Ocala Gazette | July 7 - July 13, 2023

‘Mayor Emeritus’

By Rosemarie Dowell rosemarie@ocalagazette.com

Folks in the tiny northwest Marion County town of Reddick are downright gobsmacked these days because for the first time in roughly 50 years, the town mayor’s last name isn’t Stroup.

The family’s remarkable decades-long streak of dedicated public service concluded April 6 when James R. “Jimmy” Stroup officially handed in the gavel following the monthly town council meeting.

He had served a whopping 30 years as mayor.

“It was time; I was ready,” said Stroup, who’ll turn 82 in July and won his first election back in 1993. “It was 30 years, but it seems like it was more like 100 sometimes.”

Stroup’s father, the late Noland Jefferson “Jeff” Stroup, served on the town council for a total of 35 years, including nearly 20 as mayor before he retired, making way for his son to take over as the pro-bono ceremonial leader of the town, established in 1882.

“Dad liked to pass things on to people, me included,” said Stroup, who moved to Reddick from nearby Lowell during his sophomore year of high school. The Stroup family had moved to Marion

Marion County Airport to see improvements

County in 1947 from Kokomo, Indiana.

“I was always helping him out with town business, so I just stepped into the role,” said the father of four, including a daughter who passed away in 2016.

The jovial grandfatherly town leader was evidently well-esteemed; he ran unopposed in every mayoral race he entered, serving as part public relations expert, part community watchman, and steadfast town advocate throughout his lengthy reign.

“In Reddick, if they don’t like you, you can forget it,” said Stroup, a U.S. Army veteran who’s worked for the past 17 years at the Reddick Public Library, which was once the agricultural building he attended classes in on the campus of Reddick High School. Built in 1923 and renamed North Marion High School in 1957, the school was demolished in 2021, despite efforts to save it.

Stroup, who graduated from North Marion in 1959, recently reflected on his decades of public service.

“The thing I’m most proud of is the civility between everyone and the diversity of the council and the town,” said Stroup, who previously worked for a charcoal manufacturer in Ocala and near Dunnellon.

The town’s council members, who also serve

See Stroup, page A2

Ocalan among women honored at state level

Darnitha Johnson received the Spirit of Community award from the Florida Commission on the Status of Women.

By Andy Fillmore andy@ocalagazette.com

An Ocala woman was one of 11 women recognized statewide or their community service achievements and dubbed “Sheros” by the Florida Commission on the Status of Women (FCSW) in an awards ceremony in Orlando last month.

Darnitha (Gaskin) Johnson received the 2022 Spirit of Community award for her “tireless work toward bettering the lives of women and families,” according to a post on the FCSW Facebook page.

The award was presented during a ceremony at the Delaney Hotel on June 28.

“I’m still in shock to be nominated as one of the women in Florida (to be recognized),”

Johnson stated in a text just after she received the award.

She called the award “unbelievable” and said that a certification from Florida Atlantic University related to the business college, which was received about the same time as the FCSW award was the realization of several “goals.”

In a statement connected to the awards, Christina Omran, director of the FCSW, referred to the honorees as women who have served as “positive role models for, and improved the lives of, women and families in their communities.”

“Each day these extraordinary Floridians mentor children, advocate for women and families in need, empower and inspire our youth, volunteer their time, efforts, and other resources going above and beyond to serve and enhance

See

Johnson, page A3

By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com

Changes are coming to the Marion County Airport and the county is accepting bids for who will complete a big project aimed to increase safety and efficiency for the pilots who frequent it.

The airport, located at 14968 SW 110th St., Dunnellon, will undergo construction to create two new taxiways, which will be parallel to the two existing runways. A taxiway is a strip that allows aircraft to move to or from a runway without obstructing the takeoff or landing of other planes on the runway.

Taxiway alpha will be 5,000 feet long and run the entire length of runway 5-23, and taxiway bravo will be 3,291 feet long and run only part of the length of the other, runway 10-28. The procurement services department of Marion County issued a packet of all of the specifications for the project to any consultant who wishes their plan to be considered for the bid.

“In the current airfield configuration, landing and departing aircraft are required to back taxi which increases the time that aircraft are on the runway, decreasing the operational efficiency of the airfield,” according to the procurement department.

The Marion County Airport is also an uncontrolled airfield, meaning that there is no tower for air traffic control that informs pilots in the air of what planes are taxiing, taking off or landing on the runway. Pilots must pass over to check the runways or communicate with other pilots through the radio.

At this time, there is no timeline or cost estimate for the project. That information will be solidified when the bid is awarded or during the negotiation process, said procurement and contract analyst Tika Black.

The last day for potential contractors to contact the procurement department with questions about the project was Thursday at 12 p.m. The final day for contractors to submit a bid to the county for consideration is July 13 at 3 p.m.

After decades of service, Jimmy Stroup steps down as mayor, but Reddick will still revere him.

File photo: A pilot with Central Florida Skydiving takes David Bosanko up for another of his 77 skydives at the Marion County Airport in Dunnellon on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023. Bosanko broke the Florida skydiving record of 72 jumps in one day with his 77 jumps on Sunday. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette]

Stroup steps down

Continued from page A1 without pay, include four females, three of whom are Black, he proudly noted.

“I’m glad that I got to be included in the planning for the new park that will be built on the site of the old high school, too,” said Stroup, a 1963 graduate of Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. “We’ve fought a long time to get a county park here.”

Several town council members who served with Stroup said he will long be remembered for his contributions to the town, both as a stalwart leader and dedicated citizen.

“He’s done a lot for the town, but I think his biggest accomplishment, his legacy, has been his ability to relate to people and people to relate to him—it’s a gift,” said Reddick Town Council President Steve Rogers, a lifelong resident of the town, who’s served on the board for 36 years but has known Stroup for more than 50 years. “He also has a wealth of knowledge about the town, its history and its citizens.”

The two close friends serve on various civic organizations together, including the Millwood Cemetery Association and the North Marion High School football team’s “Chain Gang,” and are both lay leaders of the First United Methodist Church of Reddick.

“I have tremendous respect for him both as a person and as a man,” Rogers said. “He’s a great example and role model, and has helped a lot of families over the years.”

Stroup, said Rogers, has an uncanny knack for recalling events and names.

“He’s got an amazing, phenomenal memory for the history of Reddick and remembers people’s names even though he may have only met them once,” he said.

Reddick Church of God Pastor Myra Sherman, who just began her second two-year term in office, said she first met Stroup, a fervent supporter of sports at North Marion High School, about 20 years ago when her sons were student-athletes there.

“His integrity and dedication to the community fills my heart,” said Sherman, who often sees Stroup riding his bicycle through town in the mornings. “Whenever I had a question about anything, he would be always be prompt to answer it and was always accurate.”

Sherman said Stroup’s spirituality especially stood out to her.

“He would always pray before we started any meetings and offer a prayer up to God,” she said. “Knowing that your mayor trusts God is comforting.”

Another council member, Martha Cromwell, said Stroup will be greatly missed as mayor.

“He’s been a mainstay of the town council for over 30 years and has served the town well,” said Cromwell, who grew up in Reddick

and has known Stroup all her life.

“He’s just a gem, a wonderful, wonderful man.”

“He’s still coming to council meetings, but now he’s just a spectator, which feels odd,” she said.

As for what he feels is his biggest accomplishment while in office, Stroup said it was getting a Marion County Sheriff’s Office substation in town, under then Sheriff Ed Dean, who served for 14 years from 1998 to 2012.

“I think it went a long way in making the community feel safer,” said Stroup, whose wife, Marjorie Stroup, serves as town clerk as an independent contractor. “I think it did deter some crime.” To Stroup’s chagrin, Dean’s successor, Chris Blair, closed the substation soon after taking office.

“I’d love to see one open up here again,” he said. “It would be a visible law enforcement presence in town.”

Stroup would also like to see the newly launched “Restore Reddick” succeed. The initiative by the Reddick Preservation and Growth Foundation, founded by Reuben and Tina Aiton, aims to revive the town by renovating and restoring a bevy of historic buildings in town to their former glory.

“It’s gonna be tough, but I hope they can do it,” said Stroup.

Once a thriving small town, Reddick has lost a horde of businesses over the years, said Stroup, including the Reddick Supermarket, a hardware store and several others. The closing of a Wells Fargo Bank branch office two years ago, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, was a wallop to the community.

“My daddy worked his hiney off getting that bank here. Now the closest Wells Fargo is 13 miles away,” said Stroup. “That really hit the town hard.”

But perhaps the most bittersweet of all the changes Stroup has seen over the past several decades is the demolition of the iconic high school, which had stood for nearly a century in the heart of the community on Northwest Gainesville Road, the main thoroughfare through town.

The large twostory red brick school, a beloved local landmark, served hundreds of families from the area including Fairfield, Lowell, McIntosh and Shiloh before it closed in 1964, following the opening of a newly constructed North Marion High School in nearby Sparr. The new school took in students from high

schools in Fort McCoy and Anthony.

After it closed, part of the school was reopened and used for other purposes, including a food bank, an interfaith thrift shop, and offices. It even served as a location for the 2001 “Jeepers Creepers” horror film.

Over time, there were numerous attempts to bring the campus back to life.

“There was talk of it becoming a tag office for the county at one time,” said Stroup. “But politics killed that idea.” Stroup was also part of a community task force formed around 2007 to see what could be done to save the school, which had become even more derelict over the years.

“We were going to pursue grants for renovations and talked about moving the library there and using the auditorium as a craft space for the community,” he said. The discussion and group were dealt a death blow when the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009 hit the U.S.

“When the bottom fell out, it all fell out and that was the end of that,” said Stroup. The school was razed in October of 2021 at a cost of nearly $500,000.

“It was sad, but I’ll be the first to tell you it was time for it to go,” he said.

As for his plans now that he’s no longer an elected official, Stroup said he doesn’t have any.

That’s probably a good thing; Rogers and Sherman said Stroup is so well revered and entrenched in the community, people will always view him as the town’s leader and will no doubt keep calling him for advice and input on town matters.

Said Sherman, “He’ll always be mayor to me.”

“In my mind’s eye, for a very long time, no matter who the mayor is, Jimmy will always be Mayor Stroup,” said Rogers. “He is Mayor Emeritus.”

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Former Reddick Mayor Jimmy Stroup holds an artist’s rendering of a county park that will soon be built on the site of the old Reddick High School, later named North Marion High School. The school was demolished in 2021. [Rose M. Dowell/Ocala Gazette]

File photo: People look over some of the artwork on display during the First Friday Art Walk in downtown Ocala on Friday, Dec. 4, 2020. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2020.

Darnitha Johnson receives award

Continued from page A1 the lives of their fellow Floridians,” Omran stated.

According to the award citation, Johnson, herself once a victim of domestic violence, serves as a community engagement specialist with a local domestic violence and sexual assault center. She has “made it her mission” to help battered women “start over” and her work with the shelter includes raising awareness and fund raising for the facility.

Johnson also helps the local homeless community with food and blankets, and has aided children with clothing and school supplies, and single mothers and community activists against gun violence, according to the citation.

Much of Johnson’s outreach has been accomplished through her Royal Queens Women’s Empowerment, Inc. organization, which she started in 2015. The organization’s Facebook page states, “hope is where the heart is” and the

group’s team works through “advocacy and outreach.”

Johnson was joined at the Orlando ceremony by her husband, Larry Johnson, and best friend, Tamela Rendleman, who serves as administrator for Johnson’s organization.

Johnson is a motivational speaker and, as part of her mission to raise awareness about domestic violence, she has written articles for the mayor of Ocala and city of Ocala newsletters, spoken at the Ocala City Council, and appeared before the Senate and House in Tallahassee, the citation stated.

Johnson has three adult children. She and her husband live in northwest Ocala.

She said she feels her efforts are making a difference in the community every day.

“A lot of women have come forth and left their abusers,” she said.

Yet, she also wishes more organizations would focus on the issue of domestic abuse.

“I wish I could help more throughout the country to save more lives,” she stated.

Marion Technical College to receive $5.57 million for new facility

By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com

Marion Technical College plans to build a new facility to house its aviation, automotive and diesel mechanics programs with a new $5.57 million appropriation from the state of Florida, according to a press release.

The 15,000-square-foot facility will cost about $5 million and is projected to be completed by September of 2025, according to Marion County Public Schools spokesperson Kevin Christian.

Construction of the new building is

planned to start in October of 2024.

“The new center…will offer trainings in automotive general service technician, automotive collision refinishing technician, aviation powerplant/airframe mechanics and diesel systems technician,” according to the press release.

The new facility will be located on the grounds of the existing campus but stand as a separate building across the parking lot at 1014 SW 7th Road in Ocala.

The facility will serve about 100 students each year. It will house three classrooms, storage areas, work bays and restrooms.

Any left-over money from the

Proposed MTC Campus

allocation will help with the facility’s startup costs, including equipment, technology, furniture and tools.

