Daylight Savings Time NOVEMBER 5 - NOVEMBER 11, 2021
Turn Your clocks back Sunday, Nov. 7th
VOLUME 2 ISSUE 19
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The 2021 summer of death By Matthew Cretul matthew@ocalagazette.com
Dave Miller
Garytt Gamble, an Ocala Electric Utility lineman trainee, hangs lights downtown on Nov. 2, 2021
Preparation under way for
LIGHT UP OCALA E By Ocala Gazette Staff
xcitement hung in the air as city workers started to string lights throughout downtown Ocala in preparation for Light Up Ocala. The festive event, set for Saturday, Nov. 20, is the annual kickoff for lighting up downtown Ocala through the end of the holidays. Last year’s event was cancelled due to safety concerns related to the pandemic, but the lights still went up. “After having to cancel Light Up Ocala last year, I’m sure our citizens are just as thrilled as city workers that it’s going forward,” said Councilman Jay Musleh However, mitigating the spread of COVID-19 is still a concern the city has addressed in the event plans. These include limiting vendors and entertainment options, setting up sanitation stations, and encouraging attendees to wear masks and practice social distancing. The lighting ceremony starts at 6:30 p.m. when the sun goes down, but the festivities begin at 4.
At 4:30 p.m., the Junior Sunshine Parade will begin at the corner of South Magnolia Avenue and East Fort King Street, winding through downtown, past the gazebo, up to Northeast First Street, then returning to Southeast First Avenue and East Fort King Street. The parade will include performances from local dance studios, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts Troops, Cub Scout Packs and a special appearance by Santa. There will be multiple event zones throughout the downtown area that will feature live music and performers. On stage one, on the Downtown Square, will feature live music by the Audio Exchange as well as photo opportunities at the holiday tree. The stage at Citizens’ Circle will feature live music by Sidepiece as well as performances by local dance groups. Santa and Mrs. Clause will be available for socially-distanced photo opportunities. Simultaneously, a street party will be held at the corner of Northeast First Street and Northeast First Avenue featuring
a DJ, with acrobatic variety and Powerkip shows. The Marion Theatre, at 50 S. Magnolia Ave., will be screening the animated classic, “The Grinch,” with a photo opportunity with a larger-than-life Grinch. At the corner of Fort King and Magnolia, there will be a Punch and Judy puppet show, with “Living Angels” at the corner of Fort King Street and Southeast First Ave. A variety of vendors will be located throughout the downtown area. Guests are encouraged to utilize two parking lots that will offer free shuttle rides throughout the event. One is at the Marion Technical Institute, 1614 S.E. Fort King St. That shuttle will run approximately every 20 minutes between 3 and 10 p.m. The second is at the Ocala Skate Park, 517 N.E. Ninth St. This shuttle will run approximately every 10 minutes between 3:45 and 9:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.ocalafl.org/lightup or call (352) 368-5517.
The spread of the Delta variant through Marion County made this summer a particularly sorrowful one, with the lives of many neighbors ending too soon. At the time of the summer surge, only local hospital workers were vocalizing to the community that their beds and ICUs were full, and many more people were dying compared to the prior variant — and dying young. With no state or local government alerts, the majority of Marion County residents went about their business debating vaccinations and masks, instead of the unusually high death count.
A LAPSE IN REPORTING THE NUMBERS The State of Florida and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) failed to coordinate on reporting COVID-19 statistics over the summer, preventing the public from understanding how many people were dying as a result of COVID, including the Delta variant. Once the number and scope of deaths became accessible in October, statistics painted a picture of Marion County weathering the Delta variant far worse than many other parts of the state. The county was ranked 6 out of the 67 Florida counties for most COVID deaths per 100,000 since June, with 186.3 deaths per 100,000 residents. Dr. Dave Kuhn of Trinity Clinic in Ocala has maintained a weekly COVID dashboard on his clinic’s Facebook page throughout the pandemic. His dashboard tracks local statistics including cases, positivity rates, hospitalizations, and deaths, and he says the inability to access statistics can have a negative impact on public confidence. “The state withholding death data creates the concern that something is being hidden from the public. In such a polarized society, with trust in the media and government so low, transparency should be a priority, particularly with a situation that so directly and significantly See Affects, page A6
Florida-breds poised for Breeders’ Cup By Michael Compton Special to the Gazette The top racehorses from around the globe will assemble at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif. on Nov. 5-6 for the 38th Breeders’ Cup World Championships. Six Florida-bred runners, led by Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Medina Spirit in the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) on Saturday, will carry the state’s banner into competition over the highly anticipated two days of racing that features 14 races and purse money of more than $31 million.
In the event’s 37 prior runnings, there have been 29 Florida-bred winners of races, topping all states other than Kentucky (228 winners). In addition to Medina Spirit, who will attempt to join fellow Sunshine State products Unbridled, Skip Away and Mucho Macho Man as winners of the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Floridabred competitors poised to add to the state’s Breeders’ Cup win tally include Pappacap in the $2 million Juvenile (G1) today, Golden Pal and Extravagant Kid in the $1 million Turf Sprint (G1) on Saturday and C Z Rocket and Firenze Fire in the $2
million Sprint (G1) also on Saturday. Medina Spirit will take center stage in the marquee race of the weekend when he faces an accomplished group of runners in the Classic that includes division leader Knicks Go, Essential Quality and Hot Rod Charlie. A two-time graduate of the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company (OBS), Medina Spirit sold for the bargain price of $1,000 in 2019 and then went through the auction ring a second time the following year as a 2-year-old, when he was purchased by bloodstock agent Gary Young on behalf of Amr Zedan’s Zedan Racing
Stables for $35,000. Bred by Gail Rice, Medina Spirt, a dark bay son of Protionico out of the Brilliant Speed mare Mongolian Changa, is trained by Bob Baffert. A winner in five of his nine starts, Medina Spirit has rewarded his connections with earnings of $2,525,200. Medina Spirit turned in a maintenance gallop at Del Mar Wednesday morning with his trainer overseeing the final conditioning at the seaside oval. “He likes this track and is training really well coming up to the race,” said Baffert, who is a four-time See Classic page A7
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