Attorney General Ashley Moody released a new resource for Floridians to use for protection against fraud as the state and nation continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. Scams at a Glance is a new outreach program complete with a webpage on the Florida Attorney General’s website with information about common and emerging scams. The webpage also provides downloadable brochures designed to teach consumers how to avoid falling victim to fraud. The brochures and other information on the website are available in both English and Spanish. Scams highlighted include imposter scams, tech support scams and more. Savvy consumers can stop fraud in its tracks, but they must know what to look for.
Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “One of the lessons we are learning from the current health crisis, is that scammers are willing to exploit any emergency to swindle consumers. Throughout this crisis, we have been working hard to stop scammers and prevent consumer fraud. I want Floridians to have the tools they need to fight back and that is why Scams at a Glance is so important. The new program is a tool of knowledge against common scams so that Floridians and their loved ones will be protected as we continue to battle the coronavirus.” Continue reading
Under the provisions of section 741.28 of the Florida State Statutes,
- “Domestic violence” means any assault, aggravated assault, battery, aggravated battery, sexual assault, sexual battery, stalking, aggravated stalking, kidnapping, false imprisonment, or any criminal offense resulting in physical injury or death of one family or household member by another family or household member.
- “Family or household member” means spouses, former spouses, persons related by blood or marriage, persons who are presently residing together as if a family or who have resided together in the past as if a family, and persons who are parents of a child in common regardless of whether they have been married. With the exception of persons who have a child in common, the family or household members must be currently residing or have in the past resided together in the same single dwelling unit.
Under the provisions of section 784.046 of the Florida State Statutes,
- “Dating violence” means violence between individuals who have or have had a continuing and significant relationship of a romantic or intimate nature. The existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on the consideration of the following factors:
Piesanos Stone Fire Pizza
8075 SW 200 Hwy, Suite 101
Ocala, FL 34481
A beautifully decorated with the ambiance of a five star restaurant. This is not a pizza dive, it possesses the finer qualities of dining at a reasonable price. The menu offers many Italian speciality favorites, salads, deserts and pizza. The hostess, waitress/waiter and management, exceeds expectations, to make you feel appreciated.
After being seated, our waitress Felicity, explained the specials for the evening and took our drink order. She returned with our beverages and took our pizza order.
She returned with the complementary fresh baked dinner rolls, drizzled with Italian Dressing and spices. The dinner rolls alone, will make you return to this restaurant.
We ordered 1/2 pepperoni and 1/2 mushroom pizza. The sauce had a light sweet taste, with fresh mozzarella and generous toppings. The crust was perfectly cooked with a light crunch from the center to the crust, no soggy dough.
Piesanos has already made my return list. A placed to be pampered by the wait staff and fresh delicious ingredients prepared into a meal by their master chefs! Continue reading
Thomas Jefferson wrote, “Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle.” THINK ABOUT IT!
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Only one example is sufficient to support the above—the Michael Brown shooting. The media continues to dishonestly portray Michael as a victim who was surrendering to police with his hands upheld and saying, “Hands up, don’t shoot.” That did not happen! It is a falsehood are dishonest racists who are fomenting additional violence for which they will not be held accountable. They should find out who is financing this activity and freeze their assets and arrest them!
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Rioting in the streets… I am sad to say the Left have taken advantage of the people of color again. If you want to have a peaceful protest you don’t invite Rioters! The people of color will have to get rid of the Rioters. Some of these rioters are being paid big money to create violence and get arrested with a promise to be gotten out of jail. The people who are dyeing are the people of color, their children and the police officers. I don’t think anyone that complies would be hurt. But when you resist it is a sure way for injury of both sides. Black lives matter need to talk to the leaders and ask them to stop the rioters. That’s where it is coming from, from the left and foreign countries. Trump and his legal team is starting to uncover all of the corruption of our very influential politicians. They need chaios to distract the working people and cause confusion in the people of color. When someone says People of color are not being treated fairly. I say a person of color was elected President of the United States. Many of our politicians are of color. The united States give everyone opportunity, you have to take advantage of the opportunities. Continue reading
Early in my term as Mayor, I began a project to help the chronic homeless. I continued to see men on the street that were being arrested constantly for crimes involving being homeless. I felt something needed to be done to help them. About that time, former Mayor Rick Baker from St. Petersburg spoke at the evening lecture series at IHMC about his new book The Seamless City. He was describing a scene of a homeless encampment in front of his City Hall and the demands of the community to do something about it.
