Ocala Gazette | June 30 - July 6, 2023

No murder charge for Susan Lorincz in shooting death of AJ Owens, state attorney says

By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com

There is “insufficient evidence” to charge Susan Lorincz with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Ajike “AJ” Owens, State Attorney Bill Gladson announced on Monday.

Lorincz will instead be charged with manslaughter and one count of assault, as the evidence cannot definitively show that she was in a state of “depraved mind” at the time of the shooting, and showed no evidence of hatred, evil intent, spite or ill will toward the victim, according to a release from the state attorney’s office.

Owens, a Black mother of four, was killed by Lorincz, her white neighbor, while standing outside of her neighbor’s locked door after Lorincz reportedly got into an altercation with Owens’ children who were playing outside. Lorincz reportedly shot through her door while Owens and her son were standing outside of it, fatally wounding Owens, according to Lorincz’s arrest affidavit.

The Owens family is being represented by prominent civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who has notably defended the families of Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Tyre Nichols and Breonna Taylor.

“I am aware of the desire of the family, and some community members, that the defendant be charged with second-degree murder. My obligation as state attorney is to follow the law in each case that I prosecute,” Gladson said in the release.

If found guilty, Lorincz faces up to 30 years in prison for manslaughter with a firearm. If Lorincz had been charged and found guilty of second-degree murder, she could have faced up to a life sentence.

Those close to the tragedy disagree with the charges, however, and had pushed for Lorincz’s charges to be raised to murder, rather than manslaughter. Multiple neighbors reported hearing Lorincz use racial slurs toward the family and often hearing arguments during their long-time feud, according to her arrest affidavit.

Lorincz would often call the police on Owens’ children, claiming they had a “lack of respect for her peace and privacy,” according to the affidavit. The “Gazette” obtained records from several 911 calls on the day of the shooting, two of which were from

See AJ Owens, page A4

Impact fees may return to help fund schools

By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com

Anew estimate shows the Marion County school district will need to spend about $459.4 million over the course of the next 15 years

to build new schools and expand existing schools to accommodate the projected growth in the county’s student population. That money has to come from somewhere, and the Marion County School Board is poised to recommend that

the Marion County commission reinstate the Educational System Impact Fee on new construction to raise funds to help offset the district’s needs. The school board is reviewing the findings from year-long Long Range Planning and Impact Fee

studies conducted by the Benesch consulting company that identified which schools need expansions and where new schools need to be built. This information will help the school board decide whether to recommend bringing back

See Impact, page A3

From vouchers to guns, new laws take effect

By Jim Turner Florida News Service

More school vouchers. Expanded restrictions on teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity. Limits on using TikTok. Carrying guns without concealed-weapons licenses. A larger Florida State Guard.

More than 200 laws passed during the 2023 legislative session, including a record $116.5 billion budget, will take effect Saturday.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed nearly 300 bills that the Republicancontrolled Legislature passed during the session. About one-third went into effect immediately or will hit the books in October or January.

Here are some of the laws that will take effect Saturday:

--- SB 2500, a $116.5 billion budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, which will run from Saturday through June 30. DeSantis vetoed $510.9 million from the budget passed by lawmakers in May.

--- HB 1, expanding taxpayer-funded vouchers to all Florida students and eliminating income-eligibility requirements.

--- HB 3, prohibiting government

investment strategies that consider “environmental, social and governance,” or ESG, standards.

--- HB 5, eliminating Enterprise Florida, the state’s business-recruitment agency. Contracts and programs will be shifted to the Department of Economic Opportunity, which will be renamed the Department of Commerce.

--- SB 102, making changes to try to expand affordable housing, including boosting funding for housing and rental programs, providing incentives for investment and encouraging mixed-use developments in struggling commercial areas.

--- SB 106, designating $200 million to help link hiking and biking trails, which are part of the Shared-Use Nonmotorized Trail Network, to a statewide wildlife corridor.

--- SB 214, preventing credit-card companies from tracking firearm and ammunition sales through a separate “merchant category code” at gun businesses.

--- HB 225, allowing “opening remarks” of up to two minutes on public-address systems before high-school championship events. The change came amid a legal battle about whether a Christian school should have been able to offer a prayer over the loudspeaker before a championship football game.

--- SB 240, offering tax breaks for

businesses that employ apprentices or pre-apprentices.

--- SB 262, placing restrictions on large online companies about collecting and using consumers’ personal data.

--- SB 264, preventing, with some exceptions, property purchases in Florida by people from China who are not U.S. citizens or permanent U.S. residents.

--- SB 266, prohibiting colleges and universities from spending money on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

--- HB 379, prohibiting the use of the social-media platform TikTok on devices owned by school districts and through internet access provided by districts. TikTok has been controversial because of its Chinese ownership.

--- HB 389, allowing school districts to provide free menstrual hygiene products in schools.

--- HB 411, changing residency requirements for county school-board members. The bill will require board members to reside in the districts they represent by the date they take office, rather than at the time they qualify to run.

--- HB 477, imposing eight-year term limits on school-board members, down from the current 12 years.

From left to right: Allison Campbell, Eric Cummings, Lori Conrad, Nancy Thrower and Sarah James [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette]

FHS/VHS host combined reunion

Alumni from two Ocala high schools came together for a combined Class of 1993

By Andy Fillmore andy@ocalagazette.com

Cindi and Kip Williams are living proof that members of rival schools in Ocala can get along.

The Williams’ were among the 64 guests at the first ever combined Forest High School and Vanguard High School Class of 1993 reunion held June 24 at the Marion Cultural Alliance’s Brick City Center for the Arts in Ocala.

Kip, a VHS grad, now a marketing manager with Jackson & Coker healthcare and Cindi, an alumnus of FHS, now Children and Families Ministry Director at Legacy Church in Atlanta, met in their senior years at Burger King on Silver Springs Boulevard. They both graduated from their respective schools in 1993 and were married the same year. They now live in Marietta, Georgia.

Cindi Williams called the reunion, which included a number of faculty and school administrators, a “lovely reconnect.”

Brandy Forman, VHS 1993 Class President and a fourth generation Floridian, one of the reunion organizers, said her VHS class alumni have had 10-, 20- and 25year reunions leading up to the joint venture this year with FHS. Forman is a licensed clinical social worker.

The idea for a dual reunion for the rival schools was a reaction to many former classmates meeting on social media outside of reunions and a desire to increase interest and attendance with a larger alumni pool.

The Brick City Center for the Arts June exhibit, “50 Years

In The Life of an Artist: David D’Alessandris,” provided a colorful and upbeat background. The center is located at 23 S.W.Broadway.

Tammy Hoff, a former VHS swim team member and cheerleader, now Public Education & Outreach Coordinator with Ocala Electric Utility, is on the Marion Cultural Alliance board. As an organizer of the gathering, she wrote in an email that the venue “was a way our schools could collaborate and support our local artists while giving back to the community and leaving our legacy in Downtown Ocala.”

Okema Evans-Godbolt, a VHS alumnus, is now a computer engineer living in Washington, D.C. Her husband, Alton, has served two deployments to Afghanistan with the U.S. Army. Evans-Godbolt set up a photo booth for the event and handled decorations, according to Forman.

Evans-Godbolt said some local students had attended middle school together but went to one of either of the two high schools. She had not seen some of her middle school classmates, like Joanna Hunt, who was at the reunion, since middle school.

“It’s amazing; many of my classmates look the same,” EvansGodbolt said.

Dwayne Molock, of Molock Music, provided entertainment for the reunion. He said both high schools had adopted songs by “Boyz II Men,” for VHS it was “End of the Road” and for FHS, “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday.”

VHS alumni Kelli (Meierhenry) Keith, Miss Florida 1999, turned out for the gathering, as did her mother, Diana Meierhenry, a VHS faculty member. Keith also was a reunion organizer this year.

Additional faculty attending the dual reunion included Martha Cieplinski, VHS; Barbara Rogers, VHS, who also represented her late husband, Dale Rogers, FHS; Don Werhner, VHS; and Karlene

Innis, VHS.

Longtime coach at FHS, Wayne Yancey; Coach Bradley Rohrbacher, FHS; Glen Hallick, VHS; Connie Hallick, VHS; and Coach Scott Borth, VHS; also were part of the reunion, according to Forman.

Former Marion Country Public Schools Superintendent George Tomyn joined the festivities. Forman stated Tomyn also served as vice principal at VHS.

Forman wrote that she was “excited” about the turnout at a “perfect” venue and said the first combined FHS/VHS reunion for the Class of 1993 will have a lasting memento.

“We are ‘making our mark’ by using some of the funds from the reunion to purchase commemorative bricks at the Marion Cultural Alliance for both FHS and VHS class of ‘93,” Forman wrote.

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L to R Kip Williams , Cindi Williams, Patty Carrow-Garcia and Kim Becker pose at the inaugural Class of 1993 Forest High School and Vanguard High School combined reunion held Saturday, June 24,2023 at The Brick City Center for the Arts in Ocala. [Andy Fillmore]

Group shot at the first ever Forest High School and Vanguard High School combined Class of 1993 reunion held Saturday, June 24,2023, at The Brick City Center for the Arts in Ocala. [Andy Fillmore]

Friends Joanna Hunt, l, Okema Evans-Godbolt were reunited and at the first ever Forest High School and Vanguard High School combined Class of 1993 reunion held Saturday, June 24,2023, at The Brick City Center for the Arts in Ocala. [Andy Fillmore]

“It’s amazing; many of my classmates look the same.”

Okema Evans-Godbolt

Impact fees

Continued from page A1

impact fees.

Impact fees were first introduced in 2006 but have been suspended since 2011. At the time, the fee was about $3,967 for each new single-family home being built. The fees are one-time charges that local governments impose on builders and developers to offset the costs of expanding schools.

Board Chair Allison Campbell said Benesch has recommended that the county bring back the impact fees at 100%. The findings from the recent studies indicate that if impact fees are brought back, they may need to be higher than before to sustain the growth that the school district expects, according to the board.

Increasing impact fees is restricted, however, since the passing of House Bill 337 in 2021, which limits the frequency and rate that local governments can increase impact fees. Any increase in impact fees over 25% but not more than 50% must be implemented in separate increments throughout the year. With the amount of growth that the county is experiencing, Marion might fall under the “extraordinary circumstances” that exempt governments from these limitations.

“I understand that it does look like it’s a lot that we potentially could be asking for, but people have known that this was coming,” said Campbell.

“We have had 17 years (since implementing) a fee like this, and so from those who are coming into the county who are out-of-town developers, the information I always receive from folks is that they’re shocked that there isn’t any money at all that they have to contribute to schools,” she added.

Student population growth has been a concern for years, and the increase in enrollment across the district within the past year alone has matched the projections that were expected.

From the 2021-22 school year to the 2022-2023 school year, the number of students enrolled in Marion County public schools increased by 1,000.

The consultant’s findings supported what district leaders have known for years.

“This wasn’t a surprise to anyone, especially if you’ve been in Marion County any length of time,” said School Board member Rev. Eric Cummings.

“We knew where the growth was. We knew where the overcrowding was.”

The school board will have two mandatory workshops, on July 6 and July 13, to discuss whether they will recommend bringing back impact fees, and how much they will be. The board will then pass their recommendation during a regularly scheduled board meeting, and that recommendation will go before the county commission for a vote, likely in September, Campbell said.

Following the resignation of Jeff Gold, former vice chair of the Marion County Commission, there are four commissioners on the board until the governor appoints a new one. This means that three of the four commissioners must vote to approve reinstating the impact fee rather than the 2/3 approval required by law.

The school board is also eligible to levy the “school half-cent sales tax,” which if voters approve, would directly fund the construction, reconstruction or improvement of school facilities. The county formerly had this tax from 2005 until 2009, which gave the district $4.5 million in revenue for schools.

The district currently receives funding from the “Capital Outlay Millage,” and it levies the maximum 1.5 mills to make lease payments, fund construction, transportation and technology. Millage is a tax rate assessed on a property’s assessed value, and 1.5 mills is $1.50 for each $1,000 of value.

Though bringing back impact fees could affect the profits of builders and developers, funding the construction and renovation of schools is necessary to support the population growth that their projects bring to the county.

“There certainly are people in the affordable housing area who would like to see us continue to suspend the impact fee altogether,” Campbell said. “And there are people in the commercial and high-end residential (side) who completely understand the need to reinstate (impact fees).”

Club bestows service award

By Susan Smiley-Height susan@magnoliamediaco.com

The Rotary Club of Ocala

on June 26 presented its 2022 Service Above Self Award to Barbara Fitos.

“Since 1957, the Rotary Club of Ocala has sought to implement its vocational service obligation to the object of Rotary by recognizing the men and women of the Ocala/ Marion County community who have distinguished themselves by a caliber of service that is clearly in step with Rotary’s ‘service above self’ mantra,” noted the press release.

Each year, with few exceptions, the club has identified one, sometimes two persons, “who stand out from their peers sufficiently to be recognized by the bestowal of our Service Above Self Award,” the release stated.

The recipient is acknowledged by his or her name being engraved on the inside of a large silver bowl that serves as a “perpetual trophy” of outstanding personal service. An engraved name plate is displayed on the pedestal upon which the bowl is affixed. The bowl is kept on public display, currently at the Ewers Century Center on the Ocala campus of the College of Central Florida.

“The selection committee cast a wide net in search of suitable

candidates, and this year we were fortunate to identify a very highly qualified nominee. The recipient for the year 2022 is Barbara Fitos, a community icon. She is involved in many community organizations and gives of her time and skills continuously. She makes many of our organizations better. Barbara always finds a way to say, “Yes, I will help,’” noted the release.

According to the announcement, in 2022, Fitos chaired the Ollin Women International’s International Women’s Day celebration that honors and recognizes outstanding women in the community as trailblazers, women in the arts, the sciences, education and business.

She served on the executive and summit committees for Ollin Women’s inaugural peace summit the same year. Additionally, she is the author of the program scripts, which is extremely time consuming and makes an impact on the overall award presentation.

