TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody today named Franklin County Sheriff’s Sergeant Jeff Hewitt and Deputy Jared Hewitt as 2019’s Law Enforcement Officers of the Year. The Attorney General’s Office recognized the father and son duo, along with eight other law enforcement officers across the state for their dedication to protecting Floridians.
Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “Courage and service must run in our award winners’ family. While others were fleeing, this father and son duo headed straight toward the flames. Because of their bravery, an entire family was saved. I am proud to announce Sergeant Jeff Hewitt and Deputy Jared Hewitt as 2019’s Law Enforcement Officers of the Year.”
On June 24, 2018, the small coastal town of Eastpoint experienced one of the most horrific fires in its history. The fire destroyed 36 homes and consumed more than 950 acres of land. Due to the brave and selfless actions of Sgt. Hewitt and Dep. Hewitt, there were no casualties during this tragedy. Continue reading
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody is issuing a Consumer Alert to ask Floridians to report suspicious crowdfunding charity pages. Friday, the Florida Highway Patrol made the Attorney General’s Office aware of a suspicious-looking page purporting to raise money for the family of a fallen FHP Trooper. In less than an hour, the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division, working with GoFundMe.com, secured the suspension of the page and the more than $500 that had been raised is being returned to donors.
The account in question featured the name and photo of FHP Trooper Joseph Bullock. Trooper Bullock, a 19-year veteran of law enforcement, was shot and killed in the line of duty last week. An investigation into his death is underway.
Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “Trooper Bullock is a hero, and people want to help honor his service by donating to his family. When FHP told us that someone unknown to the family might be trying to exploit the death of this brave law enforcement officer, I asked my Consumer Protection investigators to act quickly. Our office immediately contacted GoFundMe and the crowdsourcing site took swift action to protect the donations. The company has assured our investigators that these funds will only be released to a member of Trooper Bullock’s family or returned to the donors—per its distribution policies.” Continue reading
On February 12, 2020, in News Releases, by Staff
Jacksonville, Fla. – Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced he is awarding more than $3.6 million through the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund to the Florida State College at Jacksonville and St. Johns River State College to create the Northeast Florida Fintech Initiative. This Initiative represents a partnership between both colleges, regional schools, nonprofits and numerous financial services companies to provide new financial technology, or “FinTech” training and certification opportunities.
“I’m pleased to launch the Northeast Florida FinTech Initiative in conjunction with Florida State College at Jacksonville and St. John’s River State College,” said Governor DeSantis. “This innovative collaboration to provide new FinTech-related training and certifications will help equip Floridians with skills in demand by Northeast Florida’s growing FinTech industry.”
The Florida Job Growth Grant Fund award for $3.67 million will help the Northwest Florida FinTech Initiative create two FinTech Technical Certificate Programs, a FinTech Support Technician Boot Camp Academy and will embed FinTech related skills and coursework into existing programs related to Accounting, Business Administration, Financial Services and Information Technology. Continue reading
After many months of obstruction by the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the Governor’s office received deeply disturbing information regarding the organization’s practices over the past several years. These practices include exorbitant compensation payouts, abuse of state dollars, withholding of information, and breach of public trust.
Governor Ron DeSantis has requested Chief Inspector General (CIG), Melinda Miguel, to determine if there are reasonable grounds to refer the matter for criminal investigation to law enforcement. If the evidence leads to that conclusion, CIG Miguel will take the appropriate action going forward. This investigation is a top priority for Governor DeSantis.
The Governor has been urging action on this matter since 2019. Due to these ongoing concerns, the Governor recommended competitive procurement for domestic violence services rather than continuing to directly contract with the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence in his Fiscal Year 2020-2021 budget recommendations. Continue reading
Tallahassee, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced the appointments of Dr. Patricia Snyder, Nancy Hardt, Dr. Margarita Labarta, Dr. Karen Cole-Smith and Charles “Lee” Pinkoson to the Children’s Trust of Alachua County Advisory Board. These board members are appointed by the Governor from a list of candidates selected by Alachua County’s Board of County Commissioners.