Thank you

Dear neighbors,

When I launched the “Ocala Gazette” three years ago, on July 6, 2020, I took on what I felt was a solemn duty to build a newspaper that supports the community by keeping readers more informed through our editorial content, creates transparency through our reporting, and is focused on the public good for all of Marion County.

As you would expect from a small local newspaper owner who began this adventure during a global pandemic, these anniversary milestones come with a moment of, “OMG, I can’t believe we beat the odds for another year,” mixed with deep gratitude to all who have helped us along the way.

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Darnitha Johnson, of Ocala, center, recipient of the 2022 Spirit of Community Awards from the Florida Commission on the Status of Women, poses with Maruchi Azorin, Committee Chair, left, and Sophia Eccleston, Commission Chair, at a presentation ceremony at the Delaney Hotel in Orlando, Florida on June 28, 2023. [Jesse Romimora]

The plan was proposed to Rep. Stan McClain and Sen. Keith Perry to sponsor the allocation to fund the new facility.

A mega-complex in the making

Marion County Parks and Rec’s potential plans for a new multipurpose sports complex consider tourism, the need for an emergency shelter and America’s growing pickleball obsession.

By Julie Garisto julie@magnoliamediaco.com

Marion County Parks and Recreation Director Jim Couillard is exploring possibilities for a new state-ofthe-art, multipurpose sports facility.

He envisions a Marion County super complex with three key purposes: weekly recreation programs, weekend tournaments and an emergency shelter, built to FEMA standards.

The location hasn’t been determined yet, he said, but he and other officials have their sights on southwest Ocala.

“We’re going to have to do a proper analysis of location, factoring in accessibility to major roadways,” Couillard said, adding that “there’s even a bit of an assessment of an ongoing traffic situation,” which Couillard declined to explain, a complication which the Marion County Board of County Commissioners is “working hard” at figuring out.

The prospective megacomplex is a “vision” that Couillard and his colleagues, and officials with the county’s visitors and convention bureau, have been discussing for around six months. Its full scope came into view after a tour of a world-class facility an hour south of Marion County: The Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus in Wesley Chapel.

Pasco County’s tourism agency, the Florida Sports Coast, describes Wiregrass as “an unrivaled sports facility consisting of a 98,000 square-foot indoor sports arena.”

Couillard told the “Gazette” that he was impressed with its wow factor and ability to draw locals as well as visitors from across the U.S. to national competitions, and Couillard reported in a May 17 Marion Board of County Commissioners visioning workshop that the parks and recreation department is working with tourism development officials, who are in the process of soliciting proposals for a competitive gap analysis.

“(The analysis) will give us a regional assessment of where we are in the sports tourism and youth tourism marketplaces,” he told the commission.

Tourism Development Director

Loretta Shaffer calls the complex plans a “win-win-win” for Marion County’s

parks and recreation, tourism and emergency management.

In Pasco, the Residence Inn Tampa Wesley Chapel hotel, adjacent to Wiregrass Ranch, accommodates out-of-town athletes and their families, who also shop at the nearby Shops at Wiregrass.

Peering inside the Wiregrass complex, you’ll find 70,000 square feet of polished hardwood floor accommodates eight fullsize basketball courts, which can convert to 16 volleyball courts, cheerleading and gymnastics areas, a multipurpose area, a 360-degree viewing mezzanine and a variety of meeting spaces.

Outdoors are two multipurpose fields, equivalent to two official soccer fields with five additional fields “coming soon,” which will have plenty of parking.

How much Ocala’s future complex will resemble Wiregrass remains to be seen.

“Marion County is in the process of negotiating with a prospective consultant who will be studying and reporting back to us as to what is the best tack and product we could provide for our community and for our visitors,” Couillard told the

“Gazette,” adding that facilities’ plans are “a long-term process, and it will take nearly four-to-five months before we see the results.”

With three different uses in one facility, he said he foresees “multiple funding sources that could be found to help this type of project … something we could provide here locally that would also support our tourism industry.”

Concerns around the accessibility of pickleball courts came up during the May commission meeting, with support and questions from Commissioners Michelle Stone and Carl Zalak.

The burgeoning mini-tennis-like sport with a funny name—of disputed origins, invented in 1965—has continued over recent weeks to be included in conversations about the complex, Couillard told the “Gazette.”

Stone asked if boundary lines conforming to the game’s smaller-thantennis specifications would be painted instead of simply playing pickleball on a tennis regulation-size court.

Couillard affirmed that would not be

the case at the new megacomplex.

He said municipalities are scrambling to keep up with the demand for regulationsize pickleball courts, and that players from The Villages will drive an hour out of their way to play pickleball at Coehadjoe Park, which has courts marked for pickleball.

“It is the fastest-growing sport in the nation for the third or fourth year in a row,” Couillard told the “Gazette.”

“The average age of American pickleball players has come down to around 38 years old,” he shared, adding that “the demand is spreading across all age groups, all abilities. …

“Neighboring counties that have substantial pickleball facilities are already hosting big Professional Pickleball Association tours and major league pickleball events. So, it’s happening all around us and the demand’s going to keep going. So, yes, pickleball will be included as part of that scope for our consultant, as well.”

Two job fairs coming up

MCPS HOMETOWN HIRING CAREER FAIR

Hundreds of positions are open for the new school year and Marion County Public Schools (MCPS) wants to hire hometown employees to fill those positions during its second annual Hometown Hiring Career Fair. The fair will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Wednesday, July 19, at Fort King Middle School, 545 NE 17 Ave., Ocala; Lake Weir Middle School, 10220 SE Sunset Harbor Road, Summerfield; and Marion Oaks Elementary, 280 Marion Oaks Trail, Ocala.

More than 25 schools and departments plan to hire teachers, support staff, Marion Afterschool Program workers and new team members for

TRI-COUNTY RESOURCE AND JOB FAIR

custodial, food service and transportation departments.

Last year, more than 300 people attended the inaugural Hometown Hiring Fair at all three locations, including 112 who were hired on-thespot, according to the MCPS news release. School administrators, district leaders and others will conduct interviews at all three locations. Anyone interested in applying can visit marionschools. net/careers for the latest vacancies listing and jump start the employment process.

For more information, contact the MCPS Employment Services Office at (352) 671-7787.

CareerSource Citrus Levy Marion has teamed up with the Tri-County Community Resource Center and College of Central Florida (CF) to provide opportunities for those looking for work or seeking critical support services.

The Tri-County Resource and Job Fair will take place from 2 to 5 p.m. Thursday, July 20, at CF’s Jack Wilkinson Levy Campus, 15390 NW Hwy. 19, between Chiefland and Fanning Springs. It is free and open to all job seekers, including students and recent graduates.

In addition to meeting with hiring managers with immediate jobs to fill, attendees may take advantage of free employability workshops held during the event: Resume Review from 2-2:30 p.m.; Interview Skills from 2:30-3 p.m.; and College Applications from 3-4 p.m.

Participating businesses include Amber Brook Farms, ANCORP, Capital City Bank, Cross City Correctional Institute, Florida Department of Children and Families, Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, Florida Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, Tri-County Metals, UpHealth Inc., Williston Care Center and Zero Hour Life Center, according to the news release.

Representatives from CareerSource CLM and the workforce region’s young adult services provider, Eckerd Connects Workforce Development, as well as CF, Tri-County

Community Resource Center, United Way of North Central Florida and Zero Hour Life Center will be on hand to provide community resources.

Prior to attending the event, it is recommended that job seekers complete a full registration or update an existing registration, at EmployFlorida. com. Participants are encouraged to dress professionally, bring printed copies of a current resume and be prepared to discuss skills and qualifications with hiring managers.

Since 2015, the Tri-County Resource Center has been a one-stop “resource hub” that uses a community-centered approach to proactively connect those in need with existing services and referral assistance before they reach a crisis.

CareerSource CLM is the region’s leader in workforce development, connecting businesses with qualified, skilled talent and job candidates with employment and career development opportunities.

Those interested in getting prepared for the job fair ahead of time are invited to stop by any CareerSource CLM career center. Free assistance is available 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.

For more information, call 800434-JOBS or visit the calendar at careersourceclm.com.

Wiregrass complex [From Pasco County’s Sports Coast website]

No charges for officers involved in inmate death

The case involves a 46-year-old man and six law enforcement officials.

By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com

None of the law enforcement officers involved in the November death of an inmate at the Marion County Jail have been charged with crimes, according to State Attorney Bill Gladson.

The months-long investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) concluded in April, when the findings were passed on to the state attorney, who stated in a recent memorandum that “no criminal laws were violated” in the events surrounding the inmate’s death.

Inmate Scott Whitley III, 46, died in custody on Nov. 25, 2022, when, after refusing to comply during a cell inspection, six detention deputies used pepper foam and tasers to subdue him until he could be restrained. When deputies were able to get him out of his cell, he was unresponsive and later was pronounced dead at AdventHealth Ocala.

In response to the conclusion of the investigation, Whitley’s family said they were still searching for answers.

“Scotty would have had his 47th birthday last week. Instead of celebrating with his family, they are still looking for answers,” said attorney James Slater via email on July 5, on behalf of the decedent’s sister, Pamela Whitley.

The family is working to obtain the video surveillance from within the cell where Whitley died, in an attempt to better understand the circumstances surrounding his death, Slater said.

“Although the state attorney decided not to prosecute the officers involved, that decision does not exculpate them from wrongdoing,” he said.

Whitley was in jail awaiting trial for charges of resisting an officer with violence, violating an injunction for the protection of a vulnerable adult. Whitley’s parents, with whom he lived, filed this injunction against him to remove him from their home. He had a long history of mental illness, and his parents said at times they “feared” their son, which led to the injunction.

In the year and a half before his arrest, Whitley was placed in care under the Baker Act and involuntarily committed to a mental health facility seven times. Whitley had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, according to the report.

Whitley’s parents told law enforcement that he was unmedicated for his condition during the altercation that led to his arrest, according to the investigation.

People with untreated schizophrenia may experience delusions and hallucinations, which often cause the individual to believe they are at risk or being harmed, according to the Mayo Clinic.

“Individuals with schizophrenia

are four to seven times more likely to commit violent crimes, such as assault and homicide, and four to six times more likely to exhibit general aggressive behavior, such as verbal and physical threats, compared with the general population,” according to the National Library of Medicine.

The deputies involved in Whitley’s death were suspended with pay for the duration of the investigation but have since returned to work. All six of them claimed protections as victims under Marsy’s Law, so they remained anonymous.

Over the course of the 12-minute altercation that led to Whitley’s death, the officers’ tasers were deployed 27 times. From the officers’ accounts in the investigation, they can recall at least six instances where the tasers struck Whitley’s body.

Whitley’s death was ruled a homicide as a result of “cardiac arrythmia during physical restraint by law enforcement.” He also suffered from an enlarged heart and liver, lack of oxygen to the brain, and brain hemorrhage among other conditions. Whitley also suffered from obesity, which can exasperate these conditions, according to the autopsy report.

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) opened an internal investigation on the incident to see if any policies were violated, according to spokesperson Lt. Paul Bloom. When the investigation concluded on June 26, MCSO came to the conclusion that no policies were violated in Whitley’s death, but not without recommendations for future protocol and training.

“The (investigatory) board discussed implementing more hands-on defensive tactics training,” according to a report from Inspector Sergeant Lauren Miley. “Additionally, the board agreed a policy should be created specifically for the use of spit masks.”

Spit masks were part of the restraints used on Whitley in the altercation that caused his death, according to the FDLE report.

“It was also recommended that research be done regarding the use of chemical agents on suspects that are mentally deficient,” Miley said.

The results of MCSO’s internal investigation were also shared with the state attorney’s office for review.

The Whitley family will continue to try to access the surveillance footage from the jail in wake of the investigation conclusions.

“Scotty’s family is eager to obtain the jail video to see firsthand what happened to him leading up to his death,” Slater said.

The “Gazette” attempted to obtain this footage but was unable to as security footage from the jail is exempt from public record under Florida Statute 119.071 and 281.301. The family could obtain the footage but would be unable to share it with the press for public access.

FREE SUMMER FEEDING PROGRAM FOR STUDENTS 18 AND YOUNGER

Marion County Public Schools is offering free breakfast and lunch meals to all students 18 years and younger without any questions asked or paperwork required. Students can simply show up at their closest serving location and enjoy the food provided by the district’s Summer Food Service Program, according to the news release.

This year, the district anticipates serving 200,000 meals at 47 locations

CF DONATES HEALTH EDUCATION EQUIPMENT TO MCPS

throughout Ocala and Marion County. Funded through the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the program requires the sites to have congregate feeding, meaning the meals served must be consumed onsite. Meals are not prepared for takeout, the release noted.

To learn more, go to summerbreakspot.org/ find-location

VOLUNTEERS SOUGHT FOR LIBRARY EXPRESS PROGRAM

The Marion County Public Library System needs volunteers who want to make a difference in the life of a young child by reading aloud with the Library Express program.

