Ocala Gazette | April 15 - April 21, 2022 by Magnolia Media Company

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VOLUME 3 ISSUE 15

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APRIL 15 - APRIL 21, 2022

The unsettled fire fee case Missed settlement opportunities and not one mediation during eight years of litigation end with city strapped with $80 million judgment SORA and 11 minority farmers file suit against Marion County

By Jennifer Hunt Murty jennifer@ocalagazette.com

he city of Ocala is now on the hook for paying $80 million to utility customers who for years were made to pay an illegal fire fee, but records show things never needed to get that

far. While lawyers for the city and the customers exchanged settlement offers during the eight years of litigation, there is no record of a court-ordered mediation that might have brought about an agreement. On Oct. 11, 2021, Circuit Judge Robert W. Hodges ordered the city of Ocala to refund approximately

$80 million to utility customers in a class-action suit that challenged fees added to Ocala Electric Utility bills for fire services. “I am also bound to follow the mandate of the 5th DCA (District Court of Appeals). I simply have no choice in the matter,” explained See $80 million, page A3

Locals visit Ukraine refugees

By Jennifer Hunt Murty jennifer@ocalagazette.com

hen the Marion County Board of Commissioners (MCBOC) voted 4-1 on March 1 to approve a request by B. Smith Hialeah, LLC to rezone agricultural land to industrial and commercial, no one stood to be impacted more than 11 Black farmers who would be surrounded by the industrial complex the developer called Sunny Oaks. The farmers have since joined forces with a local farm preservation group called Save Our Rural Area (SORA) and filed suit on March 31st against Marion County. The suit alleges the county is allowing illegal “spot zoning” and claims their rights to due process were violated because the board only gave them two minutes during a commission meeting to raise their objections. The farmers’ complaint points to the “4 million square feet (greater than the size of the Pentagon) of incompatible commercial warehouses” and a possible “adjacent wastewater treatment plant that would be taller than their homes,” in support of their claim that the county has made inconsistent zoning decisions. The farmers’ complaint explained spot zoning this way: “Spot zoning is a zoning action that gives a small area privilege which are not extended to other land in the vicinity. Spot zoning is not allowed when it solely benefits a particular property owner or leaves a veritable See Farmers, page A6

Children’s artwork at a refugee triage center in Poland. [MAVEN photo+film]

Local photographers join local ministry to document firsthand the need of Ukrainian refugees in Poland By Rosemarie Dowell rosemarie@ocalagazette.com

ave Miller and Meagan Gumpert were gobsmacked at the chaotic scene playing out before them. The two photographers were in Lviv, Ukraine earlier this month with Ocalabased Crossroads Alliance & Ministries when they witnessed the soul-stirring sight at its train station. Scores of frantic women, with kids in tow, and often with just a single backpack or suitcase in hand, suddenly poured out of a train and desperately began looking for any means to keep traveling west to the safety

of Poland and away from their war-torn country. “It was heartbreaking; you could just feel the intense level of fear, anxiety, and desperation these women were experiencing,” said Gumpert, 41, who has two sons with her husband, Ben. “Honestly, I’m still trying to process it.” Miller was as equally disturbed. “It was emotionally powerful,” said Miller, 37, a military veteran who has a blended family of three children with his wife, Brooke. “There were hundreds of women running off the train with their children looking for any vehicle or bus that would take them to Poland.”

“What was so startling was there was not a single man in sight,” he said. The two business partners, owners of Ocala-based Maven Photo and Film, had accompanied Crossroads founder Steve Ewing to Poland March 30 to officially document the non-profit’s groundwork ahead of its planned relief effort for Ukrainian refugees, in the wake of Russia’s invasion Feb. 24. Initially, the nearly 20-year-old organization intended to send five shipping containers full of donations to a port city in Poland, but soon after arriving in Warsaw, See Poland, page A7

Pilot neighborhoods targeted for city fiber network initiative By James Blevins james@ocalagazette.com

ccording to Fiber Network/ Telecom Director Mel Poole, the reason behind the city’s major initiative to provide residential fiber networks to targeted neighborhoods in Ocala is simple: to help provide high speed broadband Internet to all those who

want it. “The city council’s vision was, ‘Let’s take a look at some pilot neighborhoods and see what kind of take rates we could get,’” said Poole, adding that the city’s targeted take rate for each respective neighborhood was 30% of each neighborhood’s population. Poole defined a take rate as the number of homes in each neighborhood that choose to connect with the city’s high

speed broadband Internet or “take” on the service. Starting with four pilot neighborhoods in 2017—Highlands, Laurels of Bellchase, Happiness Homes and Windstream— the city built each neighborhood’s fiber network infrastructure, both overhead and underground construction, Poole said, See City, page A6

File photo [Meagan Gumpert] 2020

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APRIL 15 - APRIL 21, 2022 | OCALA GAZETTE

CATCHING UP WITH THE CHIEF

PD Chief Mike Balkan sat down with the Gazette last week to discuss major issues facing the department brought up during the annual city strategic planning session on March 22. By James Blevins james@ocalagazette.com

hen it comes to understanding why his officers arrest a disproportionate number of nonresidents, Ocala Police Department (OPD) Chief Mike Balkan said it helps to think of the city as an island, surrounded on all sides by an ocean of visitors. Unlike Port Orange or South Daytona, cities of similar size, Ocala is more isolated within a rural setting, Balkan explained to the Gazette on April 7, with fewer metro areas close enough to diffuse some of the ever-in-motion nonresidential population coming to and from the city. “This population will ingress and egress through Ocala in the hundreds of thousands for work and entertainment every single day, day and night,” he added. “For example, I live in the county myself with my wife and two kids, and almost everything we do is in the city limits as well.” Because of this constant flow of visitors, Balkan said, the OPD arrests a disproportionate number of nonresidents, or those with addresses listed outside the city limits. According to OPD statistics, the city reported 6,857 nonresident offenders in 2021 alone, more than double the number of resident offenders (3,139) during the same 12-month period.

OPD reports far more nonresident offenders than resident offenders in 2021 “We are policing a much larger population than what is on paper,” said Balkan. “That’s a hard thing to understand. But Ocala is different because we’re extremely rural outside of Ocala proper, but (Marion) is the fifth largest county (by area) in the state.” The U.S. Census Bureau put Ocala’s population at 59,267 as of 2019. But according to estimates made by the Ocala Metro Chamber & Economic Partnership (CEP), the daytime population of Ocala includes roughly 250,000 people bustling about. From Balkan’s point of view, the department is policing a massive, fluid population that is always on the move, evolving and growing every year, and that includes after the sun goes down. “The CEP says we’re pulling in a quarter of a million people a day, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.,” said Balkan. “Well, that doesn’t just go away at 5:30.” Comparatively, OPD staffs for a daytime population of 63,000 people, said Balkan, with 3.1 police officers per every 1,000 citizens—higher than the state average at 2.36. Ocala’s 2020 crime rate at 3.78 is also higher than Florida’s average at 2.55. (Dividing the number of reported crimes by

Balkan wants public to give more than just money to combat the opioid crisis, says education still the key

he opioid crisis in America is pervasive, admitted Ocala Police Chief Mike Balkan, adding that education, more than just money, is needed most to help solve the growing crisis. “I want to challenge people to do more than just donate money,’’ he said, while expressing appreciation for Ocala residents’ generosity in giving to drugprevention efforts. “I want to change our thinking on how we approach this issue. We need your time and energy to help these kids with more than just money. They need your time, too.” It all starts with education, he said in an April 7 interview. Balkan has tried for decades to address the drug abuse issue through programs such as D.A.R.E., Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and other similar mentorship initiatives within local school systems. But this method, he conceded, has been less successful than he had hoped. “I’m not going to say that it’s been a failure, because we don’t know what would have happened had those programs not been in place,’’ he said. “But they haven’t accomplished all that they could.” The chief thinks the public needs to understand that law enforcement is seeing younger and younger victims of opiate overdoses and fatalities every year—and it’s only getting worse. According to research released by the American Medical Association on Feb. 15, teenage deaths due to fentanyl abuse in the United States are “soaring,” and Black teens are being hit the hardest. Overdose deaths among Black teenagers linked to the synthetic opioid, which is 80 to 100 times stronger than morphine, have increased in the United States nonstop over the past two years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We expect to see these

numbers go up even more,” added Balkan, referring to the national trend, “just because of the sheer power of this drug. It is truly frightening.” The Ocala Police Department (OPD) allocates much of its resources to preventing the crisis from growing within its user base, he said. But ultimately, the main goal of law enforcement is to go after the dealers. Dealers, according to the chief, often sell other drugs, such as marijuana, which they will sometimes lace with fentanyl in order to get more people addicted to the opioid and thus grow their customer base. Fentanyl is now being sold in pills, said Balkan, for users who don’t want to use needles. This has spread fentanyl to people more comfortable with taking drugs in an over-thecounter form. Typically, opioid users who are experiencing overdose symptoms and seek medical attention do not get arrested, according to Balkan, due to Florida Statute 893.21. The statue provides “immunity from arrest, charge, prosecution, and penalization” if “a person acting in good faith… seeks medical assistance for an individual experiencing… [a] drug-related overdose” or if “a person…is experiencing… [a]…drug-related overdose” and he or she is in need of medical attention.’’ The reason for that, he explained, is to encourage those who need medical help to seek it. The state doesn’t want fear of being arrested to stop someone from receiving potentially lifesaving help—and neither does the chief. “There’s an entire community of people who care and are throwing education, money and resources at this problem to try and stop this crisis,” said Balkan. “At the end of the day, we want to help as many people as we can get out from under the weight of opioids if they want the help.”

File photo: Chief Michael Balken [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2022.

the total population and then multiplying that number by 100,000 is how one calculates a crime rate, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.) Balkan said city police departments across the nation used to base staffing primarily on a city’s population per capita, which he believes is grossly inefficient. He said, “[If that were done today,] we would have up to 1.5 cops per 1,000 people. That makes no sense. [Thankfully,] law enforcement officials realized this [didn’t work] decades ago.” The department reported 413 violent crimes and 1,936 property crimes in 2020, with a police force of 192 officers. In comparison to another city of similar size, per OPD officials, North Miami reported 481 violent crimes and 2,008 property crimes in the same year; that city had a police force of 127. In 2020, OPD had an arrest rate per 100,000 people of 5,441, according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) records, more than double the state average rate of 2,350 per 100,000 people. In comparison to similar-sized cities in the state, Ocala arrested 1,012 people in 2020 for either rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny or motor vehicle theft, a significant amount more than Delray Beach (370), Jupiter

(225), North Miami (329), Port Orange (214) and Sanford (341) for the same crimes, according to FDLE statistics provided by the OPD. Of the 3,375 total arrests the OPD accrued from January 2020 to December 2020, the department cleared 47.2% of those cases. Clearance figures are presented two ways, as “clearance by arrest or exception and clearance by age of offender,” according to the FDLE. “Think of clearance as synonymous with arrest,” said Jeffrey Walczak, public information officer for the OPD on April 12. “For example, if have 10 murders and no arrests were made for any of those crimes, our clearance rate is 0. If we arrest five suspects, then our clearance rate is 50%.” An offense has been cleared by arrest if one or more people have been arrested for that crime. An offense has been cleared by exception if there are elements beyond the control of law enforcement that prevent an arrest but the offender has been identified, located and there is enough evidence to prosecute. Again, for comparison, Delray Beach arrested 1,538 people in 2020, clearing 18.2%, while North Miami arrested a total of 803 during the same year, clearing 17.6%.

Chief Balkan wants to split city into four quadrants for better quality policing Goal

Current Standard

1 Sergeant and 5 Officers per quadrant

1 Sergeant, 7 Officers per district

t the city’s annual strategic planning session held on March 22, Ocala Police Department Chief Mike Balkan brought forward several budget requests before Ocala City Council, including a proposal to divide the city into four quadrants to better use the agency’s staff and to help reduce overtime costs. Currently, Ocala is split into two districts for policing, said Balkan, with each district having a district office located within the community. Ocala Police Department (OPD) headquarters, at 402 S. Pine Ave., houses administration and major crimes units (including those handling murder, robbery and arson cases). OPD’s East District office is at 340 N.E. Eighth Ave.; its West District office is at 625 N.W. Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. Each district has one sergeant and seven officers. “It worked well back in 1994, when I was a young cop,” explained Balkan, “working under seasoned veterans with lots of life skills and history to draw from. But things have changed.

