Exciting news! We officially launched the Republican Women’s Caucus at the White House on Wednesday alongside President Trump. This new group, made up of female GOP members in the House and Senate, will ensure American issues are women’s issues as we fight to secure the border, restore our energy dominance, and strengthen our economy during the Golden Age of America. I’m thrilled to be the founder and co-chair of the caucus alongside Senator Katie Britt in its inaugural year.
You can watch the news and video from the White House announcement below, and see a bit more of my own personal news—my husband Matt and I are expecting our first baby later this year! I was thrilled to share this news alongside dozens of my fellow female conservative lawmakers who know just how important women and girls are to the future of our nation. Continue reading
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General James Uthmeier’s Office of Statewide Prosecution secured a guilty conviction of the owner of Olympus Pools who defrauded Floridians. James Ivan Staten, Jr., owner and operator of Olympus Pools, stole more than $1.5 million from Floridians and failed to complete customer pools. Staten was found guilty of 35 counts, including aggravated white-collar crime, organized scheme to defraud, grand theft, and contractor fraud. Staten accepted large down payments and left many customers in Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, and Polk counties with no pools and destroyed yards.
“I’m proud to announce that Prosecutors Stephanie Bergen and Panagiota Papakos secured a guilty conviction for this fraudster who turned many Floridians’ dreams of a backyard paradise into a nightmare, taking their money and digging holes to nowhere,” said Attorney General James Uthmeier. “Little did this fraudster know, he’d be digging himself into a 20-year minimum prison sentence.” Continue reading
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.— Attorney General James Uthmeier directed an investigation into proxy advisors Glass Lewis & Co. and Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS) for potential misrepresentations related to their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) investing policies in violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and possible unlawful collusion in adopting and enforcing these policies in violation of the Florida Antitrust Act of 1980. Civil Investigative Demands will be forthcoming.
“We won’t allow ESG goals to handcuff Florida businesses and threaten Floridians investments,” said Attorney General James Uthmeier. “If these proxy advisors use their overwhelming market power to advance partisan political agendas rather than maximizing shareholder value, we will hold them accountable.”
Glass Lewis and ISS provide vote recommendations to institutional investors and control a large share of the proxy-advisory market, with some estimates as high as 97%. Institutional investors, such as those who manage the portfolios of many Americans’ retirement accounts, rely on proxy advisors to direct them on how to vote their shares. Thus, the decisions of proxy advisors have a substantial influence over how major American companies are run. Continue reading
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.— Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that the Consumer Protection Division secured a lifetime ban and final judgments totaling more than $4 million settling ongoing litigation related to a Florida-based moving brokerage scheme. Charles Abrams, Rudolph Rice, and Daniel Metz operated a common enterprise of moving brokerage companies, including Gold Standard Moving and Storage and others.
“We will not tolerate shady moving operators scamming hardworking Floridians,” said Attorney General James Uthmeier. “Thanks to the work of Senior Assistant Attorney General Josie Warren, Deputy Director Sasha Funk Granai, and Assistant Attorney General Pooneh Charkhian-Martinez of the Consumer Protection Division, these operators and entities are permanently banned from the moving business in Florida and will be paying millions of dollars in monetary judgments.” Continue reading
Apr 01
Dining With Diabetes: 4-part Class Series
1:30 PM – 3:30 PM UF/IFAS Extension Lake County in Tavares4/14/84/154/22
This 4-part class series gives the opportunity to better understand diabetes, its related factors, nutrition education, and effective management strategies.
Apr 04
Exploration Hike
8:00 AM – 9:30 AM Ferndale Preserve in Clermont4/45/26/67/4 Plus More
Join staff and explore the habitats and species of Ferndale Preserve. Hike intensity: Vigorous. Reservations required.
Apr 04
First Friday
6:00 PM – 9:00 PM Downtown Eustis in Eustis
Join us for our Eustis First Friday Street Party from 6 – 9 p.m.! Our family-friendly monthly street parties host a wide variety of food, vendors and more.
Apr 05
Umatilla Garden Club
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM Umatilla Public Library in Umatilla4/55/3
Connect with local garden enthusiasts and cultivate your green thumb!
Apr 05
Wetland Excursion – Hidden Waters Preserve
9:00 AM – 12:00 PM Hidden Waters Preserve in Eustis
Join us for a fast paced guided hike at Hidden Waters Preserve to explore the diverse ecosystems within the Preserve, including the plants and animals and more.