Volunteers will share their love for reading and learning by providing a monthly story time session throughout the school year at various Head Start classrooms in Marion County.

Reading aloud helps children recognize rhyming patterns, develop vocabulary, increase attention span and be better prepared to start school. It also sparks their creativity and imagination. Library Express program volunteers receive thorough

training on providing story time sessions to children and receive all reading materials needed for volunteer assignments, according to the news release.

Volunteer applications are available at all nine public library locations and online at Library.MarionFL.org. All prospective volunteers must attend an orientation and training, commit to the program schedule, and pass a confidential background check prior to being accepted into the program.

For more information, call (352) 671-8551.

High school and middle school health science students at 11 Marion County Public Schools will have more hands-on opportunities to learn basic patient care thanks to a donation from College of Central Florida (CF).

On June 13, CF transferred 12 hospital beds and 17 high-tech simulators, valued at $67,000, to MCPS. The electric beds allow students to learn on equipment used in hospitals. The Laerdal VitalSimenabled manikins simulate heart, breath and bowel sounds, helping students learn to take vital signs and blood pressure readings as well as other basic nursing skills, the news release stated.

The donation was made possible after CF received grant funds through the Florida Department of Education LINE grant, created by the Florida Legislature, which allowed the college to purchase new simulators to be used by nursing students, the release noted.

“This is the ripple effect of funding,” said Jim Henningsen, CF president, in the release. “Because of the tremendous support College of Central Florida received from the Florida Legislature and the Citrus

County Hospital Board, who provided the initial investment to be matched by the state, we can now gift this training equipment to Marion County Public Schools. We’re excited to help younger students interested in health care careers get an earlier start with hands-on learning.”

The simulators and hospital beds will be distributed to five MCPS high schools: Belleview, Lake Weir, North Marion, Vanguard and West Port, as well as six middle schools: Dunnellon, Fort King, Horizon Academy at Marion Oaks, Howard, Liberty and North Marion.

“We are grateful for community partners like the College of Central Florida for identifying ways to support our students who are interested in high-demand jobs, like those in the health care industry,” said Superintendent of Schools, Diane Gullett, in the release. “Being able to provide hands-on training is another way we are partnering together to help every student succeed.”

To learn more about CF, visit CF.edu. To learn more about Marion County Public Schools, visit MarionSchools.net.

From left: Jim Henningsen, CF president; Jennifer Fryns, CF associate vice president of career and professional programs; Julie Connolley, MCPS Student Pathways and Assessment facilitator; Elise Perry, CF assistant professor of Nursing; Angela Martin, CF associate dean of Nursing.

‘Worrisome’ AI ads heighten political drama in 2024

Biden term using imagery created by AI. The video is posted to the GOP’s official YouTube channel with a description that explicitly lets viewers know it incorporates AI images.

“An AI-generated look into the country’s possible future if Joe Biden is reelected in 2024,” the description said. But not all AI imagery will be identified so readily.

Coats pointed to the ease with which AI-generated images can be created— by just about anyone with an internet connection—and the potential difficulty of pinpointing their source.

using the AI tool ChatGPT, which generates text, to create emails for their constituents.

“To say, ‘Hey, I want a series of emails talking about my program to have afterschool counseling for kids.’ … That’s a perfectly acceptable use of artificial intelligence,” Vancore said. “What’s not an acceptable use of artificial intelligence is, ‘Hey, I want you to generate some images of my opponent hanging out with underage girls.’”

By Ryan Dailey Florida News Service

The use of artificial intelligence to generate images, text and voices has the potential for “muddying the waters” in political campaigning and deepening mistrust among voters, according to communications experts.

Generative artificial intelligence, or AI, allows users to input prompts resulting in generated content that can depict just about anything the user desires. With the 2024 elections looming, experts in political communications are bracing for AI-generated images to start showing up much more frequently in campaign ads.

“You talk about opposition messaging, it can be created at the snap of a finger. The prompt returns information so fast that we’ll be inundated with it as the election cycle really starts to heat up,” Janet Coats, managing director of the University of Florida’s Consortium on Trust in Media and Technology, told The News Service of Florida in a recent interview.

The ability to manipulate images and voice audio is “moving to a whole different level of sophistication,” Coats said.

“We’ve been heading down this road for a long time,” Coats said. “One of the first visual ads that could now be labeled as deceptive is 1964, with the very famous (attack ad), the little girl with the daisy and then the mushroom cloud superimposed over her on the screen that the (Lyndon B.) Johnson campaign ran against Barry Goldwater.”

In the past, “when those manipulations were happening, you knew there was a human being who was manipulating the information,” she added.

For the two biggest political figures residing in Florida, who are on a collision

course in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, the issue erupted in early June. A Twitter account affiliated with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign tweeted a video that included multiple AI-generated pictures of former president Donald Trump hugging Anthony Fauci, Trump’s former chief medical advisor who spearheaded the administration’s pandemic response.

With Trump and DeSantis battling over their respective approaches to the COVID-19 pandemic, the DeSantis camp sought to depict a cozy relationship between Trump and Fauci.

The post containing the video was slapped with a Twitter “community note,” which the social-media platform says is aimed at letting users “collaboratively add context to potentially misleading Tweets.”

“The 3 still shots showing Trump embracing Fauci are AI generated images. The remainder of the ad’s recordings and images are authentic,” the notice said.

The use of AI-generated images in multiple political ads by New Zealand’s National party made international headlines in May. Also in May came an attack ad on President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign from the Republican National Committee, which depicted a vision of a grim future under a second

“It’s a low barrier to entry, to do it. You don’t have to go contract for some big expensive tool. The tools are readily available. You don’t have to have a particularly specialized knowledge to use them. The more sophisticated the prompt, the higher-quality the output. But it’s not rocket science,” Coats said.

Steve Vancore, a longtime political consultant and pollster, said that generative AI could become commonplace in an era where the volume of political ads and other communications being put in front of voters has steadily risen.

“In the bigger picture, what should be worrisome—the public already has an inherent distrust of political communications. And as a result of that, we’ve seen an escalating arms race in the amount of communications in races,” Vancore told the News Service.

With the volume of political ads going up, the increased use of AI-generated imagery, voices and text is likely to follow.

“There’s so much at stake, the people running these campaigns will only use it to raise more money and to use more of this. And so it’s going to be an unfortunate arms race that’s going to create a higher degree of distrust by the public,” Vancore said.

Vancore, who has been involved in more than 250 campaigns over his decades-long career, said his advice to candidates about the use of generative AI technology in ads depends on how it would be used.

“My standard for political attack ads, negative ads is: Is it truthful, is it verifiable, and is it relevant,” Vancore said.

Vancore used an example of a candidate

Whether AI-generated ads could ding a candidates’ credibility also depends on how they’re used, Vancore said, adding that other uses of the technology might be more subtle.

“One of the raps on Joe Biden is that he’s old. That’s not an unfair rap, perhaps. It’s a legitimate concern that the most powerful person on earth, or one of, maybe is getting older right? What if the Joe Biden campaign subtly just de-aged him a little bit? Showed him walking a little bit more gingerly, responding a little more rapidly,” Vancore said.

Trump, Vancore said, “has the same problem.”

“You can see he (Trump) is aging, it probably has a lot to do with what’s going on in his life. But, if somebody were to de-age him a little bit … Would that even make the press? Would the press even pick up on it, and will that splash back?” he said.

Coats also pointed to the possibility of AI being used to “clean” up candidates’ images.

“There’s the potential for muddying the waters, not just to create attack ads or disinformation about your opponent, but to try to clean yourself up. It’s an octopus. There’s just so many ways that I don’t think we’ve even thought about how it could be deployed,” Coats said.

Candidates on the receiving end of ads that use AI-generated images don’t have to use new methods to combat the attacks, according to Jay Hmielowski, associate professor of public relations at UF.

For example, candidates can use programs designed to detect the use of AIgenerated images, said Hmielowski, who specializes in political communications.

“You can use that and say, look, we ran it through this detector, and clearly this shows that this isn’t our candidate saying this. In addition, here’s the actual video of what happened at this event,” he said. “So, you’d do the same things that you’ve always done. Push back against it with, here’s what actually happened, here’s what the facts are relative to this. And then you hope that that gets through to the population of people who are willing to listen to stuff beyond their sort of political bubbles,” he said.

Image by Eugene Mymrin/Getty Images [Eugene Mymrin]

“There’s the potential for muddying the waters, not just to create attack ads or disinformation about your opponent, but to try to clean yourself up. It’s an octopus. There’s just so many ways that I don’t think we’ve even thought about how it could be deployed.”

Janet Coats

Managing director of the University of Florida’s Consortium on Trust in Media and Technology

NUNEZ NET WORTH DIPS IN 2022

Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez’s net worth dipped to $1.58 million as of Dec. 31, down from $1.64 million a year earlier, according to a new financialdisclosure report posted on the Florida Commission on Ethics website.

Nunez listed assets as of Dec. 31 that included more than $700,000 scattered across various Vanguard investment funds and her Miami home valued at $282,050. She also listed a second home in Islamorada valued at $374,510.

Elected officials faced a Monday deadline to file annual financialdisclosure forms, which generally show information from the end of the previous year.

Nunez listed a 2022 state salary of $132,055 as her only income, with liabilities at $245,689 for a home mortgage, a home-equity line of credit at

$22,373 and $31,741 on a leased Tesla.

Appliance, Stove Tax ‘Holidays’ Start

Year-long tax “holidays” will start Saturday that allow shoppers to avoid paying sales taxes when they buy certain appliances and gas stoves.

Lawmakers approved the tax exemptions during this year’s legislative session. The exemptions apply to Energy Star appliances such as washing machines that cost $1,500 or less, clothes dryers that cost $1,500 or less, water heaters that cost $1,500 or less and refrigerators that cost $4,500 or less.

They also apply to gas ranges and cooktops without a price limit, according to details on the Florida Department of Revenue website. The tax holidays will last through June 30, 2024.

CITIZENS POLICY COUNT AT 1.317 MILLION

The state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. ended June with 1,317,175 policies, up nearly 13,000 policies from the end of May, according to data posted on its website. Citizens, which has seen massive growth during the past two years, had 1,304,332 policies on May 31.

State leaders have long sought to move policies out of Citizens into the private market, in part because of financial risks if a major hurricane or multiple hurricanes would hit the

state. But Citizens, which was created as an insurer of last resort, has seen its policy count more than double since 2021 as private insurers have dropped customers and raised rates because of financial problems.

Lawmakers have made a series of changes to try to shore up private insurers, and 17,239 policies shifted from Citizens to the private market in June, according to information presented last week to the Citizens Market Accountability Advisory Committee.

SIMPSON REPORTS $20.6M NET WORTH

Florida Agriculture Commissioner

Wilton Simpson had a net worth of $20.618 million as of Dec. 31, a nearly $2 million decrease from a year earlier, according to an annual financial-disclosure report posted on the Florida Commission on Ethics website. Simpson, a Trilby Republican whose portfolio was topped by an egg farm, served as Senate president in 2021 and 2022 before being elected agriculture commission in November.

State elected officials faced a Monday deadline for filing financialdisclosure reports, which generally show assets, liabilities and income as of the end of 2022. Simpson’s assets were topped by Simpson Farms in Trilby at $10.68 million.

His income from the farm last year was $645,781. He also received about $1.16 million from WES FL LLC. Simpson listed one-third ownership in the limited liability company Belly Wadding, valued at $578,392. Income last year for Simpson from Belly Wadding was $18,130. A 2021 report listed Belly Wadding’s major source of income as NOSNAWS Corp., which owns IHOP restaurants in Florida. Simpson’s home was valued in 2022 at $627,264. An additional 35 acres he owns in Dade City was valued at $429,308. A Plaza Tower condominium in Tallahassee had an appraised value of $273,460. Simpson’s reported net worth at the end of 2021 was $22.54 million.

While Florida has long barred affirmative action in college and university admissions, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday said the state goes “even further” as he addressed a Moms for Liberty convention in Philadelphia. “We have eliminated ‘DEI’ from our public universities,” DeSantis said.

“They say it’s ‘diversity, equity and inclusion.’ But the way it’s practiced, it’s ideology imposed on the institution.” DeSantis, who is running for president in 2024, made the comments a day after the U.S. Supreme Court issued two rulings that will prevent college and university from using admission practices based on race.

The Supreme Court majority said practices at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina did not comply with the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection.

“Both programs lack sufficiently

focused and measurable objectives warranting the use of race, unavoidably employ race in a negative manner, involve racial stereotyping, and lack meaningful end points,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority.

The rulings prompted President Joe Biden to urge colleges and universities to maintain a commitment to diverse student bodies. A Florida law (SB 266) will take effect Saturday that prohibits colleges and universities from spending state or federal money to promote, support or maintain programs or campus activities that “advocate for” diversity, equity and inclusion.

Schools also will not be able to spend money on programs or activities that “promote or engage in political or social activism” as defined by the State Board of Education or the university system’s Board of Governors. DeSantis signed the law in May.

