VOLUME 5 ISSUE 44
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NOVEMBER 1 - NOVEMBER 7, 2024
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Dunnellon High School to get another MCSO deputy
Trailblazer dies at 81
By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com
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unnellon High School will soon have two School Resource Officers stationed on campus after the school district amended its contract with the Marion County Sheriff ’s Office to provide another deputy. Across all Marion County Public Schools, MCSO will now have 41 deputies who work as SROs to monitor and protect schools. The district also has contracts with the Ocala Police Department and the Belleview Police Department to station law enforcement at every school in the district. Until now, Dunnellon High School has only had one SRO on campus. The school district now pays MCSO $3,075,000 to reimburse the department for the salaries of the deputies. Each deputy earns a salary of $75,000 for the 2024-25 school year. The original SRO agreement with MCSO was approved on June 28, 2022. The contract was last amended on August 27, 2024. Both are in effect until June 30, 2025. “(MCPS) will not begin paying for this additional SRO before the sheriff ’s office has assigned a qualified and trained SRO to the school location,” according to the school board agenda. The district’s contract with MCSO previously cost $3 million per year for the 40 SROs. In August, the district also amended its contract with OPD to station two SROs at Marion Technical Institute, two SROs at Vanguard High School and three SROs at West Port High School. Previously, MTI had one, Vanguard High had one and West Port High had two. The amendment cost the district an additional $253,099, with the yearly salary of each SRO being $84,366. In total, the district will pay OPD $1,687,330 for the 2024-25 school year for 20 officers. MCPS is required to arrange for law enforcement to be present at all public schools, in accordance with the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act. The law requires that every public school in the state of Florida either have an SRO employed by a law enforcement agency, a School Safety Officers employed by the district, or a School Guardian employed by the school who is armed and authorized to act in active assailant incidents at a school, according to the law.
Patti Lumpkin’s career in law enforcement spanned 35 years and her dedication to community service was even more lengthy. By Susan Smiley-Height susan@magnoliamediaco.com atti Lumpkin was known for her toughness, which she had to have to blaze trails as she did in law enforcement. But she also had a tender heart filled
with care and concern especially for children and animals. Lumpkin, 81, died Oct. 28 in Ocala. She had a stellar career with the Marion County Sheriff ’s Office, which began with some volunteer work. The “Gazette’s” sister See Lumpkin, page A6
Patti Lumpkin poses for a portrait in April 2023 at Project Hope in Ocala, which she helped found in 2007. [Photo by Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Style and Ocala Gazette]
An Ocala tradition
The annual bull sale once again brought top-level livestock and consignors to Marion County. Photos by Bruce Ackerman Ocala Gazette
Clockwise from above left: A bull is auctioned off by auctioneer Chad “Cracker” Johnson, left, as Garrett Peebles leads the bull in the sales ring during the 69th-annual Ocala Graded Bull Sale at the Southeastern Livestock Pavilion in Ocala on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. Jonny Harris of Greenview Farms in Screven, Ga., who said he is one of the consignors who has been coming to the Ocala Bull Sale the longest (for about 40 years), accepts a higher bid on a bull. Bruce Thomas III, 2, watches as bulls are auctioned off with his parents, Bruce Jr. and Ginger.
By Andy Fillmore andy@ocalagazette.com
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ome 60 pre-graded bulls went on the auction block at the 69th annual Ocala Graded Bull Sale, touted as “the nation’s oldest continuous graded bull sale,” on Oct. 29 at the Southeastern Livestock Pavilion.
The sale, presented by the Marion County Cattlemen’s Association, was postponed about two weeks by the effects of Hurricane Milton. At least 200 bidders and spectators gathered for the event, which featured 10 breeds of bulls from Angus to Ultra Black, offered by consignors locally and in areas including Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee
and Missouri. Sale manager Sammie Albritton stated in a text after the sale that he was pleased with the outcome. “All in all, it was a great day. The purebred breeders were happy with the prices and the local buyers were happy with the quality of the bulls,” Albritton wrote. See Bull, page A2
MCSO patrol vehicle stolen Ocala man, 41, reportedly told deputies he is known for stealing cars, his arrest affidavit notes. By Andy Fillmore andy@ocalagazette.com
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he 41-year-old Ocala man charged with stealing a Marion County Sheriff ’s Office patrol vehicle with an MCSO issued rifle inside on Oct. 26 reportedly told officers they’d better have their car doors
locked because he’s known for stealing cars, according to an arrest affidavit. James M. Brady, 41, of Ocala was arrested and charged with fleeing and eluding police and failing to obey a law enforcement order to stop, grand theft of a motor vehicle, aggravated battery on an officer, firefighter or EMT and
armed burglary of a structure of conveyance, according to Marion County Jail records. The jail records do not indicate any bond amount. The arrest affidavit states the incident unfolded as two deputies responded to a location in the 1500 block of Southeast 59th Street and contacted Brady, who said he
“needed assistance” and asked for medical attention because he had “taken drugs” and was concerned he would be taken to jail. One of the deputies told Brady he would not be jailed but Brady asked for two medical personnel to respond and then remarked “you better have your See Patrol, page A2
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Ocala Film Derby.......................... A4 Downtown Water Tank Mural.... A8 Bird of the Week............................ B5 Calendar......................................... B6 Sports.............................................. B8
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