The Florida Department of Education recently released school grades, revealing large educational gains for Marion County and Florida school districts overall.
The FDOE assigns letter grades —A through F— based on student performance to inform parents, communities and policymakers about school effectiveness and identify areas in need of improvement.
This year, 71% of Florida schools earned an A or B grade, a 7% improvement from last year. Among the state’s 67 districts, 28 earned A’s; 31, including Marion County, earned B’s; eight earned C’s; and none received a failing grade.
Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a press release on July 7, the day the grades were announced saying the statewide progress monitoring system the state uses is further proof that Florida is among the leading states in public school student performance.
“Providing more opportunities for parents and teachers to intervene in a child’s performance in school leads to better outcomes and a higher quality education,” DeSantis said.
Looking specifically at Marion’s results, eight schools received A’s compared to six last year; the number of B schools remained
See Marion school, page A2
Former MCSO deputy seeks to clear his name
Almost three and half years after charges were filed, 18 of 20 were dismissed by a judge and the other two were dropped by the state attorney.
By Jennifer Hunt Murty jennifer@ocalagazette.com
Aformer Marion County Sheriff’s Office deputy has sued Sheriff Billy Woods and two deputies individually seeking monetary damages for claims he was unjustly retaliated against after complaining about treatment by his superior, targeted for his race and was even falsely arrested and imprisoned in violation of his 14th Amendment right.
According to the complaint, David Ur was hired by MCSO on May 14, 2020, after completing the police academy and the Sheriff’s Field Training Officer program at the age of 45.
Ur explained that he and his wife moved to the area from New Jersey while she was doing her medical residency in Gainesville. He said he intended to continue a family legacy and fulfill a lifelong dream of having a law enforcement career.
“I come from a huge family of police officers: my brother, my sister, my father, my two uncles,” Ur said. “My grandmother was the first female police officer in New Jersey, Morris County. My son just became a police officer in Delaware.”
On Aug. 13, 2020, Ur states in his complaint that he started working in the patrol division under the supervision of Sgt. Timothy Liberatore and they quickly clashed over Ur’s reporting.
Ur alleges Liberatore was “demanding that Plaintiff modify the facts in official law enforcement incident and probable cause reports.” Ur reported his concerns to thengeneral counsel for the sheriff, Timothy McCourt, as well as Lt. Michael Joyner and Sgt. Clint Smith.
Ur alleges the complaint escalated Liberatore’s antagonism toward him, so he next went to the agency’s human resource department in November 2020. He said Liberatore made comments that Ur, who is Iranian, is “a little dark” and would be sent to Reddick (a predominantly Black area of Marion County) where he would have to contend with the “monkeys” swinging from the trees.
Ur claims Maj. Louis Pulford initiated
See David Ur, page A9
Helping at-risk children succeed
Marion County Public Schools assists
By Andy Fillmore andy@ocalagazette.com
How widespread is the lack of stable housing in Marion County? It depends on who you ask. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development’s annual “point-in-time,” or PIT, count taken in January indicates that an estimated 391 people were homeless and living shelters or unsheltered outdoors in Marion County.
Yet Marion County Public Schools considered that 1,556 students— nearly four times the HUD one day count—were homeless last school year.
hotel/motel, living with relatives and friends in the community.”
Tom Butler, the MCPS mental health and wellness/district homeless liaison, stated in an email that students may be “living in cars, tents,
The Florida Department of Education website details a federal act that dates to 1987 and defines student homelessness and sets guidelines to ensure they have access to classes and school programs.
“The Federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (Pre-K-12) states that children and youth who lack a fixed, regular and adequate
See Helping children, page A4
Tom Butler, Marion County Public Schools mental health and wellness/district homeless liaison, looks over files in his office at the Fordham Early Learning Academy.
[Photo by Andy Fillmore]
Diane Gullett, Superintendent of Marion County Public Schools, speaks during a Technical Working Group meeting at Marion Technical Institute in Ocala on Nov. 27, 2023.
[File photo by Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette]
Former Marion County Sheriff’s Office deputy David Ur. [Submitted photo]
911 disruption attributed to cut fiber optic cable in Lake County
By Jennifer Hunt Murty jennifer@ocalagazette.com
The two 911 call centers in Marion County, one run by the Ocala Police Department and the other by Marion County, reported at least nine hours of disrupted service on July 8.
At least 11 other public safety answering centers in Central Florida were also impacted, according to Michelle Sanders, Director 911 Management for Marion County. They included the Osceola County Sheriff's Office, Groveland Police Department, Lake County Sheriff's Department, Kissimmee Police Department, Mount Dora Police Department, St. Cloud Police Department, Leesburg Police Department, Polk County 911 Center, Putnam County 911, Sumter County ECC and Citrus County (Sheriff’s Office) Emergency Operations.
A media release from Marion County attributed the disruption to a cut in fiber optic cable in Clermont. However, Lake County could not provide any details about the incident at the time of publishing this report.
Sanders confirmed that there are backup plans in place and that ideally the county’s “911 traffic should have been routed through a diverse, redundant path on our 911 carrier’s network. However, when I raised this issue last night, I was informed that unfortunately, both the protected and unprotected sides of our fiber path experienced issues. I will be having further discussions with them to fully understand how this could happen, especially given their commitment to ensuring completely diverse and redundant routing for 911 traffic. Their goal has always been to eliminate single points of failure.”
Sanders also opined in her email
that “situations like this should be eliminated once we complete our migration to INdigital as our Next Generation Core Service Provider – a project currently in progress.”
The disruption was reported around 2:40 p.m. in Marion County, according to a spokesperson for Marion County Fire Rescue, which manages the county’s 911 call center.
The spokesperson indicated that voice calls were being dropped, however, the call takers were able to see the dropped numbers and call back. The spokesperson also confirmed there was no disruption to their system to dispatch for help.
Alert Marion issued numerous warnings to citizens who needed help that text to 911 was still working by noting: “If you have an emergency, send a text message to 911 with your location and the nature of your emergency. Dispatchers are waiting to assist you.”
Storm season forecast slightly dialed back
The News Service of Florida
While still anticipating above-normal hurricane activity through the end of November, Colorado State University researchers on July 8 trimmed their forecast for the Atlantic storm season.
The university’s models now project 16 named storms, with eight reaching hurricane status and three becoming major storms with winds of 111 mph or higher. An initial forecast in April and a June update projected 17 named storms, with nine becoming hurricanes and four classified as major storms. The new numbers include three tropical storms — named Andrea, Barry and Chantal — that formed after the June 1 start of the season.
The Atlantic Ocean continues to be a cauldron for storms because of sea-surface temperatures that
are warmer than normal, even if they are not as warm as they were last year, according to the university researchers. An average season is considered 14 named
Marion school
Continued from page A1
consistent at 10; 28 schools earned C’s from 32 last year; D schools increased from two to five; and the McIntosh Area School improved its’ F grade to a C this year.
In a previous “Gazette” article, “Overcoming the Denominator,” the Marion County School Board predicted it would be difficult for McIntosh and other charter schools with small student populations to raise their failing school grades.
McIntosh Area School Principal David Friedlander presented an “Academic Corrective Action Plan”
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The 2024 season produced 18 named storms, 11 hurricanes and five major hurricanes. Three hurricanes made landfall in Florida.
to the board on Feb. 6 explaining its attempt to get a passing grade for the 2024-25 school year.
Board member Nancy Thrower had told Friedlander after the presentation that if McIntosh failed a second year consecutively it could close and the state would have to intervene. In response, McIntosh conducted a schoolwide student performance analysis that found educational gaps. To fill them, it adjusted personnel, curriculum, student support, family engagement and the school day schedule. As McIntosh earned a C grade this year, the corrective plan
paid off.
With all of Marion schools testing above 35%, none of the district’s schools failed.
The FDOE report also showed Marion had 16 schools test 100% of its students and still earned a C or better. The county also has an average graduation rate of 85%. Although most schools are average with a C grade, 43 out of the 51 grades either remained the same or improved.
“These school grades are another example of how our approach is working,” incoming Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas said in the press release.
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Dispatchers and call takers work in the 911 Communications Center at the Marion County Sheriff's Office in Ocala on April 5, 2024. [File photo by
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Motorists drive in a heavy rain squall from Hurricane Debby in Ocala on Aug. 5, 2024. [File photo by Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette]
COMMUNITY NEWS BRIEFS:
Volunteers sought for giveback, CF earns Purple Star certification, TEDxOcala speakers announced
By Susan Smiley-Height susan@magnoliamediaco.com
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR BACK-TO-SCHOOL COMMUNITY GIVEBACK
The Back-to-School Community
Giveback is returning on July 26, with the goal of serving thousands
of students and families across Marion County.
Hosted in partnership with the Community Foundation for Ocala/ Marion County, AdventHealth Ocala, Marion County Public Schools, The Rock Program, Stuff the Bus, Heart of Florida Health Center, College of Central Florida, Marion County Children’s Alliance and numerous local organizations, the annual event ensures that children begin the school year equipped with the tools they need to succeed, provided materials noted.
The event will provide more than 6,000 backpacks filled with age-appropriate school supplies, along with access to additional community resources. The main
10 NEW FLORIDA LAWS
By Jim Turner and Jim Saunders The News Service of Florida
Here are 10 laws that took effect July 1, the start the state’s 2025-2026 fiscal year:
BALLOT INITIATIVES: A law (HB 1205) that places additional restrictions on the ballot initiative process largely took effect Tuesday. Groups backing proposed constitutional amendments are fighting the law in federal court.
BUDGET: DeSantis on Monday signed the budget (SB 2500), which he and legislative leaders said would help prepare the state in case of an economic downturn. DeSantis issued $567 million in line-item vetoes to the budget, which had a $115.1 billion bottom line when passed by the Legislature.
FLUORIDE: A wide-ranging bill (SB 700) about issues involving the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services bans the longstanding practice of local governments adding fluoride to water supplies.
GULF OF AMERICA: Following the lead of President Donald Trump, the Republican-controlled Legislature approved a measure (HB 575) changing dozens of state laws to use the name “Gulf of America” instead of “Gulf of Mexico.”
JUDGES: Lawmakers approved a bill (SB 2508) that calls for adding 22 circuit court judges and 15 county court judges across the state, while also making changes at two appeals courts.
PUBLIC RECORDS: With lawmakers pointing to threats and harassment, a law (SB 268) will prevent the release of the home addresses and telephone numbers of legislators, members of Congress and numerous other state and local elected officials.
SCHOOL START TIMES: Lawmakers passed a measure (SB 296) that backed away from a 2023 law that would have prevented high schools from starting earlier than 8:30 a.m. The 2023 law, which was designed to help teens get more sleep, was scheduled to take effect in 2026.
STATE PARKS: After a public outcry last year about a development proposal, a new law (HB 209) will prevent the construction of golf courses, resort-style lodges and sports facilities in state parks.
STUDENT CELL PHONES: Students will be prohibited from using cell phones throughout the school day in elementary and middle schools under a measure (HB 1105) that expands a restriction on using phones during instructional time.
TAX CUTS: Parts of a tax cut package (HB 7031) took effect Tuesday, including sales tax exemptions on hurricane preparedness supplies and certain purchases related to outdoor activities. Other parts, including eliminating a commercial lease tax, will take effect later.
distribution will take place at the CF Klein Center with a large secondary location at the Heart of Florida Health Center and several satellite locations.
Volunteers are needed at each location to help welcome families and distribute supplies. A virtual orientation will be held July 21.
For information about volunteering, sponsoring or registering a child for a backpack, go to ocalafoundation.org/ back-to-school-community-giveback or contact Ashley Gerds at ashley@ ocalafoundation.org or (352) 6225020, ext. 105.
CF DESIGNATED A COLLEGIATE PURPLE STAR CAMPUS
In recognition of its support for military students and families, the College of Central Florida has been officially designated a Collegiate Purple Star Campus by the Florida Department of Education.
CF’s Veterans Success Center, located in the Bryant Student Union on the Ocala Campus, is a dedicated space for student veterans and veterans’ dependents where they can connect with the CF Veterans Services department for assistance with college applications, the transition to college life and guidance in Veterans Affairs education benefit programs. The center also serves as a meeting place for the CF Veterans Association, a student-led organization that provides peer support for veterans and their families.
CF is the 13th Florida College System school to earn the distinction since the Collegiate Purple Star Campus program was established by the Florida Legislature in 2023, the news release stated.
To learn more, go to cf.edu/veterans
TEDXOCALA SPEAKERS ANNOUNCED
TEDxOcala, an independently organized TED event, has announced that its 11th annual event will take place Nov. 8 at the College of Central Florida. The theme, Pivot, will explore how shifts in thinking, identity, community and industry can create powerful change, both personal and collective. From a pool of more than 200 applicants from across the United States and internationally, TEDxOcala selected this lineup of speakers and topics:
* Richard Corey – Legal Reasoning for Life Changes
* Matt Parr – Understanding Stem Cells
* Allen Simmons – Soft Skills
* Melanie Klein – Antifragility
* Yasmine Shahwan – Community as a Healing Model
* Lee Pepper – Business Strategy vs. Hustle
* Poornima Srinivasan – Blockchain Bartering
* Dennis Gonzalez – Assumptions and Consequences
* Jean Lowery – Power of Pivot
* John Berry – Carrying Unsubstantiated Guilt
* DeLon Canterbury – Deprescribing
“This year’s theme, Pivot, reflects our belief that meaningful change often begins when we find the courage to shift direction, rethink what we know, and embrace new possibilities,” said Manal Fakhoury, TEDxOcala licensee and curator, in the news release. “We’re thrilled to bring this diverse group of speakers to our community and continue fostering conversations that inspire action.”
