Reading With Horses
Praying for Paula
By Jennifer Hunt Murty jennifer@ocalagazette.com
Paula Diaz’s family will tell you they’ve had to reach out to law enforcement for help many times over the 23 years they cared for Paula, who has been troubled ever since being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2004.
Most of the time, the experiences have been positive.
“Some law enforcement (members) have talked to her gently and convinced her to go with them to the hospital,” said Paula’s sister Khelva Ruiz-Rodriguez.
Their first call for help after moving to Marion County from Orange County on Jan. 3,2024, however, has resulted in a
year-and-a-half ordeal they wish no other family has to endure.
Paula, 44, has been held without bond at the Marion County jail since Jan. 4, 2025 on two counts of battery on a law enforcement officer, a third-degree felony; and one first-degree misdemeanor count of battery.
Yet, sitting in court watching other hearings pertaining to those who are incarcerated and clearly mentally ill makes them concerned about the lack of resources to help families like their own.
On June 9, during a monthly status conference hearing for Paula, who is still awaiting trial, her mother, Mariluz Mateo, and Ruiz-Rodriguez cried as Circuit Judge
See Praying for Paula, page A9
Massive sports complex proposed for WEC
MCPS plan moves forward
The Marion County School Board adjusted its school staffing to manage a budget gap.
By Lauren Morrish lauren@ocalagazette.com
The Marion County School Board has reached consensus to move forward with the 2025-26 Central Office Staffing Plan and the five cost-saving recommendations that were made to close the anticipated staffing budget gap.
The staffing plan was adjusted after the May 22 work session and was presented to the board again at a June 5 meeting.
Chief Financial Officer Theresa Boston-Ellis shared the estimated working fund balance for the 202526 fiscal year based on this year’s financial records.
Projected expenditures for the upcoming year total $568 million, while the anticipated revenue is approximately $483 million, leaving an $85 million deficit.
Boston-Ellis said the district’s predicted beginning fund balance of $66 million will help offset that gap, reducing the expected deficit to $18 million. She added that the financial team has determined $64 million in cuts are still needed to balance the budget.
“We are in unprecedented times,” board member Nancy Thrower said. “We’ve never not had a budget by now.”
Boston-Ellis said she is unnerved by that fact and noted that Marion County, along with 66 other school districts in Florida, is concerned about its funding.
One budget challenge mentioned was inflation, which is increasing the cost of school buses by $5,000 each, Boston-Ellis said.
She said recurring costs are also large expenditures, such as Safe School hardening measures of cameras and fencing, aging building upgrades and charter school capital allocations.
Historical grant funds that normally offset some highdollar amounts have decreased significantly. The district received $87 million last year, but this year’s anticipated funds are almost back to the amount the district first accepted in 2016-17, approximately $40 million.
Multiple sports fields, indoor ice hockey rinks, restaurants and a hotel are envisioned for what was
By Belea T. Keeney belea@magnoliamediaco.com
World Equestrian Center leaders are proposing a massive sports complex to be built on 236 acres of pastureland that was intended for low-density equestrian estate homes on large lots and polo fields.
supposed to be low-density residential acreage.
WEC’s requests for Comprehensive Plan amendments, rezonings and other land-use matters revisions to its 2017 Planned Unit Development (PUD) have sparked a pushback from Horse Farms Forever, which compared the enormous proposal to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney World. “Sports at WEC,” the
tentative name for the complex, proposes eight full-size synthetic turf multipurpose soccer, lacrosse and football fields; three natural turf soccer/ lacrosse fields; six synthetic turf multipurpose baseball/softball fields; and a championship soccer field with increased seating. The indoor facility will have two full-sized ice sheets, eight full-sized basketball courts
with the ability to function as 16 volleyball courts and a full-sized synthetic turf soccer pitch.
The complex also would house two restaurants and multiple fan-support buildings containing concessions, restrooms and field maintenance needs, according to the documents. “Sports
See WEC, page A8
Boston-Ellis compared the 2024-25 and 2025-26 upcoming general fund operating budgets. She said the projected revenue will increase by $17 million, with a majority due to Family Empowerment Scholarships, while expenditures will increase by $63 million from the last fiscal year.
The large expenditure change is due to increased salaries, benefits, health insurance and retirement costs, added staffing units and the cost of two new schools.
The budget adds 206 staffer
See MCPS plan, page A3
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Khelva Ruiz-Rodriguez, the sister of Paula Diaz, left, becomes emotional as Diaz' mother, Mariluz Mateo, right, sits with her as they talk about Paula’s paranoid schizophrenia mental illness at Mateo's Silver Springs Shores home in Ocala, Fla. on Monday, June 9, 2025. Diaz was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2004 and has been held at the Marion County jail since Jan. 4, 2025, under no bond. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2025.
Paula Diaz
Look up
The Patriotic Skies 4th of July celebration will include fireworks over Tuscawilla Park.
By Susan Smiley-Height susan@magnoliamediaco.com
If you’re looking for excitement for the 4th of July, consider attending the Patriotic Skies event at Tuscawilla Park near downtown Ocala. There’s even a VIP option with a lakefront view of all the action.
The city of Ocala, in partnership with Ocala Main Street, the Marion County Board of County Commissioners and the Ocala/Marion County Visitors and Convention Bureau, is hosting the event from 6 to 10 p.m. that Friday. Access to the park is free. There are fees associated with the VIP event at Midtown Station.
The city of Ocala is hosting the live entertainment lineup, family activities and food, while Ocala Main Street will present the fireworks display.
The live performances will feature musical acts Bryce Mauldin, Emma Forgette and DJ Karim Martin. The All-American Kid’s Zone will include free activities such as bounce houses, a rock wall, a mechanical alligator and a mechanical surfboard. Face painting will be available for a small fee.
An “Ocala Gazette” article in April shared information about the revitalization of Tuscawilla Park “with the Heart of the Park scheduled to open with a bang this July.”
“Heart of the Park, an upcoming community hub that is transforming the former American Legion building at Tuscawilla Park, is scheduled for a soft opening for sponsors and stakeholders on July 4. Ocala Main Street is in talks with the city of Ocala to bring back a Fourth of July fireworks show to bring the community together and celebrate Heart of the Park’s initial opening,” OMS Executive Director Jessica Fieldhouse stated in the article.
“Plans include a corner store and expansive deck, satellite museum exhibit center in partnership with local
museums and organizations, daily programming focused on wellness and community, and enhanced connectivity throughout the park,” she further noted.
“Ocala Main Street is honored to be the agency to bring fireworks back to Tuscawilla for our community. We are beyond grateful to our volunteers and donors who are making this event happen. We’re thrilled to use this occasion to unveil the heart of the park and be the catalyst for activation in South Tuscawilla. We truly hope everyone will come out to celebrate this long-awaited event and help us support the park during its soft opening in July,” Fieldhouse said via email this week.
The fireworks show will start at 9:30 p.m. It will be put on by Skylighters of Florida, which also provided the pyrotechnics for the recent Symphony Under the Stars event at the Ocala Golf Club.
The city of Ocala had put on a drone show for the 4th of July in 2024 and contracted Sky Elements to put on shows in 2025 and 2026. The city canceled the contract for the drone shows after one of the company’s events in Orlando went awry and a young boy was injured.
The Patriotic Skies event will include these food trucks, according to the city of Ocala website: Best Food Ever, Brick & Ember Pizza, Country Boyz BBQ, Junkie Fries, Kona Ice, Pepere’ Joe’s, Puertorican Cravings, Royal Hibachi, Silver Springs Lions Club (funnel cakes), The Dancing Empanada, The Krafty Kettle and Urban Dawgs.
Free shuttle service will be available from 5 to 11 p.m. at: Marion Technical
Institute, 1614 SE Fort King St.; E.D. Croskey Recreation Center, 1510 NW Fourth St.; Ocala City Hall, 110 SE Watula Ave.; and Marion County Parking Facility, 346 NW Second St. Additional ADA parking will be available on a first-come, first-served basis at the Reilly Arts Center at 500 NE 9th St.
Guests are encouraged to bring chairs and blankets, as seating will not be provided. Tents, alcohol, and personal drones are not permitted. Midtown Station and Infinite Ale Works are hosting the VIP party at 235 NE Watula Ave. Tickets are $60/ adult, $30/minor (16-20) and $20 child (up to age 15). According to organizers, an adult ticket “will include exclusive access to Midtown Station for the evening, food from every vendor at Midtown Station, two alcoholic beverages, A/C, bathrooms, covered patio view of the fireworks show at 9:30 overlooking Lake Tuscawilla and live music from 6-9pm. Event until 11pm.” Limited space is available. To get tickets, go to midtownstation. ticketspice.com/fourth-of-july-party Tuscawilla Park is located at 800 NE Sanchez Ave., Ocala.
To learn more, including a list of FAQs about things such as what not to bring, parking, etc., go to ocalafl. gov/julyfourth
For information about Ocala Main Street, go to ocalamainstreet.org
DRIVER FACES CHARGE OF DUI MANSLAUGHTER
IN DEATH OF BICYCLIST
By Andy Fillmore
andy@ocalagazette.com
A34-year-old Fruitland Park woman has been arrested by the Florida Highway Patrol and charged with DUI manslaughter in connection with a fatal crash on June 7 that claimed the life of a 37-year-old Ocala man riding a bicycle.
Janice Schwarz, whose address was given by FHP as Belleview, was
booked into the Marion County Jail at 8:28 a.m. on June 7 and charged with one count of DUI manslaughter and four counts of DUI property damage. Schwarz stands charged in connection with the crash that occurred around 1:56 a.m. that morning on County Road 25 near Southeast 80th Court. According to an FHP press release issued following the crash, the sedan Schwarz was driving
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struck the rear of the bicycle, which also was traveling west on CR 25 on the north shoulder ahead of the sedan.
The rider of the bicycle was pronounced deceased on the scene by Marion County Fire Rescue, according to the press release.
Schwarz posted $52,000 bail and was released from the Marion County Jail on June 8, according to online records.
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The Patriotic Skies fireworks show on July 4 will be put on by Skylighters of Florida, which provided the pyrotechnics for the Symphony Under the Stars event at the Ocala Golf Club on June 6.
Fireworks explode during Symphony Under the Stars. The same company, Skylighters of Florida, will provide fireworks for the July 4 event.
Photos by Bruce Ackerman Ocala Gazette
‘A’ GRADE AND SECO AWARD
COLLEGE OF CENTRAL FLORIDA ANNOUNCES NEW INITIATIVES
The College of Central Florida recently announced two new initiatives, a partnership with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and the launch of a new Hospitality and Tourism Management program.
The agreement with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will give CF Agribusiness Management students access to innovative technologies and hands-on experience with the latest industry equipment. Learners studying at the CF Vintage Farm Campus will benefit from autonomous aircraft demonstrations and guest lectures by Embry-Riddle experts, who will focus on agricultural operations such as crop monitoring, livestock management and precision farming, the news release noted.
“Expanding the college’s agribusiness training opportunities is responsive to the needs of employers,” said Jim Henningsen, CF president, in the release. “With our area producing nearly $400 million in agriculture exports each year and generating an economic impact of more than $4 billion through our equine industry, CF is positioned to be Florida’s top educational provider for agribusiness career training, talent development and applied research.”
Embry-Riddle, located in Daytona Beach, will have access to CF facilities for collaborative events, research and career awareness initiatives.
“This partnership represents an exciting opportunity for students to explore the intersection of aviation and agriculture in a real-world setting,” said Alan Stolzer, dean of the Embry-Riddle College of Aviation, in the release. “We look forward to engaging with the College of Central Florida community and providing meaningful experiences that inspire the next generation of uncrewed aircraft systems leaders.”
CF was certified in 2024 as a National Institute of Food and Agriculture Non-Land-Grant College of Agriculture from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. CF’s Vintage
MCPS plan
Continued from page A1
positions due to previously board-approved ratios. This means that when a certain number of students is reached a staff member is hired automatically to fill the educational gap.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Deputy Superintendent Ben Whitehouse shared with the board five cost-saving measures that will be taken, and the board supported the proposals.
The first request was to release 50%, $7.4 million, of the committed fund balance; an amount the board set aside for a “rainy day,” to compensate for the budget deficit. Secondly, removing the seven-period day that is funded at five school sites from three of those locations. This would include Horizon Academy, Liberty Middle School, and Osceola Middle School, which was approved to start this schedule for the first time in 2025-26.
Whitehouse said the seven-period schedule requires additional staff and funding that the district does not receive from the state, so
By Susan Smiley-Height susan@magnoliamediaco.com
Farm Campus south of Ocala is the only working farm campus in the Florida College System.
In the Fall, CF will launch a new Hospitality and Tourism Management program designed to support Florida’s growing tourism industry. The program will start with the Guest Services Specialist college credit certificate. This entry-level credential equips students for roles such as concierge, guest services associate or front desk coordinator. The curriculum includes preparation for industry-recognized certifications like the Certified Guest Service Professional and ServSafe Food Manager/ Handler, the release stated.
The certificate transitions into the associate in science in Hospitality and Tourism Management, which expands knowledge in areas such as hospitality principles, hotel management, event and conference planning, tourism marketing and digital media, leadership and human resource management.
Both programs feature internship opportunities, professional networking events and hands-on learning with major industry partners, including the World Equestrian Center.
“With an average salary for industry professionals of around $29 an hour and rapid job growth in Marion County, we’re excited to be able to offer local students the opportunity to become part of Florida’s $1.2+ billion tourism industry,” said John Ash, CF dean of business, technology and agricultural sciences.
To learn more, visit cf.edu
ADVENTHEALTH OCALA AWARDED ‘A’ GRADE
AdventHealth Ocala has been awarded an “A” hospital safety grade for the fifth consecutive time by The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit upholding the standard of excellence in patient safety in hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers.
The Leapfrog Group assigns an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D” or “F” grade to general hospitals nationwide based on more than 30 performance measures reflecting errors, accidents, injuries and infections, as well as the systems hospitals
13 teachers would need to be removed to save $1.2 million.
The third proposal was to change the ratio of ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) paraprofessionals. Currently, there is one ESOL paraprofessional for every 17 students who speak a foreign language. Under this recommendation, the ratio would shift to one paraprofessional per 15 students who speak the same language, allowing for a reduction in ESOL staff and cutting the budget by $530,000.
The fourth suggestion was to adjust the ratio for the special needs paraprofessionals from one paraprofessional per two inclusion teachers to one paraprofessional per every four inclusion teachers.
This would reduce 56 paraprofessional units, gaining $4.7 million in savings.
Whitehouse said this does not necessarily mean cutting positions and movement to different school sites may be allowed depending on vacancies.
The final recommendation was to adjust class size ratios
have in place to prevent them, the news release noted.
