VOLUME 5 ISSUE 29
More on 911
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JULY 19 - JULY 25, 2024
One trowel at a time
Ocala’s historic Fort King is continuing to yield archaeological clues about the history of the area and the people who called the site their home. Photos By Bruce Ackerman Ocala Gazette
City seeks appeal in 2014 prayer vigil case after federal judge ruled against Ocala By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com
T Clockwise from left: Clint Gallant, Stephanie Bauman and Maraiya Sanchez, left to right, work on an archaeological dig near the reconstructed Fort at Fort King National Historic Landmark on Southeast Fort King Street in Ocala on Monday, July 15, 2024. An old nail that was just unearthed. Pieces of an old, decorated clay pipe.
By Susan Smiley-Height susan@magnoliamediaco.com
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lthough Hurricane Gladys blew through Ocala on Oct. 19, 1968, the name of the Category 2 storm remains on the lips of archaeologists interested in what lies below ground at the Fort King National Historic Landmark. Almost 56 years later, professionals from the Gulf Archaeological Research Institute, or GARI, along with three students and a handful of devoted volunteers, are continuing to search for answers related to a cache of more than 130 bottles that were recovered at the site after Gladys toppled a tree and a young boy spotted the array of whiskey, beer and
champagne vessels. From July 15 to 19, two teams have been diligently excavating “units” at the site that align with historic photos from the time of the find. They hope to not only find more artifacts such as bottles, but perhaps even trowel up information about some kind of structure that may have been at the site of the treasure trove. On Saturday, July 20, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., members of the community are invited to join the search during Public Archaeology Day and learn what has been discovered during this excavation. The national landmark located at 3925 E. Fort King St. in Ocala, which includes the Fort King Visitor Center and Archaeological Resource Center, is owned jointly by the city of Ocala and Marion
County. The Fort King Heritage Foundation has a mission of preserving, protecting and promoting the national landmark site while serving as a citizen support group to cultivate and sustain a public-private partnership with private donors and local, state and federal governments. According to the city of Ocala’s website, “Fort King was a typical U.S. Army frontier fort and a noteworthy symbol of the longest and costliest war America had with its native people—the Second Seminole War. Fort King is a narrative that speaks of a complicated history as relates to the occupation of the State of Florida and beyond. It is the story of a young country struggling to thrive and of native inhabitants trying to See Fort, page A4
MCPS awards high school bid to Wharton-Smith after controversy By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com
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Kevin Sheilley, president and CEO of the Ocala Metro Chamber & Economic Partnership, speaks in approval of moving forward with the new high school project by awarding the bid to Wharton-Smith Inc. at a Marion County School Board workshop on July 11. [Ocala Gazette]
he Marion County School Board has opted to move forward with the new high school project by awarding the bid to Wharton-Smith Inc., the firm that was chosen at the beginning of a monthslong controversy over the district’s procurement policies. The decision was made on July 11 to give the district the best chance of opening the school for the 2026-27 academic year. The board approved the contract after a workshop to discuss next steps and a special school board meeting was convened to make a final vote. In April, a district selection committee chose Wharton-Smith Inc. as the winning bidder for the $120 million contract to build a high school in Marion Oaks. In the days and weeks following, competing firm Ausley Construction and School Board Member Sarah James were accused of tampering with the procurement See New, page A2
he Ocala City Council has appealed a federal judge’s decision that a 2014 prayer vigil held in the Ocala Downtown Square was unconstitutional. The appeal, filed in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, marks the second time Ocala has appealed U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan’s decisions. Corrigan serves in the Ocala Division of the Middle District of Florida. If the city were to accept Corrigan’s decision, it would have to pay about $500,000 in legal fees to the plaintiffs. If the city wins, there is a chance for the plaintiffs to be responsible for the fees. Initially, Councilmembers Jay Musleh and Jim Hilty expressed a desire to settle rather than appeal the outcome to put the issue to rest and not defer the accumulated costs to future city councilmembers. When it came to a vote, however, all five city council members voted unanimously to fight the decision. The city is represented by attorneys Abigail Southerland and Geoffrey Surtees through the American Center for Law and Justice. “In this case, the city’s involvement was arguably less involved than prior examples of history,” Southerland said. “Here, the police department and select city officials expressed their support for the prayer vigil in light of the crime spree, but private citizens have repeatedly attested to the fact that they took primary responsibility for actually organizing the vigil.” The vigil, which took place in September 2014, was backed by the late and former Ocala Police Department Chief Greg Graham who asked citizens to pray for the end of violent crime after a series of shootings. After attending the vigil, plaintiffs Art Rojas, Lucinda Hale, Faniel Hale and Frances Jean Porgal filed the lawsuit against the city, Graham and then-Mayor Kent Guinn. The plaintiffs argued that hosting a government-backed prayer vigil in the Ocala Downtown Square violated the Establishment Clause of the Constitution. Corrigan first ruled in 2018 that the vigil was unconstitutional, then was directed to reconsider the case in 2022 when the city appealed the decision and won in the 11th Circuit. This June, Corrigan again ruled that the city violated the constitution by hosting the vigil. Southerland argued that the District Court still relied on the now-defunct Lemon Test in its ruling. “We do believe there are strong precedents of historical practices that See Prayer, page A5
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