The release also noted that Fitos assumed the role of president of the Bridges Project, whose mission is to advance the cause of racial justice, equity, and inclusion. In 2022, she served on the website redesign and rebranding project in conjunction with the College of Central Florida

and oversaw the creation and editing of the Bridges’ publication, “Our story – The ‘Why’ of Bridges’ Founders and Members.”

Through her role with the Bridges Project, she serves as outreach liaison for the Governor’s West Neighborhood Revitalization Council, the Racial Harmony Task Force and the Juneteenth Commission, among others.

“The synergy of her community commitments continues as she assumed the chairmanship of the Public Policy Institute (PPI), which is the voice of the community on pertinent and timely issues. PPI finalized in 2022 its latest study on youth violence for publication in 2023. And, last, but not least, her passion for arts and culture is evidenced by her long-term membership with Ocala’s first arts incubator, the Magnolia Art Xchange, where she has served as treasurer and is incoming president,” the release stated.

Fitos is a former Marion County Commissioner and former executive director of the Community Foundation for Ocala/Marion County. She enjoyed a successful career as a banking executive.

“As evidenced by her extensive resume, her involvement and engagement with community has only enhanced in her ‘retirement,’” noted the release.

“Her commitment and dedication and love of this community she has called home for the past 45 years continues to be evident in all she does in 2022 and beyond. Barbara Fitos is a true example of service above self.”

Longtime Ocala Rotary Club member and Rotary Past District Governor Frank Rasbury, who assists the club in various capacities, said that Monday’s event included the presentation of numerous awards and installations.

“She gave a very eloquent response,” he said of Fitos’ acceptance speech.

On Wednesday, Fitos wrote via

email: “I am incredibly humbled and honored to be this year’s recipient. Service above self is the overarching principle of the Rotary philosophy. My own ‘giving back’ is my thank you to this community that I have called home for over four decades, and I am blessed to continue this stewardship role in retirement. And for this recognition of what has been a lifelong commitment, I am beyond grateful.”

To learn more about the Ocala Rotary Club, go to ocalarotaryclub.com

Barbara Fitos is the Rotary Club of Ocala’s 2022 Service Above Self honoree.

Continued from page A1

Lorincz. The first call was to report that she had gotten into an altercation with the Owens family while the children were playing outside and it escalated into a fight, and the second was from Lorincz after she shot Owens through the door. Five other calls were obtained from those on the scene reporting that a woman had been shot, in addition to neighbors who reported hearing an argument and a gunshot.

Lorincz had researched the “stand your ground” law before the shooting took place. She claimed that she fired the gun because she was fearful for her life, due to Owens banging on her door from the outside. Owens did not attempt to enter the home or touch the door handle, and the door was locked with an extra-long deadbolt, according to the arrest affidavit.

Pamela Dias, the mother of Ajike “AJ” Owens, leaves the church with Owens’ children during the Celebration of Life for Ajike “AJ” Owens at Meadowbrook Church in Ocala, Fla. on Monday, June 12, 2023. Owens was killed on June 2 by neighbor Susan Lorincz who shot her through her closed door. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2023.

Shortly before the formal charges were filed, the Marion County chapter of the NAACP on Monday called for “every charge that is applicable to the crimes that were committed” to be filed against Lorincz.

Following the formal charges, those who have been fighting on Owens’ behalf, through a Facebook page titled “Justice for Ajike ‘AJ’ Owens,” expressed their strong disagreement with Gladson for not pursuing a higher charge.

“The charge of manslaughter is a slap in the face to the four children who AJ left behind, her family, and the community who knew her and those who have organized for justice for nearly a month,” according to the page.

In the release from the state attorney’s office, Gladson said that he fully considered the possibility of charging Lorincz with second-degree murder, but that the act of aiming a firearm at a door and pulling the trigger was not enough to constitute that charge.

“Prior to making this decision, my office consulted with the victim’s family, and their attorney,” Gladson said.

Lorincz was initially charged by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office with manslaughter, negligent exposure to harm, two counts of threat of violence and battery. Gladson explained his decision to drop the second charge of assault in addition to the charges of battery and negligence in the release.

“Sworn testimony provided by the victim’s son after the arrest, indicated that the skate thrown by the defendant did not strike the child, a necessary element of the charge of battery,” Gladson said.

Another child’s testimony did not prove the element of fear, without which the second assault charge could not be filed. Lorincz was initially charged with negligence due to one of Owens’ children being present when she was shot, but that charge was also dropped due to inability to prove that Lorincz knew the child was present, Gladson said.

“The defendant will be prosecuted for the offense of manslaughter with a firearm, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison. My office will do all it can to seek justice for Ms. Owens and her family,” Gladson said.

Family and attorneys of AJ Owens speak after formal charges filed against her alleged killer

By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com

The attorneys for the family of Ajike “AJ” Owens say her surviving loved ones are “extremely disappointed” in the lack of a second-degree murder charge against Susan Lorincz, but they will continue to fight for the highest possible sentence for the manslaughter charge Owens’ alleged killer is facing.

Family liaison Takema Robinson, along with attorneys Anthony Thomas and Benjamin Crump, hosted a press conference Tuesday, one day after State Attorney Bill Gladson announced that Lorincz would be charged with manslaughter rather than the seconddegree murder charge the family sought.

Owens, a Black mother of four, was killed by Lorincz, her white neighbor on June 2, according to her arrest affidavit.

Owens was standing outside of Lorincz’s locked door after Lorincz reportedly got into an altercation with Owens’ children, who were playing outside. Lorincz fired a single shot through her door while Owens and her son were standing outside of it, fatally wounding Owens, according to the arrest affidavit.

“We’re still disappointed in our state attorney. However, we want to stay vigilant with the prosecution,” Thomas said. “Susan deserves all 30 years of that 30-year maximum sentence, and that’s what we’re pushing forward with at this moment.”

Gladson said in a statement Monday that while he understood the family’s desire for the charges against Lorincz to be raised to murder, he said there was “insufficient evidence” to do so because she was not of “depraved mind” and did not show any hatred, spite or ill will at the time of the shooting.

“The evidence is already there,” said Thomas. “I mean simply read that arrest affidavit. Susan admits to the racism, the hatred—she did have ill will and intent to kill AJ at the time of the murder.”

Owens and Lorincz frequently got into altercations over the course of two years, often over Owens’ children playing in a grassy common area in the Quail Run-area apartment complex, Marion County Sheriff’s Office records show. Multiple neighbors reported hearing Lorincz use racial slurs toward the family and often hearing arguments during their long-time feud, according to the arrest affidavit.

Lorincz purchased a gun after one of their arguments and researched laws pertaining to self-defense and the “Stand Your Ground” statute before the shooting occurred, according to the affidavit.

Attorney Crump, who has worked on a number of high-profile civil rights cases including for the families of George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor and Tyre Nichols, said he felt there was a “double standard” present in the filed charges. If the roles were reversed, he said, Owens would have been charged

‘Justice for AJ’

with murder rather than manslaughter.

“That’s why people are so outraged when they think about the fact that a person can shoot somebody through a locked metal door after calling their children racial epithets and not be charged with murder,” Crump said.

Also in response to the charges, the Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, released a statement saying Florida officials have “failed” Owens and her family, and urged the Justice Department to investigate the shooting as a hate crime. Sharpton gave the eulogy at Owens’ funeral on June 12.

“The fact that this woman hurled insults including the N-word at her children and proclaimed, ‘This isn’t the underground railroad, slave,’ should be enough for the Justice Department to investigate this as a federal hate crime,” he said.

While the manslaughter charge was not the outcome many close to the tragedy had hoped for, the team urged everyone to remain faithful and to adamantly continue to fight on Owens’ behalf.

“We’re disappointed in our justice system. Certainly, that gives us no confidence in the entire legal system, but at the same time, just keep this family in your prayers and hope,” Thomas said. “Stay vigilant with this family that there will be justice in the form of a conviction.”

Community members protest perceived lenient charges in neighbor shooting death.

said he has police reports to verify the incident. He added he was threatened by KKK members as a youth.

Johnson said officials “use laws against us.” He cited several felony charges and a second-degree murder charge that he feels Lorincz should have gotten rather than the “slap on the wrist” charges filed against her.

He indicated a Black person in the same situation as the shooter “would’ve gotten life.”

“This has got to end. We’ve got to come together,” Johnson said.

Darnitha Johnson, Larry Johnson’s wife, told the group that Owens’ four children have “lost their mother for the rest of their lives.”

By Andy Fillmore andy@ocalagazette.com

About 30 members of the community gathered in front of the Marion County Judicial Center Monday afternoon to protest what some are calling insufficient charges announced earlier in the day against Susan Lorincz in the June 2 shooting death of Ajike “AJ” Owens.

“Justice for AJ,”; “No Justice, no peace”; “Take a stand,” were some of the chants at the protest.

“We have to love and protect each other; we have nothing to lose but our shame,” one demonstrator shouted.

The case involving Lorincz, a white woman, who allegedly shot and killed Owens, a Black woman and the mother of four young children, through a locked door, has garnered national attention.

Lorincz, according to an arrest document, had been angry over time with children, including Owens’ children, playing in a grass field adjacent to her residence in the Quail Run section of Ocala.

Lorincz was charged Monday, June 26, by State Attorney Bill Gladson with one count each of manslaughter with a firearm and assault, which could carry up to a 30-year sentence, according to a press release from his office.

Owens’ family co-counsels, nationally known civil rights attorney Ben Crump and Florida attorney Anthony Thomas, released a statement that they and the family are “deeply disappointed” by the charges. Owens’ mother Patricia Dias was quoted in the release as questioning if her daughter’s life is “being taken seriously.”

The press release gave a link to JusticeforAJOwens.org and a Go Fund Me account for the family, which has raised $333,000 to date.

The handling of the case by law enforcement and prosecutors has come under fire by some individuals and groups. The Marion County Chapter of the NAACP had called for Lorincz to be charged to the “full extent of the law,” citing other charges including seconddegree murder and child endangerment that could have been brought for an incident where Lorincz allegedly threw a roller skate at one of Owens’ children.

“It’s not right to be called the ‘N-word’ (but) it’s absolutely right for a mother to stand up for her children,” another protestor stated, who called for justice for each Owens’ four children.

There was a call for four minutes of silence out of respect for the victim and her children.

Signs at the demonstration read, “Shame on you (Gladson)” and “Change the charge.”

“How is that not pre-meditated?” one speaker said about the circumstances of the shooting, which included Lorincz standing behind a locked metal door in her home before allegedly firing the fatal shot.

One speaker shared her narrative that she has seen decades of unequal treatment for minorities in the Ocala area. “Enough is enough,” she said. “Nothing has changed.”

Larry Johnson said, “KKK members attempted to blow up (my) father’s gas station” on West Silver Springs Boulevard in 1974, but he said his father defended his business by shooting at a truck and scaring the attackers away. He

“(The children) will have no mother at their graduation, their weddings (and) the system will not treat these children fairly, but as a troubled child,” she said.

She said that in 2009 the father of her children was killed in front of them by someone who tried to invoke the justifiable use of deadly force law known as “Stand Your Ground.”

“The children are in their 20s now and they’re still feeling the effects,” she said.

“It’s time (for us) to read and learn the laws,” said Darnitha Johnson, who has demonstrated at the state capitol in Tallahassee and suggested the same action to the group.

A young man holding his 5-month-old daughter joined the gathering. He said he was struck by the loss of Owens.

“I was a personal friend of AJ’s, and we went to the same church,” he said. “She was no threat; (she would) never harm anyone.”

Pamela Dias, the mother of Ajike “AJ” Owens, leaves the church with Owens’ children during the Celebration of Life for Ajike “AJ” Owens at Meadowbrook Church in Ocala on Monday, June 12, 2023. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette]

About 30 members of the community gathered in front of the Marion County Judicial Center on June 26 to protest what some are calling insufficient charges announced earlier in the day against Susan Lorincz in the June 2 shooting death of Ajike “AJ” Owens. [Andy Fillmore]

Larry Johnson, left, listens as Linda Peoples, seated, speaks during the event on June 26. [Andy Fillmore]

C’est

finis but the baking

goes

on

WEC’s pastry maker lost the final round in the “Summer Baking Championship” but remains upbeat.

The final started with its usual preliminary “pre-heat” challenge. The bakers created three different desserts and a dipping sauce inspired by a fair or amusement park. They had to make one fried element, one popcorn element, and one baked treat.

Le Bescond made a pretzel and caramel tartlet, a fried cinnamon cream puff and a peanut butter and chocolate popcorn cookie, and a caramelized chocolate whipped sauce. But the colors were “too elegant” the judges said and didn’t scream festival treat as the host Jesse Palmer requested. Peckwith, who scored high consistently throughout the season, won the pre-heat and got the bonus advantage of big shiny decorative stars for the final challenge, a parade float-inspired cake.

July 4 Expected to Bring Heavy Travel

By Jim Turner Florida News Service

Average gasoline prices in Florida decreased 6 cents during the past week, but that trend could change as travel picks up for the extended Independence Day holiday weekend.

Florida motorists on Monday paid an average of $3.35 a gallon for regular unleaded, down from $3.41 a week earlier, according to the AAA auto club. Monday’s average was $1.19 a gallon less than on July 4, 2022.

data and insights.

The vast majority of Floridians traveling more than 50 miles during the holiday period will drive. The state’s highest average gas prices are in the West Palm Beach, Naples and Fort Lauderdale markets, while the Panhandle and Vero Beach areas have the lowest averages, according to AAA.

Even with passengers paying 40 percent to 50 percent more for flights compared to last year, nearly 220,000 Floridians are expected to travel by air. That would be 11 percent more than in 2022 and 13 percent more than in 2019.

By Julie Garisto julie@magnoliamediaco.com

World Equestrian Center Pastry

Chef Yohann Le Bescond

glowed brighter than his colorful fondants during the premiere season of the Food Network’s “Summer Baking Championship” as a finalist in the competition.

The new Food Network series premiered on May 15 on Food Network and Discovery+. Ten bakers from across the U.S. tackled summer-themed baking challenges featuring bright, tropical flavors and ingredients.

