HIGH SPRINGS ‒ Local environmentalist Rhonda Long was killed in an accident in South Florida on June 19. Long was well known in the High Springs community and among environmental groups associated with the rivers that offer beauty, recreation and water from the aquafer. For Long, the rivers were her playground where she spent much of her time kayaking. And this love of the local environment and rivers led her to dedicate herself to preserving them.

She was the Stewardship Chair for the Our Santa Fe River (OSFR) organization, Director for the Riverfest Songwriters benefit and Founder of the Eelgrass Restoration Project. Long also taught classes at Fort White High School in Aquatic Horticulture. She was the co-founder of a suicide prevention organization that raised funds for preventing suicides and helping surviving family members cope with the loss.

The primary method of fund raising was a 96-mile river paddle each year, which she completed for the past four years. Long also worked at Rum 138 canoe outpost, giving tourists advice about the best parts of the rivers to visit. In addition, she also often portrayed a mermaid at various fundraising events for the rivers, earning her the nickname of “Mermaid Rhonda.”

Long’s passion for the environment was just part of how she gave back to others. She worked on various benefits, helped those who needed assistance medically or for transportation, including her parents, Donna and Joe Long, who she moved from Illinois due to multiple medical issues.

Friends recall that Long always projected a happy and warm personality, lighting up the room and had nothing but kind words for everyone. She was well known for all her charity work and popular figure in town with her ability to make those she was talking with the undivided focus of her attention.

Long had travelled to Coco Beach on June 19 to attend the wake of her friend, Randy Fortner, who had died suddenly from a brain aneurysm. Driving home to High Springs at 10 p.m. on a two-lane Highlands County road, the car in front of her stopped on the highway and attempted a U-turn, blocking both lanes. With no time to react, Long hit the car broadside. Killed in the accident was a 13-year-old girl in the other car and Long, who passed while being life flighted to a hospital.

Long’s friends were both shocked and devasted that someone so full of life, passion and kindness was suddenly gone. It was especially devasting for her elderly parents who were dependent on Long for everything, including her house, which still had a mortgage on it.

People wanted to honor her life and her dedication to both the environment and her friends and family. A Go Fund Me page was set up to raise funds for her family and her final expenses. It was also decided to hold a Celebration of Life with some of the many musicians she knew and enjoyed hearing.

The group of friends approached Baram Kim, owner of the Great Outdoors and Pink Flamingo restaurants in High Springs to inquire about using one of the venues for a concert. Kim, who was also a friend of Long, immediately offered the Pink Flamingo to hold the event.

On Saturday, July 30 there will be that memorial Celebration of Life fundraiser at the Pink Flamingo to raise funds for Long’s elderly parents who have multiple medical issues. Music will be provided by Thom Duncan, Mike Bouleware and In The Moment band, along with possible special appearances by other musicians who knew her. All are playing for free so all proceeds will go to her family. There will also be a 50-50 drawing, a silent auction featuring donated art and other objects from local artists and businesses, along with a raffle of smaller objects.

The event is open to everyone who would like to attend. All proceeds will go to Long’s family to either use for their expenses or give to her environmental organizations, if they choose. But just as important, the Celebration of Life will honor a woman who dedicated herself to others with a life well lived but cut short too soon.

#     #    #

email rcarson@

alachuatoday.com

ALACHUA ‒ Summer is here and school is out, leaving children with limited activities and social interaction with other children—and parents with few options to watch their children on work days.

For some parents it becomes a choice between working to earn an income or staying with their children when school is out. To help parents and offer a variety of activities and programs to children, the City of Alachua's Recreation and Culture Department, in partnership with the Children’s Trust of Alachua County, is providing eight weeks of summer camp June 6 through July 29.

The camps are held at the Legacy Park Recreation Complex, which offers an indoor area with basketball courts, a stage and classrooms for movies and learning activities as well as a concession stand. Outside offers an all-inclusive playground, sports fields for soccer, baseball and football and park benches for outdoor meals.

The camp offers an opportunity for children to make their summer break from school an “adventure” to be remembered and also to burn off all that energy that youngsters seem to have an endless supply of, and hopefully build a few new friendships along the way. Camp activities include sports games, music and dance, various games, playground time, artwork, splash park, swimming, movies, weekly field trips, and more.

The camps runs every weekday and over 180 elementary and middle school students signed up for both half-day and full-day sessions. The full day program runs from 7:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. Breakfast, lunch and snacks are part of the package in compliance with the Alachua County School Board's summer nutrition guidelines.

Although the program costs $400 for the entire course, the Children’s Trust of Alachua County sponsored 100 full and partial scholarships based on household income and need, so that everyone had an opportunity to participate in the program.

The camp is an example of Alachua’s focus on providing resources, opportunities and activities that benefit local residents and provide opportunities for youth.

