Ocala Gazette | June 14 - June 20, 2024

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School board debates next steps after investigation into high school construction bid

By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com

The Marion County School Board is debating sending the findings of an investigation to the governor for further review and potential

Arrest made in Feb. 20 crash that left Ocala couple dead

By Jennifer Hunt Murty jennifer@ocalagazette.com

Alocal 17-year-old male has been arrested in connection with a Feb. 20 crash that claimed the lives of an Ocala couple— Spencer Holden, 30, and his wife, Samantha, 35—according to the Ocala Police Department.

The teen, whose identity is not being published by the “Gazette” because he is a minor, was arrested Tuesday on two counts each of DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide and three counts of DUI property damage, according to an OPD press release. The injured teen’s blood-alcohol level was reportedly .188, more than twice the level at which a person is legally considered intoxicated, when it was tested upon his arrival at the hospital, according to OPD.

The delay in the teen’s arrest was attributed to “obtaining search warrants and working with FDLE (the Florida Department of Law Enforcement) to process and analyze evidence, (which) takes time,” according to a OPD spokesperson.

According to a media release, when OPD officers arrived on the scene of the 8:30 p.m. crash in the 1300 block of Southeast 36th Avenue, “The couple’s car was fully engulfed in flames, which Ocala Fire Rescue extinguished. The man was ejected from the vehicle, while the woman was trapped inside. Both were declared deceased at the scene.” OFR station 2 was less than a mile away from the accident. However, public records reflect a delay in OFR being dispatched 3 minutes and 28 seconds after the location had been identified. The OFR engine containing water to fight the fiery crash did not arrive on the scene until 7 minutes and 44 seconds after the crash site was identified.

Marion County Fire Rescue ambulance was dispatched at least one minute before OFR was, and their ambulance was first on the scene. The couple had already been declared deceased; however, MCFR

See Crash, page A4

disciplinary action after the findings showed undue influence and policy violations during the process of choosing a construction manager for the new high school project.

After allegations of tampering with the procurement process made against

School Board Member Sarah James and members of Ausley Construction were confirmed to be true, the school board asked a consultant to recommend options for proceeding with awarding the bid for the high school. Given that the investigation found misconduct, including

threats made by James and by Ausley Construction toward school district employees, the board has the option of sending the findings to Gov. Ron DeSantis for further review, as the board has done for misconduct allegations in the past.

Two bears trapped in Ocala

The juvenile bears, which were rummaging around residential neighborhoods, have been released into the Ocala National Forest.

By Andy Fillmore andy@ocalagazette.com

Two juvenile bears were recently trapped in a residential neighborhood close to the duck pond on Southeast 17th Street by members of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Bear Management Program and relocated to the Ocala National Forest.

The two cases of capture and relocate came during a recent rash of bear sightings and encounters around Ocala. Publix glazed donuts and cherry turnovers were used as bait in at least one of the FWC trappings.

Jeffrey Walczak, public information officer with the Ocala Police Department, stated in a June 10 email that OPD had received 11,911 calls in the last two weeks about bear sightings, although OPD “rarely” gets 911 calls regarding bears and that typically bear calls go to FWC. Kristen Turner, public information director for the FWC Northeast Region, confirmed in an email that the first bear,

West Central Girl Scouts earn Gold Awards

Two Marion County girls were among the 28 honorees.

By Susan Smiley-Height susan@magnoliamediaco.com

Two Marion County girls were honored, along with 26 other young women, during the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida’s annual Gold Award Ceremony on June 8.

Emilie Youmans and Kameryn Knowles, both 2024 graduates of West Port High School, were recognized for projects that will help create a significant and sustainable positive change in their community.

The Gold Award is the highest achievement a Girl Scout can earn. Gold Award Girl Scouts address the root

cause of a problem, plan and implement innovative solutions to drive change and lead a team of people to success, noted the news release.

Provided materials noted that Kameryn’s “Beat the Heat” project aimed to combat sudden heat-related illnesses, such as heat stroke, which is the third most common cause of death in student athletes. After witnessing the severity of heat-related illnesses firsthand, she developed Keep Cool Kits that contained items such as instant ice packs, hydration drink mixes, water and sunscreen to provide tools to manage heat-related emergencies. She created a website that housed all project materials, including a video presentation, a Keep Cool Kit item checklist, a downloadable PDF brochure and information about heat-related illnesses and ways to prevent them.

Emilie’s “Using Your Senses: A Therapeutic Trail” project advocated for autistic children and young adults as she partnered with the Marion Therapeutic Riding Association to create a sensory trail for students, the materials stated. Engaging children with autism in sensory activities

From left, Girl Scouts of West Central Florida Board President Cami Gibertini, Emilie Youmans

Kameryn Knowles [Photo courtesy

Gold Award

Continued from page A1 had benefits including helping stimulate the brain, creating neutral pathways and improving sensory processing systems, improving social skills and improving coordination and fine motor skills. The sensory trail allowed students to immerse themselves in a sensory experience with different ways to use their five senses. Emilie created Instagram and Facebook pages to spread her project’s message, share information about the trail, post updates on the

Bears

building process and educate people about sensory immersion among autistic individuals. The trail is now a permanent fixture at the MTRA facility and will benefit students for years to come. The 2024 Gold Award Girl Scouts in West Central Florida invested more than 2,500 combined hours in planning and implementing projects throughout the council’s eight-county footprint and beyond.

“It is so energizing to see the array of societal issues and causes that our Gold Award Girl Scouts

focused on this year,” said GSWCF Chief Executive Officer Mary Pat King in the news release. “Through their projects, Gold Award Girl Scouts gain tangible leadership skills such as critical thinking, creative problem-solving, teambuilding and effective communication. These are critical skills for success in higher education, military and careers spanning all industries.”

To learn more, go to gswcf.org

Continued from page A1

a female juvenile, was trapped and released on Sunday, June 9, but the exact location in which it was trapped was not given.

Turner said young bears, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 years of age, often leave mama bear in spring to establish their own home base and again move about in fall seeking food to bulk up for hibernation. She said female bears may roam a territory from 10 miles to 25 miles and a male from 50 to 120 miles.

On Thursday, June 6, former Ocala mayor Gerald Ergle recently had his first bear sighting at the northeast Ocala home he has lived in since 1964. Ergle speculated that the bear he saw meandering around his property around 12:30 p.m. on June 6 may have been seeking food.

“The bear came across from my neighbor’s property and walked into our yard,” said Ergle, who lives in the 3600 block of Southeast 12th Terrace.

He described the bear as “young,” perhaps just over 2 years old, and standing about 30 inches tall at the shoulders. Ergle said no development is underway in his established neighborhood but there is an adjacent wooded area. He said residents of the nearby Crestwood subdivision have had bear encounters.

“My neighbor called the game commission (and) she said they told her just to let him go and he would move on,” Ergle wrote in a text about the recent encounter.

“Seeing a bear in a neighborhood is not necessarily cause for alarm. However, it is important that residents secure food attractants so that bears do not linger in the area. If a bear is not able to find food and is given space, it will move on. Feeding bears can make them lose their natural fear of people,” Turner wrote.

Wendy and Chris Davy have lived in their house on Southeast 16th Street, just west of 14th Avenue and a block north of the Ritterhoff Park duck pond, for four years. They had their first bear experience there over the last few days, including the trapping of the second bear in their backyard by FWC officials.

Wendy Davy said the first bear was trapped about two blocks from her home on Saturday, June 8. The bear scaled and bent a chain link fence, broke through screening and hauled a new bag of sealed dry dog food into their backyard. It also ate some shiners from a bait tank kept outside by Chris Davy, a fishing charter boat captain.

By 8 p.m., the sweet treat bait had attracted bear number two, according to a text from Wendy Davy, who described the bear as a male juvenile that was “calm” until caught.

“He literally went in and out of the cage five times, grabbed donuts and laid on the ground and ate them. We watched for about an hour from our porch then he finally tripped it to close. FWC came back and took him for relocating,” she wrote.

The FWC provides a five-year mapping of bear sightings with some posts that include photos or videos of the encounter at app.myfwc.com/fwri/blackbear/locations

The 2024 Marion County sightings include March 3 in the vicinity of County Road 326 and Baseline Road, March 19 near Ocklawaha, May 3 in Marion Oaks and June 3 and 4 in vicinity of Southwest 80th Street. Multiple sightings over the five year period are seen in red, including southeast and southwest Marion County and the Ocala National Forest area.

FWC literature lists three levels of bear behavior: normal, for example when bears are at a distance; concerning, which may be seen when bears are eating or protecting their cubs; and threatening, such as in cases when a bear approaches people or enters a building.

People should maintain safe distances and never approach a bear in cases of normal behavior and in cases of concerning or threatening behavior find a safe place and call the FWC Alert Hotline at 888-404-3922 or text #FWC or *FWC on mobile devices. In cases of emergency, call 911.

The FWC site at myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/ wildlife/bear details human and bear interaction.

“Bears are wild animals and must be respected. Even though they are typically quiet and shy animals, they have the potential to seriously harm or kill people,” the site states.

“If a bear feels threatened, they may clack their teeth together (youtube.com/watch?v=UdcEyLAsMyU) moan, blow, huff, or stomp the ground. They may bluff charge (run toward you and then stop before reaching you). These are all ways the bear is showing you it is as uncomfortable with the situation and it wants you to give it some space,” according to the website.

The website also states if you see a bear from a distance “enjoy the experience” but if your presence changes the bear’s behavior, you are too close.” If you should have a close encounter with a bear the FWC website lists these recommendations:

• Remain standing upright

• Speak to the bear in a calm, assertive voice Back up slowly toward a secure area, be sure you are leaving the bear a clear escape route

• Avoid direct eye contact - bears and other animals may view this as aggressive behavior

• Stop and hold your ground if your movement away seems to irritate instead of calm the bear

DO NOT:

On Monday, June 10, around 3 p.m., FWC Bear biologist Paige Park and Marion County-based FWC officers Wade Constance, Cody Lambert and Lauren Dickson placed a roughly 4-foot by 8-foot cage trap, designed to close when a bear ambles inside to grab the bait, in a corner of the Davys’ backyard, along with a motion operated camera.

• Make any sudden or abrupt movements

• Run - running can trigger a chase instinct and bears can sprint up to 35 mph

Play dead - black bears eat things that play dead or are dead

• Climb a tree - black bears can climb 100 feet up a tree in 30 seconds

Approach or surprise a bear, especially one that may be injured

The FWC does recommend if you are attacked to “fight back aggressively. People have successfully fended off black bear attacks using rocks, sticks, or even their bare hands!”

To learn more, visit myfwc.com/bear and bearwise.org

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FWC officers Wade Constance, Lauren Dickson and Cody Lambert, left to right, move a non-lethal bear trap into place at the home of Chris and Wendy Davy on Southeast 16th Street in Ocala on Monday, June 10, 2024. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2024. File photo: Gerald Ergle

Investigation

Continued from page A1

Misconduct during the procurement process

In May, after WhartonSmith Inc. Construction Group was awarded an over $120 million contract to build the high school in Marion County, District Superintendent Diane Gullett called for an investigation into whether Ausley Construction and James pressured the selection committee to award Ausley Construction the bid.

James, who was among the selection committee members who ranked the companies that applied for the contract, said district staff had not handled the scoring in a way that gave preference to local vendors, such as Ausley.

Based on advice from her attorney, Gullett decided to restart the interview process for the high school bid and called for an investigation. An attorney from the GrayRobinson law firm found that during the procurement process, members of Ausley Construction violated the district’s “cone of silence” policy, which bars any involved parties from discussing the selection process to protect the integrity of the procurement process and shield it from influence before the recommendation for the contract award is given.

In addition to the investigation, the district has also hired a consultant to generate a report with recommendations about changes to the rubric scoring criteria, local preference or weight of equitable distribution for the new interviews for the high school contract. The consultant’s report is expected on June 13, according to School Board Attorney Jeremy Powers.