Law enforcement has changed. Now a very young sergeant isn’t just supervising one new guy, but four or five new guys.” Overall, it takes the OPD a total of 13 months to hire and properly train a new hire before that officer is ready to work independently in the field. Hiring new police officers takes two months, followed by six months in the police academy. Then it takes another month for department orientation/ high liability training and four months for field training. With experience levels at a premium, Balkan’s goal is to lower the span of control down a couple of pegs—ideally, five officers under one sergeant— spread over the four quadrants. By spreading things out in smaller quadrants and shrinking squads, Balkan hopes to create a system of higher accountability as well. “Each quadrant (team) is accountable for the crime that occurs there,” said Balkan. “It’ll get us back to making closer ties with our community policing as well, targeting smaller locations better and understanding what’s going on in that particular

OPD goals and budget requests for 2022-2023 • Purchase land for future growth • Build out Communications Center • Formation of Field Force Unit • Staff downtown service area (horses/bikes) • Reconstitute Traffic Enforcement Unit • Formation of ICAC Unit • Improve training levels • Lower span of control for line supervision Sworn requests (involving the swearing in of new officers): • Six patrol sergeants • Five police officers • Two canine officers to allow for 24/7 coverage • One sergeant for the Traffic Enforcement

neighborhood, who the bad people are. It just creates an atmosphere of better dialogue between the police and the citizens.” “The city has grown,” he added. “And as an agency, we need to grow our approach to policing, too, and keep up with it.” For the fiscal year 2021/2022, the OPD’s operating budget is $37.6 million, according to Public Information Officer Jeff Walczak. Presently, OPD has a total workforce of 315 employees, including 194 who are sworn law enforcement personnel. The four-quadrant patrol structure will add an additional 11 sworn police officers (six sergeants and five officers), with an overall implementation cost of approximately $2.2 million, said Walczak. “Refining our current two-district patrol structure to four quadrants will add six sergeants and five officers to our Community Policing Bureau,” he added. “This will improve our service to the community, to include crime deterrence and greater efficiency in response times.”

• Three motorcycle officers • Two mounted/bike unit officers for downtown Non-Sworn Requests (involving the hiring of non-police staff ): • Eight dispatchers and one dispatch supervisor • One communications CAD specialist for 911 • Four community service specialists • One administrative specialist • One digital forensic technician • One OPD systems analyst • One crime scene technician • One part-time maintenance technician • One barn manager (mounted unit support)

APRIL 15 - APRIL 21, 2022 | OCALA GAZETTE

$80 million judgement

File photo: City attorney Patrick Gilligan [Bruce Ackerman/ Ocala Gazette] 2022.

Continued from page A1 Hodges at the hearing. “The 5th DCA found that the tax was unconstitutional, and essentially, found that the city did not have the right to take that tax in the manner that they did, so they had no right to the money. Thus, it must be returned.” In 2006, the city began adding a fire fee of around $15 to every Ocala Electric Utility’s customer’s monthly bill. It was collected until the start of 2021. The fees were not challenged as an unconstitutional tax until 2014 by plaintiffs Discount Sleep of Ocala and Dale Birch, represented by the firm of Bowen, Radson, & Schroth. The case would eventually become a class-action suit that included all those residents and businesses who paid the fire fees through their city utility bill unless they opted out of the class during litigation. At last count, of the more than 89,000 utility account holders that paid fees, only 752 opted out of receiving a refund. But before Hodges’ ruling, the city had multiple opportunities to reverse course on how to fund its fire services and settle the suit through legal negotiations. However, a review of the court docket by the Gazette does not reveal any evidence that the parties ever attended a mediation conference. Nor does the public record show any court order requiring the parties to do so. In December 2013, the city attorney Patrick Gilligan, who represented the

city during the initial ordinance and amendments, received a letter from the Bowen, Radson, & Schroth firm notifying the city of their representation of Discount Sleep of Ocala, LLC, d/b/a Mattress Warehouse, and all other city of Ocala utility customers. The letter contained the first opportunity to settle the claims by rescinding the ordinance and refunding all fire user fees paid by the putative class within 45 days. The letter from Schroth offered to work out the dispute in pre-suit mediation “in an effort to avoid the time and expense of litigation.” But the city did not accept the offer for pre-suit mediation and continued to collect the fire fees through utility bills. So, in 2014 the plaintiffs filed a suit that would go on for eight years. In July 2016, Schroth made the city another offer: stop collecting the fees and pay $15 million in refunds, and the plaintiffs’ attorneys fees and costs. Nearly a year later, in March 2017, city attorney Patrick Gilligan sent plaintiff ’s counsel an offer of $17,506.83 for Discount Sleep of Ocala and $11,608.80 for Birch. “Since the offered amounts approximate the maximum amount each would receive as damages and additional compensation in the event this matter is allowed to continue as a class action, we trust that it provides sufficient incentive for them to resolve their action against the City,” wrote Gilligan. In 2018, attorneys for the plaintiffs and class made another offer to the city to settle: pay $4 million and phase out collecting the fees through utility bills and find another way to fund the city’s fire services legally. No document was produced by the city’s private attorney firm of Gilligan, Gooding, Batsel & Anderson, P.A. either rejecting or accepting this settlement offer, and the litigation continued. In June 2020, the 5th DCA entered its order requiring refunds of the illegal tax. However, the city hoped the Florida Supreme Court would hear the case and reverse that order. The city hired another firm, Brannock, Humphries, & Berman, to handle the petition to the supreme court. The latest records show the fees for that

firm were just under $100,000. By November 2020, the Florida Supreme Court declined to hear the case. That left Ocala officials scrambling to stop collecting the illegal fees and to find another—legal--revenue source for funding fire services through the remainder of the budget year. To make up for the revenue shortfall, in February 2021, the city council passed a one-time assessment of $190.77 for every residential property owner through a non-ad valorem tax. The residential property tax is the same for all, regardless of property size. Commercial property owners pay per square foot, with a range between $106 to $31,973. The revenue from the non-ad valorem tax covered budgeted fire services from February 2021 through September 2021. According to emails produced between city attorney Robert Batsel, Jr., and plaintiffs’ attorney Derek Schroth, attempted settlement negotiations picked up again in December 2020 and ended unsuccessfully in January 2021. The city asked Schroth to consider a settlement offer that would pay each class member only 22.5% of the fire fees they paid or receive utility credits for 37.5% of what they paid. The city proposed that all class members who did not apply for the refund within 30 days would forfeit it. Batsel estimated the city’s financial exposure would have been a little more than $18 million in possible payouts or up to $30 million in utility credits. The plaintiffs rejected the city’s settlement offer. In subsequent discussions, Schroth offered the city a settlement of approximately $56 million. The city declined and countered by increasing its settlement offer to $40 million; that would mean the customers would receive a refund of less than half of the fees they paid. In an email to Schroth transmitting the city’s counteroffer, Batsel added: “For what it’s worth, I can tell you that city council did not arrive at this offer easily.” It was around this time that attorneys for the city maintained to the court that Ocala was entitled to another trial to present evidence in support of a so-called

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set-off defense, which argues the city should get a financial credit to set-off the damages the court awarded if the funds were used for services of value to citizens. This would have reduced the amount the city would have had to refund the utility customers. But on Oct. 11, 2021, Hodges rejected the city’s argument. “I think that is consistent with their [appellate court] opinion,’’ the judge said. “When they remanded it to us, that was the important language to me. It wasn’t remanded for a new trial. It wasn’t remanded to determine any defenses that were not mentioned in the opinion, it wasn’t remanded for any sort of evidentiary hearings in any sense. It was only remanded to fund the refund. As I said back then [January 2021 order], the refund is the total amount paid minus whatever amounts are waived by people.” In court ordered notices sent out by the city to class members who paid the illegal tax of the final hearing on how the $80 million would be disbursed scheduled for May 10. The city hired a company out of Massachusetts named The Notice Company. Under the contract, the company would send out notices to more than 89,000 past and present account holders and would locate utility customers who had moved. The cost to the city for this service: $16,450 for services and almost $30,000 for postage. The hearing notices alert account holders of the final hearing scheduled for May 10, 2022 to determine the amount that will be paid to the named plaintiffs and each class member. According to court documents filed in anticipation of the hearing, class members can expect over 91% of the fire fees they paid refunded. The city’s solution for funding the $80 million in refunds includes using $20 million in city funds on hand and taking out a $60 million bank loan. City staff is budgeting loan payments of $4.8 million in the coming budget year. The city’s attorney office has billed at least half a million for defending the fire fee case.

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APRIL 15 - APRIL 21, 2022 | OCALA GAZETTE

City seeks more fiber network customers Continued from page A1 costing roughly $600K in total. The city estimated that if the pilot neighborhoods reached a 30% take rate that it would produce a good return on investment after 36 months. So far, only one neighborhood, Windstream, is hitting that number, according to Poole. The rest, he said, are lagging behind. “There’s this adage that just because you build something, doesn’t mean they will necessarily come. We’re in the right market, but we’re not the only show in town. So this is competitive,” he added. Windstream’s take rate leads the four pilot neighborhoods with 52%, followed by Highlands (17%), Laurels of Bellchase (14%) and Happiness Homes (2%). “It took about two years to get [Windstream] where they are today,” said Poole. “So, I feel like if we give it more time, the rest might start catching up. Customers are coming with us.” Poole stressed that no taxpayer dollars were spent on the initiative, since the city’s Fiber Network and Telecom Company both operate as city-

owned businesses. “Ultimately, our goal for this department is to provide high speed Internet, not only to the citizens of Ocala, but the businesses as well,” he said. “Specifically, we hope to provide for anchor institutions, such as schools, libraries and healthcare facilities. And we’re looking down the road for other kinds of partnerships as well.” The Ocala City Council approved on April 5 a one-year renewal agreement with the Marion County School Board to provide fiber services to metropolitan area network schools with gross revenue in the amount of $1,238,917. “We don’t just focus File photo: Mel Poole [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2022. on the residential piece,” Poole concluded. “The goal is continuing to get the For more information, visit infrastructure out there, slowly and www.CityofOcalaFiber.com or methodically, all while being fiscally email Telecom@OcalaFL.org. responsible and benefitting citizens.”

Farmers set to fight county Continued from page A1

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection did raise some concerns in its response to the county. “The location of the proposed Future Land Use Map amendment is within the Rainbow Spring Group and Rainbow River Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP) and spring shed boundaries of the Rainbow Spring Group (which has been identified as an Outstanding Florida Spring). Activities associated with the proposed project have the potential to impact water quality. If adopted, appropriate measures should be taken to minimize any potential additional nutrient loadings to the spring(s), including the proper treatment and disposal of wastewater and stormwater in accordance with BMAP requirements. Any additional loading to the basin will be evaluated and may require additional restoration actions by the County if deemed necessary.” Jerome Feaster, founder of SORA, told the Gazette that attorney’s fees for the suit are being paid for by the 11 farmers and other local residents active in SORA who, he said, feel the need to fight the development threat at their doorstep before it swallows up more of the farmland. “We are fighting for these farmers to maintain the way of life they’ve had for generations,” said Feaster.