To learn more, go to tedxocala.com
Feds back state in immigration law fight
By Jim Saunders The News Service of Florida
The Trump administration on July 7 argued that a federal appeals court should overturn a district judge’s ruling that blocked a new Florida law targeting undocumented immigrants who enter the state.
U.S. Department of Justice attorneys filed a 33-page brief backing the state’s appeal of a preliminary injunction issued in April by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams. In addition to appealing to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has asked the U.S. Supreme Court for a stay of Williams’ ruling — a request, that if granted, would allow enforcement of the law while the underlying legal battle plays out.
Williams ruled that the law (SB 4-C), which created state crimes for undocumented immigrants who enter or re-enter Florida, likely was preempted by federal immigration-enforcement authority. But Justice Department attorneys Monday disputed that conclusion, saying the state law “complements existing federal immigration law by punishing those within, or that come within, Florida’s regulatory reach who previously entered or reentered the country in violation of U.S. immigration law.”
The brief also said wording in the Florida law largely mirrors the federal Immigration and Naturalization Act, or INA.
“The Florida law does not authorize any conduct forbidden by federal law, but instead uses language borrowed nearly verbatim from the INA to prohibit conduct that parallels conduct
prohibited by the INA,” the Justice Department attorneys wrote. “Florida’s law is in harmony, not conflict, with federal law.”
The law, passed during a February special legislative session, came as Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican lawmakers rushed to help carry out President Donald Trump’s efforts to crack down on illegal immigration.
Attorneys for the Florida Immigrant Coalition, the Farmworker Association of Florida and two individual plaintiffs filed the lawsuit on April 2 in federal court in South Florida, alleging, in part, that the law violates what is known as the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution because immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility. The lawsuit names as defendants Uthmeier and local state attorneys across Florida.
Williams on April 4 issued a temporary restraining order to block enforcement of the law and extended the restraining order on April 18. Ultimately, she issued a longer-lasting preliminary injunction on April 29, saying the law was likely unconstitutional.
Among other things, Williams pointed to the law requiring that violators go to jail.
“First, it gives state officials authority to prosecute illegal entry or reentry in cases where federal actors may choose not to,” the judge wrote. “Even if federal and state officials choose to commence parallel dual prosecutions under both laws, SB 4-C’s mandatory detention provision limits federal law enforcement discretion to recommend pre-trial release and obstructs federal courts’ ability to conduct proceedings requiring defendants’ presence. Relatedly, state officials are free to prosecute a charge under SB 4-C even while
a federal immigration proceeding is underway, which may determine that the defendant may remain lawfully present under federal law.”
The Justice Department’s friend-of-the-court brief Monday was filed at the Atlanta-based appeals court. But Uthmeier’s office also submitted it as “supplemental authority” in the state’s pending request to the U.S. Supreme Court for a stay of the preliminary injunction.
A panel of the appeals court last month rejected such a stay and arguments on the injunction are scheduled in October.
Meanwhile, documents filed last week in federal district court by Uthmeier and R.J. Larizza, state attorney in the 7th Judicial Circuit, disclosed that two men were arrested May 29 in St. Johns County under the enjoined law. Larizza’s office, which handles cases in St. Johns and three other counties, did not prosecute one of the men and asked a judge to vacate a charge against the other man, according to the documents.
Uthmeier and Williams have been involved in a high-profile dispute about whether the preliminary injunction should apply to law enforcement officers across the state, a dispute that resulted in the judge finding Uthmeier in civil contempt.
Uthmeier argued the injunction should only apply to him and local state attorneys, the named defendants in the lawsuit. But Williams also applied it to police agencies across Florida, effectively seeking to ensure that it would not be enforced.
She also ordered Uthmeier to file status reports about whether arrests have been made. The disclosures last week came in such a status report.
Chloe Follins, left, and Mary Brewster, right, of the Early Learning Coalition of Marion County, pass out books to children during the Back-to-School Community Giveback in Ocala on July 27, 2024. Volunteers are needed for this year’s event on July 26. [File photo by Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette]
Helping children
Continued from page A1
nighttime residence are considered homeless. The McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program is designed to address the problems that homeless children and youth face in enrolling, attending and succeeding in school,” according to the website.
Under the McKinney-Vento Act, homeless students have the right to continue at their original school before they lost their housing, enroll and attend immediately, receive transportation and participate in school programs for which they qualify.
HUD has four categories of homelessness, the first defines an individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence. Three additional categories focus on imminent risk of homelessness, homelessness by statute such as certification by a nonprofit as homeless and fleeing from domestic violence.
“Once a student is identified as homeless, the liaison may provide the child with support in the form of school supplies, clothing, personal hygiene items, emergency food and other individual needs as identified. The liaison also coordinates with community agencies and civic groups to meet the needs of homeless children and their families,” the MCPS website indicates.
Butler provided data that breaks down the living conditions of the 1,556 verified homeless students for the 2024/25 school year: 102 students were living in emergency or transitional shelters, 1,007 were sharing housing due to hardship, 133 were in temporary living conditions such as cars or parks and 314 were living in hotels and motels.
Butler and staff interview families to verify the student’s housing status and then provide the proper assistance. He and staff members, whose numbers were reduced due to budget from seven people two years ago to two going into school year 2025/26, register the homeless students and provide their families a range of assistance from breakfast and lunch at school to student transportation, possibly even to a neighboring county, to tuition for the first two years of college.
Federal funds are provided to schools by the McKinney-Vento Act and donations from churches and private donors.
“The budget for 23/24 was $259,461 and for 24/25 was $118,800. For the upcoming year the budget has been projected to be the same, $118,800. No other program funding is projected for the upcoming year of 25/26. Additional funding will come from communitybased organizations,” Butler wrote in an email.
He also noted the success of the efforts.
“We had 64 out of 68 homeless
students to graduate during the 24/25 school year and 34 of these students were accepted at colleges,” Butler stated.
Butler said he sees his job as more than an administrative position: “It’s a ministry.”
He is a veteran of 11 years’ service in the U.S. Navy, ordained nondenominational pastor and pastor of the New Beginnings Worship Center in Coleman, and social worker with a master’s degree. He has been with MCPS since 2007 and has held his current position since 2018. He also is a member of the board of the Marion County Continuum of Care, which is a coalition of dozens of local agencies and nonprofits that provide resources for the homeless.
Karla Greenway, CEO of the nonprofit Interfaith Emergency Services, one of the largest help agencies in the county, has worked to uplift the local homeless community for decades
“I believe that the way the school district counts homelessness is actually way more accurate than the way we counted for HUD for the pit count,” Greenway stated.
“MCPS counts people living in hotels and other temporary resources like that. They count people who are living on someone else’s couch. So, their numbers are truly more accurate as far as families that do not have permanent stable housing. And when you compare the numbers, there’s a huge difference. I’ve just always thought that number was much more telling of the real picture in our community of families in this situation,” Greenway wrote.
Keisha is a single mom with two school-age children. She is living in an Ocala emergency shelter after
Feeling good at 108
Lulu Mae Keaton has “inspired so many,” according to one congratulatory birthday message.
By Andy Fillmore andy@ocalagazette.com
Lulu Mae Keaton was born on June 15, 1917, in Waukeenah, near Monticello, in northwest Florida, shortly after America entered World War I.
“I feel good,” Keaton, 108, said at a gathering on July 4 at the Ocklawaha home where she lives with her daughter, Diane KinerWelcome, and son-in-law, Henry Welcome.
Keaton’s son, Robert Taylor, also joined the gathering.
Keaton credits her faith in the “good Lord” for her longevity. Her family feels her lifetime of hard work in farm labor may have contributed. Her favorite game is checkers, and she is an avid fisherwoman.
Keaton’s family held a birthday celebration last month at a banquet facility at Immaculate Heart of Mary
becoming homeless due to medical and employment issues. She said her children have been verified as homeless for the MCPS homeless liaison office by a letter from the emergency shelter and were entered into the system. One child attends elementary school and the other is in high school. The children have remained at their original schools and “missed no school,” she said.
The school (MCPS transportation department) makes sure the children are transported to and from the shelter. They receive breakfast and lunch at school and were provided some school supplies. Backpacks were provided by the Food 4 Kids program.
“It’s worked well,” Keisha said, adding that she would like to see the public support the homeless student outreaches.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
The county teamed up with Butler and MCPS to roll out the Bus Brigade School Supply Drive to collect needed school items, including clothing, for homeless students. The drive kicked off at the July 1 MCBCC meeting and will run through the end of this month. Donations will be presented to MCPS at the Aug. 5 MCBCC meeting. County departments will conduct a “friendly competition” to gather the most supplies.
The public can help by taking supplies to any one of dozens of facilities throughout Marion County.
“This is a huge endeavor, and we encourage our community to drop off supplies at our county locations to help support it,” County Commission Chairman Kathy Bryant said in a news release. “There are many supply drives
this time of year but this is the only one that directly benefits students in our public schools who are homeless. We’re looking forward to our first meeting in August and have a goal of collecting more than 30,000 items.”
REQUESTED ITEMS INCLUDE:
Filler paper (wide and college ruled)
Spiral notebooks (1-, 3- and 5-subject)
Colored pencils, markers (wide and thin)
Erasers, rulers, glue sticks
Graph paper, zipper binders
Pens (blue and black), scissors (blunt and pointed)
Index cards, pencils (#2 wood)
Hygiene products, deodorant (men and women)
Calculators (regular and scientific)
Duo-tang folders with prongs and pockets
Alarm clocks (electric)
Backpacks (any grade level)
Composition books (wide and college ruled)
Pencil boxes (small and large), zippered pencil pouches
Crayons (24 packs), flash drives
New clothing items (socks, underwear, etc.)
Laundry detergent
DROP-OFF LOCATIONS:
Administration and commission office, 601 SE 25th Ave., Ocala Animal Services, 5701 SE 66th St., Ocala Building Safety, 2710 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala Community Services, 2710 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala Extension Service, 2232 NE Jacksonville Road, Ocala Human Resources, 521 SE 26th Court, Ocala Office of the County Engineer, 412 SE 25th Ave., Ocala Parks & Recreation, 111 SE 25th Ave., Ocala Utilities, 11800 SE U.S. Highway 441, Belleview Veterans Services, 2730 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Unit 100, Ocala All Marion County fire stations “On behalf of MCPS and our Families in Transition program, we thank the community for supporting the hundreds of homeless and economically challenged students we serve. Giving them a new backpack and school essentials is about more than just supplies—it’s about restoring dignity and giving hope. With every donation, we’re not only changing a child’s life—we’re helping shape the future of Marion County,” Butler stated in the release.
To learn more about the drive, go to marionfl.org/our-county/mission-busbrigade
growing watermelon in Jefferson County around 1882 and, by 1922, the county supplied “about 80% of the world’s supply” of watermelon, the site notes.
Keaton married Hardges Taylor in the 1930s and moved to the Ocklawaha area in the 1940s, where she worked in agriculture.
Citrus and orange groves in the Ocklawaha area at Carney Island grew from an original 25-acre grove started by brothers John L. and E.L. Carney, circa 1875, and expanded, according to the county’s website.
Catholic Church in Candler, with about 140 friends and family members in attendance.
She received a congratulatory letter from Ocala Mayor Ben Marciano on May 27, which detailed some of her life milestones. Keaton had 10 siblings and five children, Robert Taylor Sr., Judie May Taylor, Hardges Taylor (deceased), Annie Bell Hart and Diane KinerWelcome, and 16 grandchildren, 40 great-grandchildren and 35 great-great-grandchildren,
according to the mayor’s letter. “Your life has inspired so many, and your inner strength and faith resonate in everything that you do,” the letter stated. Keaton attended school through perhaps the 4th grade then “had to work” in the farm fields in Jefferson County, according to her family.
Monticello, about 25 miles east of Tallahassee, is in Jefferson County. The county was established in 1827 and named after President Thomas Jefferson while the city is named after his home in Virginia, according to an online history. People began
The Marion County Carney Island Recreation & Conservation Area property was purchased from Coca Cola/Minute Maid in 1990. A hard freeze in 1894 wiped out the citrus trees around Lake Weir. Most of the groves were re-established and citrus groves remained an important agricultural industry until another widespread freeze in 1984, according to marionfl.org
Family friend Delores Morman, who visited Keaton on July 4, said Keaton is “lovable and unforgettable.”
Morman recalled that Keaton would watch out for her and other neighborhood children as they walked past her house in Ocklawaha on the way to a nearby school.
“She’s like family,” Morman said.
Tom Butler made a recent presentation to the county commission to help kick off the Bus Brigade School Supply Drive to collect needed school items for homeless students. [Photo courtesy Marion County Public Relations]
Photos by Andy Fillmore
Diane Kiner-Welcome and Robert Taylor are shown at their mother’s home on July 4, 2025.
Lulu Mae Keaton recently celebrated her 108th birthday.
Hybrid learning works well for some students
The Marion County Acceleration Academies program offers alternative education options and a path to graduation.
By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com
Thirty-four local students recently defied the odds to complete their education and earn their high school diplomas through the Marion County Acceleration Academies program.
A flexible hybrid learning program, the academies give hope to students ages 14 to 21 who don’t quite “fit” in traditional schooling, said MCAA Director Keyana Lyde.
“We are like a second chance or another alternative education program for students who seek to obtain their high school diploma, as opposed to the GED,” said Lyde. “We take kids who apply directly to the academy who may have dropped out or may have had to go to an alternative
educational setting with more of a flexible schedule to obtain their high school diploma.”