WEC’s exuberant dessert maker baked, blended and designed his way through eight episodes, making it to the final bout and last three contestants, but, alas, didn’t take the grand prize of $25,000. The big winner of the season was Zoe Peckwith, a chef from Pittsburgh.

Both Le Bescond and the series’ third competitor, Alyssa Alcantara, dazzled celebrity judges Duff Goldman, Carla Hall and Damaris Phillips, and redeemed themselves after recent close calls, but didn’t quite clinch it in the last Fourth of July baking blitz.

Some might wonder if an Americana cultural bias put Ocala’s French-born chef at a disadvantage. He said no and was fine with creating patriotic flair, but he wished he could have gotten “those stars,” he told the “Gazette.”

The series’ location, in the TV mecca of Burbank, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, offered a good time for Le Bescond, and he bonded with his fellow competitors.

“It was an amazing experience, and I’ve taken all that I’ve learned back to Ocala with me,” Le Bescond said.

Said “Fansided” magazine: “Yohann created a work of art and even though it was an America-centric challenge, he still made it French by making his inspiration the Statue of Liberty.”

Le Bescond’s three-tier ginger chile cake with cream cheese and mango filling had chocolate tiles that looked like the steps going up to the statue.

“I was very excited making Fourth of July desserts because the U.S. is home for me and it was an opportunity for me to honor this great country,” Le Bescond explained. “I made my treats in a way that would allow me to speak about my background and tell the world who I am and who I want to be.”

“Low oil prices have enabled gas prices to remain well below year-ago levels. However, strong demand has created some volatility throughout the past month,” AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins said in a prepared statement. “Even if gas prices bounce higher again soon, Independence Day road trippers will pay much less at the pump than they did last year.”

Despite higher costs for air travel and hotels, AAA projects holiday travel will be 3 percent higher than a record total set last year in Florida and 8 percent higher than over the same period in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. The auto club estimates more than 2.81 million Floridians will travel at least 50 miles from Friday through July 4.

“Independence Day weekend appears to be the continuation of what has already been a very strong summer travel season,” AAA Vice President of Travel Debbie Haas said in a statement. “Although airfares and hotel rates are more expensive than last year, Americans are still eager to travel. So, expect to see congested roads, busy hotels, and long lines at airports and attractions.”

More than 2.7 million Floridians ventured over 50 miles during the 2022 period.

Friday is expected to be the busiest day on the road, with average travel times 30 percent longer than normal, according to INRIX, which provides AAA with transportation

Nationally, 50.7 million people are expected to travel more than 50 miles for the holiday, up from 48.7 million in 2022.

AAA said hotel prices are up slightly from last year and that prices typically increase as availability diminishes.

Florida has seen strong travel numbers from other states but has not returned to pre-pandemic levels of international travel. AAA said, however, that summer international hotel bookings are up 80 percent from a year ago.

The Biden administration lifted COVID-19 vaccination requirements for international air travelers on May 11, the same day that a COVID-19 public health emergency ended.

But officials of the Visit Florida tourism-marketing agency have continued to fret about visa wait times in several key international markets.

As an example, the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs website Monday posted a wait time in Bogota, Colombia, for non-immigrant visa appointments of 809 days --- eight days longer than at the start of June.

In Mexico City, it was 751 days. A 434-day wait in Rio De Janeiro was a 34-day improvement from earlier this month.

The backlog has been attributed, at least in part, to staffing shortages at embassies.

Commissioners renew County Attorney Minter’s employment contract

By Belea T. Keeney belea@magnoliamediaco.com

The Marion County Board of County Commissioners has renewed the employment contract for County Attorney Matthew “Guy” Minter for another five years. At the board’s June 6 meeting, board members had high praise for Minter, citing his legal knowledge, professionalism and expertise in a range of legal topics.

Minter presented the agenda item to Commissioners Kathy Bryant, Carl Zalak and Chair Craig Curry, who approved it in

a 3-0 vote. Commissioner Michelle Stone was absent and the District 3 seat is vacant after Jeff Gold resigned on June 6.

The contract stipulated an annual salary of $260,000, a $400 a month car allowance, a cell phone, participation in the Florida Retirement System, full disability and medical insurance coverage and a two-part payout of the 850 hours of annual leave that Minter had accumulated.

Minter praised his legal staff, saying, “We work together as a team to deal with the many legal issues of the county.” Almost every department in the county, he said, interacts with and gets advice

from the legal department as regulations, ordinance and statutes at the local, state and federal level can affect county actions.

“I know many people don’t like attorneys,” Minter said with a smile, “but you need attorneys to keep the board making the best decisions possible,” while protecting the county from liability.

Zalak thanked Minter for his 13 years of dedication and service to the county.

Zalak also pointed out that having him on staff “saves the county millions” of dollars. Especially with regard to eminent domain issues, Zalak said, Minter has saved the county money and handles those issues

without the need for outside consultants or fees. Minter has acted as a resource to every one of our departments, Zalak stated, and is “thankful that you’re willing to give us another five years.”

Curry also praised Minter saying to him, “You’re not an expense to the county, you’re an asset. The money you save us is incredible. If we had to go out and try to replace you—we couldn’t.’’

Minter, he added, “has the respect of the business community, the development community. They know you’re a great negotiator but a fair person.”

Minter has built up legal department in his 13-year tenure, has respect of the board and community.

Contestant Yohann Le Bescond presents his final dish, Ginger Chili

Cake with Cream Cheese Mango Filling, as seen on Summer Baking Championship, Season 1. [Courtesy of Food Network]

IN THE CIRCUIT

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIFTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR MARION COUNTY, FLORIDA PROBATE DIVISION

RE: ESTATE OF SHARON ANNE ENNIST a/k/a SHARON A. ENNIST, deceased. FILE NO. 2023-CP-1514 / NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The administration of the estate of Sharon Anne Ennist a/k/a Sharon A. Ennist , deceased,

NOTICE TO CREDITORS In the Circuit Court for Marion County, Florida Probate Division Case No.: 23-CP-001445-AX, IN RE; Estate of ALICE DARLENE HILL A/K/A ALICE DARLENE BULLARD-HILL, deceased, The administration of the estate of Alice Darlene Hill a/k/a Alice Darelene BullardHill is pending in the Circuit Court for Marion County, Florida,

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIFTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR MARION COUNTY, FLORIDA.

IN RE: THE ESTATE OF FROILO ANTONIO RIVERA, a/k/a FROILO ANTONIO RIVERA, JR., Deceased. CASE NO: 2023-CP-1253 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.

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.

NEW FUNDING PROGRAM TO SUPPORT TOURISM PARTNERS

OF THIS NOTICE OR 30 DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF SERVICE OF A COPY OF THIS NOTICE ON THEM.

All other creditors of the decedent and other persons having claims or demands against decedent’s estate must file their claims with this court WITHIN 3 MONTHS AFTER THE DATE OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE.

ALL CLAIMS NOT FILED WITHIN THE TIME PERIODS SET FORTH IN FLORIDA STATUTES SECTION 733.702 WILL BE FOREVER BARRED.

NOTWITHSTANDING THE TIME PERIODS SET FORTH ABOVE, ANY

CLAIM FILED TWO (2) YEARS OR MORE AFTER THE DECEDENT’S DATE OF DEATH IS BARRED.

The date of first publication of this notice is June 30, 2023.

Personal Representative:

Anne Marie Engelgau 10900 SW 45th Avenue

Ocala, FL 34476

Attorney for Personal Representative:

LAUREN E. MERRIAM, III, ESQ.

Florida Bar No. 320099 Blanchard, Merriam, Adel, Kirkland & Green, P.A. lmerriam@bmaklaw.com msandstrom@bmaklaw.com

Post Office Box 1869 Ocala , Florida 34478

Telephone: (352) 732-7218

OF SERVICE OF A COPY OF THIS NOTICE ON THEM. All other creditors of the decedent and other persons having claims or demands against decedent’s estate must file their claims with this court WITHIN THREE (3) MONTHS AFTER THE DATE OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE. ALL CLAIMS NOT FILED WITHIN THE TIME PERIODS SET FORTH IN SECTION 733.702 OF THE FLORIDA PROBATE CODE WILL BE FOREVER BARRED. NOTWITHSTANDING THE TIME PERIOD SET FORTH ABOVE, ANY CLAIM FILED TWO (2) YEARS OR MORE AFTER THE DECEDENT’S DATE OF DEATH IS BARRED. LESLIE V. MARENCO, ESQ.

David Allan Hill, Personal Representative Attorney for Petitioner Florida Bar No. 78303 TRUST COUNSEL, PLLC 201 Alhambra Circle, Suite 802 Coral Gables, FL 33134 Telephone: 305-707-7126 Primary e-mail Address: marenco@ trustcounsel.com Secondary e-mail Address: eservice@ trustcounsel.com

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 17, 2023. The date of first publication of this Notice is June 23, 2023.

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 8, 2023. The date of first publication of this Notice is June 23, 2023.

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: SUSAN O'NEILL BROWN 586 Forest Street Rockland, MA 02370

The Marion County Board of County Commissioners passed a new funding program managed by the Ocala/Marion County Visitors and Convention Bureau to support the local tourism industry. The Marketing Assistance Funding Program is designed to enable tourism-related businesses in Marion County to enhance their marketing efforts leveraged with the Ocala/Marion County destination brand.

The program is meant to assist site-based businesses such as attractions, outfitters and restaurants or those relating to art, heritage/history and culture that provide service to visitors beyond events and, by the nature of their existence, attract visitation to the region or offer reasons for visitors to extend their stay in the destination, the news release stated.

Eligible organizations may request a maximum of $5,000 as part of the program. Requesting agencies must attend an application workshop on July 6 or 20, review the guidelines and submit the application and supporting information electronically by Aug. 4. Both workshops will be at the Ocala/Marion County Visitors and Convention Bureau, 109 W Silver Springs Blvd, Ocala.

To learn more, call (352) 438-2800.

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT, FIFTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR MARION COUNTY, FLORIDA PROBATE FILE

In re: Estate of Joseph R. Trentman, Deceased File No. 23CP001460AX Division 44-E NOTICE TO CREDITORS TO ALL PERSONS HAVING CLAIMS OR DEMANDS AGAINST THE ABOVE ESTATE:

You are hereby notified that an Order of Summary Administration has been entered in the estate of JOSEPH R. TRENTMAN, deceased, having died on SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 , by the Circuit Court for Marion County, Florida, Probate Division File No. 23CP001460AX, which address is Marion County Judicial Center, 110 NW 1 st Ave., Ocala, Florida 34475; that the total cash value of the estate is $548,331.00 and the names and addresses of those to whom it has been assigned by such order are attached to this notice.

ALL INTEREST PERSONS ARE NOTIFIED THAT:

All creditors of the decedent and other persons having claims or demands against decedent’s estate on whom a copy of this notice is served within three months after the date of the first publication of this notice must file their claims with this Court WITHIN THE TIME PERIOD PROVIDED BY THE LAW.

All other creditors of the decedent and persons having claims or demands against the estate of the decedent must file their claims with this court AFTER THE DATE OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE WITHIN THE TIME FRAME PERIOD PROVIDED BY THE LAW. ALL CLAIMS AND DEMANDS NOT SO FILED AND ANY CLAIM FILED TWO YEARS AFTER THE DECEDENT’S TIME OF DEATH WILL BE BARRED FOREVER.

The date of this first publication of this Notice is June 23, 2023.

ROBERT TRENTMAN Petitioner SHEFFIELD & BOATRIGHT, P.A.

SCOTT R. BOATRIGHT Florida Bar No. #0025305 6101 Gazebo Park Place North, Suite 101 Jacksonville, Florida 32257 (904) 733-7900 Attorney for Petitioner Email: SBoatright@s-blaw.com and Copies to SRoper@s-blaw.com

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIFTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR MARION COUNTY, FLORIDA. IN RE: THE ESTATE OF MARIBETH CAROL SCHONBERG, Deceased.

CASE NO: 2023-CP-1466

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 10, 2023

The date of first publication of this Notice is June 23, 2023.

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: STEVEN EPHRAIM SCHONBERG 7938 SE 12th Circle Ocala, FL 34480

SECTION 1013.45 FLORIDA STATUTES TO PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING PROFESSIONAL SERVICES:

ARCHITECTURAL, CIVIL, STRUCTURAL, AND MECHANICAL/ ELECTRICAL/PLUMBING ENGINEERING AND OTHER APPROPRIATE CONSULTING SERVICES POTENTIALLY INCLUDING A DESIGN STUDY, PHASES OF DESIGN THROUGH CONSTRUCTION ADMINISTRATION AND ANY ADDITIONAL OR ASSOCIATED WORK OR EXTENSIONS OF THE WORK ON THE SITE, AS MAY BE NECESSARY, MEETING ALL DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS, FOR THE FOLLOWING PROJECT:

NEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL “W” Project 24-101

NEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL “X” Project 24-102

Please access the Marion County Public Schools Web Site at https://www. marionschools.net/Page/75563 , for requirements for preparation of submittal packages, and the scope of work for the project. Direct any questions to the Facilities Department in writing at 1105 S.W. 7 th Road, Ocala, FL 34471 or email to janet.moscarello@marion.k12.fl.us .

Advertisement to run: June 30, 2023, July 07, 2023

The administration of the estate of Mary A. Christopherson, deceased, whose date of death was February 23, 2023, File Number 42-2023-CP-001429, is pending in the Circuit Court for Marion County, Probate Division, the address of which is P.O. Box 1030, Ocala, Florida 34475. The names and addresses of the personal representative and the personal representative’s attorney are set forth below.

All creditors of the decedent and other persons having claims or demands against decedent’s estate on whom a copy of this notice is required to be served must file their claims with this court ON OR BEFORE THE LATER OF 3 MONTHS AFTER THE TIME OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE OR 30 DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF SERVICE OF A COPY OF THIS NOTICE ON THEM.

All other creditors of the decedent and other persons having claims or demands against decedent’s estate must file their claims with this court WITHIN 3 MONTHS AFTER THE DATE OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE.

