1. This year will see the return of the famed Tangerine Drop on New Year’s Eve. It was a wonderful custom that had received national attention and only was abandoned in 2009. A 200-pound tangerine was dropped 40 feet at midnight.
2. The day to day leaders of our local branches of government lead a tenuous existence. At anytime, a majority of the elected officials who oversee them can vote for their termination. In 2018, the Superintendent of Schools Lori Romano was fired. In 2017, it was Brooksville City Manager Jennene Norman-Vacha whose contract was not renewed. We are predicting that 2019 we will not see any of the leaders of the County, City, or School System replaced.
3. There are several developments in the planning stages including Milk-a-Way Farms and Spring Center. We predict that one of these will break ground in the coming year. In addition we predict that a new development will be approved by the county.
4. The last couple of years have seen large amounts of precipitation in Hernando. Irma caused extensive flooding. This year the Mondon Hill area saw extensive flooding, with a portion of WPA Road being completely underwater for several weeks. Many of the areas ponds and lakes are at their highest level in decades. We predict that next year will start the process of drying out with their being less rainfall than there was this year.
5. We predicted this last year and it did not come to pass, so rather than change our prediction we are doubling down. Over the past couple of years we have seen a number of new stores open their doors in Hernando. We are predicting that one of the following retailers will make plans to open in Hernando County: Costco, Trader Joe’s, and Whole Foods. The reason for this prediction is that we see these stores expanding their presence in the near future and we would love to have them. Costco is expanding out from the Tampa area with their new store in Wesley Chapel/Lutz. Aldi’s which is a cousin store to Trader Joe’s recently opened in Hernando County. Whole Foods was recently purchased by Amazon and this may lead to an expansion.
6. This year saw an increase in build permits for single family homes. Permit totals have been rising steadily since 2009, but are still below the levels of the early 2000s. We predict that next year will see a rise in building permits.
