Tallahassee Democrat from Tallahassee, Florida • Page 9

Thursday May 6, 2004 Fire destroys 1D 9 Local Bnefs ...2 rncsiie r.crr.o 3 Off West State Briefc 4 Tennessee. 3B obituaries 5 Metro Editor Russell Roberts Phorie: (850) 599-2391 Eoc850) 592295 E-mail: rarobei1staIbhassee.com aooiy slam lMD vuCDlllKiO' luCDJ. luvD uppfes tor gramifi Money may be used to buy lake bottom RON HARTUNG THE TRAFFIC DOCTOR right to build 1,200 homes on the lake bottom and flood plain. The county approved a conceptual development plan for Fallschase in the 1970s, but the development has been stalled by legal and financial problems and disagreements with Leon County. County officials say more recent environmental regulations apply to the site and would restrict development.

They have said only six homes could legally be built on the lake bottom and flood plain. Last November, Bailey offered to sell 217 acres of dry lake bottom and flood plain for $15.5 area 1 it 5 I h-; -F ,4 I I i 9 On speeding, remembering and donating administrator. "We are very interested in talking with them (Fallschase representatives) very soon to see if this is the real deal or not," Long said. Bailey said Wednesday that he remains hopeful that a deal can be reached. He also said he thought the county was eligible for more than the $800,000 that it has actually applied for.

Leon County and the state sought to buy the lake bottom and flood plain last year to prevent development, protect stormwater and create a park with nature trails. Bailey says he has the legal By Bruce Ritchie DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER Leon County is applying again for a state grant to buy the Lake Lafayette lake bottom, but it's unclear whether there is a better opportunity to strike a deal this year. Leon County on Wednesday applied for an $831,000 matching grant to buy the land even though Fallschase agent Lamar Bailey last year declined a similar offer from the state. The grant application could be withdrawn by the county if it appears a deal isn't possible, said Vince Long, the assistant county Leon County is applying again for a state grant to buy the Lake Lafayette lake bottom from Fallschase. Please see LAKE, 2B JOHN ROBERGEDemocrat A window on history r-- 1 111 L.mmmmnmywmmmwmmmmmmmH i- I Yf nnu.i.ifi.

r.n "t'-v i i' i id -jp, JJZf 7.r i I ''-'rf (a I Lin r-ivr MARK WALLHEISER Democrat Wakulla Welcome Center volunteer Sally Gandy, right, talks with first-time visitor Julia Sawyer, of Clarksville, about the bay view from the center. Center celebrates Wakulla traditions Dear Traffic Doctor, I am very concerned about the speeding on Nat-Ural Bridge Road. There are no speed-limit signs on Natural Bridge Road until you reach a dirt road named Cedar Trace Road, where there's a REDUCED SPEED AHEAD sign and it drops to 30 mph. It would make sense to me if they would drop the drivers down gradually. Most everyone drives 55 mph and UP! Once they hit the 30-mph zone they do not slow down.

Please help me with this. Ida County Engineer Joe Brown stands ready to help. i "Where there are no speed-limit signs," he writes, "state law sets the speed at 55. But where we have speed-limit- signs, as in a speed reduction' and the setting of a 30-mph limit, we need to be involved. 'Typically, a single drop from 55 to 30 is too abrupt, and your writer is correct in suggesting a gradual drop in speed.

We will investigate and take appropriate action!" QUICK STOPS Two years ago Saturday, fresh from an evening baseball victory, 18-year-old Kris McEl-henny was riding his motorcycle south on Capital Circle, near Centerville Road. Sud- denly a car pulled out in front of him. He broadsided it and died. Two years later, his parents are trying to make the roads safer. Last week they won County Commission approval to make May 8-14 Motorcycle Safety Awareness Week.

They'll be seeking the City Commission's blessing as well. "Our lives have changed forever," Tina McElhenny wrote in an e-mail, "and we would like to help save others from our son's fate." They hope we all become -more aware that motorcycles share the road, that they're harder to see but have just as much right to be there, that the rest of us need to look-twice before we turn or change lanes. No doubt the McElhennys would not approve of what The Doctor saw Tuesday evening: a young man riding a motor scooter about the size of a canister vacuum cleaner, so small that his rump was only inches off the pavement of busy Mag- holia Drive, then goofing around on Alachua Avenue. Not safe. Not smart.