ALL CLAIMS NOT FILED WITHIN THE TIME PERIODS SET FORTH IN FLORIDA STATUTES SECTION 733.702 WILL BE FOREVER BARRED. NOTWITHSTANDING THE TIME PERIODS SET FORTH ABOVE, ANY CLAIM FILED TWO (2) YEARS OR MORE AFTER THE DECEDENT'S DATE OF DEATH IS BARRED.

THE DATE OF FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE IS JUNE 23, 2023.

Attorney

State TikTok, adult performances targeted at schools

By Ryan Dailey Florida News Service

The state Department of Education on Tuesday released a series of proposed rules that would outline restrictions on “adult live performances” at field trips, prohibit school districts from using the social-media app TikTok and allow parents to control “any deviation from their child’s legal name” in schools.

Some of the proposed rules stem from controversial new state laws set to go into effect Saturday.

The proposal dealing with adult live performances was spurred by a law (SB 1438) aimed at blocking children from attending drag shows.

Gov. Ron DeSantis touted the change in a May 17 press release announcing the signing of the live performance bill and other measures.

“Florida is proud to lead the way in standing up for our

children,” DeSantis said in the release. “As the world goes mad, Florida represents a refuge of sanity and a citadel of normalcy.”

The proposed rule puts guidelines on “school-sponsored events or activities” which include things such as field trips and extracurricular activities. The proposal includes provisions that would bar districts from admitting “a child to an adult live performance” and prevent such performances from being held in buildings or properties owned or leased by districts.

The proposed regulation seeks to bolster procedures related to how parents are notified about field trips and other activities.

The proposal would require that parents are provided with permission forms that spell out details such as “the nature of the event” or activity, specific locations and types of sponsors and guests that would be present, and the method of student supervision provided, including

the anticipated number of chaperones.

Democrats and other critics of the law targeting drag performances decried it as part of a slate of legislation that targets LGBTQ Floridians.

Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-Miami Gardens, issued a statement blasting the measure on the day DeSantis signed it.

“These continued attacks on the LGBTQ community and young people are at the center of DeSantis’ misplaced priorities and wildly out of step with where Floridians actually are on these issues,” Jones said at the time. Another proposed rule teed up by the education department would put in place requirements for internet safety policies that school districts will have to adopt.

The policies would apply to students’ internet use on devices owned by districts, and on devices owned by students when connected to internet provided by schools.

In part, districts’ guidelines would have to prohibit students from “accessing social media platforms, except when expressly directed by a teacher for an educational purpose.”

The proposed rule also specifically targets the popular social-media app TikTok. DeSantis and other state leaders have taken steps to curtail the use of TikTok in government facilities.

Under the proposal, using TikTok would be prohibited on district devices or over schools’ internet and the app also could not be “used to communicate or promote any school district, school, school-sponsored club, extracurricular organization, or athletic team.”

The proposal comes after DeSantis in May signed a measure (HB 379) that, in part, sought to ban the use of the TikTok app on school grounds.

A third rule that seeks to “ensure the use of the child’s

legal name in school or a parent-approved nickname” was among the slate of proposals published by the education department Tuesday.

The proposal would amend an existing rule related to student records by adding a provision that would require school boards to adopt policies “for parents to specify the use of any deviation from their child’s legal name in school.”

“School districts will develop a form to obtain parental consent along with any required documentation, as appropriate,” a draft of the proposed change says.

A description of the potential rule said it is intended to strengthen the rights of parents.

“This rule will ensure full transparency to enhance the student’s record and protect parental rights,” a notice of the proposal said.

Hearings to discuss the proposed rules are scheduled for July 19 in Orlando.

Disney backed in stockholder lawsuit

By Jim Saunders Florida News Service

Rejecting allegations of potential wrongdoing, a Delaware judge this week sided with The Walt Disney Co. in a stockholder’s attempt to get records related to the company’s opposition to a 2022 Florida law that restricted instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in schools.

Attorneys for stockholder Kenneth Simeone filed a lawsuit in December after Disney declined to provide some requested records, such as emails. The company’s high-profile opposition to the law led to a feud with Gov. Ron DeSantis that, in part, resulted in Disney losing control of a Central Florida special-taxing district.

Simeone’s attorneys sought information about potential “breaches of fiduciary duties” by company leaders, including its board of directors. But Lori Will, a judge on the Delaware Court of Chancery, ruled Tuesday against the request for additional records and said the plaintiff “is not describing potential wrongdoing. He is critiquing a business decision.”

“Although choosing to speak (or not speak) on public policy issues is an ordinary business decision, this case exemplifies the challenges a corporation faces when addressing divisive topics— particularly ones external to its business,” Will wrote. “Individual investors have diverse interests—beyond their shared goal of corporate profitability—and

viewpoints that may not align with the company’s position on political, religious, or social matters. Yet stockholders invest with the understanding that the board is empowered to direct the corporation’s affairs. The board may delegate implementation to management, but it alone bears the ultimate responsibility for establishing corporate policy.”

Will said the Disney board “did not abdicate its duties or allow management’s personal views to dictate Disney’s response to the legislation.”

“Perhaps the board could have avoided political blowback by remaining silent on HB 1557 (the law),” Will wrote in the 36-page ruling. “At the same time, doing so could have damaged the company’s corporate culture and employee morale. The weighing of these key risks by disinterested fiduciaries does not evidence a potential lack of due care, let alone bad faith.”

DeSantis and Republican lawmakers targeted Disney after the company in March 2022 opposed the law, which supporters called the “Parental Rights in Education” law—and opponents labeled the “don’t say gay” bill. The law barred instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.

The GOP-controlled Legislature early this year passed a measure that revamped the former Reedy Creek Improvement District, which for decades gave Disney self-governance powers over its Orlandoarea property. The measure, in part,

allowed DeSantis to appoint board members of the renamed Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.

The feud between Disney and DeSantis has drawn widespread attention and become part of DeSantis’ 2024 presidential campaign. Will’s ruling noted that Disney’s stock price fell from $145.70 a share on March 1, 2022, to $86.75 a share on Nov. 9, the day after DeSantis was re-elected governor. It was hovering around $89 a share as of mid-day Wednesday.

Disney, like many companies, is incorporated in Delaware. Attorneys for Simeone in July 2022 filed what is known under Delaware law as a demand to inspect corporate books and records, Will’s

ruling said. Disney provided information such as corporate policies and board minutes related to the Florida law, but the lawsuit sought additional records.

Will’s ruling said Simeone has been a stockholder since 1973 and lives in Kissimmee. But the ruling also pointed to backing of the case by the Thomas More Society, a national group that describes itself online as “the premier legal advocate for the sanctity of life, religious liberty, traditional family values and election integrity.”

“The plaintiff’s (Simeone’s) limited and non-substantive involvement in the demand and litigation further reveals the lawyerdriven nature of this action,” Will wrote.

File photo

FLORIDA NEWS SERVICE BRIEFS

FOUR MALARIA CASES FOUND IN SARASOTA COUNTY

The Florida Department of Health on Monday issued a statewide “mosquitoborne illness” advisory after four cases of malaria were confirmed in Sarasota County. Malaria is transmitted through infected mosquitoes.

“Residents throughout the state should take precautions by applying bug spray, avoiding areas with high mosquito populations, and wearing long pants and shirts when possible—especially during sunrise and sunset when mosquitoes are most active,”

STATE APPEALS TRANS TREATMENT RULINGS

the advisory said. “The department continues to work closely with local partners and county mosquito control. Aerial and ground mosquito spraying continues to be conducted in these areas to mitigate the risk of further transmission.”

The advisory did not say when the Sarasota County cases were confirmed, but it said the four people “have been treated and have recovered.”

Symptoms of malaria include fever, chills, sweating, nausea, vomiting and headaches.

DESANTIS VETOES CRIMINAL JUSTICE BILLS

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday vetoed two criminal-justice bills passed during the legislative session that ended last month.

One of the vetoed bills (HB 605) would have revised a law that prohibits adults from having criminal records expunged if they had records expunged as juveniles.

The bill—approved 1072 in the House and 38-0 in the Senate—would have created an exception to the one-time expunction limit

in certain circumstances and led to an increase in the number of records eligible for expunction, according to a House staff analysis.

The other vetoed bill (SB 1478) sought to build on recent efforts to reduce incarcerations over technical probation violations. The House and Senate unanimously passed it. DeSantis did not detail reasons Tuesday for the vetoes.

DESANTIS CLOSES STATE OFFICES MONDAY

State workers will get an extra day to fire up the grill, head to the beach or just sleep in. Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that state offices

will be closed Monday, creating a four-day Independence Day weekend. Offices were already scheduled to be closed next Tuesday for the holiday.

NOTICE

The state is appealing two rulings this month by a federal judge that rejected efforts to limit treatments such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender people. Lawyers for the state Monday filed two notices that are first steps in asking the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the rulings by U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle. Hinkle last week ruled that a state prohibition against Medicaid coverage for genderaffirming care such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy is unconstitutional. That

ruling came in a lawsuit filed by two adults and the parents of two children against the state Agency for Health Care Administration, which runs most of the Medicaid program. The agency last year adopted a rule banning Medicaid reimbursements to health-care providers for “sex-reassignment” treatments, such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries. Hinkle’s ruling addressed only gender-affirming medicines. Meanwhile, Hinkle on June 6 issued a preliminary injunction against a Florida ban on the

use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy to treat three children diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Hinkle’s ruling affected only a group of transgender children and parents who filed a lawsuit challenging rules adopted by state medical boards banning health-care providers from using gender-affirming care to treat youths. The Legislature this spring enshrined the rules— advanced by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration—in state law and added restrictions for transgender adults. The notices of appeal, as is common, do not provide detailed legal arguments.

RENNER NET WORTH INCREASE

House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, reported his net worth jumped 40 percent last year as he took control of the House. Renner, an attorney, this week filed a financial-disclosure report listing a net worth of $1,208,806 as of Dec. 31, according to the report posted on the state Commission on Ethics website.

Renner reported a net worth of $858,761 as of the end of

2021. State lawmakers and other officials face a Saturday deadline for filing the reports, which include information such as assets, liabilities and income.

The reports generally provide information as of Dec. 31 each year. Among Renner’s biggest gains in 2022 was the value of his primary residence, which went from $1.05 million in 2021 to nearly $1.19 million.

The new report listed a mortgage of $918,298. Renner

listed additional properties in Tallahassee and Jacksonville worth a combined $317,154 and a Vanguard 401(k) retirement plan worth $203,647.

Renner also reported $273,623 in income last year from the Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough law firm. Renner reported the firm paid him $197,046 in 2021. Renner became speaker in November.

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to applicable Florida Statutes including Chapters 194, 196, and 286, that the Value Adjustment Board in and for Marion County, Florida, will meet on Tuesday, July 25, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. in the Board of County Commissioners Auditorium at 601 SE 25th Avenue, Ocala, Florida, Marion County Governmental Complex, for the purpose of holding an organizational meeting for the 2023 Value Adjustment Board and other such business matters before the Board.

Notice is hereby given that a list of all petitions for portability of homestead exemption, exemptions for homestead, widows, widowers, disability, blind, government organizations, religious, literary, educational literary, educational, scientific and charitable organizations who have had their application for exemption wholly or partially approved or denied is maintained by the Property Appraiser in and for Marion County, Florida, and available to the public for inspection at 501 SE 25th Avenue, Ocala, Florida, during the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Please note that if a petitioner decides to appeal a decision made with respect to any matter considered at the above advertised organizational meeting, the petitioner will need a record of the proceedings, and for such purpose, the petitioner may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings was made, which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal was to be based. The exemption procedures of the Value Adjustment Board is provided in Chapter 194, Florida Statutes, and records of the Value Adjustment Board and its hearing(s) showing the names of persons and organizations granted exemptions, the street address or other designation of location of the exempted property, and the extent of the exemptions granted are public record.

The County Commission Auditorium is a handicapped accessible facility. If any accommodations are needed for persons with disabilities, please contact the Marion County Public Affairs Office at (352) 438-2300 / 438-2304 (fax), a minimum of 24 hours prior to the hearing. Please be governed accordingly.

Value Adjustment Board In and for Marion County, Florida

Gregory C. Harrell, Clerk

HEARING SLATED IN GUNS, POT CASE

Afederal appeals court will hear arguments in early October in a Florida lawsuit challenging federal prohibitions on medicalmarijuana patients buying and possessing guns, according to a notice filed Tuesday.

A panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments during the week of Oct. 2 in the lawsuit, which was filed last year by then-Florida Agriculture

Commissioner Nikki Fried and other plaintiffs. The notice did not give a specific date for the arguments, which will be held in Jacksonville.

The plaintiffs have alleged that the prohibitions on

medical-marijuana patients having guns violate Second Amendment rights. Federal laws bar certain people from buying and possessing guns, including people who use drugs illegally. While Florida allows use of medical marijuana after passage of a 2016 constitutional amendment, marijuana remains illegal under federal law. U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor, siding with the Justice Department, dismissed the lawsuit in November and pointed to the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, which generally leads to federal laws trumping state laws.

“In 2016, Florida stopped criminalizing the medical use of marijuana. Many people refer to this change as Florida’s ‘legalizing’ medical marijuana, but Florida did no such thing. It couldn’t.

‘Under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, state laws cannot permit what federal law prohibits,’ and federal law still prohibits possession of marijuana—for medical purposes or otherwise,” Winsor wrote, partially quoting a legal precedent. The plaintiffs took the case to the Atlanta-based appeals court after Winsor’s ruling.

MIAMI TOPS HOME PRICE HIKES

For the ninth consecutive month, Miami in April topped other metro areas across the country in home-price increases when compared to a year earlier, according to an analysis

released Tuesday. The Miami area had a 5.2 percent year-over-year increase, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices.

It was followed by Chicago,

with a 4.1 percent increase, and Atlanta, with a 3.5 percent increase. Tampa, the only other Florida metro area in the analysis, had a 2.4 percent increase.