Students complete 24 hours of schooling a week, 12 hours remote and 12 hours in person, and complete one course at a time. It takes most students three to four weeks to finish each course, Lyde said.
The program also accepts students with disabilities or an individual educational plan, from the ages of 14 to 22.
MCAA is part of a national program and is contracted by Marion County Public Schools, which allows guidance counselors and teachers throughout the county’s high schools to refer students who might be more likely to succeed through taking classes online and in person.
“We’re like an alternative learning for some students for
whom the traditional setting may not have worked for them. They may have to work to support their family. They may have a kid and need a flexible schedule,” Lyde said.
A recent graduate of the program, 20-year-old Skye Clement, was a speaker at her commencement ceremony for the program on June 18.
“At first, I didn’t know what to think. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to catch up, or even if I belonged in a classroom again. But somehow, through all the wreckage of my past, this door opened—and I stumbled onto an opportunity I didn’t think people like me got,” Clement said.
“Despite everything I’ve been through, I was able to start over in a space that didn’t judge me for my history, but instead focused on helping me build a future. MCAA became more
than just a school—it became a safe space for me to learn, grow and rediscover my potential. It reminded me that I’m not stupid or broken—I just needed someone to believe in me and a place that gave me a real chance,” she said.
While the program does not take the place of a behavioral alternative school, it accepts students with minor behavioral issues but only after they complete the required remediation efforts required by the school district.
The benefit of the program is that it helps students get their diplomas who otherwise would have never completed high school, Lyde said.
“I was working with a young lady who we hadn’t seen on site for quite some time and I was able to work with her in the capacity of just kind of reorienting her back to our program because she just kind of took some time away and so I
was trying to re-engage her and counsel her,” Lyde said.
Students who wish to participate in the program can enroll and MCAA will help them plan out their schedules and complete an orientation.
By overpassing the obstacles of traditional schooling, students can complete their education and set themselves up for a successful future.
“Adversities are going to come up throughout life, no matter what you’re doing or how successful you are,” Lyde said. “There are going to be challenges throughout this entire duration of their whole life to the end, but they’ve got to figure out how to navigate around those things and continue to push for the things that they really want.”
To learn more, go to accelerationacademies.org/ our-locations/florida/marioncounty/
From left, MCAA graduates Skye Clement, Zyin’ia Chisholm, Leighton Brown and Chloe Barrett celebrate.
Marion County Acceleration Academies graduate Skye Clement was a guest speaker at the recent commencement ceremony.
Photos courtesy Daniel Wagner
Dispelling myths about lightning
And what to do when it strikes, which has been happening a lot locally.
Staff report
Powerful thunderstorms full of lightning can occur at any time of the year, but they are most prevalent when the weather is warm. Moisture and warmth are crucial to thunderstorms, which form when the air is unstable.
According to The Weather Channel, as the sun heats up the air near the Earth’s surface, air rises and cools. At this point, it condenses to create moisture and forms a cloud. If conditions are right, the cloud will continue to build. Moisture is carried up high and forms ice crystals or hail. These ice particles bump into one another and give off electrical charges. Negative charges are attracted to positive charges around them, including on the ground. If the attraction is great enough, negative and positive charges will join together and discharge. It is this discharge that produces lightning and thunder, which has been prevalent throughout Marion County over the past couple of weeks.
Though magnificent to watch and experience, lightning can be very dangerous. That is why it is essential people move indoors when storms are approaching.
In addition, it’s important to separate fact from fiction regarding lightning. The following are some common myths about lightning and what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Insurance Information Institute have to say about them.
1. Myth: Lightning never strikes the same place twice. Fact: Lightning can strike the same place twice, especially if it is a tall, pointy, isolated object. The Empire State Building has been hit up to a dozen times during a single storm.
2. Myth: Crouching down outside during a thunderstorm is a safe option. Fact: You are not safe anywhere outdoors. Try to get to a substantial building or hardtopped vehicle.
3. Myth: If the sky is clear, you are safe from lightning. Fact: Lightning can strike more than three miles from the center of the thunderstorm, far outside the rain or thunderstorm cloud.
4. Myth: Lightning victims carry an electrical charge and another person can be electrocuted if he or she touches them. Fact: The human body does not store electricity. Provide first aid immediately if you are able and call 911.
5. Myth: You are completely safe in your home. Fact: While you are safer in a sturdy home, lightning will travel toward the ground via the fastest route. That can mean along pipes, cables, gutters, water, wires and metal windows. Using a corded electronic device or even washing the dishes while a storm is overhead can put you at risk.
6. Myth: Rubber tires insulate people from lightning while driving. Fact: It’s actually the metal car that protects occupants. The lightning travels through the car frame to the ground. Don’t lean on doors during a thunderstorm.
Lightning is a considerable hazard and should be treated as such. There is no completely safe place to be during a lightning event. There are, however, ways to reduce risk of injury.
Knowing what to do when lighting strikes is vital to summer safety and NOAA urges people to take precautions like these when storms arrive:
• The administration notes the best place to be during a lightning storm is inside a large, enclosed structure with plumbing and electrical wiring. Plumbing and electrical wiring will conduct electricity more efficiently than a human body, so the safest place to be when lighting is present is inside a building, such as a home, office or shopping center. If buildings are inaccessible, the agency recommends retreating to an enclosed metal vehicle.
• Places such as a picnic pavilion at a park or a baseball dugout at an outdoor athletic complex are unsafe during storms with lightning because they feature exposed openings. The NOAA also notes that golf carts and any vehicles with open cabs are unsafe. The agency advises against seeking shelter from lightning in beach shacks, metal sheds and carports, particularly when safer retreats are accessible.
• Water and metal are good conductors of electricity, so NOAA advises against taking a bath or shower during a lightning storm.
• Radio dials, touch screens and ignitions should not be touched when sheltering in a vehicle during a lightning storm. The conducting paths in radios, ignitions and touchscreens lead to the outside of the vehicle, making people who touch them vulnerable to lighting strikes. Lightning storms can come and go quickly or continue for an extended period of time. Knowing what to do when lightning strikes can save lives.
The National Weather Service 7-day forecast on July 9 was predicting frequent showers and thunderstorms through July 15.
To learn more, go to forecast. weather.gov and put in your zip code.
• Avoid using desktop computers during lightning storms, as such devices typically need to be plugged in. If you must use devices like a smartphone or tablet during a lightning storm, unplug them from wall outlets before doing so.
Paula Diaz is reunited with family
The woman, who had been at the county jail since Jan. 4, on July 3 was deemed not competent to defend herself against criminal charges.
By Jennifer Hunt Murty jennifer@ocalagazette.com
Paula Diaz, a 44-yearold mentally challenged woman who was held in the Marion County Jail for six months, has been reunited with her family after a judge found she was not competent to defend herself against the criminal charges.
Circuit Judge Barbara Kissner-Kwatkosky on July 3 dismissed the two counts of battery on a law enforcement office and a misdemeanor count of battery against Diaz. Diaz was not released immediately but instead was taken to SMA Healthcare by law enforcement for evaluation that she could safely be released.
After her four-day stay at SMA, she was released to her family on July 7. Confused upon her release, Diaz told her family that staff at the facility were concerned about “drugs” in her system. Medical records have been requested to get clarification on what Diaz’ treatment was at the Marion County jail and SMA.
Diaz’ mother, Mariluz Mateo, said her daughter was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2004.
Diaz had been held without bond at the jail since Jan. 4. Marion County Sheriff’s Office records show that injuries to deputies documented after their altercation with Diaz resulted in some redness on their skin and required no medical care.
The family had called the MCSO for help a year earlier, after moving to Marion County from Orange County. The impact of that call for help has resulted in a year-and-ahalf ordeal they wish no other family has to endure.
In a June 9 status conference, KissnerKwatkosky asked prosecutors if statutes required her to consider a Motion to Dismiss, which Diaz’s attorney filed after the judge’s suggestion. Over the past month, Diaz family has waited with for a favorable ruling after spending thousands of dollars to try to help her get out of jail.
Diaz’s mother and her sister Kehlva RuizRodriguez cried as the judge granted the motion to dismiss without prejudice, allowing the state to refile charges in the event that Diaz is ever determined to have regained mental competency.
Diaz has been found incompetent numerous times, according to records provided by the family, most recently in a report by Dr. Harry Krop, a Gainesville clinical psychologist, dated April 7, 2025.
That determination reiterated the findings from a report by Tampa psychologist Dr. Scot Machlus a year earlier. Machlus 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.”
At the June 9 status conference, Assistant State Attorney Barbara Harris 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 Diaz.
A representative from Meridian Healthcare, Inc. told the family just before the July 3 hearing that they would not advocate for Diaz’ release to her family. Meridian filed a letter days before both status hearings reaffirming their position that Diaz continued to be incompetent to proceed in her legal case.
The family describes Diaz as childlike in her demeanor when she’s not in “crisis,” the word they use to describe episodes when she can’t communicate and turns to destructive behavior like tearing up her mattress or spitting or throwing things.
At the July 3 hearing, Diaz appeared by video from the jail and told the judge she wanted to leave the jail and go back to living with her mother.
According to Mateo, despite her best efforts to protect her, Diaz has been in and out of mental hospital facilities and has 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 Diaz as violent without providing any context about her being mentally ill.
“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.”
CUSTODY OR CARE?
Mateo, 66, cares for Diaz and her grandson. 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, Diaz and Diaz’s son.
Diaz 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 Diaz could be taken into custody under the state’s Baker Act, which protects people who are a danger to themselves and others. The family hoped Diaz could get help regaining control of herself at a medical facility.
In bodycam footage from MCSO deputies, RuizRodriguez is seen greeting responding deputies and asking for their help to take her sister to the hospital. About 10 minutes later, the deputies spoke to the family and with Diaz, who was in the living room holding a ball. The deputies grabbed Diaz’s hands and she began to panic. Three deputies wrestled her to the floor while another started deploying a Taser on her in front of her mother, Diaz’s son, sister and brother-inlaw.
The bodycam footage shows deputies holding Diaz around her neck and kneeling on her back while she is being struck by the Taser. Diaz’s family can be heard in the background yelling prayers for her.
The family has provided consent for the “Gazette” to share the video because they feel the deputies did
not use proper precautions in handling Diaz.
Ruiz-Rodriguez lamented, “Maybe I should have been more specific with them about her fear of being touched and hit, particularly by law enforcement.”
The bodycam footage shows an MCSO supervisor arriving at the scene after Diaz had been loaded into an ambulance and telling Marion County Fire Rescue paramedics to take Diaz to the county jail. The paramedics pushed back, stating that the state Diaz was in required them to take her to a medical facility.
A deputy argued with the medics that Diaz was under arrest, that this was not a Baker Act case and that the deputies were refusing care for Diaz since she was unable to do so for herself. A deputy told the paramedics that Diaz would be checked out at the jail by a nurse.
The paramedics insisted on delivering Diaz 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 Diaz out on bond. Because of the third-degree felony charges, Diaz was not entitled to entry into the county’s Mental Health Diversion Court.
Ruiz-Rodriguez said
competency.
In addition to a psychological disability, Diaz has numerous physical disabilities and medical conditions that can worsen if not treated, according to her family. Jail records indicate that Diaz had at least two altercations with another inmate during her sixmonth stay.
FAMILY ANGUISH
Pamela Whitley, the sister of Scott Whitley, a schizophrenic man who was killed by corrections officers at the Marion County Jail after being held in a cell for a week with no clothes, bedding or medications, attended the hearing on July 3 “to support the family.”
neither she nor her mother saw Diaz scratch or bite deputies during the altercation.
“It all happened so fast,” she said. “How do we know one deputy didn’t scratch the other? The video doesn’t reflect what they said happened.”
CONDITIONAL RELEASE – REARREST
Ruiz-Rodriguez said Diaz was conditionally released following the 2024 incident, but she missed a hearing scheduled for Nov. 4, 2024. Under her conditional release for the January charges, the family knew 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 said they got no help.
When Diaz didn’t appear for the Nov. 4 hearing, Circuit Judge Lisa Herndon issued a warrant for her arrest. Mateo said she 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 the Smith & Eulo Law Firm on Dec. 23 and paid him $5,000.
However, deputies showed up at Mateo’s house on Jan. 4, a year after the incident, 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 Diaz carefully to the jail without incident.
Mateo said she paid $5,000 to Gardiner to use all the evidence they had that Diaz was incompetent to get her released from jail. Gardiner made a motion on Jan. 15 asking that Diaz 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 Diaz received additional psychological evaluations that all determined she was incompetent and not likely to be restored to
Several months ago, Whitley traveled to Tallahassee to share the story of her brother and her family’s struggle to care for him and his eventual death in the Marion County Jail.
“I don’t want my brother to have died in vain,’’ she said. “I want to use my voice like I know my parents and my brother would want me to bring awareness to the inhumane treatment and suffering of people at the Marion County Jail.”
Scott Whitley, like Diaz, did not have a criminal history, only one of mental illness.
As previously reported by the “Gazette,” the new leader of the jail, Maj. Charles McIntosh, has ceased compliance reporting for medical care provided by the Heart of Florida Health Center 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 wrote the “Gazette” following Diaz’s release, “Our family is very happy to have Paula back home where she should’ve been and belongs. We’re pleased with Judge Kissner-Kwatkosky’s verdict and decision to release Paula with no prejudice. Not only is Paula innocent, but also a victim of the system in Marion County. We appreciate the prayers from family, friends, other mentally disabled victims, their relatives along with all the people that were involved in solving’s Paula’s case. We thank Disability Rights Florida for stepping in to investigate this matter as well.