“We are thrilled and honored to receive this ‘A’ grade for the fifth time in a row. It shows just how hard our exceptional team members are working every day to keep our patients and visitors safe,” AdventHealth Ocala President and CEO Erika Skula said in the release. “The safety of our team members, patients and visitors is of the utmost importance to AdventHealth and we are very appreciative for the trust our community has placed in our hospital as we work to deliver exceptional, whole person care every day.”
To learn more, go to adventhealth.com/hospital/ adventhealth-ocala
SECO ENERGY EARNS COMMUNICATION AWARD
SECO Energy’s corporate communications team earned national recognition by winning gold in the Best Social Media Post – Classification 3 (for distribution cooperatives with more than 65,000 meters) category at the 2025 Spotlight on Excellence Awards. Presented by the Council of Rural Electric Communicators and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the award celebrates communication excellence among electric cooperatives nationwide.
The award-winning social media post featured a video message from SECO Energy Chief Executive Officer Curtis Wynn. Released in the hours ahead of Hurricane Milton’s landfall, the message urged members to prepare for the storm and highlighted SECO’s readiness efforts. The video project, led by Director of Corporate Communications Amanda Richardson and Multimedia Supervisor Bryan Wooley, received praise for its clarity, urgency and strong commitment to member safety.
SECO Energy is a not-for-profit electric cooperative serving Sumter, Citrus, Marion, Lake, Levy, Pasco and Hernando counties.
Learn more at secoenergy.com
for teachers.
For kindergarten through third grade, the ratio would increase from one adult per 18 students to one adult per 20 students. In fourth through eighth grade, the ratio would shift from one teacher per 22 students to one adult per 24 students. In high school, the ratio would change from one adult per 25 students to one teacher per 27 students. This would reduce the need for 157 classroom teachers, saving over $12 million.
“This is certainly not a recommendation that Dr. Brewer (Interim Superintendent Danielle Brewer) and I make lightly, as we certainly understand the implications of that,” Whitehouse said.
“And having been school principals, we obviously value having as many good classroom teachers as we can and making sure that our classrooms are staffed properly to meet the needs of our students.” Additional cost-saving measures include postponing a $2 million salary study, reducing the percentage of funds for substitute teachers and department budget cuts, estimated to be a $10 million reduction.
Thomas
Paul, 71, of Ocala, FL, was born Nov. 1, 1953, to Thomas Elijah Skinner Jr. and Donna Magdalene Moore Skinner. He passed away on May 27, 2025. He was a loving father and friend, and enjoyed all sports, especially the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Florida Gators. Paul was preceded in death by his parents Thomas and Donna, and his sister, Sandra Lyden, and her husband John Lyden.
He is survived by his sons Paul Thomas Skinner Jr. and Eric Skinner of Ocala; Michelle and Richard Black of Ohio; James and Tara Williams of Indiana; Christopher and Sherry Kerns (sister) of Ohio, their daughter Stacy and husband Tyler Cruse and their son Craig; Sarah Kerns and son Clive; Thomas and Abigail Skinner (brother) and their son Asher; Sandra and John’s children and their children, Kyle and Casey Lyden, and their children, Ivey, Zoe, and Joh; Todd Lyden and his children, Amanda, Josh and Erica; Corey Lyden and Colleen Lyden of North Carolina.
Jacob Dorland, left, CF Vintage Farm campus manager, and Tavis Douglass, right, associate professor and program manager for agribusiness, inspect crops. Learners studying at the farm campus will benefit from autonomous aircraft demonstrations and guest lectures by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University experts in a new partnership.
[Photo courtesy College of Central Florida]
AdventHealth Ocala. [File photo by Bruce Ackerman]
SECO Energy Multimedia Supervisor Bryan Wooley, Director of Corporate Communications Amanda Richardson and CEO Curtis Wynn. [Photo courtesy SECO Energy]
Deputy Superintendent Ben Whitehouse [File photo by Bruce Ackerman]
Paul
Skinner Sr.
Theresa Boston-Ellis Chief Financial Officer [MCPS photo]
OPINION: TOXIC DRINKING WATER, LUCK AND A SECOND CHANCE
A diligent healthcare team likely saved my life, so this column is about taking routine medical exams very seriously.
By Scott Mitchell Special to the Gazette
Most of my family has been blessed with good genes and long lives. I am practically a clone of my father, and he lived to the age of 96. I’ve been healthy, and lucky, most all of my life. The problem is these things can give one a false sense of invincibility.
So far good fortune has seen me through four very close calls; two near fatal mishaps in U.S. Marine Corps helicopters, narrowly escaping the path of a runaway military truck that left a buddy dead and being peppered with buckshot while hog hunting deep in the Okaloacoochee Slough near Lake Okeechobee, which landed me in UF Health Shand’s Hospital to have my right retina surgically reattached.
As a side note, the hunting accident led to my summer camp nickname “Buckshot Scott.” This will make sense to thousands of local kids who have attended Camp Kiwanis over the years.
A 60th birthday and learning I had drunk and bathed in water made toxic from dry cleaning chemicals for three years as a young Marine at MCAS New River, next to Camp Lejeune, caused me to wonder how long my luck would last. Annual physical exams had suddenly become something to be taken seriously. This is where certified nurse practitioner Stacey Graham comes in. Graham is a man who lights up a room when he enters. His smile and signature coat and tie convey both warmth and knowledge. To me he is my “doc.” To most others he is an exceptionally talented healthcare provider who has been with the Ocala Family Medical Center since 2010. Regular checkups typically begin with a big smile and the greeting “talk to me.” He is someone I have come to admire and trust.
We all hear about the importance of preventative health care. I am here to tell you it is all true. After discussing my worries over the toxic water exposure at a routine checkup in January, Graham went one step further and ordered chest x-rays and an EKG. This meeting would change my life.
Other than slightly elevated cholesterol, the results showed me to be very healthy. However, he noticed a slightly abnormal EKG, which is that test that creates squiggly lines on a chart only physicians can make sense of. He assured me it was probably nothing to worry about and “just to be safe,” I was sent two doors down to see Dr. Bipul Roy, a cardiologist at the same practice. Roy put his stethoscope to my chest, studied something on a computer screen and then ordered an echocardiogram and a CT scan, tests that would yield images of my heart and essential plumbing.
I was called back early by the doctor’s office to review the results,
which, for the record, is never a good sign. They had found a life-threatening aortic aneurysm just above the heart. A genetic weakness had caused a large bulge to form on the main artery that supplies oxygenated blood to the body.
A slowly leaking aneurism in this spot will give the patient time to get to an emergency room. However, a rupture is almost always lethal and much less forgiving than Marine helicopters or stray lead from a shotgun. The fact they had caught this early very likely saved my life. There are lessons to be learned here. How important it is to have regular physical exams and finding a provider who pays close attention to you as a patient are critical. I had no symptoms, no high blood pressure, I’ve never smoked and other than an old back injury, I’m in fairly good shape. Graham heard my concerns, then took extra measures to evaluate me. Most importantly he and Roy investigated a slightly abnormal test result out of an
abundance of caution.
I recently had open-heart surgery to replace the faulty artery with a graft. They tell me to expect to have my aortic valve replaced as well. This is very serious business, yet also fairly routine. Recovery time is estimated to be three to four months. At six months I should be fully recovered, though I have told my wife Susan it may be years before I can resume chores.
While some may say I am unlucky to have heart problems, I consider myself to be very fortunate indeed! Toxic water I drank decades ago led my health care providers to watch me closely, which ultimately gave me a second chance. For this, I am extremely grateful. So, the next time you realize your annual physical is due, please don’t put it off. You may be lucky, but prevention is key!
Scott Mitchell is director of the Silver River Museum & Environmental Education Center inside Silver Springs State Park.
Stacey Graham, APRN-C [Submitted photo] Dr. Bipul Roy MD, FACC [Submitted photo]
Scott Mitchell poses for a photo at Camp Kiwanis in the Ocala National Forest on June 11, 2024. [File photo by Bruce Ackerman]
Ocala residents may see utility rate hikes
Additional funds will be needed to help finance a proposed $116M infrastructure overhaul.
By Jamie Berube jamie@ocalagazette.com
Ocala residents could see increases to their water utility bills if the city council approves a proposed $116 million capital improvement plan to modernize the city’s water and wastewater systems.
The proposal is expected to increase costs to customers, including a 5% annual hike in residential water and wastewater rates from 2026 to 2029, followed by a Consumer Price Index-based adjustment (minimum 4%) in 2030. For a typical residential customer using 6,000 gallons per month, their bill would rise from $86.46 in 2025 to $109.28 by 2030, an increase of $22.82 over five years.
Commercial customers will face a “true-up” adjustment to align rates with service demands, increasing usage rates by approximately 56 cents over five years (1–1.5% annually), generating an additional $1 million annually by 2030.
According to council member Jim Hilty, customers received a notice about the proposed rate hikes in their May billing statement.
Council members got their first look at the proposal on June 3. A final vote is scheduled for the public hearing on June 17. If approved, the new rates and fees will take effect on Oct. 1, 2025.
The plan, outlined in a Utility Rate and System Development Fee Study by Raftelis, a utility management consulting firm, aims to modernize the city’s water and wastewater systems over fiscal years 2026 to 2030. The stated goal is to ensure reliable service for a growing population while equitably distributing costs among new and existing customers.
The $116 million initiative targets critical infrastructure projects, including a $46.4 million expansion of Water Treatment Plant #2, $24.7 million for system capacity and efficiency improvements, and $6.6 million for the design of Water Reclamation Facility #3.
Hilty emphasized the need for these upgrades at the June 3 meeting.
Eco-friendly initiatives
The Ocala City Council has approved a $300,000 grant for one electric bus, with others to follow.
By Jamie Berube jamie@ocalagazette.com
SunTran, Ocala’s public transit system, is rolling faster toward putting a new electric bus on city streets, thanks to a $300,000 slice of the Volkswagen emissions scandal funds.
The Ocala City Council on June 3 amended its 202425 budget to allocate the $300,000 grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The funds do not fully cover the cost of the bus, estimated at $900,000.
The Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust, established from a legal settlement where Volkswagen paid more than $2.9 billion for cheating on emissions tests, supports projects like Ocala’s electric bus purchase to reduce pollution and promote cleaner transportation.
Over time, plans call for the purchase of five electric buses and small vans as well as the expansion of a maintenance center.
SunTran Transit Administrator Tom Duncan said the buses and related infrastructure are expected to be operational by late 2027 and emphasized the streamlined nature of the purchasing process.
“This contract is already in place, the agreements, their pricing and everything’s already
determined. So, there’s really no negotiations for it. It’s almost like going to Amazon and ordering a vehicle with our options,” Duncan said.
Greg Davis, public information officer for the city of Ocala, noted that vehicle specifications such as battery capacity, seating configuration and accessibility features are being finalized and a vendor selection process adhering to Federal Transit Administration requirements and city of Ocala policies will follow.
The approved budget amendment supports Amendment No. 1 to Agreement No. VW305, a contract between the FDEP and the city of Ocala/ SunTran, originally signed on May 15, 2023, for the purchase of electric transit buses. The amendment extends the project timeline by 24 months, from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2027, providing SunTran additional time to acquire and integrate electric buses into its fleet.
The amendment also adds a provision to the agreement’s “Special Audit Requirements” (Part VI of Attachment 5), requiring the city of Ocala/ SunTran to cooperate fully with the FDEP’s Inspector General in any investigation, audit, inspection, review or hearing, as mandated by Florida Statute 20.055(5). Subcontractors or subgrantees involved in the project must also comply with these audit requirements in
“The improvements are those recommended in the Master Plans to extend the service life, reduce the risk of service disruptions and minimize the need for emergency repairs,” Hilty said.
“Project prioritization is guided by the Master Plans, which rank and recommend capital improvement projects,” he continued.
Along with the rate increases, the city plans to finance these projects through a combination of updated development fees and low-interest state loans, including a $49.7 million Water State Revolving Fund Loan and a $7 million Wastewater State Revolving Fund Loan.
According to Hilty, the rate increases are necessary to ensure continued service delivery.
“The average residential customer will see a 5% increase in their bill,” he said. “All costs include a conservative escalation factor to account for future expenses at the time the project is implemented.”
To support growth without overly burdening current ratepayers, the plan raises development fees for new customers, phased in over four years to comply with Florida’s 50% annual cap. Water fees per Equivalent Residential Unit will increase from $823 to $1,235 by 2029, and wastewater fees will rise from $3,148 to $4,722.
“The purpose of the fees is to cover the actual cost of system capacity improvements required to support the development,” Hilty said.
The proposal also updates miscellaneous charges to reflect current costs, including raising the city-installed 5/8-inch meter fee from $2,005 to $4,440, introducing a $65 maintenance disconnect/reconnect fee, and increasing fees for non-payment reconnections, meter tampering and industrial wastewater permits.
City officials said the plan prioritizes fiscal responsibility by maintaining a 90-day operating reserve of $7.5 million in 2025 and 150% debt service coverage to meet loan obligations. The city will transfer funds annually to the Construction Fund and deposit $200,000 yearly into the Renewal and Replacement Fund for ongoing maintenance, with General Fund transfers growing from $6.1 million in 2025 to $10.7 million by 2030 to support broader city services.
A review of the study every three to four years, officials said, will ensure adaptability to economic or operational changes.
The June 17 public hearing will be held at City Hall, 110 SE Watula Ave. Residents can attend the meeting, submit speaker forms to clerk@ocalafl.gov, sign up in person or email comments to citycouncil@ocalafl.org.
For more information, contact the Utilities Department at (352) 629-2489, visit ocalafl.gov or review the Raftelis study at ocala.legistar.com
writing, ensuring transparency in the use of funds.
The $300,000 from the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust builds on significant federal funding awarded to SunTran in 2023.
“Funding for these efforts was awarded by the Federal Transit Administration through the Low or No Emission Vehicle (Lo-No) Program,” Davis said.
Duncan clarified this program further.
“It’s the Federal Transit Administration’s Low or No Emissions Bus and Bus Infrastructure Program and that’s where the city of Ocala put together the application process for that and they were awarded the full funding, which was just over $16.1 million,” Duncan said.
These funds, combined with $4,041,706 in toll revenue credits from the Florida Department of Transportation, as approved by City Council on July 2, 2024 (Resolution BR-2024-151), will support the purchase of the other buses and vans, and expansion of the maintenance center to service the electric vehicles.
To accommodate the new electric vehicles, SunTran is
upgrading its infrastructure.
“We have two maintenance bays that will handle two vehicles at a time. So, I’ve got about 13 vehicles in our fleet, and we’re looking to bring in five electric buses and so just capacity and space to work on these additional vehicles, we’re definitely needing some room, so we’re adding two more bays that could be a little bit bigger, with a unique layout, more industry-specific for the electric buses, so that we have an overhead gantry crane system for maintenance and servicing of any battery packs that are on the roof of our vehicles,” Duncan said.
“Our charging stations right now, we’re going to place charging at our maintenance facility. We’re looking at the west-southwest part of town,” Duncan said.
