VOLUME 6 ISSUE 42
The Ocala Symphony Orchestra celebrates 50 seasons
October 24 - 30, 2025
$2
Pg B6
Local sauce company gets Walmart deal By Jennifer Hunt Murty jennifer@ocalagazette.com
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arion County’s own José Juarez, creator of the awardwinning 455 Sauce, has landed a deal to bring his handcrafted condiment to Walmart stores. Already sold at almost 300 Publix supermarkets, the artisan sauce will debut
in 100 Walmart stores by the end of the year, with plans to expand as production scales up. But the story of 455 Sauce began long before Walmart. Juarez first created the sauce nearly a decade ago after his wife, Kelly, encouraged him to enter “America’s New Grill Star,” a national contest hosted by “Live with Kelly and Michael” in 2015.
“So, I entered a combined Cuban sandwich and hamburger that I called the Cuban Missile — pulled pork, sweet ham, ground rib-eye steak, Swiss cheese and grilled pickles,” Juarez recalled. “I used to put mayo and mustard on it, but I knew I needed something unique to put me over the top.” That “something” became the 455 Sauce.
“I started playing around to find the perfect sauce, and after three days, I had it,” he said. Inspired by his love for classic cars, Juarez named the sauce after his 1971 Pontiac GTO’s 455 engine, a nod to both speed and precision. 455 Sauce is known for its rich blend of highSee Sauce company page A9
Jose Juarez, "The BarbaCuban," holds his BarbaCuban 455 Everything Sauce at his Victory Solutions marketing office on Southeast First Avenue in Ocala, Fla. on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. The 455 sauce was chosen to be sold in Walmart stores during a visit to Bentonville, AR last week. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette]
Marion County schools examine consolidation, excess capacity in north end
Breast cancer rates remain stubbornly high in Marion County By Jennifer Hunt Murty jennifer@ocalagazette.com
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According to district data, a school is considered to have capacity if enrollment is below 90% of its Florida Inventory of School Houses (FISH) capacity. For the 2025–26 school year, Fessenden Elementary is at 95%
reast cancer rates in Marion County remain higher than the state average, and local officials and advocates say more residents must commit to regular screenings to reverse the trend. According to the Florida Department of Health, Marion County recorded a breast cancer incidence rate of about 150.5 cases per 100,000 women in 2022, compared with Florida’s statewide rate of roughly 134.6 per 100,000. The county’s breast cancer death rate was 22.7 per 100,000, above the state rate of 18.1. These numbers place Marion in the state’s highest quartile for both cases and deaths. At the Oct. 6 commission meeting, Commissioner Michelle Stone, a two-time breast cancer survivor, read a proclamation declaring October “Breast Cancer Awareness Month” and urged residents to act. “Screening utilization rates for women 40 and older in Marion County are below the Florida average and have declined since 2007 despite increased awareness and access,” Stone said. “Only about half of eligible women get annual mammograms.”
See Schools examine, page A5
See Breast cancer, page A2
Madison Street Academy is shown on Northwest Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in Ocala, Fla. on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] By Jennifer Hunt Murty jennifer@ocalagazette.com
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arion County Public Schools is studying ways to reduce operational costs and address excess school capacity,
particularly in the northern end of the county where several campuses serve fewer than 400 students. When district administration offered school board members options during a, Oct. 17 workshop, more than three hours of discussion bled into a host of possibilities.
Netflix documentary shown in Ocala
A woman raises her arms during the Celebration of Life for Ajike “AJ” Owens at Meadowbrook Church in Ocala on June 12, 2023. Owens was killed on June 2 by neighbor Susan Lorincz who shot her through her closed door. [Bruce Ackerman/ Ocala Gazette file photo]
‘The Perfect Neighbor’ details events up to and after the shooting death of Ajike Owens by Susan Lorincz. By Andy Fillmore andy@ocalagazette.com
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he award-winning 2025 Netflix documentary “The Perfect Neighbor,” about events leading up to and after the June 2, 2023, shooting death of Ajike “A.J.” Owens through a locked door by Susan
Lorincz, was shown Oct. 17 at the Kingdom Revival Church in Ocala. The documentary’s title comes from a video segment in which Lorincz is heard describing herself as “the perfect neighbor.” The 96-minute film “reconstructs events before and after (the shooting) using interviews, 911 audio
and on-scene police bodycamera footage,” according to Tudum by Netflix at netflix.com. A Marion County Sheriff ’s Office spokesperson said an undetermined amount of body camera video was obtained by public record requests and some footage appears to have come from another source.
The showing was sponsored by the Marion County Chapter of the NAACP, Second Bethlehem Baptist Association, Black Voters Matter, EG: Equal Ground, Black Women’s Roundtable, All About the Ballots and Florida for All. The shooting in Ocala See Perfect Neighbor page A4
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