Judge blocks parts of elections law

By Jim Saunders Florida News Service

Saying the case “arises from Florida’s latest assault on the right to vote,” a federal judge Monday blocked parts of a new elections law challenged by voter-registration groups.

Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker, in a 58-page decision, issued a preliminary injunction against parts of the law that would prevent nonU.S. citizens from “collecting or handling” voter-registration applications and make it a felony for voter-registration group workers to keep personal information of voters.

Walker sided with groups such as the NAACP, the League of Women Voters of Florida and Hispanic Federation that argued the changes are unconstitutional.

“Florida may, of course, regulate elections, including the voter registration process,” Walker wrote. “Here, however, the challenged provisions exemplify something Florida has struggled with in recent years; namely, governing within the bounds set by the United States Constitution. When state government power threatens to spread beyond constitutional bounds and reduce individual rights to ashes, the federal judiciary stands as a firewall. The Free State of Florida is simply not free to exceed the bounds of the United States Constitution.”

The law (SB 7050), which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed in May, made a series of changes in Florida’s elections system, particularly focused on “thirdparty” voter registration groups. DeSantis and other state Republican leaders argued, in part, that the law was needed to ensure that elections are secure.

But voter-registration groups quickly filed lawsuits challenging the law and seeking a preliminary injunction. They said the groups play an important role in signing up Hispanic and Black voters.

The injunction issued by Walker applies to two parts of the law.

One part would require voter-registration groups to submit an “affirmation that each person collecting or handling voter registration applications on behalf of the third-party voter registration organization is a citizen of the United States of America.” Groups could face a $50,000 fine for each noncitizen collecting or handling applications, under the law.

But Walker backed plaintiffs’

arguments that the restriction would violate constitutional equal-protection rights.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Mohammad Jazil, an attorney for the DeSantis administration, pointed to concerns about voter-registration applications being turned in late to elections officials. Jazil argued that people who are not U.S. citizens, such as students from other countries or people who have temporary legal immigration status, “are not bound to the community” and thus could be at risk for not turning in applications on time.

But Walker rejected the argument in Monday’s ruling.

“(The) state of Florida has identified a problem with respect to untimely submission of voter registration applications,” Walker wrote.

“The hard part for defendants (the state) is identifying any connective tissue between the problem and the state’s proposed solution—namely, banning all noncitizens from collecting or handling voter registration applications on behalf of 3PVROs (thirdparty voter registration organizations). At the hearing, defendants acknowledged the dearth of evidence connecting noncitizens to late-filed voter registration applications.”

The other part of the law that Walker blocked would make it a third-degree felony if a worker for a voter-registration organization “copies a voter’s application or retains a voter’s personal information, such as the voter’s Florida driver license number, Florida identification card number, Social Security number, or signature, for any reason other than to provide such application or information to the third-party voter registration organization.”

Walker, who was appointed to the federal bench by former President Barack Obama, said the part of the law is too vague. For example, he wrote it “leaves open a broad universe of what could be considered ‘personal’ information.”

DeSantis and the Republicancontrolled Legislature have passed a series of controversial changes to elections laws in recent years.

Walker in March 2022 issued a 288-page ruling that blocked parts of a 2021 elections law. But a divided three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this year overturned much of his ruling. Groups challenging the law have asked the full Atlanta-based appeals court to take up the case.

Gainesville Utility revamp challenged

By Jim Saunders Florida News Service

Arguing that a new Florida law violates First Amendment and other constitutional rights, a non-profit group and Alachua County residents have filed a federal-court challenge to an overhaul of the electric utility in the Gainesville area.

The group Gainesville Residents United and six individual plaintiffs filed an 88page lawsuit Monday seeking to block the law (HB 1645), which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed last week. The law creates the Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority to replace the longstanding Gainesville Regional Utilities agency. While the authority will be a unit of Gainesville city government, the City Commission will not control or direct it.

The governor will appoint the authority’s board members. Also, the bill, sponsored by Rep. Chuck Clemons, R-Newberry, will limit transferring money from the utility to the city. Gainesville Regional Utilities also has provided services such as water and natural gas.

The challenge includes a series of federal and state constitutional arguments, but a key issue is part of the law that the plaintiffs contend will improperly restrict speech

rights. That part of the law says the authority “shall consider only pecuniary factors and utility industry best practices standards, which do not include consideration of the furtherance of social, political or ideological interests.”

Attorneys for the plaintiffs wrote that members of the public in the past have petitioned the City Commission on issues such as “rates and services for low income people and social issues such as environmental safety, racial fairness in infrastructure and living wages for GRU (Gainesville Regional Utilities) employees.”

“The special (new) law eliminates plaintiffs’ and others’ rights to petition the board for redress of grievances pertaining to social, political, environmental, and ideological issues that are inherent in the operation of a utility system,” the lawsuit said. “Even if the authority allowed plaintiffs or others to address them with respect to ‘social, political or ideological interests,’ the authority is legally prohibited from taking any action in response.”

The plaintiffs’ attorneys also alleged that the law “imposes an unconstitutional prior restraint upon plaintiffs’ right of free speech because it prescribes in advance the communications which may be addressed by or to the authority; it prohibits in

advance any communications associated with various ‘social’ issues; and it affords undue discretion to the authority to determine what speech falls into vague content-defined categories and which speech is deemed to ‘further the fiscal and financial benefit of the utility system and customers.’”

The law emerged during this spring’s legislative session after Republican lawmakers repeatedly questioned transfers of money from municipal utilities to bolster city budgets, in part because many utility customers live outside the boundaries of the cities.

The House considered a bill that would have applied to municipal utilities throughout the state, but lawmakers ultimately passed the narrower measure focused on Gainesville. Clemons, who played a key role in the debate, is House speaker pro tempore, making him a top lieutenant of Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include former Alachua County Commissioner Robert Hutchinson and former Gainesville City Commission members Susan Bottcher and Joseph Little. It names as defendants DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, Secretary of State Cord Byrd and the city of Gainesville. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor.

State says land law not discriminatory

By Jim Saunders Florida News Service

The state this week pushed back against a challenge to a new law that restricts people from China and six other countries from owning property in Florida, disputing arguments that it is unconstitutional and discriminates based on “race and national origin.”

In a 59-page court document filed Monday, attorneys for the state said the Legislature passed the law this spring to “address threats posed by hostile foreign nations.”

“They (the restrictions) are consistent with the long tradition in this country of restricting alien land ownership, rooted in concerns for public safety and state security,” the document said. “Many states have such laws even today, driven by avoiding landlord absenteeism and foreign influence in America. They combat malign foreign influence in areas close to military installations and critical infrastructure, which raise cybersecurity, espionage and other national security concerns.”

The document, a memorandum of law, urged U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor to reject a request for a preliminary injunction to block the law, which took effect Saturday. Winsor is scheduled to hear arguments July 18.

Four Chinese people and a real-estate brokerage that serves Chinese clients filed a lawsuit and sought a preliminary injunction after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the law (SB 264) in May. The lawsuit, which has been backed by the U.S. Department of Justice, contends that the restrictions violate constitutional rights and the federal Fair Housing Act.

“These unlawful provisions will cause serious harm to people simply because of their national origin, contravene federal civil rights laws, undermine constitutional rights, and will not advance the state’s purported goal of increasing public safety,” Justice Department attorneys wrote last month in a court document supporting the lawsuit and a preliminary injunction. “Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of these claims challenging the provisions of SB 264 that restrict and prohibit land ownership.”

The law affects people from what Florida calls “foreign countries of concern”—China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela and Syria, with part of it specifically focused on Chinese people who are not U.S. citizens or permanent U.S. residents.

It would prevent such Chinese people from purchasing property in Florida, with some exceptions.

For example, they each would be allowed to purchase one residential property up to two acres if the property is not within five miles of a military base and they have nontourist visas.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit have such things as work and student visas. One is seeking asylum in the United States, according to the lawsuit, which was filed May 22 and revised June 5.

The law also would prevent people from the seven “foreign countries of concern” from buying agricultural land and property near military bases. Those parts of the law would apply to people who are not U.S. citizens or permanent U.S. residents.

DeSantis, who is running for president in 2024, and other supporters of the law have pointed to a need to curb the influence of the Chinese government and Chinese Communist Party in Florida. But the plaintiffs are not part of the Chinese government or members of the Communist Party, according to the Justice Department filing.

Among the allegations in the case is that the law violates constitutional equal-protection rights and the Fair Housing Act because it is discriminatory.

But the memorandum of law filed Monday by lawyers in Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office and Tallahassee attorney Daniel Nordby said the law was “not motivated by racial or national-origin animus.”

“The people potentially subject to those restrictions encompass a wide range of ethnicities and national origins—from white, British-born, Dutch citizens who are domiciled in Hong Kong, to individuals born in China who remain domiciled there,” the document said. “Plaintiffs offer nothing that sheds light on the ethnicity of individuals domiciled in China who wish to invest in Florida land—a tiny and possibly unrepresentative fraction of those domiciled in China. Conversely, the statute exempts a range of racial and ethnic minorities … who are aliens from abroad.”

The state’s lawyers also argued that the plaintiffs lack legal standing to pursue the case. They said the law applies to people “domiciled” in China or companies controlled by such people.

“The individual plaintiffs are not domiciled in China so they are not even subject to the statute,” the state’s lawyers wrote. “Their declarations in fact establish that they are physically present in the United States and intend to remain here permanently or indefinitely.”

DeSantis signs alimony overhaul

By Dara Kam Florida News Service

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed a measure that will overhaul the state’s alimony laws, after three vetoes of similar bills and a decade of emotional clashes over the issue.

The measure (SB 1416) includes doing away with what is known as permanent alimony. DeSantis’ approval came a year after he nixed a similar bill that sought to eliminate permanent alimony and set up a formula for alimony amounts based on the length of marriage.

The approval drew an outcry from members of the “First Wives Advocacy Group,” a coalition of mostly older women who receive permanent alimony and who assert that their lives will be upended without the payments.

“On behalf of the thousands of women who our group represents, we are very disappointed in the governor’s decision to sign the alimony-reform bill. We believe by signing it, he has put older women in a situation which will cause financial devastation. The so-called party of ‘family values’ has just contributed to erosion of the institution of marriage in Florida,” Jan Killilea, a 63-year-old Boca Raton woman who founded the group a decade ago, told The News Service of Florida in a text message Friday.

The years-long effort to do away with permanent alimony has been a highly contentious issue. It elicited tearful testimony from members of the First Wives group. But it also spurred impassioned pleas from exspouses who said they had been forced to work long past the age they wanted to retire because they were on the hook for alimony payments.

Michael Buhler, chairman of Florida Family Fairness, a group that has pushed for doing away with permanent alimony, praised the approval of the bill.

“Florida Family Fairness is pleased that the Florida Legislature and Gov. DeSantis have passed a bill that ends permanent alimony and codifies in statute the right to retire for existing alimony payers,” Buhler said in a statement “Anything that adds clarity and ends permanent alimony is a win for Florida families.”

Along with DeSantis’ veto of the 2022 version, former Gov. Rick Scott twice vetoed similar bills. The issue spurred a near-fracas outside Scott’s office in 2016.

This year, however, the proposal received relatively little public pushback and got the blessing of Florida Family Fairness and The Florida Bar’s Family Law Section, which fiercely clashed over the issue in the past.

Along with eliminating permanent alimony, the measure will set up a process for exspouses who make alimony payments to seek modifications to alimony agreements when they want to retire.

It will allow judges to reduce or terminate alimony, support or maintenance payments after considering a number of factors, such as “the age and health” of the person who makes payments; the customary retirement age of that person’s occupation; “the economic impact” a reduction in alimony would have on the recipient of the payments; and the “motivation for retirement and

likelihood of returning to work” for the person making the payments.

Supporters said it will codify into law a court decision in a 1992 divorce case that judges use as a guidepost when making decisions about retirement.

But, as with previous versions, opponents remained concerned that the bill would apply to existing permanent alimony agreements, which many ex-spouses accept in exchange for giving up other assets as part of divorce settlements.

“He (DeSantis) has just impoverished all the older women of Florida, and I know at least 3,000 women across the state of Florida are switching to Democrat and we will campaign against him, all the way, forever,” Camille Fiveash, a Milton Republican who receives permanent alimony, said in a phone interview Friday.

In vetoing the 2022 version, DeSantis pointed to concerns about the bill allowing exspouses to have existing alimony agreements amended. In a June 24, 2022, veto letter, he wrote that if the bill “were to become law and be given retroactive effect as the Legislature intends, it would unconstitutionally impair vested rights under certain pre-existing marital settlement agreements.”

But Senate bill sponsor Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, tried to assure lawmakers that the 2023 version would not unconstitutionally affect existing alimony settlements. This year’s proposal “went to what is currently case law,” Gruters told a Senate committee in April, pointing to the court ruling.

