmitted disease (STD), like syphilis?
• Have you had unprotected sex with someone who could answer yes to any of the above questions?

If you have had sex with someone whose history of sex partners and/or drug use is unknown to you or if you or your partner has had many sex partners, then you have more of a chance of being infected with HIV. Both you and your new partner should get tested for HIV, and learn the results, before having sex for the first time.

For women who plan to become pregnant, testing is even more important. If a woman is infected with HIV, medical care and certain drugs given during pregnancy can lower the chance of passing HIV to her baby. All women who are pregnant should be tested during each pregnancy.

For more information and where testing is available - http://hivtest.org

Hendry Agriculture Thefts Increasing

Gene McAvoy Warns Farmers and Ranchers To Be On Alert

LABELLE, FL. -- Perhaps it is an indication of the hard economic times, or folks looking for some quick cash for Christmas but whatever the reason, growers around SW Florida are reporting a rash of thefts of agricultural chemicals in the past few weeks.  

Gene McAvoy, Hendry County Extension Director says several reports of thefts have been received affecting growers between LaBelle and Clewiston in which chemicals valued at over $500,000 have been stolen.

McAvoy says many of these thefts have the appearance of inside information in that thieves seem to know exactly where to go and which storage structures to target.  Locks provide little or no defense in that some hefty locks have been cut. In at least one case, thieves removed jugs of chemicals from packing boxes leaving behind the empty boxes in an effort to conceal the theft for some time.

Tips To Prevent Theft:

Growers are advised to keep farm entrances and storage areas locked and maintain surveillance.  Lock up all chemicals, they are essentially like cash money for a thief.

Locate chemical storage well away from access roads.

Request that chemicals be delivered on the days you need them and not before.

Return excess chemicals to the chemical distributor. Not having a stockpile of chemicals in your shed you will decrease the opportunity for theft.  As thieves have shown they can easily overcome locks - decreasing inventory and having chemicals delivered as needed is probably the best defense. 

Consider installing alarms on chemical shed doors or windows.

Buy only from reputable dealers and do not be tempted to buy "cheap" chemicals from unknown sources - you are only supporting a thief and you may be next.

Look out for your neighbor and report suspicious vehicles and activities to the Sheriffs' Office.