“We’re going to continuously support Paula with her mental health treatments and will continue advocating for her and for all the mentally disabled victims in the state of Florida,” she continued. “It happened to us, and it can happen to anybody. Be brave, be vocal and speak up knowing and defending your rights.”
Paula Diaz, right, is reunited with her mother, Mariluz Mateo, left, as they leave SMA Healthcare in Ocala on July 6, 2025. [Photo courtesy Khelva Ruiz-Rodriguez]
Paula Diaz, right, is reunited with her family, from left, Khelva Ruiz-Rodriguez, her sister; Khoraima Rodriguez, 6, her niece; Mariluz Mateo, her mother; and Eduardo Rodriguez, 7, her nephew; as they leave SMA Healthcare in Ocala, Fla. on Sunday, July 6, 2025. Diaz, who has been diagnosed as being mentally ill, was released from the Marion County Jail on July 3 after six months. She was sent to SMA Healthcare to be evaluated for 72 hours. [Photo courtesy Khelva Ruiz-Rodriguez] 2025.
Eight students earn sorority scholarships
By Leah Taylor Special to the Gazette
The Alpha Kappa Alpha
Sorority Eta Tau Omega Chapter recently recognized and celebrated the achievements of eight outstanding high school students who were awarded scholarships to further their education. All of the scholars will attend a college or university in the state of Florida.
The young women—A’zareyah Dart, Grace Davis, Kiersten Foskey, Oubrei Godwin, Kamarea Jenkins, Kayden Mitchell, Meia Reaves and Calise Smith—have demonstrated exemplary academic performance and leadership potential at their high schools and in the community. Davis was named the recipient of the Gwen Sims Scholarship in the amount of $2,500. Sims was an esteemed member of the chapter and a dedicated guidance counselor at Vanguard High School.
“Watching these young ladies walk boldly into their next chapter is a reminder of why our mission matters,” said Colby Robinson, vice president/scholarship representative, Eta Tau Omega Chapter.
Founded in 1908 at Howard University, AKA emphasizes academic excellence to empower Black women, foster personal and professional development, and address societal challenges through education. The Eta Tau Omega Chapter has grown from 16 college graduates to more than 50 women and, to date, they have awarded over $100,000 in scholarships through annual fundraisers and community support.
The 2025 process started in January with the annual scholarship night at Howard Academy. Recipients were selected based on factors including scores from their written application, the quality of their personal essay and performance in a panel style interview with members of the scholarship committee. Individual
scholarships ranged from $2,500 to $500. The recipients may use the funds to cover college tuition, housing, books, school supplies or any reasonable educational expenses incurred during their college journey. A new series of workshops for high school juniors and seniors will begin in the fall. The goal is to help prepare students for the scholarship application process, college readiness and personal development. Interested parties should email etatauomegascholarship@ gmail.com for more information.
To see more, including profiles of the 2025 scholarship recipients, go to facebook.com/ETO1962
Challenge to porn age-verification law dropped
By Jim Saunders The News Service of Florida
More than a year after Florida lawmakers passed a measure they said would help protect children online, plaintiffs have dropped a challenge to part of the law that requires age verification for access to websites with pornographic content.
U.S. District Judge Mark Walker on July 8 closed a lawsuit filed in December
by the Free Speech Coalition, an adultentertainment industry group, and other plaintiffs. That came a day after the plaintiffs said they were dismissing the case following a U.S. Supreme Court decision last month that upheld the constitutionality of a similar Texas law.
The dismissal does not affect a separate lawsuit challenging another part of last year’s law (HB 3) that seeks to prevent children under age 16 from opening social media accounts on some platforms. Walker
last month issued a preliminary injunction to block the social media restrictions on First Amendment grounds and the state has appealed.
The law was one of the highest profile issues of the 2024 legislative session, with most of the focus on the social media issue.
The porn-related part of the law applies to any business that “knowingly and intentionally publishes or distributes material harmful to minors on a website or application, if the website or application contains a substantial portion of material harmful to minors.” It defines “substantial portion” as more than 33.3 percent of total material on a website or app.
In such situations, the law requires businesses to use methods to “verify that the age of a person attempting to access the material is 18 years of age or older and prevent access to the material by a person younger than 18 years of age.”
The lawsuit raised objections about how the law would apply to minors and adults, including saying it “demands that, as a condition of access to constitutionally protected content, an adult must provide a digital proof of identity to adult content websites that are doubtlessly capable of tracking specific searches and views of some of the most sensitive, personal and private contents a human being might search for.”
But the U.S. Supreme Court last month rejected arguments that the similar Texas law violates First Amendment rights. The court’s majority opinion, written by Justice Clarence Thomas, said such age-verification laws “fall within states’ authority to shield children from sexually explicit content.”
“The First Amendment leaves undisturbed states’ traditional power to prevent minors from accessing speech
that is obscene from their perspective,” said the opinion, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. “That power necessarily includes the power to require proof of age before an individual can access such speech. It follows that no person — adult or child — has a First Amendment right to access speech that is obscene to minors without first submitting proof of age.”
After the Supreme Court ruling, Walker ordered the parties in the Florida case to take steps including setting a “timeframe for plaintiffs to file supplemental arguments now that the Supreme Court has provided additional guidance as to the applicable level of scrutiny that applies to plaintiffs’ claims.”
But on Monday, the plaintiffs filed a notice of dismissing the case. Pornhub drew national attention last year when it said it would block people in Florida from having access to the site because of the law — a step it also took in other states that passed similar laws.
The social media part of the law seeks to prevent children under age 16 from opening social media 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.
In issuing a preliminary injunction, Walker sided with arguments raised by the industry groups NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association that the restrictions likely violate the First Amendment. The groups filed the lawsuit in October.
The state’s appeal of
Court
Standing from left are AKA Eta Tau Omega Chapter sorority members Debra Aiken, Audrietta Izlar, Lillie Brown, Joyce Shelton, Linda Lofton, Colby Robinson, Fredna Wilkerson, Gail Quirk, Trellis Hagins, Sharon Bourges-Jones and Leah Taylor. Sitting from left are scholarship recipients Kamarea Jenkins, Kayden Mitchell, Oubrei Godwin, Meia Reaves, Kierstyn Foskey, Calise Smith, Anida Rabb (sitting in for her daughter, A’Zareyah Dart) and Grace Davis.
Among the items in each scholarship recipient’s college necessity gift basket was a personalized tumbler.
The recent tragic flooding deaths in Texas are stark reminders of why emergency preparedness isn’t just a buzzword—it’s the difference between life and death, when every second counts. Whether the disaster is sudden, like a flash flood, or silent, like an equipment or system failure, the time to plan is long before the catastrophe strikes.
That responsibility largely falls on government agencies, which must imagine the worstcase scenarios and put contingencies in place. But on Tuesday, several Florida counties—including Marion—experienced disruptions to their 911 voice call operations, revealing cracks in not just the primary systems but the backups as well.
Marion County and the city of Ocala each operate their own 911 call center and can switch operations to remote locations that have already been set up if a catastrophe were to hit either of them.
Still, the outage revealed something sobering: Even the best-laid plans have limitations as these agencies must rely on entities and agencies outside our county for essential assistance.
What is unsettling to us is that Florida law allows many emergency management records and planning discussions to remain exempt from public view. A few years ago, the “Gazette” reported that journalists were barred from attending local emergency planning meeting by the Marion County Sheriff ’s Office held in advance of a looming hurricane and also were denied access to certain
David Ur
Continued from page A1 an investigation and found Ur’s claims against Liberatore unfounded. Pulford then created retaliatory complaints against Ur related to the operation of his bodycam, taking too long to write an incident report and for untruthfulness. Ur denies all of the allegations.
Ur said he “resigned under duress on May 10, 2021,” nearly a year after he started, due to “Defendant Sheriff ’s threat to continue its retaliation with criminal charges for making false reports.”
On May 12, 2021, Ur was arrested “on four counts of making false official statements” in his reports. Ultimately, the State Attorney’s Office repealed charges multiple times in their state case, but almost three and half years later, 18 of the 20 charges were dismissed by a judge and the other two were dropped by the state attorney.
The defendants filed answers on July 8, denying the allegations of Ur’s complaint.
The defendants indicated that Ur cannot establish that the unofficial custom or practice of Woods was behind any of Ur’s alleged “constitutional injury” and that there is no history of widespread abuse in the department as of the date of Ur’s claim.
They also alleged that “the independent, intervening acts of the State Attorney’s Office
written emergency plans.
The only document released at the time was outdated, listing organizations that no longer existed, and an inaccurate chain of command for the city. This problem was fixed only after the “Gazette” raised the issue. A revised version was eventually made public, but it remains vague and generic.
acted to break the causal chain and insulate Sheriff Woods from liability.”
The State Attorney’s Office continues to include David Ur on its office’s Brady list of deputies with a troubled history.
The governing rule for handling evidence, established in 1963 by the U.S. Supreme Court in Brady v. Maryland, requires prosecutors to disclose any evidence favorable to the defendant that is material to guilt or punishment. This includes exculpatory evidence that could negate guilt, reduce a potential sentence or impact witness credibility—even if the witness is law enforcement.
As reported last year, the SAO maintenance of that record is not straightforward.
The conversation about who ends up on a Brady list and what the criteria are for inclusion are also a matter of law enforcement officers’ rights.
In a 2019 article on Police1. com, it explained that being added to a Brady list can significantly impact an officer’s career, and it’s not always for the right reasons.
The article listed a few of the reasons why some officers have alleged prosecutors have “Brady listed them.” These include criticizing the district attorney in the newspaper; supporting the wrong candidate in the district attorney’s race; investigating corruption within the prosecutor’s staff; providing testimony that is truthful, but unhelpful to the prosecution; complaining to city
preparedness matters. With hurricane season already here, those supply checklists aren’t just suggestions. Flashlights, crank radios, medications, water, fuel—every item could make a difference. Taking the time now could save your life or your neighbors later.
That’s another part we don’t talk about enough: Neighbors. In a true emergency, you may have to rely on the people living nearby—and they may have to rely on you. Do you know them? Could you help them—or they you—if disaster strikes?
We will continue to ask for more transparency on emergency infrastructure and planning because we rely on these plans in our worst moments. Without knowing what those plans are—or if they’re even functional—how can we trust they’ll work when we need them most?
officials about corruption in the police department; and failing to apologize to the prosecutor for some perceived slight.
“Officers have also contended their own command staff have colluded with prosecutors to use Brady listings to get around the “red tape” necessary to have an officer investigated, progressively disciplined and finally terminated. In some jurisdictions, once an officer is Brady listed, they can be deemed unfit for duty or unable to perform an essential job function (testify) and can be fired without internal disciplinary processes. An officer’s federal civil rights lawsuit making such a claim resulted in reinstatement and a $812,500 settlement,” the author wrote.
When the issue was raised of whether law enforcement could provide Brady information to the state prosecutors in California in 2019, the “Los Angeles Times” reported that union representatives argued the disclosure could be used by departments to retaliate against officers who were politically unpopular.
In that Oct. 4, 2024, report, the “Gazette” noted that the 31 officers on the Fifth Circuit State Attorney’s Brady list left questions because there were officers not on the list who had been investigated internally for dishonesty. Others were on the list, but internal investigation files reflected their errors were more mistakes than dishonesty.
The “Gazette” asked MCSO
At the same time, we all have a role to play. Personal
and the Ocala Police Department for their policy about disclosing personnel who may have discipline histories that would undermine their credibility. Marissa Duquette, general counsel for MCSO, emailed the sheriff ’s policy and wrote by email, “The Commander who oversees the Office of Professional Standards is responsible for notifying the State Attorney’s Office. Our agency does not maintain a Brady list, as it is ultimately up to the prosecution to determine whether an individual’s conduct met the criteria.”
The “Gazette” asked Walter Forgie, deputy chief for State Attorney William Gladson if Ur’s name would be removed from the Brady list since the charges were dismissed.
“We are not modifying our records. A Brady notice was created pertaining to the officer, which is what our system reflects,” Forgie wrote back.
Ur said he was also targeted for arresting a woman on drug charges. That woman, Sara Ridgeway, is the daughter of Julie Herring, who recently ran for sheriff of Dixie County, and David Ridgeway, a major at the Dixie County jail.
“I tried to help her. I’m sympathetic to people who have addiction issues,” Ur said. “I wanted to be a cop so I can help people. I was a good one.”
He wants to go back to law enforcement and is currently exploring that option. However,
Technical glitches and tragedies from natural disasters are painful reminders of how fragile life is. Planning—individually and collectively—could mean the difference between survival and loss.
Let’s pause to take that in and plan, seriously.
Ur said the State Attorney’s Office has actively opposed Ur’s bid to get his license reactivated with the state, despite the dismissal of charges earlier this year.
“Being told I was lying and not acting with integrity is the worse allegation you can make against any cop,” Ur said. “The false allegations derailed my career and cost me $205,000 in legal fees.”
Ur said he’s worked seven days a week running a food truck in Palm Coast. He said his wife, now a doctor, has been a constant support but admits, “She would prefer if I didn’t return to law enforcement.”
Ur said he wants to get his story out because this type of retaliatory action in the MCSO is more prevalent than the public realizes.
“I look forward to getting to court on this. There are plenty of witnesses that will come forward that prove this practice continues,” he said. “There are many good men and women who work at that agency. I don’t want anyone else to go through what I have.”
Marie A. Mattox is representing Ur in the lawsuit, and the defendants are represented by Michael P. Spellman. Both law firms are located in Tallahassee.
MCSO did not respond to an inquiry before press time.