“So what you can do right now, under case law, we now codify all those laws and make that the rule of law. So we basically just solidify that. So from a retroactivity standpoint, no, because if anything could be modifiable before, it’s still modifiable. If it’s a non-modifiable agreement, you still can’t modify that agreement,” he said.

The bill, which will take effect Saturday, also will set a five-year limit on what is known as rehabilitative alimony. Under the plan, people married for less than three years will not be eligible for alimony payments, and those who have been married 20 years or longer will be eligible to receive payments for up to 75 percent of the term of the marriage.

The new law will also allow alimony payers to seek modifications if “a supportive relationship exists or has existed” involving their ex-spouses in the previous year. Critics argued the provision is vague and could apply to temporary roommates who help alimony recipients cover living expenses for short periods of time.

Fiveash, a 63-year-old with serious medical conditions, said she can’t afford another legal fight over alimony.

“My fears are that they can take you back to court, and I don’t have the money for an attorney. I literally live off a little bit I get for alimony. I work part-time, because I have all kinds of ailments. And now I’m going to be left without anything, absolutely anything,” she said.

Health insurance, Fiveash added, will “probably be the first thing to go” if her payments are reduced or eliminated.

“This is a death sentence for me,” she said.

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People, Places & Things

See two exhibitions side-by-side by one artistic and engaging couple, now on display at the Mary Sue Rich Community Center at Reed Place.

By Julie Garisto julie@magnoliamediaco.com

illiam “Billy” Lee and Diana Lee grew up far apart but found each other somewhere between, in Miami, specifically. Though they have their differences, as all couples do, they share in common an insatiable curiosity, along with versatility and artistic talent.

The couple, recent Ocala transplants, are showing their works for the first time locally and for the first time in side-byside exhibitions.

“Bold and Inspired: Native American Regalia,” by Diana and “Abstract Island Expressions,” by Billy, will be on display 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily at the Mary Sue Rich Community Center at Reed Place, 1821 NW 21st Ave, Ocala, through Jan. 4.

Both Diana and Lee had different vocations before doing art. They met in beauty school in 1974, got married soon after and relocated to the Bahamas together, where Billy operated the family business.

“We met when he painted my shoes,” Diana said with a laugh, “while I was wearing them, and then he painted my jeans. We just really hit it off.”

By William

Billy’s grandfather emigrated from China to the Bahamas and started out in the laundry business, which later expanded into merchandising and souvenirs.

As an abstract expressionist, Billy revisits his childhood growing up in Nassau amid colorful, flamboyant tropical flowers and palm trees, a setting that influenced his imagery as well as the centuries old Junkanoo festival, which happens twice a year. The street parade gathers crowds with music, dance, and costumes. Billy gravitated to it artistically because he “really loves bright colors.”

Diana’s work has equal intensity but is more tempered in natural hues.

“She is a perfectionist, and paints from the photographs that she takes,” Billy said of his wife’s art “She used to trace the image, then evolved into using the transfer/resize via square technique. Both took her a long time to complete.”

Diana grew up in Kentucky and has a Ph.D. in neuropsychology and researched HIV patients in the psychiatry and behavioral sciences department at the University of Miami (UM). Since retiring from UM, she has focused on her art. Her colorful acrylic paintings are inspired by her Cherokee ancestry, photography and experiences visiting Native American sites in Kentucky as well as her participation in the Junkanoo parades. These days, she prints her photographs’ outlines directly onto the canvas, then paints it using the colors of the photograph as a guide while adding other things like war paint, blowing ribbons, and additional war regalia to her formidable Native American subjects.

In his youth, Billy went to art school at the University of Colorado in Boulder but took a break because he couldn’t afford the rising tuition and headed to Miami to stay in a family residence, where he met Diana. She didn’t study art when she was younger but always created art.

Billy later earned an associate degree in fine arts and another in photography from Miami Dade College, where the couple relocated after living in the Bahamas for several years.

“He’s been all over the world, but I don’t like to fly much,” Diana shared. “I did go to New Zealand with him because he played rugby for around 40 years. We went to the Golden Oldies in Christchurch, New Zealand, and that place is just so beautiful.”

Throughout his life, Billy played rugby, football and tennis but has had to slow down recently due to health concerns, which have made him vulnerable to the coronavirus.

The couple is leading a mellower life as he recovers from open heart surgery in Gainesville.

So far, he has exhibited his artwork in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Budapest, and the Bahamas.

Why the move from Miami to East Ocala?

“The taxes on the house!” Billy spouted with a laugh.

“We really love horses too, and we wanted a quieter life with fewer hurricanes!”

By Diana Lee

By William “Billy” Lee

By Diana Lee

For more information on the Lees exhibitions, call (352) 629-8447 or email artinfo@ocalafl.org or visit ocalafl.org/artincityspaces.

By Diana Lee

Diana and William Lee [Supplied]

“Teufles & Roses”

“Billy” Lee, a thoroughbred racehorse that the Lees “had some shoes in.” She ran in high-claiming races and was claimed from the Lees when she was 4. The painting was donated to the city of Ocala.

“Rushing”

By William “Billy” Lee

“Purple Rain”

“Black Cloud”

“Sequin Dancer”

“Waiting”

“We met when he painted my shoes, while I was wearing them, and then he painted my jeans. We just really hit it off.”

Diane Lee

Dreams in action

Officials with the Reilly Arts Center announce plans and progress during annual meeting.

By Julie Garisto julie@magnoliamediaco.com

Words of gratitude for a successful year and news of what’s to come highlighted the Reilly Arts Center’s recent annual meeting.

The center’s executive director, Pamela Calero Wardell, spoke to Reilly members and board representatives on June 23 from a living room-style set with infographic displays going over programming highlights. She discussed new and continuing programming and gave a shout-out to the board of directors for allowing the Reilly to “dream big” and for providing the much-needed “tools and encouragement to put those dreams into action.”

Regular business conducted at the meeting included Calero Wardell leading a unanimous vote for existing officials while welcoming a new board member, Nick Robinson.

Her husband and Reilly CEO/Artistic Director, Matthew Wardell, who conducts the Ocala Symphony Orchestra (OSO), was ill and had to sit out the proceedings.

Calero Wardell announced that the Reilly will be celebrating Matt’s

15th anniversary with the orchestra and the 20th anniversary of the Symphony Under the Lights annual event during the winter holidays (this year on Dec. 1).

“We’re excited to have a lot of good work ahead,” she said. “In 2023, we had 139 events and 51,230 guests. Last season, we had 68 events and 26,000 guests. As you know, we were battling with COVID, we were battling with construction and the new space (the center’s black box theater, which opened in late 2021).”

The Reilly leader applauded Adam Volpe, director of operations at the Marion Theatre, for his leadership in reviving the historic cinema house, which is managed by the Reilly Arts Center and owned by the city of Ocala.

The theater accommodated around 7,000 film lovers over the past year with 700 showings.

“From Thursday through Sunday, you can find movies like “’Casablanca,’ ’Enter the Dragon,’ kids’ films, foreign films, independent films, and you can rent the theater out,” Wardell effused. “Honestly, it’s been a real honor for us to be able to carry the torch and bring this space to life.”

She shared news about the return of the

silent film and OSObacked screening of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923),” accompanied by an original score composed by Maestro Wardell and Brad DeLoatche.

Wardell expressed pride in the Reilly’s Community Music Conservatory, where young musicians can take lessons in the Suzuki Method, a mainstay for string instruments, and other classes.

“This is only year one of the conservatory, and we’ve had 834 classes with 126 students,” Wardell announced. “Margaret Dixon, our director of education, has done a really wonderful job, spearheading the school and we have some great teachers.”

Dixon gave a talk about upcoming educational programming and let the audience know that youth recitals are open to the public.

“If you have the opportunity to come out, even if you don’t have a child enrolled, it’s really cute to watch them play,” Dixon said.

Among the courses launched was a Kindermusik program, presented in partnership with the Ocala Municipal Arts Commission and the Marion Cultural Alliance.

“We have $5,200 in

Beating the heat

scholarships provided, which is amazing,” she said, adding with enthusiasm that summer camps were underway.

Wardell also announced that free tickets to some events will be provided to veterans’ groups and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Marion County. She also made an appeal to younger adult-age patrons.

“The Encore Society is engaging concertgoers who are 21 to 45,” she explained. “That’s the age group that we’ve been missing a lot from the orchestra, from concerts, and they’re the next generation of board members of donors, of patrons. We have to make sure that we’re keeping the arts sustainable and alive in Ocala.”

Calero Wardell praised the center’s partnership with the Ocala Civic Theatre, which is bringing some cutting-edge programming to the black box theater and assured the crowd that they are continuing to host jazz shows and other youngercrowd-appealing events in that performance space.

She said open orchestra rehearsals presented in tandem with First Friday Art Walk events have helped drum up interest in younger theatergoers.

R.J. Jenkins, president of the center’s board of

The heat bearing down on the Ocala Dog Ranch on July 2 was no match for the Bring The Heat Dog Dock Diving event.

Despite the searing heat and heat indexes in the triple digits, a number of dogs went for long jump as their owners tossed toys from the dock into the diving pool. The weekend’s events included speed swimming, air grab and distance.

There were a range of canines participating, from a Malinois/ whippet mixed breed to a border collie mix to a Chesapeake Bay retriever, all eager to dive off the dock and into the cool pool.

The ranch, in southwest Ocala, also offers obedience and agility classes, lure coursing and more.

directors, opened the meeting with remarks of gratitude, reminiscing about the days he would crash the rehearsals of Juilliard students.

“I remember thinking how special that was and how hard it would be to find that type of thing somewhere else, let

alone in Ocala, Florida,” Jenkins said. “The Reilly Arts Center, I think you’d all agree, is such a gem in our community.”

The Reilly Arts Center is located at 500 NE 9th St., Ocala. To learn more, go to reillyartscenter.com

Photos By Bruce Ackerman Ocala Gazette

Shabang, a 3-year-old Malinois/Whippet mixed breed owned by Babs Mahoney, opens his jaws as he leaps off the dock after his toy before splashing down into the pool during the Bring The Heat Dog Dock Diving event at the Ocala Dog Ranch on Southwest 110th Avenue in Ocala on Sunday, July 2, 2023. Despite the searing heat and heat indexes in the triple digits, dogs were trying for their longest jumps yet with their owners tossing their toys from the dock into the diving pool.

Left to right: Copper, an 8-year-old Catahoula, catches some air as he leaps after his toy thrown by his owner, Julie Ostrander, before splashing down into the pool. Copper looks after his toy as he splashes down. Copper catches his toy.

Darby, a Border Collie mixed breed, checks out the ramp with his owner, Debbie Kugler, before leaping into the diving pool.

Mike Mangan, Board Secretary, Bob Levenson and Grace Dunlevy [Julie Garisto]

Board members Rebecca Rogers, Naaz Samji Saju and Sonya Nasser [Julie Garisto]

Hello, Ocala!

Tales of a barman

Mormons out there,” he joked, but he grew up in the Maryland/D.C. area, where he married his wife, Joan, in 1981, in a synagogue. He met her while tending bar in the late 1970s at a D.C. live rock ’n’ roll establishment. She sat in an area of the bar where his regulars, who happened to be his biggest tippers, usually stationed, slowly nursing a tomato juice. She and Wineriter got to chatting and he invited her to a party. They’ve been together since.

“I always remind her that she never tipped me for that tomato juice!” he noted.

Joan was raised Jewish, but she converted to Catholicism and they remarried in a Catholic church. These days, as in the past, in his Maryland church, Nick belongs to a secular order of Franciscans—which operates much like other fraternal organizations such as the Shriners and Elks—at Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Ocala.

Nick Wineriter has stories to tell, and a massive shot glass collection.

By Julie Garisto julie@magnoliamediaco.com

What’s in a name anyway?

Nick Wineriter is indeed a writer, but contrary to the first part of his last name, he prefers a single malt Scotch over a Cabernet.

Sit with him a spell, and the retired barman will regale you with stories of politicos and brushes with celebrities.

Wineriter, 71, was a bartender during an oaky, smoky golden era of the American bar, when dimly lit, leather-trimmed lounges held secrets, and the most colorful cocktail was a Tom Collins.

“I worked at Duke Zeibert’s in Washington, D.C., and other bars for a total of 37 years,” he shared. “Being fortunate to work in high-end restaurants and bars, most of my customers were fluent travelers. They would always tell me when they were leaving on a trip, either business or personal travel. I guess they thought I might miss them.”

While behind the bar, Wineriter would ask friends and customers to bring back a shot glass from wherever they would travel to, and they did. Since the small receptacles are very easy to find, relatively cheap and available in airport gift shops around the world, it was an easy request to accommodate, and Wineriter soon had too many shot glasses to fit on one shelf.

The nearly 400 shot glasses he has amassed come from all over. There are glasses from Europe, Africa and even an American embassy in New Delhi, India. One, from Vietnam, is made of bamboo. An Irish bartender friend, who worked at the Old Ebbitt

Grill in Washington, D.C., brought him back a shot glass from Dublin.