ABORTION CLINIC SETTLEMENT REACHED

AHialeah abortion clinic and state regulators have reached a settlement in a case alleging that the clinic did not properly comply with a law that requires providing information to women at least 24 hours before abortions. The settlement, posted Wednesday on the state Division of Administrative Hearings website, requires A Hialeah Woman’s Care Center, Inc., to pay a $15,500 fine.

The state Agency for Health Care Administration initially sought to impose a $21,000 fine. The agency last year filed a series of complaints against abortion clinics alleging they had not properly complied with a 24-hour waiting period law. After years of battles about the constitutionality of the law, a Leon County circuit judge upheld the waiting-period requirement in April 2022.

The law requires women to receive information from doctors and then wait at least 24 hours before having abortions. The newly settled case included allegations that the Hialeah clinic in April and May 2022 did not document times when abortions were performed.

“The documentation was required to establish that the physician who was to perform the procedure or the referring physician, had at a minimum, orally, while physically present in the room, and at least 24 hours before the procedure informed the patient of the risks set out in (part of the law),” the agency’s initial complaint said.

“Absent such documentation, there was no record that the clinic obtained each patient’s informed consent to the procedure.” The settlement said the clinic denies the allegations.

People, Places & Things

By Nick Steele Correspondent

On Saturday, July 1, the

iconic “Gill-Man” as he is first called in a scene from the classic 1954 Universal Pictures monster movie “Creature from the Black Lagoon” will rise from the depths again when the Appleton Museum of Art will offer two free screenings of the film as part of the museum’s Free First Saturday. The museum’s free admission day, held on the first Saturday of each month, allows visitors to view the permanent collection, special exhibitions and participate in making art in the Artspace from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. without paying the usual admission fees. Each month, guests may experience special happenings, like these film screenings, which will take place at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. The film’s runtime is 1 hour 19 minutes. It is unrated, so is considered suitable for all ages.

The film was directed by Jack Arnold and the billed stars were Richard Carlson, Richard Denning and Julie Adams, however the years would eventually give credit to several key Central Florida performers who help give the film much of its magic and make it of particular interest to local audiences. The movie follows a group of researchers on an expedition to the Amazon to investigate a recently discovered fossil of a mysterious amphibious partfish, part-human creature. Once there, they encounter a still very much alive specimen of the same species who becomes captivated by the sole female member of the team, even though he is none too pleased to have the humans invading his once idyllic environment.

While the movie is now considered more of a camp classic than horror flick, especially based on what the modern genre has evolved into with all its graphic violence and unrelenting gore, it stands the test of time with a solid story that

hints at an early recognition of man’s carelessness and willful disregard with respect to the natural world and its many creatures.

The film has not only become a cult classic in the eyes of many fans but had an indelible influence on many iconic films that followed it.

The most famous sequence has the elements of a poetic water ballet, complete with haunting music by one of the greatest composers in the history of film, Henry Mancini. In the scene, GillMan observes researcher Kay Lawrence (Adams) as she gracefully swims along the surface of the lagoon in a pristine white bathing suit and slips below the surface, diving into his territory and captivating the creature. These beautiful underwater shots become somewhat chilling and creepy as the creature begins to mirror her movements just a few feet below her, unbeknownst to our heroine that she is within the grasp of the Gill-Man. The scene is alarming enough to send a chill through both Kay and the audience when the creature reaches for her and allows his scaly fingers to graze her feet. Known as the master of suspense, famed filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock defined this sort of scene as deriving its power from the fact that the audience knows more than the characters in the movie.

The device is so powerful that it has been replicated in many films both before and after, but one of the most powerful echoes of Kay’s vulnerability being observed by both the audience and an unseen predator was in the opening sequence of the 1970s horror blockbuster “Jaws,” which was the launchpad for the career of a young director named Steven Spielberg.

According to Turner Classic Movies, “Steven Spielberg certainly took a cue from Arnold” with his opening shark attack in “Jaws” (1975), “in which we get a tantalizing underwater view of the female swimmer,”

which they state is “clearly an homage to ‘Creature from the Black Lagoon.’”

Journalist Janne Wass goes even further in claiming, “Spielberg took the idea of the music motif for his shark in ‘Jaws,’ and almost completely copied the scene of Kay swimming in the lagoon, which he readily admits.”

“Creature” was something of a blockbuster back in its day and spawned two sequels, “Revenge of the Creature,” released in 1955, which featured a young Clint Eastwood in his first film role, and “The Creature Walks Among Us,” released in 1956. The original blackand-white, 3D film (requiring polarized 3-D glasses to view) was made for less than $500,000 and by the end of 1954 had already grossed more than $3 million.

Double Trouble

A classic femme fatale, Adams had been racking up credits alongside the likes of stars such as Jimmy Stewart, William Powell and Rock Hudson by the time she was cast in “Creature.” She had looks reminiscent of the quintessential leading ladies of the period—one part Katherine Hepburn, one part Elizabeth Taylor— but without all that fire and magic that made them stars. Her character is that of a smart and capable scientific researcher who initially holds her own among her male counterparts, but soon, due to the inherent sexism of the day, she spends most of her time changing into outfits that reinforce her as a goddess-like object of desire, the culmination of which is a particularly well-engineered seamed and boned white swimsuit. That one piece of clothing and the graceful swimming on display in the film make her the object of the creature’s affections. However, the talent displayed in the water is not that of Ms. Adams, but of her swim double. While the sequence is intercut with shots of her doing a respectable stroke

Movie poster [Supplied]

Ricou Browning and Ginger Stanley

[Courtesy of Florida Memory]

“I went to Universal and I said, ‘Can we do the movie from the point of view of the creature?’ They didn’t go for it.” Guillermo del Toro

Crowd watches filming at Silver Spings [Courtesy of Florida Memory]

Milicent Patrick with “Creature From the Black Lagoon” [Milicent Patrick fan page via Facebook]

Ricou Browning with director Jack Arnold between shots for “Revenge of the Creature” [Courtesy of Florida Memory]

Creature Returns

campaign to coincide with the film’s release was launched, Milicent Patrick was used to promote the movie and its creature to the press with a campaign titled “The Beauty Who Created the Beast.” Patrick was an artist and sculptor and a true pioneer for women, as one of the first female animators to be recruited by Disney in the 1930s to work in their famed ink and paint department. She reportedly worked as a color animator, which was then considered a special effects technique, on the classic film “Fantasia.” In 1952, she moved to the makeup department at Universal and helped create creature designs for films like “It Came From Outer Space” and “Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” In 1953, she began work on “Creature” and later engaged the press on the studio’s behalf, speaking openly about her role in sketching, designing and executing the creation of the creature. The campaign was supported by publicity images of Patrick engaged in all those activities.

Enter a real monster: As the story goes, Bud Westmore, who was Universal’s chief of makeup at the time, was so angered by the attention she was receiving for being promoted as the person responsible for the final design of the Gill-Man monster that he demanded that Patrick instead inform the press that she was merely responsible for making sketches of Westmore’s ideas. He received sole on-screen credit for the creature and by the time Patrick returned to Hollywood she no longer had a job. He reportedly removed her from all film projects and refused to hire her for future work. Patrick never had the opportunity to design another monster or, in fact, anything for a film ever again. And while the film enjoyed tremendous success over the years, partly because of the innovative creature design, she faded out of the picture and was largely written out of film history until her story was chronicled in Mallory O’Meara’s book “The Lady from the Black Lagoon” in 2019.

Form Versus Function

The filmmaker tried to get permission from Universal to create a remake but was rebuffed.

“I went to Universal and I said, ‘Can we do the movie from the point of view of the creature?’ They didn’t go for it,” del Toro told the “Hollywood Reporter” in 2017. “I said, ‘I think they should end up together.’ They didn’t go for that, either.”

One day, a writer he knew mentioned an idea for a storyline to him that allowed him to pursue his own take on a creature movie, this one based on “The Amphibian Man” and set in the early 1960s at the height of the Cold War. In both stories humanity’s darker nature is on display and in both the creatures become infatuated by the female protagonists. While del Toro found inspiration in “Creature” his film is a fantastical love story that is full of hope and magical realism and where the only evidence of “horror” can be found in the behaviors of humans. What makes “Shape” a compelling update is perhaps the same sentiment that Adams expressed during an interview with “The Atlantic” in 2012 about her thoughts on the enduring appeal of the original “Creature” movie.

“I think one reason that the picture has survived is because there is an empathy for the creature. It’s not a horror thing, like a monster ... I think people feel for him. I did feel that she (her character Kay) had a kind of understanding of the human part of the creature. A sense that this was not just some misstep of nature, that there was something poignant, there was something moving, there were human qualities within this creature,” she recalled. “You know, the fact that we have invaded his territory. He didn’t come out and break into houses like Frankenstein—so we were the interlopers, really. I think that’s one of the reasons.”

Beyond the costumes and local connections, the real appeal of “Creature” might be in how it asks us to examine our collective humanity, our need for connection and the role we play in shaping our own stories.

Continued from page B1 above water, everything that was shot from the underwater perspective was someone else.

The movie was simultaneously shot in Hollywood on the Universal back lot, in the lagoon where “Gilligan’s Island” and “McHale’s Navy” were also filmed, while a second unit shot the underwater sequences in Wakulla Springs in Florida’s Panhandle. The sequel was filmed in Silver Springs, Jacksonville and Marineland. This meant that stand-ins were used to double the cast, which is how native Floridians Ricou Browning and Ginger Stanley Hallowell swam their way into movie history.

Hallowell, Adams’ underwater double, learned how to swim underwater by taking gulps of air from a hose in a method developed by Newt Perry, the owner of the Perry Swim School in Ocala and the father of underwater shows in Florida. Perry recruited her to be a “mermaid” at Weeki Wachee around 1949 after she graduated from high school.

Browning, who had been on the U.S. Air Force swim team, worked as a lifeguard at Wakulla Springs and had a penchant for underwater stunt work, which he had honed at a young age while diving for coins at the beach and performing stunts in underwater shows. He also learned the hose method from Perry and the pair honed their skills at Weeki Wachee before moving on to jobs at Silver Springs. Browning even worked with legendary Ocala photographer Bruce Mozert creating underwater sketches.

In 1953, Hollywood came calling when “Creature” producers and cameramen arrived in search of a region of Florida that could pass for the Amazon jungle. The 23-year-old Browning was tasked with helping them scout potential locations. It was during their tour that they asked if they could shoot some underwater footage of Browning to get a sense of the creature’s proportion to fish and grass.

Hallowell told the “Orlando Sentinel” in 2017 that the “Hollywood folks” had never seen anything like Browning’s underwater crawl or their ability to hold their breath and maneuver underwater for at least two minutes at a time. Browning would frequently tell the story that two weeks after he showed the producers what he could do in the water, he got

a call from director Jack Arnold, who said, “We like the way you swim. You want to be the creature?”

Browning, who died of natural causes in February of this year at the age of 93, delighted in saying that he saw no reason to pass up $600 a week. And the rest, as they say, is history. He would reprise his role in the sequels and go on to have a successful career in the industry as a writer, director, actor and underwater stunt coordinator. He even conceived of the story for the successful 1963 movie “Flipper,” and the popular TV series of the same name that followed. In 2013, he told the “Ocala Star-Banner” that he came up with the story idea after a trip to South America.

Even with all of the success that followed, once Browning was eventually recognized for his work in “Creature” it became the thing he was best remembered for. He became a hero of sorts among film enthusiasts and a staple at sci-fi conventions, where he regaled fans with stories from the filming. Browning was honored by Film Florida when they awarded him the first Florida Legends Award in 2006.

Costume Drama

The film is also regarded as a standout because of the creature design. In fact, many regard the exhaustively executed and articulated costume, which had the appearance of a sort of organic segmented armor and gills that moved to simulate the creature’s breathing, as the real star of the show.

“Audiences had never seen a full-body monster costume like that before,” asserts Jim Knipfel of “Den of Geek” magazine. “With the Wolf Man and Frankenstein’s Monster, you always knew there was a man back there behind the makeup, but the Gill Man was so elaborate, so detailed and believable, and so utterly alien that it was easy to accept it as it was. It’s pretty much exactly what you’d expect an evolutionary missing link between man and fish would look like.”

And where there is credit to be had, so often follows drama. The exact truth of the costume’s creator or creators is a story muddied by the passage of time and complicated by alleged jealousies. Many sources say the costume was the result of a collaboration between a number of artists and sculptors in the Universal makeup department.

However, when the publicity

Even with the innovative design, Browning recalled that “it was very crude compared with what they do today,” in an article on the Turner Classic Movies’ website. “I had a little squeeze bulb that I held in my hand, and the tube from it ran up my arm. I could squeeze that and make the gills fluctuate in and out. I could move my lips a little by moving my chin, but the eyes I had no control over whatsoever.”

He recalled having particular difficulty navigating during the famous swim duet with Hallowell.

“The creature head that I wore—the eyes sat maybe a quarter of an inch away from my eyes. So, it was like looking through a keyhole. But then, when you open your eyes underwater without a mask on—with your naked eye— everything is blurred,” he explained to NJ.com in 2013. “I had a very difficult time seeing her well. I had to get upside-down, or I never would have seen her.”

Browning also frequently shared the story of the time he had to make an emergency bathroom visit during filming. He recalled that he emerged from the water onto the shore in full costume where he inadvertently frightened an unsuspecting woman and her small child. He said they took off running and he never saw them again.

But Browning’s costume wasn’t the only one to leave an impression. Adams often spoke about the fact that so many fans would ask her about that iconic custom-made, skin-tight, one-piece swimsuit. She recalled that the suit caused quite a stir at the time because it “pulled up a little bit on the upper leg,” she told the “LA Times” in 2012. “We were quite risqué.”

Happy Ending

In 2017, “The New York Times” heralded that Guillermo del Toro’s film “The Shape of Water,” which it called “partly a code-scrambled fairy tale, partly a genetically modified monster movie,” as “altogether wonderful.” And they were not alone in their praise of the film, which would go on to win the 2018 Academy Awards in the categories of Best Picture, Best Director, Best Production Design, and Best Original Score. The film was Del Toro’s way of giving the creature the happy ending he felt it deserved.

