August is American Artist Appreciation Month
VOLUME 2 ISSUE 5
$2
JULY 30 - AUGUST 5, 2021
No-bid contracts tied to commissioner
County review of process finds no issues with more than $400,000 in purchases By Carlos Medina carlos@ocalagazette.com
of microbe-killing ultraviolet lights, despite limited evidence that they are
What started out as a
All told, between 2019 and 2020 Triatomic
air quality at some Marion County buildings, quickly turned into the emergency purchase of hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth
business as Fresh-Air $404,086.80 in no-bid contracts from Marion
systems installed into county air conditioning systems. Triatomic’s local representative is Chad House, husband of Commissioner Kathy Bryant. The county used more than $350,000 in federal coronavirus relief funds
Administration reports there is “limited published data about the wavelength, dose, and duration of
inactivate a virus if the virus is directly exposed to the radiation. Therefore, the inactivation of viruses on
virus.” There are also questions
radiation by soil, such as dust, or other contaminants
lights on viruses in general.
Final Bell
See UAV, page A8
Ocala teen shootings kill one, injure two Three separate shooting in four days two others wounded. investigators don’t believe the shooting are directly connected. Balken said the incidents are related in a greater sense. “For some reason the youth of today think that violence is the way you solve problems,” Balken said.
Historic Reddick High School set for demolition By Joel Bronson joel@ocalagazette.com
T
he iconic yet dilapidated Reddick High School will
nearly 100 years of sentry duty near the town center on Northwest Gainesville Road. County School Board voted to accept the cost to demolish the old school building at just under $500,000. No immediate date was set for demolition, but Allstate Construction, which was awarded by early November, according to a
letter to the school board. While the structure has remained largely empty since the late 1960s, it’s become part of the town’s identity, even appearing as a pencil drawing on the town’s website.
lot of money on it, and our hope was that could be saved, somehow,
has to be taken down. But at this point, it is an unsafe structure. We let it go too far. At this point, from what we heard from the engineer’s standpoint, it can’t be saved,” said Steven Rogers, Reddick city council president. Rogers hoped the newer gymnasium addition could be saved. “They put a new roof on it, and
happen,” Rogers said. “We hate to see it go, but we’re resolved to the fact that it’s unsafe.” The school board did not discuss saving any portion of the building. workshop, Robert Knight, director of facilities for Marion County Public Schools, suggested moving forward with demolition as soon as possible to avoid increased costs. At that same meeting, Nancy Thrower, Marion County School
Place Apartments, 523 NE 23rd Circle. but later died of his injuries. Police said the young man had a stolen handgun when he was shot. No arrests in that shooting were reported. The second shooting happened 1421 SW 27th Ave. A woman, who said she saw the incident but did not want to give her name, said the 18-year-old man was shot at least four times. help the injured man. pressure,” she said. She said the man was hit in the arm, the leg, the hip and the
See Reddick, page A2
See Shootings, page A3
Marion COVID-19 surge continues By Joel Bronson joel@ocalagazette.com For a fourth straight week, doubled in Marion County, according to records released by the Florida Local cases jumped from 652 for the week ending also jumped from 14.7% to 18.5% over the same period. “We are seeing a large increase in cases
among residents who are not vaccinated,” said in Marion County Administrator Mark Lander. “The vaccine remains one of our best tools to prevent severe illness with you to get vaccinated to protect yourself and your family.” Hospitalizations in the county were up to 92 for according to numbers from Control and Prevention.
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hospital, all but three were unvaccinated, according to a report from a local dashboard operated by Clinic. Last week the number of hospitalized was 61, and a week before, it was 33. vaccinated, Lander said it’s important to follow basic mitigation practices to prevent the spread of See COVID, page A2
Inside: Commentary ........................... A3 State News ............................... A7 City Council Elections .......... A9 Sports .....................................A11 Saving Santos Church...........B1 Calendar .................................. B5