Threats to school district staff

The investigation also found that James inappropriately influenced the scoring process at the district by making a “berating” phone call to Gullett after the superintendent decided to restart the interview process.

“During this conversation, witnesses reported hearing Dr. James tell Superintendent Gullett that Superintendent Gullett was on Dr. James’ ‘shit list’ and that Dr. James was prepared to ‘bring down this house of cards,’” according to the investigative report.

While discussing the results of the investigation at the June 11 school board meeting, James said she did not pressure Gullett to take any specific action during the procurement process or after Gullett’s decision to restart the interview process.

“The community had concerns about Dr. Gullett’s leadership during this process. I did not pressure Dr. Gullett to do anything. She could have very well proceeded in whatever fashion she wanted,” James said.

James also gave Gullett a lower score for her annual performance evaluation than the previous year, while all other school board members’ evaluation scores of Gullett remained the same or increased, according to the investigation.

“The superintendent works for us, the five school board members, and we

“I could not be more disappointed in a lot of what went down.”

Nancy Thrower

the board members work for you, the community,” James said at the June 11 meeting. “Almost 45,000 voters in this county chose me to sit in this seat and represent your interests.”

Another allegation that James’ receipt of campaign contributions from Ausley Construction caused improper bias during the procurement process was found to be unsubstantiated. During the investigation, James denied awarding Ausley Construction any points in the bidding because of any campaign contributions.

During the June 11 discussion, she said her objections to the scoring process were not brought up on Ausley Construction’s request but instead were based on concerns from “community leaders.”

“When the word about the selection of the high school ‘CCC’ construction manager got around, the community leaders, not Ausley Construction, contacted me. The community leaders had major concerns about our scoring criteria and processes,” James said.

James said she was contacted by Ocala/ Marion County Chamber & Economic Partnership President Kevin Sheilley on May 3, who expressed concern over the interviews being rescheduled for the following Monday. James said she was unaware that the interviews had been rescheduled. Her phone conversation with Gullett where she expressed her discontent over the process occurred later that day.

“As board members, we have every right to have a pointed and stern conversation with our employee,” James said. “She was not forthright with me, and I was angry. My anger in a singular instance does not substantiate inappropriate use of influence.”

In addition to the threats toward Gullett, School Board Chair Nancy Thrower’s husband, Fred Thrower, said he received a call from Ken Ausley of Ausley Construction and Todd Duffy, the company’s chief operating officer. Nancy Thrower was in the room and heard part of the call.

“During the conversation, Mr. Duffy commented to Mr. Thrower that he wouldn’t want things to go badly for Chair Thrower’s political career because of the high school contract procurement situation,” according to the investigation.

Thrower has made it publicly known that she does not plan to run for reelection. Fred Thrower told the “Gazette” that because of this, Ausley said if the contract wasn’t awarded to a local vendor, the district’s request on the fall ballot for a half-cent sales tax increase to fund district construction priorities could be in jeopardy.

“I could not be more disappointed in a lot of what went down,” Nancy Thrower said during the June 11 meeting. “We sit up here week after week and go on and on about how people should be interacting with each other, and we are elected, and we sit up here to be public servants and role models. And is it easy to do in the moment when you’re really passionate about something? No, it’s not.”

The 2022 investigation into Don Browning

The school board called for a similar investigation in 2022 after allegations of misconduct were made against former school board member Don Browning. The school board members now must decide if they will take the same route and send the findings of this most recent investigation to DeSantis.

Browning had been accused of making sexist and racist remarks to other school district employees. He was found to have not contributed to a “hostile work environment” but his words and actions were found to have amounted to “bullying and harassment” as defined by the school board’s policy. The findings of Browning’s report were sent to the governor for further review, and no disciplinary action followed.

Next steps

Recent developments in other construction projects have also cast a pall on the district’s move to expand facilities to meet rising student population demands. During the June 11 meeting, the school board rejected a proposed guaranteed maximum price of the Liberty Middle School expansion project, which will add a 16-classroom wing.

“Originally, School Board members approved another company for the project. However, District negotiations with that entity failed to reach an acceptable contractor price to manage

the construction,” MCPS spokesperson Kevin Christian wrote in a newsletter. “That meant the backup bidder—WELBRO Building Corporation—reentered the picture and presented the $9.3 million GMP rejected by the Board tonight.”

The $9.3 million project is now stalled, potentially delaying the anticipated June 2025 completion date to get students into those classrooms at the start of the 2025-2026 school year. The proposal was struck down by 2-3 vote. James initiated a discussion over the cost differences between the bidders, addressing concerns to the facilities department. School Board Member Lori Conrad offered support to James while discussing the Liberty Middle School project and referred to the recent investigation over the high school bid.

“I just want to thank Dr. James for bringing this forward as later in the agenda we’re going to discuss the procurement process, and we’re waiting on a report to come back on that process,” Conrad said. “This to me just identifies that we still have room for improvement in working through these construction issues.”

As for what action the school board should now take with the findings of the recent investigation into James and Ausley Construction, Thrower said the board should act fairly and issue the same treatment with these findings that the board took in 2022 with Browning’s investigation.

“We sent a report up to the governor that wasn’t even substantiated. All that report said was that that board member was guilty of just globally not being all that easy to get along with and abrasive and using outdated language and on and on,’’ she said. “Now we’re sitting here with a report that has substantiated allegations … think about what message that is sending that community if we send up one with less (substance) and we don’t send up the other.”

Thrower said once the consultant’s report comes in with recommendations on how to proceed with the bid process, that the school board can then decide what to do with the findings of the investigation.

“The board is without authority to suspend, remove, reprimand or counsel a board member regarding potentially offensive, harassing or bullying behavior, with a possible exception of addressing such issues in public discourse. The third authority for any further action is solely to sit in the Office of the Governor under Article 4, Section 7, of the Florida Constitution,” Powers advised the board.

As for the dissonance among board members, outside stakeholders and the superintendent, Thrower asked the board to attempt to move past the recent events to ensure that everyone works together to serve the community.

“I can legit be threatened by somebody without being intimidated because I’m always going to stand for what’s right,” she said. “I’m always going to look to the future to make things better and to continue to do my level best as an individual board member to exemplify the values that we say we have.”

Federal judge blocks state financial disclosure law for local officials

By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com

Months after a law took effect that required mayors and city council members in Florida to divulge sensitive financial information, a federal judge has blocked the law, claiming it violates the First Amendment.

The law, Senate Bill 774, took place on Jan. 1 and led to a mass resignation of local officials throughout the state. In Marion County, resignations included the entire town council and mayor of the city of Reddick, four town council members in McIntosh, and two city council members in Dunnellon.

The law required mayors and city council members to file Form 6, which required individuals to disclose their net worth, value of household goods, and all

assets and liabilities over $1,000 in value.

Before the law, these officials were only required to file Form 1, detailing sources of income and assets over $10,000 in value.

U.S. District Judge Melissa Damian issued a temporary injunction against the law after 26 cities and 74 public officials challenged its legality.

“(The state has) not demonstrated a relationship between the interest of protecting against the abuse of the public trust and SB 774’s fulsome financial disclosure requirements, and history does not support or justify the need for requiring municipal elected officials and candidates to comply with the Form 6 requirements when Form 1, a less-intrusive method, is available and has not been shown to be ineffective or inadequate,” Damian wrote.

The lead attorney for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit was Jamie A. Cole of Weiss

Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman.

“The imposition of the Form 6 disclosure requirements at the municipal level represents an unwarranted intrusion into the privacy rights of municipal elected officials, most of which receive little or no compensation for their service, unnecessarily risks the safety of such officials…and will deter many otherwise qualified and interested citizens from running for office,” said Cole in the lawsuit.

To fill the vacancies left by former councilmembers Mark Naworensky, Melinda Jones, Suzanne Sindledecker and Scott Mullikin on the McIntosh Town Council, Gov. Ron DeSantis in April appointed Eva Callahan, William “Lee” Deadrick, Donald Medeiros and Richard Talbert.

In Dunnellon, city council members appointed Walter Green to serve as the new mayor in January after former Mayor

Wally Dunn resigned in December, citing concerns with Form 6. Green formerly served in Seat 5 of the Dunnellon City Council, so the council appointed Valerie Porter Hanchar to fill his vacancy as a council member.

Former councilmember Julianne Mendonca also resigned with Dunn over Form 6 and was replaced by Chuck Dillon. Dillon has since resigned from the council, and his seat remains vacant.

The town of Reddick is still left without a town council or mayor after the resignations of John Vetter, Steven Rodgers, Martha Cromwell, Shirley Youmans, Nadine Stokes and Myra Sherman. Vetter has expressed interest in being reinstated as mayor. If the town of Reddick fails to find members for its government, the charter of the town could be dissolved, and the town would be absorbed into the county.

School Board Vice Chair Lori Conrad listens during a meeting of the Marion County School Board in Ocala on Tuesday, May 28, 2024. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2024.

School Board Chair Nancy Thrower listens during a meeting of the Marion County School Board in Ocala on Tuesday, May 28, 2024. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2024.

Plane crashes at Ocala International Airport

Staff report

On Saturday evening, June 8, an experimental aircraft crashed at Ocala International Airport.

The pilot was stabilized and taken to a local hospital, according to Ocala Fire Rescue.

The dispatch at 7:51 p.m. included Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF), Engine 4, Squad 7, Battalion Chief 11 and a Safety Officer, following a distress call from a pilot who reported his aircraft had crashed, OFR reported. Crews arrived at the airport, at 1770 SW 60th Ave., and discovered the aircraft with its tail elevated as it was nestled against a tree line just outside the airport fence line.

“The pilot, who was the sole occupant

of the aircraft, was alert but unable to exit the plane due to its precarious position and the surrounding trees. Given the challenging offroad location, first responders utilized a smaller vehicle to reach and extricate the pilot. Once the pilot was assessed and stabilized by emergency personnel, he was carefully helped out of the wreckage and escorted to a waiting ambulance for transport to a medical facility,” stated the news release.

Engine 6 and Rescue 6 were initially added to the response but were cancelled prior to arrival. Marion County Fire Rescue, Ocala International Airport Personnel and the Ocala Police Department also responded.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the State Warning Point were notified, according to the release.

Other plane crashes in Ocala International Airport’s history

Federal safety records show few other serious crashes in past 20 years

Crash

Continued from page A1

transported the injured teen. An internal affairs investigation on the late dispatch, recently released by OPD, found 911 personnel made unintentional errors that were attributed to call volume, training and strained management.

As previously reported by the “Gazette,” OPD primary dispatchers are expected to know how to do fire and law dispatch, which is made more difficult in that law enforcement dispatchers use specific codes while fire

dispatchers use plain language. This challenge was noted in the investigation into the Feb. 20 incident. Additionally, law and fire/medical unit response matrixes are different.

Ocala’s 911 call center dispatches fire/medical/and law within city limits. Although Ocala has its own fire and law departments, the city relies on MCFR to send ambulances with medics to any call requiring medical services the city dispatches.

The city’s 911 call center is structured differently than

the county’s. The county has dedicated fire and law dispatchers and a larger layer of supervision over 911 call takers than the city does.

The city’s 911 call center supervisors commonly work as primary fire or law dispatchers at the same time they are supervising and with a much smaller staff than the county comes fewer contingency backups.

The county used to dispatch all fire/medical calls. However, in 2020, under the request of then-Fire Chief Shane Alexander and Police Chief

By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com

After the June 8 plane crash at the Ocala International Airport, the “Ocala Gazette” looked into other instances of crashes and incidents at the airport.

