MARION COUNTY, Florida (March 30, 2018)- After a thorough investigation conducted alongside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) detectives have arrested Lawrence Margulies (DOB: 03/18/1970) for possessing multiple files of child pornography. Margulies, a U.S. citizen who holds a Ph.D. in Physics, was working in Canada in 2017 when he was deported from the country for possessing child pornography. Margulies was residing with family in the On Top of the World subdivision in Marion County when he was arrested for the same offense Friday morning. Continue reading
The City of Ocala will host the annual Mayor’s Spring Cleanup event Saturday, April 21 from 8 to 11 a.m. at various locations throughout the city.
OCALA, Fla. (March 26, 2018) – The City of Ocala will host the annual Mayor’s Spring Cleanup event Saturday, April 21 from 8 to 11 a.m. at various locations throughout the city.
Community groups, businesses and volunteers are invited to participate in this event by collecting litter or cleaning up an area in our city. All litter collected will be brought to a collection site at Tuscawilla Park at the conclusion of the event. All participants will receive a free T-shirt. The deadline to register is Tuesday, April 3.
To register, or for more information, please contact City of Ocala Sanitation Division Head, Dwayne Drake, at ddrake@ocalafl.org or 352-351-6744.
Ocala Mayor Kent Guinn is joining mayors across the country in asking residents to make a long-term commitment to manage water resources more wisely by taking part in the annual Wyland National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation.
OCALA, Fla. (March 26, 2018) – Ocala Mayor Kent Guinn is joining mayors across the country in asking residents to make a long-term commitment to manage water resources more wisely by taking part in the annual Wyland National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation. In return, residents can win $5,000 toward their home utility payments, water saving fixtures and hundreds of other prizes. Plus, one lucky charity will receive a 2018 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid to serve the community.
The annual challenge, taking place Sunday, April 1 through Monday, April 30, is a non-profit national community service campaign to see which leaders can best inspire their residents to make a series of informative and easy-to-do online pledges at mywaterpledge.com to use water more efficiently, reduce pollution, and save energy. Continue reading
The City of Ocala will conduct a special waste amnesty day Saturday, April 21 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the corner of at NE 14th Street and NE Eighth Avenue.
OCALA, Fla. (March 27, 2018) – The City of Ocala will conduct a special waste amnesty day Saturday, April 21 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the corner of at NE 14th Street and NE Eighth Avenue.
Special waste consists of household hazardous waste and electronics. Neither of these types of waste is permitted to be picked up with regularly scheduled residential waste collection. Special waste from businesses will not be collected.
Examples of hazardous waste items accepted: Continue reading
The city that receives the most nominations will receive a $20,000 grant to improve a local park.
OCALA, Fl. (March 29, 2018) – For the fourth year in a row, the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) is collaborating with The Walt Disney Company — including Disney|ABC Television Group and ESPN — to help fund local park improvement projects across the country through the national “Meet Me at the Park” Earth Month campaign. The city that receives the most nominations will receive a $20,000 grant to improve a local park.
Local parks make Ocala a better place to live and shape so many of our lives. Parks are essential to our city’s health and wellbeing. They provide safe places to be active and enjoy nature—and they help preserve the environment and bring people together. That’s why from April 1 to April 30 Ocala residents will have the opportunity to nominate our city to receive $20,000 in grant funding to make improvements at a local park. Continue reading
March 30,0218
This week, I had the privilege of joining Governor Rick Scott and CFO Jimmy Patronis for the signing of SB 376 to help first responders receive Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder treatment. PTSD occurs when someone experiences a shocking, scary, or dangerous event. PTSD activates a fight-or-flight response in the body meant to protect a person from harm creating a range of emotions, such as extreme stress, depression and fear.
Our state has recently faced devastating tragedies, such as the attack at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando and the more recent massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. No amount of training can prepare the mind for the horrific scenes witnessed by first responding firefighters, law-enforcement, and paramedics in the wake of these unthinkable attacks. Florida’s first responders selflessly run into harm’s way to protect our communities without thinking about the emotional impact of their service. Continue reading
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Governor Rick Scott signed the following bills into law:
| CS/CS/SB 1392 | Criminal Justice – This bill increases transparency in the criminal justice system, authorizes the adult civil citation program, and revises the juvenile civil citation program. |
| SB 186 | The Resign-to-Run Law – This bill makes changes to the law on running for public office for current office holders. |
| CS/CS/CS/HB 165 | Written Threats to Conduct Mass Shootings or Acts of Terrorism – This bill prohibits a person from making, posting, or transmitting a threat to conduct a mass shooting or an act of terrorism in a way that allows another person to view the threat. |
(OCALA, Fla.) April 2, 2018 – A trailer meant to haul waste from a compactor at Golden Flake potato chip factory was involved in a fire, this morning.
Ocala Fire Rescue units were dispatched to the 3000 block of West Silver Springs Boulevard, where a trailer fire threatened to become a structure fire, due to the proximity of the enclosure to the building. Three engine companies, a tower truck, rescue and battalion chief respon
ded to the 7:00 AM fire. Separating the trailer from the building, firefighters attacked and extinguished the flames before they could spread.
No injuries were reported.
The City of Ocala is conducting an electronic survey to better understand residents’ opinions of Cultural Arts in the community.
OCALA, Fla. (April 2, 2018) – The City of Ocala is conducting an electronic survey to better understand residents’ opinions of Cultural Arts in the community. This survey is available to the public now through Sunday, April 15 at www.surveymonkey.com/r/ocalaculturalplan.
“The goal of this survey is to collect feedback from the community that will help the City of Ocala celebrate, protect and expand the cultural arts opportunities that make our community unique,” said Christian Dumay, Community Cultural Arts Plan Project Coordinator, City of Ocala. “This 28 question survey will ask participants how they relate to the arts, what kinds of cultural events they attend, types of art facilities they visit and more.” Continue reading
OCALA, Florida (April 2, 2018) – Nearly half of the workers living in Marion County leave the county for employment, with most commuting to Orange, Lake and Alachua counties, according to a new labor shed analysis of workforce and demographic characteristics commissioned by CareerSource Citrus Levy Marion.
At the same time, the daily outflow of workers under age 55 is slowing, with slight declines both as a percentage and in total numbers, while there was little change in the number of workers 55 and older commuting for employment.
The analysis highlights Marion County commuting patterns showing where workers work and where workers live. It was prepared by the Florida Department of Economic Development’s Bureau of Labor Market Statistics using 2015 annual Census data – the latest available. The labor shed report is designed to help economic developers and existing or prospective businesses determine where a labor market draws its commuting workers. Continue reading
