Ocala Gazette | January 27 - February 2, 2023

By Rosemarie Dowell Rosemarie@Ocalagazette.com

Marion County’s top law enforcement officer broke a state law during the early days of Florida’s spring gobbler season in 2021.

Sheriff Billy Woods and his wife were caught hunting turkey over bait while in a ground blind in rural Madison County on Good Friday, April 2, 2021, according to a report filed that day by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) officer Randy McDonald.

As I approached the ground blind, I began hearing a turkey call that was coming from the ground blind,” wrote McDonald in the Incident Summary Report, recently obtained by the Gazette. “This confirmed to me that the occupant of the ground blind was turkey hunting.

“At this time, I identified myself and asked the hunters to exit the ground blind,” McDonald continued. “Once out of the ground blind I advised the hunter, later identified from a Florida hunting license as William Woods that I was hear (sic) because I believed they were hunting turkey within 100 yards of bait.”

Pictures included with the report show three

turkey decoys directly in front of the blind and cracked corn scattered on the ground nearby. There were no other hunters present.

Turkey trouble for the Sheriff Ryan Chamberlin’s checkered business background

Woods was cited for violation of a state law, “restricting methods of taking wildlife,” a second-degree misdemeanor, according to the report. He also received a ticket for violating Florida Administrative Code 68A-12.002, which states, “wild turkey may not be taken if the hunter is less than 100 yards from a game feeding station when feed is present.”

Second-degree misdemeanors are punishable by up to 60 days in jail and up to a $500 fine, if convicted. Woods was issued a mail-in

See Sheriff, page A2

Lawmakers eye oversight of local utilities

By Jim Saunders Florida News Service

Florida House members Tuesday raised the possibility of giving state regulators more oversight of municipal utilities.

Members of the House Energy, Communications & Cybersecurity Subcommittee repeatedly touched on the issue as they received presentations about the Florida Public Service Commission and the state Office of Public Counsel.

The Public Service Commission regulates for-profit utilities such as Florida Power & Light and Duke Energy Florida but has little oversight of municipal utilities. The Office of Public Counsel represents consumers in regulatory cases at the Public Service Commission but lacks authority in municipal-electric issues.

Lawmakers did not detail specific proposals for state oversight. But Rep. Chuck Clemons, R-Newberry, expressed concerns about situations in which residents are customers of municipal utilities but live outside of city boundaries. He said they can be forced to pay surcharges but can’t vote for municipal officials — a situation he likened to “taxation without representation.”

“Wouldn’t it be reasonable that if a municipal provider of … electricity stays within their boundaries, that would work,” Clemons said. “Once they venture out past their city limit or their boundary, there needs to be some way for citizens to be able to appeal something. Is there a mechanism whereby those citizens outside of the municipal boundary can come under the

PSC or have some committee of the PSC that handles that jurisdiction?”

“I guess the simple answer, and it’s not a simple answer, is no,” Public Service Commission Executive Director Braulio Baez responded. “The reason I say no is because our governing statutes don’t give the agency (the Public Service Commission) that authority. Whether it’s reasonable or not, I think that is left to you all’s wisdom.”

Rep. Mike Caruso, R-Delray Beach, pointed to the possibility of the Legislature addressing rate-related issues as he questioned Baez.

“It sounds like we might need some legislation in this area to give you the authority to have jurisdiction over their rate structures, to make sure that all Floridians are getting power based on reasonable rates and that they (municipalities) are not supplementing some other venture that they’re putting on that is speculative, or whatever, in the municipality, with the utility rates,” Caruso said. “Because we need utility rates to be as low as possible for everybody in the state of Florida, like housing needs or water, it’s essential.”

Debates about municipal utilities serving customers in unincorporated areas have flared over the

years, including a major dispute about a Vero Beach municipal utility serving residents in unincorporated parts of Indian River County. Ultimately, Florida Power & Light bought the Vero Beach utility in 2018.

Interim Public Counsel Charles Rehwinkel said Tuesday his office in the past has been asked to help in “vetting” ideas related to customers of municipal utilities. But the role was limited.

“We don’t have the authority under the statute to represent those people that are in no man’s land, that’s been described,” Rehwinkel said. “We just don’t, because they’re not investor-owned (for-profit) utility customers.”

Florida has 33 municipal utilities, including Ocala, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Orlando and Gainesville, according to the website of the Florida Municipal Electric Association.

By Jennifer Hunt Murty jennifer@ocalagazette.com

Marion County Republican voters will head to the polls on March 7 for a special election to fill the recently vacated Florida State House District 24 seat. There are five GOP candidates in the race and because a sixth registered Republican is running as a write-in candidate and there are no Democrats in the race, the election is closed to nonRepublican voters.

The five GOP candidates are Charles Stone, Stephen Pyles, Jose Juarez, Justin Albright and Ryan Chamberlain. Robert “Foxy” Fox is the write-in candidate. The winner of the March 7 primary will face the write-in candidate in a general election on May 16, which will be open to all voters. However, it is speculated that the write-in candidate will withdraw so as to cancel out the general election.

Of the six hopefuls, Chamberlin stands out because of questions raised by his financial disclosures, campaign claims and business background, which includes numerous companies on paper that closed within a year and extensive experience in multilevel marketing businesses.

This is Chamberlin’s second political campaign. He ran for Congress in 2020 and lost in the Republican primary to Kat Cammack, who went on to win the House District 3 seat. In that race, Chamberlin raised approximately $130,000 and garnered the endorsements of prominent Republicans State Sen. Dennis Baxley, Marion County Tax Collector George Albright, and former Marion County Commissioner Mike Amsden.

The District 24 House seat became open when Ocala Republican Joe Harding resigned on Dec. 8 after being indicted by a federal grand jury on several counts of fraud based on illegally obtaining pandemicrelated loans. Chamberlin told the Gazette he jumped into the race immediately because he had been waiting for an opening.

Chamberlin, 48, calls himself a “red-meat conservative” in the mold of Gov. Ron DeSantis, former President Donald Trump and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. He also promotes himself as a savvy networker, successful businessman, author, speaker, and “consultant helping thousands of entrepreneurs.”

In the first campaign flyer mailed to voters, Chamberlin said that as “CEO of True Patriot Network, Ryan fought back against Woke Big Tech Corporations to deliver a social media option for conservatives.”

The flyer also claims that in 2022, Chamberlin “and his organization helped raise money to support See Chamberlin’s, page A3

Rep. Chuck Clemons, R-Newberry, is raising the possibility of more oversight of municipal electric utilities. [Colin Hackley]

Corn bait was scattered on the ground in front of the hunting blind. [Florida Wildlife Commission]

Sheriff Woods turkey trouble

Continued from page A1

fine of $300, allowed by Madison County, and he was not required to appear in court. Court records show Woods paid the fine April 8, 2021.

The twice-elected sheriff, (2016, 2020) known for his hard stance on crime and disdain for lawbreaking individuals, has never disclosed the nearly two-year-old hunting violation to his constituents.

After the Gazette contacted sheriff’s office attorney Timothy McCourt asking about the incident, Woods on Wednesday issued a written statement through his office that reads in part:

“A couple of years ago, I was with my wife on a hunting trip in North Florida. I was attempting to call up turkeys for her to hunt when we were approached by a Florida Fish and Wildlife officer,” the statement reads. “He explained to us that we were too close to a nearby feeder to hunt there. Realizing that I was in the wrong, I expected that officer to do his job, which he did.”

The report did not contain any photos of a feeding station, only corn on the ground.

Woods’s wife was given a written warning for the same violation. The report only mentions her in the last line and does not include a reference to Woods’ position.

However, before Woods was ticketed, McDonald called in to his superiors for direction on how to handle the situation, with the call eventually making its way all the way up to the head of the FWC, according to a body camera video taken by McDonald, which was obtained by the Gazette. The 30-minute-plus-long video captured most, but not all, of the incident, with roughly 51 minutes missing.

In the video, after taking the written warning from McDonald, Woods’ wife then asks him: “So you’re doing something different with… (inaudible).”

“I feel like it is probably gonna be the same route, but I don’t know that for sure,” said McDonald. “When we deal with someone like a sheriff, we have to go through a chain of command.”

McDonald’s body camera video doesn’t begin until nearly an hour after the incident first began at 4:30 p.m. when he exited his vehicle a second time at 5:21 p.m., apparently following the call to his superior officer regarding Woods.

FWC’s rules on the use of body cameras states, “At the beginning of the member’s shift, the body camera shall be turned on,” but also states, “members shall start recording with the body camera as soon as practical during a given situation.”

The Gazette attempted to reach McDonald to ask why 51 minutes elapsed before he began recording his encounter with the Woodses but

was told he was on leave until Feb. 8.

The incident began with McDonald on routine patrol along Southwest Lake Hike Road after he observed a vehicle parked inside a gate at a location that he had previously walked and had located a camouflaged hunting ground blind and cracked corn commonly used to attract turkey, according to the summary report.

After parking his patrol vehicle and entering the property on foot, McDonald wrote he was able to approach the ground blind in the wood line unseen and observed the three turkey decoys just in front of the ground blind.

After hearing the turkey call and identifying himself and then advising the Woodses he believed they were hunting turkey over bait, McDonald said the sheriff stated the “bait should be gone.”

McDonald wrote he walked a short distance and located a “substantial amount of corn still present,” and explained to Woods that he had to be 100 yards away from and (sic) type of bait.

Woods, according to McDonald, said, “I do know that.”

After McDonald’s body camera is finally recording well into the encounter, it shows him approaching Woods and his wife standing outside a Ford Super Duty pick-up truck some distance away from the gate.

“I got a call in to my captain, you know Jay Russell don’t ya, major Russell,” said McDonald. Woods replied, “Yes.”

“Yeah, I got a call in to him, I gotta wait and see what kind of direction we gotta go,” said the wildlife officer. Woods then asks McDonald, “What is it?”

“Well, it is a misdemeanor, so,” said McDonald, who then motioned toward Woods’s wife. “I did write her a warning, OK, so just a warning.” Woods can be seen flashing a smile before turning away from the camera.

Seconds later, Woods’s wife asks McDonald the question about “doing something different,” with McDonald replying, “We have to go through a chain of command.”

“Sorry to put you in that spot,” said the sheriff.

At 5:44 p.m., McDonald receives a phone call from a superior, presumably Russell, who tells McDonald to walk away and then a few seconds later asks him if he can talk freely, to which McDonald replies, “Yes.”

“Alright, this went all the way up to director Sutton,” said the man to McDonald, referring to FWC Executive Director Eric Sutton. “We have the green light to do whatever we normally do, and you’ve got our full support 100%.”

The two men then discuss what they normally do under the same situation, with McDonald saying he usually writes the man a ticket and

the woman a warning.

“We can give him a mail-in fine, but the message needs to be to him, “Look we understand but we ran this up through our director and we think we need to be consistent as we’d be with the public,” said the man presumed to be Russell.

“This is a second-degree misdemeanor, but we are just giving you a mail-in fine,” the man told McDonald to tell Woods. McDonald then asks the man if Tallahassee, “wants a hard copy,” and the man replies, “Yes.”

A voicemail left on Russell’s phone requesting an interview regarding the incident was not answered and the Gazette Wednesday received an email from FWC public information coordinator, Ashlee Brahier Sklute, saying Russell had forwarded the email but, “We are unable to accommodate your request.”

At 5:47 p.m. on the video, McDonald walks back to Woods and his wife and tells them it went all the way up to “my director, director Sutton.”

“I have been told to write you a citation, but I can give you the mailin fine and when you do the mail-in fine that means you don’t have to come back to court,” said McDonald.

“Yes sir,” said Woods.

“I’m sorry about this,” said McDonald “But this is just, uh, like I said, this is my job.”

“Listen, don’t apologize, don’t apologize,” said Woods, waving his hands.

Toward the end of the video, the two men are standing in front of McDonald’s truck as he gives Woods the citation and asks for his “John Hancock.”

“I appreciate you being really respectful sheriff, you’re a class act,” said McDonald.

“Oh, no, no, no,” replied Woods, “I put you in a bad spot and I shouldn’t have done it my friend and I appreciate it and I promise ya…’’

McDonald then interrupts Woods, “I hope there’s no hard feelings.”

“Oh, good Lord no, nope, uh not at all,” replied Woods as he begins to walk away. “And the kindness in which you’ve shown me I promise you nobody will ever know except for her (Woods points in the direction of his wife), and it will not go any further.”

McDonald then gets in his truck and tells the sheriff, “Well, it ain’t going no further from me.”

In his statement, Woods notes his status as an avid hunter, outdoorsman and animal lover and further wrote:

“Therefore, my ignorance of the exact distance to a feeder is no excuse and I would not intend on making an excuse…In the end, I am human just like everyone else which means we will all make mistakes,” Woods wrote.

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Chamberlin’s checkered business background

could not find any record of a donation. In a text message, he said, “I have never claimed that the True Patriot Network has cut checks to any organization. We did, however, spend this past year engaging in fundraising activities for several organizations.”

Chamberlin said conservative politicians paid TPN to connect them with potential voters and donors. The fee structure for that service varied, but Chamberlin said the “bulk of” the donations went to the candidates.

Financial disclosures

In Chamberlin’s financial disclosures, he estimates his ownership value in the 2-year-old True Patriot Network is $500,000 and indicates he receives $312,000 annually from it.