Del Toro got the idea for the project as a boy when he first saw “Creature” and was moved by the swimming scene where the creature becomes entranced by Kay as she swims above him.

“There’s a beautiful, very simple, very poetic image, very fairy tale-like. It’s a gorgeous scene. And I got overwhelmed by it in the way that you get overwhelmed by art. I was 6. I couldn’t articulate that it represented love for me, but it did,” he recalled to NPR in 2020. “I so loved the encapsulation of the yearning and all that. And having not seen the movie before, I was disingenuously thinking that they would end up together, you know, and they didn’t. I decided I would someday have to correct that.”

For more information, visit appletonmuseum.org

Behind the scene [Supplied]

Ricou Browning with Flipper at Silver Springs [Courtesy of Florida Memory]

“The Shape of Water” movie poster [Courtesy of Fox Searchlight]

Ricou Browning in costume [Courtesy of Florida Memory]

Big week for Big Lee’s

Rashad Jones of Big Lee’s BBQ busts out the tongs to compete on “Beat Bobby Flay” and opens his first brick-and-mortar quick-service restaurant in Ocala.

brisket and burnt ends and has made converts of people who’ve shunned the meat style because of dry, ropey experiences in the past.

“My brisket melts in your mouth,” he said with a beaming smile.

Rooted in a family tradition

If you’re new to the area, you might be wondering, “Who is Big Lee?”

Big Lee was Patrice’s uncle, Leon “Big Lee” Archie. He was a wizard with a smoker in Greenwood, Mississippi. He apprenticed Jones before he died in 2012. Jones honors the man and keeps his memory alive, praising Big Lee for his “incredible skills” and the “unparalleled quality” of his ’cue.

“He was generous with his trade secrets,” Jones said. “He would freely give me tips on how to achieve better results.”

Jones explained that his barbecue business grew from a homegrown concept: “I’m not some guy who said, ‘All right, where do we want to open our next barbecue restaurant?’ No. Our concept was born, bred and nurtured right here in Ocala.”

Right after the opening of Big Lee’s, Jones will appear on national television.

The 12th episode of “Beat Bobby Flay” season 34, titled “The Win Beneath Their Wings,” will air at 9 p.m. Thursday, July 6, on the Food Network.

“It’s really exciting,” Jones told the “Gazette.” “This is my sixth time back on Food Network.”

compete in two rounds. For the first round, two chefs square off against each other—in this episode, Jones and Kent Rollins—and then the winner, chosen by celebrity judges Kardea Brown and Carson Kressley, will attempt to out-grill Chef Bobby Flay.

Made for TV Jones, 44, was born in Rahway, New Jersey, and moved to Central Florida at age 11. He graduated from Lake Weir High School in 1996. Before launching his eatery in 2014, he lit metaphorical fires, founding Epic Youth Services, which provided motivational talks, a high school curriculum for disadvantaged youth and life-skills mentoring.

The grill master also worked at Publix, and for eight years was Director and Lead Health Educator for the Marion County Health Department’s abstinence education program.

Other Ocala cooks who’ve risen to TV culinary fame include Jose Juarez, who won the “Live! with Kelly & Michael” America’s New Grill Chef competition in 2015. In 2014, Lori Frazee of Dunnellon was featured on the Travel Channel show “American Grilled.” She made it to the finals but lost the $10,000 grand prize to her competitor.

By Julie Garisto julie@magnoliamediaco.com

Locally famous, famously upbeat barbecue guru Rashad Jones will be back on TV again, grilling it up against celebrity chef Bobby Flay, and he’s opening his first brick-andmortar Big Lee’s Serious About Barbecue restaurant in Ocala on July 4.

The quick-service restaurant, at 2611 SW 19th Ave. Road, is in a complex anchored by the Regal Hollywood 10 cinema. The spot once occupied by a Jimmy John’s will accommodate around 40 guests inside and 10 outside on a pet-friendly patio. The new restaurant will serve beer and wine in addition to fountain drinks and their signature Big Lee’s Tea.

Jones co-owns the business with his wife, Patrice. The couple operates four food trucks and a food trailer, set up at various locations throughout the greater Ocala area. Because of the popularity of his

barbecue, Jones has had to accommodate long lines, but he’s working on a method to speed up the service and is training employees to explain the menu and not have customers feeling like a deer caught in headlights when they approach the counter to make an order.

“You’ll be greeted by a couple of folks who are excited that you’re here,” he said. “That person’s gonna walk you through our menu and help you put together your order, find out what you want. We don’t want you to feel like you’re walking into a private meeting and they’re speaking a different language.”

Customers will also be able to see the barbecue magic in the works.

“We will have a completely open concept,” Jones said. “As soon as you walk in, you can see 95% of our kitchen, all the meat that’s served, it’s presented right up front. You get to see what your slice of brisket or your ribs or your chicken’s gonna look like. It’s not assembled in the back somewhere.”

Jones is especially proud of his

Without giving away spoilers, Jones said that Flay is “genuinely competitive,” and thinks a major motivation for him inviting Jones back to his show is to have a rematch to settle the score.

“I can beat him, you know,” Jones said with pride. “Our team never lost the competition in eight episodes of ‘BBQ Brawl.’ I know he didn’t feel too good about that.”

The Ocala pitmaster made his national TV debut in “Guy’s Big Project,” a Food Network program starring celebrity chef Guy Fieri, in 2017, where he won a grand prize of starring in his own six-episode series, “Eat, Sleep, BBQ.”

Last year, Jones defeated nine other restaurateurs selected from across the U.S. as a competitor in the third season of the “BBQ Brawl.”

“Guy invited us to be on an episode of ’Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives’ with him when he was over in Daytona Beach Shores last fall,” Jones recalled. “So, we did that, and earlier this year we were featured on our own episode of ‘Diners Drive-Ins and Dives.’”

On “Beat Bobby Flay,” Jones will

Most recently, Chef Yohann Le Bescond, pastry chef at the World Equestrian Center, made it to the final three on the Food Network’s “Summer Baking Championship.” Throughout the season, Le Bescond has wowed the judges with his sophisticated twists and presentation and has been a fan favorite on Twitter and Reddit.

Now, Ocala is bracing for another of its culinary stars: Rashad Jones.

“It’s not just about a recipe for a dish, but the winning recipe that is Big Lee’s,” Jones explained. “We make sure the customer is front of mind, and there’s no workaround when it comes to hard work. You have to be willing to work incredibly hard. …But the biggest part of the recipe is the people. If you have great quality team members and leaders who are empathetic, who care more about others rather than just the bottom line, that’s the winning part of that winning recipe.”

The Food Network can be accessed on Spectrum TV Ch. 59 or stream online via the Max app, Sling, or live TV platforms of Hulu and Youtube. For more information on Big Lee’s Serious About Barbecue, mybigleesbbq.com.

CF Appleton Museum of Art showcases contemporary Florida artists

The Appleton Museum of Art, College of Central Florida (CF), will open two new solo exhibitions on July 1: “The Unscene South: Charles Eady Revisits History” and “Caught Up in History and Captured on Film: Randy Batista’s Photographs of Florida and Cuba.” Both shows will remain on view through Jan. 28, 2024.

In the second-floor Modern & Contemporary Galleries, “The Unscene South” will feature 25 paintings and mixed-media works by Ocala-based artist Charles Eady. Eady was born in South Carolina. Following his graduation from Claflin University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in art education, he has gone on to be an awardwinning artist, author and educator who has exhibited nationally and internationally. Eady was one of five recipients of the 2022 State Teaching Artist Residency (STAR) program, which honors Florida public school art educators, according to the news release from CF.

The work featured in “The Unscene South” is inspired by the history of free Blacks in the South prior to the Emancipation Proclamation. The term “free Blacks” was used pre-Civil War as a designation identifying those

who were free — free to live, work and own businesses and property. Several works are dedicated to the sport of horse racing, introduced to America during colonial times (1492-1763). It is the longest running sport in America, and Eady’s work highlights the lesser-known fact that many of the first jockeys were Black Americans, the release noted.

“In 1773, free people of color were able to petition for, and receive, land grants,” Eady wrote. “The amount of land they acquired was dependent on how many people resided within the household. I imagined how a pre-Revolutionary War jockey might envision horse racing as their ‘grant.’ Many were able to take advantage of the freedom horse racing ‘granted.’”

Eady will lead tours of the exhibit at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Aug. 5 at the Appleton as part of Free First Saturday events.

In the Appleton’s Balcony Gallery for Florida Artists, see Gainesvillebased photographer Randy Batista’s solo exhibition, “Caught Up in History and Captured on Film.”

Batista uses his lens to document his life and travel adventures. Comprised of silver-gelatin prints developed from film, the images in this show focus on Florida and Cuba, two places that have had a profound impact on the artist. Having lived in

both locations, the artist’s awareness of place, time and cultural heritage are evident in his quiet but alluring street photography, landscapes and portraits, the news release stated.

With a Leica 24 mm lens, Batista captured club members of Centro Espanol de Tampa (The Spanish Center of Tampa) and their daily lives that he says highlights “communal times together smoking, drinking, newspaper reading, enjoying ice cream and socializing via dominoes and card games.” The photographer notes that he purposefully shot at low angles, such as table level, to capture being at the tables with these men. Some of the men didn’t react, while others either did quick poses or held newspapers up to cover their faces.

Batista’s photographs in Cuba were taken during various trips to places including Havana and the ancestral countryside of his youth. During these travels, Batista explained, he was a street photographer either walking about or riding his bicycle while shooting. He would stop and chat with people while taking their portraits, capturing images of cityscapes and rural landscapes, as well, the release noted.

The Appleton Museum of Art is located at 4333 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala. For more information, visit AppletonMuseum.org.

Right: Charles Eady, “Afros and Banjos,” 2021, Oil on canvas, 37 x 48 in.

Below: Randy Batista, “Envuelto (Underwraps),” Havana, 1999, Silver gelatin print.

[Courtesy of College of Central Florida]

Rashad Jones [Supplied]

Bird of the Week

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

The idea of the bluebird as a harbinger of happiness has been around for thousands of years across many world cultures. Alas, there are no bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover. At least not according to Wikipedia. This one hangs out in my backyard, and that makes me happy.

Eastern bluebird [MichaelWarren.com]

JULY 2

Red, White and OSO Blue: A Salute to our Troops

Reilly Arts Center, 900 NE 5th St., Ocala

3pm

The Ocala Symphony Orchestra celebrates the 4th of July with this showcase of “favorite music that resounds with the colors of red, white and blue.” You’ll hear patriotic marches, renowned movie music and a tribute to the armed forces. Tickets are $10-$40. See reillyartscenter.com for more info.

community

JUNE 30

Monthly Salsa and More Dance

Party Baila Caliente, 923 N Magnolia Ave., Ocala

8:30pm-1:30am

Every month, Baila Caliente dance schools hosts a social and dance with salsa, bachata and merengue music. All levels of dancers are welcome. Admission is $10. Recurs every fourth Friday. For more info, facebook.com/OcalaCaliente

JUNE 30 & JULY 8

Marion County Friday Market

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

9am-2pm

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

JULY 1

Brick City Comic & Toy Show

Southeastern Livestock Pavilion, Auditorium, 2232 NE Jacksonville Road, Ocala

10am-4pm

Comic books, super heroes, action figures and toys will all be part of this family-friendly event. Grading and certification services for comics will be available. This is an indoor event, so it takes place rain or shine. Vendors, free parking and food options. Tickets are $5; free 12 and younger with an adult. See brickcitycomicandtoyshow.com for more info.

JULY 1 & 8

Market of Marion Market of Marion, 12888 SE US 441, Belleview

8am-4pm

A classic—and big—farmer’s market with lots of vendor shops. Fruits, vegetables, critters, jewelry,

critters & equine

JUNE 30-JULY 2

Southside Rodeo Remix

Southeastern Livestock Pavilion, 2232 NE Jacksonville Road, Ocala

All day

This horse and cattle rodeo features traditional contests like ranch broncs, bull riding, steer wrestling, team roping, tie down roping and barrel racing. A VIP NFR Watch Party is available on Friday and Saturday nights. For more info, see selp.marionfl.org

JUNE 30-JULY 8

American Ranch Horse Association

Show World Equestrian Center Ocala, Arena 51390 NW 80th Ave., Ocala

All day

Ranch horses show off their ranching skills in a variety of classes such as ranchmanship, showmanship, youth and junior classes, ranch roping, herd work and ranch butting. Free to attend and free parking. See bit.ly/44mZ0dM for more info and schedule.

JUNE 30-JULY 2 & JULY 5-8

Summer Series: Hunter/Jumper

Shows World Equestrian Center Ocala, 1390 NW 80th Ave., Ocala

8am-4pm FEI CSI3* competitions go through July 9.

Food and drink options onsite; some events have a parking fee. See worldequestriancenter. com for more info.

JULY 1-2

July Bring on the Heat Dog Dock Diving Ocala Dog Ranch, 440 SW 110th Ave., Ocala

9am-5pm

If you’ve ever seen dog dock diving on TV, now is your chance to

government

JULY 3 & 10

Marion County Development Review Committee

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

9am

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

JUNE 30 & JULY 7

civicSouth Ocala Chess Club at Freedom Library Freedom Public Library, 5870 SW 95th St., Ocala

10am-12pm

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

JULY 3

Independence Day Celebration

Horseman’s Park, 803 SW 19th Ave., Williston

5pm

The city of Williston will host an Independence Day Celebration with a parade beginning at 5pm and an outdoor party to follow, with food, live music and vendors. $2 parking fee. Fireworks begin at dark. Contact the Customer Service Center at (352) 528-3060 or email inquiries to Latricia.Wright@willistonfl.org.

