VOLUME 3 ISSUE 24
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JUNE 17 - JUNE 23, 2022
State pursues ‘holistic’ approach to fatherhood
New charter school fosters individuality and inclusion
By Ryan Dailey Florida News Service
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lorida is preparing to launch mentoring and outreach programs geared toward bolstering fathers’ parenting skills and, in turn, helping at-risk youths as part of a $70 million initiative. The initiative was included in a new law (HB 7065) approved unanimously this year by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in April. Some state agency heads appeared at a news conference Tuesday to tout the effort, which DeSantis has said comes as the nation faces a “fatherhood crisis.” A significant portion of the money will go toward expanding mentorship programs for youths and funding grants designed to help fathers. Department of Juvenile Justice Secretary Eric Hall said providing fathers with resources and improving outcomes for youths go hand-in-hand, in part because roughly half of the children who interact with Hall’s department come from single-parent homes. “Unfortunately, in the Department of Juvenile Justice, we see too many of our young people coming from a single-parent home,” Hall told reporters. “What we are looking at is how do we engage those fathers that have an opportunity to be more engaged than what they are, or in some cases, how do we get male role models in the absence of a father?” Hall said increasing educational opportunities also See Florida, page A8
The Ina A. Colen Academy is shown in Calesa Township in Ocala on Monday, June 6, 2022. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2022.
Annie Avery, the new Principal at the Ina A. Colen Academy in Calesa Township in Ocala on Monday, June 6, 2022. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2022.
By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com
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s the staff of the Ina A. Colen Academy prepare for the school’s opening this August, they envision a place where “everyone belongs, works together and thrives.” The school will offer its students a project-based education, with an emphasis on Social Emotional Learning. The school will initially open for a population of 214 students in kindergarten through sixth
The school logo on the gymnasium floor at the Ina A. Colen Academy in Calesa Township in Ocala on Monday, June 6, 2022. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2022.
grade, according to newly appointed Principal Annie Avery. Avery has been in education for over 25 years, and specializes in early childhood education, education leadership and specific learning disabilities. She has taught a variety of elementary school grade levels, classes for gifted students, and most recently worked in high school administration before being appointed as principal of IACA. “It’s just an incredible place that I have been chosen to be put in,” Avery
said. “I want to have a more family-like atmosphere that we’ve kind of steered away a little bit from lately in the public schools.” The tuition-free public charter school established by The Colen Family Charitable Trust will have a phased opening and will double in size capacity each year while increasing grade levels to include middle and high school. It will construct new buildings for the upperlevel grades on property that has been set See Colen, page A2
City explores new language to garbage facility ordinance By James Blevins james@ocalagazette.com
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cala officials met recently with companies that haul and dispose of the city’s trash and recyclables to sort out several issues ranging from a revised definition of how certain facilities function to how waste may be collected in the future. The May 4 forum, which included Ocala’s Public Works and Growth Management departments and members of the solid waste community, provided information that will help city staff update ordinances dealing with waste management practices. Staff proposed a revised definition of an ordinance to include a Materials Recovery Facility, which is “a solid waste management facility that provides for the extraction
from solid waste of recyclable materials, materials suitable for use as a fuel or soil amendment, or any combination of such materials.” The current ordinance only defines recycling centers and C&D landfills. There is no mention of MRFs or solid waste transfer.
The Dispute
Jerry Laurenco, owner and operator of Friends Recycling Center (FRC) in Ocala, wants the city to recognize his facility the same way the state does, that is, as a Materials Recovery Facility, or MRF. Currently, Ocala only recognizes FRC as a recycling center. The dispute really starts with the green and brown receptacles that Ocala businesses and residents use. Brown containers are meant for recyclable materials, which are then
transferred to a recycling center. Green containers are for garbage. This content goes to the landfill. That’s how the city sees it. No gray areas, just green and brown. No matter what the state says FRC can do, Ocala officials say the city code supersedes the state. Laurenco insists state rules allow him to operate his recycling center as an MRF. This would allow him to receive both brown and green containers and sort out the recyclable items from both, since both kinds of containers typically contain a significant amount of garbage along with recyclables. This mixture, known as contamination, comes from people not differentiating between the receptacles they use for their recyclables and garbage. Laurenco wants the city to rewrite its code to include MRFs in the ordinance language, allowing him to operate his facility as designed, something it
cannot currently do within city limits. So far, though, the city has stood by its code.
Dirty and/or Clean MRF
Currently, FRC meets the city’s definition of a recycling center. But to the state, FRC also meets the definition of a “dirty MRF.” Under the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) regulations, no more than 10% of the contents of each truck that enters the FRC site can be contamination. At that level, the site is considered a so-called “clean murf.” If the percentage is more than that, the facility is considered a “dirty murf ” and must be properly permitted by the DEP. Obviously, it is impossible to know whether a truck’s load has 10% or less contamination until the contents are dumped out on the floor and inspected.
Preferably, a MRF is designed and equipped to handle both clean and dirty levels of contamination at any given moment. To be a state-permitted “dirty” MRF, the facility must also have a leachate collection system. Leachate is liquid generated from rainfall and the natural decomposition of waste. A “clean” MRF doesn’t require a leachate collection system. FRC is permitted through the DEP to accept Class 1 garbage (defined as potentially toxic or dangerous waste) and Class 3 garbage (includes inert, insoluble material, e.g., rock, glass, bricks and dirt) as well as C&D (construction and demolition) debris, which commonly consist of drywall, concrete, wood and metal, as well as yard waste. Also in the refuse business are See Solid waste, page A2
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