ALACHUA ‒ Two public presentations highlighted the Nov. 28 Alachua City Commission meeting.  A large crowd was on hand to witness the presentation of a remembrance quilt and to recognize elementary students for their art work.

The Alachua County Community Remembrance Quilt Project Committee (ACCRPQC) presented a remembrance quilt to the commission honoring those who lost their lives to lynchings in Newnansville in the years after the Civil War. 

The ACCRPQC collaborated with the City of Alachua Youth Advisory Council to create and sew the quilt in remembrance of the lives lost in Newnansville, a once thriving town situated along Bellamy Road that has now faded into history.  Alachua County Commissioner and former State Representative Charles Chestnut spoke about the work of the Alachua County Community Remembrance Project.

The goal of the Committee is to keep the history of segregation and the lynchings alive for future generations to understand the past. The effort began in January 2020 in partnership with the Equal Justice Initiative from Montgomery, Ala.

Lynching of black Americans in the time of segregation was sadly a common method of intimidating the black population.  Between 1867 and 1926, there were 45 documented lynchings in Alachua County, but the actual figure is probably higher. Of these victims, 15 lynchings occurred in Newbery, but Newnansville was not far behind with 10 known cases.

ACCRPQC Chair Dawn Beachy presented the quilt to the City Commission as members of the quilt committee and Youth Advisory Board held up the quilt, displaying it for the audience to view. It contained 12 squares featuring the names of victims in the Newnansville area.

Across the top of the quilt was a quote, “The right way to right a wrong is to shine the light of truth upon them.” The back of the quilt contained pockets for viewers to put notes in about the victims.

In other business, students from W.W. Irby Elementary who had their artwork featured on display in City Hall as part of the Art in City Hall program were recognized.  Mayor Gib Coerper and Rose Magarino read the names of each student for them to come forward and receive a certificate and show their art work.  After the certificates were presented, the entire City Commission gathered with the students for a group photograph.

The Commission closed the books on the City’s Fiscal Year 2021-22 budget which ended Sept. 30, by amending the General Fund budget to account for unanticipated revenues.  The City’s Finance and Administrative Services Department performs an end of year review of actual receipts and expenditures as part of its end-of-year procedures. The amendment increased the City’s FY 2021-22 budget from $48,738,643 to $48,743,643.

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ALACHUA ‒ For the second straight year, Santa Fe High School is the winner of the Class 4A Volleyball State Championship. The Raiders (29-2) took down Academy of the Holy Names (22-5) in four sets at Polk State College in Winter Haven to claim their second consecutive state title on Nov. 12. This is the first time Santa Fe faced the Academy of the Holy Names since Santa Fe swept the Jaguars in last year’s semifinals when they went on to beat Calvary Christian Academy for their first crown in the school’s history.

Under the direction of Coach Eric Marshall, the Santa Fe Raiders played four sets in the Championship game. Early in the first set, it was a back-and-forth battle between the teams, 8-6, until the momentum shifted in the Raiders’ favor with an 8-0 run, stretching the score to 15-6. The Jaguars attempted to close the gap but fell short 25-13.

The Jaguars stepped up in the second set and forced a Santa Fe timeout after leading 8-6. After the timeout, the Jaguars didn’t let up, stretching the score to 22-14. The Raiders never gave up and fought their way back into the game 22-19. But, in the end, the Jaguars took set two, 25-21. “The second set was lost due to errors in our playing,” said Marshall. “We gave them 10 free points. We talked about the team calming down and reminded them to take a deep breath and focus on their playing.”

The Raiders responded and dominated the court, taking an 8-2 lead early in the third set. Sparking the rally were seniors Jalyn Stout and Anisa Dorlouis. Both delivered multiple kills while the defense shut down the Jaguars, resulting in the Raiders winning the set, 25-12.

In the fourth set, Santa Fe went ahead 12-5 early on, highlighted by Miya Thomas’ seven service points and an ace. The domination continued as the Raiders pulled ahead 23-13, paced by Stouts’ five digs and five kill assists. Stout finished with 28 kills, 17 digs, 13 assists and two aces.

Thomas added 23 digs, nine assists, nine service points and two aces. Anisa Dorlouis had 18 assists, 15 digs, 12 kills and one ace. 

Senior Jalyn Stout played a pivotal role in the win, including the match-winning kill to close out the victory in style. Stout has helped lead the team in both championships with over 1,500 kills in her career at Santa Fe, as well as over 1,000 digs. Saturday’s game was the fourth time in five seasons Santa Fe has advanced to the state championship match, finishing runner-up in 2018 (6A) and 2019 (4A) before winning its first title last year.

“Winning two championships has been an incredible feeling for both me and the team, but it is also somewhat bittersweet since I am losing five great senior players this year, including Jaylen and Anisa.”