On June 8, Ocala Fire Rescue responded to an incident at Ocala International after a pilot sent out a distress call saying that his plane had crashed. At the scene, OFR crews discovered an experimental aircraft with its tail elevated against a tree line just outside of the airport’s fence. The pilot was extricated from the plane and transported to a medical facility, according to OFR.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the crash, and provided a preliminary accident report the same day.

The National Transportation and Safety Bureau has investigated seven incidents or accidents at the Ocala International Airport within the past 20 years, not including the most recent crash on June 8. The NTSB is a federal organization responsible for investigating every civil aviation accident in the country and significant accidents in other modes of transportation.

It has been 10 years since the NTSB investigated a plane crash at Ocala International. In 2014, the Helping Helen C Tango 2 aircraft crashed, destroying the aircraft and seriously injuring the pilot.

The pilot provided her account of the events to NTSB investigators from the hospital three weeks later. This crash

Greg Graham, OFR dispatch was moved to the city’s 911 call center with the goal of bringing quicker service to city residents.

Editor’s Note: This accident is one example of how important our dispatch emergency call takers are to public safety and why so many communities across the country are choosing to consolidate emergency communications rather than deconsolidate, as Ocala has done. The “Gazette” has asked to speak with the Mayor Ben Marciano and OPD Chief Mike Balken about the challenges

is also the only incident on record in the past 20 years that resulted in injuries to the pilot or passengers.

“The (NTSB) determined the probable cause of this accident to be the pilot’s failure to maintain airplane control after the left cockpit canopy opened during takeoff for reasons that could not be determined due to fire damage,” according to the final crash report.

Local law enforcement can be called for assistance to the airport for several reasons, including for crashes such as the one on June 8, to which OFR, Marion County Fire Rescue and the Ocala Police Department all responded. OFR has responded to 52 calls for assistance within the past three years. Of those calls dispatched, 12 of them were canceled before OFR arrived at the airport.

Many of the calls from 2021 until the present were in response to “aircraft standby,” where the fire department was called to the airport in advance when a difficult landing is expected.

“Aircraft emergency standby indicated that an inbound aircraft is reporting a defect, and a difficult landing may be expected. Emergency crews have been dispatched to pre-position at the airport in anticipation of the landing,” according to Pulse Point, an emergency response information organization.

Of the 40 OFR calls that were carried out, 11 were for aircraft standby, according to OFR dispatch records.

Other common reasons for assistance at the airport included calls for emergency medical services, assisting law enforcement agencies and responding to motor vehicle accidents, according to OFR.

to emergency communication. The “Gazette” has also made a public records request to Marion County and Ocala officials for fire response matrixes to articulate the differences between services provided by the city and the county. This information is relevant in the broader context of how the agencies are dealing with the area’s rapid population growth and the rising demand and costs of public safety given the shortage of personnel handling emergency calls for service.

File photo: A plane taxis in from the runway at Ocala International Airport on Monday, April 18, 2022. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2022.

[Courtesy Ocala Fire Rescue]

[Courtesy Ocala Fire Rescue]

Letter carriers rally in Ocala

The gathering was held to bring attention to a need for increased protections and outdated lock technology.

By Andy Fillmore andy@ocalagazette.com

Letter carriers from Ocala and across the state gathered at the Ocala downtown square on Sunday, June 9, to raise awareness about a need for protection and show support for legislation to increase protection and upgrade outdated lock technology known as “arrow keys.”

Letter carriers Pete Degelleke and Rene Aragon, from the Tampa area, drove to Ocala to join the rally and Cassie Cato-Bonilla travelled from Pensacola to show her support.

“This is an important issue. We deliver mail every day and we’ve become targets for stealing packages and mail (to use in) identity theft,” Degelleke said.

Rally participants explained that letter carriers are vulnerable to attacks by thieves seeking to steal packages that might contain prescription medicines and mail that could be used in identity theft.

The rally saw about 20 members of the National Rural Letter Carriers Association and National Letter Carriers unions come together for a roadside demonstration carrying signs with wording such as “enough is enough.” Some participants wore red shirts marked with the words “Protect our letter carriers.”

Three members of the Ocala Police Department and two Marion County Sheriff’s Office deputies were at the gathering to show support.

Dot Kelly, a rural letter carrier in Ocala, member of the Florida RLCA and one of the rally organizers, said there have been about 2,000 incidents involving

harassment or attacks on letter carriers nationwide since 2020. She said there have been at least two cases of crimes against local carriers in the last few years and that one was a case of armed robbery as reported by area media.

Kelly said proposed legislation in H.R. 7629/S. 4356, known as the “Protect Our Letter Carriers’ Act,” seeks to update “arrow keys,” or dated style skeleton keys, with electronic fobs that can be electronically cancelled to discourage their theft. Kelly said the arrow keys can be used by U.S. Mail carriers to open “blue mailboxes” and the individual mailboxes in groups such as at apartment complexes.

The proposed legislation also calls for increased investigation and prosecution and stiffer sentencing guidelines in cases of crimes against postal employees.

According to an NRLCA fact sheet distributed at the gathering, the U.S. Postal Service delivers “essential products such as prescription medications, packages, checks, ballots and other important mail to roughly 153 million residences six days a week.”

“(We need to) really get active. We’re not picketing, we’re asking for support,” Kelly told the group during her talk at the gazebo.

Diane Collins, an NRLCA speaker at the rally, said after her address that USPS letter carriers “were there” for the public throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rural letter carrier Provine Cosby, Jr. also drove from Tampa to Ocala for the gathering.

“It’s a big issue,” he said.

Terry Baskin was a rural letter carrier in the Summerfield area for more than

29 years. She said delivering can be a “dangerous job” physically and mentally.

Husband and wife Jennifer and Allen Brush of Marion County came to the rally to voice their concerns. Jennifer is an active rural letter carrier and Allen is retired from years of service.

Laura Klingelsmith, who has been a rural and city letter carrier and clerk with the USPS, stood along Silver Springs Boulevard in the hot sun holding a sign supporting the need to protect letter carriers. Many passing cars honked in support for the sign holders. Retired local letter carrier Tim Legge also showed up for the gathering.

Local letter carrier Fred Hassen, who

retired in 2015 after 24 years of service, expressed concern about the outdated arrow keys and called them a “problem” for reasons including they can open the “neighborhood delivery collection boxes” seen in groups at residential areas like apartment complexes.

Several of the letter carriers discussed the issue that a stolen arrow key could be used to open up perhaps 300 individual private mailboxes at local apartment complexes and steal private information and checks and more.

Jimmy Ruotolo, a city carrier here for 28 years, indicated that an attack on one letter carrier is a concern for all letter carriers.

USPS letter carriers representing the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, from left, Melissa Mott, Rene Aragon, Provine Cosby Jr., Mary Beth Libell and Gina Digiovanni, hold signs as they hold a rally on the Ocala Downtown Square in Ocala on Sunday, June 9, 2024. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2024.

USPS letter carriers representing the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, hold signs as they hold a rally on the Ocala Downtown Square in Ocala on Sunday, June 9, 2024. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2024.

‘Rock the Country’ in review

By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com

After a weekend full of country music, brutal heat and massive crowds, community opinions on the Rock the Country music festival are in.

The festival spanned from June 7 to 8 and featured headlining artists Kid Rock and Jason Aldean. While the festival was advertised as taking place in Ocala, it was held at the Majestic Oaks Farm in Reddick.

Majestic Oaks owner Ronnie Diamouro told media outlets that there was a total of nearly 40,000 attendees on the 100-acre property for the festival. Officials reported that 475 people received medical care from Marion County Fire Rescue over the course of the twoday event. MCFR received 526 total calls to the scene of the event, 399 of which were medical-related.

“We transported 32 patients from the event venue to local

hospitals. We had over 475 patient interactions at the concert venue. These interactions were dealing with heat-related illnesses, falls and intoxication,” said MCFR spokesperson James Lucas.

The number of calls to the venue surpasses the typical number of calls in a weekend for the entire county, officials said. During the weekend before the event, the department received 497 calls for all of Marion County.

Concertgoer Isabelle Reynolds said that despite the heat and the crowds, she enjoyed the event and felt that most others did, too.

“I just kind of like wanted to go hang out with my friends, have a good time and listen to some live music, because that’s always fun,” she said.

Reynolds purchased her ticket from someone who couldn’t attend at the last minute and said she didn’t have many expectations going into the event.

“There were a lot of people there. I was pretty amazed by

how many people, and how many people continued to come in after us,” she said. “You’d look around and you see this huge sea of people.”

She said she noticed a lot of people receiving medical care, but whether from heat exhaustion, dehydration or alcohol consumption, she couldn’t tell.

“There was a lot of medics there, and I did see a lot of people on the ground,” Reynolds said. “(The medics) would come and they talked to them. I saw a lot of people getting fluids.”

Reynolds said the venue had a large, air-conditioned pop-up tent area where concertgoers could go to cool off, plus water stations for people to be hydrated.

The festival was open to all ages, and there were children present.

“I didn’t see any fights,” Reynolds said. “I didn’t see any people doing anything crazy so if parents want to bring their kids to a music festival because

they like the artist or whatever, they’re being safe, and the kids are hydrated and not getting overheated, then that’s up to them.”

Community member Aaron Thomas said when he saw photos of the event online, he felt that children should not have been allowed to attend based on the environment. Thomas didn’t attend the event but felt compelled to speak about the photos he saw on the Rock the Country Camping Community Facebook page after the concert.

“They’re literally posting children in political clothing and writing how people were inappropriately dressed,” he said. “There’s literally a giant cross while they’re doing this out there. You know, it’s just seems like a lot of hypocrisy.”

Thomas said he felt the event was misrepresented as a concert, given all of the political ties to the event. A video message from former President

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY BUILDS HOME FOR LOCAL MOTHER

Charmaine McLeggin’s dream of a stable home comes true

Staff report

Charmaine McLeggin is a mother of three living in Marion County. She says she’s wanted to create a stable and loving home for herself. After hearing about Habitat for Humanity, she felt inspired to pursue her dream.

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, and raised in New Jersey, McLeggin graduated from middle and high school in Asbury Park. She then went on to study nursing at Brookdale Community College. She’s certified in Adult and Child CPR.

Despite facing personal hardships, McLeggin says she remained steadfast in her pursuit of building a safe and secure home. She says one day, she saw the Habitat name at a diner and felt she wanted to learn more.

“I am so blessed to have this opportunity with Habitat to finally have a place to call my own. This home is a foundation for my family, where we can build memories and have the stability we’ve always needed,” McLeggin said.

McLeggin says her story is a shining example of what can be achieved

OCALA FIRE RESCUE HANDLES MULTIVEHICLE FIRE AT COLLISION CENTER

By Ocala Fire Rescue

June 11, 2024 – Early this morning, Ocala Fire Rescue responded to a vehicle fire at Jenkins Collision Center, located at 1420 SW 12th Street. The incident was reported just after 3 a.m.

Upon receiving the call, Ocala Fire Rescue’s Engine 1 and Rescue 1 were dispatched to the scene. While en route, dispatch learned that multiple vehicles were involved, prompting the addition of Engine 4 to the response.

Upon arrival, the crews encountered a large column of smoke and flames coming from three vehicles parked side by side behind a locked fence. Engine 1 assumed command, forcing the gate, and initiating the fire attack. Engine 4 supported the operation by establishing a water supply.

Once the fire was under control, foam was used to extinguish any remaining hotspots and cool the affected area to prevent rekindling. The fire was confined to the three vehicles originally involved, though a fourth vehicle did sustain paint damage due to heat exposure.

The cause of the fire is unknown.

The Ocala Police Department also responded.

through determination, support, and the unwavering spirit of hope.

She’s proud to be part of Habitat for Humanity, and she’s grateful for the support she’s received so far.

The House Blessing ceremony for Charmaine McLeggin will take place on June 12, 2024, at 8:30 AM, at 2369 SW 146th Loop, in Marion Oaks.”We are thrilled to invite the community to join us in celebrating Charmaine McLeggin’s journey to homeownership,” said Rob Peters, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity of Marion County.