He then told the story of how he worked with the community to create Pinellas Hope, a tent city of sorts that got the homeless population the help they needed to get back on their feet. Many in the room turned to me and said “Mayor, why don’t you do that here in Ocala”. So the two year journey began.
I, along with Karla Grimsley, Father Patrick Sheedy of Blessed Trinity, Brothers Keepers, Catholic Charities and First Methodist Church, all gathered together and went to visit Pinellas Hope. We brought the idea back to Ocala and folks said, “that’s a great idea, but not in my back yard”. At one point, we had 22 acres in Northeast Ocala donated to us but since the neighborhood wasn’t behind it, it didn’t pan out for our project and ended up becoming the home of Transitional Learning Center (TLC) which was a perfect fit for them as they needed exactly 22 acres for their project. However, we still needed a home. St. Marks Methodist Church on Northeast Eighth Ave. heard about our project and wanted it to be their mission. We met with them and members of the neighborhood to get their buy-in and they all wanted to be a part of it. Continue reading
Last month, voters throughout our community went to the polls and decided several local elections and, in some cases, selected candidates for the November ballot. While these local raises are very important, I would like to mention an item about which you will start hearing more soon.
Safety. It is probably something we all take for granted until we need it. It is important to our families and to our businesses. We all want to know that in time of emergency, we can depend on our first responders such as the fire and rescue to come to our aid. We also want to know that our roads will be safe to travel.
In March 2016, Marion County voters approved a one-percent sales tax for public safety and transportation infrastructure. There are no salaries nor recurring costs paid by the sales tax revenues. Since January 2017, the tax has brought in approximately $180M in estimated revenue that has funded dozens of projects including:
- Building of Northwest 49th Avenue to improve traffic-carrying capacity and enhance the opportunity for economic development in the area.
- Rehabilitation of over 53 miles of roadways including: County Road 464B, County Road 326, County Road 316, County Road 42, and County Road 320
- Marion County Fire Rescue equipment including: 12 new ambulances, 5 new engines, 1 ladder truck, 300 self-contained breathing apparatus, and new fire station at Rolling Greens
- City of Ocala has completed 12 road improvement projects valued at over $1.9M
- City of Ocala also added 2 new fire stations and a police district office
Additionally, the City of Ocala and Marion County have seen their ISO ratings improve: Ocala to a 2 and Marion County to a 3. These improvements are in large part thanks to the sales tax and provide relief to property owners through lower insurance costs in addition to knowing that our homes and families are safer.
Our economist reveals that at least 30% of the taxes are derived from individuals who do not live in our community. This could include tourists who are visiting our parks or competing in equine events or simply passing through on the interstate. It also includes the approximately 80,000 people who commute into our community to work. The sales tax ensures they are helping to fund the roads they drive on and the first responders on which they depend.
On November 3rd voters in Marion County will have the chance to extend public safety and highway safety with a FOR vote for the 1% local sales tax. We still have a substantial backlog of equipment needs and transportation projects. Should the sales tax fail to pass, the cost for these improvements will be levied on property owners.