Stout is headed to college at Costal Carolina University while Dorlouis is going to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

“I have known these girls since they were 12, and I coached them in Gainesville Juniors Volleyball,” said Marshall. “For them to go out and win back-to-back state titles is a big deal. That locker room got emotional for the girls and me after the game.

“They are a special group of girls, so while it’s bittersweet, I am happy I did it with them,” said Marshall. “I have to give a shoutout to the crowd that came down to support us. They have been here all year long and for several hundred to make the trip on a Saturday afternoon is just incredible.

Marshall said that student “Rowdy Raiders” made the difference and “Coach 6” kept the crowd pumped up all year long. “We have something special here at Santa Fe, from our boosters, to fans, to an awesome administration in Principal Tim Wright and Athletic Director Michel Faulk,” said Marshall.

Santa Fe High School Athletic Director Michele Faulk added, “Sweet to repeat!” About the win Faulk said, “So sweet to see a good group of kids be successful on the court. It’s bittersweet because the senior group is special and have left a legacy that will be here forever.

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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ It has been a long journey—one that Clarence Hope Sr. had never imagined. A truck driver by trade, a husband, and a father to three young children, Hope had no inkling of what was to come and how it would change his life. But in January 2010 he began having health problems including trouble breathing and extreme fatigue causing multiple trips to the Emergency Room (ER).

Over the next 12 years Hope would go through a series of tests, misdiagnosis, and multiple hospital stays. At one point he was told by hospital doctors that he had only days to live. But thanks to the UF Health Heart and Vascular Care unit, High Springs resident Hope has a new lease on life after receiving a heart transplant in October 2022.

When his health problems first appeared in 2010, Hope was initially diagnosed as having pneumonia, but the problems persisted and the symptoms worsened including swelling of the legs, dizziness, rapid heartbeats, chest discomfort and issues with internal organs.

Continued tests and hospital stays were inconclusive and he was diagnosed with a variety of ailments with no conclusive proof and no relief. At one point they claimed it was caused by STD's or AIDS, which Hope knew was wrong.

Finally, after a year of tests and frustrations, another doctor said the hospital had been reading the signs wrong and that the issue was his heart, a condition termed cardiomyopathy, which is a disease of the heart muscle that makes it harder for the heart to pump blood to the rest of the body.

Ultimately, cardiomyopathy can lead to heart failure and death. At first Hope was being treated with medications. Later, his medical team put in a pacemaker, a small device that's surgically implanted in the chest to help control the heartbeat and to prevent the heart from beating too slowly.

For a while, things seem to improve. Hope’s primary care physician, Doctor Nasir Ahmed of High Springs Pediatric and Primary Care, monitored his condition in between hospital stays and tests. Hope was able to return to work part time and do activities with his family, watching the kids while his wife Marion worked.

But this came to an end one day when Hope was talking to friends while sitting on his riding lawnmower. Suddenly, the pacemaker seized up, sending a shock through his body and knocking him unconscious onto the ground.

After another extended hospital stay and repairs to the pacemaker, Hope developed gout, which was treated with steroids, but other issues complicated the problem. During another trip to the ER, his blood sugar registered high at 138 although Hope had no history of diabetes. He developed gall bladder problems due to his enlarged heart, which was pressing against the gallbladder. Also, his other organs were being affected and beginning to fail.

In 2017, due to gall bladder issues, doctors installed a biliary drain. Also called a biliary stint, it is a thin, hollow, flexible tube with several small holes along the sides that is used when too much bile collects in the bile ducts. If something is blocking the bile duct, bile can back up into the liver and start causing multiple organ failures.

As time passed, his condition did not improve and actually worsened. As 2018 began, Hope received devastating news. Doctors at the hospital said he was septic and nothing could be done. They suggested he gather his family and friends to say goodbye and he would probably not last the weekend.

“That news was gut wrenching,” Hope said. “I was suddenly facing my own mortality and would never have a chance to see my children grow.” Not wanting to die in the hospital, Hope’s wife took him home to be with family.

One of his first stops to say goodbye was to his physician, Nasir Ahmed, who had monitored Hope’s health for eight years. Ahmed refused to accept the hospital’s diagnosis and was dismayed that they couldn’t diagnose the problem. Ahmed reached out to a friend, Mustafa Ahmed, a leading cardiology surgeon at Shands.

The following day, Hope received a call from the surgeon stating that if he could go to Shands ER the following day, his team would reevaluate his situation and admit him to Shands’ cardiology unit. The next day after that, Hope awoke in the hospital to find himself in a room full of doctors. The lead doctor asked Hope if he wanted to live. When Hope replied, “of course,” the doctor fist bumped Hope and told his team, “Let’s go guys, we got work to do.”

