VOLUME 6 ISSUE 43
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October 31 - November 6, 2025
Officials, environmental groups oppose railroad tie shredding operation By Jennifer Hunt Murty jennifer@ocalagazette.com
T Mounds of railroad ties along the railroad track that runs through downtown Dunnellon and Chatmire on Oct. 23, 2025. [Jennifer Hunt Murty]
rack Line Rail LLC, a Texas-based company seeking to operate a creosote-treated railroad tie shredding and grinding facility on East McKinney Avenue in unincorporated Marion County, is facing mounting pressure to abandon the project. Currently, high mounds of railroad ties stretch roughly 500 feet along the tracks, less than
1,000 feet from the Rainbow River. A sharp chemical odor is noticeable about 100 feet from the piles, which are visible from Williams Street, Dunnellon’s main thoroughfare. Employees at nearby businesses said the stacks have grown taller in recent weeks, now rising above the tree line behind their buildings. During a special Dunnellon City Council meeting on Oct. 27, Marion County Commission Chair Kathy Bryant confirmed that the county has issued a
notice of violation to Track Line Rail and the property owner. “We are already telling them that they are in violation of county ordinances within the unincorporated area of the county,” Bryant said. “We’re on it, we’re working on it hard and fast, because we all can agree on one thing — how important our environment is and our watershed surrounding the head spring at the Rainbow River.” See Environmental groups, page A10
SNAP benefits uncertainty causes angst
Florida Emergency Communications Board declines to act on 911 fee increase despite calls from counties By Jennifer Hunt Murty jennifer@ocalagazette.com
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embers of the Florida Emergency Communications Board (ECB) heard urgent pleas from county 911 coordinators and law enforcement officials on Oct. 16 to raise the state’s 911 fee, currently set at 40 cents per phone line, but ultimately took no action to recommend or implement an increase. During public comment, Jody Kenyon, president of the Florida 911 Coordinators Association, told the board that “revenues have remained static since 2015, while expenses for these systems have dramatically increased.” Kenyon urged the ECB to consider “expanded commitment in discussion on increasing the fees to support 911 communications in the state of Florida.” Florida law authorizes the board to set the monthly 911 fee up to 50 cents per phone line, according to Florida Statute 365.172(2)(a). Yet the board has not exercised that authority in nearly a decade, even as technology costs and public expectations have grown, and counties statewide are mandated to enhance their systems to incorporate Next Generation 911 technology. See 911 fee page A7
If the federal government shutdown continues into November, those relying on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will not receive benefits. By Andy Fillmore Jennifer Hunt Murty and Susan Smiley-Height
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s the federal government shutdown stretches on, thousands of Marion County families who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) could face a gap in food benefits next month. SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, is the nation’s largest anti-hunger program, serving more than 3 million Floridians each month. Benefits are typically issued at the start of each month to help low-income individuals and families buy groceries. In a notice issued Oct. 23, the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) warned that the federally funded program “will not issue November 2025 benefits until federal funding is restored.” “Floridians will not receive SNAP benefits,” the notice stated, adding that the program is administered through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, whose funding has been disrupted by the shutdown.
LONG LINE FOR FREE FOOD
On Oct. 29, more than 400 cars were in line for a free food distribution event worked by Wings of Faith Fellowship Church volunteers and supported by
Alexa Post, 9, helps load food into a car with her mother, Melonee Post, right, and Peggy Burner, left, during the Wings of Faith Fellowship Operation Compassion food distribution at the Ocala Rotary Sportsplex on Southeast Maricamp Road in Ocala on Oct. 29. His Compassion Food Bank and Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. The event took place at the Ocala Rotary Sportsplex of Marion County, and some vehicles had signs on the windshield indicating they were picking up food for more than one family. Several people at the event said they were concerned about their SNAP benefits. “Elly,” 39, the single mom of a 12-yearold daughter, was in tears when she
stopped her dark brown Nissan at the end of the distribution line to talk to some of the volunteers. “I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she said about managing her budget after the announced pause in SNAP benefits on Nov. 1. “I’d rather starve myself than not feed my daughter properly.” See SNAP benefits, page A8
Classic play comes to life in Ocala
‘The Crucible’ will take audiences to Salem, Massachusetts, at a frightening time in history. By Susan Smiley-Height susan@magnoliamediaco.com
James Taylor III is in the role of John Proctor, with Katarina Shaner as Abigail Williams.
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ne online reference among hundreds of them related to Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” notes that he wrote in an introduction of the work that, “I believe that the reader will discover here the essential nature
of one of the strangest and most awful chapters in human history.” Based on historical people and real events, the classic play about witch-hunts and trials in 17thcentury Salem, Massachusetts, “is a searing portrait of a community engulfed by hysteria,” the item states. And now that time, and those people, will come to life
on the stage of the Ocala Civic Theatre, also known as The Civic, from Oct. 30 to Nov. 16, for 15 performances. In 1692 in Salem, in the Puritan colony of Massachusetts, Rev. Samuel Parris (Tom Ferreira) is horrified to find a dozen girls dancing in the forest at midnight, including his daughter, Betty (Lilly Gonzalez)
and niece, Abigail Williams (Katarina Shaner). Mercy Lewis (Gianna Hess), Mary Warren (Iyanna Lynell) and Susanna Walcott (Kaitlyn Nast) are among the girls with them. Tituba (Alexis Medina), an enslaved woman of the Parris household, sings her songs from Barbados See Classic play, page A11
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IHMC lecture................................ A6 Casting call..................................... A9 Ocali Country Days.................... A10 The dwarven spirit....................... B1 Calendar......................................... B8
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