Donald Trump was played on the big screen for attendees, and Trump, who was recently convicted on 34 felony charges, introduced Kid Rock on stage.

“There was an actual message from Donald Trump,” Thomas said “It was a Trump rally. It’s not a concert.”

In Trump’s message to attendees, he said “All of you in attendance are the true backbone of our great country; hardworking, God-fearing, rock and roll patriots.”

Reynolds said she saw a lot of attendees wearing Trump-related clothing but she didn’t feel that the event was overly political.

“I saw (Sheriff) Billy Woods there, there were a lot of politicians that were there,” Reynolds said. “I don’t want to say it was a political rally. I think it’s kind of coincidental.”

“I think, honestly, people were just there for the music, they were there to have a good time,” she said.

SILVER SPRINGS MAN DIES IN CRASH

The sedan struck parked cars and a building before it caught fire.

By Andy Fillmore andy@ocalagazette.com

A63-year-old Silver Springs man died Monday night, June 10, after the car he was driving left East State Road 40 and struck some parked cars and a tree before it hit a building and caught fire.

The Florida Highway Patrol

The driver was pronounced deceased at the scene by members of Marion County Fire Rescue. It was not known if the driver was wearing a seatbelt, the release stated.

press release stated that the crash occurred around 7:58 p.m. when the sedan the man was driving west on SR 40, just east of Northeast 14th Street Road, at a “high rate of speed” left the roadway and “entered the north grass shoulder and struck three vehicles that were parked and unoccupied in the parking lot of the Forest Veterinary Clinic. The sedan then (struck) a tree and (overturned) into a building. The (sedan) and the building became engulfed in flames.”

The FHP does not identify crash victims in initial press releases.

[Ocala Fire Rescue]

Charmaine at her wall raising. [Supplied]

FORMER SCHOOL OFFICIAL ACCUSED OF SEXUAL OFFENSES

Gregory Ramputi was arrested by Ocala police on 16 counts.

Staff report

AVanguard High School dean who reportedly retired earlier this month was arrested Friday, May 31, and charged with alleged sexual offenses against students stretching over several years, according to an Ocala Police Department press release.

Gregory Ramputi, 42, was arrested and in custody Friday night according to OPD Public Information Officer Jeffrey Walczak.

According to the OPD press release, a senior student came forward earlier this month and reported to OPD School Resource Officer Alexandria Blackman that Ramputi had “inappropriate contact” with her “multiple times” during her high school years.

Four additional students came forward and made similar reports alleging that “while in Mr. Ramputi’s office, he requested them to expose their breasts and made statements about engaging in sexual activity,” the press release stated.

The alleged offenses took place while Ramputi was “in a position of authority over the victims” and occurred on and off school grounds, the press release indicated.

Ramputi allegedly “groped (students) multiple times and engaged in sexual acts with one of the victims,” according to the press release.

Ramputi allegedly asked to see “nude photos of a student, which he viewed,” on at least one

occasion, press release stated.

Director of Marion County Public Schools Public Relations

Kevin Christian released a statement Friday night stating the school system is “cooperating with the Ocala Police Department and its investigation,” of Ramputi.

“Ramputi started with MCPS in 2014 as a teacher at North Marion Middle School. He transferred to Vanguard High School in 2015 and became a student services manager there in 2021. He has no letters of reprimand or discipline during his time with MCPS. Mr. Ramputi no longer works for Marion County Public Schools,” the statement read.

The press release stated Ramputi “retired his position May 21.”

The press release stated OPD Detective Denise Drake investigated the allegations and developed probable cause to arrest Ramputi on Friday.

The press release listed these charges against Ramputi:

• five counts of offenses against students by authority figure

• five counts of unlawful sexual activity with certain minors three counts of traveling to meet a minor two counts of indecent, lewd or lascivious touching of certain minors one count of possession of child pornography Ramputi was set to make his first court appearance on Saturday, June 1.

CRASH AT BUSY INTERSECTION CLAIMS ONE LIFE

Two others were seriously injured, including a 2-year-old child.

By Andy Fillmore andy@ocalagazette.com

Acrash at a southwest Marion County intersection on Saturday, June 8, claimed the life of an 18-year-old Ocala woman and caused critical injuries to the driver of the sedan she rode in and serious injuries to a 2-year-old passenger, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

The crash occurred around 4:42 p.m. at the intersection of west County Road 484 and Southwest 95th Circle, according to the FHP press release. The intersection is just east of State Road 200. Southwest 95th Circle extends north from CR 484 and crosses SR 200 at a busy shopping district.

A sedan driven by a 20-year-old Ocala man traveling south on Southwest 95th Circle in the right turn lane entered the

intersection and the front a pickup truck being driven west on CR 484 by a 43-yearold Minneola man collided with the left side of the sedan, the press release indicated. The two vehicles came to rest on the south shoulder of CR 484. The victim was a passenger in the sedan and was not wearing a seat belt. The sedan driver also was not wearing a seat belt and suffered critical injuries, the FHP reported.

A 2-year-old child in the sedan, shown as having a seatbelt/child restraint, was seriously injured, according to the press release.

The driver of the pickup and a passenger, a 38-year-old woman, both were not wearing seatbelts and were not injured and a 2-year-old child in the pickup truck shown as having a seatbelt/child restraint, was also not injured, the release stated.

Traffic is shown Sunday June 9, 2024, looking westward at the intersection of Southwest 95th Circle and County Road 484. The dark colored car is shown on SW 95th Circle attempting to enter CR 484. [Andy Fillmore]

State DeSantis signs $116.5 billion budget

By Jim Turner and Ryan Dailey Florida News Service

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday signed a $116.5 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year, after vetoing close to $950 million in spending approved by lawmakers in March.

“Some of the stuff I don’t think was appropriate for state tax dollars,” DeSantis said of the vetoes during a budget-signing event at The Vault, a venue in Tampa. “Some of the stuff you’ll see are things that I support, but we have actual programs for.”

A wide range of groups quickly praised the budget for including money for their priorities. As examples, the Everglades Trust touted more than $740 million for Everglades restoration, the Florida

Health Care Association pointed to an 8 percent increase in Medicaid funding for nursing homes, and the Florida Mosquito Control Association cited a $1 million increase in funding to “combat the world’s deadliest animal.”

Meanwhile, the progressive group DeSantis Watch called vetoes “cruel” and a demonstration of “misplaced priorities.”

The budget includes a nearly $1.8 billion increase in the Florida Education Finance Program, the main funding source for public schools, with total funding for the kindergarten- through 12th-grade system topping $28.4 billion.

The overall pot of money for schools includes such things as a $20 million increase in mental-health funding and a $40 million boost for school-safety efforts.

DeSantis also approved a $200 million increase to help boost teacher salaries.

Coupled with past increases, DeSantis said the budget includes $1.25 billion for teacher salaries.

“This budget will include $1.25 billion that can only be used to increase teacher salaries. No money to unions, no money to bureaucracy, only for teacher salary increases. And that’s more than the state of Florida has ever done,” DeSantis said.

But the Florida Education Association teachers union said the money would have to be spread to roughly 200,000 educators and would not “move the needle” far enough.

“This $200 million equates to a salary increase in every classroom teacher’s paycheck of about $125 a month, and nowhere near the $15,000 annual increase needed to match the national average for teacher salaries,” union President Andrew Spar said in a statement. “The only thing the budget guarantees is that Florida’s teachers will remain near the bottom in average pay.”

Lawmakers passed the budget on March 8, the final day of this year’s legislative session. The state’s 2024-2025 fiscal year will start July 1.

In a 39-page veto letter, DeSantis touted the nearly $950 million that he carved out of the budget, but he did not include explanations for individual lineitem vetoes.

“Governments should strive to do more with less,” DeSantis wrote. “It can be done, and my action today cements that lesson for the nation.”

In the higher-education part of the budget, numerous proposed construction and renovation projects were among the items vetoed. They included $26.2 million that would have gone toward a science and engineering research wing at the University of West Florida.

Another $13.5 million was vetoed for a training center at Pensacola State College aimed at business and industry training. The governor also vetoed $11.6 million for renovations to Florida Gulf Coast

University’s Reed Hall classroom building.

DeSantis also slashed $30 million that would have gone toward the New Worlds Tutoring Program, an outgrowth of a larger reading program for children that was a priority of former House Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor.

The tutoring program was part of a bill (HB 1361) that DeSantis signed last month. A House staff analysis of the bill said the tutoring program would “support school districts and schools in improving kindergarten through grade 5 student achievement in reading and mathematics.”

Also among the vetoes was $80 million for the Florida College System to participate in the state group insurance program, which provides health insurance to state workers.

Other vetoes dealt with a wide range of proposed spending, such as $26 million for cultural and museum grants, $12.7 million for sewer line work in Hendry County, $5 million for transportation safety improvements in Bradenton and $5 million for upgrades at Wauchula Municipal Airport.

DeSantis said the vetoes will lead to total spending being below the current fiscal year, which will end June 30.

Among big-ticket items, the budget includes $14.5 billion for the state transportation work program and $232 million for cancer-research funding, including $127.5 million for the Casey DeSantis Cancer Research Program.

In addition to money in the budget, lawmakers also scattered about $1.95 billion in spending in separate bills. The budget is the only measure that has to pass each year, and DeSantis is still considering some bills from the session.

“I know we’ve got some more legislation that we’re still processing, but I think this was the big enchilada that was left from the legislative session,” DeSantis said. “I’m glad we’ve got it done. I’m glad we’ve been able to meet the needs but also to keep spending under control.”

DeSantis, cabinet OK new emergency facility

By Jim Turner Florida News Service

Florida is moving forward with plans to buy and retrofit a massive warehouse in Central Florida as a staging area to respond to hurricanes and other emergencies.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Cabinet on Wednesday approved buying more than half of the 74-acre Midpoint Florida Logistics Center in Auburndale with money set aside in the new state budget. The next step is getting an appraisal of the 40-acre property and warehouse. The budget

includes up to $75 million for the purchase, but Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Shawn Hamilton said is too early to project if the cost will reach that cap.

“It’s out for appraisal, it’s hard to say,” Hamilton said after a Cabinet meeting.

Hamilton presented the plan to DeSantis, Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, Attorney General Ashley Moody and Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis. DeSantis and the Cabinet members took part in the meeting by phone.

No timeline was immediately available from the state Division of Emergency Management on

when the warehouse could be retrofitted and occupied.

Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie in April said the plan is to eventually merge into the new facility three smaller facilities that are used to stockpile disaster supplies, including one in Lakeland filled with personal protective equipment.

Owned by the Dallas-based real estate investment firm Dalfen Industrial, the center is a two-building, 896,799-squarefoot industrial park immediately east of an Amazon distribution facility along Interstate 4.

Dalfen, under the name CH Realty IX-DAL I Lakeland

Auburndale, L.P., paid $25.7 million for the land in November 2021 and then built a pair of warehouses that each exceed 400,000 square feet.

“This development has direct frontage on I-4, which will provide tenants access to over 7.9 million people in the broader Orlando/Tampa region,” Dalfen said after its purchase of the property was announced.

Florida intends to retrofit a facility that has 422,199 square feet of warehouse space and 39,200 square feet of office space, according to information prepared for the Cabinet meeting. The location also includes areas for 400

trailers and 274 cars. The site is expected to provide docks for loading and unloading supplies and temporary living quarters.

The Legislature included $116 million for the project in the budget (HB 5001) that will take effect July 1. Up to $75 million is available to buy the property, with the remaining funds targeted to upgrade the site.

“Upon completion of a retrofit of the space, the warehouse will be fully airconditioned and will include racking, dock equipment, material handling equipment, cold storage, a dedicated area for trailer storage and open floor space,” Cabinet information said.

