VOLUME 7 ISSUE 2
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More than a garden Pg B1 January 2 - 8, 2026
Superpower at sunrise
HUD funding shift
Adrienne Bunn masters Ironman competitions by letting autism work for her.
Grants to be directed toward transitional housing and supportive services.
Project Hope CEO April McDonald and staff member Tami Webb are shown outside one of the nonprofit organization’s Hope Villas apartment units. Project Hope is a local Continuum of Care member. [Bruce Ackerman/ Ocala Gazette file photo]
By Andy Fillmore andy@ocalagazette.com
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eaders of local help agencies that aid the homeless — known together as the Continuum of Care — are reacting positively or with a wait-and-see outlook following policy and funding shift announcements by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Renewal (HUD). Marion County nonprofits including C of C members Interfaith Emergency Services (IES), Project Hope and Saving Mercy could be impacted by the changes. HUD Secretary Scott Turner announced $3.9 billion in HUD’s Fiscal Year 2025 Continuum of Care (CoC) Competition Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) in a Nov. 13 press release. HUD will “direct (the funding) toward transitional housing and supportive services” through “funding opportunities” for local Continuum of Care agencies and away from a “failed housing first” policy of the prior administration, the release stated. “We are stopping the Biden-era slush fund that fueled the homelessness crisis, shut out faith-based providers simply because of their values, and incentivized never-ending government dependency,” Turner stated in the release. See HUD, page A2
Adrienne Bunn, an Ironman competitor, swims freestyle in the pool at Florida Aquatics Swimming and Training (FAST) in Ocala on Dec. 19, 2025. Bunn, 20, who is autistic, competed in the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, on Oct. 11, 2025. She has finished the Boston Marathon and New York Marathon and plans to run in both again, besides competing in Ironman events. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2025.
By Jamie Berube jamie@ocalagazette.com
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hen her alarm pierces the predawn silence at 3:30 a.m. on swim days, Adrienne Bunn does not hit snooze. She is up and out the door before most of Ocala even stirs. In the stillness of her home, she gets ready and heads to the Florida Aquatics Swimming and Training (FAST) facility for a 5 a.m. start. There, she powers through her assigned distance in the pool, focused and steady, before she showers and, if she remembers, grabs breakfast. “I forget to eat sometimes, and I’m a very forgetful person.
But if it’s a long training day, I’ll eat a Jimmy Dean breakfast bowl. I like the bacon breakfast bowl because it contains protein, potatoes and carbs, which are all essential for my body,” Bunn said. For Bunn, 20, her first cup of coffee in the morning isn’t just a ritual; it’s a quiet counterintuitive ally in managing her autism. While caffeine can send some people into overdrive, for her, it has the opposite effect, gently steadying her mind and easing the sensory buzz that can start the day off kilter. “I usually start my morning with a cup of coffee. It helps me. Coffee calms me down. I don’t think it hypes me up,” she said.
By the time the sun peeks over the horizon, she has already logged miles in the water and is preparing for classes or cross-country practice at the College of Central Florida, where she majors in equine studies. “I spend three days a week [swimming] and I run just about every day, and I bike two or three times a week,” she said. This unrelenting dawn routine isn’t just training for Bunn; it’s a way of life. It is how she harnesses what she sees as a superpower: her autism. The structure of training quiets Bunn’s racing thoughts, channels her boundless energy and turns sensory intensity into unbreakable focus. What others might call challenges, she
channels into endurance that has carried her to feats few attempt. This quiet determination caught the eye of Ocala Mayor Ben Marciano on Nov. 3, when he met with Bunn during a morning session. Impressed, he shared his admiration on Facebook. “I had the privilege this morning of meeting Adrienne Bunn, a truly extraordinary young woman from right here in Ocala. Adrienne is a two-time Ironman World Championship finisher. That means a 2.4-mile open water swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a full 26.2-mile marathon — all in one race — and she has done it twice,” Marciano wrote. See Adrienne Bunn, page A9
10 legal issues to watch in 2026 By Jim Saunders The News Service of Florida
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lligator Alcatraz. Guns. Social media. Legal battles about those and myriad other Florida issues remain unresolved heading into 2026. Here are 10 big legal issues to watch in the coming year:
ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ: The immigrant detention center in the Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” has spawned a series of court battles since Florida opened the facility this summer. For example, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments in April in a case that alleges violations of a federal environmental law. Other cases
involve issues such as detainees’ access to attorneys and whether the state has withheld public records. BOOK FIGHTS: Publishing companies, authors and parents are challenging state and local education officials in federal lawsuits after books were removed from school libraries because of alleged improper content. For instance, a case
at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals challenges a 2023 state law that led to books being removed. Two other pending lawsuits target Escambia County School Board decisions to remove or restrict access to books. GUNS: Nearly eight years after the measure passed following the mass shooting at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High
School, the U.S. Supreme Court is deciding whether to take up the National Rifle Association’s challenge to a law that prevents people under age 21 from buying rifles and other long guns. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has taken the unusual step of refusing to defend the law. See 10 legal issues, page A3
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INSIDE:
Book launch................................... A4 Top 10 Photos................................ A8 Camellia show............................... B2 Homes sales.................................... B3 Calendar......................................... B6
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