In addition, he claims $50,000 in annual income from “consulting” from “NYK.Academy.” There is no business entity known as NYK.Academy filed with the State of Florida; however, it appears to be a reference to Chamberlin’s book “Now You Know,” which he self-published in 2010 under the fictitious name of Platinum Publishing.

Continued from page A1

conservatives and organizations including DeSantis, (Kentucky Sen.) Rand Paul, Herschel Walker, (who lost a recent Senate runoff race in Georgia,) and the Heritage Foundation.”

As part of its election coverage, the Gazette examined the mailer’s claims then sat down with Chamberlin to discuss those claims as well as his business and financial history.

Chamberlin’s businesses

According to corporate records, True Patriot Network, Inc. was filed as a corporation in Texas in January 2021.

Chamberlin told the Gazette the social media platform launched the same year.

The only director’s name on the initial filing is Terry LaCore, an entrepreneur in Texas in the business of B:hip. This multilevel marketing (MLM) company sells energy and health products.

Chamberlin said LaCore is the majority shareholder, and Chamberlin is the main operator of the True Patriot Network.

TPN does not have any employees. Chamberlin explained the network relies instead on a host of independent contracting resources, many of which come from LaCore’s other businesses.

A check of public records found no evidence that TPN is operated at the location on file with the state. The tax collector for that address in Texas has no record of the True Patriot Network paying any business property taxes.

Asked about how the TPN social media platform and newsletter generates income, Chamberlin’s short answer was through advertising revenue. The Gazette did not run across any sponsored ads when it navigated the platform over a tenday period.

By May of 2022, sixteen months after the company started, Chamberlin shares the quick success of the True Patriot Network in a book called “Think Big!,” a motivational book series that discusses the path to success.

When the Gazette joined the True Patriot Network platform, we were automatically set to follow Ryan Chamberlin’s political campaign, longtime Republican operative and convicted felon Roger Stone, and three other persons.

There was very little social activity in the “news feed,” but we did come across videos in which Chamberlin was shown teaching a group of people about multilevel marketing businesses. In a video

posted last month, Chamberlin is shown encouraging people to be patient with their progress in building their MLM business.

When asked if there is an MLM aspect to the True Patriot Network, Chamberlin said no. He said the video on the site was an example of him being hired to do sales training for another MLM business.

A review of Chamberlin’s online speaking engagements and more recent podcast-type content seems to focus on three areas: MLM business strategies, personal development and partisan politics.

In an interview with The Network Marketing Magazine, which seems to be at least 10 years old, Chamberlin explained how he first got started in the MLM business model by joining Team National in October of 1999, at age 25.

Team National was a company that encouraged people to sell “memberships” so that they would have the benefit of discounts when buying merchandise.

As with other MLM business models, participants enlisted other people to sell memberships in order to build multiple commission layers.

Chamberlin told the Gazette that he quickly excelled at Team National and was placed on the company’s board of directors. In 2011, he left Team National and ACN, Inc., another MLM business, bought the company in January 2022.

Around 2011, Chamberlin and his wife, Jennifer, became “ambassadors” for another MLM business, Evolve, that sold nutritional health products. In one recorded session from 2016, Jennifer Chamberlin encourages people to “reboot” at their convention for the company so that they could get to the “diamond” level of the MLM business. She also shared her hope that through a multilevel marketing business she’d be able to fulfill her dream of opening an orphanage one day.

Asked about the perception among some that MLM businesses are not trustworthy, Chamberlin responded, “There are good ones and bad ones. I worked for good ones.”

As for his campaign claim of being a “consultant helping thousands of entrepreneurs and CEOs,” it seems like the bulk of Chamberlin’s consulting working is primarily related to helping people build MLM businesses.

Desantis

Chamberlin clarified a perception in his campaign mailer implying the True Patriot Network gave donations to DeSantis’ reelection campaign last year. The Gazette

Chamberlin estimated the value of his interest in “Now You Know Academy” at $250,000. In an interview, he said “Now You Know Academy’’ is the catch-all phrase he uses to refer to his consulting/ training work run through RJ Chamberlin, LLC, an active corporation since 2010.

In December 2015, Chamberlin filed a corporation Now You Know University, Inc., which was administratively dissolved in September 2016 for failure to file an annual report. He filed a corporation Now You Know Online, LLC in April 2017, which was administratively dissolved in September 2020, for failure to file an annual report.

Serial Entrepreneur Chamberlin has had a real estate agent’s license with the State of Florida since 2019. He told the Gazette that he only obtained the license for personal investment purposes. In his financial disclosure, he valued his 10-acre home in Belleview at $1.2 million. According to property records, he purchased the home in May 2001 for $108,500. He discloses a mortgage of $254,751 and a revolving line of credit at $141,589 on the house.

Besides the self-published “Now You Know” book, in 2011 Chamberlin created an audiobook, “Laws of Prospecting: How I made over $1 million using only 3 Basic Prospecting Laws.”

In 2013, he co-authored a book with Gary Smalley, “The Rich You Formula: Living in the Pursuit of Excellence.” In 2018, he co-authored a book with Tony Jeary, “Becoming a Strategic Networker: The 7 Results Principles for Building and Leading a Massive Organization.’’

All of the books were similarly selffunded through companies that assist writers in getting published as long as they self-fund the book. In turn, the writers have “total creative and editorial control over their book.”

Chamberlin told the Gazette he continues to use the books as training material for his consulting work and continues to receive “royalties” for the books.

Chamberlin has had many other business ventures.

In March 1997, he filed King’s Chamberlin Ministries, Inc., which was dissolved in September 2001 for failure to file an annual report. He didn’t recall the business but thought it was related to his brother who lives in Israel.

In October 1997, he filed Ryan Marketing Group, Inc., which was administratively dissolved for failure to file an annual report in September 1999.

In February of 1998, he filed a

corporation called Professional Credit Services Acceptance Corporation, Inc. that was administratively dissolved for failure to file an annual report in September 1999.

In January 1999, he filed Freedom Investments, Inc. that was dissolved in October 2002 for failure to file an annual report.

In September 1999, he filed Freedom Team, Inc. which was administratively dissolved in September 2011. Chamberlin said that was the corporate name he used while he worked with Team National. He indicated this venture was his first business success.

In May 2010, he started a company called Prosperity Team Leaders, LLC, which was dissolved in September 2011 for failure to file an annual report. Chamberlin had no recollection of what that corporate entity.

In January 2010, he started RJ Chamberlin, LLC, which he said he continues to operate for the consulting/ training work he does for companies.

In April 2011, he started a company called Empowered Companies, LLC, which was dissolved in September 2012 for failure to file an annual report.

Chamberlin has also dabbled in motivational content for children. In March 2013, he was on the board of EJ Kids, Inc. in Hollywood, Florida. That company administratively dissolved the following year for failure to file an annual report. In February 2015, there was The Kids Movement, Inc., also created in Hollywood. That company was voluntarily dissolved in March 2019. For both, Chamberlin said he was a board member –not an owner.

Chamberlin also has filed several fictitious business names in addition to Platinum Publishing in 2010. There was NYK Press in 2013, and Prizmatic Studios in August 2022.

Family, Education and Faith

Chamberlin moved to Ocala at 10 years of age and has stayed local. He primarily attended local Christian schools and attended the College of Central Florida from May 1992 through August 1996, where he received an associate in arts degree.

Chamberlin and Jennifer were married in 1994, at age 20. They have four grown children, all of whom were homeschooled by Jennifer Chamberlin in partnership with Souls Harbor Christian Academy. Their marriage certificate indicates their marriage was performed by Pastor James Varnum of the First Pentecostal Church of Belleview. The family has remained active with the church over the years. In May 2001, the pastor and church signed a Quit Claim deed to the couple’s property. Chamberlin said his family has no financial relationship with the church.

Varnum, however, has provided significant financial support for Chamberlin’s political efforts. He and his wife contributed thousands to Chamberlin’s congressional campaign.

In a campaign video Chamberlin posted, Varnum is shown pulling a card from his wallet with Ryan Chamberlin’s name on it. The card then bursts into flames while the pastor says that only Chamberlin’s campaign is on fire.

The Gazette asked Chamberlin if he felt it was appropriate to mix religion and politics.

“One of the first things that happened when they founded this country was they established a church,’’ he said. “Now, are there things that can be done incorrectly? Probably so. But for a pastor of someone that they’ve known for 36 years says I would like to endorse somebody in my church…do I think there is a problem with that? No. I would hope every pastor would do that, if they really believed in the person.’’

Ryan Chamberlin gives monthly goal pep-talk for MLM business in December 2022. Found on truepatriotnetwork.com.

Reporting crime without context and followthrough is unethical and against public interest

By Ocala Gazette Editorial Board

For media outlets making money per click, churning out crime blotter content, especially mugshots, has historically been a sure bet for drawing attention to their website. Because that type of “reporting” has no journalistic value without context, many reputable news agencies have discontinued the practice, aware that sharing it can advance stereotypes about crime and create long-term damage to those who might find their lives ruined before they even enter a courtroom. But some law enforcement agencies have embraced the practice, using the content not just to build an online audience on the public’s dime but also to bolster their image of being tough on crime--all of which becomes very valuable during election time.

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office’s public information office has proclaimed itself to be THE source for information about crime in the county. The agency consistently posts arrest reports on social media, often with high-quality production video content. The MCSO is mimicking a traditional news site, only without the journalistic integrity necessary to minimize harm.

The most egregious example is the sheriff’s policy of posting booking photos of minors on the agency’s social media accounts. Florida law generally protects the identity of minors from the public eye when they are charged; however, if the arrest is for a felony, certain information becomes public.

Recently, the MCSO posted the mugshot of a 13-year-old boy who made threats on the online platform Snapchat about bringing a gun to school, which turned out to be a realisticlooking BB gun. The sheriff’s office is to be commended for its swift action in mitigating the incident. But the message to parents about the incident would have been just as effective without the name and photo of the teen, since he didn’t represent a continued threat to the community.

We don’t have to be scientists to understand that the brain of a 13-year-old boy is not yet fully formed, and what drives a teen’s decision is not always rational. And, without dismissing the seriousness of the alleged offense, we must also be careful not to prematurely impose a label on a teen that will follow him the rest of his life.

Every post to social media by any government entity becomes a public record. While a minor’s court records are sealed, the social media post

alleging a crime lives on forever. Even if the teen is acquitted or the case is resolved without a prison term, the teen is left trying to remediate their life facing consequences that are not commensurate with the offense. That is not justice.

And for many one-time offenders trying to do the right thing, the community suffers because it’s best for all who err to return to productive society as quickly as possible.

Additionally, any reporting outlet that seeks to deliver fair and accurate reporting on crime needs to follow through. Imagine how unfair it is to be publicly accused of something as heinous as child molestation and, if the charges are dropped or if the person is acquitted, the public hears … crickets.

The ethical and accuracy concerns about the MCSO’s “news” reporting also extend to how it shares information without the public its own employees’ conduct. Take, for example, a recent report about the death of an inmate at the hand of six detention officers.

The initial press release portrayed the inmate as seemingly solely responsible for the actions that led to his death. The report not only protected the identities of the detention officers, it did so under Marsy’s Law, which is designed to protect crime victims, even though none

of the officers were injured. What the press release did not explain is that the inmate was mentally ill and had been arrested for resisting a civil order removing him from his home by his elderly parents, who could not find help in the system to handle him. A public records search revealed no other criminal history for the inmate, and the sheriff’s office said he was in their jail under a “suicide watch.”

The sheriff’s office’s social media post and press release did not include any of that context, missing what could have been a teachable moment to shine light on the struggle of so many mentally challenged people who wind up in our criminal justice system without actually being criminals.

As for mugshots, the policy of the Gazette is not to publish them unless there is a threat to the community that can only be identified using the photo or unless the person has been convicted of a crime by a jury. When we report a crime, it is always with the mindset the person is innocent until proven guilty. And if we report they are charged, we strive to follow up with the outcome.

For example, when we recently reported Florida House Rep. Joe Harding was indicted on several federal felony charges, we committed to follow through with the rest of the case. We owe it to our readers, and we feel we

owe it to Harding to tell the full story of the circumstances that ended his political career.

If the sheriff wants the community to “Trust news from reliable sources (right here),’’ the community needs to hold him to the same standards of ethics and accuracy that guide legitimate news organizations. For starters, the public should join us in asking the MCSO to stop posting mugshots of minors unless there is a compelling reason or threat to the community. Doing so would demonstrate an understanding that there is more to keeping a community safe than demonizing youngsters who still have a chance to turn their lives around.

Looking to inspire others through community awards

arise and ultimately improve the quality life for the citizens of Marion County”, said Community Foundation President and Executive Director Lauren DeIorio.

Because there hasn’t been an overall awards presentation or dedication bringing all of the individuals together and honoring them for their contributions to the community, the foundation, according to Gerds, “wanted to create the Inspire Gala for two things: to help honor those people who are very welldeserving and to help inspire others and the community to continue to do better, learn about opportunities for helping to serve our local nonprofits, volunteering and where donations are most needed in our community.”

Gerds also emphasized that she wanted to make sure that during the nomination process and voting of winners, she and her colleagues at the foundation would proceed as authentically as possible.

