Tampa Bay Times du lieu suivant : St. Petersburg, Florida • 91

-v TO CONTACT US "ABOUT NEWS: By phone: Brooksville. 754-61 01: VI Spring Hill, 848-1433 AN EDITION OF THE mrs oyiax: Brooksville, 754-6133; Spring Hill, 848-1412 By e-mail: hemandosptimes.com SUNDAY JANUARY II, 1998 rui In spitai legal fees Fee facts Amount of fees hKffis County could profit from Regional's sale reimbursed throuqh the U.S. Bankruptcy Court: $3.21 -million alboyJ $8B8-mmn dot Two for-profit companies are bidding for Regional Healthcare. The purchase could pay off the hospital's $82-million debt By AMY J. SCHATZ Timet Staff Writer (Lawyers: Accountants: Amount of fees pending before U.S.

Bankruptcy Court: 1 $159,765.03 (Lawyers: $17,775.05 Accountants: $141 ,989.98) Estimated amount in legal fees accrued by creditors CNA Insurance $5-mllllon Estimated amount in legal fees accrued by Hernando County: $300,000 Estimated grand total of fees for bankruptcy to date: Number of days since bankruptcy was filed: 1,780 Estimated cost per day in fees for RHI bankruptcy case: $4,944 Sources: U.S. Bankruptcy Court filings; CNA Insurance Hernando County Attorney Time art Health Systems of Tennessee, both made bids for Regional Healthcare that would pay off the hospital company's $82-million debt, with money to spare. It is that extra money the county is eyeing. 'To the extent that there would be equity involved in the selection of a for-profit, the equity would be a public asset," Snow said. "That equity could be used as any other public asset." County Commission Chairwoman Nancy Robinson also attended the meeting, but dismissed as "speculation" any plans for the money.

After all, Robinson said, the county hasn't even agreed on whether it would endorse a for-profit affiliation of Regional Healthcare. That could happen Tuesday, when commissioners will receive a briefing from Snow and other attorneys on what a for-profit affiliation or takeover could mean to Please see HOSPITAL Page 3 ly That's equivalent to spending almost $5,000 a day, every day, for the past five years for legal and financial advice. That number will certainly rise before the last motion is filed in the case. Why so much? No one ever said bankruptcy was cheap. Under federal law, Regional Healthcare must reimburse legal expenses granted by the bankruptcy court.

So far, the court has awarded about in such expenses. The money likely will be paid from the more than $32-million in cash Regional Healthcare has amassed during the past few years. And while neither Hernando County nor Regional Healthcare's main creditor, CNA Insurance Cos. of Chicago, has filed for reimbursement of fees, both plan to. "We've filed a claim (of intent) with the Please see FEES Page 3 "It is the trade of lawyers to question everything, yield nothing and to talk by the hour.

Thomas Jefferson By amy j. schatz Times Staff Writer Wondering who the real winners of the Regional Healthcare Inc. bankruptcy dispute will be? The answer is one thing that has never been questioned in this case: the lawyers. Five years of bankruptcy protection has meant five years of $150-an-hour legal advice, five years of costly mandatory monthly financial reports and five years of miscellaneous expenses from $800 airline tickets to $8 gas station receipts. An analysis by the Times of the legal and accounting fees rung up since Regional Healthcare sought bankruptcy protection in February 1993 has set the price tag at rough The county may have found a new source to fill its coffers.

County officials have confirmed that millions of dollars could flow into the county's general fund if a for-profit hospital company takes over non-profit Regional Healthcare Inc. "The figures are several million dollars," said County Attorney Bruce Snow, who attended a Regional Healthcare board meeting in which two for-profit companies made their cases to take over the hospitals. The two companies, Health Management Associates of Naples and Community A river in flooi helps reinvigorate the cycle of life By IAN JAMES Timet Staff Writer zvzztf- r. i ftv I. I.

1 i i l.l 1 ii I J1 i maintain the river channel. Measurements of the river's flow calculated recently by the U.S. Geological Survey show how much the Withlacoochee has grown since this summer, when the water was so low people said they could walk across at some spots. Near Floral City on Tuesday, preliminary measurements showed the river was flowing at a rate of more than 2.5-billion gallons a day, more than 16 times the normal flow there. Floods like this happen only once in a long while.

A depth gauge near Trilby this week recorded the river at its highest level since 1960. But in the life of a river, four decades pass quickly. When the floodwaters come, they carry nutrients that eventually boost the entire natural system, said Sid Flannery, a biologist with the Southwest Florida Water Management District who specializes in stream and estuarine ecology. "In general," he said, "periodic flooding is valuable to the ecosystem. It helps maintain the food web.