“He told me he ‘borrowed’ it from a local Dublin pub,” Wineriter recalled.

“I’m sure it could tell many true stories from the barroom floor, and some of them may have actually happened!

In his younger days, Wineriter lived in Hawaii for a couple of years, but the appeal wore off.

“I wasn’t a beach person,” he confessed. “I think I went to the beach once the whole time I was there.”

Wineriter’s favorite shot glass comes from Hawaii. On one side of the glass is an etching of a tiki bar. Above the bar is a sign that says: “Nick’s Bar.”

Another favorite has a hole through it with illustrated tears and fragments around it. “It is a real shot glass—it has a bullet hole,” Wineriter effused with a chuckle.

“Most of my glass collection is very touristy and cheesy,” he added. “The cheesier, the better. There’s one from Dollywood that is shaped like a cowboy boot. It even has a spur. I think it was free with a fill-up at the local gas station.”

If you get to know Wineriter, you’ll know he doesn’t take himself too seriously, but he’s quite discerning with exacting sensibilities, and he’s someone who enjoys his rituals.

Wineriter reads often and reads books from cover to cover.

When he would get a new shot glass, he would always break it in with a few drams or more of Jameson’s Irish Whiskey. Then it would be thoroughly washed, and placed in a display case, never to be used again.

Wineriter was born in Salt City Utah.

“I was one of the very few non-

The former barman quickly dispels contradictions between having lived life as a devout Catholic and a booze slinger.

“You know, I’ll tell you something: You never go to a Catholic church function where they don’t have a bar set up,” he explained matter-of-factly.

He got to meet too many celebrities to name here while tending bar. Some include Vice President Al Gore, Pat Sajak, Vanna White, Pete Best and John Travolta.

Terry McAuliffe, the former governor of Virginia and campaign manager for President Bill Clinton, who autographed a book for Wineriter, impressed Wineriter with his politeness and friendliness.

“He would come in the bar a lot and call me ahead of time,” Wineriter recounted. “He’d bring about five or six people, and they all drank Amstel (beer). I would get the case ready. But whenever he was in there, President Clinton would call him. And whenever he answered the phone, he would say, ‘Yes sir, Mr. President.’ He would stand up and go off in the corner.”

Once, he stumbled on Tony Curtis in the foyer of Duke’s and took a photo, and when he tended bar at The Oval Room Restaurant, Robert Goulet was having dinner, also by himself.

“He was doing ‘Camelot’ at The Kennedy Center,” Wineriter recalled. “When he was leaving, I asked him to come into the bar and say hello to my regulars. He obliged and was very friendly with everyone.”

The retired bartender lives a quiet, laid-back life with Joan in southwest Ocala. Like so many transplants, they moved to the area to take care of aging parents, who have since died.

The couple has one daughter, who’s 36 and still lives in the D.C. area, Wineriter doesn’t drink much these days, but he’s writing a memoir that tells tales of many a smoky, booze-filled night in the bars just a few steps from the U.S. Capitol.

APPLETON MUSEUM OF ART SEEKS MOBILE PHOTOGRAPHY ENTRIES

The Appleton Museum of Art, College of Central Florida, invites the community to participate in the ninth annual Mobile Photography Contest and Exhibition. Any photo captured on a mobile device is eligible. Entries will be accepted through July 31.

According to the news release, the annual contest features new categories to inspire novice and experienced mobile photographers. Submissions will be juried by Jenny Eggers of Jenny E. Photography. Prizes will be awarded in each category and all entries will be on view in an exhibition at the Appleton from Aug. 22-Sept. 24. This contest is open to all ages. No experience is necessary and there is no fee to enter. Participants may submit one photo in each category.

Categories and Instructions

Light and Shadow

Light can illuminate a subject or create shadows to communicate a mood—scary, striking or otherwise. Show us how light and/or shadow has inspired your mobile photography.

Patterns

Polka dots, plaids, stripes, chevron and more—show us how patterns have inspired your photography. Don’t be afraid to get creative!

Summer Scenes

What does summer look like to you?

From ice-cold watermelon to stormy or sunny landscapes, send us your favorite summer-inspired snapshot.

My Kid Took That

Let the little ones in your life take the lead in this category! Show us their best or silliest mobile photo. Selfies are allowed!

Entries must be taken with a mobile device (mobile phone or tablet); photos taken with film or digital cameras will not be accepted.

Email photos to AppletonMuseum@ cf.edu; include the category in the subject line and your full name in the body of the email. Photos must be sent via email. Entries submitted by mail or through Facebook or other social media will not be accepted. Send separate emails for each category. Only one photo per category will be accepted.

Winning photos will be selected based on creativity, quality, responsiveness to the category and overall impact. Winners will be notified before announcements are made on social media. All entries will be printed and displayed in the museum. For ease of printing, photos will be cropped by the Appleton to 4 x 4 in. or 4 x 6 in.; no guarantees for special printing of panoramas, the release noted.

For more information, call (352) 2914455 or visit AppletonMuseum.org.

Nick Winewriter talks about his large collection of shot glasses at his Pine Run home in Ocala on Thursday, June 22, 2023. Winewriter said he has several hundred shot glasses in his collection. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2023.

Wineriter tending bar in D.C. [Photo courtesy of Nick Wineriter]

Nick Wineriter and Al Gore at Duke Zeibert’s Restaurant in the early 1990s.

[Photo courtesy of Wineriter]

Some of the shot glasses in Nick Winewriter’s collection. [Bruce Ackerman/ Ocala Gazette] 2023.

Former Virginia governor and President Clinton campaign advisor Terry McAuliffe was a regular customer of Wineriter’s at The Oval Room Restaurant. [Photo courtesy of Wineriter]

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

Although their name might suggest they come from Russia, these large ducks are native to South America and were bred by Native Americans prior to the arrival of Europeans. This avian crossing guard was doing a great job of keeping her ducks in a row on a recent morning at Tuscawilla Park.

Understanding ear infections

By Luke Andera, M.D. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: My 4-year-old daughter already has had three ear infections this winter. When she isn’t feeling well, our entire family is miserable. The pediatrician says she may continue to get more infections and it is just her body. Why do some kids get ear infections so easily? And is there anything I can do to prevent the infections and help her feel better faster?

ANSWER: Our ears—home to the smallest bones in the body—are amazing organs. They help us hear and experience the world. They also help maintain balance. They are self-cleaning, and the outer part of the ear never stops growing. Yet, as your family has discovered, ear infections can cause pain and discomfort.

Infections can occur in the middle ear, in the air-filled space behind the eardrum that contains the tiny vibrating bones of the ear. Middle ear infections, which are the most common ear infections, are caused by a bacterium or virus that infects fluid that builds up in the middle ear. Ear infections often are a direct result of a common cold, allergy or other upper respiratory illness. These illnesses are more common during the winter months, so ear infections also are most common during this time of the year.

Children are more susceptible to ear infections because of the size of their eustachian tubes. These are narrow channels inside the ears that allow drainage to the back of the nose and prevent fluid in the middle ear from building up. Children’s eustachian tubes are shorter, narrower and straighter than those of adults. These tubes can become inflamed or irritated, and then they don’t drain appropriately. This results in middle ear fluid building up, which can lead to an ear infection.

Some common signs of an ear infection in children include:

Ear pain, especially when lying down.

Tugging or pulling on the ear.

Trouble sleeping.

Hearing difficulty.

Headache or fever.

Fluid drainage from the ear.

The best treatment for an ear infection depends on many factors, including the age of the child and the severity of the symptoms. Most ear infections clear up on their own within a week without medical treatment.

For many kids, it is recommended to use the wait-and-see approach before prescribing antibiotics for ear infections. For kids 2 and older, antibiotics are not recommended if they have mild inner ear pain in one or both ears for less than 48 hours and have a temperature of less than 102.2 F.

Antibiotics may be beneficial for some kids with ear infections. Your health care team can explain the potential side effects and concerns about antibiotics creating strains of resistant disease.

You can lessen your daughter’s pain associated with ear infections by using a warm compress; topical numbing ear drops; and over-the-counter pain medications, such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen. Use these medications as directed on the label.

Ear infections sometimes are unavoidable, especially with small children. However, you can reduce your daughter’s risk by:

Using a hair dryer to dry out her ears after swimming or bathing.

Encouraging her to wash her hands often.

Avoiding secondhand smoke.

Protecting her ears from loud noise by using earplugs.

Don’t use any object to clean out her ears. This can damage the inner ear or skin, lead to bacteria entering the ear canal or cause pain.

Recognizing the challenges with persistent ear infections, do speak with your daughter’s primary care team or pediatrician if she continues to have frequent infections. Some children need ear tubes surgically placed to drain the fluid and prevent future infections.—Luke Andera, M.D., Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Mayo Clinic Health System, La Crosse, Onalaska and Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin

(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.)

11 Cut of meat used for corned beef

12 Stark

13 Reduced in rank

18 Use needle and thread

22 U.K. language

23 Word on a gift tag

25 Spot for steeped beverages

26 Composer J.S. __

28 Lingerie item

32 “OMG! Stop talking!”

34 FDR or JFK, partywise

35 Corporate VIPs

38 Engrave

39 Folks who are in it for the long haul?

40 Lash lengthener

41 Hand sanitizer ingredient

42 Wood-eating insect

45 Single-celled creatures

46 Stash away

47 “No seats” sign

49 Lens cover

51 Analyzes grammatically

54 Phoenix suburb

55 American Red Cross founder Barton

56 Small speck

60 Seed in some healthy smoothies

63 Bout enders, briefly

64 Night before 65 __ Moines, Iowa ANSWERS

Muscovy duck [MichaelWarren.com]

LOCAL CALENDAR LISTINGS community

JULY 7 & 14

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 7-9 & 14-16

Market of Marion

Market of Marion, 12888 SE US Highway 441, Belleview

8am-4pm

A classic—and big—farmer’s market with lots of vendor shops for all kinds of goodies. Fruits, vegetables, critters, jewelry, soaps, handcrafted items and more. Open every weekend, with monthly special events. See themarketofmarion. com

JULY 8

Sounds of Summer Concert & Fireworks

Ocala Marion County Veterans Park, 2720 E Silver Spring Blvd., Ocala

3pm

This celebration features a water slide, dunk tank, face painting, cornhole games and more. Big Lee’s BBQ, Krafty Kettle, Jeremiah’s Italian Ice, Sonic Drive-in and Kona Ice offer food and drink options. Live music comes from Radlin’ Rootz, along with

WITG’s classic hits. Free parking in the library lot. Fireworks start at dark. $20; free ages 17 and under.

Note: tickets purchased for the cancelled Father’s Day event will be honored for this event. For more info, marionvetpark.com

JULY 8 & 15

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

critters & equine

JULY 7- 8

American Ranch Horse Association Show

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

All day Ranch horses show off their skills in a variety of classes like ranchmanship, showmanship, youth and junior, ranch roping, herd work and ranch cutting. Free to attend and free parking. See americanranchhorse.net/WorldChampionshipShow.asp for more info.

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. Featured classes include owner handler, junior handler and more. Free and open to the public for viewing; competing dogs must be officially entered. WEC has onsite food and beverage options. See worldequestriancenter.com for more info.

government

JULY 10 & 17

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

JULY 10

Marion County BOCC Budget

Workshop

Office of the County Engineer, 412 SE 25th Ave., Building 1, Ocala 9am Agendas, minutes and video available at marionfl.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx

JULY 7-8 & 12-16

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 8 & 15

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. Booth types vary, with occasional meat vendors, food trucks and other goods. Saturdays, weather permitting.

JULY 10-14

City of Ocala Summer Camps

Discovery Center, 701 E. Sanchez Ave., and E.D. Croskey Recreation Center, 1510 NW Fourth St., Ocala Times vary, check website

The camps continue this week with an Archeology Rocks theme. At the E.D. Croskey Recreation Center, camps are suitable for ages 5-12 and costs $75 for city residents; $100 for non-residents. Camps at the Discovery Center are suitable for ages 8-12 and costs $130 for members; $150 for nonmembers. Themes changes each week and include educational and recreational activities, field trips, STEM projects, sports and more. To register, see Ocalafl.org/summercamp

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 8-9

Sunshine State Open Pleasure Show

Florida Horse Park, 11008 South Highway 475, Ocala

All day Open pleasure classes for horses and riders. See flhorsepark.com for more info.

JULY 13

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.