Mattox firm also represents Mary Coy, the whistleblower who is suing the MCSO for retaliatory termination after she expressed concerns over inmate medical care.
A woman uses an umbrella to try and stay dry in a heavy rain squall from Hurricane Debby as she crosses East
Silver Spring Boulevard in Ocala on Aug. 5, 2024. [File photo by Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette]
Native Ocalan ‘Ms. Ann’ dies at age 89
Ann Anderson was well-regarded in the community for her floral business, devotion to family, friends and church, and fighting for racial equality.
By Merrill Anderson Special to the Gazette
Anna Wallis Anderson was born in Ocala at Munroe Hospital on Sept. 9, 1935. Her father, Thomas Henry Wallis, was born in Ocala on Sept. 9, 1900. Her mother Clara Johnson was born in Jacksonville on July 30, 1900.
Ann and her older brother Tom were raised on a farm in Ocala just north of Silver Springs Boulevard, on what is now Northeast 3rd Street and 25th Avenue. As children, both Ann and Tom were immersed in the flora, fauna and gardens they grew together as a family.
Clara had a hobby of growing mums. As a little girl, Ann and her mother would cut and deliver the mums to people and businesses in and around downtown Ocala. On their outings, in their pretty dresses, Clara asked lil’ Ann to politely open doors for people and greet them.
While on the farm, Ann also enjoyed spending time with her father, with whom she had much in common. From an early age, she loved being in nature. She climbed on the huge live oaks and played with her friends and animals.
In 1953, Ann graduated from Ocala High School. Her first year of college, she attended the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA. In the spring of 1957, Ann received her degree in horticulture from the University of Florida. Knowing that plants and flowers were her passion and calling, she then attended the American Floral Art School in Chicago and became a floral designer.
In late July of 1957, Ann, her brother, Tom, and John Hugli, drove out to California
together. Tom was heading to the University of California, Berkeley, to earn his additional degree in landscape architecture. Ann found a job in a large flower shop of just cleaning flowers and stripping thorns off roses. Then, as she was waiting at the bus stop in Berkeley one day, she was serendipitously hired as the floral designer in a small flower shop, after inquiring about a help wanted sign in the shop window. The owner appreciated Ann’s gift of arranging flowers and decorating the shop window, which attracted more people into the shop. Every Friday they would go to downtown
San Francisco to buy flowers wholesale for weddings and various projects. Ann was having a great time in California.
In August of 1957, a young dentist, Edward Anderson, from Atlanta, had just moved to Ocala to start his practice. He befriended the local doctors in Ocala at that time, one of them being Thomas H Wallis, MD, Ann’s father. Tom and Clara invited Ed out to the house for supper on occasion.
The summer before leaving for California, Ann had promised Ms. Annie Drake that she would return to Ocala to run the upcoming gift shop at the Big D on Pine Street. In the spring of 1958, Clara asked Ann when she was going to return to Ocala.
Ann decided to follow through on her promise to Annie and boarded the train back to Florida that same spring. Little did Ann know at this time that she would end up meeting Ed’s mother, Eddie, at a party in Ocala, while Mrs. Anderson was visiting Ed. Mrs. Anderson, upon returning to Atlanta, encouraged Ed to call Ann.
As fate would have it, Ann and Ed went on their first date to Yankeetown for lunch at the Izaak Walton Lodge. Ed’s black labrador retriever, Jayne, was now having to adjust to riding in the backseat of his car from this time forth.
On July 25, 1959, Ed and Ann married at high noon at Grace Episcopal Church in Ocala, where Ann had been baptized in 1937. In 2019, Ann and Ed
walked down the aisle of Grace once again to commemorate their 60 years together.
Ann was a lifelong member of Grace Episcopal. She was devoted to her church, community, God and family, spanning 89 years.
Throughout the years, she worked tirelessly and decorated Grace church with her flower arrangements, including fresh cut greenery from her yard. She cultivated gardens and enjoyed showing her friends how to arrange flowers and make Christmas arrangements with live spruce and custom-made bows.
Ms. Ann was an ever-flowing expression of creativity and generosity, inspiring people everywhere she seemed to go.
From her own floral business, Ann’s Personal Touch, she created countless arrangements for weddings, fundraisers,
luncheons, parties and Grace church bazaars. She was always on the go with her flowers. She also enjoyed delivering her holiday arrangements and delicious navel oranges that Ed grew, to many friends and families.
Ed described his Ann as true blue through and through. She was also practical and independent. During the ‘70s, when we lived on the farm in Santos, Mom started the first integrated 4-H club. This was after our dad Ed and others on the school board were instrumental in desegregating the school system in Marion County in 1968. Ed and Ann shared a vision for helping to mend the racial divide.
Ann’s joy of cooking, sewing and entertaining came naturally to her. The example and legacy she leaves behind are her unwavering service and light she brought to our lives, in her multitude of ways. She simply went out of her way into the world and nurtured the positive attributes in others, leaving lasting imprints in our memories and hearts.
Her friend Janet Behnke noted, “Ann was well known and well-loved in the community. She was a person of remarkable kindness and generosity.”
Ann passed away in her sleep at home on June 3. She was 89. She is survived by her children, Nick, Tom and me; her grandchildren Morgan and Logan; and her nephews Tom, Rand and Frank and their extended families.
A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. on July 26 at Grace Episcopal Church, 503 SE Broadway St., Ocala, followed by a reception in the Parrish Hall.
She was deeply passionate about supporting Grace Episcopal Church, Belleview Florist and Hospice of Marion County, should anyone wish to make a donation.
Merrill Anderson, a fine artist based in Ocala, is the daughter of Ann and Ed Anderson.
Ann Anderson on her wedding day, July 25, 1959. [Submitted photo]
Ann Anderson visits her friend Lillian Farmer. [Submitted photo]
Ann Anderson, with friends at a Grace Episcopal Church Bazaar. [Submitted photo]
Ann and Ed Anderson, with son Nick, in 1962. [Submitted photo]
Ed and Ann Anderson on their 50th anniversary, with family members at the Grand Canyon. [Submitted photo]
A rave (if rainy) review
Our quirky summer weather couldn’t put a damper on the Patriotic Skies event.
By Susan Smiley-Height susan@magnoliamediaco.com
It’s summer. It’s Florida. It’s going to rain. A lot.
And so, it did, on the 4th of July, when the city of Ocala, in partnership with Ocala Main Street, the Marion County Board of County Commissioners and Ocala/Marion County Visitors and Convention Bureau, hosted the Patriotic Skies event at Tuscawilla Park.
While a few activities were scaled back or cancelled, those who toughed it out were treated to a spectacular fireworks display.
“A huge thank you to our donors, volunteers, presenting fireworks sponsor AdventHealth Ocala, and all of our sponsors for making this possible. Despite the evening's rain, the folks who waited it out—and even stood in the rain—were able to enjoy a fantastic firework show,” said Ocala Main Street Executive Director Jessica Fieldhouse on Tuesday via a text message.
The organization also hosted a soft opening that night for its new headquarters, the Heart of the Park. The former American Legion building is being transformed by Ocala Main Street into a “community hub” as part of overall park revitalization efforts.
“We were absolutely thrilled to open our doors for the first time in the nearly renovated Heart of the Park during Patriotic Skies,” Fieldhouse noted.
Of the overall event, she said, “It was a wonderful showcase of our community coming together to celebrate and, by all measures, it was a tremendous success.”
For information about the new community hub, including events, go to heartoftheparkocala.com
Fireworks explode by the Seminole Feed plant during Patriotic Skies.
Fireworks illuminated on-lookers during the event.
People try to stay dry as they watch fireworks.
With and without umbrellas, people were eager to see the show.
A young girl, ankle-deep in her rain boots, watches the fireworks.
Linnea Clark of Groveland tries to stay dry under her umbrella as fireworks explode during the Patriotic Skies event at Tuscawilla Park in Ocala on July 4. Some activities were scaled back or cancelled during the event, but the fireworks show went on as planned.
Photos by Bruce Ackerman Ocala Gazette
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People, Places and Things
Checking in by checking out
These local doctors find pleasure and release in pursuing hobbies outside their busy professional lives.
By Marian Rizzo Correspondent
Ever wonder what doctors and dentists do on their days off?
For some, it’s simply a different change of scene. For others, it’s an opportunity to try one’s hand at something creative. Like most professionals, it’s also a time to regroup so they can perform better in the office.
SHEDDING THE WHITE COAT
When he isn’t looking at electrocardiogram printouts or checking a patient’s heartbeat, Ocala cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Paul Urban sheds his white coat and dons a scuba diving wetsuit. Then he grabs his underwater camera and heads off for coastal settings in the Atlantic. An avid photographer who in the past shot photos of his daughters’ sporting events, Urban, 74, now focuses on the abundant marine life underneath the sea.
The lure to the coastal waters began in 2001, when Urban and his family started going to the Bahamas in his sailboat. He was introduced to scuba diving a few years later in the waters off the Bahamas and the Florida Keys. Other than the times he and his wife, Joyce, mingle with their four daughters and seven grandchildren and work on their Dickens Village for the annual Christmas at the Appleton Museum of Art event, Urban said he goes diving alone, but with professional divers.
“It’s not a family thing, it’s a me thing,” Urban said. “Joyce doesn’t even go out on the boat. She watches her soap operas. She told me, if God wanted her to go scuba diving, he would have given her gills.”
It wasn’t long before Urban’s diving trips also began to satisfy his penchant for American history.
“I just came back from a place called the Dry Tortugas, about 70 miles from Key West,” said Urban
of the remote archipelago, which is named for the abundance of sea turtles there. Besides capturing images of the colorful marine life, he also shot pictures of some of the artifacts.
“There’s actually a wreck of a Union Navy vessel, the USS San Jacinto, at Abaco Island in the northernmost part of the Bahamas,” Urban said. “That boat wrecked in the Abaco’s. It was a big, big international incident. It hit a reef and now is in a lot of pieces, partly because of scavengers.”
Since the walls of the Urbans’ southwest Ocala home are already covered with family photos, he displays his framed undersea photographs in his Ocala office. He believes they create a peaceful atmosphere for his patients to enjoy.
“They say they’re beautiful, colorful, and it relaxes them,” he shared. “I think it calms people down, and it’s something I can relate to with them. It kind of makes them realize that I’m a human being.”
Dianne McDonald-Graber, Urban’s nurse practitioner, said the photographs previously graced the walls at his former 17th Street office. When he moved to State Road 200, patients began asking where the photographs were.
“People asked him to put them up,” McDonald-Graber said. “They loved them. If he doesn’t want to do doctoring, he can always do photography.”
Photos by Bruce Ackerman
PHOTOGRAPHY IN FAR-AWAY PLACES
On his days off, foot and ankle surgeon Dr. Steven Effren sometimes leaves his sterile office in favor of treading foot on remote lands where ancient artifacts dominate the landscape and history abounds. Effren has been traveling with his wife and business partner, podiatrist Dr. Uyen Dao, since their college days.
They started heading out in 1988 while they were attending Barry University’s school of podiatric medicine in Miami. In the beginning, they kept their travels to domestic locations and later visited lands beyond the sea, with Italy serving as their honeymoon destination.
“We were students, so we started small,” Effren, now 57, recalled. “A big trip would have been to Daytona Beach, then Mexico, Arizona, California,
before we started doing some international trips. Greece was a standout. I’m kind of a sucker for ancient architecture.”
According to Effren, picture taking surfaced as a natural part of those travels.
“I was pre-med but majoring in journalism,” he explained. “Photography kind of went along with it. I learned how to do photography, and I really enjoyed it.” Effren has displayed his framed photos on the walls at both of his offices in Ocala and Summerfield.
Though a number of people have asked to purchase his works of art, he’s never sold any. The photos do create a calming atmosphere in the office, he said.
“They certainly de-stress the environment,” he noted.
“More often than not, they’re a conversation piece. Everybody
A rather menacing fish seems to mug for the camera.
Dr. Paul Urban poses with his underwater camera and some of his scuba diving photos, displayed on a wall at his office at the Cardiovascular Institute of Central Florida on State Road 200 in Ocala, Fla. on Monday, June 30, 2025.
Rainbow colors spring to life in this photo.
Dr. Paul Urban is shown on one of his scuba diving trips. [Photo courtesy of the artist]
The beauty of nature shines in this underwater image.
A colorful school of fish are shown in this photo.
Dr. Steven Effren talks about photos he took during a trip to Paris, which are displayed at his office, Live Oak Foot and Ankle, on Southeast 17th Street in Ocala, Fla. on Wednesday, June 25, 2025.
Dr. Steven Effren points out an image he took during a trip to Greece.
Among Dr. Effren’s favorite travel spots is Greece.
Paris, as photographed by the Ocala podiatrist.
Another image from Greece.
Checking in by checking out
Continued from page B2
asks about the photos, especially the ones with food in them. It’s a nice way to start a relationship.”
Effren also is a musician who has mastered several instruments, primarily the guitar, and writes music and records songs. He sees music as yet another way to express creativity.
“It’s a release, kind of like photography, which is obviously something creative without the stress— unlike surgery, which is creative with the stress,” Effren said.
For Effren, there are many personal benefits to being able to travel and capture the sites on film.
“It’s escapism,” he shared. “It’s something
different than what I do all day long. The photos just remind me of places I’ve enjoyed.”
Next on Effren’s list of places to visit will be a family vacation that will include their 14-yearold son, Daniel.
“We are looking at a trip to Iceland with a side trip to Faroe Islands,” Effren said, of the remote islands that seem to be frozen in time. The rugged terrain is home to sheep grazing on the hillsides and winding roads and tunnels leading from one city to another. They’re not easy to get to but can be reached by ferry boat from Iceland.