It helps the overall biological productivity." Martin H. Kelly, an environmental scientist with the same Please see RIVER Page 16 Rain that falls on an area of nearly 2,000 square miles eventually flows into the Withlacooch.ee River. So, when it rains as heavily as it has during the past month's El Nino storms, the Withlacoochee fattens and eddies outward into forests, wetlands, pastures and, sometimes, homes. Scores of residents have reported flooding damage as the river has ignored its banks in Pasco, Hernando, Citrus and other counties. But the flooding also has brought new life to wetlands along the river and the plants and animals those wetlands feed.

In quiet, often unnoticed ways, the overflowing river is already beginning to spawn a biological renewal, scientists say. It begins with the mass of water moving more powerfully than usual along the river's 157-mile path from the Green Swamp in Pasco and Polk counties to the Gulf of Mexico near Yankeetown. The river's current washes all it touches, breaking free dead and living organic matter and moving it to new places, while at the same time pushing sand, which helps to Times photos KEVIN WHITE Employee Keith Parham helps stock the new Publix store southwest of Brooksville Wednesday. The store opens to the public Jan. 15.

Jt A new place to shop he new year often brings bigger and better things, including a new Publix supermarket at Spring Hill Drive and Less muss, less fuss; it must be a native I Barclay Avenue south of Brooksville. The store is expected to serve shoppers from the nearby Pristine Place and Silverthorn communities when it opens Jan. 15. Other stores in the foot shopping center, which has been under construction since last March, aren't expected to open for several weeks. Native plants are easier to grow than exotics.

A new group hopes to see more such species in gardens and in the wild. 1 Kiriil'''miiTr1Hr 1 i i 'j ft il i By DAN DeWITT Times Staff Writer Publix facility services employee Gary Ely makes sure the sign he just installed is level. Employees are putting the finishing touches on the store before it opens. Licenses for parents not a bad idea TIMES DIGEST High school wrestlers enjoy successful year Springstead High wrestling duo have grown as people on and off the mat. PAGE 4 friend, a circuit judge, sat down at the table in the small diner and ran There are lots of high-minded reasons for gardeners to cultivate native plants rather than exotic ones.

They require less water and pollution-spreading fertilizer. They provide food and shelter for wild animals, particularly birds. They eliminate the introduction of aggressive exotics, such as cogon-grass and Brazilian pepper trees, that represent one of the most environmentally destructive forces in the state. There are also some practical reasons. "You don't have to break your back," said Sharon LaPlante, who is the' president of the new Hernando chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society.

Because native plants are meant to be here, LaPlante said, they require less manipulation and care than exotic species. All they need are the soil and light conditions that match their favored habitat. "The secret to native plants is to put them in the right place," she said. u- i 'iirm-ii hi Weather JAN GLIDEWELL OFFBEAT Time photo KEVIN WHITE Many butterflies will lay their eggs only on specific plants; native plants can be crucial to their reproduction. Last Monday, the chapter's first meeting attracted 21 enthusiastic people, LaPlante said.

"We've got pretty good energy, and everyone is really passionate about native plants." Peoplejn Hernando previously had to travel to Pasco County to participate in the Nature Coast chapter of the society. They formed a local group when they determined there was enough interest to support one. The society has two goals, sh said. One is to encourage people to use more natural vegetation in Please see NATIVE Page 10 Today: Patchy, Q' dense morning evr fog, then mostly sunny. High in the 70s.

Map, SECTION I remember his parents were furious at authorities for making a big deal out of the bus hijacking since, after all, the pistol had a broken firing pin. God help me, I'm starting to believe that people who want to be parents should be licensed and that most of them should be turned down. I know people in the animal rescue business who investigate the character of a family that wants to adopt a stray animal as a pet Then they help out with medical care, food and advice. Then they check back every once in a while to see how the animal is doing. A noble enterprise.

Please see GLIDEWELL Page 16 his hands over his face wearily. It seemed a bad time to ask how his day was going. "I just had a woman appear in front of me to relinquish custody of her children because she can't handle them," he said. "A few years ago she appeared before me on felony bad-check charges. A few years before that she appeared before me as an ungovernable child.

Where does it end?" Tough question. I remembered, immediately, an angelic-looking, severely disturbed 10-year-old boy who appeared before another judge more than 20 years ago on charges he had tried to hijack a school bus. Not long after that he was in trouble for running away after having defecated in the purse of a social worker who was handling his case. The next time I heard of him was 11 years later when he hanged himself in the Pasco County jail, where his brother had hanged himself a couple of years earlier. Inside Opinion 2 Clubs 3 Milestones 56 Obituaries 15.