On September 25, 1988, a victim was found deceased 30 feet off the side of CR 474 in Clermont. The victim had been deceased for 2 – 4 weeks in a rural, heavily wooded area. The victim was initially thought to be female until 2015, when DNA testing revealed the victim was biologically male. The victim was wearing a skirt and had breast implants, and there is evidence she may have been taking female hormone injections. It is unknown if the victim had undergone any other gender reassignment surgery.
With the support of Dr. Barbara Wolf, the District Medical Examiner for Districts 5 and 24, the case was evaluated by the DNA Doe Project. The DNA Doe Project is a non-profit organization that utilizes investi-gative genetic genealogy to identify unidentified remains. Continue reading
Date: 04/09/2025 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Location: Downtown Square
1 SE Broadway St.
Ocala, Florida 34471
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Sunset Songs Series
Music lovers of all ages will enjoy Sunset Songs Series! This free concert series on the downtown square brings you the best local and regional artists performing funk, blues, reggae, and country originals as the sun goes down. Kick back and soak in the melodies with the perfect Wednesday night activity. If you love music and sunsets, the Sunset Songs Series is for you! End your day on a melodic high note at these not-to-be-missed community concerts.
Monthly concerts September through May featuring top-notch musical talent
All concerts are 100% free – just bring your lawn chair or blanket!
Unwind and discover great new music in a gorgeous outdoor setting
Grab a bite to eat at one of our many amazing local downtown restaurants
Headlining Act: Feverdreams
Born off the back of a COVID 19-induced dissolution of their former band, The States, and the isolation of the lockdown, Joshua Jacobs and Matthew Weisberg started dreaming up what would be next for their musical endeavors. Two ideas emerged: forming of a new musical project they called Feverdreams and an in-home recording studio, Kindred House Studio.
After working musically together for the better part of a decade, Weisberg and Jacobs had a type of secret language only they could understand. They began writing and producing their own songs, seeking a more blue-collar, “DIY” approach than previously done. They released their first single, “Wildfire”, a roots-driven rock song pushing them into the subgenre of heartland rock. Continue reading
Fridays | March 14 – May 16 | 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Webb Field | 1501 W Silver Springs
Levitt AMP Ocala – Public Art Project
The City of Ocala in partnership with, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Commission, Juneteenth Celebration Committee, and Marion Cultural Alliance (MCA) is excited to be working on the 2025 Levitt AMP Ocala Music Series. This will be our 9th year celebrating the series.
The Levitt AMP Ocala Music Series is supported in part by the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation, which partners with changemakers and nonprofits across the country to activate underused outdoor spaces, creating welcoming and inclusive destinations where the power of free, live music brings people together, fosters belonging, and invigorates community life. www.levitt.org.
Medicare Now Covers Less Invasive Colorectal Cancer Tests
(NewsUSA) – Expanded Screening Coverage Can Reduce Needless Deaths
Colorectal cancer deaths are declining, but shocking regional, racial and ethnic disparities remain. Ac-cording to the American Cancer Society, Latinos in the United States are more likely to die from colorec-tal cancer than those in many Central and South American countries, and death rates among Black men and women are 40% higher than their white counterparts. Rural residents are also far more likely to die from this often-preventable disease than those in urban areas. Much of this is due to lack of screening.
Colorectal cancer care groups, minority healthcare advocates and doctors have long held that virtual colonoscopy, or CT Colonography, can overcome cultural stigmas and anxiety associated with this screening. In January, Medicare began covering virtual colonoscopy – which uses a CT scanner to gen-erate 3D, moving images of the colon that doctors examine for signs of cancer and for precancerous polyps, which can be removed before they become cancers. Continue reading
Governor Ron DeSantis Welcomes SpaceX’s Starship Operations to Florida
TALLAHASSEE Fla.—Today, Governor Ron DeSantis welcomed SpaceX’s decision to bring Starship launch capacities and processing operations to Florida. Starship will be the first rapidly and fully reusable launch vehicle in history, designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
In support of these missions, SpaceX will construct new launch and landing infrastructure for Starship at multiple pads within NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, pending environmental approval, as well as a new integration facility, called Gigabay, which will have more than 40 million cubic feet of vehicle processing space. The project includes at least $1.8 billion of SpaceX capital investment and will bring an estimated 600 new full-time jobs in the Space Coast by 2030. Continue reading