These upgrades will ensure the electric fleet is operational and well-maintained.
“As the city of Ocala continues to explore eco-friendly initiatives, the addition of battery-electric transit buses will further reduce the community’s carbon footprint while enhancing the existing network of public charging infrastructure and electric refuse vehicles,” Davis said.
According to Davis, SunTran has no plans to fully transition to an all-electric fleet.
“SunTran will continue operating a mixed fleet of vehicles,” Davis said.
Duncan expressed enthusiasm for the initiative.
“It’s an exciting program. I’m not going to lie; I’m intrigued by the electric industry. You can look at this in black and white on paper, but there’s always a variance from when you take a concept and you roll it out into reality, you have different possible results. We’re looking to compare that. We do have a transit development plan that’s pretty eager to get rolled out with expansion and it addresses a variety of areas for expansion,” Duncan added.
This includes plans to expand service along the west-southwest part of town and introduce micro-transit options, such as electric vans, to complement the existing fixed-route network, making public transit more accessible for residents, including students and daily commuters.
To learn more, go to ocalafl.gov/ government/city-departmentsi-z/suntran
The city of Ocala is moving forward on adding electric buses to its SunTran fleet. [File photo by Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette]
City of Ocala wastewater treatment facility. [File photo by Dave Miller]
Standing up for veterans
A ‘stand down’ held June 7 included a number of organizations that offered resources, support and free haircuts and dental care.
financial assistance, a food
By Andy Fillmore andy@ocalagazette.com
AVeteran Stand Down was hosted on June 7 by Veterans Helping Veterans USA at the Marion County Veterans Resource Center at 2730 E. Silver Springs Blvd. The event, which ran from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., was aimed at helping veterans find resources.
A number of veterans and civilians also were served at a FreeD.O.M. Clinic USA, Inc., event that took place held nearby.
At the Veteran Stand Down, the only such local event of its kind in the past five years, a steady stream of veterans were offered free haircuts and information about issues including disability benefits, legal help, homelessness prevention, employment and more from at least a dozen veteran focused agencies, institutions and nonprofits.
Todd Belknap, executive director of VHV/USA of Marion County, explained that his nonprofit hosted the event this year after a change in plans by another organization and a reschedule from March to June.
“It’s mind boggling how many veterans are unaware of the many benefits and outreaches that are out there to help them. These same veterans wrote a blank check to the nation when they served and now it’s time we pay them back,” Belknap said.
“Our main goal is to raise awareness of Veterans Helping Veterans USA so we can place as many resources into as many veterans’ hands as possible while also providing them with
“It can be a bit off-putting,” Espinosa said about recently separated veterans trying to navigate information about benefits and programs after leaving a “formatted” lifestyle in the military.
“CF’s Veterans Success Center aids in receiving education benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. We provide assistance to military service members, veterans and eligible dependents enrolled at the College of Central Florida,” according to cf.edu
CF can also help eligible students who are receiving veterans benefits to navigate federal financial benefits, according to the website.
James Burgos, a community service specialist with Volunteers of America Florida in Ocala, which is part of a 128-year-old national organization, manned a table with information on the faith-based nonprofit, which provides affordable housing and supportive services to homeless veterans, families with children and individuals coping with mental illness and disabilities, as well as vulnerable seniors,” according to voaflorida.org
The outreach offers programs such as Supportive Services for Veteran Families, which promotes housing stability for income qualified veterans and the Ocala Grant Per Diem program, which provides clinical treatment, transitional housing and case management to homeless veterans. The website features the Ocala GPD program in the Ocala Ritz Veterans Village in the historic hotel on Silver Springs Boulevard, which offers 50 one-bedroom units.
Veterans Treatment Court, an outreach of 12 entities, including law enforcement and legal agencies, veterans’ organizations and a mental health organization, and Veterans Helping Veterans USA, has a motto of “leave no veteran behind,” according to program literature.
Rev. Bruce Gonseth, a veteran mentor with VTC, said the program can help veterans facing misdemeanors and certain felony cases redirect their cases to the special court, where they will be assigned a mentor. He said there’s an understanding that many of the veterans could be suffering the effects of PTSD and programs are offered to help with substance abuse issues. Gonseth said about 87% of participants complete the program and about 90% of program graduates do not commit repeat crimes.
David Bice, a Navy veteran and veteran mentor with VTC, spoke about case management and follow-up by mentors and talked about one veteran who met the program requirements and the charge was removed.
“That veteran got a fresh start,” Bice said, which was a benefit to the veteran’s family.
The Ocala Vet Center readjustment counseling program offers “communitybased counseling centers that provide a wide range of social and psychological services, including professional counseling to eligible veterans, service members including the National Guard and Reserve components and their families. Counseling is offered to make a successful transition from military to civilian life or after a traumatic event experienced in the military to include military sexual trauma, the website states.
The Florida Department of Veterans Affairs table was manned by Jeffrey Seckinger. FDVA programs include a Career Service, Benefits Guide and Services, public records requests and information about benefits for female veterans.
Steve Sarkozy and Bruce Caroll explained the veterans program at Empath Health Hospice of Marion County.
Ocala Blue Star Mothers is a branch of a national organization with about 6,000 member “mothers, stepmothers, grandmothers, foster mothers and female legal guardians who have children serving in the military, guard or reserves, or children who are veterans,” according to bluestarmothers.org
Steaphanie Dwyer, an outreach peer navigator with Zero Hour Life Center in Ocala, was at the stand down as part of her work with homeless veterans. She said her recovery organization focuses on people in the community suffering homelessness and substance abuse.
Marion County Veterans Services and the Marion County Veterans Council were represented at the Stand Down and Ocala Mayor Ben Marciano, City Councilman Jim Hilty and former congressman Cliff Sterns were on hand.
Melissa Wilform, a program assistant for the Suicide Prevention Mental Health Service Line of the Department of Veterans Affairs, North Florida/ South Georgia Veterans Health Systems, provided information on the 988 press 1 phone line and follow-up for at-risk veterans.
Patti Valenti, an outreach and referral specialist with the city of Ocala, represented the city/Marion County combined Joint Office on Homelessness Prevention, while Henry Ayala, a retired Army veteran and CareerSource Citrus Levy Marion local veteran employment representative, provided information about his agency.
Ayala said he can help veterans with a disability and benefits to find proper part-time employment, for example.
The Disabled American Veterans Chapter 85 (South Marion) was represented by Jan Lawrence. Michelle Langdon, a Navy and Air Force veteran, and current commander of American Legion Ocala Memorial Post 27, had a group of about 10 volunteers working at the event. VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) 4209 McCullough-Mixson Post also was represented.
Marion County Animal Services had a booth offering veterans collars for their dogs and help for homeless veterans and their pets.
Maxine Green with VHV gave veterans haircuts throughout the Veteran Stand Down, including one to Michael Hughes, whose military service was the 1970s.
“This means a lot,” Hughes said.
Concurrent event
Just down the road from the stand down, FreeD.O.M. Clinic USA, a mobile, faith-based dental, optical and medical clinic outreach of the Marion County Health District, served a number of pre-qualified and preregistered veterans and civilians at the Kingdom Revival Church at 3318 E. Silver Springs Blvd.
The outreach serves uninsured and underinsured people in the county and can provide free dental exams; X-rays; fillings, extractions and dental health education; free reading and prescription glasses; refractions and glaucoma, diabetic and cataract screenings; physical and school exams; hypertension and diabetes counseling; skin exams; wound care; infectious disease screenings, including HIV; and non-narcotic medications and more; the website indicates.
John Doperalski, director of logistics for FreeD.O.M. Clinic USA, said about 200 people turned out for the clinic. He said roughly 150 had dental exams and another 50 had procedures such as fillings and extractions.
Doperalski described the process as being three steps: an educational session for the patient, registration and medical testing including blood pressure. Doperalski indicated the organization recently added carotid artery ultrasound to its list of services and said a medical doctor is typically on hand at clinics.
The event saw dental professionals, such as local dental hygienist Stefanie Gaspard, and a number of third- and fourth-year University of Florida College of Dentistry students work on patients in about a dozen dental chairs.
Photos by Andy Fillmore
Maxine Green with Veterans Helping Veterans USA gave several haircuts throughout the Veteran Stand Down event on June 7, including for veteran Michael Hughes.
Local dental hygienist Stefanie Gaspard helped patient Pearlle Elghaly during the FreeD.O.M. Clinic USA at Kingdom Revival Church on June 7.
Volunteers from various organizations worked inside the pantry at the Marion County Veterans Resource Center during the Veteran Stand Down.
Local dental professionals and a number of third- and fourth-year University of Florida College of Dentistry students saw patients in about a dozen dental chairs during the FreeD.O.M. Clinic USA.
Equine excellence
Marion
County-based
Bridlewood
Farm graduates dominate Triple Crown races.
By JoAnn Guidry Special to the Gazette
With Sovereignty and Journalism’s 1-2 finish in the 157th Belmont Stakes on June 7 at Saratoga Race Course, the Ocala-based Bridlewood Farm early training graduates made it a sweep of the 2025 Triple Crown races.
Sovereignty and Journalism also finished first and second in the Kentucky Derby on May 3 at Churchill Downs. Journalism, who is co-owned by Bridlewood Farm, won the Preakness Stakes, the second jewel of the Triple Crown series, on May 17 at Pimlico Race Course.
Sovereignty, owned by international racing entity Godolphin and trained by Bill Mott, skipped the Preakness Stakes. In doing so, he became the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby, not run in the Preakness Stakes and then win the Belmont Stakes. Sovereignty won the Belmont Stakes by three lengths, in 2:00.69 for the mile-and-a-quarter race. The victory brought Sovereignty’s earnings this season to $4,729,520. Journalism earned the distinction of being the only horse to compete in all three Triple Crown races this year. Purchased for $825,000 as a yearling at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga August sale, Journalism is co-owned by the partnership of Bridlewood Farm, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Don Alberto Stable, Robert V. LaPenta, Elayne Stables 5 LLC, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael B. Tabor and Derrick Smith. As is the case with most partnerships, each co-owner’s racing silks are rotated race by race. Journalism won the Preakness Stakes wearing John and Leslie Malone’s Bridlewood Farm silks. He ran second in the Kentucky Derby
in the Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners silks and second in the Belmont Stakes with Robert LaPenta’s silks. Trained by Michael W. McCarthy, Journalism has to date a seasonal bankroll of $3,040,000. Sovereignty and Journalism are just two of the latest successful racehorses to emerge from Bridlewood Farm’s training operation. Among the other notable Bridlewood Farm training graduates are Smarty Jones (2004 Kentucky Derby winner), Tapwrit (2017 Belmont Stakes winner), Gun Runner (2017 North American Horse of the Year) and Cody’s Wish (2023 North American Horse of the Year). Tapwrit raced for the partnership of Bridlewood Farm, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Robert LaPenta. Under the guidance of Joan “Meda” Murphy, some 200 head of young horses receive their early training during peak fall season at Bridlewood Farm.
Founded in 1976 by the late Arthur and Martha Appleton, the farm has been a stalwart in the Florida Thoroughbred industry. Named the 1991 Florida Breeder of the Year, Appleton bred more than 100 stakes winners and seven Florida-bred millionaires. Also an art collector, Appleton and his sister EdithMarie Appleton established the Appleton Museum of Art in Ocala in 1987.
Appleton, who was preceded in death by Martha in 1998, died on Jan. 15, 2008. Bridlewood Farm was then operated by The Appleton Family Trust until John and Leslie Malone purchased it in 2013. Under the stewardship of the Malones and General Manager George Isaacs, Bridlewood Farm has grown to more than 2,200 acres while continuing to be a prominent breeding, training and racing operation.
To learn more, go to bridlewoodfarm.com
Aldi opens at former Winn-Dixie Location in Marion Oaks
By Dani Eskridge dani@magnoliamediaco. com
Fan-favorite supermarket
Aldi was packed with hundreds of customers early June 5 for a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony for its new location at 184 Marion Oaks Blvd., Ocala. A soft opening was held June 4.
On Thursday, the first 100 customers received gift bags filled with samplings of Aldi exclusive products and a gift card. Customers could enter a sweepstakes for a $500 ALDI gift card through the opening weekend.
The store, formerly a Winn-Dixie, closed on Nov. 3, 2024, and renovations began to convert it to the Aldi brand. Aldi had purchased Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets in March 2024, then later sold a portion of the holdings to a group of private investors. Some stores, like this one, remained under the Aldi brand.
There are five Aldi locations in Marion County and more than 2,500 in the United States.
To learn more, go to aldi.us
WOMAN, 81, DIES AFTER BEING STRUCK BY CAR IN SE MARION COUNTY
By Andy Fillmore andy@ocalagazette.com
An 81-year-old Summerfield woman died early June 8 after she was struck by a car while crossing U.S. Highway 301 in southeast Marion County, the Florida Highway Patrol has reported.
The pedestrian fatality occurred around 1:30 a.m. as the victim attempted to cross the highway near Southeast 169th Street, according to an FHP press release.
“A Hyundai Elantra was traveling northbound on US Highway 301 north of Southeast 169th Street in the left lane.
The victim, a pedestrian, was traveling west across the northbound lanes of US Highway 301. The left front corner of (the Hyundai) collided with (the victim). The victim was pronounced deceased at the scene,” the release stated.
The 24-year-old Ocala man driving the Hyundai was wearing a seat belt and was not injured, according to the press release.
The case is still under investigation.
The FHP Crash Dashboard at flhsmv.gov states from Jan. 1 to June 4 preliminary data indicates there have been nine pedestrian fatalities in Marion County and 29 total traffic fatalities in the same time frame.
A big crowd was on hand for the Aldi grand opening on June 5 in Marion Oaks.
Shoppers were eager to enter the new store.
Potos by Dani Eskridge
Joan “Meda” Murphy, a trainer at Bridlewood Farm, is shown with farm manager George Isaacs at the historic Maron County thoroughbred venue. [File photo by Bruce Ackerman]
at WEC” envisions outdoor field sports events, concerts and a hotel, along with two restaurants and a site for food trucks.
The changes from low-residential to commercial activities on this parcel are in direct contrast to the approved previous use for this southwest section of the WEC’s 4,276- acres. The original PUD stipulated that this area would have a low-residential land use.
Attorney James Gooding represents Golden Ocala Equestrian Land, LLC. His cover letters request a PUD amendment and acknowledged the dichotomy about the land-use change.
“While we believe that the sports facilities would serve to support the horse community and community in general, we also recognize that this use is a significant change from the project for which this land-use category was originally established,” he wrote. “Thus, we propose to add regional sports facilities to the uses permitted by the Policy.”
The site for the project is on the southwest corner of the WEC development, with West State Road 40 to the south, NW 110th Avenue to the west and NW 87th Court Road as the east boundary. The parcel is west of the WEC chapel and is mostly grass and pastureland, along with some small woods. Some of the land has already been cleared in the area approved for polo fields. Private roads have already been constructed throughout the entire WEC facility.