State appeals elections law ruling

By Jim Saunders Florida News Service

Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd and Attorney General Ashley Moody this week appealed a federal judge’s decision blocking part of a 2023 Florida elections law that placed new restrictions on voterregistration groups.

As is common, a notice of appeal filed Monday did not detail arguments that lawyers for Byrd and Moody will make at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. But they are challenging a final judgment issued May 15 by Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker involving part of the law that would prevent nonU.S. citizens from “collecting or handling”

voter-registration applications. In issuing a permanent injunction, Walker said that part of the law violated the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.

The groups Hispanic Federation and Poder Latinx and individual plaintiffs filed the challenge in May 2023 after Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican–controlled Legislature approved the restrictions.

“Here plaintiffs have suffered—and continue to suffer—irreparable injuries,” Walker wrote in explaining the injunction. “Indeed, the individual members in this case have been unconstitutionally discriminated against based on their noncitizenship status. This discrimination has prevented plaintiffs from registering new voters—a lost opportunity that cannot be remedied with monetary damages.”

The state also is appealing a July 2023 ruling by Walker that placed a preliminary injunction on the part of the law related to non-citizens and another part that would make it a felony for voter-registration group workers to keep personal information of voters. A panel of the appeals court heard arguments in January but has not issued an opinion.

DeSantis and Republican lawmakers in recent years have made a series of controversial changes to elections laws. They have argued, in part, that the changes are needed to prevent voter fraud and ensure the integrity of elections.

But opponents have contended, for example, that what are known as “thirdparty voter registration organizations” play an important role in registering Black and Hispanic voters. They say placing restrictions on the groups could make it harder to register voters. Walker on March 1 granted partial summary judgment to the plaintiffs on the part of the law dealing with noncitizens, barring Byrd from enforcing that part of the law. But Walker left unresolved issues related to Moody’s power to enforce the law.

The May 15 decision said the plaintiffs had legal standing to sue Moody and barred enforcement of the law. Walker wrote that an “injunction prohibiting the attorney general from exercising this enforcement authority would effectively redress plaintiffs’ injuries as it would remove the very real threat of a civil enforcement action.”

File photo: Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a $116.5 billion budget for the fiscal year that will start July 1.

State seeks stay of abortion ‘statement’ ruling

By Jim Saunders Florida News Service

The state late Tuesday asked an appeals court to put on hold a circuit judge’s decision that required changes to a “financial impact statement” that will appear on the November ballot with a proposed constitutional amendment about abortion rights.

Solicitor General Henry Whitaker and other state lawyers filed a motion urging the 1st District Court of Appeal to issue a stay while an appeal of Circuit Judge John Cooper’s ruling plays out. The motion came hours after Cooper rejected a stay in the case.

The stay issue is part of a fast-moving legal battle about the financial impact statement that voters will see when they cast ballots on the proposed amendment, which seeks to enshrine abortion rights in the Florida Constitution.

Cooper on Monday issued a ruling that said outdated information in the financial impact statement “renders it inaccurate, ambiguous, misleading, unclear and confusing.” He ordered that the statement be redrafted within 15 days.

The state quickly appealed Cooper’s decision. Under court rules, that placed an automatic stay on the decision. But Cooper held a hearing Tuesday afternoon and

vacated the stay.

In their motion late Tuesday at the appeals court, the state’s lawyers argued that Cooper did not have legal jurisdiction to order a redrafted financial impact statement. Such statements are drawn up by a panel known as the Financial Impact Estimating Conference.

“The circuit court has unlawfully injected itself into the citizen initiative process by ordering the Financial Impact Estimating Conference, within 15 days, to redraft the financial impact statement that will accompany the proposed amendment respecting abortion that the people will vote on in this fall’s election,” the motion said. “Rather than allow the appellate process to proceed in the ordinary course—and even though nearly 11 weeks remain before the ballot must be finalized—the circuit court vacated the automatic stay, which gives the conference less than 15 days to comply with the court’s order to redraft the statement.”

In another twist, the Financial Impact Estimating Conference on Monday scheduled meetings July 1 and July 8 to “consider potential revisions to the financial impact statement to be placed on the ballot” for the abortion measure, according to a notice published online.

The state’s motion at the appeals court indicated the panel plans to revisit the financial impact statement regardless of

whether Cooper’s decision is overturned.

“The FIEC intends that revision process to move forward even if the circuit court’s order is reversed on jurisdictional grounds,” the motion said.

Financial impact statements appear with ballot initiatives to provide estimated effects of the measures on government revenues and the state budget. The panel issued the financial impact statement for the abortion proposal in November.

But that came before two major Florida Supreme Court rulings April 1 on abortion issues. One of the rulings cleared the way for the proposed constitutional amendment to go on the ballot as Amendment 4.

The other ruling rejected a challenge to a 15-week abortion limit that lawmakers passed in 2022. That ruling also allowed a six-week abortion limit to take effect.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature approved the six-week limit in 2023.

The Floridians Protecting Freedom political committee, which is leading efforts to pass the constitutional amendment, filed a lawsuit in April arguing that the financial impact statement should be revised in light of the Supreme Court rulings.

The statement issued in November included caveats about litigation surrounding state abortion laws and concluded, “Because there are several

possible outcomes related to this litigation that differ widely in their effects, the impact of the proposed amendment on state and local government revenues and costs, if any, cannot be determined.”

In his ruling Monday, Cooper agreed with Floridians Protecting Freedom and said the statement violates the Florida Constitution and state law “because it presents largely outdated information about the legality of abortion under statutes and litigation unrelated to Amendment 4.”

Floridians Protecting Freedom requested that Cooper vacate the automatic stay, a request he granted during Tuesday’s hearing.

In the motion filed at the Tallahasseebased appeals court, the state’s lawyers contended that only the Florida Supreme Court could legally review the financial impact statement. What’s more, it said the Supreme Court in 2019 decided against issuing what are known as “advisory” opinions about financial impact statements.

The proposed constitutional amendment says, in part, that no “law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.” It has drawn opposition from DeSantis and other state Republican leaders.

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People, Places & Things

Epilogue: Three decades in local classrooms

By Chris Miller

It was 1992. Bill Clinton had just been elected president. Cell phones were still more sci-fi novelty than a pocket necessity. I sat in my graduate English education class in Norman Hall at the University of Florida, and our professor, Dr. Robert Wright, shared with the class the names of the schools we could request for our mandatory 10-week internships. Fort Clarke, Hawthorne, Gainesville Buchholz, and then, he said, there was a high school in the Ocala area that was prepared to receive three UF English teacher interns. He didn’t say the name of the school, but I’d seen the Ocala exits on I-75 South when I’d drive home to Tampa, so I knew it was a bit far from Gainesville, but not too far. Dr. Wright asked for volunteers for anyone interested in interning at the Ocala school, and I thought in that moment more like a business major—that interns at Gainesville practically grow on trees, but a UF intern in Ocala might have better opportunity to make an impression and graduate to employment if she or he did the job well.

So, I raised my hand.

Thirty-one years and a few thousand Marion County students later, I’m grateful that I jumped at the school whose name I didn’t yet know: Lake Weir High School.

Interning 10 weeks in Mr. Hall’s sophomore English class was a crash course in the intensity and immediacy of navigating 25 to 35 minds simultaneously, each of whom is more likely to be experiencing thoughts of the argument with mom, the break-up with Brad, the comment Jen made in the hallway, or the zit on her nose than any fragile focus on “Cyrano whatever-his-name-is.” But they were necessary first steps, and just as babies don’t stand, walk, and run out of the womb, these first encounters with the comorbidities of apathy and enmity were brick and mortar for building a pit where the fires of teaching could grill steaks rather than char hearts. Well, that’s probably a clumsy metaphor, but it’s my novice approximation of the adage, “Pressure makes diamonds and bursts pipes.” That is, the pressure of life is coming, and most of your life’s direction will be the result of what you do with that pressure—will you burst pipes or make diamonds? As teachers, that pressure is coming in the form of a classroom full of eyes and words, and I think we’ve all landed on both ends of that continuum of what pressure can do— driving home replaying what we should have done because we feel we failed in that moment, or going home glowing, because we successfully actualized that magic transaction that I’d wager sparked most teachers’ choice of the profession to begin with—to help people. To nourish. To guide. To teach.

So, it was 10 weeks of daily carpooling with two fellow UF English interns to and from Lake Weir High School, and I learned a lot. I learned that the stoplight at Maricamp Road and 36th Avenue could stay red so long I thought it was broken. I learned that you can’t, from the back seat of the carpool leaving campus after school, flip the bird at a car behind you (“That’s a student, Chris—you can’t do that! We’re teachers now!”). But most importantly, I began paying the deductible on the delicate-butcritical nuance of speaking with—not at—teenagers. Teachers are taught the best

practices of the mechanics of teaching— wait time, proximity, crafting higherorder-thinking questions, but the more nebulous, ethereal aspects of teaching— building rapport, community, trust—are generally acquired via trial-and-error, and while your mileage may vary, you will still have to drive it to move it. Or to paraphrase our pedagogical prophet John Dewey, we learn to do by doing. Experience is the best teacher.

I was fortunate that the assistant principal at Lake Weir High was Pam Stewart (who would years later become principal of Vanguard High and then the top education official in the state, Florida’s Commissioner of Education, from 2013 to 2019), who contacted Howard Middle School, where a seventh-grade language arts teacher was needed.

I was hired at Howard Middle, so I moved to Ocala, and taught seventh-grade language arts three years there. But all the while, I hoped to get back to Lake Weir High School, as I learned that the high school mind was much more my speed than the middle school mind. Teaching is an annual arranged marriage, and I always found exciting but nerve-racking the first day of school, when you meet the 100+ kids who will be your co-pilots in the journey of the next nine months. And just as people who get divorced aren’t bad people—they’re just different and didn’t realize how different they were—likewise, there’s nothing “bad” about any level of teaching, but there is wisdom in knowing oneself well enough to know which age group a teacher can best understand and communicate with. Typically, teachers of high school kids bring an entirely different toolbox of efficacy than teachers of elementary-age kids. I suspect it’s rare that an effective high school teacher would be an equally effective second-grade teacher, and vice versa. Occupationally, mentally, and emotionally, different “languages” of instruction and interaction are needed— and although my Howard Middle days were formative and rewarding, I was happy to accept Mrs. Stewart’s offer to return to LWHS in 1996 to teach English, drama, and video production.

I’d never taught drama. I’d never taken a drama class, even in high school. I think I was in a fourth-grade play in 1979 and wore a construction-paper tie, but that was the extent of my experience. And I’d never taught video production; in fact, when we would need to hook up the VCR at home, it was my wife who knew how to do it—not me. English I could teach, but as all teachers know, your first time through a new curriculum is always night-driving rather than day-driving. And for bonus points, my wife and I were expecting our first child, so I got special permission to keep a beeper on my belt all day every day in case baby Jessica made a move. I survived that first year, but if I had to choose a school year to never do again, it

would probably be that one. It was just a case of not enough hours in the day and attempting daily to fit two gallons of water in a one-gallon jug. The next year, thankfully, my teaching assignment became solely the emerging program of video production, which I gladly embraced. A friend of mine who was the senior production coordinator at Fox51/WOGX, Andy Davidyock, took a lot of time to help me understand the technical and creative aspects, and a colleague at LWHS, whom I had met during my internship and whom I always admired both for the breadth of his knowledge as well as his gift for cultivating a positive classroom culture, Tom Natalino, built us a control room and editing room within the double-classroom I’d been assigned.

