Take precautions the COVID-19 is spiking in Marion County.

Photo provided by Department of Health in Marion County: Florida Department of Health in Marion County Community Health Nurse Gina Rohr speaks to a resident about the testing process before being swabbed for COVID-19 on June 16 at the department’s drive-through test site. The department tests individuals for COVID-19 both at its facility and at off-site locations. Staff tested close to 400 individuals today at Stonecrest, a local 55+ community.

OCALA, Fla.-The Department of Health in Marion County is reporting 331 cumulative cases of COVID-19 as of this afternoon. The most recent individuals confirmed to have the virus are:

  • 22-year-old male from Belleview
  • 22-year-old female from Ocala
  • 30-year-old male from Ocala
  • 33-year-old male from Ocala
  • 53-year-old male from Belleview
  • 60-year-old female from Ocala

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Ex-Chief Chris McKinstry

By TomL

There are Rumors flying around that the Ex-Chief is suing the Town of Lady Lake for age discrimination. It was also in a online news cast. At press time the Town has not been served. So right now it is a rumor on June 25th at 12 noon.

This is a long time battle between Ex-Chief McKinstry and the Town Manager Kris Kollgaard. McKinstry stepped down in 2018 after several heated Town Meetings. Town Manager Kris Kollgaard  said the Chief was not following regulations or rules of his contract and they had irreconsilable differences. The Ex-Chief answered to the Town Manager according to the Town Council. One thing led to another and the Chief was forced out. Two of the five Town Council sided with the Chief and three did not so it was over.

Recently when the Town Manager gave notice sources say the Ex-Chief was suing the Town for age discrimination. The ex-chief did file a complaint with Florida Commission on Human Relations claiming age discrimination and they came back with a ruling of no reasonable cause to believe that there was any age discrimination.The Town does not seem to know anything about the suit. There is no information at press time that the Town of Lady Lake has been served.

Inverness Florida Lady Lake Chamber holds Ribbon Cutting  for HNR Gunworks.  HNR Gunworks celebrated their 4th year Anniversary with a Ribbon Cutting and customer appreciation BBQ. Conveniently located at 3238 South Florida Avenue in Inverness, FL, they are a SOT Class 3 licensed dealer, the only one in the Inverness area.

Kris Kolgaard Lady Lake Town Manager

by TomL

Kris Kollgaard Town Manager of eleven years has notified the Town Council June 16th that she will not be renewing her contract as Town Manager. Kollgaard said she would stay on until they get another Town Manager, then she will step down to Town Clerk. Kollgaard has been doing both jobs and she wants to just do Town Clerk job. Kollgaard said she wanted to spend more time with her family and kind of wined down from the stress that goes with the Town Manager job.

There is a organization of retired Town Managers that will assist the council’s search for a new manager at no charge to the Town.

To Kris Kollgaard from TomL, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!

Habitat for Humanity of Marion County raised the walls for James & his daughter Victoria’s new home.

Habitat for Humanity of Marion County added 42 new photos to the album: Coakley Wall-Raising 6.10.20 — in Ocala Ridge, Florida.

It was a great day to raise some walls!!

With the help of our 2020 Strawberry Festival sponsors and our ReStore staff, we were able to raise the exterior walls on James & Veronica’s new home!!

We’re thrilled for this family, and seeing the walls raised up is a sign of all the blessings to come!!…

Pictured is a Purple Passionflower

We have bantering pictures of Animals, Birds, Flowers nonprofessional photography. Here is some information from the web about the Purple Passionflower.

Alternate Names Wild passion flower, maypop, apricot vine, old field apricot, Holy-Trinity flower, molly-pop, passion vine, pop- apple, granadilla, maycock, maracoc, maracock, white sarsaparilla.

Uses One of the uses of the purple passionflower is ornamental in nature. This is because of their showy blooms and their climbing ability over fences, arbors, or up walls. Native American Indians used the poultice root for boils, cuts, earaches and inflammation. Dried leaves boiled with water also aids in insomnia.

Wildlife Purple passionflower attracts butterflies. Young tendrils inch lavender flowers are short-stalked from leaf axils. The petals and sepals subtend a fringe of wavy or crimped, hair-like segments. The pistil and stamens are also showy. Three-lobed, deciduous leaves are dark-green above and whitish below. The plants bloom from June to September. The pulpy fruit or “maypop” develops in two to three months after flowering and may be harvested from July to October. It will be yellowish in color and it is about the size of a large oval hen’s egg. Continue reading

Nestled back in under some Oak trees in rural Marion County I ran across a true Artist. This is Chuck York standing behind one of his creations. A genuine Handmade Rocking Horse with real Horse Hair a miniature hand made saddle.  I ask Chuck how much time he had in the Horse? He said he started it last summer. It is hard to tell how many hours are in the project because you do some work on it then you have to let it set for a couple of days. He estimates over 300 hours, I guess at least 500 hours. The horse has been spoken a person person that has collected other creations from  Chuck. For questions Chuck’s number is 352-361-6642. If you know someone that has a hobby like this let me know. 352-804-1223.

OCALA, Fla.-The Department of Health in Marion County is reporting 655 cumulative cases of COVID-19 as of this afternoon; 340 of those cases were added within the past two weeks. Because of this substantial increase in cases, residents need to take extra care with Fourth of July celebrations and activities in the coming days.

“Ultimately, we do not want to see a surge in cases linked to Fourth of July celebrations,” said Florida Department of Health in Marion County Administrator Mark Lander. “So, however you celebrate, do so responsibly by practicing social distancing, wearing a mask if you can’t socially distance, avoiding large gatherings, and staying home if you are sick,”

Residents are also advised to avoid the three C’s: closed spaces with poor ventilation, crowded places with many others nearby, and close-contact settings, such as close-range conversation. The risk of COVID-19 spreading among a group of people is highest when the three C’s overlap. Continue reading

OCALA, Fla. (June 23, 2020) – City of Ocala business offices will be closed Friday, July 3 in observance of Independence Day. There will be no changes to the residential or commercial sanitation schedule.

For those looking to beat the heat over the holiday, the City of Ocala Aquatic Fun Centers are open Mondays through Saturdays, for two daily swim sessions, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.  Pools are closed Sundays due to facilitate current cleaning and sanitation measures. Admission is $2 per child and $3 per adult, each session.

The City of Ocala Splash pads, Lily’s Splash Pad, 2200 NW 17 Pl. and Citizens’ Circle Splash Pad, 160 E Fort King St., are open daily, sunrise to sunset daily.

The City’s online services, including online municipal services bill pay and payment kiosks, will be available to the public over the holiday.

Last month I ran some pictures of flowers and ask that some of readers to share. Angelina Ahrem sharing a picture of her Flowers.

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CEP – Click to learn more

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