HORSE FARMS FOREVER OPPOSITION
The horse show, hotels and retail complex currently in operation is on about 378 acres and situated on the northeast end of the PUD. The applicants now seek to rezone 236 acres on the southwest of the WEC PUD that was approved by the county in 2017. That PUD was to be developed as a “regional attraction consisting of equestrian-related improvements (including indoor and outdoor arenas, barns, show rings, etc.) and other improvements to support the horse community and community in general.”
HFF has objected to the proposal, focusing on the commercial, nonequestrian activities proposed, the lack of compatibility with surrounding farms to the west and south of the PUD and the seeming “bait and switch” of the requested change from the initial lowresidential usage to commercial, forprofit general sports activities.
“This facility is proposed in the wrong location, on lands designated and restricted to low-density residential home sites for the World Equestrian Estates,” said Busy Shires, director of conservation for HFF, via email.
“This intense commercial development is fundamentally incompatible with the adjacent horse farms, equestrian uses and the Farmland Preservation Area. If these applications move forward, the Farmland Preservation Area certainly will not be ‘the happiest place on earth,” she wrote.
Horse Farms Forever has published its position paper on its website and on
social media in opposition to the project. It stated that, “In 2017, Golden Ocala applied to remove almost 1,000 acres from the Farmland Preservation Area to build the World Equestrian Center on 480 acres and to allow for residential development on the remaining acreage. The application included moving the Urban Growth Boundary west to NW 100th Avenue. The County Commission granted the changes conditioned upon the residential World Equestrian Estates serving as a stepdown buffer for the new Farmland Preservation Area boundary. These proposed applications seek to undo those promises and agreements. More importantly, the applications fail to clear the required hurdles of consistency, compatibility and public interest as detailed in the Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Code.” In its initial report to the Development Review Committee, county staff recommended denial of the requests. The DRC at its April 14 meeting noted concerns about traffic and some incomplete reports and voted to approve sending the application to the Planning & Zoning commission. The application is slated to be heard in the commission’s 5:30 p.m. meeting on June 30. The project will ultimately be voted on by the Board of County Commissioners after public comment and two quasijudicial hearings.
An aerial view of the proposed development area at the World Equestrian Center is shown in Ocala, Fla. on Friday, June 6, 2025. [Michael Warren/Special to the Ocala Gazette]
This graphic from submitted project documents shows an aerial overlay and amendment area for the proposed WEC sports facilities.
Praying for Paula
Continued from page A1
Barbara Kissner Kwatkosky asked the state about dismissing the case against Paula.
“When I was reviewing the statute, if someone is not competent and not restorable usually that results in a dismissal,” the judge said.
Barbara Jean Harris, Assistant State Attorney, responded, “After a period of time, though.”
Kwatkosky pressed Harris. “If they are restorable, but not competent, after a period of time they are not restorable, I think it gets dismissed?” she asked.
“The state can get another expert to evaluate whether the person is restorable or not,” Kwatoksky added.
Paula has been found incompetent numerous times, according to records provided by the family and more recently in a report by Dr. Harry Krop, a psychologist, dated April 7, 2025.
That determination reiterated the findings from a report by Dr. Scot Machlus a year earlier, who noted “Ms. Diaz was incompetent to proceed” and recommended “that she receive competency training and continue her psychiatric treatment in the community, as she did not present as a danger to herself or others.”
Harris, however, said she did not have a release plan from the court’s health care provider, Meridian Healthcare, Inc., and would need to do more research before agreeing to release Paula.
Patrick Fortunato of Meridian told the family after the hearing that the release plan was the same as the one issued last year and expressed concern that Paula remained in jail only “due to legal reasons.”
The company had filed a letter days before the status hearing reaffirming their position that Paula continued to be incompetent to proceed in her legal case.
The family says they were unable to see or talk to Paula the first six weeks she was incarcerated because she was in “confinement.”
“My daughter keeps asking why I can’t come see her and that she wants to come home,” said Mateo. “She doesn’t understand why she’s in the jail and that I’m not allowed to come to her.”
They say they have tried to talk with Paula every day and visit frequently. Mateo said, however, sometimes the visitation machines are broken.
The family describes Paula as childlike when she’s not in “crisis,” the word they use to describe episodes when Paula can’t communicate and turns to destructive behavior like tearing up her mattress or spitting or throwing things.
According to Mateo, despite her best efforts to protect Paula, she has been in and out of mental hospital facilities, been sexually assaulted and beaten by people who didn’t understand how to react to her.
The family said they were hurt when MCSO chose to go to social media two days after the incident and described Paula as violent without providing any context about her being mentally ill.
Additionally, Ocala Mugshots posted a photo of Paula when she was arrested the second time with the message, “The best smile of the day!” And people weighed in on her photo with mean comments.
“They aren’t criminals. They didn’t choose to be sick,” Ruiz-Rodriguez said. “Marion County needs more mental health resources and officers
need more training. Not just for the sake of the ill person but the families who can’t sleep at night because they are trying to do the best they can.”
CAUGHT UP IN THE SYSTEM
Ruiz-Rodriguez said the immediate and extended closeknit family moved to Marion County from Orange County because of the lower cost of housing here and the hope of better living in what she thought was a community with a “small-town feel.”
“I obviously didn’t do my homework before I moved here, and I now feel unsafe and my family is going to move from the state because we can’t believe how unsafe it is for the mentally ill,” Ruiz-Rodriguez said.
Mateo lamented the decision to move to Marion County but added, “I always loved horses since I was a little girl, and I thought Marion County was paradise.”
“It’s not paradise,” she clarified.
Mateo recalls “little things being not right” with Paula when she was about 4 years old. The family lived in New York then.
Paula got pregnant and had a son at 16 and dropped out of school. Eighth grade was the highest level of education Paula would receive, and she started working in retail and fast-food businesses to support her son.
She was in Manhattan when terrorists crashed planes into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, and the family calls the experience a turning point for Paula. She became paranoid about the Taliban and refused to take the train from Queens into Manhattan.
Mateo, now age 66, has cared for her daughter and her grandson since then.
On Jan. 3, 2024, the family had just moved to Ocala, and they were all living in one house temporarily while Mateo’s house was being renovated for her, Paula and Paula’s son.
Paula became aggressive toward her brother-in-law, spitting on him, throwing a plastic dish on the ground, and shaking the back of his chair. Ruiz-Rodriguez called for an ambulance so that Paula could get help regaining control at a medical facility.
In body cam footage from Marion County Sheriff’s Office deputies, Ruiz-Rodriguez greeted the deputies and asked for their help to take her sister to the hospital.
Over about 10 minutes after arriving at the home, the deputies spoke to the family and with Paula, who was in the living room holding a ball. They grabbed Paula’s hands, and she began to panic. Three deputies wrestled her to the floor of the family’s living room, and another started deploying a Taser on her, in front of her mother, Paula’s son, sister and brother-in-law.
The body cam footage shows deputies holding Paula around her neck and kneeling on her back while she is being struck by the Taser. Paula’s family can be heard in the background yelling prayers for Paula.
The family has provided consent to share the video because they feel the deputies did not use caution in dealing with Paula. Ruiz-Rodriguez lamented, “Maybe I should have been more specific with them about her fear of being touched and hit, particularly by law enforcement.”
Bodycam footage reveals a supervisor arriving at the scene after Paula was loaded into an ambulance and telling the Marion County Fire Rescue paramedics to take Paula to the county jail. The paramedics refused, stating that the state
Paula was in required them to take her to a medical facility.
A deputy argued with the medics that Paula was under arrest, that it wasn’t a Baker Act case, and that MCFR was refusing care of Paula. The deputy asked the paramedics to transport Paula to the jail and a nurse would check her out there.
The paramedics instead delivered Paula to AdventHealth Ocala hospital, but she was quickly released to the MCSO jail. It would take two days and Mateo spending $13,000 to get Paula out on bond. Because of the third-degree felony charges, Paula wasn’t entitled to entry into the Mental Health diversion court.
Ruiz-Rodriguez and her mother said they did not see Paula scratch or bite officers in the altercation. “It all happened so fast, how do we know one officer didn’t scratch the other? The video doesn’t reflect what they said happened.”
The use of force report analyzing the incident by MCSO said the injuries to the officers only produced a little redness and did not require medical treatment.
THE STRUGGLE THAT ENSUED AFTER THE ARREST
Ruiz-Rodriguez said Paula was conditionally released following the 2024 incident and spent a few weeks at the local SMA Healthcare facility, which provides behavioral services for people in crisis. “They helped Paula, and she got a little better,” she said.
“Better” was short lived, however, and by October 2024, Paula was entering another crisis. With the help of MCSO deputies, this time Paula was taken in under the state’s Baker Act on Oct. 13, 2024 and spent a few weeks at a facility just an hour south of Marion County.
Ruiz-Rodriguez said that when Paula was released from the mental health facility, the treatment wasn’t successful, and she was still unstable.
Paula had a hearing scheduled for Nov. 4, under her conditional release for the January charges and the family knew that they could not persuade her to go. They reached out to the public defender and asked if she could appear by video for the hearing, and they said they got no help.
When Paula didn’t appear for the Nov. 4 hearing, Circuit Judge Lisa Herndon issued
a warrant for Paula’s arrest. Mateo felt she needed to hire a private attorney to negotiate on behalf of her daughter to have her sent to a medical facility instead of the Marion County jail. She hired Gainesville attorney Evan Gardiner of Smith & Eulo Law Firm on Dec. 23 and paid him $5,000.
However, deputies showed up at Mateo’s house on Jan. 4 and took Paula to jail, where she was held with no bond.
The family said the deputies executing the warrant were sympathetic to the family’s concerns and transported Paula carefully to the jail without incident.
The family says there have been periods of time where they are cut off from contact with Paula due to MCSO putting Paula in “confinement.”
Mateo said she paid $5,000 to Gardiner to use all the evidence they had that Paula was incompetent to get her released from jail. Gardiner made a motion on Jan.15 asking that Paula be released under her prior conditional release plan because “the defendant’s condition has deteriorated to the point that inpatient care is required, or that the release conditions should be modified.”
The motion was denied, and over the next months, Paula received additional psychological evaluations that all determined she was incompetent and not likely to be restored to competency.
At the time of publication, Paula’s lawyer has not filed a motion to dismiss the charges, and the State Attorney’s Office has not provided any guidance as to what information is needed to consider releasing Paula to her family. The judge set the next hearing for July 3, and the docket notes “the court to hear a motion to dismiss at a later date.”
Sasha Kidney, Division Chief, for State Attorney William Gladson, wrote the Gazette in response to an inquiry, “Following a review of the court file in Ms. Diaz’s case, it appears that the 2024 conditional release plan was not filed into the record; as a result, we do not have a copy. Meridian has been in contact with Ms. Diaz’s attorney to discuss their concerns and their proposed modifications to the prior plan. Once a revised plan is finalized, they will provide a copy to our office.”
FAMILY REMAINS CONCERNED FOR PAULA AND THEMSELVES
In addition to a psychological disability, Paula has numerous physical disabilities and medical conditions that can worsen if not treated. The family has expressed concern over the medical care Paula has received for her condition since January. At one point, Paula told her family she had pulled the thin mattress down from the top bunk to sleep on the floor of her cell as she could not get in and out of the top bunk she was assigned.
They say they know she’s had at least one altercation with another inmate.
Ruiz-Rodiguez and Mateo met with jail administrator Major Charles McIntosh, and they said they believe he is trying to improve the jail. “But he’s just one person, and he can only do as much as his boss (Sheriff) Billy Woods lets him do,” said RuizRodriguez.
As previously reported by the “Gazette,” McIntosh has ceased compliance reporting for medical care provided by Heart of Florida at the jail despite growing concerns about questionable medical care that has led to an unusually high number of deaths at the facility.
Aaron Victoria, a senior Advocate-Investigator for Disability Rights Florida, has confirmed that the MCSO jail is being investigated by their agency, which is likely the only agency with the authority to assert access to the jail, other than the governor.
Ruiz-Rodriguez filed a complaint with MCSO for their handling of her call for help for her sister that led to her arrest. She said she received a call from MCSO Lt. Danny Rosa that she described as “threatening.”
“He said there was no way MCSO was going to drop charges against Paula,” Ruiz-Rodriguez said of the call.
Ruiz-Rodriguez and Mateo both say they are afraid to call for help and that they are already talking about moving from Florida as soon as possible because they feel their family is being discriminated against.
Mateo told the “Gazette” people at her church told her to remain quiet for fear that Paula would be retaliated against in jail. However, Mateo told the “Gazette” she’s speaking up for Paula and all the other mentally ill people being held at the jail.
“Families like ours need community,” Mateo said.
Khelva Ruiz-Rodriguez, the sister of Paula Diaz, left, and Paula’s mother, Mariluz Mateo, right, hold a 2007 family photo of Diaz as they talk about her paranoid schizophrenia mental illness at Mateo's Silver Springs Shores home in Ocala, Fla. on Monday, June 9, 2025. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2025.
Jolly launches bid for governor
By Jim Turner and Mike Exline The News Service of Florida
Former Republican Congressman
David Jolly on June 5 became the first prominent Democrat to enter the 2026 gubernatorial race, saying he can attract middle-ground voters who want leaders to address issues such as rising housing and property insurance costs.
Jolly, 52, represented a Pinellas County district in Congress for nearly three years and more recently has been a cable news political commentator. He hopes to become the first Democrat elected governor since Lawton Chiles won in 1994. Gov. Ron DeSantis cannot run again next year because of term limits.
Republicans control every statewide office in Florida, have supermajorities in the state House and Senate and continue expanding their voter registration lead.
“If you’re a Republican, Democrat or independent, you’re facing an affordability crisis in the state of Florida that has you wondering if you can continue to live here, retire here, raise your kids here,” Jolly told the News Service of Florida. “Personally, I think Republican politicians in Tallahassee have contributed to this crisis, ignored it,
won’t do anything about it, and I think there’s a coalition that’s demanding change.”
The Republican Party of Florida described Jolly’s announcement as “breaking news from Fantasyland.” It pointed to the GOP’s voter registration
Hosseini reappointed to UF board
The News Service of Florida
Amid questions about how the University of Florida will move forward with hiring a new president, Gov. Ron DeSantis on June 9 reappointed two members of the UF Board of Trustees, including Chairman Mori Hosseini.
The Board of Trustees last month unanimously selected former University of Michigan President Santa Ono to become UF president. But in a rebuke to the trustees, the state university system’s Board of Governors last week rejected Ono’s selection after grilling him about issues such as diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI.
Hosseini, a Volusia County home builder and major Republican donor, called the skepticism about Ono “heartbreaking” and said the Board of Governors needed to rely on UF’s trustees. DeSantis, as is common, did not comment on the reappointments Monday of Hosseini and trustee Fred Ridley, a partner at the Foley & Lardner law firm.
lead and said Jolly had changed his views on issues such as health care and the Second Amendment.