And that began my 19 years teaching video production at Lake Weir High, as well as a few years of also teaching English. Video production offered dynamics that I enjoyed—not only was it project-based and an outlet for the kids’ and the school’s creativity, but students could take all four levels of the program, meaning we could build something: a real program, a culture, and in some ways a quasi-family. Education isn’t fashion, but it indeed sometimes travels trends, and mandates can come from the top down that sometimes feel/felt as if its authors were inadequately acquainted with the classroom. One of the buzzwords/ buzzphrases years ago was “rigor and relevance.” It was a fine, memorable, and even alliterative motto that correctly reminds practitioners of instruction that lessons should engage learners with both high RPMs and a relatable understanding of why it matters. Years later, the word “relationships” was added to the recipe, which, more importantly than retaining the roar of the R alliteration, assigned deserving weight to what, to me, is the engine that makes education, society, and even families and life itself work or not work—relationships.

Time for a brief digression. As I would tell my students—“Okay, goofy analogy time.” Years ago, I was annoyed with someone in traffic. It’s a problem of mine. Anyway, as the moron pulled up to the red light alongside me, I was eager to see what the face of utter stupidity looked like. I immediately realized it was an old friend. And just like that, I didn’t care at all about the traffic frustrations or harbor any malice. And it dawned on me that the power of a positive relationship can salve wounds with surprising facility. That our relationship was akin to a bank account of goodwill that was the result of years of deposits of kindness, laughs, and experiences, and that even with the “withdrawal” of a bad moment in the left lane, the account balance remained in good standing. That’s not to say that we are all relationship ledgers, but it is to say that the world is a different place when you’re

with people you know care about you. And as teachers, we lay the groundwork for growing when we recognize students with specific, authentic praise that fortifies the good, and inoculates against the potentially problematic direction of the “bad.” When Caitlyn has her phone out and is “checking the time,” how a teacher deals with that says as much about the teacher as the student, and if there’s a preexisting positive relationship that’s alive and well, whatever happens from there will be better than it would have been—if the “account” had been zero.

So, all that to say that for those 19 years, I was teaching video production, but more importantly I was teaching kids. And that may sound like I’m tapdancing in semantics, but I believe it’s truly a different idea. We accomplished many things in that time, broadcasting a morning program live every day, producing videos for competitions and local agencies/businesses, earning local, state, and national first places, but all of those endeavors were the vehicle—the vehicle for helping kids for the kids’ sake, not for the content’s sake. Yes, learning the material was the paramount objective on paper, but the actual and more important objective was and is the life skills that were integral to those tasks and that would translate to life’s present and future challenges. Teamwork. Time management. Deadlines. Grappling with complications. Alchemizing failures into fuel. Grace. Compassion. Humor.

The last four years of my time at LWHS, my baby Jessica attended school there and took all four years of my class. The fetus photo that I’d shown to my Lake Weir High drama class on an overhead projector in fall of 1996 was now walking its halls, attending my class, and gifting me a parallel poetry to my time there when she graduated in 2015. I was permitted to personally hand her her diploma, and then I left Lake Weir High School and teaching forever.

Looking to do something very different but still with Marion County Schools, I became the dean of Ward-Highlands Elementary for the next two years. I wish I’d kept a journal of the many, many stories that would have strained credulity if I’d not experienced or witnessed them myself. Obviously, those can’t be shared, but suffice it to say that just as every police officer or bar bouncer has some crazy stories to tell, every dean and administration of every school everywhere is privy to and survivors of more drama, conflicts, and fireworks than I think people realize.

Since then, I have spent the last seven years of my career with Career & Technical Education, assigned to help CTE teachers at North Marion High School, North Marion Middle School, and Fort McCoy School. This was akin to a grandparental role in that I no longer dealt with students directly, but instead helped with the needs of teachers, who of course did deal directly with students. I was part of the team, but it no longer involved changing metaphorical dirty diapers.

I shared my impending retirement last week on social media, and I confess it’s been a refreshing, reassuring experience to read former students’ comments and kindnesses, and to feel what I think we all want to feel as parents and/or teachers— that it mattered.

It mattered.

So, 31 years after my first class on a Monday morning at Howard Middle School, here I am at the end. In some ways, it’s a different world. Classrooms didn’t have email (most people didn’t have email) or phones, and there were no school or district websites. But in some ways, teaching’s nucleus remains the same. Teaching is of course academic, but also a mental and emotional ministry—we are proxy parents to lives and minds that need, in varying degrees, stability, security, a sense of belonging, humor, compassion, and boundaries that are fashioned from care, not power. Imparting concepts and an understanding of the coursework are the “job,” in the same myopic sense that a parent’s “job” is to keep a child alive— teaching and reaching and caring and guiding are so much more. It’s been an honor and privilege to know and serve the students and communities of

Marion County. I’m glad I raised my hand.

Left to right: Chris Miller, second from right, is shown while being interviewed for a newspaper article circa 2000/2001. Chris Miller, left, is shown with his daughter Jessica Miller Dixon and her friend Lauren Gantt at the Marion County Student Media Festival in 2011, where they were competing as Howard Middle School students. [Courtesy of Chris Miller]

Chris Miller, at right, poses with Lake Weir High School students, including his daughter Jessica, who was his student at the time, at the Marion County Student Media Festival in 2014. [Courtesy of Chris Miller]

Botanists and archaeologists receive National Science Foundation grant to study Mediterranean history

By Jerald Pinson Florida Museum

It’s an unusual collaboration. Botanists and archaeologists don’t often work together, unless they’re studying the way people have used plants through time. But a new four-year grant from the National Science Foundation is shaking things up. It provides more than $1 million to study how Mediterranean plants that people have largely ignored evolved and diversified in one of the most formative periods of human history.

“The Mediterranean is at the crossroads of Europe,” said Nicolas Gauthier, curator of artificial intelligence at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville and co-principal investigator on the grant. “It’s the nexus of social, climatic and environmental changes that occurred across these regions.”

Researchers from the Florida Museum, Southern Illinois University and the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History will focus on a hyper-diverse group of herbs called bellflowers. Their primary goals are to understand the relationships between bellflower species, when and where they originated in the Mediterranean and how human activity has inadvertently altered the diversity and distribution of this group over the last several thousand years.

If it works, investigators say they’ll have created a playbook that can be used to answer similar questions in any region for which there is sufficient historical information about human activity.

“This is data that we don’t traditionally use in an evolutionary context,” said principal investigator Nico Cellinese, curator of herbarium and informatics at the Florida Museum. “We intuitively know that landscapes have been manipulated and transformed by humans, but we don’t know exactly how these changes have affected the distribution of different lineages of plants and animals.”

Bellflowers are the perfect candidate for this initial study. They diversified throughout the Mediterranean before the arrival of humans, have generally narrow distributions—making it easier to trace their history of dispersal—and they don’t have any direct application to agriculture.

“It’s unlike other cases, such as cultivated grass species that humans moved around,” Gauthier said. “We can use bellflowers as a tracer. They haven’t been directly impacted by humans but could potentially tell us about the cascading impacts on ecosystems from humans.”

Even before humans showed up on the scene, the Mediterranean was a hotbed of biological activity and environmental change. Around 5.9 million years ago, the Strait of Gibraltar between Europe and Africa was sealed off. Dry conditions in the region meant there was little water to replenish the Mediterranean Sea, and much of it subsequently evaporated. This killed most of the organisms that lived inside it and left behind thick slabs of salt nearly two miles thick in some places.

Areas that are today occupied by

islands, such as the Aegean archipelago, were part of one large landmass connected to the rest of Europe and Africa, allowing plants and animals to move freely. Less than a million years later, the dam broke, and water from the Atlantic poured into the Mediterranean during a period of months to years called the Zanclean flood.

As the waters rose, plants and animals were again isolated on islands, where they evolved into new species.

“Some bellflower species are endemic to one or two islands, but is this endemism a consequence of geological or human activity? This is something that no one has ever really looked at in detail,” Cellinese said.

Investigators on the grant will combine a new and unpublished archaeological dataset of human activity in the Mediterranean with genetic data to determine when bellflowers evolved and where they likely grew.

“We have a record of the timing of human colonization on different islands. This is something that you don’t get in mainland areas, where we can never quite know for certain when human activity started or stopped,” Gauthier said.

With that information in hand, the next phase of the project will incorporate computer modeling to determine which environments are suitable for different bellflower species to grow in. Often, when a plant is absent from a suitable, nearby environment, it indicates human activity or other factors are restricting its range.

Gauthier will further fine-tune these analyses with artificial intelligence. Using a technique called downscaling, AI can take information on global climate change and translate it into the scale of local landscapes that plants actually experience, Gauthier said.

“You can know that it might be two degrees warmer in the northern hemisphere, but what does that mean about the west-facing slope of this one mountain that is next to the ocean? We can use AI to bridge that gap in scale.”

The Mediterranean Sea is one of several regions worldwide that have similar climates and similar problems. Following the completion of this project, Gauthier said these areas should be among the first for which this type of research is conducted.

“This biome is one of the most threatened by contemporary climate change,” he said. “They’re places where we see warming happening faster than the rest of the world, because they’re so sensitive to regional circulation patterns. This project is a test case for how these kinds of ecosystems will respond to climate change in the future.”

Torben Rick of the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History, Jennifer Weber of Southern Illinois University and Andrew Crowl of the University of Florida are also coprincipal investigators on the grant.

To learn more, go to floridamuseum.ufl.edu

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

June is Adopt a Cat Month. To celebrate, cat adoptions fees are only $5 and BOGO. Dogs fees are low too, only $25!

Visit MarionFL.org/Animal Pinot Who can embrace all of the wonder of a hound? Their beauty, their determination, their abilities, and best of all, that all too familiar bray. Seven-year-old Pinot is seeking a true hound lover where he is free to be his glorious self.

Bellflowers thrive in the dry Mediterranean climate, but they’re sensitive to human activity.

Bellflowers are distributed throughout the Mediterranean, but many species only grow on one or two islands, which makes them ideal for studying how humans have affected biodiversity in the region over the last several thousand years. [Andy Crowl]

The Mediterranean is dotted with small islands, many of which were once connected to mainland Europe, Africa and Asia when the sea was cut off from the Atlantic Ocean and evaporated 5.3 million years ago. [Andy Crowl]

Creampuff and Buttercup

Creampuff and Buttercup are a bonded brother and sister, who are just a little over two years old. We think there’s nothing sweeter than having TWO purrers sitting in your lap in the evening to help you wind down after a long day.

Sally Sally may be a bit reserved, but give her a few minutes and you just may discover you were meant for each other. This three-year-old lady is worth the time it takes to get to know her. She’s gentle and comforting—just what you’d want in a best friend.

Summertime fun at Camp Kiwanis

How did rhesus

macaque

The rhesus monkeys come from six macaques released in the 1930s by Colonel Tooey, who operated a glassbottomed boat tour of the Silver River. Tooey released the monkeys onto an island, hoping to get more riders on his glass-bottomed boat tours, who would then see them swinging up in the trees. What he apparently did not know is that rhesus macaques are strong swimmers and the monkeys swam away from the island and took up residence in the forest surrounding the river.

Rhesus macaques are native to India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Afghanistan, Vietnam and southern China. The monkeys can sometimes be aggressive towards people and other animals and many of them carry the dangerous herpes B virus, which can be fatal to humans, especially if you get bitten.

monkeys come to be in Ocala?

Clockwise front left: A wild rhesus macaque monkey sits on the back of a bench as it watches people by one of the boat ramps at Ray Wayside Park at the Ocala Boat Basin in Silver Springs on Tuesday, June 11, 2024. The monkey bares

fangs. The rhesus macaque monkey walks along a boat ramp.

Photos By Bruce Ackerman Ocala Gazette

Clockwise from left: Avery Benavides, 9, gets flipped over into the cool water of Mill Dam Lake by camp counselor Fay Redrick, 17, during the summer camp at Camp Kiwanis in the Ocala National Forest on Tuesday, June 11, 2024. Quincy Mitchell, 12, gets his flag taken away as he plays capture the flag with other campers. Cooper Gumpert, 13, takes aim at his target during archery. Campers go swimming in Mill Dam Lake. Delaney Peterson, 15, a camp counselor, wears her heart-shaped sunglasses.