“We are fighting for these farmers to maintain the way of life they’ve had for generations.”

island surrounded by incompatible zoning. Spot zoning generally connotes zoning in favor of a few at the expense of the general community, or isolated and unrelated zoning legislation. For example, a change that would permit a commercial building in a residential area constitutes spot zoning and vice versa.” This is the second lawsuit filed against Marion County related to the same property. The first lawsuit, filed in 2014 also by SORA and few others, alleged the county did not provide adequate notice of its intention to enter into a developer’s agreement. That suit has remained dormant since November 2015. Attorney for the farmers, Ralf Brookes, explained the difference between the two suits. “The first suit was about a developer’s agreement; the second suit is about rezoning.” The Sunny Oaks industrial plans were approved by the MCBOC on the same day that the commission agreed to transmit a comprehensive plan text amendment to Tallahassee for state review and comments related to the World Equestrian Center’s plans for the old Ocala Jockey Club (OJC), which is also off 318. The plans for the old Ocala Jockey Club include homesites as small as three

Jerome Feaster Founder of SORA

acres, an RV park, a gas station, hotel, arenas, retail and restaurants. The two proposed developments have at least five things in common. Both are inside the Farmland Preservation Area and outside the Urban Growth Boundary and both have the potential to significantly impact traffic on Interstate 75 and Highway 318. Sunny Oaks plans for a wastewater treatment plant could service the old OJC property. And finally, both developers share the same engineer, David Tillman, president of Tillman & Associates Engineering. According to Stacie Causey, spokesperson for Marion County, there are 11 different agencies at the state level that will review the county’s proposed comprehensive plan amendment. As of April 11, only five agencies had responded. Two of them, the State Department of Agriculture of Consumer Services and the Florida Department of Transportation, both gave no objection to the plans.

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Green areas are farms that have filed suit

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APRIL 15 - APRIL 21, 2022 | OCALA GAZETTE

Poland visit Continued from page A1 Crossroads began to see a more effective way to help the refugees. “Once we got to Poland, we realized it is not a developing country; there are no supply chain issues there at all,” said Ewing. “They are not overwhelmed with millions of refugees, they have it under control.” “So, for us, the most effective way to help the Ukrainian people is to send money,” he said. “If we put $15,000 in a bank account, we could be distributing 38,000 pounds of fresh food to them the next day.” “We have the clarity of that now,” said Ewing. “The best way for us to help is to just purchase the food incountry instead of sending stuff on a shipping container that takes weeks to get there.” Like Ewing, Miller said when the group first arrived in Warsaw, they expected to see crowds of Ukrainians in the streets or huddled in tents, in need of food and assistance. “But we quickly noticed the presumed need was not there,” he said. “There were already systems in place to help refugees and get them triaged and moved out to foster homes.” From Warsaw, they traveled west to the small town of Chelm, much closer to the Ukrainian border, said Miller. They didn’t see long lines of refugees there either, but they did see another heart-tugging moment. “We got there and saw 63 orphans being offloaded from a train,” said Miller. “There were young firefighters and military personnel, both men and women, hugging and comforting these orphans and spending time with them before sending them on their way to Holland.” “My eyes welled up; it was poignant and special,” he said. “I had to step back and take a moment to take it all in.” The next leg of the group’s trip proved invaluable. In Jaroslaw, Poland, another town near the border, they made contact with a company, Vita Fruit, that had, up until the war, been supplying Ukraine with high-end fruits and vegetables. “They lost most of their business, but decided to start donating their goods to Ukraine,” said Miller. Shortly, a seasoned and logistically well-organized faith-based

organization from Holland, Christian Refugee Relief (CCR), stepped in and began buying and transporting the goods to an underground warehouse across the border for distribution to Ukrainian citizens and soldiers. Soon Ewing’s group and CCR leaders met and quickly decided on a collaborative effort with Vita Fruit. “Now we have an alliance established with another non-profit that has experience in helping refugees and a company in Poland that we can directly purchase food from that will get to the people in Ukraine with a day or so, not weeks,” said Ewing. “We need the residents of North Central Florida to help us out by only donating money,” he said. “It’s different this time.” An unexpected trip to Lviv and its train station came next, where the group experienced the chaos of the mothers’ frenzied attempt to get to Poland. Gumpert said as they were getting ready to leave to go back to Poland, some of them approached the van and tried to get in. “I felt helpless,” she said. “They were knocking on the windows and opening the doors.” Even so, both Gumbert and Miller said their time in Poland and Ukraine wasn’t the doom and gloom they expected to see, given the news reports from here in the United States. “It was cool to see support for everyone; there were Ukrainian flags and billboards everywhere,” said Gumpert, a native of Louisiana. “Poland is doing everything they can do to help people get back on their feet.” For Miller, who spent time in Iraq and Kuwait while in the military, the biggest shocker wasn’t the scene at the train station, it was the overwhelming response to help Ukraine from European countries. “It wasn’t at all what we thought we’d see,” he said. “The EU (European Union) has done an incredible job of stepping in and helping Ukraine.” Meanwhile, Ewing is planning a return trip to Poland and Ukraine soon, with Miller and Gumbert along once again. “We’ll be going to Poland in a couple of weeks and we’ll document the first wave of distribution for our donors.” To donate to Crossroad’s relief effort in Ukraine go to crossroadsam.org.

Photos by MAVEN photo+film

Military personal at a border crossing between Poland and Ukraine.

Aid workers saying goodbye to refugees at a shelter before they are relocated to Holland.

First responders and military helping transport 63 orphans from Ukraine to Holland.

Ukrainian refugee at a Shelter in Chelm, Poland speaking with Meagan Gumpert.

Polish Firefighter comforting a Ukrainian Orphan who had just arrived across the border.

Polish train Station where 63 Ukrainian orphans had just arrived to load onto a bus and be transported to a receiving orphanage in Holland.

APRIL 15 - APRIL 21, 2022 | OCALA GAZETTE

New programs at Senior Resources Foundation

File photo

By Eadie Sickler Correspondent

knowing about them,’’ Silverman said. “If someone is over a certain age, are they ‘over the hill’?” she questioned, adding, “I know a lot of senior people who are intelligent and living their lives to the fullest, and their vast experience can be beneficial to the public in general.” Silverman is the founder and president of the organization, and her son, Herb Silverman, is in charge of marketing and oversees the group’s website. The foundation has a board of 10 members, who come from several areas of Ocala’s diverse population. SRF of Ocala is a member of the Ocala/Marion County Chamber & Economic Partnership.

“H

elping Today’s Seniors Find a Better Tomorrow” is the emphasis of the Senior Resource Foundation of Ocala. Phyllis Silverman launched the nonprofit, 501(C)3 charitable foundation in 2021 in part to remind people that seniors still have plenty to give to their communities. “I realize as I have gotten older, attitudes not helpful to the senior population sometimes have shown a lack of respect without knowing seniors or

REP. JOE HARDING, CF TEAM UP WITH FARM SHARE FOR FOOD DISTRIBUTION EVENT

By Ocala Gazette Staff

said. The videos are shown on Facebook at noon every other Thursday. They can also be seen at www.SRFofOcala.org/videos. Silverman is a graduate of Boston University, earning a bachelor’s degree in education with a minor in psychology. She taught learning disabled children for three years in New Jersey. She and her family later moved to Florida, and her career path took her into hospital marketing and public relations. She does the interviewing on the “Tapestry of Life” videos and is very much at ease with the format. She worked in public relations and marketing for 37 years, she added, for the Arthritis Foundation, and for Emory University in Atlanta, and has been very active in various volunteer endeavors through the years. A widow for 16 years, Silverman has three sons. Herb, the eldest, is retired after nearly 30 years in the field of marketing, management and sales. With the SRF of Ocala, he does all the videography and computer work. His undergraduate work was at the University of Chicago in economics, then a master’s degree followed from Emory University in marketing and management. He has several certificates in insurance and internet technology. “I am a geek at heart,” he quipped. Silverman’s son Len lives in Nashville, and part time in St. George Island, Florida. Her son David lives in Marietta, Georgia. Silverman concluded, “Our mission is to continue to positively improve the mental, physical and social well-being of seniors.” For more information, visit www.SRFofOcala.org.

BYRNES, FREE THE OCKLAWAHA WIN FPRA ‘COMMUNICATOR OF THE YEAR’ AWARDS

by partnering with Farm Share and the College of Central Florida to host this event.” Founded in 1991, Farm Share is a non-profit food bank that supplies over 23 million Florida households with fresh fruits and vegetables, according to event officials. Food will be available on a first-come, firstserved basis. To pick up food items, vehicles should travel to the back of campus. Distribution will be held in a drive-thru format for social distancing purposes.

For more information on Farm Share, visit www.farmshare.org.

Joe Byrnes

Margaret Spontak

By Ocala Gazette Staff

he Ocala Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association gathered on April 13 at the downtown Marion Theater to give out a series of awards. The awards banquet bestows annually, in honor of Wilton F. Martin, a “Communicator of the Year” Award to an individual and institution that has “demonstrated excellence in strategic communications to improve the quality of life in Marion County,” according to event officials. Award presenters Lisa Varner and Allison Campbell informed the audience that Wilton F. Martin was a native Ocalan who first got his start as a reporter at what is now the

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on the first new Glass Bottom Boat at Silver Springs in 30 years.” The institutional Wilton F. Martin Award went to Free the Ocklawaha. “Following an engaging meeting with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Free the Ocklawaha Coalition was formed, spearheaded by Margaret Spontak. Communications and legislative efforts have included branding and website creation, a bound leader briefing book, mounted maps, newsletters, tours, surveys and more. Since the initial organization retreat of 25 conservation organizations, the group has now grown to 60 members in two-and-half years,” Varner told the audience.

Ocala StarBanner and cofounded the state public relations association in 1938, all while serving as the Silver Springs publicity director. This year, the invidual Wilton F. Martin Award went to long time journalist, Joe Byrnes. Varner told the audience regarding Byrnes nomination, “Ever the versatile veteran reporter and editor, Joe joined NPR’s flagship station in Orlando two years ago offering specific focus on Ocala/ Marion County, The Villages and surrounding communities. This past year’s highlights included interviews and features about the Groveland Four, the 10th anniversary of Trayvon Martin’s death, a feature on efforts to preserve the vacant Rosenwald School in Okahumpka, and a feature

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epresentative Joe Harding announced this week that he would be partnering with the College of Central Florida (CF) and Farm Share to host a food distribution event on Saturday, April 16, at 10 a.m. on the CF Ocala campus, located at 3001 S.W. College Road. “There are so many Florida families in desperate need of fresh, nutritious foods,” said Rep. Harding in a press release. “I look forward to serving the community

Mother and son agree that seniors sometimes get a bad rap from others just because of their age. The two want to do something about that misperception. Their belief is, “It’s not age—it’s attitude,” she said. One recent appearance in the public spotlight was at the Parade of Senior Services event held at the College of Central Florida in Ocala in March. The Silvermans greeted seniors and gave out many “Quick Reference Guides” the organization has printed that highlights resources for seniors in Ocala, including telephone numbers and addresses. Foundation services are available to all Ocala seniors over 55 years old. “Seniors at Work” is one arm of the foundation. Although just introduced at the end of March, Silverman said several employers and potential employees already have registered with the program. All jobs available for seniors are part-time positions. Applicants need only fill out a form with the foundation. There is no cost to either the potential employer or employee. “What we do doesn’t require money,” Silverman said. “What we do requires people. You can’t buy what we do.” Fundraising is also part of the foundation’s structure. All money raised by the nonprofit is donated to other entities, Silverman said, noting recipients so far have included Marion County Animal Services and Marion Senior Services’ Meals on Wheels program. At the end of March, the foundation launched its “Tapestry of Life” video endeavor, which features videos “to show people what seniors have accomplished and are still accomplishing,” Silverman

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APRIL 15 - APRIL 21, 2022 | OCALA GAZETTE

State State Rep. Joe Harding discusses his parental rights bill and related controversy

File photo: State Rep. Joe Harding [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2021.