“No matter the issue, David Jolly has been on all sides of it,” state Republican Chairman Evan Power said in a statement
Jolly entered a race that includes Congressman Byron Donalds, a Naples Republican who has drawn support from President Donald Trump. Speculation also continues to swirl around whether Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis and Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson also will run for the GOP nomination.
Also, state Sen. Jason Pizzo of Sunny Isles Beach has indicated he plans to run without party affiliation, and big-name attorney John Morgan has floated the idea of running as a third-party candidate. Pizzo served as Senate Democratic leader before leaving the party this spring.
Jolly said he expects overreach, instability and damaging policies by Trump will help lead to a political environment for candidates to prioritize state concerns. And he anticipates Republicans will attack him for his positions on issues such as climate science and gun control.
“What would be inauthentic and a lie is to suggest I’ve never changed.
That’s a failing candidate,” Jolly said. “It is a strength of our candidacy that I admit to changing and that I engage in conversations about why.”
Jolly, a former Washington, D.C., lobbyist who also worked as general counsel for Republican Congressman Bill Young, won a special congressional election in March 2014 after Young’s death. Jolly was re-elected that fall to a full term.
Initially he was among several Republicans, including then-Congressman Ron DeSantis who flirted with running for the U.S. Senate when then-Sen. Marco Rubio embarked on a failed run for president in 2016. When Rubio decided to seek re-election to the Senate, Jolly ran again for Congress and was defeated by Democrat Charlie Crist, another former Republican.
Before officially leaving the GOP in 2018, Jolly teamed with Democrat Patrick Murphy, another former Florida congressman, on a tour pushing for political common ground.
Jolly was the second prominent Democrat to announce plans to run for statewide office after former state Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez of Miami filed to run for attorney general.
DeSantis tries to stifle reporter investigating Hope Florida
By Jennifer Hunt Murty jennifer@ocalagazette.com
On June 6, the “Orlando Sentinel” reported receiving an unsigned “cease and desist” letter from the Florida Department of Children and Families, which was also posted to the social media site X by the agency and subsequently reposted by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The letter read: It has been reported to the State of Florida Department of Children and Families that Orlando Sentinel reporter Jeff Schweers has been contacting Florida foster families and both falsely and with malicious intent asserting that the families are implicated in fraudulent activity by accepting financial assistance from Hope Florida Foundation, Inc., a charitable Direct Support Organization affiliated with this Department. After hurricanes Helene and Milton, these foster families had home restoration work admirably gifted to them by the Hope Florida Foundation to restore their living conditions so that they could continue to care for their foster children in their homes. It is believed that Mr. Schweers’ threats and accusations were used as coercion to get the families to make negative statements about Hope Florida for his reporting, and/or to dissuade them from accepting future assistance.
Foster families are the backbone of Florida’s child welfare mission, taking into their home abused or neglected children and providing them a stable family setting with which to grow and thrive. Here, the two (that we know of) families contacted were aided by Hope Florida Foundation, Inc., in rebuilding their foster homes after a devastating storm to ensure their caregiving was uninterrupted. To harass and intentionally cause distress to foster families by threats and coercion is abhorrent.
Cease and desist the above-described intimidation of these families.
Schweers has been reporting on the flow of funding in and out of Hope Florida. As recently as Monday, Schweers reported inconsistent information in the nonprofit’s late IRS filings.
Prosecutors have opened an investigation related to the Hope Florida Foundation, the nonprofit behind the welfare program that has been touted as the signature achievement of first lady Casey DeSantis, according to an AP report.
In an editorial Monday, the “Orlando Sentinel” said the DCF letter was an “attempt to bully our newsroom away from a story is clearly intended to be chilling, but it won’t impact our reporting.”
Additionally, the paper’s editorial pointed out that “Hope Florida has already had a lot of questions raised about its funding and grants not just by the Sentinel and other media in Florida but also by state lawmakers.”
According to the editorial, Schweers is still looking into the grants distributed by Hope Florida “to organizations, families and individuals” and “still interviewing people and analyzing records so we can have a complete and fair story.”
“Schweers is a reporter, and he is doing what all of our reporters do — he’s looking for facts. But at no point did Schweers attempt any of the deeds ascribed to him in the letter, and he certainly hasn’t harassed or threatened any of Florida’s foster families. And to our non-lawyer eyes, it seems the anonymous writer of the letter is wrapping those accusations in faux-legal jargon and veiled threats as an attempt to stop this particular story.”
“Sentinel” Executive Editor Roger Simmons issued this statement in response to the DCF letter: “We stand by our stories and reject the state’s attempt to chill free speech and encroach on our First Amendment right to report on an important issue. The state’s
characterization of our reporter’s conduct is completely false.”
In comments to the AP, Clay Calvert, a law professor emeritus at the University of Florida and nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said the letter is attempting to intimidate the “Sentinel” from publishing what may be unflattering news about Hope Florida in what is known as prior restraint.
Prior restraint efforts, he noted, typically are unconstitutional.
If he were the “Sentinel’s” attorney, Calvert said, he would tell the agency “to go pound sand.”
“DCF can send all the cease-anddesist letters it wants, but the ‘Sentinel’ isn’t obligated to follow any of them,” he said. “This is really trying to silence any negative coverage before it comes out.”
David Cuillier, director for the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications wrote of the letter, “It’s all and well and good if the State of Florida would request that a newspaper ‘cease and desist’ in publishing a story and make its case to the editors to consider their position. It’s a free country and even government officials have the right to express themselves. Kudos to them for expressing themselves.”
“But,” Cullier added, “that doesn’t mean the newspaper has to cease and desist. It’s up to them. That’s what the constitution says. The government can’t stop a story, or exert a prior restraint, except for extremely exceptionally terrible circumstances that would lead to immediate and irreparable harm to society.
“Is that the case there?” he continued. “If so, the State of Florida could try to make that case to a court and likely waste a lot of taxpayer dollars doing so. Or, they could have a civil conversation with the editors. In the end, rather than suppress speech, a free society embraces open, transparent discourse. Let truth and falsity grapple, and truth will eventually win out.”
David Jolly [Photo courtesy The News Service of Florida]
Mori Hosseini [Photo courtesy UF Board of Trustees]
State seeks OK to enforce social media law
By Jim Saunders
The News Service of Florida
Arguing that a district judge’s ruling “puts millions of kids at risk,” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier on June 9 asked a federal appeals court to allow the state to enforce a law targeting social-media platforms while a legal battle plays out.
Uthmeier requested that the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put on hold a preliminary injunction that Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker issued last week blocking the law. Walker ruled that the 2024 law, which is designed to keep children off certain social media platforms, likely violated First Amendment rights.
But in asking the Atlantabased appeals court for a stay of the preliminary injunction, Uthmeier disputed that the law (HB 3) violates speech rights and said it regulates commercial activity.
The law seeks to prevent children under age 16 from opening accounts on certain platforms — though it would allow parents to give consent for 14- and 15-year-olds to have accounts. Children under 14 could not open accounts.
Supporters of the restrictions say addictive features of social media harm minors’ mental health.
“Here, there is no disputing that HB 3 does not directly regulate expression; it simply prohibits platforms that use addictive features from contracting with certain children,” lawyers in Uthmeier’s office wrote in the motion for a stay of the injunction.
“Contracting — especially with children — is commercial activity that has been regulated since the (nation’s) founding.”
A stay, if granted, would not resolve the underlying constitutional issues. But it could allow Uthmeier to enforce the law during what likely will be months of battling at the appeals court
over the preliminary injunction.
Uthmeier quickly launched an appeal after Walker sided with arguments by the techindustry groups NetChoice and
the Computer & Communications Industry Association and granted the injunction. The groups, whose members include companies such as Google, Meta Platforms and Snap Inc., the operator of Snapchat, filed the lawsuit in October.
In his ruling, Walker pointed, in part, to the role of parents in policing social media use by their children.
“An established principle in the First Amendment context is that enabling individuals to voluntarily restrict problematic content at the receiving end is preferred over restricting speech at the source,” Walker wrote in the June 3 ruling. “In this context, that means that parents are best positioned to make the appropriately individualized determinations about whether or when their children should use social media platforms and, if so, which platforms and under what conditions.”
The law, which was one of the biggest issues of the
Budget chiefs see progress on state spending plan
By Jim Turner and Dara Kam
The News Service of Florida
Top of FormBottom of FormHouse and Senate budget negotiators agreed to pay raises for state employees, with bigger boosts going to law enforcement officers and firefighters, as talks continued June 10 on a state spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ed Hooper, R-Trinity, and House Budget Committee Chairman Lawrence McClure, R-Dover, also agreed to a slight bump, or 1.59 percent, in K-12 per-student funding. The increase will rely heavily upon local government property taxes.
“I think we’re fairly close to seeing the light at the end of this tunnel,” Hooper told reporters Tuesday.
“I can see the light very clearly,” McClure quipped.
The budget chiefs said they hope to close out the remainder of unresolved issues involving health care, education, general government and natural resources, along with associated bills and a tax package, later this week.
Unresolved differences between the chambers’ budget plans will then go to House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, and Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula. Lawmakers are expected to vote early next week on the final version of
the roughly $115 billion spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Part of the K-12 education budget settled this week would spend $9,130.41 per pupil, an increase of $142.74.
“This Legislature has a deep commitment not only to public education but education as a whole,” McClure said.
Meanwhile, legislators agreed to spend $180 million to give state workers a 2 percent raise next year.
Another $49 million would provide raises for state law enforcement officers and $6.62 million for state firefighters. Raises would range from 10 percent to 15 percent, with law enforcement officers and firefighters who have at least five years of experience receiving the larger bump.
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ budget proposal did not recommend pay hikes for state workers but sought 20 percent raises for new law enforcement officers and 25 percent increases for veteran law enforcement and firefighters.
McClure and Hooper also this week agreed to spend $43.6 million on new dorms for state prisons. The Senate originally earmarked $100 million for new housing in the state’s aging correctional facilities.
The budget chiefs’ plan includes another $43 million to address a projected increase in the state’s inmate population. The leaders also agreed to direct nearly $57.2 million to the Department of
Corrections — which had an annual budget this year of over $3.7 billion — to help cover the agency’s deficit.
The Joint Legislative Budget Commission last week signed off on a proposal giving the corrections agency $71.4 million to offset a projected deficit for the current fiscal year. The deficit is “mainly attributable to inflationary and operational cost increases,” according to a proposal submitted to the commission by the agency.
Meanwhile, DeSantis hasn’t backed down from his request that lawmakers provide property tax relief to homeowners. DeSantis has called for a property tax rebate to homesteaded property owners this year and wants to place a proposal before voters next year that would cut or eliminate property taxes. He reiterated that position Monday during an appearance in Wakulla County.
“I want to do a property tax rebate this year. We’re working with the Senate on the budget, on getting that through,” DeSantis said. “I think that’s really important for people.”
Hooper and McClure, meanwhile, said they haven’t been involved in such talks about a property tax rebate.
2024 legislative session, does not directly identify which platforms would be affected by the regulations. But it includes a definition of such platforms, with criteria related to such things as algorithms, “addictive features” and livestreaming. Walker’s ruling said, for example, it would apply to Snapchat and YouTube, which is owned by Google.
Uthmeier in April filed a lawsuit alleging that the operator of Snapchat had violated the law. The recent filing said the preliminary injunction “halted a pending state enforcement action.” Also, the motion said Uthmeier’s office has subpoenaed Roblox, an online game platform.
The motion said the law “targets only platforms that present a higher risk of addicting children” and that the preliminary injunction “puts millions of kids at risk by allowing platforms to ignore HB 3 and continue practices” that pose a danger to children’s mental health.
“I have not seen any formal proposal for any property tax,” Hooper said. “I’m assuming that discussion is going on between the governor’s office and maybe the (House) speaker and the (Senate) president.” Ed
Lawmakers look to pump up rainy-day fund
By Jim Turner and Jim Saunders The News Service of Florida
Florida lawmakers on June 5 started moving forward with a proposed constitutional amendment that supporters say would bulk up financial reserves to help the state weather potential problems such as economic recessions.
“After this bill passes, we will be in a better place, God forbid, there is a recession and, of course, there is a possibility of a recession,” House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, said. “Do we know whether or not it is going to come? None of us in this room know that. But what we do know is if we are in that position, God forbid, one day, the state of Florida will be prepared.”
But some Democrats and other critics opposed the proposal, which
involves putting $750 million a year into a state rainy-day fund. They said lawmakers should instead use the money to address needs such as raising teacher pay and providing health care to children.
“We have so many needs and obligations that are still unmet,” Rich Templin, a lobbyist for the Florida AFL-CIO, told the House Budget Committee. “Why would we take money and put it in our retirement account?”
The proposed constitutional amendment (HJR 5019 and SJR 1908) involves an already existing reserve known as the Budget Stabilization Fund. The fund is capped at 10 percent of general revenue collections, or about $4.75 billion in the current fiscal year, according to a House staff analysis. Under the proposal, the cap would increase to 25 percent, with a requirement to transfer $750 million into the fund each year.
The proposal couldn’t go before voters until November 2026. In the meantime, lawmakers would set aside $750 million a year that would later be transferred to the fund if the constitutional amendment passes.
The Budget Stabilization Fund was last tapped when state revenues plunged during the 2008 and 2009 recession, lawmakers said.
Democrats questioned the need to mandate putting money into the Budget Stabilization Fund when lawmakers can already make such payments. Rep. Christine Hunschofsky, D-Parkland, said she doesn’t mind increasing the Budget Stabilization Fund cap to 25 percent, but that the state needs flexibility to deal with unexpected problems.
House Budget Chairman Lawrence McClure, R-Dover, said when money is left in what is known as “unallocated” general
revenue, “government has a tendency to spend it.”
“We are doing this (proposal) so we are truly prepared for a break-the-glass situation,” McClure said.
As lawmakers try to finalize a budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, which will start July 1, questions also have swirled about potential federal spending cuts that could affect programs such as Medicaid, university research and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, said the proposal “makes Florida’s balance sheet more durable in difficult times, and we’re setting more money aside to have its rainy-day reserves if things get difficult.”
The House Budget Committee voted 23-4 to approve the proposal, while the Senate Appropriations Committee approved it 14-3. The
full House and Senate would need to pass it before what is expected to be the June 16 end of the legislative session.
The committees approved a measure that would transfer $250 million a year to reduce state debt. Meanwhile, House and Senate leaders have agreed to provide about $350 million in permanent sales tax exemptions, though details of the targeted exemptions have not been released.
House Appropriations Chairman Ed Hooper, R-Trinity, suggested another $300 million might be set aside for what are known as “non-recurring” tax breaks that include a series of sales tax holidays.