A week ago, you read that a benefit would be staged for Pete Conner, the cook at Cabo's restaurant hospitalized after his bike and a car collided. Now comes word that Floyd's Music Store will have a benefit May 15 with local musicians Socialburn, Broken Sound, Drake Equation, Presence and Believe in Toledo. Donations of at least $5 at the door are required. Find details fit www.floydsmusicstore.com. Allen Thompson, administrative assistant for the Tallahassee Downtown Improvement Authority, reports that Pensacola Street from Calhoun to Franklin will receive its final surfacing beginning at 9 this morning.

One lane should remain open. "Something should be done," a reader writes with furrowed brow, "about Lincoln students racing through Tom Brown Park and down Conner Boulevard. When school is dismissed each day you'd better be somewhere else or you may be run down. Someone is going to get hurt." Parents! Drive to Lincoln unannounced one afternoon and check out your child's driving. Might be surprised.

Might Want to talk. To reach The Traffic Doctor, call (850) 599-2303 or e-mail rhartungtallahassee.com. IFY0UG0 What: Wakulla Welcome Center Where: U.S. Highway 98 in Panacea 30 miles south of Tallahassee) When: Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday 1 1 1 1 By Gerald Ensley DEMOCRAT SENIOR WRITER PANACEA On a gorgeous spring day, the picture windows of the old restaurant frame the beauty and history of Wakulla County.

To the east are the serene marshes and shimmering water of Dickerson Bay. To the west are the once-famous Panacea Mineral Springs. The themes abound behind the windows as well, as historical photos, oil paintings and other displays serve up the traditions of Wakulla County: fishing, timber, boating and wildlife. Welcome, if you will, to the Wakulla Welcome Center. Teople are amazed when they come in here," said volunteer Annette Davis.

"We haven't had anything like this before to tell people about our history. I think it's one of the best things to If 'II 1 1 happen in this county." The Wakulla County Welcome Center opened April 18 on U.S. Highway 98 in Panacea. It's in a two-story wood building that served as home for several restaurants before it was abandoned a decade ago. The center is across the highway from the Panacea Mineral Springs, a privately owned park where supposedly curative waters once drew tourists to Panacea and inspired the community's name.

Please see WAKULLA, 2B MARK WALLHEISER Democrat The sign in front of Panacea's new Welcome Center promotes its museums, art gallery, butterfly garden and nature trail to passers-by. Court to decide who pays after student's death Althea Jones, 28, was killed in 1994 by car fleeing from police killed in May 1994 when her BMW flipped over and exploded after being struck at the intersection of Apalachee Parkway and Blair Stone the original claim and rejected it after Michael Pratt, owner of Spruill Auto Sales, refused to cooperate. Jones' mother sued, and a Leon County jury awarded her $75 million in 1997. FIGA didn't try to defend itself in the case, saying Betty Jones didn't file the suit in the time allotted by law, that Pratt had misrepresented facts when he At issue is whether a state-created insurance pool is responsible for paying after the company that originally insured the car went bankrupt. The Florida Insurance Guaranty Association is a nonprofit corporation that makes good on the claims of defunct companies.

It's funded by other insurance companies registered in the state. FIGA "chose to deny coverage, and it had good and righteous reasons to do that," said FIGA's attorney, Richard Burton Bush. The victim, Althea Jones, was Road. The driver of jono By Nancy Cook Lauer DEMOCRAT CAPITOL BUREAU CHIEF Ten years after a Tallahassee Community College student was killed by a car fleeing police, the victim's family was at the Florida Supreme Court hearing arguments about who should be on the hook for a $75 million jury award. the other car, Heath Gilliam, ran a red light while fleeing police after a robbery.

The car had been for sale at Spruill Auto Sales, and a Spruill employee loaned it to Gilliam. Bush said FIGA investigated Please see CLAIM, 2B Pollution debate State officials dispute report accusing agency in Escambia County water case. Page6B Bumpy rid Disney's new "Mission: Space" attraction has sent six people to the hospital with nausea and chest pain. Page 6B Going back to Call Latin Grammys, held in Miami last year, will return to Los Angeles this fall. Page 4B Florida briefs Polk County school bus carrying children strikes and kills an elderly pedestrian.

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