JULY 3

soaps, handcrafted items and more. Open every weekend, with monthly special events like car shows. See themarketofmarion.com

JULY 1 & 8

Ocala Farmers Market

Ocala Downtown Market, 310 SE Third St., Ocala

9am-2pm

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

JULY 1 & 8

Farmers Swap Meet

Rural King, 2999 NW 10th St., Ocala

9am-2pm

A true farmers market where chickens, ducks,

quail, geese, goats, turkeys, rabbits and sometimes even ponies are available, along with horse tack, home-grown plants, produce and hand-crafted items. The market takes over the vacant part of the lot in front of Rural King. Booth types vary, with occasional meat vendors, food trucks and other goods. Saturdays, weather permitting.

JULY 6

OTOW Farmers Market

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

9am-1pm

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

see it in person! Or try it. This International Dog Sports event will have multiple jump opportunities, like Horizon for distance; Eclipse for fetching; and Velocity of speed. Free for spectators; jumping rounds for dogs start at $20 in advance and $25 day of. For more info, check out ocaladogranch.com

JULY 1 & 8

Summer

Sunset Polo Florida Horse Park, 11008 South Highway 475, Ocala

6pm Free to the public, tailgate right next to the polo field and enjoy a unique evening out. Saturday evenings through September. Check out ocalapolo.com for more info.

JULY 6

Dunnellon City Council Workshop City Hall, 20750 River Drive, Dunnellon 5:30pm Dunnellon agendas, minutes and video available at Dunnellon.org/89/Agendas-Minutes

JUNE 30 & JULY 7

Kiwanis Club of Ocala

Central Christian Church, 3010 NE 14th St., Ocala

12pm

Meets weekly on Fridays. Supports Camp Kiwanis, children’s literacy and Habitat for Humanity. More info at ocalakiwanis.org

JULY 1 & 8

Ocala Chess Club at Headquarters Library

Headquarters Library, 2720 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala

11am-3pm

Meets weekly on Saturdays; new members welcome. Please bring your own chess set. For more info, facebook.com/ groups/53070499106

JULY 5 (12, 19, & 26)

Wildlife Wednesdays

Scott Springs Park, 2825 SW 24th Ave,, Ocala

5pm-6pm

This month’s talks are focused on snakes (July 5); frogs and toads (July 12); bugs and spiders (July 19) and turtles and tortoises (July 26). Free to attend. For more info, ocalafl.org

JULY 7-9

Citrus County Kennel Club Dog Show World Equestrian Center Ocala, Expo 2, 1390 NW 80th Ave., Ocala

8am-6pm

Dogs of all breeds will be shown, from bulldogs to Bichons, Labradors to Lhasa Apsos. Featured classes include owner handled, junior handler and more. Free and open to the public for viewing; competing dogs must be officially entered. WEC has food and beverage options. See worldequestriancenter.com for more info.

Ocala Historic Preservation Board

City Hall, 110 SE Watula Avenue, Ocala

4pm

Meets monthly to review historic district requests and issues. Agendas and minutes available from ocala.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx

JULY 5

General Francis Marion Stamp Club meeting Marion County Sheriff’s Southwest District Office, 9048 SW State Road 200, Ocala

1pm

The club meets the first and third Wednesday of each month; newcomers welcome.

JULY 6

Ocala Lions Club

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

12pm

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

VISIT OUR EVENTS CALENDAR ONLINE

File

photo: Dog Dock Diving [Alan Youngblood]

arts

JUNE 30 & JULY 7

Painting and More Workshops

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

10am

Arts in Health Ocala hosts a variety of visual artists to teach these weekly art workshops. All supplies are included and beginners are welcome. See aihocala.org/painting-and-more for more info.

JULY 1

Free First Saturday

Appleton Museum, 4337 E Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala

10am-5pm

You can view museum works, regular and special collections, and even create your own art in the museum’s interactive Artspace. This month, free screenings of “Creature from the Black Lagoon” are offered at 11am and 2 pm. Billy’s Cheesesteaks and The Donut Express food trucks will be onsite. See appletonmuseum.org for more info.

JULY 5

Regal Summer Movie Express

Regal Hollywood Theaters, 2801 SW 27th Ave., Ocala

10am Tickets are $2; check the theater website for show times. Movies this summer include “How To Train Your Dragon 3D,” “Abominable” and “The Croods: A New Age.” For more info, bit.ly/43k01DC

JULY 5

Summer Kid’s Film Series

Marion Theater, 50 S Magnolia Ave., Ocala

Times vary, check website

The series runs through Aug. 2. Kids age 12 and

under can enjoy movies for $5 (includes a summer snack pack. Upcoming family favorites include “SpongeBob SquarePants Movie,” “Madagascar” and “The Lion King.” Visit reillyartscenter.com/ mariontickets for more info.

JULY 5

Kids Summer Show Series

Epic Theatre, 4414 SW College Road, Ocala

Times vary, check website

Even more movies for the small humans. With titles like “Paw of Fury: The Legend of Hank,” “DC League of Super-Pets,” “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” and more, tickets for kids are only $1. See bit.ly/3MEX4Go

JULY 5-AUGUST 30

Painting for Veterans

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

6pm-8pm

These free art workshops are held on Wednesdays. Hosted by the Arts in Health Ocala Metro group and veteran Aaron Thomas. Beginners are welcome and supplies are included. Register at ocalafl.org/recpark

JULY 6

Coffee, Cake & Community

NOMA Art Gallery, 939 N. Magnolia Ave., Ocala

1pm-4pm

These weekly no-pressure coffee (and cake) klatches bring together gallery guests, artists, patrons, creative types and more. Every Thursday afternoon. See nomaocala.com/events for more info.

& &music nightlife

JUNE

Park 1050 NE 6th Blvd., Williston 6pm

JULY 8

Sandra & Alex LeKid

The Yellow Pony World Equestrian Center Ocala, 1390 NW 80th Ave., Ocala 6pm

JULY 8

Fleetwood Max, Tribute to Fleetwood Mac Reilly Arts Center, 900 NE 5th St., Ocala

7:30pm

This Tampa-based band covers iconic Mac hits so get out your top hats, chiffon scarves and tall boots and get ready to rock. Tickets are $25-$40. See reillyartscenter.com for more info.

THROUGH DECEMBER 12

“Patternz” by Kelsey Mahoney

Ocala City Hall, 110 SE Watula Ave., Ocala

Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm

The city continues its Art in City Spaces program with this exhibit by emerging artist Kelsey Mahoney. Her abstract work is filled with vibrant colors and mosaic themes. Free to the public. For more info, ocalafl.org/artincityspaces

THROUGH JANUARY 4

“Bold and Inspired: Native American Regalia” and “Abstract Island Expressions”

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

Married couple Diana and William Lee are exhibiting their work in side-by-side exhibitions, each with its own distinctive style and theme reflecting each artist and their different approaches. Diana shows colorful acrylic paintings are inspired by her Cherokee ancestry and experiences visiting Native American sites in Kentucky. William revisits his childhood growing up in Nassau with his vibrant abstract expressionist paintings. The exhibit is part of the Ocala Art in City

Spaces program. See ocalaflo.org/artincityspaces for more info.

THROUGH JANUARY 8

The Beauty of Nature and Recyclable Refuse

Recreation and Parks Administration Building and Adult Activity Center, 828/830 NE Eighth Ave., Ocala

8am-5pm

Florida artist Albert Bevilacqua focuses this exhibit on recyclable items and he’s turned them into an artistic statements about protecting the environment. Free to the public, this is part of the Art in City Spaces program by the City of Ocala. See ocalafl.org/artincityspaces for more info.

THROUGH JANUARY

9

Tony A. Blue, American Painter Ocala International Airport, 1770 SW 60th Ave., Ocala Airport hours Blue’s exhibit includes work in acrylics, mixed media and photographs, inspired by Florida’s tropical natural landscape. The exhibit is free and open to the public during airport hours. For more info, ocalafl.org/artincityspaces

THROUGH JANUARY

28

“The Unscene South” by Charles Eady Appleton Museum of Art, 4333 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala

10am-5pm, Tuesday-Saturday

This new exhibit focuses on the daily lives of “free Blacks” from the Civil War era. Eady is a contemporary mixed-media artist and author. Check out appletonmuseum.org for more info.

THIS SUPER-SIMPLE SUMMER RECIPE DELIVERS BIG ON SWEET, JUICY AND SPICY FLAVORS

By America’s Test Kitchen

These tasty tostadas offer a fresh spin on aguachile (“chile water” in Spanish)—a preparation that originated in Sinaloa, Mexico. Fish (often shrimp) is quickly marinated in a mixture of lime juice, chiles, and sometimes additional aromatics. In this recipe, sashimi-grade tuna and sweet-tart pineapple are tossed in a punchy marinade and served over toasted corn tortillas with cucumber, red onion, and avocado.

Ahi-Chile Tostadas Serves 4

For the tostadas:

2 cups vegetable oil

4 (6-inch) corn tortillas

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

For the ahi-chile:

1 pound trimmed sushi-grade sushi-grade ahi or bluefin tuna, cut into ¾-inch pieces

3/4 cup 1/2-inch fresh pineapple pieces

3 ounces English cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, and sliced thin (½ cup)

1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2-1 serrano chile, seeded, sliced into thin rounds

1 tablespoon flake sea salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon Jugo Seasoning Sauce

3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons lime juice (2 limes)

8 thin slices avocado

FOR THE TOSTADAS:

1. Line baking sheet with triple layer of paper towels. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat to 350 degrees.

2. Place one tortilla in hot oil and press flat with potato masher or tongs for 60 seconds. Flip tortilla and fry, without pressing, until stiff and very lightly browned, about 30 seconds. Transfer tostada to prepared sheet and sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt. Repeat with remaining tortillas and kosher salt. Let tostadas cool completely, about 10 minutes. (Tostadas can be stored in a zipper-lock bag for up to two days.)

FOR THE AHI-CHILE:

1. Combine tuna, pineapple, cucumber, onion, oil, serrano, sea salt, pepper, and Jugo in a medium bowl.

2. To serve, place one tostada on each of four individual serving plates. Stir lime juice into tuna mixture until fully incorporated. Divide ahi-chile evenly among tostadas, then top each with two avocado slices. Serve immediately.

(For 25 years, home cooks have relied on America’s Test Kitchen for rigorously tested recipes developed by professional test cooks and vetted by 60,000 at-home recipe testers. The family of brands—which includes Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country—offers reliable recipes for cooks of all skill levels. See more online at www.americastestkitchen.com/TCA.)

Tiny Ocala horse wins big awards

Miniature therapy horse Magic recently walked the red carpet in NYC to receive a film award, then accepted an animal achievement award from the Florida Bar Association.

glass ceilings inside hospitals and other locations. In some ways, the film was a recognition of that work.”

Garcia-Bengochea went on to explain that Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses have been providing reading programs inside schools, libraries and education resource centers for at-risk readers for more than 25 years.

“The Marion County School Board has unanimously approved equine education programs for all schools in the county for all ages. Our charity has been asked to officially bring Gentle Carousel’s Reading with Horses literacy programs into every elementary school in Marion County with a focus on pre-K through third grade. Individual Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses have been featured in many books by different authors and publishers. When students complete a book, the character from the story visits the classroom to ‘bring the book to life.’ It is a one-of-a-kind program and seems perfect for the ‘Horse Capital of the World,’” she noted.

the upcoming school year, but Gentle Carousel’s Reading with Horses really needs sponsors. The Marion County School Board is not financially supporting our reading programs. Our charity is financially responsible to make it happen. Highlighting Magic’s work may bring a focus on the much-needed help the charity needs to provide horses and reading at local schools for the 2023-2024 school year.”

To learn more, go to gentlecarouseltherapyhorses.com.

By Susan Smiley-Height susan@magnoliamediaco.com

The story of a tiny equine with a big heart has captured the attention of two heavy hitters in the worlds of film and law.

The documentary “Hero Horse: A Magical True Story,” about Magic, the charismatic ambassador of the Ocalabased Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses, last week won the Film Heals Award at the Manhattan Film Festival in New York City. Just hours later, the diminutive equine was the first horse ever to be allowed inside the ultra-chic and award-winning The Boca Raton hotel and resort to receive the Florida Bar Association’s Rikki Mitchell Memorial Animal Achievement Award.

Magic’s documentary film was an official selection at the Manhattan Film Festival, which ran from June 15-25. She was there to walk the red carpet in her tuxedo, with support from the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) Mounted Unit.

“The NYPD Mounted Unit stopped busy traffic so Magic could safely get on and off her van, escorted her back and forth from the theater, helped with crowds and even walked her up the van ramp when it was over. They were amazing, and we could not have done it without them,” said Debbie Garcia-Bengochea, Gentle Carousel’s education director.

“Mayor Kent Guinn of Ocala donated Magic’s travel expenses so she could walk the red carpet. He also helped set everything up for the Ocala Police

Department’s ‘Officer Magic’ and the NYPD Mounted Unit to be together for this event,” Garcia-Bengochea added. After learning the documentary had earned the award, Garcia-Bengochea said via email, “We are thrilled!”

On Monday, June 26, she wrote, “We just returned from Palm Beach. Magic was honored with the Rikki Mitchell Memorial Animal Achievement Award at the annual Florida Bar Convention in Boca Raton. Every year the Animal Law Section (ALS) presents the award to an animal that provides exemplary service to the people of Florida. Rikki Mitchell was the first courthouse therapy dog and would accompany victims of assault into court.”

She said Magic is the first equine to receive the award and described their part of the convention, which was held June 21-24, as, “Just 2,000 lawyers and a little horse.”

As for the significance of the film and Florida Bar awards, Garcia-Bengochea, said, “It was an honor for Magic’s work to be highlighted by the Animal Law Section of The Florida Bar. She represents the work of all of the Gentle Carousel therapy horses. They each have their own special stories and many years of service to the local community and across the country inside hospitals, hospice programs and assisted living programs. Becoming a 2023 Manhattan Film Festival Award Winner was a big surprise. Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses was the first official 501(c)(3) nonprofit miniature horse therapy program in the world. We have spent over a quarter century breaking

One of the nonprofit’s outreaches is a weekly reading program at the Ocala Downtown Market, which recently wrapped up for the summer. In July, some of the agency’s 20 horses will work inside a dozen libraries.

