The CEP continues to engage and work to ensure our community keeps moving forward. We are very excited about the two items I am highlighting this month.
Amazon
I am sure most have heard the news by now, but the CEP was pleased to join the Ocala City Council and Marion County Board of County Commissioners in welcoming Amazon’s announcement that they will establish a distribution facility in the Ocala Metro.
The company has leased the 617,000 sq. ft. spec building being constructed by Red Rock Developments. This new facility will create approximately 300 jobs, all making at least $15.00 per hour from day one.
The CEP is pleased to welcome Amazon to our community. What an incredible addition to the Ocala Metro! We look forward to seeing their brand welcoming residents to the area.”
The new Amazon facility is located in the Ocala/Marion County Commerce Park along I-75. The company joins existing park tenants Chewy.com, AutoZone, and FedEx Ground which all operate logistic facilities in the park. Continue reading
Dear Friends,
It is great to be a Floridian! It is truly a blessing to live in in a state that has not been completely overrun by liberal socialists. It saddens me to see that the average working American in other parts of this country have to live and raise a family in states that do not value their labor and effort. Instead, in places like Seattle, Washington, weak leaders reward law-breakers, rioters, and looters. They allow them to take over public spaces, threaten law enforcement, and burn or destroy local businesses. This lawlessness is unacceptable, unjust and cannot be allowed to continue in our America. Their rebellion is not about injustice, or they would not acting this way. Their rebellion is against the principles that this country was founded on. Does our country have some ugly history? Yes! We know that there have been many instances in world history that mankind has not been kind to each other, but that does not mean that the guiding principles that our country was founded on are evil or unjust. Liberty and justice for all with law and order secured. This is what our country needs now, more than ever.
While those in other parts of the country continue to burn and destroy, Florida remains focused on the current mission. Get people back to work, quickly, safely and efficiently. There is nothing in the world that a little prosperity cannot cure. Floridians are not interested in destroying; they are interested in building a future. Governor DeSantis and your elected leaders in the House and Senate are doing a fantastic job, and Florida is in a good shape to bounce back quickly from the economic damage of COVID-19 and get us back on track. Continue reading
July 4th – 244 years! Now and Forever!
“Questions Not Asked & Questions Not Answered”.
Readers ask a lot of questions, but, often, I don’t have (informed) answers!
Q-Was the ‘Declaration of Independence’ signed by citizens of the United States of America?
AISI-The eight ‘signers’ were all Englishmen who were born in the ‘colonies’?
Q Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?
AISI-Apparently many of the most meaningful lines in the Declaration of Independence were written by George Mason from Virginia. One example is “all men are born equally free and independent.” Continue reading
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
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.