“We’re also helping the nonprofits to not only receive donations but to also work with our grants department and help them write and receive grants from many different organizations outside of our donors so that they can continue to be funded,” she added. “We also provide technical assistance to the nonprofits on business management and finance management, marketing, strategic planning, building a strong board and foundation for their nonprofit to ensure that they are successful in our local community.”

The deadline to submit nominations is Feb. 1 at 9 p.m. Nominations must recognize an individual from each of these categories: Youth Philanthropist of The Year, Emerging Nonprofit, Nonprofit Board Member of The Year, Nonprofit of The Year, Corporate Partner of The Year, The Unsung Hero and Philanthropist of The Year.

By Julie Garisto julie@magnoliamediaco.com

Anyone who’s ever participated in a recognition award knows that status can sway decisions at times and influence who gets honored in the community.

For once, in 2023, it may not be about whom you know.

The Community Foundation for Ocala/ Marion County has not only come up with a new community awards event, but they have outsourced the selection process to prevent any favoritism during the selection process of recipients of the inaugural Inspire Gala awards.

“We wanted to highlight donors, volunteers, board members, corporate partners and really anyone who is helping serve the nonprofit space for the betterment of the community,” explained Ashley Wheeler-Gerds, the director of strategic and community engagement for the foundation.

The Road to Wine Country Inspire Gala will be held March 3 at the Hilton Churchill Ballroom. The decor will borrow inspiration from California and

Italian vineyards.

There will be a bourbon and wine pull during the cocktail hour for guests, as Gerds described it. Labels will be obscured, and guests can bid on bottles of wine that carry a retail price of between $20 to $1,000, but the cost of the bid will only be $20 to $750 pending the pull category you choose.

“So, you’ll pay $20 to pull a bottle and you could get $20 wine, or you could get a $50 bottle of wine,” she explained. “It’s a fundraiser with multiple levels to help raise funds for The Community Fund. We’re collecting donations from donors in the wine community, too.”

“As we continue to grow as a community, The Community Fund will help address community needs as they

“With our process, there’s a nomination form that has to be filled out and submitted to myself from local members of the community. Once the form has been fully completed, I will redact the nominees’ name as well as who nominated them, and they’re assigned a number in an Excel spreadsheet. After all nominations are collected by award category, they will be sent off to another community foundation outside of Marion County to be voted on with their committee or board in early February.”

The Community Foundation works with both sides of charitable endeavors. The members help support the donors in their community, while also supporting the nonprofits where a bulk of those donations are sent.

“So, we’re making sure that one, the donors are protected and helping use their dollars the best way possible and making those dollars stretch as long as possible,” she said.

Nomination forms can be found at ocalafoundation.org. Completed nomination forms may be emailed, mailed, or dropped off at the Community Foundation office at 324 SE 24th St., Ocala, FL 34471.

Voting, Gerds said, will be strictly based on merit and nominees’ contributions to the community through their dedication, time and resources to create a better Marion County.

If you’re making a nomination, review all guidelines for nominations, category requirements, and complete all information.

To respect the privacy of local philanthropists, the Community Foundation acknowledges that some aren’t comfortable with recognition. So, each nominee will be called and given the opportunity to have their nomination pulled if they choose.

The entity that submitted the nomination will remain anonymous within the Community Foundation, and the top three nominees for each category will be notified of being a finalist and will be given the opportunity to attend the Gala with a guest.

For more information, call Gerds at 352-622-5020, ext 105 or email ashley@ocalafoundation.org.

The Community Foundation of Ocala/Marion County has come up with new awards of recognition and a selection process that aims to ensure a nonbiased pool of candidates.

File photo: Ashley Wheeler-Gerds, left, and Lauren DeIorio, the president/executive director of the Community Foundation for Ocala/Marion County, urge people to make their final donations during the Give4Marion conclusion at the Marion Theatre in Ocalaon Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2022.

“We wanted to highlight donors, volunteers, board members, corporate partners and really anyone who is helping serve the nonprofit space for the betterment of the community.”

Ashley Wheeler-Gerds

The Community

Foundation

director of strategic and community engagement

File photo: Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2022.

Campaign activity for House Seat 24 ramps up

By Ocala Gazette staff commentary

With only six weeks to go before the March 7 primary election to fill the vacant Florida House District 24 seat and with ballots already being mailed out, the five candidates— all Republicans—are ramping up their campaign activity.

There is very little variation to their campaign messaging, however. If we asked for the most conservative, most pro-Gov. Ron DeSantis candidate to rise, they’d all trip over each other to stand up first.

Campaign literature mailed out by Ryan Chamberlin and Charlie Stone have photoshopped images of DeSantis behind the candidate as if to imply that DeSantis is backing them. Candidate Jose Juarez didn’t use the governor’s image, but he claimed on his mailer that he is “the most pro-DeSantis candidate.”

We reached out to DeSantis’ office to ask if they could provide some clues to help voters decipher which candidate was endorsed by the governor. We have had no response to multiple inquiries.

The candidates in the primary race are Charles Stone, Stephen Pyles, Jose Juarez, Ryan Chamberlain and Justin Albright, and they will face a write-in candidate Robert “Foxy” Fox in the general election if Fox does not withdraw. The first financial campaign reports from candidates and PACs intending to impact the race are due to be filed this week, Jan. 27.

The first PAC mailer in this election was from the Conservative Leadership Fund against Stone. The mailer makes the sweeping claims that Stone’s voting record would make President Joe Biden proud and that Stone “betrayed” former President Donald Trump, DeSantis and the state. It also says that Stone, who served as the Florida House District 22 representative from 2012-2020 before it was redistricted, would violate the spirit of term limit laws if he were elected.

One of the allegations of the mailer is that Stone supported tax-funded tuition for “illegal immigrants.” Stone said he, along with the majority of the Legislature and Governor Scott at the time, supported a measure that would allow students who had gone through the Florida public school system, regardless of whether they were brought to this country illegally by their parents, to be able to apply and receive scholarships such as the Bright Futures Scholarship, if they qualified.

“These were kids who had been in

our country going to our schools their entire lives, really applying themselves to earn exemplary grades,’’ Stone told the Gazette. “It was the right thing to do.”

As for term limits, Stone noted other representatives in the House have left because of term limits only to return following a hiatus. He said he had no intention of doing so but is only re-entering politics due to the circumstances. Ocala Republican Joe Harding resigned the seat on Dec. 8 following an indictment on several federal charges alleging fraud in a pandemic-related small business loan program.

Financial records filed with the state by the Conservative Leadership Fund PAC reflect a significant amount of money was paid to Front Line Agency, the same agency consulting on Chamberlin’s campaign. Chamberlin disavowed having anything to do with the PAC mailer and said he had nothing against Stone and considered him a “really nice guy.”

Chamberlin said he didn’t find the mailer to be offensive. “I got it in the mail,’’ he said. “I didn’t see any attacks on him personally. I saw it as challenging his record.”

Chamberlin said he expects more PAC attacks against not just Stone but all the candidates. On Jan. 19, shortly after the mailer came out, he issued a clean-campaign pledge to the other candidates. He asked the candidates to agree to stick to the issues and not talk about each other. However, Chamberlin clarified that talking about a candidate’s background was “sticking to the issues.”

Given his campaign’s connection to the mailer, that challenge came across as disingenuous to the other candidates and this newspaper.

Stone and Juarez dismissed the pledge as a campaign ploy.

Juarez said of the proposed pledge, “It was worse than a political ploy, it was a disingenuous attempt at a coverup. State campaign records show my opponent is using the same consultant as the political committees who are lobbying this attack. There is no doubt his campaign and those attacks are coordinated. It is very disappointing.”

Stone added that all of the candidates in the race, except for Chamberlin, sent messages directly to him or through other people that they did not have anything to do with the mailer and felt it was untruthful and in bad taste.

For his part, Chamberlin told the Gazette, “I’m not anti-Stone, or any of the other candidates. I’m just pro-Ryan.”

Bird of the Week

Ruby-crowned kinglet. It’s amazing what you might see if you look carefully. After almost three decades in Ocala, I began looking at birds. The Ruby-crowned Kinglet is common in Ocala between October and April, but I only recently discovered that such a creature existed. One good place to see them is along the Florida Trail behind the Rotary Sportsplex. This bird flits around constantly and chatters loudly. The bright crown of the male is usually hidden, but this one flared up as he scolded me, as if to announce that my backyard was now his domain.

Ruby-crowned kinglet [MichaelWarren.com]

Marion County School Board 2023-24 calendar still under consideration

members on Tuesday were having winter break start on Dec. 20 instead of Dec. 17, and the proposed 32 one-hour earlyrelease days for professional development, all on Wednesdays. The first would have been on Aug. 16, the last on April 24, 2024.

“Speaking from experience, one hour is not sufficient time for any meaningful professional development to occur,” said Cody Mays, a social studies teacher at Horizon Academy of Marion Oaks. “The current proposal could cost staff and parents up to four days of travel or vacation due to having classes on Monday and Tuesday.”

Vickie Treulieb, an English/ literature teacher at North Marion Middle School, expressed similar concerns.

By Allen Barney allen@ocalagazette.com

On Tuesday, the Marion County School Board rejected the proposed calendar for the 202324 school year, which presented a bevy of changes to the current calendar, notably the return of one-hour early release days.

Posted on the Marion County Public Schools Facebook page shortly after a work session last Thursday, the proposed calendar, referred to as Draft E, is the culmination of weeks of work by district officials who relied on hundreds of comments from parents and guardians as well as district employees.

After 90 minutes of

discussion, the board sent the mater back to the calendar committee and called for new options to be presented next week before the board decides on a calendar on Feb. 6. Any new proposals are expected to be made available to the public before the Feb. 2 work session.

The calendar is the work of a committee including Board Vice Chair Nancy Thrower, Area Superintendent Dr. Annie Hembrook and Stephen Ayres, Director of School Choice and Student Records for MCPS.

Draft E set dates for the start and finish of the school year, dates for holiday and spring breaks and teacher workdays. But the two elements that struck nerves among many audience

“Change be a scary thing, but I’m all for change in education,’’ she said. “We definitely need to do something to address our teacher shortage and the ability for our teachers to have proper training. This new (proposed) school calendar does not provide what we need, and it is shortsighted at best.

“When teaching, I think about the overall objective that I want my student to accomplish before preparing my lesson,’’ Treulieb said. “If your overall objective is for teachers to be able to be trained and have professional development, then you need to look at what they need to be able to have to achieve this.”

After public commentary, the board members spoke at what changes could be made.

Marion County public schools are required by state law to have at least 86 instructional days in the first semester. This puts the 202324 year into a difficult situation with a Florida Statute stating that Marion County cannot start school until Aug. 10.

The discussion led to multiple members stating that some time has to be taken away from either Thanksgiving break or winter break to allow the second quarter to end before winter break and not after.

“The challenge we have is that if we are going to do a full week at Thanksgiving, we are unable to do Christmas break like before. We have a perfect storm, Nov. 23 being Thanksgiving is causing significant issues,” Board Chair Allison Campbell said.

Board member Sarah James, the only member to vote in approval of Draft E, offered an idea.

“I can’t see another solution that gives all of Thanksgiving break, 10 days for staff and 11 days for students at winter break and gives teachers professional development time. I don’t see a solution outside of what we

have done unless we extend our instructional days to include more minutes so that we can come to school less total days,” James said.

Ayres cautioned that the idea of extending days would require renegotiating the portion of the teachers’ contract that includes hours and time.

As the meeting was winding down, each board member gave their thoughts on the process and understand how important the calendar is to everyone.

“I know everyone is passionate about this calendar and I’m thankful for the work of our teams. I’m sorry it’s been such as struggle and I feel so sincere when I say every member of this board wants the best possible calendar that meets the needs of most of our community,” Board member Lori Conrad said.

For Vice Chair Nancy Thrower, the work put in over the past few weeks will be worth it and the recent conversations are a step in the right direction.

“If we truly want to improve, and everyone does. It’s these raw conversations that are going to get us there,” Thrower said.

exceptional

File photo: Nancy Thrower, left, and Lori Conrad, right, both of the Marion County Public School Board, talk to each other during a Marion County Commission Joint Workshop on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2022.

“Change be a scary thing, but I’m all for change in education. We definitely need to do something to address our teacher shortage and the ability for our teachers to have proper training.”

Vickie Treulieb

English/literature teacher at North Marion Middle School

WARREN ASKS DESANTIS FOR REINSTATEMENT

MORE BONUS MONEY SOUGHT FOR POLICE RECRUITING

By Jim Turner Florida News Service

After distributing over $6.2 million to recruit new law-enforcement officers from across the country since July 1, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration is seeking $30 million to continue the effort next year.

The proposal is part of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity’s funding requests for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, which will start in July. Lawmakers will consider the requests during the legislative session that will begin March 7.

Meredith Ivey, acting secretary of the department, told members of the Senate Transportation, Tourism and Economic Development Appropriations Committee on Wednesday that 1,245 new officers have been awarded after-tax bonuses of $5,000. Lawmakers approved the bonus program during the 2022 legislative session.

Ivey also said the department, working with lawenforcement agencies across the state, continues “to identify eligible recipients.”

Sen. Tom Wright, R-New Smyrna Beach, suggested lawmakers expand the program to other first responders.

By Florida News Service

Saying “the facts do matter,” suspended Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren on Wednesday asked Gov. Ron DeSantis to rescind an executive order that ousted the prosecutor. DeSantis’ Aug. 4 order accused Warren of “incompetence and willful defiance of his duties.”