“Magic will be on vacation for the month of July except for two programs as ‘Officer Magic’ with the Ocala Police Department. The other therapy horses will be busy in July taking turns with Gentle Carousel’s Reading with Horses. Our individual therapy horses usually work no more than two days a week so they can spend time running and playing with their lifelong herd. They deserve a wonderful life,” GarciaBengochea said.

“In August, when the schools begin again, Reading with Horses will be back inside public and private schools,” she added. “We are excited about

ANSWERS FOR PAGE B4

The harvesting machine was expensive, so they pooled their money to --

Sudoku

Magic poses with Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses Executive Director Jorge Garcia-Bengochea and a member of the New York Police Department’s Mounted Unit during her visit to the Big Apple to receive the Film Heals Award at the Manhattan Film Festival. [Courtesy of Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses]

Magic and Jorge Garcia-Bengochea, executive director of Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses, take a walk during the Florida Bar Association’s annual convention, during which she was given the Rikki Mitchell Memorial Animal Achievement Award. [Courtesy of Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses]

Magic is shown with her Rikki Mitchell Memorial Animal Achievement Award. [Photo courtesy of Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses]

Eggstra, eggstra!

Shop local farm-fresh eggs for less.

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

By Julie Garisto julie@magnoliamediaco.com.

Great news: The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently reported that the average price of eggs is going down.

While you can now buy industrial-farmed eggs as low as $1.25 at some Aldi locations, it might be worth an extra few dollars to eat a more super version of the superfood, and you’d be supporting local farms, too.

Farm-fresh eggs have less cholesterol and saturated fat than those purchased from the store, reported a “Mother Earth News” study, which the publication claims has been verified multiple times.

They also reported that pastureraised eggs contain 25% more vitamin E, 75% more beta carotene and up to 20 times more Omega-3 fatty acids. But the price tag can be steep, upward of $10-$20.

The blog “Fed By the Farm” recommends pasture-raised eggs to assure that the hens get to forage outside for bugs and grasses to eat, and exhibit other natural behaviors.

“Because small farms produce a limited quantity of eggs, you may want to contact the farm and buy them in advance of market day, so they’ll save a dozen or two with your name on the order,” the article instructs. “Farm-fresh eggs are some of the first things to be ‘sold out’ at the farmer’s market.”

For a variety of locally grown farm-fresh eggs, visit the Rural King Weekly Farm Swap at 2999 NW 10th St., Ocala, from around 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. The Ocala Downtown Market at the corner of SE Third Street and SE Third Avenue also includes local farmers from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday. Indeed, the Ocala-Marion area is teeming with farms, too many to mention here, but we can help you get started. We suggest signing up on the Nextdoor app to learn about locals in your immediate area.

Tara Waller, who has a farm in the Ocala National Forest area, sells a dozen eggs for $3 and an 18-count carton

CF PRESENTS GRANT FUNDS TO OPD

costs $4.50. Reach Waller on the Nextdoor app at tinyurl.com/ TaraWaller. “Ring the bell by the gate if see no one,” recommended one of her neighbors on Nextdoor. Heirloom Farms,15880 SE 36th Ave., Summerfield, sells a dozen eggs for $5 as of this writing. Call (352) 307-7364 to arrange a date and time to pick up your order. Visit heirloomcountryfarms.com for details.

Red Acre Farm at SE Seventh Avenue, Ocala, sells its fresh eggs by the pound for $6. The farm boards non-GMO pasture-raised chickens, pasture pork and seasonal nonGMO pasture turkeys. All of its poultry is raised from day-old chicks to harvest right on the farm and the owners offer fresh pickup on harvest days or frozen birds in between harvests. Call (352) 354-2838. You can also visit localharvest. org/ocala-fl/eggs and eatwild.com to read listings of local farmers selling eggs near you if you don’t feel like driving around and hunting them down.

“Pastured hens’ diets are naturally complemented with bugs, earthworms, and other such critters that give their eggs a huge nutritious oomph,” wrote Local Harvest on its website, adding that “pastured hens are usually much healthier and happier than their space-restricted and antibiotic-pumped industrial cousins.”

CLERK NAMED TO EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

On June 21, Jim Henningsen, president of the College of Central Florida (CF), presented Ocala Police Department (OPD) Chief Mike Balken a check for $7,070.16 to help support the department in accordance with the Open Door Grant Program.

The program was created by the Florida Legislature in 2021 to create and sustain a demand-driven supply of credentialed workers for highdemand occupations and expand the affordability of workforce training and credentialing, according to the news release from CF.

CF was the recipient of $267,453 in Open Door funding and has disbursed funds by partnering with law enforcement agencies including the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and OPD, which are experiencing

an increased need for qualified, well-trained law enforcement personnel. The grant funds support law enforcement recruits attaining certification through the Criminal Justice Institute at CF by helping to reduce expenses and barriers to completion and increase the number of qualified graduates to fill open law enforcement jobs, the release noted.

“The Ocala Police Department is a valued partner in CF’s endeavor to train future law enforcement officers,” said Jennifer Fryns, associate vice president of career and professional programs. “We are thrilled to have been awarded funding to help offset the expense of that training and to further strengthen that partnership.”

To learn more, visit CF.edu.

Marion County Clerk of Court and Comptroller Gregory C. Harrell has been installed to serve on the 2023–2024 Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers (FCCC) Executive Committee. Harrell was installed as the association’s incoming treasurer during FCCC’s Summer Conference on June 7. This will be his second year on the committee. He will serve a oneyear term as treasurer. FCCC provides local government support services, technical assistance and accreditation opportunities for its members.

CALENDAR PHOTO CONTEST DEADLINE IS JULY 14

The Marion County Office of the County Engineer and its Stormwater Management program invite submissions for the annual stormwater calendar photo contest. This year’s theme is “Drops of Life.”

All photos must have been taken in Marion County and depict images associated with waterbodies. Images must be submitted via email. Submissions should include the photographer’s name, contact

information, location of photo and a brief description of each photo submitted, (for example “shoreline at Lake Weir”). A maximum of three entries are allowed per person.

Photo quality and resolution must meet size, design and publishing standards (a minimum of 300 dots per inch, or DPI).

Photos should be clearly visible when printed at standard paper size of 8.5x11 inches. By submitting

a photograph, photographers give Marion County the right to use the images in any future print, broadcast or digital media. Entries are due by 5 p.m. Friday, July 14 and may be emailed to stormwater@marionfl.org. Winning images will be published in the 2024 Stormwater Calendar.

For more information, call (352) 671-8686.

CF Criminal Justice students (in blue uniforms) with Jim Henningsen, Jennifer Fryns and OPD Chief Mike Balken.

Gorge-ous Ronda: quintessentially Spanish

Cervical cancer and HPV screening

By Tri Dinh, M.D. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: Since age 20, I have had annual visits with a gynecologist. I am now in my late 30s, and my physician recommended that I get an HPV test in addition to a Pap test to check for cervical cancer. What is the importance of both? And what is my risk of cervical cancer?

ANSWER: Screening for cervical cancer can cause a lot of confusion because guidelines and tests have evolved over the years.

A Pap test is an important screening exam that’s used to check for abnormal cells on the cervix that could indicate earlystage cervical cancer or precancerous cells. The test for human papillomavirus, or HPV, also is important because if you have that virus, it raises your risk for developing cervical cancer. Knowing if you have HPV or not can inform and direct your health care in the future.

Cervical cancer occurs in the lower part of the uterus known as the cervix, which connects the uterus to the vagina. The most common types of cervical cancer are squamous cell carcinoma— occurring in squamous cells, which line the outer part of the cervix—and adenocarcinoma, which develops in glandular cells in the cervical canal.

By Rick Steves

If you’re like most Americans, your image of Spain is actually the region of Andalucía, famous for windswept landscapes, whitewashed hill towns, flamenco, and gazpacho. While visitors gravitate to the region’s big cities of Granada, Sevilla, and Córdoba, Andalucía’s “Route of the White Hill Towns” (Ruta de los Pueblos Blancos) – a charm bracelet of cute villages perched in the sierras – offers a taste of wonderfully untouched Spanish culture.

Ronda, 80 miles southeast of Sevilla, is one of the largest of these whitewashed hill towns. It’s also one of the most spectacular, thanks to its gorge-straddling setting. Ronda is easy to visit because it’s one of the few hill towns with a train station. The real joy for travelers lies in exploring the winding back streets and taking in the panoramic views, gleaming white houses, and exuberant flowerpots.

Ronda’s stunning ravine divides the town’s labyrinthine Moorish quarter and its newer, noisier, and sprawling Mercadillo quarter. The New Bridge, massive yet graceful, has mightily spanned the gorge since the 18th century. Look down (carefully) into the ravine – it’s 300 feet deep and 200 feet wide.

To Spaniards, Ronda is most famous for being the birthplace of modern bullfighting. In the 16th century, two kinds of bullfighting existed: the type with noble knights on horseback, and the coarser, man-versus-beast entertainment for the commoners (with no rules...much like when WWE wrestlers bring out the folding chairs). In the 1700s, Francisco Romero melded these two forms, injected some rules, and created bullfighting as we know it today, complete with scarlet cape (though bulls are actually colorblind – the red was to disguise the blood).

Ronda’s bullring (and accompanying museum) rivals Sevilla’s as Spain’s best. Built in 1785, the two-tiered arena is surrounded by 5,000 seats and 136 classy columns to create a kind of 18th-century theater feel. In Ronda, bullfighting is considered an art, not a sport; newspapers cover fights in the culture section, not on the sports pages. Lovers of the “art” of bullfighting will explain that the event is about much more than the actual killing of the bull –it’s about celebrating the noble heritage and the Andalusian horse culture.

Ronda is not only about bullfighting. Drop by the Santa Maria church, built on the site of a former mosque and an earlier temple to Julius Caesar, for its interesting mix of Moorish, Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque fusion (or

confusion). For a look at Ronda’s Moorish past, tour the ruins of the Arab Baths, which come to life with a video. The Bandolero museum features bandit lore and paraphernalia from the time Ronda was the romantic home of 19thcentury bandoleros – the Jesse Jameses and Billy el Niños of Andalucía. To learn more about the history and prehistory of Ronda, tour the Mondragón Palace.

And to travel back 30,000 years, day-trip to the Pileta Cave, the best and most intimate look a tourist can get at prehistoric cave paintings in Spain. The farmer who owns the cave, and whose grandfather discovered it in 1905, still lives down the hill. As you walk the cool halfmile, a guide will point out the faint remains of paintings which are five times as old as the Egyptian pyramids. (Because the number of visitors is strictly limited, the paintings are among the best preserved in the world.) The Neolithic and Paleolithic drawings of black, ochre, and red are mostly just lines or patterns, but there are also horses, goats, cattle, and a rare giant fish, made from a mixture of clay and fat by finger-painting prehistoric hombres.

Ronda is fun after dark. While day-trippers from the touristy Costa del Sol clog Ronda’s streets during the day, locals retake the town in the early evening. I enjoy the fine tapas scene. Instead of picking one place, I do a tapa pub crawl, going from bar to bar sampling signature dishes such as lechuguita (a wedge of lettuce with vinegar, garlic, and a secret ingredient), huevo de codorniz (a tiny piece of oily toast with a slice of ham and a fried quail egg), and asparagus on a stick sprinkled with Manchego cheese grated coconut-style. If a bar has a cardboard sign, “Hay caracoles” in its window, it’s advertising it has fresh snails, a special treat served from late spring through early fall. At tapas bars, you’ll eat standing up, just like the locals.

The paseo (early evening stroll) happens in the new town, on Ronda’s major pedestrian and shopping street, Carrera Espinel. Join in. Walking the streets, you feel a strong local pride and a community where everyone seems to know everyone. And you feel thankful that, in your Spanish itinerary, you included Rhonda.

(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.)

Anyone with a cervix is at risk of developing cervical cancer. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 13,000 new cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed each year in the U.S. Hispanic women have the highest rates of developing the disease, while African American women are at greatest risk of dying from this cancer.

Additional risk factors for cervical cancer include:

Multiple sexual partners

Sexual activity at a young age

Sexually transmitted infections

Weakened immune system

Smoking

Numerous strains of HPV infection play a role in causing almost all cervical cancer. Many women’s immune systems combat HPV, preventing the virus from causing cancer. However, some women are more susceptible to cervical cancer as HPV lives in their bodies for years and aids in the emergence of cancer cells.

Historically, women often have visited with a gynecologist or other health specialist annually to have a Pap test, which involves collecting and examining cells from the cervix. If the test finds abnormal cells, additional tests to look further for precancerous or cancerous cells may be recommended.

More recently, HPV testing has been recommended for women—along with the Pap exam—as it can provide useful information about a person’s risk for cervical cancer. This is particularly important since most women will not experience any signs of cervical cancer in early stages.

An HPV test can be done at the same time as a Pap test and uses the same cell sample collected for the Pap test. The HPV test doesn’t tell you whether you have cancer. Instead, it detects the presence of HPV in your body. If you have HPV—particularly the two common subtypes that are most closely linked to cervical cancer—then you are at higher risk for developing cervical cancer. Knowing that, you and your health care team can decide how often you need Pap tests and other tests to monitor your condition going forward.

Not all types of HPV increase the risk of cervical cancer, and if you are found to have an HPV infection, it is important to note that it does not mean you will develop cervical cancer.

The HPV vaccine protects against the types of HPV that are most likely to cause cervical cancer. The vaccine works better when given to girls starting at age 9, but it has now been approved for women up to 45. Depending upon your risk factors, if you have not previously received the vaccine, it may be valuable for you.

How often you need a Pap test and an HPV test depends on your individual situation. In general, the recommendation is to have both tests done every five years for women older than 30 who haven’t had an abnormal Pap test in the past. That may shift, however, depending on your medical history, as well as other health issues you may have. Talk with your health care team about the schedule that’s best for you.—Tri Dinh, M.D., Obstetrics and Gynecology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida (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.)

Ronda’s New Bridge massively connects the old town with the new town. [Rick Steves]

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