By Jennifer Hunt Murty jennifer@ocalagazette.com

ollowing a busy legislative season that brought local State Rep. Joe Harding national attention for his controversial Parental Rights in Education measure, which opponents have nicknamed the “Don’t Say Gay’’ bill, the Gazette met with the District 22 representative to discuss this and other timely issues. In an interview prior to the session, Harding, a first-term Republican legislator from Williston who represents Levy County and part of Marion County, did not identify the parental rights bill as a priority. But Harding saw opportunity once he got to Tallahassee. “There were a couple folks out there working on this issue and just over time it kind of emerged that I had an opportunity to bring the energy to push this thing through and get it done. And it was pretty cool to be able to do that,” he explained. “What these school districts have started to do is separate sex ed, the teaching of the sex act or prevention of sex, from all those things that would come with sex ed from teaching gender theory sexual orientation because they don’t believe the two are the same.” “And I honestly don’t believe the two are the same,’’ Harding continued. “But I do think that teaching someone that they could have 100 different types of gender is not the same thing as teaching them about sexual education. So, what started to happen was while we were clear about what we did not want in sex ed and what grades that education was not appropriate for they were still able to advance teaching gender theory because it wasn’t considered sex ed. The second piece [of the bill] was on the critical decisions relating to a child’s welfare and well-being.” Harding said he learned of Florida counties where school districts had gender transition guides officials could use to help a student transition their gender without parental involvement. Harding says he first started exploring the issues at the end of last year when he found out about teaching support guides from different districts. “There was one in Palm Beach County that had a genderbreadman instead of a gingerbread man. And it’s actually like a gingerbread figure that teaches gender identity as being something that’s what you identify as and not as you’re born.” Harding admitted that the Genderbread Person, as the material is called, was not inserted in the curriculum. Still, he said, it’s “a resource guide that the teachers have to use to teach with.” Gov. Ron DeSantis also held up a copy of the material during a March 28 press conference explaining why he was signing the bill. Harding provided a copy of the

Genderbread Person material he said was from the Palm Beach County School District. The Palm Beach County district did not reply to the Gazette’s request for comment. However, a Palm Beach County School Board member said recently that sexual orientation and gender identity are not taught in kindergarten through third grade in the district. “I was shocked,’’ Harding continued. “I had no idea that that existed, and that’s one of the largest school districts in Florida.” Harding said the Leon County school district “was teaching gender (identity) through using a unicorn and, again, it was about your sex not necessarily being what you’re born with, it’s what you identify as.” Harding did not provide a copy of the unicorn material, and an inquiry to Leon County Schools for the material was not returned. Harding provided the Gazette a copy of a questionnaire from the Martin County School District entitled Transgender/Gender Nonconforming Student Support Plan. Jennifer DeShazo, a spokesperson for the Martin County district, confirmed that the questionnaire provided by Harding was “a portion of a guide that was available for staff use prior to the implementation of HB241/Chapter 1014 (known as the Parents’ Bill of Rights) in July 2021.’’ “Our procedures have been modified since that time to ensure complete compliance with legislation,’’ she added. “It is important to note that every student support plan in existence has the signature of the student’s parent/ guardian. The guide, including the portion you referenced, is currently being overhauled by school personnel and legal counsel to: (1) provide all students with access to support and (2) ensure it is compliant with all Florida and federal laws.” Harding also provided the Gazette a copy of the one-page Manatee County School District “LGBTQ+ District Guidelines.” Mitchell Teitelbaum, general counsel for the Manatee District, confirmed that the guidelines provided by Harding

were in place prior to the enactment of the bill. “Based upon the Parental Bill of Rights that take effect July 1, 2022, the School District will follow all Florida Statutes and await guidance from the Florida Department of Education,” wrote Teitelbaum by email. “Even folks that are on the left would agree that this is gender theory...and it’s still debatable, this theory that gender is not what you’re born with, it’s some other thing that’s determined through other influence. So that specifically was shocking to me, and over time I started to see that there was a real need to address the gap in parental rights,“ said Harding. There was one part of the bill that Harding said “got no airtime” yet he felt was particularly “very important.” “Any questionnaire that a child is doing in the school district should be approved by the parent,’’ he said. “And when it comes to health decisions, if your child gets hurt at school, you know you want the school to be able to administer first aid. But if your child needs pharmaceuticals, antidepressants or whatever, obviously that’s not appropriate for them to do without your involvement. “What school district started to do is they did one health release and in that health release there was a blanket statement. Basically, you gave away all your rights to make any health care decisions for the student, and there were a handful of counties that really stood out.’’ Pointing to St. Lucie County and Orange County, Harding opinioned that it was easier for the districts to navigate potential issues by leaving the health care releases “super blank” or overly broad. Harding said that isn’t the case in the Marion County School District, where the release is more itemized so that parents were able to spell out their intentions easier. The Gazette was not able independently review any of these district’s releases. “The third and final piece is really the whole point of the whole bill, which is the enforcement issue,” Harding said. Under the bill, parents and school districts have certain periods of time for notification and resolution of any conflicts. If there is no resolution, the parent can ask for a special magistrate, who is a member of the Florida Bar, to recommend a decision to the State Board of Education to reject or approve. Or the parent can file a lawsuit against the district for declaratory judgment finding the school district is in violation of the new law and seek injunctive relief, financial damages and attorney’s fees and other costs against the district.

Getting the bill filed and passed

“A lot of the bills, the major bills, are passed by the Legislature are 95% bipartisan and 60 or 65% were unanimous. The 5% of the bills that are controversial, oftentimes the details do not get worked out until through committees, right before session,” said Harding. “You can’t take on every big issue that needs to be addressed. You’ve got to pick a couple and this issue worked. The parental rights bill really came from some concerns I had in connection with talking to the education (committee) chairs, talking to staff, kind of figuring out where they were and what I knew to be the issues,” he said. “That bill really did not come together until like two to three days before the filing deadline,’’ Harding noted. “I think we filed it on the morning of the filing deadline. We

were working on finalizing how much we were going to take on in that one bill, we had even broader things originally.”

On being called homophobic and partisan politics

Harding said when critics and the media started referring to his legislation as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, he at first thought they were talking about a totally different measure. When lobbying against the bill began, he said he met with Floridians who opposed it but he said he was not approached by the “activist lobbyists” fighting the bill. “So, when I started hearing what they were saying, I’m like, first of all, they’ve never reached out to me and that’s different. Most of the legitimate folks that lobby issues typically start with the person that’s running the bill to understand what you’re doing and what your motivations are. And even if you’re against it, you try to find and build some common ground, and maybe there’s some piece of it that you can work together on.” At one point, Harding saw a letter that described him a “homophobic bigot running a bill that cancels or chills gay people.” He said he was initially shocked to find himself described that way but felt like it was a political move to “tap into those fighting for gay equality. They were trying to tap into the rage and anger, mostly from the left, and get the gay community to fight us.” Speaking to the national media attention, “This bill, it just cracked me up, I’d turn on the TV, I see him talking like this is a person that is saying all these things about me, and he has never talked to me or met me.” Eventually, Harding said, he did get a chance to sit down with the “activist lobbyist” because of his own efforts to reach out to them. Unfortunately, it was past the time to make major changes since the bill was already too far along in committee. Harding believes that his bill was used to whip up “partisan fervor” turning it into a “giant culture issue.” Instead, Harding said the main focus of the bill was about “age appropriateness. Which, if you ask any person out here, most people walking on the street would agree with our bill. And then the empowerment of parents, which is pretty bipartisan as far as you look – even polling nationally.” Harding said he’s been resistant to argue against those who call him homophobic because he doesn’t want to give those critics credibility. “Anybody who knows me, knows that it’s not true,’’ he said. Asked about any perceptions that conservatives are not accepting of gay citizens, Harding replied, “I think maybe there was a time that that was true. I don’t feel like that’s true in the current era.” Harding said gay rights issues and trans right issues should remain separate when consider legislation. “I do think that the trans movement is so different,’’ he said. “I’ve heard this from people in the gay community that are Republican and Democrat that they’re [gay people] being brought into this other movement that they really aren’t part of. It’s not really their movement, and they’re terrified of it because I think it kind of pulls them backwards. It muddies the water a little bit.”

Harding feels the support

In recent months, especially during the height of the controversy when critics from President Joe Biden to major companies including Disney were criticizing the bill, Harding said he received an extraordinary amount of donations to his reelection campaign. According to a press release, his campaign raised “$70,000 during the month of March while returning $3,126 in donations to Disney. Of significant note, over 3,700 donors contributed to Harding’s campaign, the vast majority being small-dollar donations from individuals, about two thirds from states outside Florida. The average donation for the month was under $19.”

A10

APRIL 15 - APRIL 21, 2022 | OCALA GAZETTE

PRICE AT THE PUMP DROPS IN FLORIDA

BARS LOSE APPEAL OVER COVID-19 SHUTDOWN

File photo

By Jim Saunders Florida News Service

File photo

By Florida News Service

he average cost of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in Florida dropped to $4.06 on Tuesday, as motorists get some relief from lower crude-oil prices, according to the AAA auto club. The average price was down from $4.15 a gallon a week earlier and $4.36 a month earlier. A record average high, $4.38 a gallon, was recorded on March 11. “Gas prices are following the downward trend set by falling crude oil prices,” AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins said in

a prepared statement. “Oil futures are falling because of global demand concerns related to COVID-19 outbreaks in China. The potential of higher U.S. interest rates and a strengthening dollar have also put downward pressure on petroleum prices.” Jenkins also pointed to decisions by the United States and other countries to release oil from reserves. The most-expensive gas in Florida is in the West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Naples markets, while the cheapest is in the Fort Walton Beach, Pensacola and Panama City markets, according to AAA.

FLORIDA HAS 3RD LARGEST NUMBER OF SCHOOL BOOK BAN INCIDENTS By Associated Press

here have been more than 200 instances of public school districts in Florida banning books since last July, the third highest number of incidents of any state in the U.S., according to a report from an advocacy group for writing professionals. PEN America said in the report this week that Florida had 204 instances of book banning in seven school districts between July 2021 and March 2022. Only Texas and Pennsylvania had higher numbers. The school districts were in Brevard, Clay, Flagler, Indian River, Orange, Pinellas and Polk counties. PEN America also warned that more books could be banned in Florida in the future now that Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed into law a bill that makes it easier for parents to challenge books and instructional materials they don’t approve. Supporters of the legislation says

it gives parents more involvement in their children’s education. The report said that in Orange County, home to Orlando, school leaders pulled books without following their own processes. In nearby Polk County, 16 books were put in “quarantine” while officials decided whether to ban them permanently after a conservative national advocacy group, not a local parent, flagged them as problematic, the report said. Books banned in Florida school districts, whether permanently or pending review, include Isabel Allende’s “The House of Spirits,” Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Iris Chang’s “The Rape of Nanking,” Jonathan Safran Foer’s “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” Khaled Hosseini’s “The Kite Runner,” Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” and Toni Morrison’s “Beloved.” PEN America is made up of novelists, journalists, editors, poets, essayists, playwrights and publishers.

RESEARCHERS FOCUS ON BIOFUEL CROP

By Florida News Service

esearchers with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences are studying ways to scale up production of a crop that can be used for things such as renewable jet fuel. Carinata is an oilseed crop that is closely related to the mustard family of plants. The crop is not used to produce food for humans, but is uniquely suited to be converted into biofuel. Sheeja George, an agricultural scientist who is leading research efforts on the crop at the UF/IFAS facility in Gadsden County, said that oil and fatty acid found in carinata are part of what makes it suitable to yield fuels. “It’s called a drop-in fuel, meaning you don’t have to do anything to the existing infrastructure for this fuel to work. You take today’s jet engine, and you can blend it with today’s petroleum, and boom, drop it into the engine and it will work,” George said during a demonstration for reporters

in Quincy on Monday. Working with farmers in North Florida and the surrounding region, George and other researchers with UF/IFAS are providing information about how to optimize the process of growing carinata for farmers who grow other crops. George said carinata’s ability to grow during the winter is part of what makes it a potentially desirable and lucrative crop for farmers in Southeastern states. “It goes in the ground in fall, middle of November, and comes out in May,” George said. “That’s typically when nobody grows anything over here. And that’s a shame, because we get like 60 inches of rainfall here in the Southeast. Our winters are mild, we don’t freeze out like the midwest, and we have great soil.” The Florida Department of Agriculture nearly a decade ago gave UF/ IFAS its first round of funding to begin research on the carinata, according to George. Since then, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has poured more research dollars into studying the plant. The

lso, the appeals court said the orders “resulted in temporary cessation and limitation of appellants’ (the bars’) businesses, not a complete or permanent loss of the ability to do business.” “Taking appellants’ allegations in their complaint to be true, the economic impact of the COVID orders on their business was significant,” the ruling said. “However, the impact of the orders amounted to a complete prohibition on the sale of alcoholic beverages for only 17 days, following which appellants’ businesses were incrementally permitted to return to limited sales and operation before being allowed to return to their pre-pandemic mode in approximately six months.” Orlando Bar Group, LLC, which does business as The Basement bar, The Attic bar and The Treehouse bar, went to the appeals court in May 2021 after Orange County Circuit Judge

John Jordan dismissed the case. The lawsuit initially also included bars from other areas of the state. The lawsuit stemmed from a series of state and local orders that started in March 2020, after the pandemic started sweeping through Florida. In the early stages, bars were prevented from selling alcohol for onsite consumption, though a series of changes were made in the restrictions in the subsequent months. Gov. Ron DeSantis rescinded the restrictions in September 2020. In the lawsuit filed in circuit court, bar owners alleged that the restrictions were arbitrary and amounted to an unconstitutional taking of property rights. “The orders were arbitrarily and capriciously applied against bars as a class of business that were not allowed to be open for business, and the application of the stricter standards for the plaintiffs’ class of businesses was not rationally related to the purpose of preventing an infection from COVID-19,” the lawsuit said.