JULY 14

After Dark in the Park Movie Series

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

8:30pm

The city of Ocala hosts free movie nights and this month it’s “Encanto.” The event is free and open to the public. Popcorn, drinks and other refreshments will be available for purchase. Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets. For more info, ocalafl.org/recpark

JULY 16

Joe Knetsch Lecture

Green Clover Hall, 319 SE 26th Ave., Ocala

2pm

The Marion County Museum of History and Archaeology hosts a regular series of talks and this month historian and author Joe Knetsch will discuss his book, “Florida at Sea: A Maritime History,” co-authored with Nick Wynne and Robert Redd. The lecture includes a reception with tours of the museum and refreshments. $5. For more info, see marioncountyarchaeology.com

JULY 8 & 15

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 12 (19 & 26)

Wildlife Wednesdays

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

5pm-6pm

This month’s talks are focused on 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 10

Marion County Historical Commission

Growth Service Training Room, 2710 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala

6pm

Meets on the second Monday of the month. For more info, contact Rolando Sosa at (352) 620-0944.

JULY 10

City of Ocala Planning & Zoning

Meeting

City Hall, 110 SE Watula Avenue, Ocala

5:30pm

Meets the second Monday of the month; agendas, minutes and video available from ocala.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx

JULY 10

Belleview City Budget Workshop Meeting

City Hall, 5343 SE Abshier Blvd., Belleview

6pm

Belleview agendas, minutes and video available at belleviewfl.org/200/Agendas-Minutes

JULY 7 & 14

South 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 7 & 14

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 8 & 15

Ocala Chess Club at Headquarters Library Headquarters Library, 2720 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala

11am-3pm Meets weekly on Saturdays; new members

civicwelcome. Please bring your own chess set. For more info, facebook.com/ groups/53070499106

JULY 12

VFW Wednesday Dinners

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

4:30pm-6:30pm

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

JULY 13

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

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arts

JULY 7 & 14

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 8

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

7:30pm

With a tribute that covers songs from the past, this Tampa-based band covers iconic Mac hits and some of Stevie Nicks’ solo hits. Tickets are $25-$40. See reillyartscenter.com for more info.

JULY 8

Exhibition Opening: Larry Whitler

Silver Springs State Park Welcome Center, 1425 NE 58th Ave., Ocala

2pm-4pm

Join the Friends of Silver Springs State Park as they welcomes local artist Larry Whitler opening his exhibition featuring local springs. Whitler has more than 50 years of expertise in the mediums of watercolor, oil, pastel, acrylic and digital art. Light refreshments will be served. The park entrance fee is $2. For more info, facebook.com/ thefriendsofsilverspringsstatepark

JULY 12

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 12

Summer Kid’s Film Series

Marion Theater, 50 S Magnolia Ave., Ocala

Times vary, check website

The Summer Kid’s Film Series continues through Aug. 2. Kids 12 and under can enjoy movies for $5 (includes a snack pack). Upcoming family favorites include “SpongeBob SquarePants Movie,” “Madagascar” and “The Lion King.” Visit reillyartscenter.com/mariontickets for more info.

JULY 12

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 12-14 & 17-21

Summer Music Camps

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

9am-12pm

This three-day general music camp is a hands-on introduction to the instruments of the band and orchestra. Suitable for grades 3-6, students will learn about how instruments work, how they blend in an ensemble, and have the chance to play each instrument. The week-long camp is for students grades 6-12 and is all about guitars.

Suitable for beginners, studio musician Jack Covell teaches guitar techniques and standard chords. Snacks are included in the $100 tuition. Community Music Conservatory sponsors these events, and scholarships are available. See reillyartscenter.com for more info and to register.

JULY 12-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 hosted by the Arts in Health Ocala Metro group and veteran Aaron Thomas. Beginners welcome. Supplies are included. Register at ocalafl.org/recpark

JULY 13

Still Life Open Studio Drawing

Session

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

1pm-4pm

In addition to its weekly coffee (and cake) klatches, this week the studio offers an open studio to bring together gallery guests, artists, patrons, creative types and more. Every Thursday afternoon. All are welcome. See nomaocala.com/events for more info.

JULY 13

Classic Albums Live: Supertramp’s “Breakfast in America”

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

7:30pm

The Reilly continues its tradition of performances of classic rock albums done live and song for

song. This album broke big in 1979 with hits like “The Logical Song,, “Take the Long Way Home,” “Goodbye Stranger” and “Breakfast in America.”

Tickets are $25-$55. See reillyartscenter.com for more info.

JULY 14 AND 15-22

Art in the Attic Brick City Center for the Arts, 23 SW Broadway St., Ocala

5pm-7pm

The Marion Cultural Alliance’s annual Art in the Attic sale begins with a VIP reception on July 14 and continues with the sale from July 15-22. The reception lets buyers get in early for a first look at this collected art for sale. The reception includes bubbly and snacks, live music and artists. Online reception tickets are $20 for MCA members and $25 for non-members. Door admission will be $25 for all. The sale from the 15th-22nd is free to attend. See mcaocala.org/art-in-the-attic

JUNE 16

Sunday Sampler at the Depot

Dunnellon Train Depot, 12061 S. Williams St., Dunnellon

2pm

Monthly concert put on by the Dunnellon Historical Society; proceeds benefit the train depot and its upkeep. Tickets are $15 at door, cash only. For more info, dunnellondepot.com/communityevents/Sunday-sampler1

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. 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, and his colorful, abstract paintings are 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 from artist Charles Eady focuses on the daily lives of “free Blacks” from the Civil War era. He is a contemporary mixed-media artist and author. Check out appletonmuseum.org for more info.

THROUGH JANUARY 28

“Caught Up in History and Captured on Film” by Randy Batista

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

10am-5pm, Tuesday-Saturday Batista’s work focuses on Florida and Cuba, two places that had profound impact on the artist. This exhibit features club members of The Spanish Center of Tampa and their daily lives. Check out appletonmuseum.org for more info.

Artist to offer talk on Saturday

exhibition incorporates the theme ‘The Springs,’ and having conversations with you about his artwork. There are 10 pieces of Larry’s original artwork on display that reflect different personalities of some of the waterways and the land that encompass some of our springs around Florida,” MacBlane wrote via email.

Whitler has more than 60 years of artistic expertise in watercolor, oil, pastel, acrylic, charcoal and, most recently, digital art.

Indiana Jones’ box office destiny? A lukewarm $60 million debut in North America

Ocala. He was asked to create two portraits for the Ocala Shrine Club to bring awareness of their work with children. He also was asked to create a portrait of the dog Phoenix to raise awareness of the work of the Marion County Humane Society, all “gratis,” per MacBlane.

By Lindsey Bahr AP Film Writer

Indiana Jones, and executives at the Walt Disney Co. and Lucasfilm, made a somewhat dispiriting discovery this weekend. Moviegoers didn’t rush to the theater in significant numbers to see “ Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” and say goodbye to Harrison Ford as the iconic archaeologist.

The film, reportedly budgeted north of $250 million, came in on the lower end of projections with $60 million in ticket sales from 4,600 North American theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Staff report

Many in this area know Larry Whitler as a radio personality and singer/songwriter. But he’s also one heck of an artist.

From 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 8, visitors can participate in a “Meet the Artist Event” with Whitler, hosted by the Friends of Silver Springs State Park. Some of Whitler’s original artworks are on display in the Silver Springs State Park Welcome Center through mid-August.

According to Robin MacBlane, Whitler’s morning drive radio co-host and co-creator of their children’s entity “Robin And The Giant,” he is “looking forward to meeting you!”

“He will be speaking about his art, how his artwork in this

Through his art, MacBlane said, he has brought awareness to and raised funds for various entities within the community, such as more than $28,000 for the Marion County Literacy Council. He created a portrait of Marion County Medal of Honor recipient Hammet Bowen Jr., at the request of Hammet Bowen Sr., which now hangs in the Hammet Bowen Jr. Elementary School in

The Friends of Silver Springs State Park Welcome Center, at 5656 E. Silver Springs Blvd., is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, just across from the world-famous glass-bottom boats. There is no charge to view Whitler’s art exhibit in the center. There is, however, a $2 per person fee to enter the state park, which is open 8 a.m. to sundown daily.

For more information, visit larrywhitler.com or facebook.com/ thefriendsofsilverspringsstatepark

&nightlifemusic

Including $70 million from international showings in 52 markets, “Dial of Destiny” celebrated a $130 million global opening. It easily earned the No. 1 title but was not the high-rolling sendoff for one of modern cinema’s most iconic actor/character pairings that anyone hoped. Disney is projecting that it will make $82 million domestically through the fourth of July holiday and $152 million globally.

“Dial of Destiny” is the long-delayed fifth installment in the Steven Spielberg/George Lucas-created adventure series that began in 1981, and the first Spielberg himself hasn’t directed. Veteran James Mangold stepped in to take the reins overseeing the Spielbergapproved script, which finds an older Dr. Jones retiring from his university job and swept up on a new adventure with his goddaughter Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge).

“It’s impressive that a franchise that’s over 40 years old is No. 1 at the box office. But there’s no question there were higher hopes for the debut of this movie,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “This is Indiana Jones. This is a summer movie icon.”

The film made its splashy premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May, with a fitting celebration of Ford, who has said this was his last time playing the character.

But then it was hit with lukewarm reviews. This was an unexpected and unwelcome hurdle, considering it was coming after the maligned fourth film, 2008’s “Indiana Jones and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” Another contributing snag was that a significant portion of the target audience, older viewers, don’t tend to buy many tickets on opening weekend for big blockbusters. But even “Crystal Skull,” budgeted at a reported $185 million, managed to gross over $790 million.

“Sometimes reviews don’t matter, but the sentiment coming out of Cannes was very powerful,” Dergarabedian said. “It set off a narrative where people were already feeling disappointed and they hadn’t even seen it.”

Second place went to “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” with $11.5 million, bringing its domestic total to around $340 million. “Elemental” landed in third place with $11.3 million.

Aside from “Dial of Destiny,” the weekend’s other main new opener was the animated “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken,” which debuted in sixth place with $5.2 million.

“Dial of Destiny’s” underwhelming debut comes just a few weeks after both Warner Bros.’ “The Flash” and Disney/Pixar’s “Elemental” had lackluster openings in North America. “Elemental,” like Indy 5, also premiered at Cannes to middling reception.

And yet, “Elemental” in its three weeks in theaters has held on much better than “The Flash,” which plummeted again to $5 million, bringing its domestic total to $99.3 million. Disney also saw similarly promising holds with “The Little Mermaid,” now at over $280 million domestically and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” which has grossed over $345 million. After the holiday, Disney will be responsible for nearly half of the summer box office earnings.

“The entire story isn’t told on the opening weekend,” Dergarabedian said.

Disney has a “clear weekend” ahead with no competing blockbusters, when studio heads can reasonably hope for more families and older audiences to buy tickets. But things will only get more challenging for “Dial of Destiny” in the coming weeks with a crowded July. “Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part I” opens on July 12, followed by “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie” on July 21.

“The ups and downs at the box office are giving us whiplash,” Dergarabedian said. “And we’re still on the cusp of some of the biggest movies of the summer.”

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” $60 million.

2. “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” $11.5 million.

3. “Elemental,” $11.3 million.

4. “No Hard Feelings,” $7.5 million.

5. “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” $7 million.

6. “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken,” $5.2 million.

7. “The Little Mermaid,” $5.2 million.

8. “The Flash,” $5 million.

9. “Asteroid City,” $3.8 million.

10. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” $1.8 million.

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Kenna

JULY 15

Nate Mercado

Larry Whitler will speak about his ‘The Springs’ themed exhibit, which is on display at Silver Springs State Park.

Larry Whitler [Supplied]

“Flora and Fauna,” by Larry Whitler, is part of his art exhibit at Silver Springs State Park. [Supplied]

Florida takes 1st public step toward a $400M-plus renovation to its aging and iconic Swamp

By Mark Long AP Sports Writer

The Swamp is getting a makeover, a significant overhaul that’s expected to cost at least $400 million and be a “multigeneration solution” for an aging and iconic stadium in the heart of Florida’s campus.

The Gators announced plans Monday to hire an architect for the design of its revamped Florida Field, the first public step in a process that’s been ruminating for years. The school will open a formal selection window in July.

Athletic director Scott Stricklin said it’s “premature to speculate” on the final cost, seating capacity and a specific timeline. But he made it clear the project’s main goal will be to transform the game-day experience for fans while maintaining a lot of what helped the Gators create one of the most daunting home-field advantages in the Southeastern

Conference.

“Whatever work we do there doesn’t need to be a Band-Aid,” Stricklin said at the league’s spring meetings last month. “It needs to be a multigenerational solution to continue to give that stadium for future generations a chance to come and watch the Gators there.

“It has to be everything from how fans experience when they’re outside the stadium, when they walk through the gate, concourse, concession, restrooms, inside the seating bowl, new premium options, better premium options. But you also want to keep what’s special about it.”

The stadium first opened as a 22,000seat facility in 1930. It has been expanded several times in nearly a century since, with capacity now at roughly 90,000, but it lacks many of the conveniences experienced in modern NFL venues.

Proposed upgrades are sure to include wider concourses, less bench seating, more

concession options, larger video boards, a new sound system and improved lighting throughout. Capacity is expected to be reduced by thousands.

Renovating the Swamp would be the latest—and by far most expensive—facility upgrade on campus.