“It’s way out there,” Effren said. “It’s very different from any place I’ve ever been.”
FINDING UTOPIA AT HOME
While Urban and Effren have found therapeutic relief in exotic places far from home, Ocala dentist Dr. Sol Anker and Linda, his wife and office manager, have created a beautiful Shangri-La in their own backyard. Together they’ve made it a labor of love.
“My wife and I are on different ends of the spectrum,” Sol Anker said. “She is more neat. I like a jungle. She says, ‘Less is more.’”
Even with those differences, the end result has been a blend of the best of both worlds. For him, the garden has provided more than a break from the daily grind, it’s been a chance to regroup in nature.
“It does teach me patience. It’s such a calming, relaxing thing for me. If I have a stressful day at the office, I can go home and I look at the plants and know they’re doing well,” he said.
“When I started out in Citrus County, I had five operatories and a staff of 11 people. That was stressful. Sometimes I would write checks on Friday and my hand would shake. I had to give it up. It was better when we opened this smaller office. I get a little time to unwind. Generally speaking, my plants don’t talk back to me, but most patients don’t either,” he offered.
The Ankers have lived in their home in Ocala’s historic district for 30 years. When they first purchased the property there already was a long wall of bamboo, a few citrus trees and many plants native to Florida.
Dr. Anker added color to the lush greenery by strategically placing potted plants, bromeliads, lilies, orchids, caladiums, Thai plants and ornamental ginger. The Ankers’ prized staghorn ferns came from Linda’s former home in Fort Pierce. They were small when they were first transplanted here in 1972, but they now have grown so large one of them needed to be caged, Linda said.
Linda was a little girl when those plants got started, Sol said.
“In order to get to that size, Dad and Mom really took care of them, so I said, let’s name them after your folks. The big guy is Elam, and the smaller one is Ethel. It’s the old story—remember those who went before us,” he noted.
A few years ago, the Ankers’ property was part of the Historic Ocala Preservation Society’s annual Spring Home and Garden Tour. Visitors enjoyed the garden so much they stayed long after the tour was over, Linda said.
The entire two acres blossomed gradually over the years, with a lot of planting, transplanting and repotting according to where plants would thrive. Linda credits her husband with most of the work.
“It was one of those things where he kind of learned by doing—what kind of plants and where to place them,” she said. “He comes out here constantly cutting, because they need to be trimmed. He always has his pocketknife on him.”
When they travel, the Ankers often look for items that might fit into key spots in their garden, such as life-size concrete statues, pagodas and other novelties. A favorite grouping is the Four Seasons statues they acquired from the Castro family’s estate sale, years ago.
“When someone else doesn’t want something that’s pretty, I love recycling it,” said Sol. Now 73, Sol first took an interest in gardening when he was a young man growing up in Queens, New York, where he started taking care of his parents’ yard.
“I knew they weren’t gonna take care of things,” he recalled. “I picked out some plants, got drought-resistant plants and I always tried to have something blooming. I did enjoy it. It was fun.”
His current project is far larger and a lot more work than the one he started at his parents’ home.
“When you’re young, you don’t mind being in the garden all day,” he said. “I go early in the day and late in the day. I have all sorts of plants, but my favorite ones are the bromeliads that continually bloom. They’re self-sustaining. Even in drought they do okay. It’s amazing how beautiful they are. One of the things I hate is when something dies. Believe it or not, I have some annuals you would say are perennials. If I cut them back before spring, they’ll keep going. Sometimes, impatiens tend to die in winter. I have a tough time keeping them going.”
A photo taken in Greece by Dr. Steven Effren is shown at his office.
Dr. Sol Anker and his wife, Linda, pose in the backyard of their home, where they enjoy the art of garden scaping, on Southeast 5th Street in Ocala, Fla. on Saturday, June 21, 2025.
A palm frond highlights a statute of a woman in the shade.
Two large staghorn ferns are shown in the backyard.
An orchid bloom is shown among lush greenery.
A bromeliad and other flowers flourish.
Cherubs are nestled among some of the many plants at the home of Dr. Sol Anker.
CF celebrates workforce expansion in 2024-2025 academic year
The College of Central Florida has announced a record number of workforce expansion initiatives in the 2024-2025 academic year, as part of the largest workforce education expansion in the college’s 68-year history.
“The College of Central Florida is achieving unprecedented growth and receiving national recognition for our quality, with the help of our amazing partners,” said Jim Henningsen, CF president, in the news release.
Henningsen noted that CF has invested more than $100 million in state and local support over the past few years to expand academic programs and facilities and prepare the graduates to meet the needs of employers.
CF’s workforce education accomplishments in the 2024-2025 academic year,, the release noted, include:
• Launching new programs, degrees and certificates:
o In response to growing demand for skilled professionals in Florida’s leading industry, CF added a new Hospitality and Tourism Management program to begin in Fall 2025, which will meet the local labor market needs of the expanding hospitality industry.
o The college submitted a proposal to the State Board of Education for a new Associate in Science degree in Precision Agriculture Technology, which will be the first of its kind in Florida, preparing students for careers in the dynamic and increasingly technology-driven agricultural sector.
o CF launched a new Associate in Science degree in Fire Science in the Spring 2025 semester, designed to help individuals advance in their careers and meet the expanding need for public safety leaders in the region.
o To meet a major increase in the need for technicians with Geographic Information Systems training, CF worked with the city of Ocala, Marion County and regional employers to create a new college credit certificate in GIS. Graduates will be in demand for jobs in information technology, emergency response, urban planning, agriculture, environmental science, education, site development and more.
o To prepare graduates to fill around 300 local job openings in high-demand health care fields, CF launched programs in cardiovascular technology, diagnostic medical sonography technology and respiratory care.
• Creating and strengthening community partnerships:
o CF formalized a new partnership with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to enhance student education and advance the use of uncrewed aircraft systems in agriculture.
o CF partnered with CareerSource Citrus Levy Marion and public school districts in Marion, Citrus and Levy counties to offer the Pathways to Permanent program for teachers on temporary certifications. Since the program started in 2023, CF has enrolled and supported 71 classroom teachers on their journey to licensure and more than 100 teachers have applied to the program for the Fall 2025 semester.
o Through its public-private partnership with Fleetforce Truck Driving School, CF has produced 263 Commercial Driver’s License graduates and has just expanded into Levy County, in partnership with the Levy County
School Board and CareerSource CLM, with the first cohort of Class B CDL students set to graduate in June 2025
o CF, in partnership with BDI Datalynk and CareerSource CLM, has trained 109 individuals with the support of the Creating Connections Broadband Infrastructure Grant, with a 99% pass rate. CF worked to have the Certified Fiber Optics Bootcamp certifications, including Certified Fiber Optics Technician, Certified Fiber Optic Specialist – Testing & Maintenance and Certified Fiber Optic Specialist – Splicing added to the Master Credential List.
o Lockheed Martin has launched a new schedule of seven apprentice cohorts, which will train at the CF Ocala Campus advanced manufacturing lab. After the first four weeks of training, apprentices will be eligible for nine college credit hours in the CF Associate in Science in Engineering Technology degree program.
o CF Corporate College partnered with the Levy County School Board to offer the first of its kind phlebotomy training for high school seniors. Expanding facilities, supporting students and maintaining excellence:
o Through the Reimagining Education and Career Help (REACH) Act, signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2021, CF received four grants this year:
• $1,967,027 in scholarship funding from the FLDOE Open Door Grant Program to support students in career and technical education programs;
• $1,049,273 from the Florida Department of Education PIPELINE District Fund for nursing education; $661,959 from the Workforce Development Capitalization Incentive grant to renovate and modernize technology at the Vintage Farm Campus and expand IT programs to the Wilton Simpson Citrus Campus and
• $600,000 from the FLDOE Linking Industry to Nursing Education fund for nursing education and scholarships.
o CF was certified as a National Institute of Food and Agriculture Non-LandGrant College of Agriculture, one of only three Florida educational institutions and the only college in the Florida College System with this designation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
o The college is renovating the Ocala Campus Building 19 to serve as a new home for its Emergency Medical Services programs, as part of an ongoing Health Sciences expansion that also included the opening of the new AdventHealth Center for Nursing in January 2025 and the opening of the Allied Health Sciences building in 2023.
o Health Sciences have expanded at the Wilton Simpson Citrus Campus with the addition of the Respiratory Care program and the Citrus County Hospital Board Nursing Promise Scholarship, which covers tuition for Citrus County residents in the Associate Degree Nursing program.
o CF is preparing to break ground on a new Criminal Justice Instruction Center, a 33,744-square-foot modern, multimedia learning environment where students will prepare to fill a number of open law enforcement jobs in the area. To learn more, visit cf.edu
NAME OF AGENCY: The School Board of Marion County, Florida
RULE TITLE: Instructional Materials
RULE NO.: Board Policy 2521
SUMMARY: Hold a public hearing on August 12, 2025, NO VOTE Hearing, to approve the 2025-2026 Instructional Material Titles for Adoption.
SUMMARY OF STATEMENT OF ESTIMATED REGULATORY COST: Revisions align policy with current statutes governing instructional materials.
SPECIFIC AUTHORITY: 1001.41, 1001.42Fla. Stats. (2022).
PLACE: Browne Greaton Cole Auditorium, 1614 E. Ft. King Street, Ocala, Florida
34471
DATE: August 12, 2025 FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING THE RECOMMENDED TITLES FOR ADOPTION, CONTACT: Braegan Hughes, Coordinator, Curriculum & Instruction
Staff report
The AdventHealth Center for Nursing is shown at the College of Central Florida on Jan. 30, 2025. The new, $20 million, two-story, 42,500 square foot building has six classrooms, six exam simulation rooms, three skills labs and a testing lab. The state-of-the art simulation labs give students practice on current medical equipment and procedures. [File photo by Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette]
Uplifting encounters from my latest trip
“A fisherman, a priest, and a student” sounds like the beginning of a crude joke. But on my latest trip to Europe, these three characters weren’t punchlines. Instead, they were reminders of the value of travel, and examples of the spirit-boosting people-to-people moments that are waiting for you in Europe.
Travel has always been, and always will be, fun. Marveling ancient wonders, sipping new wines, pulling the car over for those postcard views ... that will forever be a joy. But with all the fear and misunderstanding in our world these days, travel is taking on a greater importance.
If your only exposure to things overseas is news headlines or social media posts, the world may seem divisive, scary, even intimidating. But after spending a third of my adult life living out of a suitcase, I’ve learned that fear is for people who don’t get out much. And, having just returned from my first of four European trips of 2025, I’m happy to confirm that this is still the case. With the aggressive, me-first posture the United States is taking, I – like many American travelers – was curious how we would be received overseas. I wondered if I’d encounter any overtly anti- (or pro-) American sentiments. But, happily, the welcome I received was warm as ever.
I visited Italy and Turkey, and spent weeks chatting with local business owners, checking in with my tour guides, scrambling with my TV crew, and catching up with friends over drinks. Sure, many people I met were curious about what the hell is going on and eager to “get my take.” But the overarching feeling I got was how, together, we’re learning why Winston Churchill once famously said, "Democracy is the worst form of Government ... except for all the other forms that have ever been tried.” In the end, we’re all citizens sharing the same planet ... and we’re all in this together.
This boost in spirit didn’t come from touring the Hagia Sophia, snapping a picture from the top of Palatine Hill, or trying a new Roman restaurant’s take on carbonara pasta. It came from connecting with people – which I see as the essence of good travel. Exploring sights and trying new bites will always be
fundamental to a well-rounded trip, but so often the most powerful memories from our travels come from the people we meet. On this trip alone, I’ll never forget:
The Turkish fisherman on Istanbul’s Galata Bridge who let me cast his line and just could not stop talking with me via his translator app. Turns out we both thought the fresh simit bread sold by passing carts smelled great.
Or the Roman Catholic priest who, without words, made sure I had the best angle to appreciate the centuries-old portrait of Mary behind him. We may come from different Christian traditions, but we both revered that painting and enjoyed that sacred space.
Or the cheeky university student who dared me to sit on the Spanish Steps just to draw the ire of the policewoman stationed there to make sure tourists didn’t do exactly that. (I did. She scolded me. The student and I laughed like childhood buddies.)
I didn’t literally “talk politics” with any of these people. But I didn’t have to. Serendipitous interactions like those do something far greater than address any differences we might have. They show how similar we actually are. They humanize places that, if we stay home, we grow to see as “foreign” and filled with people who are not “us” – which risks turning real people into stereotypes.
I get that Americans might feel uneasy about their country when venturing overseas right now. Yet for decades, I’ve found that one of the best ways to learn about your country is to leave it ... and look back at it from afar. When you do, you’ll find that Europeans can relate. They have gone through (and are going through) much the same political turmoil as we are right now. But it can be hard for us to really see that unless we get out there and mix it up. By connecting, we see that the world is filled with a mix of endearing people and dicey politics ... on both sides of the Atlantic. And no matter how choppy that ocean is, we’ll sail on together.
A fisherman, a priest, and a student just boosted this travel writer’s worldview and injected a bit of joy into what was already a joyful trip. And countless uplifting encounters like those are waiting on the road for you, too.
SERIOUSLY SIMPLE
What to expect during a blood draw
DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I’ve never had my blood drawn before, but I have to go in for testing soon. Honestly, I’m pretty nervous about it. What can I expect?
ANSWER: It can be a little nerve-wracking at first, but having blood drawn is a quick procedure that can be painless — sometimes, people don’t even know that the collection has started!
