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ALACHUA ‒ Interested in improving your health or the health of a loved one? If so, this Saturday head to the Community Wellness Festival. Several organizations and the City of Alachua will be bringing free health information and testing to the community at Legacy Park Amphitheater. The event also features musical entertainment, kids’ activities and onsite food trucks.

Initially organized by the Florida Department of Elder Affairs Elder Options, the event was to be focused on elder health care and organizations that provide care for them. But with the support of several churches and an increasing number of sponsors, the event has expanded to include a diversity of health information and testing.

“It was decided to expand the scope of the event and turn it into a festival for the community,” said Pastor John Brown of the St. Paul AME Church, a festival sponsor.

“A lot of sponsors and organizations have volunteered their time and expertise to benefit the whole community,” said Brown. “Besides information for elders and their caregivers, there will also be Covid testing and vaccines, a blood mobile, testing for diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol.”

In addition, there will be information tables offering materials on women's health, AIDs, behavioral health, dental health and weight loss.

The festival will also feature food trucks, children's activities and three bands on the Amphitheater stage. Entertainment includes 2nd 2 None Band from Atlanta and Fast Lane and Bennie and the Band, both local Gainesville bands.

The number of organizations supporting, volunteering, or providing services has continued to grow. In addition to St. Paul AME Church, the City of Alachua, and Elder Options, St. Matthews Church and St. Luke AME Church are also involved in assisting the festival to support the community. Also contributing are several Masonic Lodges, the Alachua Chamber of Commerce, McDonald’s and Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.

“This came together because all of these people wanting to provide free health services to the entire community,” Brown said.

The Community Wellness Festival will be held from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24 at the Alachua Legacy Park Multipurpose Center by the stage, which is located at 15400 Peggy Road, Alachua 32615. For more information call 386-623-5173.

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ALACHUA COUNTY ‒ The Alachua County Housing Division will make available $200,000 in State Housing Initiative Partnership (SHIP) funding for home repair as part of the Owner-Occupied Rehabilitation program.  The funds include grants for low and very low-income eligible applicants only.  Applications will only be accepted as long as budgeted funds for the initiative are available.

This program is first come, first serve and is for Alachua County Residents only.  Those living in the City of Gainesville are ineligible.

The Owner-Occupied Rehabilitation Program has grants for roof replacement for Low- and Very Low-Income applicants only with $150,000 in available funds.  The Emergency Repairs program has $50,000 in available funds with a maximum of $10,000 per home.

Grant staff will be available to review and assist applicants with the application process.  For an application, please email housing@alachuacounty.us.  In the subject line, add “request a roofing application.”  In the body, include your name, address and phone number.

SHIP provides funding to local governments to preserve affordable housing.  It is designed to serve very low, low and moderate income families.

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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ The Deeper Purpose Community Church of High Springs has launched a new free reading program called “On Your Mark, Get Set, Read” to help students in the area who could use help learning how to read, enhancing reading skills, reading comprehension and building their courage to read out loud, in front of others.

This program is provided at no cost to parents and is funded by donations received by the church. The program is for kindergartners and up. It doesn’t matter what school they attend or where they live. Their first session was 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 10. The location is Deeper Purpose Kids Academy Nursery and Preschool, 19930 North U.S. Highway 441, High Springs, directly behind Subway Plaza.

A large number of students are struggling in school with reading and Deeper Purpose wants to do something about that. They currently plan to hold sessions twice a month, but hope to increase the sessions to more days. Days and times will vary.

To make sure there are enough teachers and volunteers to work in small groups, contact the coordinator Elder Adam Joy at 386-454-5300 or email deeperpurposecc@yahoo.com to volunteer or to reserve a spot for a child to participate. Parents can drop their children off or are welcome to stay.

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NEWBERRY ‒ The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has begun work on work on U.S. 41 (State Road 45) with the addition of a right turn onto Southwest 15^th Avenue in Newberry at Oak View Middle School.

Other improvements include milling and resurfacing, highway signage, lighting and other incidental construction on U.S. 41 at Southeast 15^th Avenue.

FDOT hired V.E. Whitehurst & Sons, Inc. to complete this $674,000 project in late 2022, weather and unforeseen circumstances permitting.

Daytime lane closures and nighttime construction activities are expected throughout the duration of the project. Lane closures are prohibited in school zones from one hour before school begins to 30 minutes after school begins and one hour before school ends to 30 minutes after school ends.