Key facts regarding the sales tax:
- One-percent sales tax limited to 4 years
- January 1, 2021, and sunset on December 31, 2024
- Funding only Public Safety (40%) and transportation infrastructure needs (60%)
- Paid for by all county residents AND visitors
Dear Friends,
It is a privilege and blessing to have the opportunity to continue writing these monthly columns. Our country’s founders understood that the power of the pen (or in this case, the keyboard) was one of the best ways to reach the hearts and minds of individuals like you. Individuals who do care what happens in their communities, their state, and their country. Thank you for reading, listening, and being engaged in our fight to preserve faith, family, freedom, opportunity and life itself.
Our next challenge in preserving those values and principles is coming in November. You are already aware of how important November’s Presidential Election will be, but what you may not be aware of yet is the continued attack on our state constitution. The latest move by the socialist wing (which, let us be honest, is probably their biggest wing) of the Democratic Party is two amendment proposals that will be on your November ballot. The first of which, Amendment 2, is heavily funded by the man who almost sent Andrew Gillum to the governor’s mansion. That is right, John Morgan is back after his defeat in 2018 and this time he is looking to amend Florida’s constitution to raise Florida’s minimum wage to $15.00 per hour. This amendment, if passed would make Florida the only state in the nation with such a mandate and would destroy jobs and businesses that have already been hit hard during the COVID-19 situation. Inflation and cost of living would skyrocket and force working families and seniors to pay more for basic necessities. Entry-level and part-time wage jobs would be eliminated as this mandate would force business to shift their workforce to more experienced workers or make them rely further on job automation technology. Amendment 2, like Andrew Gillum, is just another one of John Morgan’s bad ideas. Continue reading
by A.J.(Tony) Powell
Apparently last months column struck a nerve with many residents of ‘The Villages’.
I asked for feedback from any informed ‘Villager’ as to the exact contents of their home purchase agreement regarding the so-called ‘amenities’.
As mentioned, many residents of ‘The Villages’ are concerned about their community moving away from building single-family homes and going full-on commercial and multi-family.
Others questioned the recent closures of many resident-used facilities including, for example, Katie Belle’s Restaurant, The former ‘Church on the Square’, the original Indoor Pool and the very popular ‘Lifelong Learning Academy’.
Since ‘day-one’, the main appeal of ‘The Villages’ has been the (assumed) guarantee of “Free Golf For Life”. As well as promises of numerous other ‘amenities’, clubhouses, Town Squares, softball, tennis and much more, all for a nominal monthly ‘Amenity Fee’.
That has worked well for years, but now ‘management’ is closing down or even demolishing many of the most popular locations. Continue reading
During a vessel stop and subsequent dockside inspection, our officers found 130 wrung lobster tails with over 100 of them undersized! Officers also discovered 89 stone crab claws of which 25 of the claws were undersized. The lobster tails and stone crab claws were hidden in a wet black bag in the cabin of the commercial vessel. The captain and crew members were arrested, transported to jail and charged for their violations.
By TomL
While on a fishing trip in the gulf the other day. My new fishing partner and I were fishing, catching a few fish and releasing them back to where they came from. My fishing partner is a quiet guy and of course I start talking politics. Talking about all of the corruption and things that is going on. My fishing partner blurted out “I don’t like Trump!” I ask why? He told me about all the things he did not like about him. I said I agree with some of what you said, but who is the best equipped person to fix the country he said “Oh I’m voting for Trump because I don’t like the tactic’s that the Democrats are using.” I have changed parties because of what Obama and Bidden have done to us in the past.
So I have come to a new conclusion. First the Democratic’s have never excepted the results of our election and now they are asking Tump if he will except the results of this election? From what I can see, people see Trump as a bully, but when the entire Democratic party jumps on him then, “He becomes the underdog and he is good at fighting back.” I have not seen him do anything that is not good for the country and the people of this country. He is doing a job that no one else wants to do, ROOT OUT THE CORRUPTION IN OUR COUNTRY AND ROOT OUT CORRUPTION BETWEEN OUR POLITICIANS MAKING DEALS WITH OTHER COUNTRIES TO FILL THIER POCKETS!! Continue reading