Warren, a twice-elected Democrat, filed a federal lawsuit seeking to get his job back. U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle on Friday ruled that DeSantis’ suspension violated the First Amendment and the Florida Constitution but that the federal court lacked jurisdiction to reinstate Warren.

“The record includes not a hint of misconduct by Mr. Warren,” Hinkle’s 59-page ruling said. In a letter to DeSantis on Wednesday, Warren pointed to the judge’s conclusions and asked for reinstatement so he can serve the nearly two years remaining in his term.

“Duty requires you to accept the court’s findings that the executive order is illegal, even if that finding is perhaps unwelcome,” Warren wrote. The Columbia Law School graduate noted that, following “exhaustive discovery” and the trial, the governor now has more information than he did when he issued the suspension.

“The facts are now known, and the court’s findings are clear: I

engaged in zero misconduct; the allegations in the executive order are false; and the suspension violates federal and state law,” Warren wrote. DeSantis, however, isn’t budging. In a statement provided to The News Service of Florida, DeSantis’ press secretary Bryan Griffin said Warren’s fate is in the hands of the Florida Senate, which has the authority to remove suspended officials from office and blasted Hinkle’s ruling.

“We do not agree with the court’s dicta, which are merely opinions, and need not address them since the court ultimately determined it lacked jurisdiction and thus ruled in favor of the governor,” Griffin said.

“There’s been some questions of myself, from various agencies, wondering if we might want to consider something for our fire departments that we’re already doing for law enforcement to increase people moving into the state,” Wright said.

The one-time payments were part of broader law-enforcement legislation that DeSantis signed in April.

“We want to incentivize really strong, highquality people to pursue law enforcement as a vocation in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said in signing the legislation at the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. “That may mean that you leave Seattle or Chicago or some of these places and come to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. But it could also mean that you’re somebody that’s in Florida trying to determine what you want to do with your life.”

As the bill moved through the Legislature last year, Democrats unsuccessfully pushed for employment-record reviews of new hires, including reviews of disciplinary actions, complaints or investigations into conduct, and for recruits with military backgrounds to pass psychological examinations.

Among other funding requests for the upcoming session, the Department of Economic Opportunity department is seeking to double to $100 million the amount of money going to the Visit Florida tourismmarketing agency and to maintain $50 million in funding for the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund.

Visit Florida received $50 million for the current fiscal year and $80 million, including $30 million in federal stimulus money, in the 2021-2022 fiscal year. The Job Growth Grant Fund provides money for regional infrastructure projects and workforcetraining programs. DeSantis has the authority to determine how the money is spent.

Among recent approvals, DeSantis in October approved $1.3 million for infrastructure improvements in Marathon that will help in the development of a 110-unit resort spearheaded by the founder of the Bass Pro Shops retail chain.

Ronald Carpenter 1/1/1930 - 1/10/2023

Ronald Carpenter died in January of 2023. And is survived by his son Michael. He lived in North Florida and died at his home.

This combination of Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022 photos shows Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, left, and Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren during separate news conferences in Tampa, Fla. On Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022, Warren vowed to fight his suspension from office by DeSantis over his promise not to enforce the state’s 15-week abortion ban and support for gender transition treatments for minors. [Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP]

BOARD OF GOVERNORS NAMES NEW COLLEGE TRUSTEE

After Gov. Ron DeSantis this month sparked controversy with appointments of six trustees at New College of Florida, the state university’s Board of Governors on Wednesday chose an author and president of the Washington, D.C.based Ethics & Public Policy Center to serve as a New College trustee.

The Board of Governors appointed Ryan Anderson, whose books have included, “Tearing Us Apart: How Abortion Harms Everything and Solves Nothing” and “When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment,” according to information posted on the Ethics & Public Policy Center website.

Anderson’s appointment came after an uproar about DeSantis’ appointments of conservatives to the board of the small liberal-arts school in Sarasota. DeSantis has targeted “trendy ideology” in higher education, and the appointments have been widely viewed as an attempt to remake the leadership and direction of New College.

Board of Governors member Alan Levine praised Anderson during a committee meeting Wednesday

before the appointment to the New College board was finalized. He said Anderson, who has a doctorate from Notre Dame, has appeared widely on news networks and in major newspapers.

“I’ve had an opportunity to speak with Dr. Anderson,” Levine said. “I find him to be a compelling figure, somebody who is measured and very respectful of our governance process and very eager to serve.”

Anderson is a former senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, and was the founding editor of the online journal Public Discourse, according to information on the Ethics & Public Policy Center website.

The center lists priorities on the website, including “Pushing back against the extreme progressive agenda while building a 2024 consensus for conservatives.” State university boards of trustees are made up of 13 members, with the Board of Governors appointing five members. Anderson’s appointment is subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate.

BILL GIVES THUMBS DOWN TO LEFT LANE DRIVERS

A House Republican this week filed a proposal that seeks to prevent motorists from driving in the left lane on roads with speed limits of at least 65 mph. Rep. Jenna PersonsMulicka, R-Fort Myers, filed the bill (HB 421) for consideration during the legislative session that will start

March 7. It would bar motorists from driving in the left lane “except when overtaking and passing another vehicle, when preparing to exit the road, street, or highway, or when otherwise directed by an official traffic control device.” Violators could receive citations.

MORE MONEY PROPOSED FOR ELECTION CRIMES OFFICE

The number of positions in Florida’s new election-crimes unit would increase from 15 to 27, under a budget proposal that Secretary of State Cord Byrd outlined Wednesday.

In his budget request for the legislative session that will start March 7, Byrd proposed $3.15 million for the Office of Election Crimes and Security, which was created last year and is staffed by five people. Its initial director, Pete Antonacci, died in September.

“We are looking for a new director,” Byrd said during an appearance before the Senate Transportation, Tourism and Economic Development Appropriations Committee. Byrd said one of his “top priorities” is to get the office fully staffed. The office received $1.2 million for the current fiscal year, which began July 1. Byrd also defended the work of the office.

“Even in the (election) off-season, people

are continuing to register to vote,” Byrd said. “So, (voter) list maintenance is very important. We continue to get reports from our sister states. And that’s how we’re continuing to find people convicted of voter fraud, like some of the double voters. Their (staff members’) work is important now, because they’re going to ensure that the voter rolls are as pristine as possible as we go into the election. If we’re waiting for the election cycle, it’s almost too late at that point.”

The office has drawn opposition from Democrats, who have expressed concerns that it is an attempt to intimidate minority voters. Sen. Bobby Powell, D-West Palm Beach, asked Byrd about the “one credible vote that a person doesn’t take because of fear of being arrested and taken away from his or her family.”

Byrd replied that steps are taken to ensure “voters in Florida are not disenfranchised.”

3 UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS

TO STAY ON JOB

The state university system’s Board of Governors on Wednesday approved reappointments of Florida A&M University President Larry Robinson and Florida Polytechnic University President Randy Avent, while also backing a contract extension for Florida Gulf Coast University President Mike Martin until his successor can be found.

University trustees appoint and reappoint presidents, subject to confirmation from the Board of Governors. Robinson was reappointed through the end of 2023, while Avent was reappointed through July 6, 2024.

Martin had planned to retire at the end of 2022, but the Florida Gulf Coast Board

APPROVED

of Trustees decided in November to reopen a search for his successor. The contract extension approved Wednesday will keep Martin in the job until June 30 or until a successor is selected, if that comes earlier.

“I have told Ray, among others, that if this doesn’t change soon, they will find me decomposing in parking garage 2,” Martin joked Wednesday, referring to university system Chancellor Ray Rodrigues.

“And I think that would be a real blow to my family.” Board of Governors member Tim Cerio, who was chairing the meeting, responded, “Thank you, Dr. Martin for your comments and that remarkable visual.”

State runs up tab in Medicaid transgender case

By Dara Kam Florida News Service

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration has authorized more than $1.3 million for legal and expert-witness fees in the state’s effort to ban Medicaid coverage of treatments for transgender people, a review of state records by The News Service of Florida shows.

The Agency for Health Care Administration, which largely oversees the Medicaid program, last year issued a rule banning coverage for hormone therapy, puberty blockers and surgery, drawing pushback from the LGBTQ community. The treatments are used for people with gender dysphoria, which the federal government defines as clinically “significant distress that a person may feel when sex or gender assigned at birth is not the same as their identity.”

Four plaintiffs, including two children, filed a federal lawsuit challenging the rule, arguing that the prohibited treatments are “medically necessary, safe and effective” for gender dysphoria.

The state agency in July issued a nearly $1 million contract for legal services and costs in the litigation.

According to state records, the DeSantis administration also was willing to pay up to $322,323 for “expert witness” services from seven doctors and researchers who contributed to an AHCA report or appeared at a public hearing on the issue. The researchers received a total of $42,621.83 through purchase orders issued between May and August last year.

Many of the state’s experts are affiliated with religious organizations or have endorsed “conversion therapy,” which seeks to change sexual or gender identities of LGBTQ people. The practice has been discredited by major parts of the medical community.

The state’s highest-paid expert,

California-based family physician Andre Van Mol, received $15,104.55 out of an approved total of nearly $70,000 for his advice. Van Mol has written extensively on treatment for gender dysphoria for groups such as the Christian Medical & Dental Associations. Van Mol also serves on the board of Moral Revolution, a group self-described on its website as “a team of passionate individuals who are called to promote God’s original design for sexuality.”

The state agency paid Quentin Van Meter, an Atlanta-based pediatric endocrinologist, $12,417.28 in July, the records show. Van Meter is board president of the American College of Pediatricians, which says on its website that “transgender interventions harm children.” That group is different from the American Academy of Pediatrics, which supports gender-affirming care.

Van Mol and Van Meter both appeared as experts for the state during a July 8 hearing on the rule.

The state also paid $9,600 to James Cantor, an American-Canadian psychologist. Cantor also has worked as an expert for the Alliance Defending Freedom in helping defend a West Virginia ban on female trans athletes participating in girls’ school sports.

Another of the state’s experts, Patrick Lappert, also has links to the Alliance Defending Freedom, an organization that says on its website that it is a “leader in defending religious freedom, free speech, the sanctity of life, parental rights, and God’s design for marriage and family.” The state issued a $34,800 purchase order for Lappert’s work but he has not received any payments, according to the records.

Psychiatrist Miriam Grossman received $5,500, according to the state records. Grossman “believes that every child is born in the right body,” her website says. Grossman’s research has been cited in conversion therapy efforts.

The state also issued purchase orders in the amount of $34,650 each for Romina Brignardello-Petersen, who is a professor at Canada-based McMaster University, and Gerard Kevin Donovan, a pediatrician who opposes gender-affirming care for minors. According to the records, neither expert was paid by the state last year.

Many of the researchers who participated in the drafting of the Medicaid rule are serving as experts for the state in the lawsuit challenging the regulation, but it is unclear how much they are being paid.

The expert witness costs in the case are being run through the Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak, PLLC law firm. The Agency for Health Care Administration in July approved a $950,000 contract with the firm to represent the state in the litigation. The firm previously inked separate contracts totaling $28,830 for “legal counsel and representation in matters including but not limited to Medicaid rulemaking and subsequent litigation.” The state has paid Holzman $220,938.50 thus far, the records show.

The disputed rule followed the June 2 AHCA report, which included research by the state’s experts. The report said the Medicaid program “has determined that the research supporting sex reassignment treatment is insufficient to demonstrate efficacy and safety.” Treatment such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy are “experimental and investigational,” concluded the report, which was condemned by national medical and legal researchers.

A report issued by seven scientists and a Yale law professor blasted the state’s study, saying its “conclusions are incorrect and scientifically unfounded.”

An email exchange released late Friday by plaintiffs in the lawsuit also showed that an Agency for Health Care Administration analyst who plays a

role in determining “generally accepted professional medical standards” for the state pushed back against the state’s study.

The study “did not come through the traditional channels and was not handled through the traditional” process, agency analyst Jeffrey English wrote in an email to Christopher Cogle, chief medical officer for Florida’s Medicaid program.

“I do not cherry pick data or studies and would never agree to if I were so asked,” English wrote. “All I can say about that report, as I have read it, is that it does not present an honest and accurate assessment of the status of the current evidence and practice guidelines as I understand them to be in the existing literature.”

The Medicaid rule is among a number of actions DeSantis, who is widely seen as a Republican presidential contender in 2024, and other state leaders have taken to target transgender treatment, especially for minors. State medical boards recently have moved forward with rules to ban doctors from using hormone therapy, puberty blockers or surgery to treat children who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria.

Yale School of Medicine professor Meredithe McNamara, one of the authors of the rebuttal to the state’s study, called Florida taxpayers’ expenses in the Medicaid rule “a waste.”

“It turns out, the manufacturing of lies is expensive. The DeSantis administration claims to target gender-affirming care because they say covering it is a misuse of state resources. But the lavish spending on a blatant anti-trans agenda shows the hypocrisy,” McNamara, who specializes in adolescent medicine, told the News Service in an email. “Evidence-based measures to protect the standard of care … is completely free … but manufactured disinformation is a bottomless pit that the state will pour public funds into until they’re held accountable.”

Harris vows to ‘never back down’ on abortion rights

By Jim Saunders Florida News Service

Appearing on Gov. Ron DeSantis’ doorstep to mark the 50th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade court decision, Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday vowed that she and President Joe Biden will “never back down” on abortion rights.