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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ Sheila Ann Symonds, 51, of Alachua, was arrested on Thursday, Sept. 8, and charged with two counts of grand theft of a controlled substance after allegedly stealing Adderall from a co-worker and a bottle of Xanax pills that was inadvertently left behind by a client at a High Springs veterinary practice.

The business owner reportedly told a High Springs Police Department officer that Symonds had taken about 20 Adderall pills from a co-worker’s office and had taken a bottle of 60 Xanax pills that a client had left on the counter at the clinic. Both Adderall and Xanax are controlled substances and are common drugs of abuse.

The business owner provided surveillance video that reportedly showed Symonds going into the co-worker’s cubby three times and taking pills. On one video, the sound of a bottle cap opening and closing can be heard. The video also reportedly shows a client walking out and leaving a bottle of Xanax on the counter; another client gives the pill bottle to Symonds, and two minutes later, the video shows Symonds hiding the pill bottle under receipts. Twenty minutes later, the video shows Symonds hiding the pill bottle in her jacket and then putting her jacket in her own cubby.

Symonds reportedly denied taking any pills and insisted that officers search the parking lot area for the pill bottle. A bottle of pills in the client’s name was found in the dirt near the front of the business; the officer reported that it is unknown how the bottle got there. Officers determined that despite finding the pills, they had sufficient evidence that Symonds had deprived both victims of their medications.

Symonds has 10 felony convictions, including two drug convictions and eight property convictions. She has served three state prison sentences and was most recently released in April 2020.

She is being held on $20,000 bond but will be considered for release on her own recognizance with a requirement for day reporting.

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HIGH SPRINGS – High Springs City Commissioner Linda Jones voiced her concerns about services the City is receiving from contracted attorney Scott Walker. Jones is frustrated with Walker’s response time to City staff and commissioners as well as his interpretation of what could be challenged as far as the mural ordinance is concerned. Jones dissatisfaction led her to suggest the City hire a second attorney from a different firm to reinterpret Walker’s interpretation of what is legally defensible regarding murals.

Jones penned a letter detailing her concerns saying that “issues are stacking up, therefore the City cannot proceed unless they proceed with writing ordinances, etc. themselves.”

Jones also said the attorney was not prepared on the proposed Bridlewood development presentation of July 14 as he said at that time that “this was just a presentation.” Her third concern was the continued disagreement as to the rights of artists and the citizens. She said citizens have few rights when it comes to the number of mural applications that can be submitted at one time. Her fourth complaint was turnover in Walker’s firm. “I believe we need an attorney with more experience; our staff does not have time to train new attorneys.”

Walker responded to each of Jones’ complaints. Walker pointed out that his firm has worked on over 70 projects for High Springs since January and an additional five special projects. He also said that he has implemented an email address exclusively for High Springs that will go to all of the attorneys involved with the City. Walker said he hoped that would improve communication. In addition, he has given the Commissioners and City staff his cell phone number and suggested that his legal assistant could be contacted in his absence if someone needs to talk to him personally.

In response to the Bridlewood comment, Walker said the presentation was just that and he didn’t believe it was appropriate to get into a lengthy un-noticed discussion about the project, especially since it would eventually come before the City Commission.

Regarding the mural ordinance, he said he is not hired to do what is popular or what even 100 people want to have him do, but instead to respond with an interpretation of the law. “There are people out there who look for cases like this to challenge,” Walker said. “My job is to present an ordinance that will pass constitutional muster to keep the City out of a lawsuit.”

Walker said he has been with the firm for 40 years and his partner for even longer than that. He added that several of his attorneys or staff members have been with the firm for several decades. He had earlier mentioned that one of his younger attorneys was watching the meeting on zoom to gain more insight into how she would handle different issues.

Jones specifically asked about a mural that recently went up in the historic district that apparently contained an aspect in the design that was considered a sign. Walker said the person who put up the mural was willing to remove the signage portion of the mural. Because the mural was in the historic district, he said a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Historic Preservation Board should have been obtained prior to putting up the mural. However, he specified that the building itself was not a historic structure.

Commissioner Ross Ambrose suggested that clear timelines as to when an ordinance or project was due would help staff— a suggestion with which Walker said he agreed.

In response to a question if the contract with the City could be modified to hire a second attorney, Walker said it could be done, but a separate attorney would require putting out a Request for Proposals (RFP).

Commissioner Katherine Weitz made a motion to bring the item back for discussion after they had a chance to review the contract. The motion was seconded by Jones and passed unanimously.

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