Albritton voiced support for making permanent annual tax holidays on back-to-school supplies and hurricane supplies. But Perez in the past has expressed skepticism about tax holidays.
James Uthmeier [Photo courtesy Office of the Attorney General]
Hooper [Photo courtesy Florida Senate]
Lawrence McClure [Photo courtesy Florida House]
People, Places and Things
Reading With Horses kicks off
The Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses
By Susan Smiley-Height susan@magnoliamediaco.com
The tiny ambassadors of the Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses nonprofit are a big hit wherever they go.
That includes schools, libraries, hospitals, assisted living facilities and other venues. And now, into the historic Marion Theatre in downtown Ocala.
On June 5, the annual Reading With Horses summer program got off to a rousing start with equine Magic as the star of the show.
Gentle Carousel’s Reading With Horses provides grade-appropriate books and activities for students from Pre-K to 5th grade. The program was developed by a school principal and other professional educators.
“This is our 26th year of doing reading programs. We just finished another year of reading programs in Marion County Public Schools,” said Debbie Garcia-Bengochea, education director for Gentle Carousel.
“Individual Gentle Carousel therapy horses are featured in books by many different authors and publishers. After children read a book, the actual character from the story will visit the theatre to bring the book to life. This summer’s theme is ‘Jobs With Horses’ and each week will include special guest speakers as well as a book and an equine friend. We are also doing local library programs throughout the summer,” she added.
“We are trying to match books with the guest speakers. For example, the first week featured the Ocala Police Department and the book was ‘Officer Magic Is My Friend.’ Little hero horse Officer Magic was in attendance attend that week. On Week 4, June 26, we will have a speaker from Horse Farms Forever. The book that week is titled ‘Second Chance Horses’ by Baker Publishing. The chapter we will read is called ‘Freedom for Sundance,’ about a therapy horse that was rescued from a tiny chicken coop and now runs free over many acres. Therapy horse Sundance from the book will attend that week. Sundance is a character in three books by different authors that we use with our reading programs,” she further explained.
The other programs are:
Week 2 (June 12) Therapy horse
Sweetheart will be with her book “Little Horses.”
• Week 3 (June 18) Therapy horse Moonshadow with her book “High Paw, Super Sebastian.”
• Week 5 (July 3) Therapy horse
Mercury with “Mercury and Sirius.”
Week 6 (July 10) Therapy horse Circus with the book “Spots.”
The events are free for adults and children, including summer camps and daycare programs. Every child can select a free new book to take home each week.
“There is no age limit. In fact, each week we invite an assisted living program to attend. The residents love horses and being involved. We have children volunteer to select stuffed horses to give to the seniors to take home. Last year our age range was 2 weeks old to 102 years old. This year it will be even easier. The Marion Theatre is air-conditioned with comfortable seats,” Garcia-Bengochea noted.
“We partner with Congresswoman Kat Cammack’s office to get many of the children’s books from the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and the pages of the book will be on the theater screen as well as using the actual books,” she shared.
To learn more, go to gentlecarouseltherapyhorses.com/ reading-with-horses
program is taking place at the Marion Theatre.
Photos by Bruce Ackerman
Children pick out books to take home with them during the Reading With Horses kickoff at the Marion Theatre.
Lexa Lariviere, 7, left, and her brother, London, 3, right, pet miniature horse
“Officer Magic” as their mother, Sabrina Goyette, takes pictures during the Reading With Horses kickoff held by Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses at the Marion Theatre in Ocala on June 5.
Twins Harper Makarewicz, 3, left, and Ella Makarewicz, right, hold the books they picked out to take home with them.
Antoinette Bailey, 85, a resident at the Windsor of Ocala Assisted Living, pets miniature horse “Officer Magic.”
Children get excited as Jorge Garcia-Bengochea leads miniature horse “Officer Magic” into the theater as officer T. Barry of the Ocala Police Department, right, looks on.
Debbie Garcia-Bengochea, with Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses, reads the book “Officer Magic Is My Friend” during the kickoff event.
COMMUNITY NEWS BRIEFS BETTER TOGETHER AWARDS, STUDENT ART DESIGNS AND TRANSPORTATION SAFETY AWARDS.
By Susan Smiley-Height susan@magnoliamediaco.com
BETTER TOGETHER HONORS COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Better Together, a nonprofit dedicated to families and children, recently honored its North Central Florida volunteers, supporters and community partners during a reception at the Country Club of Ocala.
As a privately funded, volunteer-driven nonprofit, Better Together relies on the support of donors, community partners and volunteers to provide services to families across the state. Each year, the agency hosts a series of Doing Good Together receptions in its six regions to honor the efforts of these individuals and organizations.
The local honorees included:
Host Family of the Year: Laura and Thomas Gerds
• Champion for Strong Families: Straight Line Construction, Dan and Deanna
Eckhard
Community Partner of the Year: Interfaith Emergency Services
Church Partner of the Year: Church of Hope, Rev. Mark Cummins Department of Children and Families Partner of the Year: Amy Cook.
• Mentor of the Year: Tinslie Pickett
• Super Volunteer of the Year: Alecia Randolph
STUDENT ART DESIGNS SHOWCASED
In celebration of National Bicycle Month in May, the Florida Department of Transportation and six Central Florida schools unveiled studentcreated bike safety symbol icons. The initiative is part of FDOT’s efforts to promote transportation safety and the Target Zero campaign’s goal of eliminating traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries.
FDOT collaborated with local art teachers to engage students in designing their own bike safety symbols. The winning designs were painted on local roads or sidewalks near the schools. Now in its fourth year, this District
Five initiative gives young artists the opportunity to see their designs come to life, the news release stated.
Each student winner was recognized during a bike lane artwork reveal event, which included a certificate presentation and a safety session led by FDOT and its community safety partners. Families and school staff joined to recognize the students’ creativity and commitment to safe cycling.
The local student winners were Madison Street Academy’s Ashvira Patel, in 1st grade, and Emma Martin, a 5th grader.
Staff Appreciation Award: Tara Williams
“Our Better Together team is so grateful for the donors, volunteers, partners and advocates who stand in the gap and support us in fulfilling our mission,” said Megan Rose, CEO of Better Together, in the news release. “These groups and individuals are the reason we are able to transform lives and help our community flourish. It was an honor to recognize them for their generosity and unwavering support this year.”
FDOT SAFETY SUMMIT
The Florida Department of Transportation District Five in May presented transportation safety awards and discussed efforts by local governments, transportation organizations, law enforcement, advocacy groups, schools and FDOT to improve safety on local roadways at the 2nd Annual Central Florida Safety Summit.
More than 250 people from 70 organizations attended, representing the nine counties in District Five, 31 cities and towns, 15 public safety agencies and the five Metropolitan Planning Organizations and Transportation Planning Organizations serving Central Florida.
Among the award winners was the Ocala Marion Transportation Planning Organization, which received the Outreach Award for its Safety Matters initiative and video series, which is a community-driven effort to promote roadway safety across the county.
‘The Human Pulse’
The CF Appleton Museum of Art is presenting a photographic series by John Elliott.
Staff report
Soon to be on view in the CF Appleton Museum of Art’s Balcony Gallery for Florida Artists, from June 21 through Jan. 18, 2026, “The Human Pulse: Photographs by John Elliott” will feature 42 blackand-white prints from the Ocala-based photographer’s ongoing series. The project is shaped by Elliott’s life and travels across 32 countries, capturing the array of the human experience. His photographs reflect a dreamlike vantage point, floating somewhat above, sometimes even at a
great distance, but still connected to the moment.
As an influence, Elliott cites the renowned “The Family of Man” exhibition, organized by photographer Edward Steichen for the Museum of Modern Art New York in 1955. Elliott discovered the exhibition catalog in his father’s library and said, “Only decades later did I recollect perusing it with interest as a child and the memories of many images remained vivid. Recently musing upon the genesis of one of my series, ‘The Human Pulse,’ I began to realize how influential this book was on my photographic vision. I strive to paint a multi-faceted spectrum of global
humanity — joy to suffering, spontaneity to reflection,” the news release noted. Elliott was born in Spring Valley, New York, and for his first dozen years lived in Manhattan, after which he moved with his family to Coral Gables, where he fell in love with photography. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography and double minors in Spanish and international studies from Ohio University. After a successful career in media production, in early 2011 he was selected to be an officer in the U.S. Foreign Service and, after five months of training, received a congressional appointment to be a vice consul in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. From
2014-2016, he served as press attaché in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, before returning to Washington, D.C., to work for the State Department in five senior diplomatic assignments through 2021. Elliott and his family currently reside in Ocala. He is a founder of the Ocala Photography Group and has exhibited his work in solo and group shows since 1973, the release stated. The Appleton Museum, Artspace and store are open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. TuesdaySaturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, at 4333 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala. For more information, go to appletonmuseum.org
Better Together staffers with the Doing Good Together honorees. [Photo courtesy Better Together]
Student Emma Martin and her design at Madison Street Academy. [Photo courtesy FDOT]
Madison Street Academy student Ashvira Patel and her design. [Photo courtesy FDOT]
John Elliott, “Bliss Ride (Giza, Egypt),” 2015, archival giclée pigment print. [Courtesy of the artist.]
John Elliott, “Dance of Life (Black Rock, Nevada, USA),” 2003, selenium toned black-and-white silver print. [Courtesy of the artist]
A healthy dose of history and Champagne in Reims
France’s bustling, modern
Reims greets travelers with cellar doors wide open. As the capital of the Champagne region, it features a lively center, a historic cathedral, and, of course, Champagne tasting. And thanks to France’s slick high-speed rail, it’s just 45 minutes from Paris – making it an easy day trip.
Reims (pronounced like “rance”) has a turbulent history: This is where French kings were crowned, where Champagne first bubbled, where WWI devastation met miraculous reconstruction, and where the Germans officially surrendered in 1945, bringing World War II to a close in Europe. The town’s sights give you an informative, entertaining peek at the entire story.
Start at Reims Cathedral – a glorious example of Gothic architecture and one of Europe’s greatest churches. Built under the direction of four different architects, the church was started about 1211 and mostly finished just 60 years later. Thanks to this quick turnaround, it’s remarkable for its unity and harmony. As a royal coronation site, it is to France what Westminster Abbey is to England.
For a memorable experience, join the crowd in front of the cathedral for a free, 25-minute sound-and-light show on weekend summer evenings. I’ve struggled with the idea that some of Europe’s wonderful Gothic church facades were boldly painted in the 13th and 14th centuries. In Reims, the sound-and-light show did a good job of helping me envision how they might have looked to a medieval peasant. Sit directly in front of the cathedral or settle more comfortably into a seat at a café with a clear view through the trees.
When wonderstruck by Gothic cathedrals, I often contemplate the lives of the people who built these huge buildings back in the 13th century. Construction on a scale like this required a community effort: It was all hands on deck. Most townsfolk who participated donated their money or their labor knowing that they would likely never see it completed – such was their pride, faith, and dedication. Master masons supervised, while the average JeanClaude did much of the sweaty work. Labor was something that even the poorest medieval peasant could donate generously.
In addition to spiritual nourishment, Reims offers a more earthly delight – Champagne. Though many wine-growing regions in France produce sparkling wines, only grapes from this region can be called Champagne. While the ancient
Romans planted the first grapes here, Champagne was not “invented” until the late 17th century, and then it was by virtue of necessity – the local climate and chalky soil did not produce competitive still wines. Today it is commonly regarded as the finest sparkling wine in the world.
Reims offers many opportunities to visit its world-famous Champagne cellars. All charge entry fees, most have several daily English tours, and most require a reservation. Which should you visit? Martel offers the most personal and best-value tour. Taittinger and Mumm have the most impressive cellars. Veuve Clicquot is popular with Americans and fills up weeks in advance. All told, Mumm is closest to the city center and train station, and offers one of the best tours in Reims (www.mumm.com). Reservations are essential, especially on weekends.
As you stroll across town to a Champagne cellar, keep an eye open for Biscuits roses de Reims – light, rose-colored egg-and-sugar cookies that have been made here since 1756. They’re the locals’ favorite munchie to accompany a glass of Champagne – you’re supposed to dunk them, but I like them dry (many places that sell these treats offer free samples).
I can imagine the Allies celebrating with Champagne on May 7, 1945, after Germans signed the document of surrender for all German forces. WWII buffs enjoy visiting the Museum of the Surrender (Musée de la Reddition), the place where it happened. The news was announced the next day, turning May 8 into Victory in Europe (VE) Day. The museum’s extensive collection of artifacts is fascinating, and it’s thrilling to see the war room where Eisenhower managed Allied operations – and where the European part of the war ultimately ended.
While World War II left the city unscathed, World War I devastated Reims. It was the biggest city on France’s Western Front, and it was hammered – around 65 percent of Reims was destroyed by shelling. Parts of the city center were entirely rebuilt in the 1920s. You’ll see the stylized features – geometric reliefs, motifs in ironwork, rounded corners, and simple concrete elegance – of Art Deco. If it looks eclectic, that’s because the mayor at the time said to rebuild any way you like – just build.
With its breathtaking Gothic cathedral, historic cityscape, and beloved Champagne cellars, Reims is intoxicating. My time here reminded me of how much fun it is to enjoy modern French culture in a sizeable city that isn’t Paris.
BUILD AND PROGRAM ROBOTS!
IHMC’s 2025 Summer Robotics Camp will offer students the opportunity to learn about computer programming and robotics. Campers will further develop their teamwork skills, confidence in problem solving, and creativity. They will hear short presentations about state-of-the-art research at IHMC and have the opportunity to eat lunch with an IHMC research scientist in a small group. In both sessions, we will work with Lego Mindstorms robots. In the second session, campers will also get some exposure to the Python programming language.
SESSIONS
1
2
Ocala Session 1: Rising 8th Graders June 23–26, 9:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Ocala Session 2: Rising 9th and 10th Graders July 7–10, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
DETAILS
Each session costs $225. Students should select one camp session (only) based on grade level. Space is limited to 20 participants per session. Financial assistance may be available for qualified candidates. Acceptance is on a first-come, first-served basis, with priority given to students who haven’t attended in prior years.
Please register via EventBrite at ihmc.us/robotics-camp
Phone: 352-387-3050
E-mail: uschwuttke@ihmc.org
Mail and Camp Location: IHMC Robotics Camp, 15 SE Osceola Ave., Ocala, FL 34471
Website: www.ihmc.us/robotics-camp
Reims Cathedral’s 260-foot-tall towers were added in the 1400s, about 200 years after the church’s construction; the spires intended to top them were never installed for lack of money. CREDIT: (Rick Steves, Rick Steves’ Europe).
California caponata, a Seriously Simple eggplant dip
Eggplant dips are ubiquitous across the Mediterranean. Sicily has its caponata with tomato, onions, and capers that has a pronounced sweet-andsour taste; Israel has its baba ghanoush with savory tahini; and Greece has its red onion and lemony melitzanosalata. My California caponata embraces eggplant's creamy, neutral flavor along with some sweet and pungent seasonings.
