VOLUME 5 ISSUE 4
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Travis Mills Foundation hosts Never Give Up On Country concert February 3
JANUARY 26 - FEBRUARY 1, 2024
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MAYHEM LEFT ITS MARK Fixing
the traffic problem
One month after fatal mall shooting, woman still trying to process that fateful day. By Andy Fillmore andy@ocalagazette.com
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inda Sisco still has fear in her voice as she describes the panic that engulfed her and other holiday shoppers as gunfire erupted in the Paddock Mall just days before Christmas. “It was terribly frightening. No one knew where the shooter was. Everyone was trying to get out, people were pushing and knocked me down,’’ the 74-year-old said, adding, “Not one person put out their hand and said, ‘Can I help you?’” Sisco recently met with the “Gazette’’ in her southwest Marion County home and shared her recollections of the shooting that left an Ocala man dead and a woman bystander wounded. Nearly two weeks after the incident, police
arrested Albert Shell Jr., 39. He was charged with premeditated first-degree murder in the death of local tattoo artist David Barron, 40, and attempted premeditated first-degree murder in the wounding of a woman bystander. Sisco had gone to the Belk department store in the southern portion of the mall on the afternoon of Dec. 23 to pick up a shirt she had ordered online for her husband, William Sisco, who was waiting for her in their car in the mall parking lot. At 3:40 p.m., Sisco called her husband and said she was on her way to their car after she saw people “running and screaming” and then heard an announcement over the PA system about an “active shooter” in the mall. At first, Sisco said, she thought the ruckus was See Left, page A3
County officials detail road projects potentially to be funded by penny sales tax. By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com
M William and Linda Sisco comfort each other as they pose for a photo at their On Top of the World home in Ocala on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024. Linda was in Paddock Mall a month ago and William was waiting for her in the car when the shooting happened in Paddock Mall a month ago. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2024.
“(Shell) stole from me the naive belief that I safe was in public places.” Linda Sisco
Marion County resident
Still serving
U. S. Army and postal service veteran continues to help others in the community. By Andy Fillmore andy@ocalagazette.com
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osemary Roberts’ service didn’t end after a military career that included deployment in Operation Desert Storm and about 25 years with the U.S. Postal Service in Orlando and Ocala. Roberts, 62, continues to serve others as director of hospitality at Kingdom Revival Church in Ocala, which entails overseeing a group of volunteers in a weekly drive-up community food distribution with upwards of 150 vehicles passing through. “This is what I love to do,” Roberts said about continuing to serve others. Roberts additionally oversees clothing distribution to needy people and community food basket distributions by the church for hundreds of people for Thanksgiving and Christmas. As she wrapped up a recent
food distribution, she helped two men who needing lodging during a cold snap. “I have to make sure those two have motel rooms,” Roberts said. She later confirmed arrangements were made for the men. Roberts has the knack to combine kindness with military style efficiency, according to fellow volunteers at the church. Catherine Ross said Roberts is “gentle but firm” about getting operations like the food distribution completed. “(Roberts) will go out on a limb and never say ‘no’ (about helping),” said Leela Kellawan, adding that Roberts is very organized. Roberts was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and moved to Brooklyn, New York, at age 10. Several members of her family were in the health care profession and during high school she began to do volunteer work at a hospital. See Veteran, page A3
arion County officials say that if voters agree this year to renew the penny sales tax for another 20 years, the money raised could go toward huge infrastructure improvements across the county to ease traffic as more people move to the area every year. What road projects do they have in mind? The county engineer has put forward a list of 27 projects for the next 20 years that would cost upward of $1.4 billion—$1.1 billion of which needs funding. That shortfall could be filled by the penny sales tax revenue. These projects vary from general road maintenance, to adding intersections, to increasing the capacity of Marion County roads by adding lanes and expansions. Since the penny sales tax was approved in 2016, several projects to increase capacity have already been completed, including to the 49th Avenue Corridor and County Road 484. Some of the projects listed below could start as soon as next year, while others may only see construction as far out as 2040. The capacity and capital needs of Marion County roadways are estimated to cost about $816.7 million over the next 20 years, with the maintenance and rehabilitation needs being estimated at about $599.3 million over the next 20 years, according to Assistant County Administrator Tracy Straub. The county currently has funding for about $297.3 million over the next 20 years, coming from the gas tax (80%), gas tax (5 cent local option), impact fee east and impact fee west. If the penny sales tax is approved by voters in the 2024 November general election, it will bring in about $65 million a year and will also go toward public safety needs, county officials say. The “total cost” of the projects described below includes the costs for design, right-of-way acquisition and construction. None of the roadways with potential capacity projects are located within the Farmland Preservation Area. All projects described are subject to change.
Northeast Marion County:
Rosemary Roberts distributes food to a drive-up client at a weekly community outreach of Kingdom Revival Church in Ocala. [Photo by Andy Fillmore]
Property of the week Train your champions – On 25.62 acres in The Gallops community, this farm boasts a shedrow-style barn with twenty 12x12’ stalls, a feed room with concrete flooring, tack room, laundry, and wash racks with hot water. A 2-bed, 1-bath barn apartment with AC and a separate private office with half-bath and covered porch adjoin the barn. The farm features an extensive double-roof system for year-round comfort, 12 paddocks (10 with waterers), a 6-horse eurocizer, and access to a renowned 5⁄8 mile track. The track has produced Breeders Cup champions and recently underwent a full overhaul to ensure quality. Beckie Cantrell | 352.812.6784 | Beckie@ShowcaseOcala.com | ShowcaseOcala.com Valerie Dailey | 352.816.1080 | Valerie@ShowcaseOcala.com | ShowcaseOcala.com
Project 15—Phase 2 of the Northeast 35th Street project will add two lanes over 1.2 miles, from County Road 200A until Northeast 25th Avenue. Construction will begin between 2035 and 2039, and the total project will cost See Road, page A2
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