Harris, speaking from a stage at The Moon, a Tallahassee nightspot and concert venue, said the U.S. Supreme Court took away a “fundamental right” last year when it overturned Roe v. Wade and helped spur a cascade of abortion restrictions in states across the country.

“For nearly 50 years, Americans relied on the rights that Roe protected,” Harris told a crowd of supporters. “Today, however, on what would have been its 50th anniversary, we speak of the Roe decision in the past tense, because last June the

United States Supreme Court took away that constitutional right, a fundamental right, a basic freedom from the people of America, from the women of America.”

While Harris’ appearance was tied to the Roe v. Wade anniversary, it also came as DeSantis is widely discussed as a potential 2024 Republican challenger to Biden. Democrats have made abortion rights a political rallying point after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 decision, which had recognized abortion as a fundamental right.

About four hours before Harris took the stage, the Republican Party of Florida sent a statement to reporters blasting the vice president and other Democrats.

“Democrats are proudly cheerleading barbaric policies to allow unrestricted abortions — including infanticide. That’s all anyone needs to know,” the statement said.

During her speech, Harris repeatedly focused on freedom, taking a not-so-subtle

shot at DeSantis, who has described Florida as “freedom’s vanguard.”

“Can we truly be free if so-called leaders claim to be quote, I quote, on the vanguard of freedom while they dare to restrict the rights of the American people and attack the very foundations of freedom?” Harris said.

Harris announced that Biden was issuing a memorandum directing federal agencies to look for ways to help ensure access to mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortions.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration this month approved a change that would expand access to the drug at pharmacies. But the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration has warned Florida pharmacists against dispensing the drug.

Harris’ appearance in Tallahassee came nearly a year after DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature

approved a law preventing abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Abortion providers have challenged the law, with the case pending at the Florida Supreme Court.

The vice president’s appearance also came as the Legislature prepares to start its annual session March 7. While DeSantis and some other Republican leaders have indicated they would support stricter abortion regulations, they have not released a proposal, at least in part because they are waiting for a ruling in the case about the 15-week limit.

In that case, Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office has urged justices to reverse a decades-old legal precedent that said a privacy clause in the state Constitution protects abortion rights. If the Supreme Court goes along with that argument, it could help clear the way for the Legislature to more broadly limit abortions.

Bishop Bishop is a 4yr. old, neutered male, mixed breed. This handsome fellow loves exploring the yard and is very happy go lucky. Bishop appears to be housebroken, sits on command and catches his treats with good accuracy. He is looking for a good home to play and run and live his best life!

For more information about adoptions please visit MarionFL.org/Animal

Princess

Princess is an 8yr. old, spayed female, mixed breed. This plump gal is known to be an absolute sweetheart that has quite a personality. Princess enjoys her snacks, loves toys and is very playful. Princess can sit on command and given her size and age, she can still run like the wind.

Current Adoption Specials: Ocala Gazette regularly brings you two furry friends that are available for adoption from local animal rescue organizations.

Experts in matters of the heart

As Marion County’s only accredited HeartCARE Center™, and the only hospital with accreditations across five specialties from the American College of Cardiology, AdventHealth Ocala is leading the way to reimagine heart care. From minimally-invasive procedures to open heart surgery, our experts provide high-quality, comprehensive care to help heal your heart faster and keep it beating with the pace of life.

Cardiovascular Accreditations:

• Chest Pain Center

• Heart Failure

• Electrophysiology

Find a heart care expert at AHOcalaHeartCare.com.

• Cardiac Cath Lab

• Transcatheter Valve

People, Places & Things

A time to blossom

Amy Davidson transcends loss, rooting herself in the daily practice of art and staying active in the art community.

relocated, living back downtown from Ocklawaha,” she explained.

“So, I went through a lot of changes. I started therapy, and that was the beginning for me. I also spent about a year and a half just diving into taking care of my family. ‘Family health before wealth’ was my motto for a while and, while working as a marketing analyst and content editor from home, I couldn’t leave for lunch.

So, I just kind of felt like painting.”

Davidson describes her style as “a little abstract, surreal and impressionistic,” but also full of passion and “true heartbreak.”

“I had a choice to continue to be angry or I could just find another way to channel that, which is very cliche, but it’s very cliche for a reason,” she said.

By Julie Garisto julie@magnoliamediaco.com

ohn Irving tells us in his seminal novel, “The World According to Garp,” that “you only grow by coming to the end of something and by beginning something else

Undoubtedly, with the psychic wounds and scars that hitch onto life’s upheavals, some wisdom, evolution and triumph tag along too — ideas explored in the upcoming art exhibit “Endings and Beginnings — Paintings by Amy Davidson”

Davidson’s first solo show and first-ever art show will be featured at the Shapot Art Studio & Gallery, a space run by innovative artist Jordan Shapot. The exhibit opens with a reception from 4 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 27, at 2318 NE Eighth Road, Ocala.

At 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 1, Davidson will give an artist talk at the gallery, followed by a performance by folk-punk duo Glizzie Gillespie at 7 p.m. Admission is free to both events.

Based in downtown Ocala, Davidson is a mother of four, a journalist, editor, former photojournalist, scriptwriter, gardener and now, a painter

Featured as one of “Ocala Style” magazine’s “Captivating Creatives” in 2019, the scriptwriter and creator of the film dramedy “Stringer” has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from State University of New York-Plattsburgh.

Her artistic style is expressionistic and colorful, created with acrylics and Posca markers. Her subjects have sprouted from her many years of growing plants and food and flowers.

“I’ve always been fascinated with the cycle of life, especially for plants,” she explained. “Having a greenhouse with my former spouse, I learned a lot from him through the years about how to grow food properly, especially during the pandemic. For years I’ve always grown things and saved seeds and collected things like a little forest witch. I like preserving things or even watching plants, and even seeing how they die.”

The “ending” part of the show’s title began with Davidsons divorce.

“I changed career paths and I

Painting, Davidson said, became a channel for her to create while being at home, and as a way to work with anxiety rather than avoiding it.

Being present, making friends, participating in the growing art scene, and living downtown, where she can stay active by walking from place to place, have all helped give Davidson a new lease on life.

Gratitude and forgiveness are other, especially significant, themes that come up.

Davidson credited Shapot and Seth Benzel at Eighth Ave. Gallery for their encouragement and the Marion Cultural Alliance (of which she is a member) for nurturing Ocala’s “creative” buzz,” but a lot of her blossoming took root right at home.

“I’d like to say that it takes a village, and I owe my creative life to my mom, Kathleen Misra. From clipping my newspaper articles to taking me to museums as a child to driving me to Washington, D.C., for a journalism conference, she has always been the glue,” she said.

The burgeoning painter also acknowledged the human tendency to self-punish and pressure ourselves into improvement, especially in today’s social media landscape.

“I have a series called ‘Love on a Shelf,’’’ she said. “The whole series came about after my divorce. I asked myself, ‘Will I date again? Will I feel like dating again? Will I ever be interesting to anybody again?’”

Davidson painted the series not only to cope with her own anxieties about starting over, but also to reassure anyone going through a change in life where they’re kind of battling with selfconfidence and self-esteem.

“‘Love on a Shelf’ is all the good things that you have to offer someone,” she added. “And it doesn’t mean all the pretty things and all the things that are neat and clean, but it just means you’re good how you are, and the right person will find you. And so that’s kind of my homage to that.”

For more information about Jordan Shapot Art Studio & Gallery, visit jordanshapot.com.

“Tomatoes Once Ruled My World”

18”x24”, Acrylic/Posca on canvas

“I’ve always been fascinated with the cycle of life, especially for plants. I like preserving things or even watching plants, and even seeing how they die.”

Amy Davidson

Amy Davidson [Alan Youngblood]

Bluegrass and BBQ

Music and food draws big crowd to Ocala’s Tuscawilla Art Park.

On a crisp evening in Ocala, hundreds of people gathered at the Tuscawilla Art Park to enjoy bluegrass music and delicious barbecue.

The art park is at 213 NE 5th Street, next to the historic Ocala Union Station. The 3-acre park was built in 2016 and was created in partnership with artists, community groups and private donors. The Bluegrass and BBQ concert on Jan. 20 was a kick-off for the Tuscawilla Art Park Series.

The event featured International Bluegrass Music awardwinning artists Appalachian Road Show, with opening act The Wandering Hours. Big Lee’s Serious About BBQ and Country Boyz BBQ food trucks served up the “cue,” with desserts provided by Big Man’s Café.

Some attendees were wrapped up in blankets while others sported shorts and sandals. Cowboy hats, baseball caps and boots were plentiful. Dogs large and small were part of the crowd, with many of them on leashes and some in strollers. Children frolicked among the adults and bubble blowing seemed to be a popular activity.

Guests brought their own chairs or pulled up a seat on stone walls around the property. VIP ticket holders had a front row seat on a “comfy ottoman” and got a special gift bag.

To learn more City of Ocala programs such as this, go to bit.ly/3Rl9rcR

Experiencing Islamic traditions in Turkey

and toward God. By allowing people of all classes to feel hunger pangs, it also encourages generosity toward the less fortunate: For many Muslim families, Ramadan concludes with acts of charity and gift-giving.

During this holy month in Istanbul, no-name neighborhood mosques literally overflow at prayer time. Yet a tourist unfamiliar with Islam might not notice that practicing Muslims are not eating or even drinking.

and warble varies, across the land the Arabic words of the call are exactly the same, starting with: “God is great.”

By Rick Steves

As someone who loves to travel - to engage every corner of my world - it makes me sad to see the bum rap that the Muslim faith gets in my corner of the world. ISIS and the Taliban grab headlines. But when you actually travel to Muslim countries - especially moderate and accessible ones, like my favorite, Turkey - it’s inspiring to see how people weave their faith into their lives.

I love Istanbul - Turkey’s biggest city - because of the way it links east and west: Geographically, part of the city is in Europe, and the other partacross the Bosphorus Strait - is in Asia. And the new Eurasia Tunnel, recently burrowed under the Bosphorus, has given a million commuters in the Asian suburbs an easy train link to their places of work on the European side.

It’s in this environment that, as a guide, I like to introduce my tour

members to Turkish culture, and to Islam. Turkey is officially a secular nation (practicing the separation of mosque and state, a concept that is on shaky ground under its current president, Recep Erdogan). But examples of how the people’s faith permeates society are plentiful.

Driving into the modern highrise suburbs of this city, I passed an old shepherd whose small flock was enjoying some grass in a freeway cloverleaf, surrounded by the sprawl of 15 million people. In the midst of all that modernity, he seemed a courageously timeless figure - raising sheep to be sacrificed for an upcoming Muslim festival.

When it comes to experiencing Islam, I like to travel during Ramadan. This holy month, in which observant Muslims refrain from eating during daylight hours, is set by the lunar Islamic calendar. The fasting is intended to turn the heart away from the world

If you visit during Ramadan, you’ll wake to the call to prayer and the sounds of a convivial meal just before dawn. The sun rises and the day-long fast begins. Then, at about 7 p.m., food comes out, and the nightly festival begins. Mohammad broke his fast with a dried date or olive - and that remains the most common fast-breaker. Saying, “Allah kabul etsin” (may God accept our fast today), the staff at a restaurant welcomed me to photograph them and then offered to share.

Witnessing the breaking of the fast was like watching children waiting for the recess bell - and fun to catch on film. Throughout my Ramadan visit, every time I watched the end of the fast, people offered to share their food. At this particular restaurant I said no, but they set me up anyway - figs, lentil soup, bread, Coke, and baklava. I thought the Coke was a bit odd ... but they said it’s not considered American anymore. It’s truly global.

Like Ramadan, prayer is a pillar of the Islamic faith. Tourists in Istanbul hear the call to prayer five times a day. According to tradition, as the sun prepares to rise, an imam stares at his arm. When he can tell a gray hair from a black one, it’s time to call his parish to the morning prayer. While the quality

They say tiny mosques can’t afford a real musician, so the imam himself does the singing - not always top-quality. Big mosques have a trained professional singer. Anyone can hear the qualitative difference. To the non-Muslim ear, the call to prayer ringing out at the same time from minarets of mosques across the neighborhood sounds like coyotes howling in a cacophony. I hear it as a beautiful form of praise that sweeps across the globe - from Malaysia across Pakistan, Arabia, and Turkey to Morocco and then to America - like a stadium wave, undulating exactly as fast as the earth turns.

My time in Muslim places like Turkey, with the cozy feeling that comes with Ramadan (just as it comes with Christmas where I live), reminds me how travel takes the fear out of foreign ways.

I am a Christian who wants to believe we can live peacefully with Islam. Perhaps I am just naive, but one thing is clear to me: Things I learn about Islam in the US media fill me with fear and anger. Things I learn about Islam by traveling in Muslim countries fill me with hope.

(Rick Steves (www.ricksteves.com) writes European guidebooks, hosts travel shows on public TV and radio, and organizes European tours. This column revisits some of Rick’s favorite places over the past two decades. You can email Rick at rick@ricksteves.com and follow his blog on Facebook.)

Photos By Bruce Ackerman Ocala Gazette

Christopher Karr, 12, takes a big bite of his pulled pork from Country Boyz BBQ during the Bluegrass and BBQ event at the Tuscawilla Art Park in Ocala on Friday, Jan. 20, 2023.