SPORTS BETTING COMMITTEE GETS $4 MILLION By Florida News Service

political committee that unsuccessfully tried to put a sports-betting initiative on the 2022 ballot received a $4 million contribution in March from a company tied to gambling facilities in MiamiDade County and Southwest Florida. The committee known as Florida Education Champions received the contribution March 4 from Southwest Florida Enterprises, Inc., according to a newly filed finance report. Southwest Florida Enterprises is headed by the Havenick family, which has long operated Magic City Casino in Miami-Dade County and Bonita Springs Poker Room in Southwest Florida.

federal government has set a goal to ramp up production of biofuel in the

Carinata crop

Florida Education Champions announced in late January that it would not have enough petition signatures by a Feb. 1 deadline to put the sports-betting initiative on the 2022 ballot. The measure called for authorizing sports betting at professional sports venues, parimutuel facilities and statewide via online platforms. The proposal would have steered tax revenues from sports betting toward what is known as the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund to supplement public school dollars. Florida Education Champions could try to put the measure on the 2024 ballot, though it would have to start a new petition-gathering drive.

coming decades.

A11

APRIL 15 - APRIL 21, 2022 | OCALA GAZETTE

Judge signs off on abortion waiting period By Jim Saunders Florida News Service

fter nearly seven years of legal battling, a Leon County circuit judge has approved a 24-hour waiting period for abortions in Florida. Judge Angela Dempsey issued a ruling Friday that upheld the constitutionality of a 2015 law that called for women to wait 24 hours after initial visits with physicians before having abortions. Dempsey indicated during a hearing last month that she would uphold the law but did not issue the ruling until Friday. Also, Dempsey rejected a request from plaintiffs to put the ruling on hold while they pursue an appeal — or at least until April 30 to give abortion providers time to take steps such as rescheduling appointments. Dempsey wrote that the plaintiffs were not entitled to a stay of her ruling, as they could not show they would suffer “irreparable harm.” She pointed, in part, to other states that have abortion waiting periods. “They merely argue that a stay would avoid harm to ‘Floridians’ privacy rights before the appellate courts have the opportunity to weigh in.’ But the state, not the plaintiffs, represents ‘Floridians.’ If plaintiffs want the extraordinary remedy of a stay, they must demonstrate why they will be harmed absent a stay. They have not done so,” Dempsey wrote in the 24page ruling.

The ruling continued high-profile victories for abortion opponents in Florida, including a law passed during this year’s legislative session that would prevent abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Other changes in recent years have include requiring parental consent before minors can have abortions. The plaintiffs, clinic operator Gainesville Woman Care, LLC, and the group Medical Students for Choice, argued that the waiting period would violate a privacy right in the Florida Constitution that has long played a crucial role in abortion cases. But Dempsey, who was appointed to the bench by former Republican Gov. Jeb Bush, rejected that argument. “This court does not believe that the 24-hour waiting period is a significant intrusion into that right,” Dempsey wrote. “Twenty-six other states have similar restrictions, some of which have been in effect for many years. Moreover, plaintiffs can point to no evidence that these laws have prevented any women — let alone all women — who desire an abortion from obtaining one,” Dempsey wrote. But abortion-rights groups have argued that the law would make it harder for women to have abortions, in part because they would be required to make two trips to clinics. After Dempsey indicated last month she would uphold the law, they also said it would violate privacy rights. “This law imposes a significant

hardship on Floridians that is medically unnecessary, arbitrary, and dangerous,” Daniel Tilley, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, said in a prepared statement last month. “For years, the courts have agreed that imposing an additional barrier that would delay an individual’s ability to receive the abortion care they need was in direct violation of Floridians’ right to privacy. A person’s private medical decisions should be made in consultation with a doctor they trust, not politicians, and no one should ever be made to delay the care they need.” While the Legislature and then-Gov. Rick Scott approved the law in 2015, it immediately drew the legal challenge. Then-Leon County Circuit Judge Charles Francis issued a temporary injunction against the law, a move that was later backed by the Supreme Court. That prevented the law from being enforced as the legal fight continued in circuit court and the 1st District Court of Appeal. In 2018, then-Circuit Judge Terry Lewis issued a summary judgment that said the law was unconstitutional. But that decision was overturned in 2019 by a panel of the Tallahassee-based appeals court, sending the dispute back to circuit court. Dempsey issued a summaryjudgment ruling Friday in favor of the state, after calling off a trial that had been scheduled this month. The state’s attorneys argued that the

law built on previous informed-consent requirements, which involve information that women must receive before having abortions. Dempsey wrote that some women have said they did not have time to review the information. Also, she wrote that “some women who have abortions regret them and experience harm as a result.” But opponents said a 24-hour waiting period would interfere with women’s medical decisions. “When someone has determined that having an abortion is the best decision for them and their family, politicians should not be in the business of putting unnecessary obstacles in their path, but that is exactly what this law does,” Julia Kay, staff attorney for the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, said in a statement last month after Dempsey indicated she would uphold the law. While the state Supreme Court in 2017 backed the temporary injunction against the law, the court has become far more conservative during the past three years after the retirements of longtime Justices Barbara Pariente, R. Fred Lewis and Peggy Quince. Justice Jorge Labarga is the only member of the majority in the 2017 ruling who remains on the court. Meanwhile, current Chief Justice Charles Canady and Justice Ricky Polston dissented in 2017 and continue to serve on the court.

DeSantis signs bill to bolster foster care

File photo

By Ryan Dailey Florida News Service

aying that foster children in Florida “deserve an opportunity,” Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed a bill that will increase

payments to caregivers and provide foster parents with money for child-care programs. The measure (SB 7034) was approved by lawmakers during the legislative session that ended March 14. In part, the law will increase

monthly payments from the state to relatives and nonrelatives who serve as caregivers to foster children, making their payment rates on par with licensed foster parents. “Placement with relatives, or kinship care, provides

permanency for children and helps maintain family connections,” the Florida Senate said in a news release Tuesday, adding that “kinship care” can involve placing children with people such as close family friends or godparents. Foster care legislation has been a priority of Senate President Wilton Simpson, a Trilby Republican who was adopted. Simpson said that raising payments could be a deciding factor for people who are considering bringing foster children into their homes. “Improving the level of benefits for family members and foster parents could mean all the difference when these folks are considering whether they can take in a vulnerable child,” Simpson said in a statement. More than $44 million is earmarked in the proposed state budget for the 2022-2023 fiscal year to carry out parts of the bill. The Legislature has not formally sent the budget to DeSantis for his approval and vetoes. DeSantis touted nearly $25 million of the money that is designed to provide $200 monthly subsidies to help cover costs of child care and early learning programs.

“Through this funding, more than 7,000 foster parents and caregivers will receive this subsidy for the children that are in their care. And that’s going to make a big difference. Quite frankly, just from a feasibility perspective, foster parents have to work to put food on the table like anyone else. This will help them in that regard,” the governor said. The law also will bolster tuition and fee-waiver programs to help foster children attend state colleges, universities and workforce-education programs. The governor signed the bill at Miami Dade College. Department of Children and Families Secretary Shevaun Harris said the law expands Florida’s “toolbox of resources” to help young adults who are exiting the foster care system. “For many of the kids in the system, attending and graduating college is defying the odds. Legislation like this helps us stack the deck in their favor,” Harris said. The number of licensed foster parents in Florida has grown by about 4,000 since 2019, the governor said Tuesday.

A12

APRIL 15 - APRIL 21, 2022 | OCALA GAZETTE

Feds, State Fight Over Immigration Policies

Attorney General Ashley Moody

Gov. Ron DeSantis

By Jim Saunders Florida News Service

s Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody assail federal immigration policies, the Biden administration is asking a judge to toss out a lawsuit filed by the state over the release of undocumented immigrants. The latest salvos in the case came Tuesday, when U.S. Department of Justice attorneys disputed arguments made by Moody’s office, including that the federal government has a “nondetention” policy. “Plaintiff ’s bald assertion that a policy exists because there have been thousands of (immigrant) parole grants, without any specific factual allegations pertaining to the cause of any of those grants, fails to plausibly support the inference of such a ‘policy,’” Justice Department attorneys wrote in a document filed in federal court in Pensacola. “This

shortcoming is especially evident in light of the judicially noticeable fact that even thousands of releases would represent a tiny fraction of the millions of noncitizens subject to border enforcement action each year.” The lawsuit, filed in September and revised in February, alleges that the Biden administration has violated immigration laws through policies that have led to people being released from detention after crossing the U.S. border with Mexico. Also, it alleges that the releases affect Florida because of issues such as increased education, health-care and criminal-justice costs. “Congress has not given immigration officials unbounded discretion regarding the detention of arriving aliens,” the state’s lawyers wrote in a March court document. “It has instead expressly commanded those officials to detain arriving aliens.” Justice Department attorneys filed a motion in March asking U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell to dismiss

the case and followed Tuesday with a document replying to arguments made by the state. In part, the federal government contends that officials have discretion in carrying out immigration laws, taking into account issues such as limited detention space, humanitarian reasons and prioritization of resources. Also, the federal government argues that Florida has not shown legal “standing” to pursue the case. “In particular, plaintiff hypothesizes that paroled noncitizens might settle in Florida and, if so, then might commit crimes or require social services,” the document filed Tuesday said. “Plaintiff ’s predictions are too attenuated and uncertain to provide standing. If such incidental, conjectural consequences were sufficient … the federal courts could be drawn into every immigration policy dispute between a state and the federal government. Plaintiff ’s theory would characterize any increase of noncitizens within its borders necessarily as an injury.” But in the March document, which opposed the motion to dismiss, the state’s lawyers argued that Florida has standing because it is harmed by the federal immigration policies. “Florida spends hundreds of millions

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per year as a result of the government’s immigration failures, including over $100 million per year incarcerating aliens who commit crimes in the state and over $8,000 per student per year on primary and secondary education. These harms are sufficient to establish standing because they flow from ‘the predictable effect of government action on the decisions of third parties,’” the document said, partially quoting from a Supreme Court precedent. The federal-court fight comes amid long-running criticism by Moody and DeSantis about the Biden administration’s handling of immigrants flowing across the border. For example, Moody last week joined the Republican attorneys general of Alabama and Georgia in filing a separate lawsuit alleging that the Biden administration is not properly deporting undocumented immigrants who commit crimes. That lawsuit was filed in the federal Northern District of Alabama. Also, during the legislative session that ended last month, Republican lawmakers passed an immigration bill that was a priority of DeSantis. That bill (SB 1808), in part, targets transportation companies that bring undocumented immigrants into the state. Moody, who, along with DeSantis, is running for re-election this year, told The News Service of Florida that the Biden administration “is not doing the job that both Democrats and Republicans alike have historically done, and that is to detain and deport those here committing serious crimes that are here illegally.” “The only way that a system under a rule of law works is if you have executives that follow through on the laws that are given to them and do so faithfully and diligently,” she said Tuesday.

