Your Bad Dog!
Apparently we had another incident of a pet dog biting a neighbor.
Mostly the reactions of owners, victims and officials are inappropriate, uninformed and cruel.
Out of ignorance (or worse), you teach your dog that its job is to ‘defend’ you, your home and your property. Then, when it does it’s best to repel an ‘invader’ you’re yelling and almost choking it on the leash (or worse).
Although most owners are in denial, fact is that any dog is capable of biting.
Don’t bother to ask an owner “Does your dog bite?” In the right (wrong?) circumstances, any dog might bite (or try to).
Many experts claim that fear is the most frequent reason, but, As I See It, that’s not true. Continue reading
Dear Friends,
The 2022 Legislative Session has concluded and it is nice to return home to family, friends, and the good people of Senate District 12. Over the next few columns, we plan to share a few highlights of what was done in Tallahassee over the last few months.
First, we want to share some budget numbers with you. Florida, thanks to a constitutional mandate, must pass a balanced budget every year. This means that we do not spend more money than what you, the taxpayer, sends us. This year, thanks to our robust economy, Florida’s budget set a new record at $112.1 billion. This budget leaves $8.9 billion in state reserves (our rainy day fund), establishes a $1 billion state inflation fund to help offset the rising costs of inflation, and provides $658 million in broad based tax relief to Florida families.
Within this budget, the legislature increased K-12 per-student funding to the highest level in state history and invested $800 million to increase the salaries of classroom teachers, a $250 million increase over the prior year. Continue reading
At the CEP’s Annual Luncheon on 2 February, the new 5-year Strategic Plan, Forward Momentum, was unveiled to a crowd of nearly 1,100 business leaders. The plan had been developed over eight months in 2021 and involved consultations with a number of experts and economists.
The plan is a continuation of its two successors (Moving Forward and Moving Forward – Phase II) but also broadens the engagement of the CEP in a few key areas. All of the plans 19 goals are aligned with the CEP’s mission “to be the catalyst for a prosperous community.” The following are highlights of a few of the goals. The complete can be found at OcalaCEP.com/the-CEP/strategic-plan/
Business Advocacy – the top goal in Business Advocacy is the Renewal of the Local Option Sales Tax. This 1% tax was first approved by voters in 2016 and then overwhelmingly renewed in 2020. The tax is the best way to fund important and needed transportation and first responder needs. The revenues can only be spent on capital needs and approximately 1/3 of the revenue is collected by tourists and commuters who are using our roads and depending on our first responders but not otherwise contributing to their support.
Business Attraction – the #1 goal in the plan is to secure a commitment for commercial passenger air service. As a community of nearly 400,000 the time is right for the return on local air service. Continue reading
By TomL
Lady Lake Florida…Received a phone call last week. He introduced himself as a long time Lady Lake Resident, actually I think he was from the Villages, he was accusing the paper of making Democrats look like Russians. (Boy is that a far stretch). I ask him if he call Fox News and accuse them of the same. I said we have a well rounded group of writer’s and I’m sorry you don’t like what we say, simply just don’t read it. He said he would never watch Fox News. After the called ended, I sat and thought about what he said. You know he is right the Republicans are the only one’s doing their job, the other are taxing the heck out of us. There is talk about the Green new deal is financed by Russia and China, I guess I need to explain. Investigators are now saying that some of the candidates running and endorsing the Green New Deal had hefty contributions from Russian and Chinese backed company’s. Some people get upset when they believe something all their lives and things change, people change. The reader said the whole paper was guilty of it. He said the paper treated Governor DeSantis like a God (Far Stretch). I think several times our writers said DeSantis was doing his job and most Floridians would agree with that. I walked outside and there it was A FULL MOON! I say if you don’t like what is in the newspaper, any paper, just simply don’t read them. I am sorry the Democrat’s are being blamed for what Biden is putting them through. Just impeach him and get it over with! Continue reading
In Marion county, for eight years, the first Saturday in March plays host to the largest festival in our area known as Habitat for Humanity of Marion County’s Strawberry festival. This last Saturday, March 5, 2022 was no different!
This year’s strawberry festival saw 35,000 +/- visitors enjoy strawberry treats of all kinds, local entertainment on two stages, a car show, a strawberry pie eating contest, a chance to shop over 250 vendors and a giant kid’s zone with fun for kids of all ages! The 8th annual strawberry festival was located at the McPherson Government complex on NE 25th Ave where plenty of parking and open spaces allow this festival to grow year after year.
The Habitat strawberry festival in Marion County represents a piece of American history when county fairs and festivals brought communities together. All proceeds made at the festival go towards building a home for a Marion County family in need. A Habitat home is built with mainly volunteers, including the future homeowner. The strawberry festival also is alive with volunteer spirit and known for uniting people from all parts of the county. When the habitat homeowner completes their required volunteer hours (averages 250 hours) and is handed the front door keys to their new home, their first mortgage payment is likely to be sweeter than the strawberries sold at this year’s festival. Only for that habitat family, the safety and security they receive from the new home lasts longer than any of the sweet treats enjoyed at the festival.
If you missed Habitat’s strawberry festival this year, be sure to save the date for next year. It’s always the 1st Saturday in March and thousands of festival goers will tell you that a good time is had by all!
Elizabeth B. Chryst
Chair-Habitat for Humanity of Marion County, FL
The Parade of Senior Services was a great success. My contacts were the Senior Center on 8th ave, they did a great job. It was free to seniors 55+ and they came. The doors were open from 10am till 2pm, by 10;30 the room was packed with visitor’s. At first they projected 50 agencies would exhibit, I am sure it exceeded that number. I was not disappointed with the crowd. I gave out hundreds of my newspapers. It was held at the College of Central Florida. I was impressed by the Colleges staff, they were well dressed, very organized, friendly and very helpful. I’ll do it again next year. Information given out was about Marion County’s programs and services that included City, County, state and federal government services, health care, social services and more!
Sheriff Peyton C. Grinnell is committed to the safety of Lake County’s youth and is pleased to offer, in conjunction with the Florida Sheriff’s Association, the Teen Driver Challenge. This 9 hour course is taught 8am – 5pm and trains teen drivers how to prevent crashes through defensive driving techniques and evasive maneuvers. The program provides a mixture of classroom instruction and hands-on driver training at the Lake Tech Institute of Public Safety Driving Range in Tavares.
Teens between the ages of 15 – 19 are eligible and MUST have a valid Learner’s Permit or Florida Operators License and participants must provide their own car. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office does not provide cars for this program.
Seats are available on a first come first serve basis, and class size is limited. Do not delay, as classes do fill quickly. Continue reading
Oil report from Government energy office…..Last but not least. The question is how much oil does the U.S. Have in the ground?””More than all the Middle East put Together.”
The U.S. Geological Service issued a report in April 2008. A revised report on how much oil was in this area of the western 2/3 of North Dakota, western South Dakota, and Extreme eastern Montana.
The Bakken is the largest domestic oil discovery since Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay and has the potential to eliminate all American dependence on foreign oil. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates it at 503 billion barrels. Continue reading
Bob Paxton left of FAIRtax Power Radio interviewing Sheriff Arpaio right of Arizona at CPAC 2022 in Orlando FL on Feb 26.