Heather Nesbitt blows bubbles for her son, Myles, 2, as they listen to the band Appalachian Road Show of Nashville perform.

Savannah Lee plays the fiddle with the bluegrass band The Wandering Hours of Tampa Bay.

The band Appalachian Road Show of Nashville.

Jim and Caren Schleyhahn listen to bluegrass music with their Yorkies, Chip and Abby.

In Turkey, it’s easy to meet locals in a mosque and learn more about Islam. [Rick Steves/Rick Steves’ Europe]

Hospice of Marion County is offering help and hope to families with loved ones dealing with dementia.

By Andy Filmore Correspondent

HMC will hold eight Dementia Caregiver Workshops this year at the Nancy Renyhart Center for Dementia Education, 3231 SW 34th Ave., Ocala, beginning Jan. 28.

The HMC will also host the program “Best Practices in Dementia Care” by renown dementia care expert Teepa Snow from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 8 at Church of Hope, 3233 SE Maricamp Road, Suite 300, Ocala.

Lanie Shirey, executive director of the Renyhart Center, said the talk by Snow is an excellent opportunity to hear a “leading authority” on dementia care. Snow is an occupational therapist with “over 40 years of rich and varied clinical and academic experience,” according to her website, www.teepasnow.com

“Teepa is an advocate for those living with dementia and has made it her personal mission to help families and professionals better understand how it feels to be living with the challenges and changes that accompany various forms of the condition so that life can be lived fully and well,” according to the website.

In an email to the Gazette about her upcoming talk, Snow stated (in) “every program I offer, my goal is to help family members, friends, professionals, and even people who have dementia see this condition from a different perspective.”

“We have options,” she wrote. “For all that is lost, there is still much that is possible and abilities that remain.”

Tickets for Snow’s program are $42.50 per person with a meal included. More information can be found at www. hospiceofmarion.com.

The free Dementia Caregiver Workshops will be conducted by D.J. Ryan, R.N., HMC community education liaison at The Elliott Center at 3131 SW 34th Ave., Ocala.

The workshops will include a Virtual Dementia Tour, which gives a sensory experience of dealing

with dementia and instruction from Teepa Snow’s Positive Approach program on how to live with a person with dementia.

The sessions will be held Jan. 28, from 9 a.m. to noon; Feb.21, from 9 a.m. to noon; March 25, from 9 a.m. to noon; April 18, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.; June 24, 9 a.m. to noon; Aug. 3, 9 a.m. to noon; Sept. 30, 9 a.m. to noon and Nov. 9, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Call (352) 291-5138 to reserve a seat, space is limited.

HMC also has other services for the approximately 14,000 Marion County residents dealing with dementia and their caregivers. This includes information on technology and support services that includes a robotic cat with soft fur that can be comforting to a person with dementia; and the “AutoOut” home fire suppressor that mounts above a residential stove to smother a fire in an unattended pan.

HMC also suggests the Marion County Sheriff’s Office Extra Special Persons (ESP) program, which includes a scent evidence kit and identification bracelet to enroll memoryimpaired persons in the ESP program. The evidence kit and bracelet can aid in the safe return of a memory-impaired person. MCSO literature states “over 60% of those with dementia will wander at some point.”

The free kits are available from the MCSO Crisis Intervention/Victim Advocate Unit at (352) 369-6745.

The Nancy Renyhart Center for Dementia Education is named in honor of Nancy Renyhart, a former HMC patient who passed away April 30, 2020. John Renyhart, Nancy’s husband, dealt with the progressive and eventually debilitating changes in his wife’s behavior caused by Alzheimer’s disease and remained steadfast.

“I loved her,” he said.

John and Nancy Renyhart met at Fredonia College in Western New York while in their late teens and were married in 1965. The couple had careers in the New York and New Jersey area - John as an administrator

with nonprofit organizations and Nancy as a substitute teacher and merchandiser with a pharmaceutical company.

When they decided to retire in 2006, the couple focused on the Ocala area and moved to Ocala Palms in northwest Marion County.

Travel was a pleasure for John and Nancy, and they visited countries including Australia, New Zealand. One of their last trips was attending the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico to see hundreds of colorful hot air balloons rise into the sky.

Nancy Renyhart was an avid doll collector and enjoyed working on jigsaw puzzles. Around 2009, a visiting friend who had not seen her in many years noticed changes in Nancy’s behavior. John Renyhart recalled other instances where the illness began manifesting itself.

“We had a family birthday party, and she was uncomfortable with the noises, it confused her. Another episode occurred when we were at a theater, and she had a panic attack. We had to call 911,” he said.

Nancy Renyhart was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment in 2011 and then diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2013 after an examination at UF Health in Gainesville.

Nancy Renyhart received 15 months of hospice care at home between 2015 and 2016. Based upon Medicare requirements, she was released from hospice care until 2020.

HMC provided information on supportive community resources including in-home doctor visits. John Renyhart took the seven-week Savvy Caregiver Training Course program, available through Elder Options of North Central Florida in Gainesville (agingresourses.org), which gave him insight into the effects of the illness and how to be a better caregiver.

“You need a lot of patience,” he said. “Nancy was cared for by an in-home health aide eight hours a day, seven days a week. In order

to transfer her from the bed to the wheelchair, we purchased a Hoyer Lift. We also arranged for a low-air loss mattress to mitigate bed sores.”

Meanwhile, John Renyhart received training to become a hospice volunteer and member of the Philanthropic Advisory Board.

Nancy Renyhart became progressively incapacitated and unable to perform activities of daily living, including communicating and walking during the last five years of her life. She was transferred to HMC’s Cates House, where she passed away on April 30, 2020.

John Renyhart established the Nancy Renyhart Endowment for Dementia Education at Hospice of Marion County, “which has recently evolved into the Nancy

Renyhart Center for Dementia Education,” he stated in an email.

Brynett Gamba, HMC director of communications, stated the center is a response to the need for increased dementia education.

“Our Hospice of Marion County Board of Directors saw a need to expand dementia education and the Nancy Renyhart Center for Dementia Education was created as a program of Hospice of Marion County,” she said.

Meanwhile, John Renyhart continues to promote Caregiver Support Groups for Ocala Palms and The Preserve and raise funds to support educational programs. “It’s been my therapy,’’ he said. “It’s very satisfying to be able to help others as they care for loved ones struggling with dementia.”

Editor’s Note: Because we’re all feeling the pinch of inflation, the Gazette has begun “More for Less,” a recurring list of budget-friendly things to experience and buy to help stretch your dollar a little further.

By Julie Garisto julie@magnoliamediaco.com.

We’ve curated a list of local discounted grocery items that offer an optimal balance of treats, household needs and nutrition without having to take out a cash advance loan.

Saving money doesn’t mean eating unhealthily. Grocery stores are starting to catch up to our needs, whether it be non-GMO foods, produce, fresh meats or organic goods. Also, major grocery chains often give out deals when you sign up on their websites. If you sign up with WinnDixie.com, you can rack up reward points that you can collect and exchange for dollars off your grocery bill. Publix.com has a great selection of digital coupons and “Club Perks,” such as $3 of a total grocery bill of $60.

Remember the basics: Shop the periphery of the store with as little as possible from the middle. Frozen vegetables pack more nutrition than withering produce and can save you money. Avoid impulse buys from endcap displays and read labels carefully. Sometimes items are misplaced or are “buy two, get one free” or “half off” instead of a simple BOGO (buy one get one).

The following deals are advertised Marion County

Winn-Dixie locations such as Forest Center WinnDixie and Marion Oaks Shopping Center. Call your nearby store to confirm.

On sale this weekend at Winn-Dixie, through Jan. 29

BOGO bag of navel oranges or tangelos at $6.99 and get another bag free

Pork Loin Baby Back Ribs or St. Louis Style Pork Spareribs are $2.99 a pound.

BOGO/on sale at Winn-Dixie through Jan. 31

Buy one Sargento Shredded or Chunk Cheese and get another of those cheese products at equal or lesser value free. Save up to $4.79 on two.

Dietz & Watson Roast Beef is available for $9.99 a pound; save up to $3 per pound. Jan 25th - Jan 31st 2023

BelGioioso Grated Cups or Fresh Mozzarella, $3.99 each. Save up to $1.50. (Also on sale at Publix.)

The following discounts are advertised at Pearl Britain Plaza Publix and other locations. Call your nearby Publix to confirm.

BOGO at Publix through Feb 1

Buy a multipack of Brawny Paper Towels and get another of equal or lesser price. Save up to $15.19.

Buy one Freschetta Pizza and another of equal or lesser price. Save up to $7.19

Buy an Epic Pork Rinds (or cracklings), 2.5-oz bag; or Chicken Crisps, 1.5-oz bag, and get another Epic pork rinds, cracklings or chicken crisps of equal or lesser value free. Save up to $4.99.

Buy a Green Giant Vegetables Simply Steam 9-10-ounce bag and get an equal or lesser bag free. Save Up To $3.19.

On sale at Publix through Feb 1

Mario Pitted Green Olives 4.2-ounce bag is featured at two for $5 (or $2.50 each); featured as a new product.

Pacific Foods Organic Soups are two for $7 (or $3.50 each); come in 16.1–16.3-ounce can; also featured as new product.

John and Nancy Renyhart [Supplied]

Best Practices in Dementia Care Teepa Snow

Wed, Feb 8, 2023

Church of Hope

$42.50 individual/$75 clinical - 7 CEs (includes meals)

Tickets: hospiceofmarion.com

This all day workshop demonstrates effective strategies for helping people living with dementia during interactions, care delivery and daily engagement.

Questions: Call (352) 843-2075 or email lshirey@hospiceofmarion.com

Teepa Snow, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA, is an occupational therapist with 40+ years experience.

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.

JANUARY 27

Friday Foodie Fest

Lake Lillian Park, Belleview

10:30am-12pm

The fest includes food trucks, live music, kids’ crafts and activities, face painting and local vendors. It is held the fourth Friday of each month. For more info, belleviewfl.org

JANUARY 27-29

Sunshine Region Pony Club

Dressage Rally

Florida Horse Park, 11008 S Highway 475, Ocala

All Day

The Fox Hollow Pony Club hosts this dressage show designed for members to learn the basics of riding tests, showing and good horsemanship. The Florida Horse offers ample parking and multiple dressage rings. Bring your own chairs. For more info, flhorsepark.com

JANUARY 27 & FEBRUARY 3

Marion County Friday Market

McPherson Governmental Campus Field, 601 SE 25th

Ave., Ocala

9am-2pm

Shop locally fresh fruits and veggies, baked goods, jerky, freeze-dried treats, olive oils, seafood and more; recurs every Friday.

JANUARY 28 & FEBRUARY 4

Yoga in the Park

Sholom Park, 7110 SW 80th Ave., Ocala

9am Sholom Park hosts free yoga classes for all at the stage area; recurs every Saturday morning. Visit sholompark.org for details.

JANUARY 28 & FEBRUARY 4

Ocala Farmers Market

Ocala Downtown Market, 310 SE Third St., Ocala

9am-2pm

A variety of vendors offer local fruits and vegetables, meats and seafood, fresh pasta, honey, jewelry, baked goodies, and arts and crafts. Check out some local food trucks and the occasional guest entertainer. Rain or shine; recurs every Saturday. Visit ocaladowntownmarket.com for more info.

JANUARY 28 & FEBRUARY 4

Farmers Swap Meet

Rural King, 2999 NW 10th St., Ocala

9am-2pm

A true farmers swap meet where chickens, ducks, quail, geese, goats, turkeys, rabbits and sometimes even ponies are available, along with horse tack, home-grown plants, produce and hand-crafted items. Booth types vary with occasional meat vendors, food trucks and other goods. Saturdays, weather permitting.

JANUARY 28

Grumble’s House Maker’s Market

Grumble’s House Antiques & Garden Shop, 20799 Walnut St., Dunnellon

9am-4pm

With live music sets from harpist Terry Miller and guitarist Barry Denham, browse among the dozens of consignments vendors and pop-up tents at this lively event. Homemade, handmade and locally created artwork, soaps, flowers, yard art, jewelry, food items, crafts and more. See grumbleshouseantiques.com/event/makersmarket/ for more info.

JANUARY 28

Dunnellon Duck Race

Swampy’s Restaurant, 19773 E Pennsylvania Ave., Dunnellon

9am-12pm

“Adopt” a duck for this race on the Rainbow River and get a prize if your duck wins! Prizes include a two-night stay at the Guy Harvey Resort, gift baskets and cash. Proceeds benefit the Greater Dunnellon Historical Society, Believe in Santa Foundation, Family Hope Resource and Pregnancy Center and the Wil-Power Foundation. Adoption fees range from $25-$265 for a “quacker’s dozen.”

