Date: 03/21/2026 9:30 AM – 3:00 PM
Location: Jervey Gantt Recreation Complex
2200 SE 36 Ave, Ocala, Florida 34470
The First Friday Art Walk takes place the first Friday of each month, October through May from 6 to 9 p.m. First Friday Art Walk is a free event located within Ocala’s historic downtown. Event festivities include over 30 artist displays, monthly live entertainment, free family art activities provided by local arts organizations and extended shopping hours. The public is invited to enjoy an evening of art, live performances, and downtown shops and restaurants.
Sent on Behalf of the Marion County Republican Executive Committee (MCREC)
Dear Board Member
Subject: Promises Made / Promises Broken
The school board made a commitment to the Marion County citizens that it would conduct a national search to fill the leadership role of School Superintendent. This commitment was discarded, as honestly noted with concern by Board member Cummings during the Dec 18th Board meeting.
First – We have no malice or adverse position against Dr Brewer; however, we do object to circumventing the promised process to nationally seek and evaluate all qualified candidates. The MCREC supports selecting the best leader to improve the lagging academic performance of this school district. We request the continued evaluation of the current leadership while conducting the national search process. This approach accomplishes two complementary goals;
- a) assessing on-going student performance / improvement, and
- b) completing a competitive leadership search to sustain long-term improvement.
By Tom James
‘We All Have Hidden Potential’
Mireyli Hernandez, Ameris Bank
Merriam-Webster describes art as “a personal, unanalyzable creative power” and “the faculty of executing well what one has devised.”
Art comes in an infinite number of forms, as Mireyli Hernandez proves.
“My artistic inspiration,” she says. “comes to life through welded metal art.”
A vice president and business banker with Ameris Bank, Mireyli describes using Fluxcore welding—a welding process using a continuously fed tubular electrode popular for its simplicity—to transform scrap metal into unique sculptures, most often working with stainless steel.
“I love incorporating materials like bearings, sprockets, bicycle chains, and everyday utensils—forks, spoons, and butter knives. Most of these pieces come from friends and others who pass along their leftover metal because they know I enjoy creating with it.” Continue reading
By TomL
I would like to tell you about an amazing medical team. But the story must start back a few weeks before in the Shans medical emergency room Ocala Fl.. My wife fell and hit her head on the corner molding opening her head up quit a bit it took nine staples to close her up. We took her to the Shan’s emergency room in Ocala located I-75 and SR 27, nice clean looking facility no waiting quick service. After closing the wound. They had to check to see if she had internal damage, she did not but “oh no” there a mass (tumor) in her head, The doctors were surprised. They recommended we take her to a neurosurgeon with urgency.
I’m a newspaper guy so I know a little bit about research. My research told me the best neurosurgeon was Doctor Jacob Freeman, he is one of the few that does this kind of surgery. He is very busy and was kind hard to access. His staff was on it. When I told the Surgical Nurse I was afraid my wife was on her way out and she needed his help. That was New Year’s Eve, he said go to the HCA emergency room now, he will call ahead and after checking her they would give her a room and begin testing. Three days of testing they had scheduled her surgery for the next week. Surgery date was approved. While talking to Doctor Freeman he said he has been working with an ear nose and throat specialist a Doctor Jose L. Ziron Jr. MD so we were waiting to see if he could assist. Next day they scheduled the operation. Continue reading
Washington, D.C. — Congresswoman Kat Cammack (R-FL) joined House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) at a women’s leadership luncheon on Capitol Hill to reaffirm her unwavering commitment to protecting women’s sports and ensuring fairness, safety, and equal opportunity for female athletes.
During the event, Rep. Cammack shared the resistance she faced when raising the issue of protecting women’s sports while serving as chair of the bipartisan Women’s Caucus.
“In the final minutes of a meeting to determine the initiatives we would champion, I suggested we take a position on protecting women’s sports,” Cammack said. “What followed was immediate pushback and accusations simply for raising the issue. That moment made it clear to me that we could not stay silent.”
Following that experience, Rep. Cammack founded the Republican Women’s Caucus to ensure women have a dedicated platform to defend their rights and preserve the integrity of women’s athletics. Continue reading
By TomL
Is it a Bird? Is it a Plane? NO it’s Superman! Oops NO! wrong hero!
One of my favorite hero’s was John Wayne and the character parts he played. But remind yourself it was make believe. He was always the hero and the last movie I remember watching. At the end there was big open field and the gang of bad guys were calling him out he got on his horse Duke, and hollered “Fill your hands you SOB,s!” took the reins in his teeth, he road against the whole gang of bad guys guns blazing guns one in each hand. Remember that was make believe!
Fast forward to modern day hero which this is not make believe, I bring you Donald J. Trump. Is he a bully maybe? Does he do what he says he is going to do, probably? Remember Trump is always setting someone up to negotiate. Did it work? Most of the time. I did not like the words “We are going to take Greenland!” As you can see we did not, but we did get a sweet deal and that was what he wanted in the beginning. But saying we are going to take them over bothered me. The people in Greenland are living a quiet life not bothering anyone but quietly the Russians and Chinese are trying to take control of them.We need it for defensive reasons to for us to build “The Big Beautiful Golden Dome” we want it to protect ourselves and everyone else on the other side of Greenland from Chinese and Russian missiles. With the Dome we would have a chance to shoot them down. Continue reading
Our Treasurer, Jean, attended an event at Hotel Eastport. Attendees were able to tour the new hotel located in The Villages.
Over 40 local businesses attended the Lady Lake area Chamber of Commerce January networking breakfast at First watch Join us the first Tuesday of the month from 8 to 9 AM to meet your next referral.
Lady Lake, FL – The Orange Blossom Gardens (OBG) Lions Club has announced a commitment to fund monthly truck rental costs for the Community of Gratitude Food Pantry for one year, ensuring the organization can continue securing large-scale food donations from Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida.
The funding will provide $500 per month for 12 months to cover rental fees for a moving truck required to transport pallets of food from Second Harvest’s Orlando distribution center to the pantry’s local facilities. The initiative addresses a critical logistical barrier that has limited the pantry’s ability to obtain high-volume donations needed to meet growing community demand.
Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida is one of the largest hunger-relief organizations in the region, distributing millions of pounds of donated food each year to partner agencies across more than half of Florida’s counties. Many of its most impactful donations are distributed by the pallet, requiring recipient organizations to have access to box trucks or similar vehicles for safe and efficient transport. Continue reading