With Hope's heart only working at two percent, doctors installed an intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP), which is a therapeutic device that helps the heart pump more blood as a temporary fix. Their realization was that Hope’s heart had to be replaced, but unfortunately there were no donor hearts available.

To keep Hope alive, a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) was surgically installed until a heart could become available. A LAVD is a pump that for patients who have reached end-stage heart failure. The battery-operated mechanical pump helps the left ventricle pump blood to the rest of the body to keep the patient alive. During this time in 2018, Hope spent almost five months in the hospital.

It would be almost four years of being on the wait list for a heart transplant, when on Oct. 2, 2022, Hope received a call that a transplant was available. Within an hour he was at Shands with the operating room ready.

Within three weeks from the surgery, Hope is up with no problems and no signs of rejection of the new heart. Marion Hope expressed their gratitude to all the medical staff at Shands and their primary care physician who refused to give up on him.

“We are also eternally grateful to the family that provided the donor heart,” said Marion Hope. “We know it was a great loss to their family, but they provided life to another family.”

Marion Hope said that the rules of donorship prevent both the donor and the recipient from knowing each other’s identity for a year. “We can correspond with letters and they can decide after the year whether to establish contact with us,” said Marion Hope. “We hope they will so we can tell them how much this meant to our family”.

Now, Clarence Hope, Sr., has a new lease on life and the future with his wife and children that he dreamed of.

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ALACHUA COUNTY ‒ Election results are in for the 2022 General Election in Alachua County. Out of 180,902 eligible voters in Alachua County, 96,081 ballots, or 53.11 percent of the voters, cast ballots.

Countywide, voters approved the Single-Member District referendum 51.44 percent (45,690 votes) to 48.56 percent (43,125 votes). The measure replaces the current at-large election, where all Alachua County voters choose all five commissioners. Under Single-Member Districts, voters will vote for the one candidate who lives in the same district as the voter, rather than voting for all five candidates.

Of the 91,368 votes cast on the question of approving the one-cent Wild Spaces Public Places sales tax initiative, 52.18 percent (47,677 votes) were cast to approve as opposed to 47.82 percent (43,691 votes) cast to disapprove of the tax.

In High Springs, voters cast their ballots for City Commission Seat #3, currently held by incumbent Linda Jones. Of the 2,733 votes cast in this race, newcomer to the High Springs political scene Tristan Grunder won with 1,308 votes, or 47.86 percent of the votes cast, as opposed to Jones, who received 864 votes, or 31.61 percent of the votes. Eyvonne Andrews received 561 votes, or 20.53 percent of the votes cast.

Republican State Senator Keith Perry defeated Democrat challenger Rodney Long to win the District 9 Florida Senate seat with 65.5 percent (135,000) of the vote. Perry returns to the Senate representing Marion County and parts of Alachua and Levy counties.

Republican Chuck Clemons returns for his fourth and final term in the Florida House after representing District 21 for three terms. Clemons defeated Democrat Brandon Peters with 56.1 percent of the vote. Due to redistricting, Clemons will serve his final term in District 22, representing Gilchrist, Levy and part of western Alachua County. Clemons sponsored legislation in the 2022 session that placed the Alachua County Single-Member District referendum on the ballot.

Incumbent Democrat Yvonne Hayes Hinson defeated Hollye Merton with 60 percent of the vote to retain her state House seat. Hinson ran on a platform to increase funding for public schools, advocating for magnet schools, creating career pathways for students and increasing teacher salaries.

Republican Chuck Brannan retains his Florida House of Representatives District 10 seat as he was unchallenged in the Nov. 8 election. Brannan’s district lines were redrawn in the redistricting effort to include a larger area in Alachua County, stretching into the city of Alachua.

Republican Florida State Senator Jennifer Bradley also retains her seat as she was unchallenged as well. She represents Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Gilchrist, Union counties and part of Alachua County.

Although the governor’s race in Alachua County showed Democrat Charlie Crist as the winner with 57.12 percent (54,719 votes) as opposed to Republican Governor Ron DeSantis with 42.06 percent (40,289 votes), the overall state votes carried DeSantis back into the Governor’s mansion with 59.4 percent of the votes (4,608,398).

In the race for U.S. Senator, Alachua County voted to elect Val Demings with 57.87 percent (55,359 votes) to Marco Rubio at 40.97 percent (39,190 votes). Once again, state-wide voters upended that with a 57.7 percent of the votes cast for Rubio (4,469,218) who is returning for his third term in the U.S. Senate.

In the race for Congressional District 3, incumbent Congresswoman Kat Cammack retained her seat with 58.23 percent (55,377 votes) in Alachua County. State-wide results show Cammack receiving 62.5 percent of the votes (177,999) to Democrat challenger Danielle Hawk’s 36.3 percent (103,254) and Linda Brooks 1.2 percent (3,405).

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