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APRIL 15 - APRIL 21, 2022 | OCALA GAZETTE

People, Places & Things Petal to the mettle A onetime media mogul has found happiness in photographing flowers. By Julie Garisto Correspondent

rose by another name? If you’re asking emerging fine art photographer Rose Derkay, she’s seen roses and other flowers from all angles through the lens of her Nikon. She’s examined petals, pistils, carpels and stamens in ways many of us could never imagine. As we at the Gazette recently learned from photographer Leslie Jean Wengler, looking at flowers close-up gives us a window into another world, one where we are just lumbering giants oblivious to the intricate production process of corollas, scents and textures that attract birds, bees, butterflies and other pollinators. “I just became very passionate about it,” Derkay said when asked why she became fascinated with capturing flowers. “I was just really attracted to it, and I was shooting bees and butterflies and birds and flowers. And then I just became more tuned into flowers because there’s just so much to capture and you can get 10 different shapes that look different from one photo to the next. Also, flowers make everyone happy.” The vocation of the southeast Ocalabased photographer wasn’t feasible in her younger years. “We had six kids, so we really couldn’t afford the film and other stuff back in the day,” she admitted with a laugh. Originally from upstate New York, Derkay is gregarious and whip-smart with a cheerful wit, at once a fast-talker with an Italian American zest for life and a velvet-voiced DJ who’s delivered the news on radio and TV in different regions across the U.S. along with doing voice-overs for commercials.

Her next evolutionary step was fine art photography, and if you asked her, it was because her camera lens offers a joyful and organic progression that blossomed over time like her cherished subjects. “I would work on weekends DJing shows and different things like that,” she said. “Then when I came here, I was talked into purchasing Family Times magazine and I said, ‘Here’s my opportunity to learn photography.’ I took every opportunity I could. I learned publishing, editing, and I always wanted to be involved in photography. So, the job, of course, came with a beginner’s camera. I started with that, and then, you know, as I got better, I got an intermediate camera and then I bought a professional camera.” Derkay’s photography hobby grew out of her love of travel. The magazine offered her an opportunity to make work of play. “Putting a travel story together and showing the whole story through photography and melding it with your writing--it’s nice to have that opportunity,” she said. Derkay sold her media company three years ago and decided to shoot full time. “That pushed me into a new direction,” she said. “Artists around town were saying, ‘Wow, this is good. Do you want to show in my gallery?’ But I wasn’t confident.” That would change with practice. The budding photographer got better and better through her work for the magazine, but a push from professional photographer Ralph Demilio helped take her to the next level, encouraging her to take on the manual functions of a professional camera and recommending she read the seminal guidebook, Understanding Exposure. This new artistic arena came with invitations to showcase her work in festivals such as the 2021 FAFO (Fine Arts

“Spray roses”

“Starry starry days” For Ocala) festival. Encouragement from fellow artists and privately owned galleries assured her status and confidence as a fine art photographer. “One of my favorite places is Kanapaha Botanical Gardens because it’s just an hour away and every time you go you see something different,” Derkay effused. “I like to go by myself, and sometimes, I’ll linger with one flower for an hour just trying to get that unique view that I’m after. It could be a perfect curve

or something that reveals a part of its personality, or the way the light catches it.” Check out Rose Derkay’s images at rosederkay.com. See Derkay in person at the Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival in Amelia Island April 29-May 1. Her work will be featured in the festival’s Fine Arts and Crafts show, which will display more than 300 award-winning artists and craftspeople along with 75 booths of antiques and collectibles and a kids’ fun zone. Visit shrimpfestival.com for details.

“Nature is my palette”

APRIL 15 - APRIL 21, 2022 | OCALA GAZETTE

Ocala Easter Events

The First Presbyterian Church on Southeast 3rd Street in Ocala. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2022.

By Rosemarie Dowell Correspondent

barren cross constructed of ordinary chicken wire will stand on the campus of First Presbyterian Church of Ocala today, Good Friday, as a solemn reminder of Christ’s agonizing crucifixion on Calvary. But by the end of the 10 a.m. Easter service Sunday, the cross will have become a colorful concoction of vibrant wildflowers, lilies and spring blooms and blossoms, all placed by congregants to symbolize Jesus’s transition from death to life three days later. The “Flowering of the Cross,” is a tradition among many Protestant and non-denominational churches and dates back to the sixth century - also as a way to celebrate the continuing presence of God. “It will be overflowing with flowers to symbolize Christ’s resurrection and new life,” said the Rev. Ron Watson, senior pastor of the historic 511 S.E. Third Street church for nearly five years. “For all of us, when we bring flowers to put on the cross, we have someone in mind, someone who’s gone before us,” he said. “The resurrection is a reminder that we will see our loved ones again; it’s God’s promise.” Founded in 1857, the church will be open for prayer from noon to 3 p.m. Today in observance of Good Friday. An Easter Egg Hunt will take place on Saturday at 10 a.m. The public is welcome to attend. Other churches across Marion County will have services to mark Good Friday and Easter as well, here are a few: ● First Baptist Church of Ocala, 2801 SE Maricamp Road, will have Good Friday services at 6 p.m. today, and Easter services at 10;30 a.m. Sunday. ● Meadowbrook Church will have Easter services at 3 and 5 p.m. Saturday and at 9 and 11 a.m. Sunday. The church is located at 4741 SW 20th St., Ocala. ● Grace Episcopal Church will have a Good Friday service at Noon and a Station of the Cross at 6 p.m. today at the church, 503 S.E. Broadway St., Ocala. The congregation will have Easter observances during the The Great Vigil service at 6 a.m. and a traditional worship service at 10 a.m. Sunday. ● Joy Lutheran Church, 7045 SW 83rd Place, Ocala, will host its annual Easter Sunrise service beginning at 6:30 a.m. Sunday in its memorial garden. The church will also have Easter services at 8:15 and 11 a.m. in its sanctuary. ● New Zion Missionary Baptist Church will hold Easter services at 11 a.m. Sunday, followed by an Easter Egg Hunt for children. The church is located at 728 NW 6th Ave., Ocala. ● St. Paul’s United Methodist Church

will have its annual Easter Sunrise Service at 7 a.m. on the church grounds. Traditional Easter worship services will also take place at 10:30 a.m. in the sanctuary. The church is located at 800 SE 41st Ave., Ocala. ● Living Waters Church, 3801 N. U.S. Highway 441, Ocala will have a Good Friday service at 6;30 p.m. today, and Easter services at 8;30 and 10:30 a.m. Sunday. A Spanish service will take place at 10 a.m. ● First Baptist Church of Belleview will have an Easter Sunrise Service at 7 a.m. Sunday at Lake Lillian on Southeast Lillian Circle, and a Living Lord’s Supper Cantata and Drama at 10:45 a.m. Sunday, at the church, 6107 SE Agnew Road. ● Central Christian Church, 3010 NE 14th Street, Ocala, will have a Good Friday service at 7 p.m., today and Resurrection Sunday services at 9 and 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

Easter Fun

● Trinity Baptist Church will have a free Easter Jam for families beginning at 6 p.m. today in its worship center, 1600 SE 58th Ave., Ocala. The festivities will move to the

Trinity Kids area after the service. ● The Forest Community Center will have a free, “Color Me Egg-Cited,” Egg Hunt from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. The center is at 777 S Hwy 314 A, Ocklawaha. ● Belleview United Methodist Church, 5640 SE Brown Road, will host a free community Easter Egg Hunt for kids up to age 12, from 9 a.m. to Noon Saturday, featuring games, food, crafts, and basket giveaways. ● Silver Springs Shores Community Center’s annual Hoppity’s Easter Egg Hunt will take place at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at 590 Silver Road, Ocala, with photos with a bunny, pony rides, bounce houses, egg painting, face painting, crafts, balloons, music, and treats. ● St. Paul AME Church, 718 NW 7th St., Ocala, is hosting its 2nd Annual Mary S. Rich Easter Egg Hunt from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, with food, music, games, and prizes. ● New Vision Baptist Church in Ocala is having a free community Easter Egg Hunt for kids of all ages at 1 p.m. Saturday at the church, 10461 SE Maricamp Road. Participants will receive a goody bag.

God’s Gift A Poem for Easter By Eadie Sickler

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Salvation and healing Your predestined plan, Wrapped in unfathomable love and grace… My destiny in Your hand. Hung on that cross, eyes filled with tears; Body in torment as blood drained away Out of Your wounds and onto the ground. I was part of the world that just threw You away. His Father, God, couldn’t bear the sight. He turned His face away. His only Son…sacrificial lamb… All sin cast on Him that day. Shame…brokenness…flesh beaten and torn. Forsaken and alone, You hung on that tree. You did it all for me. You did it all for me. “It is finished,” You groaned. It was now done. Relief from the weight of that load. Your Spirit was free! The earth trembled and shook! Eternity has a new road! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! That isn’t enough from me! I owe You my life…every second I breathe! Just look what You did for me! Just look what You did for me!

APRIL 15 - APRIL 21, 2022 | OCALA GAZETTE

Creative’s Corner

A glass act

Sometimes change is a good thing. Just ask Terry Andrews. Terry Andrews

By Julie Garisto Correspondent

always enjoyed working with glass.” That passion has taken him from blowing glass and lampwork to creating large, flat and carved glass sculptures. Lately, he has created sculptures with copper and fused glass. “The fusing happens in a kiln and then the fused pieces are used as accents on the formed, cut and welded copper structures,” he explained. Some of the works are decorated with lampwork glass to create a whimsical feel. They include mosaics and functional lighting fixtures crafted with handblown glass and copper that he calls “Zen Lights.” Some of Andrews’ work can be found in the permanent collections of the Carter Center in Atlanta and the Carrollton Museum of Contemporary Art in Carrollton, Georgia. He’s won juried awards on the national art show circuit, and his work has been acquired by collectors around the world. “I’m 68 years old,” he said with a laugh. “It took me forever to get this down, but I finally have, and it’s finally starting to pay off.” When asked what drives him, Andrews didn’t have a ready answer. “I don’t know where the inspiration comes from other than I just love the idea of colors and lines and shapes,” he responded matter-of-factly. But the making part, well, that gets Andrews talking: “When I go out into the studio every day, something new comes along. This week was great. Some new ideas came along, but it’s never dull. After 20 years, I still get excited about my work. I still open a kiln every day and it’s like Christmas, you know? Working with glass is a wonderful thing to do.” On May 14-15, Andrews will be at the La Plaza Grande Art & Craft Festival in The Villages. Find out more about Terry Andrews’ glassworks and art show appearances at terryandrewsgallery.com.

lass sculptor Terry Andrews creates melodies and harmonies with colors and shapes, but it took almost half a lifetime for his uniquely expressionistic works to take shape. In his younger years, the Tampa native toured the U.S. as a singersongwriter. But in his second act of life, he decided to infuse his knack for melody and structure in the craft of glass art. “I just enjoy the colors,” Andrews said. “People say they see a lot of music in my artwork, and I guess I understand that even though I still don’t know how to read music.” Andrews, now based in Ocala, has lived in Alaska and across the nation. He’s enjoyed a seminomadic life as both a musician and artist. In his 20s and 30s, he devoted his time to performing at venues of all types across the U.S., but he reached a plateau with his music career and sought a new outlet for his talents and creativity. “I had come off of a divorce and bankruptcy when I started this business,” Andrews shared. “All I was worried about was paying the mortgage and the bills. I threw everything against the wall. I did glass carving. I melted beer bottles and made wind chimes out of ‘em. I did everything I could possibly do.” Working with lamps in his youth and studying physics at the University of South Florida helped ease the transition to a new medium. The inspiration to make a living with art came to him while working with a pottery studio owner. “He had 17 mall locations, and I would run the stores for him,” Andrews explained. “That’s when I started realizing that there was money out here in the art world. Plus, I’ve

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APRIL 15 - APRIL 21, 2022 | OCALA GAZETTE

THE FLORIDA

Florida

Sudoku is played on a grid of 9 x 9 spaces. Within the rows and columns are 9 “squares” (made up of 3 x 3 spaces). Each row, column and square (9 spaces each) needs to be filled out with the numbers 1-9, without repeating any numbers within the same row, column or square.