The Gators have spent more than $300 million in the last decade to build or renovate venues for baseball, softball, soccer/lacrosse, tennis, track and field, and basketball. The list also includes an indoor practice facility and a standalone facility for football and a new academic center for student-athletes.

“We’re in the service business; we don’t make widgets,” Stricklin said. “We create experiences, whether it’s for our student-athletes, our staff and ultimately for Gator Nation. So when you are in the service business, there’s not a lot of tangible results. It’s a lot of intangible results.

“It’s what kind of experience are you creating on game day?

What kind of memories are coming from those experiences? Do people want to plan their lives around coming back to enjoy that experience again? We sell tickets and we sell T-shirts. Beyond that, it’s we want to create experiences—and winning is a big part of that experience—but you’ve got to have all the other pieces.”

As 1,500 Disneyland collectibles go up for auction, that Dumbo car— or trash bin—can be yours

By Jeff Turner and Brooke Lefferts Associated Press

Fans who agree Disneyland is indeed the happiest place on Earth will soon be able to take home more than a souvenir.

A passionate collector has brought Disney magic to a sprawling 30,000-square-foot (2,800-square-meter) building in Burbank, California, where fans can hear birds chirping in the Enchanted Tiki Room section or giggle at the animated ghosts from the Haunted Mansion ride as they preview more than 1,500 items up for auction later this month.

Joel Magee has been building his collection of more than 6,000 items—including costumes, rare posters, and life-size vehicles from rides like Dumbo and Peter Pan— for 30 years, and he’s finally ready to share some of it with the public.

“I’m one of those guys—go big or go home. And if you don’t have the biggest, then it ain’t the best,” Magee told The Associated Press in a recent interview, as fans milled about the exhibit. Magee’s is the largest individually owned Disneyland/Disney Park collection in the world.

“It’s really kind of exciting. This is the first time that all of my

things have been in the same room at the same time,” he said.

Magee is known in the collectible industry as “the toy scout,” and has amassed a huge collection of toys and Disney items. He says he watched “The Wonderful World of Disney” on TV every week as a kid but had never been to the park and never thought about collecting until he was at a toy show where he met a man selling Disneyland artifacts and got hooked.

“At the time, I couldn’t afford too much. I bought a couple of pieces, but that’s where it all began,” Magee said. “In my travels as ‚the toy scout,’ I meet people all over the country and for the last 25 years, they’ve just been bringing me all their stuff and here it is today.”

The items for sale are as small as a trading card and as large as a 1917 Model T moving van from Disneyland’s original Main Street that Magee says Walt Disney created himself.

Mike Van Eaton is the coowner of Van Eaton Galleries, which is running the auction. He says among the most sought-after items are those from the Haunted Mansion attraction, including original stretch paintings from the elevator in the iconic ride, and a “doom buggy”—the vehicle guests

ride on.

“Joel also has one of the most amazing Disney attraction poster collections in the world. He has every attraction poster ever in the park. And those are also going to do very well,” Van Eaton said.

There are items for every price point, with some starting as low as $50—but most go way up from there.

“Some of these items, such as the Dumbo ride vehicle, may go for $200,000 to $300,000. We have trash cans from the park that may go for $5,000 or $6,000, and posters that could reach $50,000 to $60,000,” Van Eaton said.

Magee says it’s hard to choose his favorites in such a large collection but he is partial to the static props he’s brought to life.

“The Tiki birds, oh my gosh, they were piles of junk when we got them! They were worn out, pieces were missing,” Magee said. “Some good friends of mine that do a lot of work … in that field brought them all back to life better than you could ever imagine. And … people look at that and you can just see the magic in their eyes when they see them.”

The exhibition is at the Burbank Town Center Mall and runs through July 16. The auction will be held July 17 through 19.

Public Notice

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIFTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR MARION COUNTY, FLORIDA PROBATE DIVISION IN 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, whose date of death was May 10, 2023, is pending in the Circuit Court for Marion County, Florida, Probate Division, the address of which is 110 NW 1st Avenue, Ocala, Florida 34475.

The name and address 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 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

NOTICE OF SPECIAL SCHOOL BOARD MEETING

Notice is hereby given that the School Board of Marion County, Florida, will meet on Thursday, July 20, 2023, at 11:30 a.m., at the School Board Administration Office, 1614 E. Ft. King Street, Ocala, Florida, 34471. An agenda will be published seven days prior to the meeting. The agenda may be obtained at the Administration Office between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. The agenda is also available from a link on the District’s website: www. marion.k12.fl.us.

Persons wishing to address the Board should register with the Chairman prior to 11:40 a.m. Any person deciding to appeal any decision made by the Board at the meeting will need a record of the proceedings and, for such purpose, may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, which record includes the testimony and evidence on which the appeal is to be based.

Public Notice

MARION COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION SERVICES

The School Board of Marion County, Florida announces its intent to acquire professional services as follows:

THE MARION COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM IS REQUESTING QUALIFICATIONS (PROPOSALS) FROM ARCHITECTS IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA PURSUANT WITH SECTION 287.055, FLORIDA STATUTES, THE “CONSULTANT’S COMPETITIVE NEGOTIATIONS ACT” (CCNA), SECTION 287.057 (24) FLORIDA STATUTES, AND 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

NOTICE OF INDEPENDENT CITIZENS REFERENDUM OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING

The Marion County School Board announces a public meeting of the Independent Citizens Referendum Oversight Committee (ICROC) members on Thursday, July 20, 2023, at 4:00 p.m. The meeting will be held at the MTI Auditorium, at 1614 E. Ft. King Street, Ocala, Florida 34471. An agenda for the meeting is available at the School Board Office, 1614 E. Ft. King Street, Ocala, Florida 34471.

NOTICE OF A SCHOOL BOARD ADMINISTRATIVE BRIEFING AND WORK SESSION

Notice is hereby given that the School Board of Marion County, Florida, will meet in a work session on Thursday, July 20, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. The meeting will be held at the MTI Auditorium, 1614 E. Ft. King Street, Ocala, Florida, 34471. An agenda will be published seven days prior to the meeting and may be obtained at the Administration Office between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. The agenda is also available from a link on the District’s website: www.marionschools.net.

CELEBRATE SUMMER IN STYLE WITH THIS GORGEOUS DESSERT

Irish music hits all the right notes

By America’s Test Kitchen

We used a combination of raw and cooked blueberries in the filling of this pie to showcase the deliciousness of this ripe summer fruit. Raw blueberries added juicy pops of tartness, while the cooked puree provided a jammy sweetness.

Once you have all the components made, it’s as easy as piling the filling into a graham cracker crust and swirling on a decorative topping made of whipped sweetened cream cheese. The cream cheese was more substantial than whipped cream alone, providing a cheesecake-like richness that complemented the fruit nicely.

Blueberry Cream Pie

For the crust:

Serves 8 to 10

12 whole graham crackers, broken into pieces (6½ ounces)

2 tablespoons sugar

Pinch table salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:

1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) sugar

4 teaspoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon table salt

1 1/2 pounds (about 4 3/4 cups) blueberries, divided

1 tablespoon lemon juice

For the topping:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup heavy cream, chilled

For the crust:

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Process cracker pieces in food processor until finely ground, about 30 seconds. Add sugar and salt and pulse to combine, about 3 pulses. Add melted butter and pulse until combined, about 8 pulses.

3. Transfer crumbs to a 9-inch pie plate. Using the bottom of a dry measuring cup, press crumbs into the bottom and up sides of the plate. Bake until crust is fragrant and beginning to brown, 16 to 18 minutes. Transfer plate to wire rack.

For the filling:

2. Meanwhile, whisk sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan until no lumps of cornstarch remain. Process 2 cups blueberries in clean, dry work bowl until smooth, about 2 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.

3. Strain puree through fine-mesh strainer into sugar mixture in saucepan, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible; discard solids. Whisk puree into sugar mixture until combined.

4. Bring puree mixture to simmer over medium heat, whisking frequently. Continue to cook, whisking constantly, until whisk leaves a trail that slowly fills in, about 1 minute longer.

5. Off heat, whisk in lemon juice. Reserve 2 tablespoons puree for piping. Stir remaining blueberries into remaining puree in saucepan. Spread filling evenly over bottom of pie crust (crust needn’t be completely cool).

For the topping:

1. Using a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whip cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla on medium-high speed until very smooth, about 2 minutes, scraping down bowl as needed. With mixer running, slowly pour in cream and whip until stiff peaks form, 1 to 3 minutes, scraping down bowl as needed.

2. Fit a large pastry bag with a large closed star tip. Using a small spatula, apply three vertical stripes of reserved puree up the sides of the pastry bag. Fill the pastry bag with topping. Pipe rosettes (spiraling from inside out) in concentric circles over the surface of the pie, covering filling. Pipe stars in any gaps between rosettes. Refrigerate pie for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours. Serve.

(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.)

By Rick Steves

The Irish seem born with a love of music. At social gatherings, everyone’s always ready to sing his or her “party piece.” Performances are judged less by skill than by uninhibited sincerity or showmanship. Nearly every Irish household has some kind of musical instrument.

That love is especially strong for traditional Irish music. You can hear it at cultural heritage centers and concert halls, but it sounds best in a pub. When I’m in Ireland, I walk around a pubfilled block like a guy choosing a dance partner, considering where I’ll stop to enjoy a pint and a tune.

Live music is a weekly—and sometimes nightly—draw at most town pubs worth their salt. Trad music is especially popular in Dingle, Doolin, Galway, and Dublin.

Pub music ranges from instrumental reels and jigs, to ballads of tragic love lost or heroic deeds done, to contemporary sing-alongs. It’s worth staying until the wee hours for the magical moment when a lament is sung to a hushed and attentive pub crowd.

“Sessions” (musical evenings) may be advertised or impromptu. Often musicians just congregate and play for the love of it. There will generally be a fiddle, a flute or tin whistle, a guitar, a bodhrán (BO-run; goatskin drum), and maybe an accordion or mandolin.

Music starts in the pubs between 9:30 and 10 p.m., finishing at about midnight. For a bar with a good reputation, get there before 9 p.m. if you want dinner or a place to sit, or pop in later and plan on standing.

The music often comes in sets of three songs. The wind and string instruments embellish melody lines with lots of tight ornamentation. Whoever happens to be leading determines the next song. If they want to pass on the decision, it’s done with eye contact and a nod. A ceilidh (KAY-lee) is an evening of music and dance—an Irish hoedown.

Percussion generally stays in the background. The bodhrán is played with a small, two-headed club. The performer’s hand stretches the skin to change the tone and pitch. You’ll sometimes be lucky enough to hear a set of bones crisply played. These are two cow ribs (boiled and dried) that are rattled in one hand like spoons or castanets, substituting for the sound of dancing shoes in olden days.

Watch closely if a piper is playing. The Irish version of bagpipes, the uilleann (ILL-in) pipes are played by inflating the airbag (under the left elbow) with a bellows (under the right elbow) rather than

with a mouthpiece like the Scottish Highland bagpipes. Uilleann is Gaelic for “elbow,” and the sound is more melodic than Highland pipes, with a wider range. The piper fingers his chanter like a flute to create individual notes, and uses the heel of his right hand to play chords on one of three regulator pipes. It takes amazing coordination to play this instrument well, and the sound can be haunting.

Occasionally, the fast-paced music will stop, and one person will sing a lament. It may be a remnant of the ancient storytelling tradition of the bards whose influence died out when Gaelic culture waned 400 years ago. The stories—often of emigration to a faraway land, or a rebel death struggling against English rule—are always heartfelt. While you’re listening to a lament, study the faces in the crowd.

If the chemistry is right, a session can be one of your greatest Irish experiences. The music churns intensely while members of the group casually enjoy exploring each other’s musical style. The drummer dodges the fiddler’s playful bow. Sipping their pints, they skillfully maintain a faint but steady buzz. The floor on the musicians’ platform is stomped paint-free, and servers scurry artfully through the commotion, gathering towers of empty, foam-crusted glasses. Make yourself right at home, “playing the boot” (tapping your foot) under the table in time with the music. Talk to your neighbor. Locals often have an almost evangelical interest in explaining the music.

The Irish love of music is so intense that Ireland is the only nation with a musical instrument—the Irish harp—as its national symbol. You’ll see this harp’s likeness everywhere, including on the back of all Irish euro coins. The harp’s inspirational effect on the Irish was so strong that Queen Elizabeth I, who tried to eradicate the Gaelic culture during her reign, ordered Irish harpists to be hung wherever found and their instruments smashed.

But the Irish survived Elizabethan brutality and more than four centuries of oppression. Today, the Irish people have a worldwide reputation as talkative, athletic, moody romantics with a quick laugh and a ready smile. Listen well: You can hear their national soul in their music.

(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.)

This patriotic pie showcases ripe summer blueberries. [TNS]

To find an Irish music session in a pub, wander a town and follow your ear. [Rick Steves]