It’s important that you first ask your health care team what your lab tests are and why they’re being collected. This can help you prepare and know what time of day to schedule your appointment. For example, if you need to be fasting prior to your blood draw, it may be preferable to schedule it first thing in the morning before you have eaten. When it comes to the day of the blood collection, stay hydrated, stay warm and try to stay as calm as possible (try taking some deep breaths). The phlebotomist assigned to perform your blood draw you will ask you several questions before they get started, such as your date of birth and full name. There are often patients with similar-sounding names, so we try to ask for as many identifiers as we can to make sure we can confirm who you are. It’s critical that our phlebotomists get the right blood from the right patient and get the results into the right medical record. Without the right specimens, we can’t do our work.
The phlebotomist will ask you to make a fist and tap on your veins to identify a vein they can collect blood from. It’s key for them to be able to not only see but feel a vein, make sure it’s big enough and that it’s not going to roll away from the needle during the collection. This is a skill that they get during their training and certification, and they become experts after many years of experience with patients. Clenching your fist increases the amount of blood that’s in your vein, which then makes it more prominent and easier to see and feel.
Veins in your hands often have very thin walls, so it’s difficult to get into the vein and not damage it. This is why you are more likely to get bruising on your hand. The veins that are in your elbow joint are very thick and easy to access, and they usually heal without much bruising, depending on the patient. Sometimes the veins in your hand are the only veins that the phlebotomist can identify, so then they’ll have to use those.
All in all, it only takes one or two minutes for them to identify the vein, collect the specimens and make sure that you’re healthy enough to leave. There’s no need to eat right after a blood draw unless you’ve been fasting or you feel a bit woozy. Most people don’t feel any different after a blood collection, but some do report being dizzy. This is unrelated to the amount of blood that’s collected, though. You have plenty of blood in your body (approximately 5,000 milliliters) compared to what’s being taken. Dizziness is usually the result of the patient being anxious or worried about the blood draw.
Your blood tells us a vast number of things, and blood testing can be very complex. Phlebotomists are incredibly important individuals whose work often goes unnoticed. All our testing relies on having your blood collected in the right way, which makes phlebotomists the foundation of our clinical practice. We couldn’t run a hospital without them.
This versatile soup tastes great hot or chilled
Diane Rossen Worthington Tribune Content Agency
Here’s a soup you’ll enjoy in warm weather. Mint, lettuce and peas seem made for each other. While peas are often thought of as a springtime vegetable, they are lovely in the summer, as well. I’ve added snow peas to sweeten and enliven the taste of the English peas.
Butter lettuce, sauteed scallions and carrot add an interesting component to the simple soup. Lettuce leaves are usually associated with salad; but here lettuce is sauteed, offering up a subtle sweetness and thickness to the soup. If you want to mix it up, consider substituting arugula, romaine or watercress instead of butter lettuce in this recipe. It will have a lovely peppery-sweet underlying flavor.
This versatile soup tastes great hot or chilled. Serve steaming hot on a cool evening as a wonderful opener for light pasta with shrimp and tomatoes. If chilled, it can precede salade
nicoise on a sweltering day. A chilled mango iced tea is a nice complimentary beverage. If you want something stronger, a California or French rose will do the trick.
MINTED LETTUCE AND SNOW PEA SOUP
Serves 4 to 6
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 scallions, white part only, finely chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and shredded
1 medium head butter lettuce, leaves separated
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh mint
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/2-pound (about 1 cup) snow peas, trimmed
1 cup shelled fresh English peas (about 1 pound unshelled) or thawed frozen petite peas
2 tablespoons whipping cream, creme fraiche or half-and-half Salt and freshly ground white pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice To garnish:
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint
1 tablespoon finely chopped scallion, green part only
1In a large saucepan over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the scallions and carrot and saute, stirring occasionally,
until slightly softened, 3 to 5 minutes.
2Add the lettuce and saute until wilted, about 5 minutes.
3Add the mint, chicken stock, all but a small handful of the snow peas, and the English peas (if using thawed peas, add during the last 5 minutes). Cover and
simmer over low heat until the vegetables are softened, about 20 minutes.
4In a blender or food processor, process the soup, in batches, until pureed. (You can also do this with an immersion blender right in the pot.) Return to the pan and add the cream and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat and cook for about 5 minutes to blend the flavors. Add lemon juice. Taste for seasoning.
5Slice the reserved snow peas in julienne and immerse in boiling water until slightly softened, about 1 minute. Drain, let cool, cover, and chill.
6To serve, taste the soup for seasoning. Ladle into bowls and garnish with the sour cream, mint, scallion, and julienned snow peas. Or refrigerate for at least 4 hours or until well chilled and continue with garnishing and serving.
Advance preparation: This may be prepared 8 hours in advance through Step 5 and refrigerated until serving. If serving warm, reheat gently until it simmers.
Lettuce leaves offer a subtle sweetness and thickness to the soup. CREDIT: (Maren Caruso/ TCA).
Rick Steves meets an Istanbul tour group in the good hands of Turkish tour guide, Mert. CREDIT:(Rick Steves, Rick Steves’ Europe).
How to keep a well-stocked pantry
By Christy Jones Special to the Gazette
Awell-stocked pantry is like having a superpower—always ready to save the day when things get chaotic.
And with hurricane season underway, there’s no better time to ensure you’ve got bottled water, easy-to-prepare meals and all your favorite snacks ready for when things get dicey. Plus, it’s a fantastic way to avoid blowing your budget on takeout or hitting the drive-thru for the third time this week. Not only will you be ready for an emergency, but your wallet will thank you. The best part?
Stocking your pantry doesn’t have to break the bank—and it doesn’t need to happen all at once. Slowly building your pantry over time allows you to take advantage of sales so you can fill your shelves without draining your wallet.
GROCERY STORES HAVE SECRETS— AND NOW YOU DO, TOO!
Let me let you in on a little secret: grocery store sales
follow cycles. That’s right! They don’t just pull those “buy one, get one free” deals out of thin air. There’s a predictable rhythm to it all—usually every six to eight weeks. So, while you may notice that Publix and Winn-Dixie often have a BOGO sale every week, most of the items on sale follow a pattern you can predict. That means you can plan ahead, stock up when prices are low and always have what you need on hand. Why pay full price when you can wait for the sale and grab those items at their lowest cost?
WHAT DOES “STOCKING UP” REALLY MEAN?
So, when I say, “stocking up,” what do I mean? Well, it’s twofold:
1. Emergency essentials: Think water, canned goods, dry foods—stuff that can keep your family fed and hydrated when life throws you a curveball (or a power outage). These items can last a long time in your pantry and it’s smart to stock up.
2. Family favorites: The
secret sauce to making meal planning easier? Keeping the ingredients for your family’s favorite meals on hand. If you haven’t read my column on meal planning, check it out at frugalteacherlife. com for tips on using a meal rotation system that simplifies life. Once you know which staples your family needs on hand, you can buy them at their lowest price and stock up like a pro. For example, let’s say pasta night is a weekly tradition at your house. Boxed pasta and pasta sauces often go on sale (especially during BOGO sales). So, next time there’s a deal, grab a few extra jars of sauce and boxes of pasta to cover you until the next sale cycle. That way, you won’t be caught paying full price when your pasta supply starts running low.
Bonus tip: Pasta sauce and pasta can last a while in your pantry. Same goes for bread— yes, bread freezes beautifully. So go ahead, grab that extra loaf when it’s on sale, toss it in the freezer and pull it out whenever you need it.
HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF SALES (WITHOUT GOING OVERBOARD)
The key to stocking up without feeling like you’re hoarding is paying attention to what’s on sale at your go-to grocery store. If you’re techsavvy, grocery store apps are a game-changer. You can find out what’s on sale each week and even compare prices between stores. It’s like having a personal shopper right in your pocket. Not a fan of apps? No worries. That grocery store flyer that shows up in the mail is still your friend. Use it to figure out what’s on sale and then buy in bulk when you can. Start thinking of it like a grocery treasure hunt: you’re on a mission to find the best deals on the things you use every week.
MAKE YOUR PANTRY YOUR MONEYSAVING SECRET WEAPON
Once you get the hang of tracking sales, you’ll start seeing how easy it is to stock up on the things you use most—and without going broke. Your family will be singing your praises when
they’re enjoying a tasty homemade meal instead of another take-out disaster. And stay tuned—I’ve got another column coming soon on how to organize your pantry so all this stocking up doesn’t lead to a giant pile of chaos. Happy stocking and happy saving!
Nominations being accepted for Legacies of Love
The honor recognizes those who make a significant impact in the community.
By Susan Smiley-Height susan@magnoliamediaco.com
Interfaith Emergency Services,
one of the area’s largest and most active nonprofit agencies, will be honoring men and women who have made a significant impact in the community at its annual Legacies of Love luncheon in February.
“We are currently taking nominations for individuals to be considered for this special recognition. Honorees must be Marion County residents who have left a legacy of philanthropy by giving of their resources, time and/or talents,” said Karla Greenway, CEO of Interfaith.
She noted that the “honor roll” of this award includes Kevin McDonald, Lynette Vermillion, Cory Pool, Dr. Michael Jordan, George Albright Jr., Ron and Phyllis Ewers, Toni James, Jim Kirk, Dr. Hank Harrell Jr., Frank and Naida Rasbury, Beth McCall, Gail Cross, Frank DeLuca, Mary Britt, Dr. Norm Anderson, Jeffery and Clover Lovell, Whit Palmer, Carlyle Ausley, Toro Townley, Doug Oswald, Nick Nikkinen, Wayne McDonald, Wes Wheeler and Monica Bryant.
Interfaith will accept nominations through Aug. 31 in writing by email to Karla@ iesmarion.org. The nomination must include the person’s name, contact information and a narrative of the impact the individual has made in Marion County. The honorees will be announced in October.
I’m Christy Jones, aka The Frugal Teacher, a high school educator on
Legacies of Love honorees Frank and Naida Rasbury, at left, are shown with Heather and Tom James during the 2024 event at the CF Klein Conference Center in Ocala. [File photo by Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette]
Government
JULY 14, 21, 28
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 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
JULY 22, AUG. 12
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
AUG. 13
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
Community Arts
Activities at Fort King Fort King National Historic Landmark, 3925 E. Fort King St., Ocala Thursdays through Aug. 14
6-8pm
The Summer Night Lecture Series is free and open to all ages:
July 17 – Birds of Fort King with Maxfield Weakly, Marion Audubon Society
July 24 – Protecting Wildlife Through Sustainable Pest Control with Mikayla Frierson
July 31 – Florida’s Seminole Agents with Dr. Joe Deklinski
Aug. 7 – The Life and Legacy of William King with Historian Dale Cox
Aug. 14 – Native Plant Uses in History with Amanda Marek, University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences For more information, call (352) 401-6980 or visit fortkingocala.com
JULY 24
Summer Job Fair
Howard Academy Community Center, 306 NW Seventh Ave., Building 3, Ocala 5-7 p.m.
The job fair is hosted by CareerSource Citrus Levy Marion in collaboration with the Marion County Hospital District and its Community Home Project. The event is free and open to all job seekers whether they live in Citrus, Levy, Marion, neighboring or other counties. For fastest access on the day of the job fair, those planning to attend are asked to register at bit.ly/SUMMERJOBFAIR2025. Prior to attending the event, job seekers are encouraged to complete a full registration at employflorida.com or update an existing registration. Participants are also urged to dress appropriately, bring printed copies of a current resume and be prepared to discuss skills and qualifications with hiring managers. For more information and updates on participating businesses, call 800-434-JOBS or visit careersourceclm.com/calendar.
AUG. 1 AND 2
Friends of the Ocala Public Library book sale Library headquarters, 2720 E Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala Aug. 1, for Friends members (memberships available at the door), 1:30 pm-3:30 pm Aug. 2, open to the public, 10 am-2 pm Proceeds of the sale will benefit children
JULY 11
Classic Albums Live: Wings –Band On The Run
Reilly Arts Center, 500 NE 9th St., Ocala
7:30pm World-class musicians recreate iconic albums note for note, cut for cut, followed by a set of greatest hits. Learn more at reillyartscenter.com
JULY 11-13
“Wake up. Wake up.”