FACTOIDS

SAME NAME GAME I confess. I am a lister. No, not that I tilt or lean to one side. (Of course, at 80+ with a couple of bad wheels, I have an excuse.) I am a lister because I like lists. I compile lists and I keep copious lists of lists. I am attracted to any columnar tabulation, wherever, whenever, on any topic, in print, on line, even on billboards. Over time I’ve assembled a lengthy list of towns and cities in Florida that have the same name, or are namesakes, of places around the world, and their similarities. Here are ten easy ones, with appropriate clues. Try to get them all.

This is a theme puzzle with the subject stated below. Find the listed words in the grid. (They may run in any dir

The Florida city of iconic green benches boasts temperatures 35 degrees warmer with four feet less snow than its Soviet counterpart. It is: A. Moscow B. Jacksonville C. Omsk D. St. Petersburg

Think of a super tart orange and you’ll get the name of this Volusia County town that shares its name with the largest city in Andalusia. It is: A. Barcelona B. Tangelo C. Valencia D. Seville

In the shadow of Vesuvius, this historic city channels a SW Florida resort town that’s home to Bob Seger and Judge Judy. It is: A. Vanderbilt Beach B. Ft. Lauderdale C. Naples D. Rome

At five million population, it’s the capital of Australia’s Victoria Commonwealth and stateside its the Florida hometown of bad boy rocker Jim Morrison. It is: A. Cocoa B. Titusville C. Melbourne D. Titusville

Same name and one thing in common: Tobacco. One is near Tallahassee and the twin is 534 miles almost due south. It is: A. Lafayette B. Havana C. Corona D. Ybor City

Not Edinburgh, but its name is Gaelic for Edinburgh, this Florida twin is home to ospreys, a butterfly garden and Honeymoon State Park. It is: A. Dunedin B. Inverrary C. Loch Ness D. Waco

One of these twins has a lot more Italians than the other. The Florida twin is know for circuses and shark’s teeth. It is: A. Venice B. Bradenton C. Myakka D. Bari

10.

Of Florida’s 67 counties, two county seats have the same names as two state capitals. Choose two. They are: A. Sanford B. Madison C. Trenton D. Quincy

Take a 50-minute jaunt south to Pasco’s “Gem of the Highlands” and your mantra could be “Remember the Alamo.” The twin town is: A. Tombstone B. San Antonio C. St. Leo D. Houston

These twin towns, one in Europe andalways in a straight line. Some letters are used more than once.) Ring each word as you find it and when you h one nearby share curiosity for rare pleted the puzzle, there will be 23 letters left over. They spell out the alternative theme of the puzzle. sea creatures like a manatee and “Nessie.” It is: A. Inverness B. Glasgow C. Crystal River Solution: 23 Letters D. Dundee

Brisbane and more

Answers are on page B7

WORD FIND

Ascot Banyo Barge Bunour Bush Cape Moreton Carina City Close Cooparoo Deception Bay Dugong East

Ecosystem Ferry Gumdale Ironside Ithaca Logan Lota Lutwyche Manly North Nundah Pier Red Hill Reefs

Road Rocklea Sharks Sheldon South Suburb Traffic Unique West Wynnum

lution: Experiencing rapid growth

COMING APRIL 29: Amazing Mayhem in May

Creators Syndicate 737 3rd Street • Hermosa Beach, CA 90254 310-337-7003 • info@creators.com

Contact Bob Hauck: bobhauck39@gmail.com

Come to the Marion Theatre—no charge! two great movies — two dates & two times Brought to you by and of Marion County

April 16 |11:30 am

Since 1983

April 12 | 5:30 pm

In recognition of National Healthcare Decisions Day / Month Go to www.mariontheatre.org; type in the code HOMC22 for your free pass. Sponsored by Hospice Since 1983 of Marion County, The Marion Theatre and Reilly Center for the Arts

of Marion County

ANSWERS TO PUZZLES ON PAGE B7

Date: 4/15/22

APRIL 15 - APRIL 21, 2022 | OCALA GAZETTE

LOCAL CALENDAR LISTINGS

community APRIL 15 & 22

APRIL 15

Marion County Friday Market

McPherson Government Campus Field, 601 SE 25th Ave., Ocala 9am-2pm Shop locally fresh fruits and veggies, cinnamon buns, jerky, freeze dried treats, olive oils and seafood; recurs every Friday.

APRIL 16 & 23

Yoga in the Park

Sholom Park: 7110 SW 80th Ave., Ocala 9am Stretch out by the Sholom Park stage; recurs every Saturday morning. Visit sholompark.org for details.

APRIL 16 & 23

Ocala Downtown Market

310 SE Third St., Ocala 9am-2pm A variety of vendors offer local fruits and vegetables, meats and seafood, fresh pasta, honey and arts and crafts. Check out some local food trucks and the occasional guest entertainer. Rain or shine; recurs every Saturday. Visit ocaladowntownmarket.com for more information.

APRIL 16-24|WEEKENDS

Butterfly & Blueberry Festival

Timberline Farm, 3200 Southeast 115th Street, Belleview Saturdays 10am-6pm; Sundays 12-6pm Weekends in April, Timberline Farm in Belleview offers up its annual Butterfly and Blueberry Festival. Enjoy the wispy flutter of butterflies up close in the butterfly tent, take a hayride, pet some farm animals or shop at the country store. Enjoy live music while you browse the booths and sample local honey, peanuts, cotton candy, blueberry desserts, other tasty foods and more. Visit timberlinefarm.net

APRIL 14-17

Leaf Series: Florida-Friendly Fruit Trees

Sholom Park: 7110 SW 80th Ave., Ocala 10:30am Although Florida is best known for growing citrus trees, there are all types of edible trees, shrubs and bushes you can grow here. Join Amanda Marek from the University of Florida to learn about having your own home fruit garden. $5 registration fee. Visit sholompark.org for details

World Equestrian Center Ocala, 1390 NW 80th Ave., Ocala All day Classic dressage, freestyle and a mix of competition levels. For more info, worldequestriancenter.com

APRIL 14-17

National Collegiate Equestrian Association Championship

World Equestrian Center Ocala, 1390 NW 80th Ave., Ocala All day Equestrian, Western and hunter/jumper classes for college equestrian teams from Auburn, Baylor, SUNY, Texas A&M and others. For more info, worldequestriancenter.com

arts APRIL 15

NOMA Black Box at the Reilly Arts Center, 500 NE 9th St., Ocala 7:30pm A renowned jazz musician and performer, Parsons is a multi-instrumentalist who performs on flugel horn, flute, trumpet, African recorder and percussion. He holds a doctorate in classical composition and has delighted audiences with artists like Cab Calloway, Nat Adderley, Nancy Wilson and Sun Ra. For tickets, reillyartscenter.com

THROUGH APRIL 16

2250 NE 70th St., Ocala 10am-3pm This car shows benefits the Endangered Animal Rescue Sanctuary (EARS) in Citra. Help out the lions, tigers and bears who need support by checking out these souped-up cars, motorcycles and trucks. Vendors, music and raffles. For more info, facebook.com/HotCarsAndCoolCatsCarShow.

APRIL 16

Paw-blo Picasso Paint Paw-ty

Magnolia Art Xchange, 531 NE 1st Ave., Ocala 11am The Ocala Recreation and Parks Department and K-9 Fit Club of Central Florida are sponsoring a paint party to get your pooch’s paw prints memorialized in your own custom art piece. All art supplies will be provided. For more info, facebook. com/OcalaRecPark

APRIL 16

Brick City Adventure Park Cornhole Tournament Brick City Adventure Park, 1211 SE 22nd Road, Ocala 11am-4pm Find your partner for this cornhole tournament and bring your best aim. For ages 16 and older. This deceptively easy sport promises fun and challenges for all. Food trucks and live music. To register, visit https://bit.ly/3HKpdrF or call (352) 671-8560.

Brick City Beer and Wine Festival

Citizens’ Circle, 151 SE Osceola Ave., Ocala 2-6pm The 8th annual celebration is back on this year with a promising line-up of beer and wine to sample and purchase, live music, activities and food trucks including Country Boys BBQ, Curry Coma, McFood Land and MexiRican. There’s even a root beer sampling bar for the kids. A variety of vendors will offer tasty libations that are sure to tempt your taste buds. Radio station Wind FM is sponsoring the “Battle of the Bands” with Second Chance, SidePiece and Saltmine Zombies vying for the crown. The Rotary Club of Ocala sponsors the event and proceeds this year will benefit Interfaith Emergency Services, Marion County Literacy Council and Kimberly’s Center for Child Protection. Check out brickcitybeerfest.com for more info.

Tribute to the Beach Boys

Orange Blossom Opry, 16439 SE 138th Ter., Weirsdale 7pm The Sounds of Summer includes more than 30 Beach Boys hits with distinctive harmonies and spot on musicianship. Tickets are $26-39. See obopry.com for more details

THROUGH APRIL 24

Heart of the Horse: Photographs by Juliet van Otteren

Marion Theatre, 50 S Magnolia Ave., Ocala Classic movies presented by Ocala’s independent theatre. More info at www.facebook.com/ mariontheatre/

Appleton Museum of Art, 4333 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala Tue-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 12-5pm The beauty and complexity of horses is revealed through 40 black-and-white photographs by Juliet van Otteren. Visit appletonmuseum.org for more information.

APRIL 16

THROUGH APRIL 24

“Stand by Me”

Tribute to Frankie Valli

Orange Blossom Opry, 16439 SE 138th Ter., Weirsdale 2:30 pm & 7pm Featuring unique singer’s biggest hits. Tickets are $32-346. See obopry.com for more details.

World Equestrian Center Ocala, 1390 NW 80th Ave., Expo Hall 2, Ocala 10am-2pm The Michael L. Johnson Jr. Foundation is sponsoring its first annual show, with a Kids’ Zone, music, silent auction and show cars and trucks to promote autism awareness. Free parking, vendors and food options onsite.

Garden Party: Botanical Paintings by Susan Martin

Appleton Museum of Art, 4333 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala Tue-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 12-5pm Florida artist Susan Martin’s photorealistic

APRIL 22

Fort King Volunteers Recruitment Social

Fort King Park, 3925 E Fort King St., Ocala 4-5pm The City of Ocala is hosting a volunteer recruitment social to meet staff and get information about volunteer opportunities. Light refreshments will be served. Volunteers at the park can assist at the visitor center or the archaeological center and help guests who visit the historical site. Training will be provided. Call (352) 368-5517 for more info.

APRIL 23

Hot Cars and Cool Cats Car Show

APRIL 22

Longineu Parsons II

Autism Awareness Car & Truck Show

APRIL 16

Ocala Dressage III CDI3*

APRIL 16

Canna Earth Fest 2022

APRIL 16-17

Peruvian Paso Horse World Show

World Equestrian Center Ocala, 1390 NW 80th Ave., Ocala 9:30am-8pm High-stepping Peruvian Pasos exhibit at this international show for this historic Spanish breed of horse. Free parking, vendors and food options onsite. Well-behaved leashed dogs are welcome.

THROUGH APRIL 17

Easter Bunny at Paddock Mall

In front of Belk’s at Paddock Mall, 3100 SW College Road, Ocala Mon.-Sat. 11am-7pm; Sun. 12-6pm Photo opportunities and the option to sit with the Easter Bunny. (Socially distanced photos also available.) For more info, paddockmall.com

APRIL 21

John Dunn Lecture

IHMC, 15 SE Osceola Ave., Ocala 6pm Ocala author John Dunn presents “Why is Florida, America’s Wettest State, Running Out of Water?” After reviewing the challenges facing our water supply, Dunn will focus on restoration efforts including new technologies such as green infrastructure and a discussion of the new economics of virtual water. Dunn encourages people to think of water as a precious resource, not a money-making commodity. See ihmc.us for more info.

APRIL 21

Farmers Market

The Town Square at Circle Square Commons, 8405 SW 80th St., Ocala 9am-1pm Large selection of fresh seasonal produce from local growers as well as baked goods, plants, handmade soaps and more; recurs every Thursday. Visit circlesquarecommons.com for more info.

canvasses explore the botanical world by concentrating on small portions of plant life. Her detailed explorations, influenced by the photographs of Russell Lee, can be observed in her sharp, clean examination of the subject, her preference for strong contrast that reveals surface quality and detail, and an emphasis on composition that comes from years of work in black-and-white. Visit appletonmuseum.org for details.

