VOLUME 3 ISSUE 52
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DECEMBER 30, 2022 - JANUARY 5, 2023
THE 2022 STORIES THAT SHAPED OCALA Photos By Bruce Ackerman Ocala Gazette
Commissioners will consider pausing new development By Jennifer Hunt Murty jennifer@ocalagazette.com
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Top left: Hunter Winterbauer, 9, right, leads his pig, “Nightmare,” to his stall as he gets some help from his sister, Rylie, 14, center, and Alexis Riley, 17, left, during the weigh-in for the Swine Show for the Southeastern Youth Fair at the Southeastern Livestock Pavilion in Ocala on Thursday, March 3, 3022. Top right: A large pelican rests on a fountain with two cormorants in Lake Tuscawilla at Tuscawilla Park in Ocala on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. Middle left: A cattle dog helps keep steers together as members of the Marion County Cattlemen’s Association lead cattle past the Ocala Downtown Square during the Cattle Drive and Cowboy Round-Up in Ocala on Saturday, February 12, 2022. Middle right: Four-year-old Harper Gladney was surprised to find Tootsie Rolls under the lid of a toilet that was set up as a joke display at the new Grandpa Joe’s Candy Shop on the Ocala Downtown Square in Ocala on Tuesday, April 12, 2022. Bottom left: Lorraine Carroll, 95, wears a period dress as she poses for a photo at Fort King National Historic Landmark on East Fort King Street in Ocala on Saturday, July 9, 2022. Bottom right: Vanguard players celebrate their win over Ridgeview in the FHSAA Class 5A Region final at Vanguard High School in Ocala on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022.
The new year is right around the corner, but before we usher in 2023, let’s review the Ocala Gazette’s staff picks of the Top 10 Stories that shaped Ocala in 2022. See Ten stories, page A4
t a Dec. 21 special meeting of the Marion County Board of County Commissioners, Commissioner Kathy Bryant asked that the board set a time to discuss pumping the brakes on approving proposed developments considering the county’s increasingly stressed infrastructure or the budget to improve it. “I would like to challenge our board to take the next few weeks to really think about what we are doing with planning and zoning,’’ Bryant told fellow commissioners Michelle Stone and Craig Curry at the close of the meeting. “I really think it would be worthy of us to consider a pause, as was brought up before, when it comes to approving new development.” “We have so much infrastructure that we are behind on and that we have no idea where it’s going to happen, how it’s going to happen, how we’re going to fund what we need for all of the growth that we’ve already approved. And I’m not saying a building moratorium. There is plenty of stuff out there that’s already been approved,“ she said. Bryant pointed out that the commissioners don’t know how they are going to fund much of the necessary infrastructure improvement, including transportation, public safety, wastewater utilities and other issues. Bryant pointed to the board’s conversation about a huge residential project near Silver Springs Shores, Maricamp and Baseline Road the board did not approve just the day before. She described it as a mess when it comes to traffic and asked how the board could approve more building when “we have no plan to fix that situation out there.” Bryant suggested a sixmonth pause on approving new development while the county worked on their planning. “There has to be a lot of discussion on that, particularly with the Builders Association and Realtors, and everybody else involved in that industry,” replied Curry, the board chair. Bryant responded, “With all due respect commissioner, it is not up to them. We are here to plan that, and See Development, page A2
10 big legal battles to watch in 2023 By Jim Saunders Florida News Service
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rom abortion to Big Tech to guns, Florida heads into 2023 with courts weighing high-profile legal fights. Here are 10 issues to watch: — ABORTION: The Florida Supreme
Court is considering a challenge to a new law that prevents abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. But the case could have broader implications, as the state wants justices to reverse more than three decades of legal precedent that has said a privacy clause in the Florida Constitution protects abortion rights. The outcome could help
determine whether Republican lawmakers pass more-stringent abortion limits. — BIG TECH: The U.S. Supreme Court is expected in early January to decide whether it will take up a highprofile case about a 2021 Florida law that placed restrictions on major social-media companies such as Facebook and Twitter.
Florida went to the Supreme Court after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in May upheld much of a preliminary injunction against the law on First Amendment grounds. — ELECTIONS: After a federal See Legal, page A2
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INSIDE:
School Changes............................. A3 State News...................................... A6 Historic Home............................... B1 Couch Session................................ B3 Calendar......................................... B5
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