In the following recipe, the flesh of the whole baked eggplant pairs with soft caramelized red onion, balsamic vinegar and pungent creamy blue cheese. You can use any creamy blue cheese you prefer; my favorites are California's Point Reyes blue cheese or Italy's Gorgonzola Dolce, subtlety sweet. While the eggplant is baking, you can cook the onions on top of the stove at the same time and have them ready to be added to the eggplant. This takes about an hour to cook but is Seriously Simple to prepare.
As summer approaches, I tend to make simple dishes that have tons of flavor but require little time. I love having people stop by for a glass of wine and some appetizers. I might put out a colorful display
of crudite and/or some chilled shrimp for a quick impromptu cocktail party. If you want to make it a larger spread, add a cheese board and some charcuterie. Try pouring an oaky chardonnay or light pinot noir to drink to balance the richness of this dish.
CALIFORNIA CAPONATA Serves 4 to 6 1 medium eggplant
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large red onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 pound Point Reyes Original Blue, Gorgonzola
dolcelatte, or other creamy blue cheese, cut into small pieces
Thinly sliced French or sourdough bread, warmed or toasted, pita crisps or slices of warm garlic bread, for serving
1Preheat the oven to 400
F. Place the eggplant on a parchment-lined baking sheet and prick in several spots. Bake for 50 minutes, or until very tender. Remove from the oven.
MAYO CLINIC
Let cool, then peel and cut into 1/2-inch cubes into a bowl.
2While the eggplant is baking, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and saute until nicely browned, 7 to 10 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar and continue cooking until the onions are thinly glazed, about 5 minutes longer. Continue cooking the onions, adding water a tablespoonful at a time as the liquid evaporates to keep them moist and prevent burning, until very soft, about 30 minutes longer.
3Add eggplant and the remaining 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar to the onions. Add 2 tablespoons of parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Gently cook over medium heat until heated through, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the cheese to the eggplant mixture and cook briefly, just until the cheese is melted and distributed. Spoon mixture into a 2-cup crock, garnish with remaining parsley and serve immediately with crackers or bread.
Advance preparation: This dish may be prepared up to 8 hours ahead, covered and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature and then reheat gently before serving.
Clot buster? Surgery? What is the right treatment for stroke?
DEAR MAYO CLINIC:
My neighbor had a stroke and received a “clot buster” medication. Then, I found out my uncle had a surgery after a stroke. Can you help me understand different kinds of stroke treatments? My neighbor seems almost back to normal, but my uncle is still in rehabilitation because of some paralysis on his left side.
ANSWER: We have excellent treatments to reverse stroke symptoms, but these treatments are incredibly time dependent. This is a good opportunity to remind people to seek emergency medical care — call 911 — as soon as possible at the first sign of a stroke.
Treatments also depend on the type of stroke. During an
ischemic stroke, blood vessels in the brain are blocked or narrowed. During a hemorrhagic stroke, there’s bleeding into the brain.
The first treatment to potentially offer is a medication called tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) that helps dissolve blood clots. This often is called a clot buster. It has to be given within 4.5 hours from when symptoms began. These drugs are administered by IV, and they can help dissolve blood clots in the brain and restore blood flow. The faster you’re able to restore blood flow, the less likely that the stroke symptoms are permanent.
In another treatment, a flexible tube called a catheter is placed in the blood vessels
at the groin. The catheter is navigated up to that clot in the brain using X-ray. A device can be administered to help remove that blood clot. This procedure can help with large clots that can’t be dissolved with TPA. This procedure often is performed in combination with TPA that’s injected into the bloodstream.
Hemorrhagic stroke is treated by lowering blood pressure to help prevent continued bleeding. So if people are on blood thinners, we use other medications to try to reverse the blood thinner medications. If patients have a coagulopathy, or a tendency to bleed, medication is used to try to reverse that.
Then there are surgical interventions that potentially help remove that blood in the
brain to prevent the downstream swelling that can occur after a brain bleed.
Unfortunately, stroke outcomes are incredibly variable. We’d love to have excellent outcomes for every patient who experiences an acute stroke. But with timeliness of treatment, we are much more likely to have a favorable outcome.
The goal is to keep people independent after their stroke. So the faster someone arrives to the hospital, the more likely to achieve that outcome.
Stroke symptoms include trouble speaking and understanding others; numbness or weakness, often on one side of the face, arms or legs; vision problems; a severe headache; and trouble walking.
We use an acronym you may have heard previously to help people recognize warning signs of a stroke:
• FAST
• F = Face drooping: Ask the person to smile. Does one side of the face droop?
A = Arm weakness: Ask the person to raise both arms and see if one arm drifts down or if one arm is unable to be lifted.
S = Speech difficulty: Ask the person to speak and see if the speech is slurred.
T = Time to call 911: Stroke is an emergency. With any of these signs, call 911 or emergency medical care at once. Note the time when any of the symptoms first appear. — Stephen English Jr., M.D., Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida
This recipe is a keeper. CREDIT:(Diane Rossen Worthington/TCA).
An untraditional tradition
The
annual Symphony Under the Stars event drew a big crowd on a rescheduled date.
By Susan Smiley-Height susan@magnoliamediaco.com
Instead of the sunny Sunday afternoon soiree that is a beloved local tradition on Mother’s Day, this year’s Symphony Under the Stars took place the afternoon and evening of June 6, a Friday.
The event had to be rescheduled due to inclement weather back in May. The team behind it, Fine Arts For Ocala, or FAFO, regrouped in spectacular fashion to once again bring a fun, family-friendly presentation to the front grounds of the Ocala Golf Club.
“While the turnout was smaller than in previous years—understandably so due to the reschedule—we were still incredibly grateful for the support we received. Those who attended brought great energy and enthusiasm, and it made for an intimate, joyful evening under the stars,” said FAFO board president Emily Andrews.
“Many guests mentioned the change and while some couldn’t make it due to the new date, those who did attend really enjoyed the Friday night vibe. It felt like a refreshing start to the weekend, and several attendees shared that they’d love not having to worry about work or school after a late night,” Andrews added.
As people piled into the festival site with picnics, chairs, blankets and kids in rolling carts, vendors prepared to offer up tasty treats and beverages.
The entertainment included Becky Baby and the Ocala Symphony Orchestra. And, of course, a rousing round of fireworks.
together beautifully. We’re so thankful for the flexibility and dedication of everyone involved, including the Ocala Golf Club, Skylighters of Florida, Oniram Productions, Becky Baby and the Ocala Symphony
“Even with a smaller crowd this year due to the rescheduled date, Symphony Under the Stars was a beautiful evening filled with music, community and gratitude. We’re so thankful for everyone who adjusted
“Every ticket and donation helps us further our mission to promote fine arts in our community. Your support means the world to us, and
To learn more about FAFO, go to fafo.org
The Symphony Under the Stars event supports FAFO’s annual Ocala Arts Festival.
Fireworks explode by the moon as the Ocala Symphony Orchestra performs during the Symphony Under the Stars at the Ocala Golf Club on June 6, 2025.
Ember Bateman, Kiley Bateman and Maddie Pozeg enjoyed the event.
Hundreds of people listen as the orchestra performs.
Addie Underwood, 4, stays cool with her mother, Val.
Samaria Clermont, 9, Cindy Cruz, Rico Jackson and Jaycee Jackson, 11, strike a pose.
Solenia Pecunia chills out with her son, Skyler BradshawPecunia, 12.
Chris and Megan Willett enjoyed the event with their daughters, Lily, 1 1/2 and Emily, 3 1/2.
Matthew Wardell conducts the Ocala Symphony Orchestra.
Dan Thompson, Emily Velez and Lorena Velez, 2, sit in the bright sun.
The Ocala Symphony Orchestra performs during the Symphony Under the Stars. Andrew Hinkle and Lauren Debick had their arms full with 16-month-old twins Ayden and Rylan.
Photos by Bruce Ackerman
Government
JUNE
16, 23 AND 30
Marion County Development Review Office of County Engineer, 412 SE 25th Ave., Building 1, Ocala
9am
The committee meets each Monday to review and vote on waiver requests to the Land Development Code, major site plans and subdivision plans. See marion.fl.legistar. com/calendar.aspx for agenda and minutes.
JULY 1 AND 15
Marion County Board of County Commissioners
McPherson Governmental Campus Auditorium, 601 SE 25th Ave., Ocala
9am
The commission meets in the morning of the first and third Tuesday of the month. Agendas, minutes and video are available at marionfl.legistar.com/calendar.aspx
Ocala City Council
Ocala City Hall, 110 SE Watula Ave., Ocala
4pm
The council meets each first and third Tuesday of the month. Agendas and minutes are available at ocala.legistar.com/calendar.aspx
Belleview City Commission
Belleview City Hall, 5343 SE Abshier Blvd., Belleview
6pm
Meets the first and third Tuesday of the month. Agendas, minutes and video available at belleviewfl.org/200/agendas-minutes
Community Arts
JUNE 14
JUNE 24
Marion County School Board 1614 E Fort King St., Ocala
5:30pm The board meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month. Agendas and minutes are available at go.boarddocs.com/ fl/marion/Board.nsf/Public
JULY 9
Dunnellon City Council
Dunnellon City Hall, 20750 River Dr.
5:30pm
The council generally meets the second Wednesday of the month. Agendas, minutes and video are available at dunnellon. granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=1
AUG. 1
Deadline to apply for street banners
The city of Ocala Public Works Traffic Division is accepting applications for the 2026 street banner lottery. Two banner locations are available for one-week reservations: the 1100 block of East Silver Springs Boulevard and the 1300 block of West Silver Springs Boulevard. Only nonprofit organizations are eligible to reserve a banner location. Applications are available in person at 1805 NE 30 th Ave., Building 300, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. To request an application by email or fax, call (352) 351-6733 or email pubworks@ocalafl.gov. The deadline to apply is Aug. 1.
Juneteenth Celebration Dinner and Dance Fundraiser
Mary Sue Rich Community Center at Reed Place, 1821 NW 21st Ave., Ocala
6 to 10pm
R.A.M.A.L. Educational and Social Services, Inc., invites the community to its fifth annual event. Juneteenth commemorates the historical celebration marking the end of slavery in the United States. In 1865, approximately 250,000 slaves were informed of their freedom and emancipated in Texas. Artist and art educator Charles Eady is the guest speaker. The event will include entertainment, spoken word poetry, raffles and a live art auction. Proceeds will enable R.A.M.A.L. to continue tutoring and improving student’s academic performance, providing scholarships to adult college students and offering financial literacy workshops aimed at creating opportunities for homeownership and generational wealth. Tickets are $65 per person, through Eventbrite. Learn more at ramalservices.org
Don Philpott lecture
Marion County Sheriff’s Office Substation, 3260 SE 80th St., Ocala 10am The Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway will present free lectures by the award-winning writer, journalist and environmental advocate. The topics and dates are The History of Wekiwa Springs and Rock Springs Run, May 10; and Florida’s Incredible Wildlife, June 14. For details, call (352) 671-8560.
JUNE 14 AND 15
Living history exhibit and experience
Ocala-Marion County Veterans Memorial Park, 2601 E. Fort King St., Ocala 9am-6pm; special presentations 10am, 2 and 3pm
Did you ever wonder about George Washington’s living quarters at Valley Forge during the 1777-78 winter encampment of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War? Well, on June 14 and 15, during a Sons of the American Revolution George Washington Military Tent Educational Experience at the, you will be able to see an exact replica of his cot and small dining table. The event also will include mannequins clothed in Revolutionary War uniforms and live re-enactments by Bill and Cara Elder, who will portray George and Martha Washington, and Dee Collier, who will represent Deborah Sampson, the only woman paid as a soldier in the Revolutionary War. She disguised herself as a man for 17 months, earning accolades and eventually earning a pension as well as being America’s first female itinerant speaker. The exhibit/experience is free to attend. Donations will be welcomed. To learn more, go to fb.com/ OcalaSAR and withsar.org
JUNE 19
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day Event
One Health, 1714 SW 17th St., Ocala
1-3pm World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is an opportunity for communities worldwide to raise awareness and promote understanding of the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of older adults. This event will feature speakers from the State Attorney’s Office, local law enforcement, Seniors vs. Crime and SHINE/SMP. There will be several vendors in attendance. Lunch will be provided. To RSVP, call Marion Senior Services at (352) 620-3501.
JUNE 21
College of Central Florida Application Day
AdventHealth Center for Nursing, CF Ocala Campus, 3001 S.W. College Road
9-11am
At this event, future students can apply to the college with no fee, start the financial aid application, speak with advisors about program and degree options and tour the campus. The college will give away free CF merchandise and attendees may enter to receive a scholarship to cover tuition for one class at the in-state rate. Students also may choose to take a placement test, which starts promptly at 8 a.m. at the Bryant Student Union. Prospective nursing students will be invited to take a tour of the new AdventHealth Center for Nursing. Additional Application Day events will be held Thursday, June 19, from 4-6 p.m. at the Jack Wilkinson Levy Campus, 15390 N.W. Highway 19, Chiefland, and Monday, June 23, from 4-6 p.m. at the Wilton Simpson Citrus Campus, 3800 S. Lecanto Highway, Lecanto.For more information, visit cf.edu/appday
JUNE 14
Killer Beaz
The Civic, 4337 E Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala
7:30pm
Killer Beaz returns to the OCT stage for one night only. A hilarious hit last summer, his new “Best Buzz in Town” tour brings him back with an all-new 90-minute show. Killer Beaz is celebrating the milestone of 10 seasons on Discovery Channel’s hit series “Moonshiners.” He also continues to make regular performances at The Grand Ole Opry. And now he’s running the roads, loaded down with laughs, delivering his clean comedy on tour. VIP tickets include meet and greet and photo op. To learn more, go to ocalacivictheatre.com
Daniel Bennett Group Reilly Arts Center, 500 NE 9th St., Ocala
7:30pm Hailed as one of the most original voices in modern music, New York saxophonist Daniel Bennett blends jazz, folk and minimalism into a sound that’s quirky and captivating. Joined by dynamic drummer/keyboardist Koko Bermejo and electric bassist Jeff Dingler, this award-winning trio delivers high-energy performances filled with inventive compositions and unexpected twists. Don’t miss the chance to experience their 10th studio album “Mr. Bennett’s Mind” live. See the details at reillyartscenter.com
THROUGH JUNE 19
‘The Pastel Odyssey’ exhibit College of Central Florida Webber Gallery, 3001 S.W. College Road, Ocala
10am-4pm, Monday-Thursday More than 40 works showcasing pastel as a fine art medium will be on view in “The Pastel Odyssey,” an exhibition by the Pastel Society of Central Florida. The community is invited to an opening reception at 4pm on May 29.
