The Ocala City Council approved a 6.6177 millage rate, an $18.2 million fire assessment, and raises for City Manager Peter Lee, City Attorney William Sexton, and Police Chief Michael Balken.
Existing shops are grandfathered, though one speaker said some convenience stores “carry just products of hedonism” and should not get the same exemption.
The 33-hour online donation drive supporting Marion County nonprofits launches Tuesday morning.
Internal City Auditor Vincent Lovino found that a skipped EFT verification let a scammer take a city vendor payment, that a former manager’s misleading statements delayed the official response, and that insurance cut the city’s loss to $27,799.81.
Commissioners voted 5-0 to raise the countywide rate to 4.28 mills and set a $1.73 billion tentative budget, with final action set for Sept. 24.
The ordinance names e-cigarettes, kratom and kratom products, allowing existing shops to remain while barring new ones from opening within 1,500 feet of a school, daycare, church or park.
Residents can now watch Sumter County Board of County Commissioners meetings live in real time.
Enjoy a variety of high-energy events around North Central Florida this weekend, including a comedy musical and a roller derby scrimmage.
Two years after Lindsey Ardmore found a lump in Italy and waited months for a mammogram, her Oct. 15 Black Out Gala aims to pay for the screenings local imaging centers still will not give young women.
The long-in-progress facility opened between Broadway and Fort King on Tuesday.