Photos By Bruce Ackerman Ocala Gazette

Sudoku is played on a grid of 9 x 9 spaces. Within the rows and columns are 9 “squares” (made up of 3 x 3 spaces). Each row, column and square (9 spaces each) needs to be filled out with the numbers 1-9, without repeating any numbers within the same row, column or square.

By Michael Warren

government

JUNE 17, 24

Marion County Development Review

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

9am The committee reviews and votes on waiver requests to the Land Development Code, major site plans and subdivision plans. The committee meets weekly on Mondays. See marionfl.legistar.com/calendar.aspx for agenda and minutes.

JUNE 18

Marion County Board of County Commissioners McPherson Governmental Campus Auditorium, 601 SE 25th Ave., Ocala 9am The commission meets the first and

third Tuesday of the month. Agendas, minutes and video are available at marionfl.legistar.com/calendar.aspx.

JUNE 18

Ocala City Council

Ocala City Hall, 110 SE Watula Ave., Ocala 4pm The council meets the first and third Tuesday of the month. Ocala government agendas and minutes are available at ocala.legistar.com/calendar.aspx.

JUNE 18

Belleview City Commission

Belleview City Hall, 5343 SE Abshier Blvd, Belleview 6pm Meets the first and third Tuesday of the month; Belleview agendas, minutes and video available at belleviewfl.org/200/agendas-minutes.

community

JUNE 14

2nd Annual Juneteenth Celebration: Grown Folks A Night of Elegance

Mary Sue Rich Community Center at Reed Place, 1821 NW 21st Ave., Ocala 6 to 11pm

Presented by The Sircle Inc., this black-tie gala celebrates the past, present and future of African Americans. It will feature keynote speaker Rev. Dr. Joy L. Gallmon, former pastor at St. Paul AME Church, along with music by DJ Tony and performances by Orlando-based dance troupe Be Heard Through Movement. Three high school seniors will be awarded scholarships of $1,000 each.

JUNE 22, 23

Ocala Pet Palooza

World Equestrian Center, 1750 NW 80th Ave., Ocala

10am to 4pm Get ready for paw-some fun with pet parades, contests, dynamic agility courses and cool prizes. There also will be a variety of pet product vendors and adoption opportunities. Visit bmgevents.com/ocalapet.html for more information.

holidays

JUNE 16

Father’s Day

Celebrate all the fathers in your life. The annual celebration takes place on the third Sunday in June in the United States.

JUNE 19

Juneteenth

Officially recognized as a federal holiday beginning in 2021, Juneteenth celebrates the emancipation of African Americans and the ending of slavery in the U.S. The date of June 19 can be traced back to June 19, 1865, and the end of the Civil War, when word of the Emancipation Proclamation reached Texas.

JULY 4

Fourth of July

Also known as Independence Day, the holiday celebrates the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and the beginning of the United States as a country. Traditional celebrations include fireworks, cookouts and get-togethers with family and friends.

arts

THROUGH SEPTEMBER 2

Free Museum Entry for Veterans

Appleton Museum of Art, 4337 E Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala

All day—register for time slot online

The Appleton Museum, as part of the Blue Star Museums initiative, is extending free museum entry to all U.S. military active-duty and veterans, as well as up to five members of their family, for the duration of the summer. For more information, visit appletonmuseum.org/visit/plan-your-visit

JUNE 18

Museum & Me Pre-K Program

Appleton Museum of Art, 4337 E Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala

10:30 to 11:30am

Bring your toddler to the Appleton Museum and introduce them to the wonderful world of art. This one-hour class begins with story time in the lobby, and then branches out into the museum’s galleries, wrapping up with an opportunity for kids to create their own works of art. Registration is now open. Visit appletonmuseum.org/education/museum-me-pre-k-program-june-18-2024 to sign up.

JUNE 24, 25

Auditions for Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella

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

All day—register for time slot online

Thespians are wanted for a variety of roles at Ocala Civic Theatre’s upcoming production of “Cinderella.” The classic fairy tale has been adapted many times in film, television, literature, and more. OCT’s production is a re-imagining of the 1957 musical written by Rodgers & Hammerstein, the duo behind many famous Broadway musicals. For more information, visit ocalacivictheatre.com/event/rodgers-hammersteins-cinderella

JULY 6

Free First Saturday at Appleton Museum

Appleton Museum of Art, 4333 E Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala

10am to 5pm

Admission is free to all guests on the first Saturday of each month. Screenings of the documentary film “Audubon” will be at 11am and 2pm and food trucks The Donut Express and Grilled Cheese Emporium will be on site until 3pm. Learn more at appletonmuseum.org

education

THROUGH AUGUST 2

The Morris Center Summer Brain Camp

3019 SW 27th Ave Suite 202, Ocala Times may vary

This summer program is designed to help children who struggle with learning disabilities, such as slow reading, dyslexia, ADHD/ADD, and more. Pricing begins at $200 per week for half-day sessions and $250 per week for full-day sessions. For more information, visit bit.ly/3VgMnhy or call (352) 332-2629.

THROUGH AUGUST 2, 2024

2024 Summer Art Camp at Appleton Museum

Appleton Museum of Art, 4333 E Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala Times may vary

Half day camps are available throughout the summer for aspiring young artists ages 5 to 17. Professional artists and educators will introduce kids to unique styles and techniques, art history, and the collections of works on display at the Appleton. Supplies and materials are included. Visit appletonmuseum.org/2024-summer-art-camp for more.

JUNE 15 - JULY 13, 2024

Arts for All Too Summer Camp

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

10am to 2pm

Students ages 6 to 8 can participate in this summer camp with no audition required. They will learn about the various aspects of a theatrical production, both performance and technical, and learn how to express themselves through storytelling and play. The camp will culminate in a live show for family and friends. Spots are available first-come, first-serve, so sign up ASAP. Visit bit.ly/arts-for-all-2024 for more.

JUNE 24 - JUNE 28, 2024

Brick City Odyssey Summer Camp

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

7:30am to 6pm

Hosted by Marion County Parks & Recreation, this camp is called a “modern twist on traditional fun” that will be enjoyed by children of all ages. Happening throughout the summer, the week of June 24-28 will feature activities like bowling, movies, indoor skydiving at SkyZone, a trip to Grandpa Joe’s candy shop, and more. Visit bit.ly/3yO7iRB to learn more.

JUNE 14

Stirrups Wine Series: Passport to the Mediterranean World Equestrian Center, 1750 NW 80th Ave., Ocala

6:30 to 9pm This is another in the series of wine and food tasting events on the Stirrups’ Terrace at the Equestrian Hotel. This time you’ll journey to the Mediterranean, sampling the flavors from Spain, Portugal, Italy, Israel and more, all known for their distinct food and drinks. The samplings range from classic to exotic, with a menu of grilled piri-piri chicken, avocado tomato salad, falafel, grilled octopus, and other offerings from appetizers to desserts. Tickets are $150 per guest. Visit bit.ly/passport-mediterranean for more.

JUNE 21

Live Stand-Up with Killer Beaz

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

7:30 to 9pm Even though he appears as a bootleg whisky maker on the Discovery Channel series “Moonshiners,” Beaz style of comedy is good for the whole family. Beaz is a performing comedian currently touring the nation on his “Official Bootleg Tour.” The Alabama native and southern “everyman” is based in Nashville and performs regularly at the Grand Ole Opry. Visit bit. ly/4bED8Po for tickets and more.

JUNE 30

Red, White, and OSO Blue: A Salute to Independence Reilly Arts Center, 500 NE 9th St., Ocala Concert begins at 3pm Celebrate the Fourth of July with a patriotic-themed show by the Ocala Symphony Orchestra. A tribute to veterans, the show will feature classic American music and the stylings of John Phillip Sousa, composer of many American military marches. Visit bit.ly/red-white-oso to learn more.

Glimpse the ancient past in northeast England

By Rick Steves

While southern England gets most of the glory—and the tourists—the country’s far northeastern corner harbors some of England’s best historical sights. Hadrian’s Wall serves as a reminder that this was once an important Roman colony, while nearby Holy Island is where Christianity gained its first toehold in Britain. And both can be reached from the town of Durham, home to England’s greatest Norman church.

For years I’ve visited Hadrian’s Wall, the remains of the fortification the Romans built nearly 2,000 years ago to mark the northern end of their empire, where Britannia stopped and the barbarian land that would someday be Scotland began. But until a more recent visit, I had never ventured beyond the National Trust properties, the museums, and the various car-park viewpoints.

This time, I spent a sunny late afternoon actually hiking the wall. As I scrambled along these Roman ruins, I took a moment to simply absorb the setting. All alone with the sound of the wind, I surveyed the vast expanses and craggy hills that seem to rip across the island, like a snapshot that has frozen some sort of geological violence in midaction.

Hadrian’s Wall stretches 73 miles

across the isle. Once a towering 15-foottall fortification, that once mighty wall is now only about three feet wide and three to six feet high. But it’s still one of England’s most thought-provoking sights.

The best way to experience the wall is to focus on a six-mile stretch right in the middle, featuring three must-see sights: Housesteads Roman Fort, which shows you where the Romans lived; Vindolanda’s museum, which shows you how they lived; and the Roman Army Museum, which explains the empire-wide military organization that brought them here.

This stretch of the wall also boasts some of the most enjoyable hiking. A three-mile ridge walk alongside the wall from Steel Rigg to Sycamore Gap (named for the much-loved tree that stood there until vandals cut it down in 2023) to Housesteads Roman Fort gives you a perfect taste of scenery and history.

If you prefer history with monks mixed in, visit Holy Island. This small dot off the coast of northern England, near the Scottish border, was the home and original burial ground of St. Cuthbert, a great missionary monk and leader of the early Christian church in northern England. Known 1,200 years ago as Lindisfarne, this island was the source of the magnificent Lindisfarne Gospels, illustrated by monks with some of the finest art from Europe’s early Middle Ages. By the ninth century,

raids forced the monks to take shelter in Durham, but they returned centuries later to reestablish a church on this holy site.

Today, Holy Island makes a pleasant stop for modern-day pilgrims, who cross a causeway to a quiet town with B&Bs, cafés, and 150 residents. The island’s highlights include a priory, with an evocative field of ruined church walls and a tiny museum, a former coast-guard lookout tower offering expansive views, and a dramatically situated castle that’s more enticing from afar than it is inside.

South of Hadrian’s Wall and Holy Island and three hours north of London by train, the town of Durham sits snug below its castle and famous church. A sharp bend in the River Wear protected medieval Durham, providing a moat on three sides. Today, the river ties Durham into a tidy little bundle and seems to protect it only from the modern world.

For nearly a thousand years, pilgrims have come to Durham to see its cathedral. It was built around the year 1100 to house the much venerated bones of St. Cuthbert. The architecture is unusually harmonious because it’s all one style. The cathedral was built in just 40 years and survives essentially unaltered. In the rest of Europe, this kind of architecture would be called “Romanesque.” But in England, it’s called

1.

“Norman,” named after the invaders who brought the style across the English Channel from France. The cathedral’s round arches and zigzag carved decorations are textbook Norman.

For me, a Durham highlight is attending an evensong. I always arrive early and ask to be seated in the choir, the cozy, central church-within-a-church. In this vast, dark, and chilly building, the choir served as an intimate space where medieval monks could worship multiple times a day.

While the cathedral is the city’s top draw, it’s not the only one. Strolling the town and popping into the indoor market just off the main square is a delight. And, as home to England’s third-oldest university, the city is lively with tattooed students in search of a good karaoke bar. From a magnificent cathedral to striking ruins, England’s northernmost fringes provide the best opportunity to delve into the country’s fascinating past while enjoying its friendly present.

(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.)

