By Peter W. Wagner
Being part of a community – be it a town, neighborhood, church or social/service organization – was just about everyone’s desire when I was growing up as the youngest of two boys in a traditional family of four.
A dozen years later, when my wife and I were starting our first paper, I came to realize every town needed five things to exist: a locally owned and managed bank willing to support civic endeavors, a local school system with programs and sporting events that brought the people together, a community newspaper to create consensus, at least the semblance of retail stores offering a good selection of the everyday basics from groceries, clothing, auto parts to greeting cards and finally, because I live in Northwest Iowa, a locally owned and managed cooperative elevator.
But the times are changing. Everything is becoming multi-location and regional. Few small-town banks are still locally owned and managed. Most large corporate banking organizations are less interested in supporting local projects such as the rebuilding of the aging baseball field or the use of their lobby for a charity bake sale. Continue reading
The Annual senior Fishing Derby was a great success. The weather was great, the people were friendly, there were plenty of door prizes and the food was great. The Senior Fishing Derby is put on by the Ocala Parks and Recreation Department. Buses from the local senior living homes bring people to picnic and fish and seniors that live on their own attend and have a good time.
A Big Thank You To:
Volunteers: Bridgett R. Griffin, John N. Spencer, Charles Dobson, Allen G. Nelson, Jacob Baker, Patrick P. Gilman, William Rodriguez-Cayro, Grace Huffman, Connie C. DeLong, Dustin Echols of Clay Electric , Seth A. Crevison, Suzanne Shuffitt, Tom Loury.
Sponsors: Senior Voice, Nelson Lawn Service, Greater Hopewell Church, ASB Financial, Silver Springs Water, BJ Trophies, Clay Electric, Ocala Recreation and Parks.
Watch for next year’s announcement in this paper next year.
Nothing but Networking is a monthly event. The business people coming to the event numbers 50 to 100. They meet at a restaurant for lunch at 11:30 am, network for 30 minutes, then go to the seat you were assigned, where you networking with 8 business people at the table during lunch. When sitting at the table and networking it’s a more relaxed atmosphere. You learn more about the other business people and their business, you could refer them better. Businesses bring door prizes so there is a drawing and you might win a prize. It is a win-win business lunch meeting, trading cards and talking business.
Spring Fling was held at the Wildwood Community Center near Brownwood Paddock Square. There were over 75 vendors, free food, free admission, free entertainment, and free drawings all day. The Village Cheerleaders performed. The Village Twirlers, the drummer core, singing groups and all the vendors had free stuff at their tables. It was a site to behold! This event is held every year so watch in this newspaper for the ad telling you when and where.
By Dr. Matt Leavitt
A trip to the dermatologist has traditionally involved treatment for a specific skin problem like a rash, acne or a wart. Increasingly however patients are seeking care for a much more serious problem: skin cancer, which will affect one in five Americans in their lifetime.
This alarming increase in skin cancer incidence is leading board-certified dermatologists to take a proactive approach – urging patients to get full body examinations to identify potential skin cancers anywhere on the body, including areas where patients might not think skin cancer could occur.
The exam is simple, quick, and painless – but priceless for the early detection it offers.
More than 3 million people will be diagnosed with skin cancer this year, including nearly 200,000 Americans diagnosed with the deadliest form of skin cancer, melanoma.
When melanoma is detected early through exams like the Total-Body Skin Cancer Exam℠ offered at Advanced Dermatology, survival rates approach 99 percent. When detected at advanced stages, survival rates plummet to just 15 percent.
Because of the importance of early detection, health officials join together to mark Skin Cancer Awareness Month each year.
Who is at risk for skin cancer? Continue reading
Following four simple steps at home — Clean, Separate, Cook, and Chill — can help protect you and your loved ones from food poisoning.
Clean:
Wash your hands and surfaces often
Germs that cause food poisoning can survive in many places and spread around your kitchen.
Wash hands for 20 seconds with soap and water before, during, and after preparing food and before eating.
Wash your utensils, cutting boards, and countertops with hot, soapy water.
Rinse fresh fruits and vegetables under running water. Continue reading
Florida’s largest road project in half a century was given a green light Wednesday, after the House voted to send a bill creating three new toll roads to Gov. Ron DeSantis for approval. Overcoming opposition from environmental groups and questions about whether the roads were needed, the House voted 76-36 to start the ball rolling on creating one new toll road and extending one new one. The bill would extend the Suncoast Parkway to Georgia, extend Florida’s Turnpike to the Suncoast, and build a new toll road from the Naples area toward Interstate 4 near Orlando. Construction would begin in 2022 and be finished by 2030.
After about seven hours of angry, sometimes deeply painful debate about race and gun violence that spanned two days, the Florida House passed a bill Wednesday that would allow classroom teachers to be armed an expansion of the program it created last year after the Parkland shooting. The debate at times reached emotional heights that had Democrats shouting or tearing up as black members delved into details about their personal experiences with racism and their deep-seated fears about minority children being targeted by teachers who have guns. The bill is now on its way to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk. For teachers and other staff to be armed, school districts must opt-in to the so-called “Guardian program,” which allows teachers and other staff to volunteer to carry a gun on campus after undergoing screening and training by a local sheriff’s office.
The clock neared midnight Tuesday as Representatives in the Florida House debated at length over an amendment to a larger healthcare bill that would put a proposed cap on THC for smokable medical marijuana. House Democrats asked amendment sponsor Rep. Ray Rodrigues a series of questions related to the affordability of medical cannabis, potential for litigation and the issue of patients turning to the black market to treat their ailments with stronger marijuana. But at 11:50 p.m. the bill was temporarily postponed before the main debate on the bill even began. House Speaker José Oliva then told the chamber they’d be taking up SB 168, or the Senate’s version of a bill to ban so-called “sanctuary cities” in Florida. And that was that in the battle Democrats were waging against one of this session’s most controversial bills.
The Washington Post is reporting Wednesday that special counsel Robert Mueller sent a letter on March 27 to Attorney General William Barr expressing displeasure with the Department of Justice’s four-page summary of the investigation into Russian election interference and President Donald Trump. Barr’s brief summary for Congress “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance” of the 448-page investigation, Mueller said. The summary said Mueller found Trump did not collude with Russia and while Mueller was inconclusive on obstruction of justice, Barr determined Trump did not.
