Good News and Not-So-Good News

HERNANDO – R News receives a lot of requests from our readers to cover more inspirational and uplifting news, but as a small independent outlet, it's difficult to sacrifice our resources and ignore breaking news that is important to the community - but a compromise is on its way.

Historically, R News and the former Real News Real Fast would respond to real-time crime, crashes, and other first responder incidents by monitoring emergency radio traffic. Unfortunately, Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis has decided to encrypt radio traffic, so that residents no longer have a window into what's going on in the community. Couple that with a "no body camera" policy, denying Freedom of Information Act inquiries, lying about crime scene details, blocking citizens on the agency's Facebook page, threatening and arresting individuals who question or criticize the Sheriff, and you suddenly find yourself living under a Stalinesque style, tyrannical dictatorship.

Once they flip the switch and encrypt radio traffic, the community will be in complete informational darkness. But don't worry, the "state-run" media will keep you informed. HCSO's Public Information Officer Denise Moloney says their Facebook Page is all you need to receive "objective news coverage" in Hernando County. Moloney, who is the highest-paid law enforcement PIO in the state of Florida ($95,000 base salary as of 2021), has abused her power and violated the Constitutional Rights of well over 300 people by arbitrarily blocking commenters from the government agency's Facebook page. Federal Judges have already ruled that agency social media pages are "public squares," so that's no different than putting a muzzle on someone's face. We'll have a full report on the issue in the coming weeks.

Thankfully, R News is already working on plans to adjust our model and bring more positive coverage to the community. Just to give you a hint, R News will be starting a restaurant food critic section which will mainly highlight good eats around the Adventure Coast, not just Hernando County. We'll also publish more human-interest stories on local residents. We can't give it all away yet.

So, all is not lost. As a matter of fact, much more will be gained as we strive to give you a break from all the negative news.

Officials will not release the exact date, but they say radio traffic will go silent sometime in early 2024.

Thank you for all your continued support.