Columns

WANT TO TAKE THE SURVEY? Visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CitrusBudgetSurvey

By Lace Blue-McLean

As they hammer out the new fiscal year budget over the next weeks, members of the Citrus County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) need to know what county residents value most.

Here’s your opportunity to make your opinion known: The Citrus County 2014 Budget Options Survey is a grassroots effort to get taxpayers’ opinions on spending priorities to the BOCC before it sets a proposed millage rate in July.

By Donald Whitaker
Special to the Chronicle

To the casual observer, immigration may seem like an issue simple to resolve: just don’t let anyone in, because they take jobs away from people who need them most.

Many will point to California, Miami and the Boston bombings as reasons why immigration needs to be put to an end. These are areas where immigration is not perfect, yet instead of trying to seek ways to resolve these issues, we go to the simple solution: deportation.

Most of us think of nonprofit organizations as charities. This assumption is understandable; nonprofits can be charities — but they can also be a lot more. They can be organized under any of the 27-plus different IRS tax-exempt categories, all of them created and designed to serve and meet specific needs. Charities are usually classified by IRS code as 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt organizations. In that particular class, the IRS also lists charitable, scientific, educational, research organizations, etc.

I was really intrigued by “Cloud Atlas” because of its collection of sci-fi and period elements. The wacky, avant-garde feel of the preview sticks through the film, but thankfully, the far-reaching conglomeration follows one simple story. Grandiose as the endeavor is (“Cloud Atlas” follows six stories spanning the centuries), several of the characters struck a chord for me. I found myself rooting for these characters that seem to star in every story that has ever been told.