THROUGH MAY 1

“We Bought a Zoo”

Marion Theatre, 50 S Magnolia Ave., Ocala Classic movies presented by Ocala’s independent theatre. www.facebook.com/mariontheatre/

Ocala Drive-In, 4850 S Pine Ave., Ocala 10am-9pm This community event helps educate people about cannabis and the use of medical marijuana. Experts, doctors and advocates will offer insight and local artists will display their wares in booths. Food options, live music and other activities. For more info, oraganji.com

APRIL 23

Historic Home & Art Tour

Meet at HOPS, 712 E Fort King St., Ocala 10am This self-guided tour showcases how these lovely houses have been restored and refurbished to work for modern families yet retain the grace and charm of yesteryear. Local artists will have works on display. Food and drinks will be available from food trucks and mobile bars. Tickets are available online at SpringHomeTour.eventbrite.com or in person at the Your Hearts Desire at 915 E Silver Springs Blvd.

APRIL 23

Earthfest: Celebrate Arbor Day

Tuscawilla Park, 820 NE Sanchez Ave., Ocala 10am-2pm The City of Ocala sponsors this earth-friendly festival to celebrate Arbor Day. Family-friendly activities include yoga in the park, tree climbing, archery, a fishing tournament, rock wall climbing, the chance to feed live butterflies and tree giveaways. Food trucks, live music and vendors. See ocalafl.org for more info.

THROUGH JUNE 18

Horsin’ Around at the Discovery Center

701 NE Sanchez Ave., Ocala Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-4pm The Discovery Center, Ocala’s hands-on children’s museum, hands it over to the horsey set with an opportunity to explore the world of horses. Kids can figure how tall they are in horse hands, visit with an equine vet, see a day in the life of a jockey and try out a hobby horse dressage course. Admission fee of $8 includes the regular exhibits and interactive hallway. Visit mydiscovery.org.

Poindexter, professor of studio art at the University of Central Florida. Free. For more details, visit www.CF.edu or call 352-854-2322, ext. 1664.

THROUGH JULY 31

A Strange and Picturesque Country: Etchings by Earl H. Reed

Appleton Museum of Art, 4333 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala Tue-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 12-5pm Prints from the permanent collection by Earl Howell Reed. Although a largely self-taught artist, Reed’s work can be viewed in the collections of the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago. Visit appletonmuseum.org for details.

THROUGH MAY 5

2022 CF Student Art Exhibition

CF Webber Gallery, 3001 SW College Road, Ocala Opening reception March 30 at 12:30pm; exhibition 10am-4pm daily Student artists from the Visual Arts and Digital Media department at CF will present their art in this showcase. The work will be judged by Carla

VISIT OUR EVENTS CALENDAR ONLINE OCALAGAZETTE.COM/EVENTS

APRIL 15 - APRIL 21, 2022 | OCALA GAZETTE

government APRIL 18 & 25

Marion County Development Review Committee McPherson Governmental Campus, 601 SE 25th Ave., auditorium, Ocala 9am Meets on Mondays.

APRIL 19

City of Dunnellon Planning Commission Meeting 20750 River Dr., Dunnellon 5:30pm

APRIL 19

Marion County Planning & Zoning Commission

McPherson Governmental Campus, 601 SE 25th Ave., auditorium, Ocala 2 PM The Planning & Zoning Commission conducts hearings for zoning changes and special use permits. First and third Tues. of each month.

APRIL 19

City of Belleview City Commission Meeting

APRIL 19

Ocala City Council Meeting

City Hall Council Chamber – Second Floor, 110 SE Watula Ave., Ocala 4pm First and third Tuesdays. If accommodations are needed for you to participate in this meeting, call (352) 629-8401 two days in advance so arrangements can be made. For assistance accessing this meeting via Zoom, call (352) 629-8226.

5343 SE Abshier Blvd.,Belleview 6-8pm

music nightlife nig ghtlife APRIL 15

APRIL 16

APRIL 20

APRIL 22

Rafing Woody

Retro Express

Cliff Dorsey

Billy Buchanan

Charlie Horse 2426 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala 7pm Live music. Also, karaoke Wed.-Sat.

The Yellow Pony World Equestrian Center Ocala, 1390 NW 80th Ave., Ocala 6-9pm Dinner, drinks, and entertainment. For details, visit worldequestriancenter.com/events.

The Yellow Pony World Equestrian Center Ocala, 1390 NW 80th Ave., Ocala 6-9pm Dinner, drinks, and entertainment. For details, visit worldequestriancenter.com

APRIL 16

APRIL 21

APRIL 23

APRIL 15

Johnny Wild and the Delights The Town Square at Circle Square Commons 8405 SW 80th St., Ocala 7-10pm Free and open to the public. Visit circlesquarecommons.com for details.

APRIL 15

Rudy Turner The Yellow Pony World Equestrian Center Ocala, 1390 NW 80th Ave., Ocala 6-9pm Dinner, drinks, and entertainment. For details, visit worldequestriancenter.com/events.

APRIL 16

Spring Band Jam: Tina, Rocky and the Rollers, Paradigm The Town Square at Circle Square Commons 8405 SW 80th St., Ocala 5-9pm Event includes food trucks and a car show. Free and open to the public. Visit circlesquarecommons.com for details.

APRIL 17

Doug Adams Charlie Horse 2426 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala 2pm Live music. Also, karaoke Wed.-Sat.

APRIL 20

Dave Adams Charlie Horse 2426 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala 7pm Live music. Also, karaoke Wed.-Sat.

Blues Jam

Charlie Horse 2426 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala 6pm Live music. Also, karaoke Wed.-Sat.

National Poetry Month continues in April By Ocala Gazette Staff

o celebrate National Poetry Month this year, James Blevins, the Gazette’s in-house reporter and poet—who has seen his work previously published in “Salt Hill Journal,” “Pretty

Owl Poetry,” “Stoneboat Journal,” “Mud Season Review” and “AZURE,” as well as numerous other outlets both online and in print—has elected to pick five poems for publication, one for each Friday in April, concluding with a poem of his own on April 29.

Aware

By D.H. Lawrence

Slowly the moon is rising out of the ruddy haze, Divesting herself of her golden shift, and so Emerging white and exquisite; and I in amaze See in the sky before me, a woman I did not know I loved, but there she goes and her beauty hurts my heart; I follow her down the night, begging her not to depart.

David Herbert Lawrence was born in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, England on September 11, 1885. His books of poetry include “Last Poems” (G. Orioli,

1932), “The Ship of Death” (M. Secker, 1933) and “Love Poems and Others” (Duckworth and Co., 1913). He died on March 2, 1930.

Brandon Dull

Side Piece

Charlie Horse 2426 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala 6pm Live music. Also, karaoke Wed.-Sat.

Charlie Horse 2426 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala 7pm Live music. Also, karaoke Wed.-Sat.

APRIL 21

APRIL 23

Mark Smythe

Noah Hunton

The Yellow Pony World Equestrian Center Ocala, 1390 NW 80th Ave., Ocala 6-9pm Dinner, drinks, and entertainment. For details, visit worldequestriancenter.com

APRIL 22

APRIL 24

Second Slice

Jeff Jarrett

Charlie Horse 2426 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala 7pm Live music. Also, karaoke Wed.-Sat.

Charlie Horse 2426 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala 2pm Live music. Also, karaoke Wed.-Sat.

APRIL 15 - APRIL 21, 2022 | OCALA GAZETTE

Locals learn carriage driving

he Metta Baxter Carriage Driving Clinic took place Saturday, April 9, at the Black Prong Equestrian Village, south of Bronson in Levy County. Twenty-five students participated in the beginner-driving course that was hosted by Florida Whips. The two-day popular course has been offered for more than 20 years. Students are taught through lectures, demonstrations and hands-on sessions, including rein board simulations, in-harness ground driving, as well as learning how to hitch a horse to a carriage or cart.

Photos By Bruce Ackerman Ocala Gazette

Mark Navratil teaches students about a carriage and carriage maintenance.

Kelli Benline, left, gets some pointers on how to control the reins from instructor Lynda Jowers, right.

Instructor Allyn Carman, left, teaches Louis Traiforos, center, and Janet Biederman, right, on the rein board.

Beth Rieselman, center, places tack on her miniature horse, Dawson, as instructors Carlie Wargo, left, and Lynda Jowers, right, help to give people a demonstration on how to train their horse.

Steve Patelski acts as the horse as his wife, Linda, drives him as she learns to get a feel for the reins in the People Driving People part of the course.

ANSWERS FOR PAGE B4

SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM

1. D St. Petersburg

Florida

FACTOIDS

OCALAGAZETTE.COM/SUBSCRIBE

2. D Seville 3. C Melbourne 4. A Dunedin 5. B San Antonio

WOMEN’S EXPO SAVE THE DATE

Saturday, June 25, 2022 • 10am - 3pm College of Central Florida, Klein Center

Sudoku

COMING APRIL 29:

6. A Inverness

Amazing Mayhem in May Contact Bob Hauck:

8. B Havana

bobhauck39@gmail.com

10. B & C Madison & Trenton

7. C Naples 9. A Venice

Newsday Crossword

APRIL 15 - APRIL 21, 2022 | OCALA GAZETTE

Coming home

haston Liming and Cantobie Robinson, both formerly homeless men, moved into their newly renovated duplex on April 11, located within Interfaith Emergency Services’ apartment complex off 14th Street in Ocala. They are the second pair in the last two weeks to move into their new home after several years of living on the streets. After receiving their keys, the two roommates celebrated the occasion with Pastor Sean Forte and several other members of the Meadowbrook Church, who helped sponsor the two men’s new lease on life.

Cantobie Robinson gets a hug from Sean Forte, the community life pastor at Meadowbrook Church.

LEFT: Chaston Liming, left, looks at a painting by Steve Maze with Sean Forte, the community life pastor at Meadowbrook Church.

Photos By Bruce Ackerman Ocala Gazette

Chaston Liming and Cantobie Robinson celebrate in their living room.

Cantobie Robinson and Chaston Liming get keys to their apartment.

Members of Meadowbrook Church pray with Cantobie Robinson and Chaston Liming.

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AdventHealthOcala.com

AnInvitation

APRIL 15 - APRIL 21, 2022 | OCALA GAZETTE

TO OCALA GAZETTE READERS COME EXPERIENCE THE SIGHTS AND SOUNDS AT THE ORANGE BLOSSOM OPRY.

Our 550 seat venue gives guests the opportunity to have an up close and personal view of their favorite Artist, Band and Concert. The Orange Blossom Opry hosts an array of musical genres: Country, Rock, Gospel, Bluegrass and local talent every Thursday.

“IT’S NOT JUST A CONCERT . IT’S AN EXPERIENCE!”

YOUR EXCLUSIVE OFFER!

WEIRSDALE CORNER OF 42 & 25 352-821-1201 FRIDAY

APRIL

Feel Good Friday

GOSPEL CONCERT

Featuring The Orange Blossom Opry Band 7:00PM and Special Guests

SATURDAY

APRIL

2:30PM AND 7:00PM

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

APRIL

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ONE OF THE TOP BLUEGRASS BANDS IN AMERICA!

SATURDAY

APRIL

SUNDAY

APRIL

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A Decade of Soul

AMERICA’S 1 MOTOWN #

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with Special Guest - Prentiss McNeil of the “Drifters”

2:30PM AND 7:00PM

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APRIL 21 & 28 MAY 5-12-19-26

Experience Florida’s y ‘BEST’ Talent a d s r u h T c ase Show Every Thursday! ORANGE BLOSSOM OPRY

The Orange Blossom Opry Band

Rhonda Vincent

APRIL 29

MAY 6-13-20-27

THE ORANGE BLOSSOM OPRY BAND

COMING IN MAY! George Jones’ Daughter

Son of Conway Twitty

Charley Pride’s Son

The band will take you on a musical journey featuring hits from your favorite artists.

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4 E JUTHNROUGH 3 1 AUG022

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