Publishers Note: My name is Tom Loury Publisher of Ocala DownTown newspaper, Seniors Voice of Ocala, Village Spectator and Lady Lake Magazine. The situation we are writing about is a long time problem. Walter Krumm Jr. a personal a friend ask me to attend a committee meeting Don Browning was organizing. The committee was mostly made up of Ocala Ft King Lions Club members: Jack Mattheus, Walters Krumm Jr, Bob Cole, Ron White and of course Don Browning and myself.
We went and toured the area and it was clear to see there was a problem. It is a problem created by road engineering from a long time ago and added to by some citizens. For instance there is a big retention pond hundreds of feet away, but someone has fenced a piece of property with no county easement allowed. In other words the fence is 3 inches from the pavement. At the base of any fence is grass growth and build up which is pushing the water in the direct of this lady’s house and yard. Not far from this is the said retention pond and where the water is supposed to go, but someone has piled a mound of dirt so water cannot go in. This looks intentional! A bit further down, there is a make shift patch someone dug, a small relief drainage, which is apparently is not working. Continue reading
Executive Orders 17-188 and 17-189:
Regarding State Attorney Reassignment
Please see Executive Order 17-188 and Executive Order 17-189 which reassign to State Attorney Brad King the investigation, presentation to the grand jury, and all matters related to criminal charges referenced in the Executive Orders against Callene Marcia Barton and Lakesha Chantell Lewis.
On July 7, 2017, Callene Marcia Barton and Lakesha Chantell Lewis were arrested for First-degree Felony Murder and Aggravated Child Abuse after inflicting fatal injuries upon a three-year-old victim. As reported in the Orange County Sheriff’s Office arrest affidavit, Lewis attacked the three-year-old with a plastic rod, repeatedly striking the child until the rod broke apart. The victim’s mother attempted to intervene and removed the child to another room, but Barton pursued them and grabbed the child by an arm and a leg, throwing him down a hallway, the impact of which caused his neck to turn and his body began convulsing. Barton prevented the victim’s mother from calling the police, but the woman fled from the residence and called the authorities from a neighbor’s phone. The minor victim was transported to a hospital, but succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead several hours later. The arrest affidavit notes the child had other bruising on his body that had begun to heal, consistent with evidence of prior physical abuse.
A large crowd of business people attending the Ocala Business Leaders weekly breakfast had the pleasure of listening to an update by Tom Ingram and April Savarese of what used to be Gateway Bank and now is Center State Bank and how the transition is going.
CEP – Click to learn more