Admission is free. For more information, visit cf.edu/webber or call (352) 854-2322, ext. 1664.
JUNE 20
Dueling Pianos
NOMA Black Box at the Reilly Arts Center, 500 NE 9th St., Ocala
6pm Grab a seat at a café table and enjoy dueling pianos, cocktails and an evening of fun with friends. Performing sing-along classics of soft rock and pop that spans decades. Guests will be seated at tables of four to six, so bring a group of friends or meet someone new. Learn more at reillyartscenter.com
Dueling Pianos Uncensored
NOMA Black Box at the Reilly Arts Center, 500 NE 9th St., Ocala
9pm
Unleash your wild side on the dance floor as talented pianists engage in hilarious and unpredictable musical mash-ups while our cocktail servers dish up your favorite drinks. Get ready for a night of laughter, outrageous requests and a high-energy, adults-only atmosphere that’ll leave you begging for an encore. Get tickets at reillyartscenter.com
THROUGH JULY 25
Summer Kids Film Series
Marion Theatre, 50 S Magnolia Ave., Ocala Times vary Movies will be screened every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 10am, 11am, 12:30pm and 1:30pm each day. The series is sponsored by Ocala Electric Utility and Panzer Medicine. Tickets are $5 for adults and children. A summer snack pack is included for children 12 and under. Guests are encouraged to bring new or gently used books, particularly for children from birth to age 5, to support the Early Learning Coalition. To learn more and get tickets, go to reillyartscenter.com/summer-kids-film-series
JUNE 29
Red, White and OSO Blue: A Salute to Our Troops
Reilly Arts Center, 500 NE 9th St., Ocala 3pm The Ocala Symphony Orchestra returns for its annual performance, led by Music Director and Conductor Matthew Wardell. This special concert is sponsored by Grace Dunlevy & Bob Levenson and Justin YanceyEdward Jones Financial Advisor. It will feature American music from pops to the profound in this celebration of America’s 249th birthday. The Marion County Memorial Honor Guard will begin the concert with a presentation of the colors. For tickets, go to reillyartscenter.com
JULY 1
Sale
Killer Beaz will bring his comedy tour to The Civic. [Photo courtesy of the artist]
Scott and Danuta Jacob get prepped for a sip and shop event at the Brick City Center for the Arts on July 12, 2024. This
1. [File photo by Bruce Ackerman]
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.
Skanska USA Building, Inc. has been selected as the Construction Manager for the new construction of the Marion County Middle School currently named “DD”.
Invitations for Bid will go out utilizing the BuildingConnected software platform on or around June 16th, 2025. There will be a Trade Partner Outreach Event Scheduled to encourage local craft participation with the project construction.
The school consists of 4 high performance buildings with approximately 170,000sqft of amazing class spaces and amenities.
Scopes of Work include but are not limited to : Concrete, Tilt-Wall, Steel, Millwork, Roofing, Architectural Finishes, Elevators, Electrical, Low Voltage/ AV, Mechanical, Sports and Play Areas.
Please contact Steve Masucci at steve.masucci@skanska.com or 813-244-1906 for prequalification information and access to BuildingConnected.
Please contact Joseph Younes at joseph.younes@skanska.com or 407-795-1560 for any general questions.
Extra Space Storage will hold a public auction to sell personal property described below belonging to those individuals listed below at the location indicated: 2020 SW 57th Ave, Ocala, FL 34474 on June 24, 2025, at 12:00pm. Debra Bailey- Totes, cooler, bags, vcr, dvd players, lamps, decor, quits. The auction will be listed and advertised on www. storagetreasures.com. Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.
The Ocala Housing Authority will begin accepting applications for the Housing Choice Voucher Program (aka Section 8 rental assistance program) waitlist on Tuesday June 24th, 2025, at 9:00 am, through Tuesday July 8th, 2025, at 9:00 am, or until 2,000 applications have been received. APPLICATIONS ARE ACCEPTED ONLINE ONLY through our waitlist website, www.https://ocalahousing.housingmanager.com. The waitlist will close immediately once 2,000 applications have been received. Applicants will need the following information when applying online: income, social security numbers, and dates of birth for all household members. If you need a special accommodation in order to apply, please contact Jacalyn Brown at 352-620-3350, or email jbrown@ocalahousing. org. For a list of sites with computers available for public use, or questions about the application process, call 352-369-2636, or visit our general website at www.ocalahousing. org. For TTY 352-368-2969, or TDD 1-800-545-1833, ext. 507 Equal Opportunity Employer/ Equal Opportunity Housing
Answers: For the Marshall Islands, the rising sea level was — TAKING "ATOLL"
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIFTH
JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR MARION COUNTY, FLORIDA IN RE: THE ESTATE OF: CHRISTINE M. SCOTT, Deceased. PROBATE DIVISION Case No.: 25-CP-000996-AX NOTICE TO CREDITORS The administration of the Estate of CHRISTINE M. SCOTT, Deceased, whose date of death was November 4, 2023, is pending in the Circuit Court for Marion County, Florida, Probate Division, the address of which is 110 NW 1st Avenue, Ocala, Florida 34475. The names and addresses of the Personal Representative and the Personal Representative's attorney are set forth below. All Creditors of the Decedent and other persons having claims or demands against Decedent's estate on whom a copy of this notice is required to be served must file their claims with this court ON OR BEFORE THE LATER OF 3 MONTHS AFTER THE TIME OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE OR 30 DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF SERVICE OF A COPY OF THIS NOTICE ON THEM. All other creditors of the Decedent and other persons having claims or demands against Decedent's estate must file their claims with this court WITHIN 3 MONTHS AFTER THE DATE OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE. ALL CLAIMS NOT FILED WITHIN THE TIME PERIODS SET FORTH IN SECTION 733.702 OF THE FLORIDA PROBATE CODE WILL BE FOREVER BARRED. NOTWITHSTANDING THE TIME PERIODS SET FORTH ABOVE, ANY CLAIM FILED TWO (2) YEARS OR MORE AFTER THE DECEDENT'S DATE OF DEATH IS BARRED. The date of first publication of this Notice on this 3 day of Jeme 2025. CHRISTOR. DORAN Personal Representative 6208 W. Bovio Court Dunnellon, Florida 34433
STEPHEN G. MURTY, ESQ. Attorney for Personal Representative Florida Bar No.: 351717 436 S.W. 15th Street Ocala, Florida 34471
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR MARION COUNTY, FLORIDA
IN RE: ESTATE OF PROBATE DIVISION
CARLENE A. SHERNOWITZ File No. 2021-CP002801AX Deceased. NOTICE OF ACTION (Formal Notice by Publication)
TO: Miranda Renae Shernowitz, 10701 Dark Water Court, Clermont, FL 34715
YOU ARE NOTIFIED that a Notice of Final Accounting and Petition for Discharge has been filed in this court. You are required to serve a copy of your written defenses, if any, on the petitioner’s attorney, whose name and address are:
Thomas J. Upchurch, Esquire Upchurch Law 1616 Concierge Blvd., Suite 10031 Daytona Beach, Florida 32117
within thirty (30) days from the date of first publication of this notice, and to file the original of the written defenses with the clerk of this court, whose address is 110 NW 1st Avenue, Ocala, Florida 34475, either before service or immediately thereafter. Failure to serve and file written defenses as required may result in a judgment or order for relief demanded, without further notice.
The date of first publication of this notice is June 6, 2025.
Signed on this 30th day of May, 2025.
Thomas J. Upchurch, Esquire Florida Bar No. 0015821 Upchurch Law 1616 Concierge Blvd. Suite 101 Daytona Beach, Florida 32117
Telephone: (386) 492-3871
Email: service@upchurchlaw.com
2nd Email: clutes@upchurchlaw.com Attorney for Personal Representative
COUNTY, FLORIDA ROBERT CARBONE, Plaintiff, V. ESTATE OF COLLEEN KIERNAN f/k/a Colleen Carbone; ESTATE OF JAMES E. KIERNAN; ESTATE OF PATRICIA M. LOGERFO; MICHAEL J.
Crossword
Jumble
Sudoku
Gasoline Alley
Broom Hilda
Middletons
‘Mother’ Cunningham honored
Family matriarch feted for 100th birthday celebration.
By Andy Fillmore andy@ocalagazette.com
llean Francis Burton
ACunningham was honored by friends and family with a 100th birthday celebration on June 7 at the College of Central Florida’s Klein Conference Center.
Cunningham, known as the “matriarch of the Cunningham family,” which has extended members living in areas including West Palm Beach, Georgia and Texas, is affectionately called “our mother” Cunningham by many throughout the community.
The celebration saw upwards of 250 people gather for a dinner, music and to share memories.
Cunningham entered the party flanked by several family members and said “Thank you” to the crowd after listening to a selection from the musical group.
Cunningham has nine children, 16 grandchildren, 26 greatgrandchildren and 13 greatgreat-grandchildren. Her sons Willie James Cunningham Sr. and Walter Cunningham Sr., with his wife Audrey Cunningham, and
“My mother loves everybody,” said her daughter, Olivia Watson.
Cunningham was born June 4, 1925, in the area of southeast Ocala known as Montague and attended Mount Canaan Church school. She married as a young woman and worked for a time at Sturgis Furniture in Ocala, Watson said.
Brothers Jordan and Johnnie Anderson held a giant birthday card, perhaps five feet tall, for arriving guests to sign. The event included a slideshow and expressions from children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren.
Larry Johnson presented a proclamation from Ocala Mayor Ben Marciano marking the milestone. Johnson said Cunningham, his aunt on his father’s side, raised him as a youngster. He said she is “very family oriented” and “very faithful” and a lifelong member of Saint Paul’s AME Church in Ocala.
“My aunt said that she believes the reason she has had a long life is because she tries to be stress-free and leave things to God,” Johnson said.
daughters Evelyn Chisholm and Erica Cunningham joined the celebration.
Audrey Cunningham commented on her mother-inlaw’s faith in a text.
“She is a very smart and hard-working lady who loves God with all her heart and loves God’s people,” she wrote.
Family members who traveled from Texas to attend the celebration held up a blanket made with panels reflecting scenes from a visit Cunningham made recently to Killeen, Texas, to attend the graduation of her great-granddaughter Janae Beverly, 19, who earned an associate degree. Janae and her brother, Anthony Beverly, 17, were at the celebration in Ocala. She said she plans to attend Texas State toward a possible career path in the U.S. Air Force.
Devin Beverly, 32, traveled from Georgia to celebrate his great-grandmother’s 100th birthday.
“I can’t imagine what her eyes have seen,” he said Mia Beverly, 11, likely
summed up the feelings of the entire group at the celebration. “Happy birthday…we love you,” she said.
To learn more about Cunningham, see previous “Gazette” articles about her struggles with an aging residence and how the community rallied to help:
ocalagazette.com/findingsolutions, ocalagazette.com/ community-comes-through-forcunningham and ocalagazette. com/elderly-woman-fighting-tostay-in-the-home-she-and-herhusband-built-57-years-ago
Guests arriving at Allean Cunningham’s 100th birthday celebration were invited to sign a giant card.
Larry Johnson speaks to guest of honor Allean Francis Burton Cunningham at her 100th birthday celebration at the College of Central Florida’s Klein Conference Center on June 7.
Photos by Andy Fillmore
Allean Cunningham’s birthday cake honored her as the family matriarch.
Celebrating dads
There are many ways to provide a special guy with the day he deserves.
Staff report
Father’s Day is a celebration of dads near and far. Falling on the third Sunday of June each year, Father’s Day presents an opportunity for families to come together and put the spotlight on fathers who work tirelessly for their children and provide them with love and support. Father’s Day also is a chance to honor the men who serve as father figures or play special roles in people’s lives. It’s easy for families to fall into a routine when it comes to celebrating Father’s Day. Dinner and gift-giving are traditional, but there are additional ways to provide Dad with the day he deserves. Explore these creative options.
• Set up a scavenger hunt: Drag out the suspense of Dad getting his Father’s Day gift by hiding it and requiring him to go through a series of clues to find it. When writing
up the clue cards, spouses and children can reference particularly happy moments or things around the house that are representative of Dad’s love. For example, a clue may read, “Here’s where we like to snuggle together to watch our favorite show.”
• “Take it outdoors: Select a spot that Dad loves to visit, whether it’s a hiking trail (such as the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway) or a local park (Tuscawilla, Jervey Gantt) and then plan activities around the location. Just be careful in Florida’s already high temperatures and take along lots of water and sunscreen.
• Go on an adventure: Father’s Day can be spent engaging in something the family has never tried before. Maybe he’s always wanted to go offroading (think Ocala National Forest) or try his skills at hatchet-throwing? The
family can get together and choose an activity he will find engaging and that everyone can enjoy.
• Make it a water day: This is the perfect opportunity to head to a local freshwater spring (Rainbow Springs, Salt Springs, Glen Springs), go to either side of Florida’s coast or visit a river or lakefront spot (Lake Weir). Frequently these are touristy areas, so it could be relatively easy to find an eatery where everyone can make a reservation for
How Flag Day got its start
Though Flag Day — June 14 — is not an official federal holiday, the day remains significant as it traces its origins back to 1777.
Staff report
Flag Day is commemorated each year in the United States on June 14. Though Flag Day is not an official federal holiday, the day remains significant nonetheless, as it traces its origins all the way back to 1777.
The Second Continental Congress formally adopted the flag of the United States on June 14, 1777. That resolution noted certain characteristics of the new flag, including the alternating red and white stripes that remain part of the flag that is celebrated each June 14.
Flag Day is one of various notable events and holidays commemorated in June, a list that includes Father’s Day, Juneteenth and the summer solstice. That can make it easy for Flag Day to get lost in the proverbial shuffle, but the “Farmer’s Almanac” notes it is customary for the sitting president of the United States to encourage Americans to display the flag outside of their homes and businesses each June 14. The flag is flown from all public buildings on Flag Day, which the almanac reports is another rich tradition that dates back 1877 and the centennial of the flag’s adoption.
President Woodrow Wilson issued a presidential proclamation on June 14, 1916,
that designated the day as Flag Day going forward. Thirty-three years after Wilson’s proclamation, the U.S. Congress officially established June 14 as National Flag Day.
One notable tidbit Americans
can consider this Flag Day is the connection between the flag and seamstress Betsy Ross. Many American schoolchildren were taught that Ross designed and sewed the first American flag, but historians have since discredited
that legend. The “Farmer’s Almanac” notes that many historians now believe George Washington already had a design for a flag with 13 red and white alternating stripes and 13 sixpointed stars set in a circle when
he visited Ross in Philadelphia. And while historians do not doubt Ross sewed a flag reflecting the design Washington brought with him when visiting the seamstress, it’s hard to confirm if she in fact sewed the first flag.
with
shore.
Father’s
U.S. Army Air Corps World War II veteran Howard Mautner is shown with an American flag during an event at Highland Memorial Park in Ocala. [File photo by Bruce Ackerman]