For more info, dunnellonchamber.com

JANUARY 28-29

Ocala Camellia Festival

Fort King Presbyterian Church, 13 NE 36th Ave Ocala

Saturday 10am-4pm; Sunday 1pm-4pm Club members will show off flowers and provide educational information. Camellia plants especially suited to this area will be for sale. Free to attend. For more info, facebook.com/ pages/category/community/Ocala-CamelliaSociety-100719056688048/

JANUARY 28-29

Ocala Home Show

World Equestrian Center, Expo 21390 NW 80th Ave.,

Ocala

Saturday 10am-5pm; Sunday 10am-4pm Free admission and parking, with lots of home improvements options for outdoor spaces, interior design, landscaping and more. A chef will present recipes and kitchen tips. For more info, ocalahomeshow.com

JANUARY 28-29

Six Gun Territory Wild West Weekend and Reunion

Kirby Family Farm, 19660 NE 30th St., Williston 10am-4pm

Get a feel for the days of the Wild West with this festival, which includes a train ride that “might be robbed” organizers say, dancers and performers,

the Shepherd Family Band, the chance to meet original Six Gun Gunfighters and Can-Can dancers, and food options. There’s also a playground for the kids, a carousel and wagon rides. Tickets in advance are $16 for adults and youth age 10 and older; $11 for ages 3-9. Free parking. For more info, kirbyfarm.com

JANUARY 29 & FEBRUARY 5

Ocala Polo Club Winter Games

Florida Horse Park, 11008 South Highway 475, Ocala

1pm

Polo matches takes place every Sunday through March. Bring your chairs, blankets and snacks. Tents are available for rent. Decorate your tent/ tailgate area, and you might win a prize. Leashed dogs are welcome. For more information, visit ocalapolo.com

FEBRUARY 2

Farmers Market

The Town Square at Circle Square Commons, 8405 SW 80th St., Ocala

9am-1pm

Large selection of fresh seasonal produce from local growers as well as baked goods, plants, handmade soaps and more; recurs every Thursday. Visit circlesquarecommons.com for more info.

FEBRUARY 3

Elvis & Friends

Circle Square Cultural Center, 8395 SW 80th St., Ocala

6:30pm

Local, award-winning Elvis tribute artist, musician and singer Cote Deonath headlines an energetic tribute to the King of Rock ‘n Roll, with other artists paying tribute to Buddy Holly, the Blues Brothers and Frank Sinatra. The show is a benefit for Habitat for Humanity of Marion County and includes a classic car display. Tickets are $15-$100. See habitatocala.org/elvisconcert for more info or csculturalcenter.com/events/elvis-and-friends

FEBRUARY 3

First Friday Art Walk

Downtown Ocala Square, 1 SE Broadway St., Ocala

6pm-9pm

The monthly event features artists, performers and craftspeople all around the downtown square. There will be art displays and activities, along with entertainers on the gazebo stage and on the street. Free to attend. For more info, ocalafl.org

FEBRUARY 3-5

AdventHealth Grandview

International Draft Horse Show Florida Horse Park, 11008 S Highway 475, Ocala

Classes start at 12pm

This annual show brings the thunder to the

horse show world as Belgians, Percherons and Clydesdales show off their high-stepping power in a variety of classes, from single ladies’ cart to six-horse hitches. Tickets start at $20 online with free parking, are $25 on the day of the event and VIP packages are available. See grandviewinvitational.com for more info.

FEBRUARY 4

First Saturdays Market in the Park Ernie Mills Park, 11899 Bostick St., Dunnellon 8am-2pm Vendors set up booths at the park and many stores offer Saturday Specials. You can pick up a map at participating merchants.

FEBRUARY 4

Free First Saturday

Appleton Museum, 4337 E Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala 10am-5pm You can view museum works, regular and special collections, and create your own art in the interactive Artspace. Papere Joe’s Chowder Wagon will be onsite 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. At 11 a.m., take a tour of the special exhibition “Pre Post Poetic” with Debora Greger. At 2 p.m., educator, author and photographer Cynthia Wilson-Graham will give a talk on the successes and contributions of local, underrepresented African Americans. See appletonmuseum.org for more info.

FEBRUARY 4

MTRA Hearts & Horses Gala CF Vintage Farm, 4020 SE 3rd Ave., Ocala 6pm-10pm Dancing, dinner, live music, an art show and silent auction will help support the Marion Therapeutic Riding Association and its 40 years of providing equine-assisted learning and horseback riding to children and adults with physical, emotional and cognitive challenges. Tickets are $125, and VIP tables are available. For more info, call Jenna Rovira at (352) 732-7300 or email development@mtraocala.org

FEBRUARY 4

First Saturday Markets at Homestead Park

Homestead Park, 1050 NE 6th Blvd., Williston 9am-1pm

Vendors set up booths under the covered pavilion. Shop local, organic, fresh and handmade items. The market also hosts an axethrowing venue, cornhole tournaments, food and drink options and monthly cruise-ins. For more info, see homesteadpark.com

JANUARY 30 & FEBRUARY 6

Marion County Development Review Committee

Office of the County Engineer, 412 SE 25th Ave., Building 1, Ocala

9am

The first step for new development projects, the committee reviews and votes on waiver requests to the Land Development Code, major site plans and subdivision plans. Meets weekly on Mondays; agendas are usually posted the Friday prior. Agendas, minutes and video available at marionfl.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx

civic

JANUARY 27 & FEBRUARY 3

Chess Club at Freedom Library

Freedom Public Library, 5870 SW 95th St., Ocala

10am-12pm

Meets weekly on Fridays; new members welcome. Please bring your own chess set. For more info, Walt Lamp at (352) 854-9378.

JANUARY 27 & FEBRUARY 3

Kiwanis Club of Ocala

Knights of Columbus Building at Blessed Trinity Catholic Church, 1510 SE 3rd Ave., Ocala

12pm

Meets weekly on Fridays. Supports Camp Kiwanis, children’s literacy

arts

JANUARY 27

Bogolanfin! Mud Cloth Melodies

NOMA Gallery, 939 N Magnolia Ave., Ocala

6pm-7:30pm

The duo of Fred Johnson and Don Johnson combine performing and storytelling arts along with percussion and melodies to create a unique evening of African music, spoken word performance and community. Tickets are $10 through Eventbrite.

THROUGH FEBRUARY 5

“Into the Breeches”

Ocala Civic Theatre, 4337 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala

Show times vary; check website

Set in WWII, the story is about an all-female cast that takes on Shakespeare plays and is an inspiring dramatic comedy set in 1942 Ocala. Tickets start at $30 for adults and $15 for ages 18 and younger. See ocalacivictheatre.com for more info.

JANUARY 28-APRIL 9

Focus on the Essence Appleton Museum of Art, 4333 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala

Tues-Sat; 10am-5pm; Sunday 12pm-5pm

The photography of Anne Noggle came from a donation to the museum and highlights self-

JANUARY 30

Marion County Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting

McPherson Governmental Campus Auditorium, 601 SE 25th Ave., Ocala

5:30pm

Meets on the last Monday of the month. Agendas are usually posted the Thursday prior. Agendas, minutes and video available at marionfl.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx

and Habitat for Humanity. More info at ocalakiwanis.org

FEBRUARY 1

General Francis Marion Stamp Club

Public Library Headquarters, Room B, 2720 E Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala

1pm

Meets the first and third Wednesday of each month; newcomers welcome. For more info, elliotn27@aol.com

FEBRUARY 1

VFW Wednesday Dinners Angela S. Santos FVW Post 4781, 9401 SW 110th St., Ocala

portraits and those of her friends and family. Her photos are known for their composition and exquisite lighting. For more info, appletonmuseum.org

JANUARY 31

Ira Holmes International Film Series: “Parasite” College of Central Florida, Bldg. 8, Room 110, 3001 SW College Road, Ocala

7pm This is the story of an uneasy relationship between a family and its servants. Called a “pitch-black modern fairytale,” it’s a film that is part of the new wave of psychological thrillers. Free to attend. For more info, CF.edu/filmseries

THROUGH JANUARY 31

Colorful Pleasures by Christine

Dozier

Ocala International Airport, 5770 SW 60th Ave., Ocala

Hours vary per airport operations Dozier exhibits a variety of work including landscapes, abstracts, still life and animal portraits as part of the City of Ocala Art in City Spaces program. For more info, visit ocalafl.org/ artincityspaces

THROUGH MARCH

31

4:30pm-6:30pm The post offers weekly dinners for about $5-$7 with a variable menu. The dining room is open to the public, meals are prepped by VFW Auxiliary volunteers and proceeds benefit veterans in Marion County. Call (352) 873-4781.

FEBRUARY 2

Ocala Lions Club

Ocala Golf Club, 3130 E Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala

12pm

Meets weekly on Thursdays; newcomers welcome. The club supports vision health and diabetes prevention. More info at e-clubhouse.org/sites/ocalafl

Long Legs & Fragility by Cara Van Leuven City Hall, 110 SE Watula Ave., Ocala

Mon-Fri, 8am-5pm Van Leuven paints horses full-time and uses her experience as a carriage driver for inspiration. Free to the public during business hours. For more info, see ocalafl.org/artincityspaces

THROUGH MAY 21

Big & Bold Appleton Museum of Art, 4333 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala Tues-Sat; 10am-5pm; Sunday 12pm-5pm The museum goes big with large pieces of art in this collection, including historical, modern and contemporary art pieces. Works include a 10’ x 4’ painting by Valenkamph and Snyder’s “Florida Pink Ignition,” which is almost 7’ x 7’. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and $5 for youths. For more info, appletonmuseum.org

THROUGH MAY 25

Revolutionized Textile & Fiber

Mary Sue Rich Community Center at Reed Place, 1821 NW 21st Ave., Ocala

Daily when center is open Artist Ingrid Humphrey, a native Floridian, has her

handmade dolls and tapestries on exhibit, which portray the sisterhood of women of color all over the world. Free to the public. For more info, ocalafl.org/artincityspaces

THROUGH JUNE 9

Blessed Be the Birds

City Clerk’s Office, 110 SE Watula Ave., Ocala

Mon-Fri; 8am-5pm

Part of the Art in City Spaces program, Courtney Kravig-McGuire is a local artist with a special interest in showing the connection between nature and spirituality in her works. Her medium of choice is printmaking. Visit ocalafl.org/ artincityspaces

THROUGH JUNE 18

Paper Thin & Shadow Deep Appleton Museum of Art, 4333 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala

Tues-Sat; 10am-5pm; Sunday 12pm-5pm

The artworks from Hiromi Mizugai Moneyhun are three-dimensional cut paper pieces that feel both lighthearted and alive. Moneyhun’s style combines traditional Japanese art forms along with modern elements from today’s Japan. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and $5 for youths. For more info, appletonmuseum.org

What is the benefit of cochlear implants over hearing aids?

By Joseph Breen, M.D. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I’m 70 years old and have worn hearing aids for about a decade. Over the past several years, my hearing seems to be getting worse. Although I have tried several different kinds of hearing aids, I feel as if they are not effective any longer. A friend suggested I ask an audiologist about cochlear implants. I thought those were just for people who are deaf. Could a cochlear implant help someone like me? How does it work?

ANSWER: A cochlear implant could be a good alternative to hearing aids in your situation. It’s true that when they were introduced in the 1980s, cochlear implants mainly were used for people who had complete hearing loss. Today, however, they often are used to help people who have more advanced hearing loss that cannot be corrected with hearing aids.

Your ear has three areas: the outer, middle and inner ear. Sound waves pass through the outer ear and cause the eardrum to vibrate. The eardrum and three small bones of the middle ear transmit the vibrations as they travel to the inner ear. Within the inner ear, the vibrations pass through fluid in a snail-shaped structure, called the cochlea.

Inside the cochlea are thousands of tiny sensors, called hair cells, that turn the vibrations into electrical signals that are sent to your brain through your auditory nerve. The vibrations of different sounds affect these tiny hairs in different ways, causing the nerve cells to send different signals to your brain. That’s how you distinguish one sound from another.

In most people who develop hearing loss, the hair cells in the cochlea are damaged or missing, usually due to aging, exposure to loud noise or for genetic reasons. That means the electrical signals can’t be transmitted efficiently to the brain, and the result is hearing loss. A cochlear implant replaces the function of the hair cells by sending electrical signals directly to the hearing nerve and giving the brain the ability to perceive sound once again.

The implant has two main pieces: an external processor that fits behind your ear and an internal receiver implanted under the skin behind your ear. The processor captures and processes sound signals and then sends those signals to the receiver. The

receiver sends the signals to tiny electrodes that are placed directly into the cochlea when the device is implanted. Those signals are received by the auditory nerve and directed to your brain, and your brain interprets those signals as sound. All parts of a cochlear implant are small, and the processor that fits behind your ear looks similar to a hearing aid. Because of the small size of these devices, they are relatively inconspicuous, particularly in people with long hair.

Cochlear implantation requires a consultation with an otolaryngology surgeon who would perform a relatively short outpatient surgical procedure. A small incision is made behind the ear to insert the device. Most people experience little discomfort from the surgery, and its overall risk is low.

Once a patient has had a chance to heal -- usually several weeks after surgery -- an audiologist connects the processor to the implant for the first time. The patient should be able to hear immediately, but many cochlear implant users report that they needed to adjust to the sounds that they hear with their implant. This adjustment process often takes at least six months, with many patients reporting that the sound quality and their ability to understand speech continue to improve for a year or more.

Cochlear implants are a well-established technology. At first, physicians and researchers only recommended them for people who had total hearing loss. Over the years, though, research has shown that cochlear implants can be useful for people who still have some hearing or who have useful hearing in only one ear. They can be particularly helpful for people who have difficulty understanding speech in everyday listening situations, despite using good hearing aids.