Ocala Civic Theatre, 4337 E Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala
7:30pm The Arts For All youth production by The Academy at Ocala Civic Theatre offers a set of incredibly lifelike robotic human sculptures programmed to perform thousands of movements and monologues. But when their millionaire investor is about to sell this high-tech work of art, it turns out that the sculptures are alive—and struggling to reach autonomy before their desperate owner can carry out a destructive plan. This haunting one-act play asks the questions, does art imitate life, or is it the reverse, and what is truly real? Learn more at ocalacivictheatre.com
JULY 12
Yacht Rock Gold Experience
Reilly Arts Center, 500 NE 9th St., Ocala
7:30pm Get ready to sail through the smooth sounds of the ’70s and ’80s. This high-energy tribute brings hits from Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan, the Doobie Brothers and others. Learn more at reillyartscenter.com
JULY 18
In the Air Tonight: A Music Celebration of Phil Collins & Genesis
Reilly Arts Center, 500 NE 9th St., Ocala
7:30pm Experience the ultimate tribute to Genesis and Phil Collins with, led by Rick Snider. From global stages to Las Vegas residencies, Rick brings decades of powerhouse performances to this live show. Get tickets at reillyartscenter.com
JULY 19
Natalie Cuomo
Marion Theatre, 50 S Magnolia Ave., Ocala
7:30pm Natalie Cuomo is an internationally touring stand-up comedian. Her debut album “Shut Up You Loved It,” released by The Stand Comedy Club Records, debuted at #1 on the iTunes comedy charts. Natalie can be seen on “Ink Master: No More Ink!” Season 16 on Paramount Plus. She was named a finalist in the New York Comedy Festival’s “New York’s Funniest” Competition in 2024 and one of the festival’s “Comics To Watch” in 2023. Learn more at mariontheatre.org
THROUGH JULY 20
Marion Cultural Alliance “y-ART” Sale
Brick City Center for the Arts, 23 SW Broadway St., Ocala
Gallery hours: Tuesday–Friday, 10am to 5pm; Saturday, 11am to 4pm
The sale will feature original artwork, jewelry, prints, photographs, memorabilia, and more, offered at deeply discounted prices. Sponsored by Revival – Brick City Market, Ocala’s newest pop-up business, this event invites the public to discover creative treasures while supporting the local arts community. Learn more at mcaocala.org
JULY 25
An Evening with Here Come The Mummies
Reilly Arts Center, 500 NE 9th St., Ocala
7:30pm For the “Terrifying Funk from Beyond the Grave” performance, this eight-piece band of 5000-year-old Egyptian mummies delivers a wild, high-energy show packed with funk, rock and pure mayhem. Learn more 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
JULY 26
Dueling Pianos
Reilly Arts Center, 500 NE 9th St., Ocala
6pm Grab a seat at a café table in the new NOMA Black Box 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 or six, so bring friends or meet someone new. Get tickets at reillyartscenter.com
JULY 26
Dueling Pianos Late Night Show
Reilly Arts Center, 500 NE 9th St., Ocala
9pm Unleash your wild side on the dance floor as pianists engage in hilarious and unpredictable musical mash-ups while cocktail servers dish up favorite drinks. Get ready for a night of laughter, outrageous requests and a highenergy, adults-only atmosphere. Learn more at reillyartscenter.com
THROUGH JAN. 18
“The Human Pulse: Photographs by John Elliott” Appleton Museum of Art, 4333 E Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala
The exhibit features 42 black-and-white prints from the Ocala-based photographer’s ongoing series, “The Human Pulse,” shaped by his life and travels across 32 countries. His photographs reflect a dreamlike vantage point: floating somewhat above, sometimes even at a great distance, but still connected to the moment. Learn more at appletonmuseum.org
THROUGH SEPT. 1
Blue Star Museums free admission for military veterans
Appleton Museum of Art, 4333 E Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala Hours vary Through Labor Day, the annual Blue Star Museums program will provide free admission to currently serving U.S. military personnel and up to five family members. Blue Star Museums is a nationwide initiative led by the National Endowment for the Arts and Blue Star Families, in collaboration with the Department of Defense and museums across the country. Free admission is available to those currently serving in the United States military, including the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy and Space Force, as well as members of the Reserves, National Guard, U.S. Public Health Commissioned Corps and NOAA Commissioned Corps. Eligible participants must present ID. To learn more, go to appletonmuseum.org/visit/plan-your-visit/blue-star-museums/
Check out Wings – Band On The Run during the Classic Albums Live performance in Ocala. [Photo courtesy Reilly Arts Center]
The reconstructed fort is shown at the Fort King National Historic Landmark in Ocala. [File art by Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette]
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.
Broom Hilda
Fossils and seagrass beds
Scientists have assessed the health of Florida’s largest remaining seagrass bed and it’s doing surprisingly well.
By Jerald Pinson Florida Museum of Natural History
The seagrass is greener along Florida’s Nature Coast … figuratively, that is. A new study published in the journal “Marine Ecology Progress Series” shows that seagrass ecosystems along the northern half of Florida’s Gulf Coast have remained relatively healthy and undisturbed for the last several thousand years.
This is not the case for most other seagrass ecosystems the world over, nearly 30% of which have disappeared since 1879. An estimated 7% of seagrass beds were lost each year between 1990 and 2009. Those that remain are generally not faring well and the discovery of a healthy refugium is a rare event.
“Nothing is really pristine today, because humans have altered all of Earth’s environments, but this is about as good as it gets,” said Michal Kowalewski, senior author of the study and the Thompson chair of invertebrate paleontology at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville.
Figuring this out wasn’t easy, though. The extraordinary changes humans have made to the planet not only jeopardized the health of entire ecosystems, they’ve also made it nearly impossible for us to know what a healthy ecosystem should look like in the first place.
“Most of the contemporary biological data we have postdates the Industrial Revolution,” Kowalewski said. “If you think about any type of real-time instrumentation that collects physical and chemical information about an environment, or if you think about the rigorous bio-inventory surveys, all of those things are from the last 50 to 100 years at most.”
In other words, humans have been altering their surroundings much longer than they’ve been systematically observing them. Fortunately, we aren’t the only thing that keeps a record of the past. The Earth does a pretty good job of it, too.
That’s the idea behind a relatively new branch of science called conservation paleobiology, which uses
the most recent fossil record to reconstruct past ecosystems. For this method to work well, scientists need to analyze a large number of fossils, but there are only a few types of organisms that are preserved in sufficient quantities. Seagrasses, which are entirely composed of soft tissues that rapidly decompose after death, are not one of them.
This isn’t a hindrance to paleobiologists, though. Unlike modern grass lawns, which are ecologically barren and in which hardly anything lives but the grass itself, seagrass meadows are underwater oases for coastal marine organisms. This includes a variety of animals that produce hard shells, which are disproportionately represented in the fossil record. The shells of oysters, clams and other mollusks disintegrate so slowly that they stay around the ocean floor from hundreds to millions of years.
Kowalewski and his colleagues have previously conducted extensive research showing that the fossils of mollusks and other marine organisms with tough exteriors are so tightly connected and dependent on their environments that they can be used as a surrogate for species that don’t normally
get preserved. If mollusks are doing well, it’s likely that everything else is too.
To find out if seagrass communities along Florida’s Nature Coast have recently degraded, the study authors sampled from 21 locations in six estuaries, from the mouth of the Steinhatchee River in the north to that of the Weeki Wachee in the south. At each site, they used a long hose made from PVC pipe to suction up sections of the seafloor.
“We collect sediment samples while scuba diving and then we sieve those samples and extract all that we find in it,” Kowalewski said. “The samples are dominated by dead material, because it has accumulated there over many centuries. Typically, for every live bivalve or snail, we find thousands of dead specimens.”
The tedious task of counting and identifying the specimens took his team members several years to complete. Once they’d crunched the numbers, their results showed that mollusk diversity — and the health of seagrass meadows, by extension — hasn’t changed much over the last several millennia, including the most recent one in which humans have left their mark on even the most challenging and inhospitable environments.
“Only rarely do we find historical evidence that can make us optimistic about the current state of a local ecosystem,” Kowalewski said. “Most conservation paleobiology studies tell depressing stories about shrinking habitats, declining biodiversity and diminishing ecosystem services. For once, at least, this is not the case. What’s thrilling to me is we can show this system is still in very good condition, which makes it even more important to protect it.”
Establishing that the seagrass meadows found along the Nature Coast are relatively unchanged is also important because they can be now used with more confidence as a benchmark for assessing the state of heavily altered seagrass habitats and guiding their restoration.
Just 50 miles south of the study’s sampling area, seagrass communities haven’t been as lucky. Between 1950 and 1980, the city of Tampa’s population increased from about 125,000 to 270,000. During that same period, 46% of seagrass meadows in Tampa Bay disappeared. Aggressive nutrient reduction efforts in the region led to water quality improvements and the recovery of seagrass in Tampa Bay between 1999 and 2018 — however, recent assessments have again shown significant reductions in seagrass followed by modest recoveries. On the opposite coast, a survey from 1999 indicated as much as 60% of seagrass coverage had been lost in a 56-mile stretch of the Indian River Lagoon.
These die-offs are primarily caused by nutrient pollution from inland farms and coastal cities. Plumes of singlecelled microalgae and photosynthetic bacteria feast on excess nutrients and multiply in the water column, creating what are, in effect, marine clouds. This significantly reduces the amount of light that
kept in check by grazing fish and invertebrates, but as these ecosystems change along with the Earth’s climate, the continued diversity and existence of grazers is far from guaranteed.
“We’re already seeing range extensions of mobile fauna,” Frazer said. “A number of fishes, for example, are moving up north along the Gulf Coast and they may either eat seagrass or consume grazers that help keep seagrasses clean of organisms that live on them.”
Seagrass ecosystems were around before the dinosaurs went extinct and the consequences of losing something this old and diverse are not trivial.
reaches the seafloor, which seagrasses don’t tolerate well.
The Nature Coast, which was designated an aquatic preserve in 2020, has largely avoided these challenges.
“There’s not a lot of development in those watersheds, particularly from the area around Weeki Wachee all the way up into the Panhandle, so the effects of excess nutrient delivery are not as pronounced as is in other places that have suffered as a consequence,” said study co-author Thomas Frazer, dean and professor of biological oceanography at the University of South Florida College of Marine Science.
The good news is, many of the meadows have since rebounded with the aid of pollution mitigation and habitat restoration efforts. But in many places across Florida, algal blooms are now an annual occurrence and these will continue to have negative effects on seagrasses.
Climate change creates additional challenges, particularly for species along the Nature Coast. Though they’re doing well now, temperate and subtropical species are being pushed toward the planet’s poles by increasing global temperatures. But Florida species in Gulf waters can only migrate so far before they hit land.
“There’s nowhere for them to go,” Frazer said.
Backed up against the Panhandle, Florida’s Gulf Coast seagrasses will encounter marine climate refugees from further south. This has the potential to disrupt the tenuous balance within seagrass ecosystems.
A single seagrass leaf can host a bazaar of tentacled hydroids, encrusting bryozoans, olive-shaped sea squirts, bacterial colonies and algal fuzz. In fact, as little as half of what you see when looking at seagrass is actual plant.
In a healthy meadow, these seagrass dwellers are
In her 1955 book “The Edge of the Sea,” Rachel Carson wrote that “thrusting their roots into the sand and shifting coral debris, the seagrasses achieve a firmer attachment than the rootless algae do; where they grow thickly, they help to secure the offshore sands against the currents, as on the land the dune grasses hold the dry sands against the winds.”
Seagrasses stabilize sediment, reducing erosion and enhancing the accumulation of nutrientrich biomatter. They’re so good at doing this that even though seagrass meadows cover only 0.2% of the ocean floor, they’re responsible for 50% of marine carbon burial.
All of these tightly packed resources attract animals. Sea turtles, manatees and fish eat seagrass, while countless other species make the meadows their home.
“They provide very important nursery habitat,” Frazer said. “In Florida alone, more than 80% of the fish caught by commercial fisherman and recreational anglers spend some part of their life history in those seagrass beds.”
Their deep roots and slender green tongues also protect coastal environments on land. Most seagrasses average only a foot or two in length, but a bunch of them together creates a substantial amount of drag. In near-shore environments, where the water is shallow, seagrasses can reduce wave energy by up to 40%.
“They’re a front line for storm protection,” Frazer said.
For now, that protection remains in place. Florida’s Nature Coast Aquatic Preserve has the largest seagrass bed in the Gulf. With good management, it may stay that way.
Louis Grimmelbein and Sahale Casebolt of the Florida Museum of Natural History and Savanna Barry, Katherine Cummings and Alexander Hyman of the University of Florida are also coauthors of the study. Funding for the study was provided in part by the University of Florida IFAS seed grant. To learn more, go to floridamuseum.ufl
If mollusks are doing well, it’s likely that everything else in a marine environment is too, and vice versa. [Florida Museum photo by Natalie Van Hoose]
VIP viewing for Patriotic Skies
By Susan Smiley-Height susan@magnoliamediaco.com
At the expansive Midtown Station, including on the covered patio outside, fireworks fans braved the weather on the 4th of July for the VIP viewing party hosted by owners Tom and Kristin McDonald.
The venue, formerly the site of Ocala Fire Rescue Station No. 1, overlooks Tuscawilla Park. The eclectic hub includes the McDonalds’ Infinite Ale Works, where they brew craft beers, and independent food hall tenants.
The city of Ocala and Ocala Main Street hosted the Patriotic Skies event on the 4th inside the park, with some activities called off due to thunderstorms. But the fireworks went on, much to the delight of those chilled out at Midtown Station across the street.
“We had a great turnout for our VIP fireworks viewing event. We sold out and had 150 people in attendance. The live music from 6-9 by Sandra & Alex paired perfectly with the food and drinks from the vendors at midtown station,” Kristin McDonald wrote in an email message after the event.
“Our favorite part of the night was watching people enjoy the party we hosted and the fireworks to wrap up the event,” she noted. “We will definitely be doing this event again, as long as the city continues to do fireworks at Lake Tuscawilla.”
Lots of people took cover from the rain inside Midtown Station, across from Tuscawilla Park.
People gather on the outside covered patio as heavy rain falls on Friday, July 4.
Jack and Sarah Barnes, with their daughters, Aubryn, 11, and Kinsley, 6, were all set to watch the fireworks.
Owners Tom and Kristin McDonald pose for a photo by their large selections of draught beer taps at the bar during the Fourth of July VIP Fireworks Viewing Party at Midtown Station in Ocala, Fla. on Friday, July 4, 2025. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2025.
Jack Eason, Kim Eason, Lori Coleman and Gary Coleman get into the spirit of the 4th of July.
Laura and Frank Perdomo enjoy the festivities at Midtown Station.
Alex Menard and Sandra Tremblay, perform as “Sandra & Alex” during the Fourth of July VIP Party.
Liam Cortez, 8, plays a game with stacking blocks at Midtown Station on July 4.
Nelson Caldero, left, and his son, Manuel, right, pose for a photo during the VIP party.