Viking

Step 2,000 years into the past by hiking Hadrian’s Wall. [Addie Mannan/Rick Steves’ Europe]

By Ashley Moore America’s Test Kitchen

ANSWERS FOR PAGE B4

The addition problems written on the board needed -SOME SUMS

Crossword

Jumble MOTTO UPEND FOSSIL SYMBOL

Sudoku

Gasoline Alley

Broom Hilda

Middletons Animal Crackers

Notice

at the

indicated: 2020 SW 57th Ave, Ocala FL, 34474 on June 25, 2024 12:00PM (352) 663.9555 Lonnie Hooks- bags of clothes and kids toys, Charles(Chuck)Bono-Household Goods, Jarquise Jones-2 couches,2 bookshelves,desk,3 night stands,kitchen electronics,table, Stacy Monteith- Household Goods Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above facility to complete the transaction. The auction will be listed and advertised on www.storagetreasures. com. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.

NOTICE OF SCHOOL BOARD MEETING

Notice is hereby given that the School Board of Marion County, Florida, will meet on June 25, 2024, at 5:30 p.m., at the School Board Administration Office, 1614 E. Ft. King Street, Ocala, Florida, 34471. An agenda will be published seven days prior to the meeting. The agenda may be obtained at the Administration Office between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. The agenda is also available from a link on the District’s website: www.marion. k12.fl.us.

Persons wishing to address the Board should register with the Chairman prior to 5:40 p.m.

Hearing July 31, 2024 Tucson Arizona re: VERIFIED PETITION FOR CHANGE OF NAME OF MINOR CHILD COMES NOW the Petitioner Danielle Aldaz (fka May), by and through her undersigned counsel, and on behalf of the minor child Oliver Journey May, and pursuant to A.R.S. §12-601 and A.R.S. §36-337(A) (4), respectfully applies for a change of the minor child’s name to Oliver Journey Aldaz and requests that a new birth certificate be issued in the child’s new name and pursuant to court order. The facts supporting this proposed change of name are as follows:

1. Petitioner Danielle Aldaz (fka May) is the natural mother of the minor child Oliver Journey May, born March 11, 2023, in Pima, Arizona.

2. Both Petitioner and the child, Oliver Journey May, currently reside together in Pima County, Arizona and have been residents of Pima County since 2022.

3. Petitioner and father Jeremy May married on May 8, 2022.

4. Petitioner and Jeremy May have never resided in the same home.

5. Jeremy May has committed several acts of domestic violence against Petitioner.

6. Jeremy May resides in Florida and conducts no parenting time with the minor child.

7. Petitioner was awarded sole legaldecision making authority in the parties’ Decree of Dissolution signed March 5, 2024 in D20232216. Respondent’s only potential parenting time would only occur supervised in Tucson. Respondent has not exercised parenting time or seen the minor child since Late March 2023 with exception of one facetime call in September 2023.

8. The minor child’s only familial relationship is with Petitioner’s family.

9. Petitioner provides for the health insurance coverage for the minor child.

10. The subject child has no obligations which would require notice to any third party other than the child’s parents and no fraud on creditors could result as a consequence of the requested name change.

11. The subject child’s status as legal child and heir of his biological parents will remain unchanged as a consequence of the requested name change.

12. Through the instant application, Petitioner consents to the requested change of name as in the best interests of the minor child.

13. The best interests of the child warrants a name change of the minor child to OLIVER MAY ALDAZ and this application is made based upon the best interests of this child. Petitioner and Petitioner’s family are active in the minor child’s life, and it is in his best interests to have the same last name as his mother and maternal grandparents. It is further in the best interest of the child to have the same name of the parent with whom he lives, and not that of an absent parent.

There are no reasonable objections to the requested change

22 East, Marion County, Florida. The action was

v. Estate of ARLIE C. PATRICK, Deceased, MARY FRANKLIN, SHAWN ALBERT JOHNS, and NATHANIEL JOHNS You are required to serve a copy of your written defenses, if any, to the action on Matthew G. DeBoard, Plaintiffs' attorney, whose address is 529 N Fern Creek Avenue, Orlando, FL 32803, on or before JULY 8TH, 2024, and file the original with the clerk of this court either before service on PLAINTIFF'S ATTORNEY or immediately after service; otherwise, a default will be entered against you for the relief demanded in the complaint or petition. The Court has authority in this suit to enter a judgment or decree in the Plaintiffs' interest which will be binding upon you. DATED this 30TH day of MAY 2024. GREGORY C. HARRELL CLERK OF COURT AND COMPTROLLER

Notice

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIFTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR MARION COUNTY, FLORIDA. IN RE: THE ESTATE OF ROBERT DALE SWEET, Deceased. CASE NO: 2024-CP-496 NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The name of the decedent, the designation of the court in which the administration of this estate is pending, and the file number are indicated above. The address of the court is 110 N.W. 1st Avenue, Ocala, FL 34475. The names and addresses of the personal representative and the personal representative’s attorney are indicated below. If you have been served with a copy of this notice and you have any claim or demand against the decedent’s estate, even if that claim is unmatured, contingent or unliquidated, you must file your claim with the court ON OR BEFORE THE LATER OF A DATE THAT IS 3 MONTHS AFTER THE DATE OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE OR 30 DAYS AFTER YOU RECEIVE A COPY OF THIS NOTICE. All other creditors of the decedent and other persons who have claims or demands against the decedent’s estate, including unmatured, contingent or unliquidated claims, must file their claims with the court WITHIN 3 MONTHS AFTER THE DATE OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE. ALL CLAIMS NOT SO FILED WILL BE FOREVER BARRED. EVEN IF A CLAIM IS NOT BARRED BY THE LIMITATIONS DESCRIBED ABOVE, ALL CLAIMS WHICH HAVE NOT BEEN FILED WILL BE BARRED TWO YEARS AFTER DECEDENT’S DEATH.

The date of death of the decedent is: January 4, 2024. The date of first publication of this Notice is June 7, 2024.

Attorney for Personal Representative: JOSHUA L. MOSES Richard & Moses, LLC Florida Bar No. 119304 808 E Fort King Street Ocala, FL 34471 (352) 369-1300 Primary Email: Josh@RMProbate.com

Personal Representative: ANGELA JO SWEET 3500 SE Lake Weir Avenue Ocala, FL 34471

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIFTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR MARION COUNTY, FLORIDA. IN RE: THE ESTATE OF SANDRA L. KING, Deceased. CASE NO: 2024-CP-1294 NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The name of the decedent, the designation of the court in which the administration of this estate is pending, and the file number are indicated above. The address of the court is 110 N.W. 1st Avenue, Ocala, FL 34475. The names and addresses of the personal representative and the personal representative’s attorney are indicated below.

If you have been served with a copy of this notice and you have any claim or demand against the decedent’s estate, even if that claim is unmatured, contingent or unliquidated, you must file your claim with the court ON OR BEFORE THE LATER OF A DATE THAT IS 3 MONTHS AFTER THE DATE OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE OR 30 DAYS AFTER YOU RECEIVE A COPY OF THIS NOTICE. All other creditors of the decedent and other persons who have claims or demands against the decedent’s estate, including unmatured, contingent or unliquidated claims, must file their claims with the court WITHIN 3 MONTHS AFTER THE DATE OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE. ALL CLAIMS NOT SO FILED WILL BE FOREVER BARRED. EVEN IF A CLAIM IS NOT BARRED BY THE LIMITATIONS DESCRIBED ABOVE, ALL CLAIMS WHICH HAVE NOT BEEN FILED WILL BE BARRED TWO YEARS AFTER DECEDENT’S DEATH. The date of death of the decedent is: April 11, 2024. The date of first publication of this Notice is June 7, 2024.

Attorney for Personal Representative: JOSHUA L. MOSES Richard & Moses, LLC Florida Bar No. 119304 808

Pelvic floor during and after pregnancy: What to expect

By Tarek Khalife, M.D.

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research

EAR MAYO CLINIC: I’m pregnant with my first child, and I’ve heard a lot about pelvic floor changes during pregnancy and childbirth. I’m a bit worried and curious about what to expect. Can you explain these changes and offer advice on preparing for a healthy pelvic floor after pregnancy?

ANSWER: Pregnancy and childbirth are transformative experiences for a woman’s body, affecting it in many ways. One of the areas that may be affected is the pelvic floor, which is the diaphragm of the pelvis. These muscles support the uterus, bladder, large intestine and rectum.

Often, these muscles are affected by pregnancy and childbirth, altering some of their vital functions. These can include fecal and urinary continence mechanisms and support of the vaginal walls and uterus. Less support can lead to prolapse, when organs shift within the pelvis. Trauma to the pelvic floor muscles and nerves also may result in pelvic pain symptoms occurring with or without sexual intercourse.

Here are some of the factors that can affect your pelvic floor during pregnancy and childbirth and how they can lead to pelvic floor disorders in the future:

Physical changes. About 50% of pregnant women experience symptoms of pelvic floor disorders even before childbirth. During pregnancy, women tend to gain weight—not just the baby’s weight but also weight from the placenta, increased blood volume and an enlarged uterus. The extra weight increases strain on the pelvic floor muscles, resulting in an increased risk of urinary incontinence.

Constipation is common during pregnancy, especially in the third trimester. The weight of the growing uterus and hormone changes can affect digestion, leading to infrequent or difficult passing of stools. Any related straining and stress can weaken pelvic floor muscles and nerves further.

Hormonal changes. The body also undergoes significant hormonal changes during pregnancy that affect pelvic floor health. The placenta secretes the hormone relaxin to increase the flexibility of ligaments in the pelvis and soften the cervix. These changes are good because they prepare the body for birth. However, this can loosen the connection between the pelvis bones and lead to increased flexibility and instability.

Medical and occupational history. Some women are more susceptible to pelvic floor disorders, and this risk increases with pregnancy. Women with a history

of chronic constipation, connective tissue disorders or smoking are at increased risk. Women who are obese or have a history of repeated heavy lifting, either at work or through weight training exercises, also can be at increased risk.

Labor and delivery are considered risk factors for pelvic floor disorders. Vaginal delivery, in particular, is regarded as the most significant risk factor. During childbirth, the pelvic floor muscles undergo tremendous stress, especially during the second stage of labor, when patients are actively pushing. This risk is increased with operative deliveries using vacuum or forceps.

Labor before a cesarean section delivery also increases a woman’s risk for pelvic floor disorders.

Some women’s pelvic floors are more resilient and able to recover quickly, while others may be more prone to lasting issues. Studies show that the more vaginal deliveries a woman has, the more likely she is to experience pelvic floor dysfunction.

It’s important to remember that pelvic floor disorders are not a forgone conclusion during pregnancy. Just as pregnant women take prenatal vitamins and avoid alcohol to lower the risks of some congenital conditions, they can take steps to reduce the risk of pelvic floor disorders.

Regular exercise and eating a healthy diet are good for your baby and good for your pelvic floor as well. I also recommend that you consider attending birthing classes before childbirth. Often, these include stretching and breathing exercises to help coordinate the diaphragm and pelvic floor muscles during delivery. Pregnancy yoga and perineal massage can help prepare your pelvic floor by improving the flexibility and stretchability of tissues to limit your risk of perineal injuries at delivery.

When done correctly, Kegel exercises strengthen the pelvic floor muscles. About 40% of people don’t perform a Kegel correctly the first time. A physical therapist can help you identify the correct muscles if you are uncertain or have questions.

Finally, talk with your OB-GYN and healthcare team about your concerns. They can recommend stretches and classes to prepare your pelvic floor for childbirth.—Tarek Khalife, M.D., Obstetrics and Gynecology, Mayo Clinic Health System, Mankato and New Prague, Minnesota (Mayo Clinic Q & A is an educational resource and doesn’t replace regular medical care. E-mail a question to MayoClinicQ&A@mayo.edu. For more information, visit www.mayoclinic.org.)