Talk to a health care professional who specializes in hearing loss to find out if you would be a good candidate for a cochlear implant. Most people who receive a cochlear implant find that they can communicate better with the people around them, and more fully participate in conversations and other daily activities that require the ability to hear clearly.

-- Joseph Breen, M.D., Otolaryngology -- Head and Neck Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida

& &music nightlife

JANUARY 27

Courtyard Jams

MCA Courtyard

23 W Broadway St., Ocala

6-9pm Music, dancing, drumming, poetry and limbo. Free to all, Friday nights weekly.

JANUARY 27

Austin Hunter Homestead Park

1050 NE 6th Blvd., Williston

6-9pm

Live music, line dancing, food and drink.

JANUARY 27

Fareeza

Crazy Cucumber Market Street at Heath Brook, 4414 SW College Road, Ocala

6:30pm-9:30pm Live acoustic music, food and drink.

JANUARY 27

Mark Zak

The Yellow Pony World Equestrian Center Ocala, 1390 NW 80th Ave., Ocala

6-9pm Dinner, drinks and entertainment.

JANUARY 28

JR Lewis

The Yellow Pony World Equestrian Center Ocala, 1390 NW 80th Ave., Ocala

6-9pm

JANUARY 28

Jeff Jarrett Homestead Park 1050 NE 6th Blvd., Williston

6-9pm

JANUARY 28

Salsa Night

Crazy Cucumber Market Street at Heath Brook, 4414 SW College Road, Ocala

10pm-2am Salsa, merengue and bachata, $5 cover charge.

JANUARY 29

Noah Hunton Crazy Cucumber Market Street at Heath Brook, 4414 SW College Road, Ocala

FEBRUARY 1

FEBRUARY 2

Zay and Tae show lead Forest to close win over Lake Weir

Karsen Steinbarger as he hit a threepointer from the left side. On the following possession, Kiner dropped in an easy layup as Richard found him wide open in the paint.

McCoy answered with his third three-pointer to tie the game with four minutes left in the third quarter. The junior point guard scored 12 of his 25 points in the third quarter.

“He was huge for us. We’ve been asking him to carry the load and he has struggled at times, but tonight he took over in the third quarter and it became the Zay show. It was good to see him have success and be fired up. He’s been such a great leader and floor general for us and I couldn’t ask for a better guy to have on my side,” said Forest head coach Mike Hoffmann.

and play the right way, we can compete with anyone,” Riley said.

Kiner echoed the sentiment of his head coach and felt the loss would give Lake Weir confidence moving forward.

“This proves we can hang with any team we play against,” Kiner said.

The junior guard led Lake Weir with 16 points, four threepointers and contributed with seven rebounds and four steals.

Other players of note for Lake Weir include Gimenez (14 points, four steals and three assists), Richard (13 points, nine rebounds and two steals) and Young (eight points, three rebounds).

FEBRUARY 3

Adam Rountree Homestead Park 1050 NE 6th Blvd., Williston

6-9pm

FEBRUARY 4

Tim McCaig

The Yellow Pony World Equestrian Center Ocala, 1390 NW 80th Ave., Ocala

6-9pm

FEBRUARY 4

Silent Disco with DJ Lex Live Homestead Park 1050 NE 6th Blvd., Williston

6-9pm

Captain Rob Silver River

By Allen Barney allen@ocalagazette.com

Xzavion McCoy led the Forest Wildcats (14-6) to a hard-fought 74-66 win over their nearby rival, the Lake Weir Hurricanes (4-10), on Jan. 18.

The junior guard scored a game-high 25 points and senior Tae Floyd backed up McCoy with 19 points and nine rebounds.

“We came out flat. We should have came out stronger, but we came out with the win. I’m happy for my teammates,” McCoy said.

The close loss for Lake Weir was hard for head coach Freddie Riley and his team.

“It’s a tough loss for us. I know how bad the kids wanted it, especially my seniors. It’s an eight-point loss, but it hurts a lot because we had a big lead in the first half. We just didn’t put the full game together,” Riley said.

Lake Weir had a 15-5 lead after three minutes of play. The key to the hot start was Amari Kiner and Amar Young combining for three three-pointers. Alcarlos Richard, Jordan Gimenez and Tylique Christie all scored in the opening quarter as well.

Floyd scored the first seven points of the night for Forest and Matt Daniels drained two three-pointers in the first period. Forest closed the opening period with a 13-10 run to bring the deficit to seven points.

Daniels and Anthony Rivera both hit threes in the first two minutes of the second quarter to get their team within three, but then Lake Weir’s John Smith knocked down a triple from the right corner.

McCoy scored nine points in the last three minutes of the first half, including a triple from left side. For Lake Weir, Kiner buried another triple from the right side before Tylique Christie heaved a perfectlyplaced full court pass to Gimenez for an easy transition layup to keep the Hurricanes up by one with 90 seconds left in the first half.

McCoy nabbed a steal on defense and found an open Floyd, who scored on a monster one-handed slam dunk that brought the crowd to a fever pitch.

Gimenez sank a smooth 11-foot jumper with 20 seconds left to bring Lake Weir within one point heading into halftime.

Coming out of the break, Lake Weir took the lead on a layup from John Smith, but McCoy answered with a triple from the left side to give Forest the lead.

With 5:16 left to in the third quarter and trailing by four, Forest got a big boost from

Despite McCoy’s efforts, Lake Weir did not give in to the pressure as Kiner and Christie knocked down three-pointers to pull the Hurricanes within three, until Trashawn Warren sank a threepointer from the top of key as time expired in the third quarter.

“It’s been awesome to watch him grow all year. Practices hard every single day and hasn’t got a ton of minutes this season, but in the last week or two he has gotten more minutes and you love to see that out of a kid by not giving up,” Hoffmann said.

Forest carried a six-point lead and the momentum into the final period and Steinbarger scorched the net from downtown in the opening minute of the period. Richard and Christie scored on back-to-back possessions for Lake Weir before Floyd stepped up in a huge way with five points over the span of 40 seconds to put Forest up by 11.

Kiner and Gimenez both drained three-pointers to bring the deficit to six before Steinbarger stole a pass at half court and hit both of his free throws with 25 seconds to go to seal the win for Forest.

A somber Riley said he was happy with the way his team fought against a good team but wants to see his squad put together a complete game.

“When we play hard, play smart

Along with his 25 points, McCoy also grabbed seven rebound and four steals. Daniels finished with 11 points and five rebounds while Rivera and Steinbarger scored eight points apiece.

Hoffmann said he was pleased with the win, but things need to be worked on for the defensive side as the season rolls on.

“When you put up 70-plus points, I’m always going to be happy with that, but defense has to be better. They came out and scored and shot the ball well, so credit to them. If we want to accomplish our goal of a district championship, we have to be better defensively,” Hoffmann said.

Along your excursion look for alligators, birds, manatees, monkeys and more. Bring your camera! Something for all to see and remember!

Book online or

Forest’s Tae Floyd (4) looks for a way to the hoop as he is fouled by Lake Weir’s Alcarlos Richard (34) during a basketball game at Lake Weir High School in Candler on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023.

Lake Weir’s Amari Kiner (10) grabs a rebound away from Forest’s Xavier Kirkpatrick (10).

Forest’s Zay McCoy (0) drives to the basket past Lake Weir’s Amar Young (32) and John Smith (24).

Photos By Bruce Ackerman Ocala Gazette

Forest relies on suffocating defense and opportunistic offense to beat Vanguard

the net but missed high by less than a foot.

Sophomore Rylynn Robinson scored her second goal of the season late in the second half. Robinson showed great ball control coming down the right sideline and nailed it in from 35 yards away and just above the fingertips of Meccia to give Forest a 2-0 lead they would not relinquish.

Vanguard had back-to-back losses following a 14-1-1 start to the season. Key players such as leading goal scorer Marleigh Martinez and fellow starter Jenna Walker were out with injuries.

“It’s been difficult; had to move a lot of pieces around and the last week has been tough. We’ve done a good job overcoming the injuries, just tonight was too much. Forest played well and we didn’t play as well,” said Vanguard head coach Jay Fratello.

The injuries may be a blessing in disguise as new players are taking on bigger roles as postseason play starts.

Menadier said. With district tournaments starting, Menadier hoped to see her team carry over the momentum from the win.

By Allen Barney allen@ocalagazette.com

The Forest Wildcats (11-4-2) and Vanguard Knights (14-31) girls’ soccer teams locked horns on Jan. 19 at Booster Stadium in a battle of the team with the two best records in Marion County.

Forest went into attack mode in the opening minutes and junior Caroline Cook quickly attacked the goal on a breakaway. Cook’s kick deflected off Vanguard goalie Gianna Meccia and into the net to give Forest an early 1-0 lead.

It was Cook’s seventh goal of the season, which put her into a tie with Jenna Maiorino for the team lead.

Vanguard had an opportunity

to tie in the 27th minute on a free kick by Amanda Egan but Forest goalie Summer Smith came up with a fantastic diving save to keep the Knights off the scoreboard.

Janellie Castillo had an open opportunity to give Forest a two-goal lead but her shot on goal missed wide right. Vanguard started to play more aggressively on offense in the second half and had three good opportunities to score but fell short.

Egan had an open look from the right side but her shot missed just wide left of the net. Following a steal on defense, Vanguard’s Ruby Scott had a breakaway run but her pass went too wide to the left and killed the momentum.

Egan got one more chance on a free kick about 25 yards from

“We have three freshman (Addison Fratello, Ashlyn Wan and Ruby Scott) and they’ll have to step up. We’re so deep into the season that they are not really freshman anymore, so it’s time step up and show us what you got. I have confidence in them, and we will be okay,” Fratello said.

Despite relentless effort from Vanguard’s forwards, Forest’s defense continued its stingy play in the shutout win, their 10th victory of the season.

Forest head coach Stacie Menadier credited the defensive play of her team as being the key to victory.

“Our backline plays smart, fast and have good technique, so it’s going to take a lot to break them down. They’re fit, strong, physical, and they played phenomenal tonight. It was just an all-around team effort,”

Wolf Pack races past Rattlers

By Mark Pinson Special to the Ocala Gazette

West Port senior guard Mia

Lake scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Wolf Pack to a 60-29 win over Belleview on Jan. 23.

The win, which snapped a twogame losing streak, improved Class 7A West Port, which had three players in double figures, to 17-5 on the season.

“After the schedule we played over the weekend (Winter Haven and Jacksonville Bolles), two of the best programs in the state, we came out and played very well tonight,” said Wolf Pack coach Corey Rollerson. “Playing those elite teams helps us prepare for the district tournament that’s coming

up. Every game that we have balanced scoring we win and hopefully we can continue having three or four players score in double figures because that makes us tough to defend.”

The loss dropped Class 5A Belleview, which saw a three-game winning streak come to an end, to 9-10 overall.

“West Port showed why they and possibly Trinity Catholic are the best teams in the county,” said Rattlers coach Gary Greer. “West Port played great and we’re glad to get a chance to compete against them. We knew this was going to be a tough matchup for us, but it will help us prepare for next week’s district tournament because there’s no team as good as West Port

in our district.”

West Port, which likes to run and plays an up-tempo game, came out firing on all cylinders as junior center Ciarra Lake scored four of her 10 points in the paint and Mia Lake poured in 10 points to give the Wolf Pack a 20-3 lead heading to the second period.

Belleview, which had 23 turnovers against the swarming pressure defense of West Port, tried to mount a rally as sophomore Aaliyah Grant, who transferred from West Port, scored five of her team-high 15 points and sophomore center Aaliyah Armbrister added five points in the paint to pull the Rattlers within 39-13 at the half.

West Port extended its lead in the third quarter as Mia Lake scored six points on strong drives to the basket and Mileyka Mercado drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing to make it a 35-point advantage. A running clock was used for the remainder of the contest. Despite the large deficit, Belleview continued to play hard as Briyanna Miles scored seven points and Grant, who also pulled down 11 rebounds, added five points.

West Port’s Calise Smith scored four of her 10 points in the final stanza as the Wolf Pack cruised to the victory.

West Port plays in a strong district where the Wolf Pack are currently in third place heading into the upcoming district tournament.

“We’ve got to stay healthy and play our game to be successful in the district tournament,” coach Rollerson said. “We’ve been playing good defense all season, that’s got to continue as well, and we have to cut down on our turnovers.”

“I think we can win the district tournament,” coach Greer said. “We can compete with any team in the district if we play well, stay healthy and keep our turnovers down.”

Forest’s Meghan Butscher (16) and Vanguard’s Julia Richard (16) battle for the ball during a soccer match at Booster Stadium in Ocala on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023.

I have confidence in them, and we will be okay.”

Jay Fratello

Vanguard head coach

Photos By Bruce Ackerman Ocala Gazette

Forest’s Camden Collins (13) and Vanguard’s Kacey Williams (13) battle for the ball.

Forest’s Kania Dean (2) heads the ball past Vanguard’s Amanda Egan (12).

Photos By Bruce Ackerman Ocala Gazette

West Port’s Mia Lake (4) shoots for 2 as she is defended by Belleview’s Zakiya Scruggs (4).

West Port’s Jasondra Sims (10) takes the ball away from Belleview’s Briyanna Miles (2) as they battle for a loose ball.

“Playing those elite teams helps us prepare for the district tournament that’s coming up.”

Corey

Rollerson West Port coach

GIRLS’ SOCCER SCORES

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL SCORES