Dr. Patricia Snyder
Dr. Snyder, of Gainesville, is the director of the Anita Zucker Center for Excellence in Early Childhood Studies at the University of Florida. She earned her bachelor’s degree in speech pathology and audiology from the State University of New York, her master’s degree in special education from Millersville University and her doctorate degree in early childhood special education from the University of New Orleans. Dr. Snyder is appointed to a four-year term. Continue reading
Chamber February Nothing But Networking Luncheon at Carrabas. We had so many people I think we overwhelmed the Restaurant, but we got it done, the meeting went well, the food was good. Bread was not served, I was disappointed, since that is one of their signature things on the menu. All of the networking went well. We had visitors from the local high school talking to our Chamber business people about what their business plan is. Most people I talked to were happy! March meeting will be held at the OutBack Restaurant, March 5th 11:30 am. Check the Lady Lake Chamber website for the monthly scheduled events.
The Marion County Genealogical Society will meet Thursday, March 19, 2020 from 2pm – 4pm at the Marion County Public Library, 2720 E. Silver Springs Blvd, Ocala, FL. Kathy Stickney will give a live presentation on the topic “Pass It On: Sharing Your Genealogical Research”. For further information, visit www.mcgsocala.org or contact Joel Swanson at (352) 897-0840.
The Lady Lake Police Department encourages drivers to be safe, follow the rules of the road, and remain focused when operating a motor vehicle upon the roadways of the State of Florida. One of the common causes of crashes involves distracted driving. Distracted driving is anything that takes your hands off the wheel, your eyes off the road, or mind off of driving. One of the most dangerous distracted driving behavior is texting and driving, as it encompasses all three of these elements. However, texting and driving is not the only cause of distracted driving. Other common causes include eating, tending to children, grooming, or checking the GPS system. When a driver is not focused on the road, it limits their ability to perceive a hazard and delays their reaction time to avoid a crash. The Lady Lake Police Department urges drivers to stay focused on driving when operating a motor vehicle.
On multi-lane streets, roads, and highways, drivers are required to operate their motor vehicle in the right half of the roadway except when passing another vehicle traveling in the same direction. Drivers must not continue to drive a vehicle in the far left lane when being overtaken by a faster moving vehicle, unless the driver is preparing to make a left turn at an intersection. Additionally, Florida law requires you to Move Over a lane — when you can safely do so — for stopped law enforcement, emergency, sanitation, utility service vehicles and tow trucks or wreckers. Continue reading
America dialed 911 and Donald Trump answered the phone. Now they are trying to stop him because the DOJ investigation is getting to deep. It is uncovering some very powerful, well liked people.
I cannot understand why we are sending all these millions of dollars to all the countries that either hate us or try to help countries that want to hurt us. Our politicians are sending their family members out to join a company or start a company in other countries where their family have influence and could collect Millions for political influence. There are many documented cases connecting a number of influential politicians and politicians’ family members. It is money laundering, kickbacks, favor for a favor but millions of our tax payer is paying for all that. So that explains the impeachment and the rush to beat Trump because he is rooting out the crooks.
I think it runs deeper and higher than any of us could imagine!!! “Drain the Swamp!” Make them serve jail time, maybe not a lot of jail time but enough to make the others realize there is a price to pay for their crimes. Continue reading
The Ocala MSA ended the year with a run of national rankings which will frame the state of the local economy quite well. The area ranked #3 on U-Haul’s List of the Top 25 Cities for Growth. This ranking aligns well with previous analysis which showed the 25-34-year-old segment as the fastest growing demographic locally. Additionally, the area ranked among the top mid-sized metros in rankings for manufacturing (Advisor Smith) and entrepreneurship (Cloud Kitchen). All of these accolades reflect the area’s continued significant growth along with a diversifying economic base.
Two major primary employment announcements occurred during the year. Dollar Tree announced plans to construct a 1.7 million sq. ft. distribution center in the new Florida Crossroads Commerce Park which will result in a capital investment of more than $210 million and will create 700 new jobs. This will be the first facility in the new Florida Crossroads Commerce Park seeking to ignite growth in the southwest portion of the community. GTI, a publicly traded company in Canada, announced that an affiliate had purchased the former Mark III complex and would begin redevelopment efforts in the first quarter of 2020. The company is a major player in the medical cannabis industry and the complex will be a cultivation and processing facility. The first phase of the project will result in a $20 million investment and the creation of 100 new jobs. Continue reading