#     #    #

email rcarson@

alachuatoday.com

HIGH SPRINGS ‒ Changes are in store for people driving and parking in downtown High Springs.  The High Springs City Commission earlier this summer approved an ordinance that restricts the use of vehicles of more than three axels from traveling on Northwest 186^th Avenue (formerly known as U.S. Highway 27 Alternate). And concerns over large vehicles parking in the downtown area prompted changes to parking in that area in an effort to relieve traffic congestion, especially along Main Street.

“The City has been working on various plans to deal with the traffic and congestion in our downtown roads,” said High Springs Public Information Officer Kevin Mangan. “We are initiating a plan to limit parking to compact car parking only on High Springs Main Street between US Highway 27 and Northwest 185^th Avenue.”

Main Street was designed over 100 years ago as a quiet two-lane road with parking places designed for smaller cars than many of the current SUVs and pickup trucks. Today, High Springs’ burgeoning downtown business district, along with steady truck traffic along Main Street, creates congestion and potentially unsafe conditions.  The street was not designed for the current traffic load and cannot be expanded without removing all parking and extensive street work, not a viable option according to the City of High Springs.

The best solution at least cost is to limit what vehicle lengths can park on Main Street to help limit obstructions and the flow of traffic. City officials say the new restrictions will help alleviate traffic congestion and hazards, reduce bumper overhang on roadways, ensure the maneuverability of emergency vehicles, and provide a proactive approach to help reduce accidents. 

The City is defining a “compact” car or vehicle between 100 and 109 cubic feet of interior space and between 161 and 187 inches in length and does not include trucks, vans, or large SUVs.

A compact car parking space will be a minimum of eight feet in width and 16 feet in length. Parking spaces are now visibly marked as “Compact Car” parking spaces with signage on both sides of the street.

“We are going to start with the signs and an information campaign to make people aware of the change,” said Mangan. “This will help with traffic flow and is just the first step in the City’s plan to work with the Department of Transportation to deal with the increasing traffic.” 

The High Springs Police Department will be helping with an information campaign by putting flyers on vehicles that are too big for the spaces for a couple months to warn drivers of the new rules.

#     #     #

email rcarson@

alachuatoday.com

ALACHUA ‒ People shopping at Alachua’s Hitchcock’s grocery store may be in for a surprise. The store’s parking lot may appear typical with its marked off parking spots and cart corrals. But for those taking a closer look, an array of shiny almost sci-fi-like white structures dotting the perimeter of the store’s property along U.S. Highway 441 says otherwise.

Blame it on rising gas prices or concerns about climate change, but there is undoubtedly an increasing demand for hybrid and electric cars. With An average EV car getting about 250 miles on a full charge, and with the burgeoning sales of EV cars, a growing problem is the limited number and availability of public charging stations.

And that’s where Hitchcock’s, Tesla and the parking lot sentries enter the picture. As the largest manufacture of EV cars, Tesla has created a network of 35,000 Supercharger stations to support their vehicles. The stations are located on major routes near convenient amenities and gas stations to create a network to support longer travel and road trips.

Tesla had already built stations in Gainesville and Jacksonville, but not to the north in rural Florida, leaving drivers in North Central Florida with the only option of driving to major hubs when not charging at home.

Hitchcock’s owner Carlos Alvarez is also a Tesla owner, and he saw a need for a supercharging station in the Alachua/ High Springs area and the surrounding rural communities. Alvarez believed the location of the store, close to I-75 and along U.S. Highway 441, offered an ideal spot for a station. It took over a year of negotiations, but Tesla finally agreed to build a station at Hitchcock’s and cover all costs. The City of Alachua provided access to the City's power supply, and two months ago, 12 stations of Supercharger stalls were installed along the north perimeter of the Alachua Hitchcock's parking lot.

Daughter of Carlos Alvarez, Giselle Alvarez says, “We saw a need for the station for the community and travelers, so we made the offer to Tesla. In our opinion this was a good concept and has proven to be very successful with multiple cars there every day.”

Using the Tesla app, Tesla owners can view Supercharger stall availability, monitor their charge status or get notified when you’re ready to go after charging. For trips, they can enter a destination on the car's touchscreen and the Trip Planner app will automatically calculate the route with Superchargers along the way. However, the key to the whole system is providing stations along the way.

While Tesla provides the station for their car owners, the charging stations are not free, but offer a much lower cost than gas, especially with this year’s surge in prices. Electric vehicles are less expensive to fuel than gasoline powered vehicles. The average person drives between 10,000 and 15,000 miles and spends between $1,400 and $2,100 on gasoline per year. In comparison, the cost of electricity to power a Tesla over the same distance is up to four times lower.

Over the six-year average length of car ownership, that's between $6,600 and $9,600 in gasoline savings. The average Supercharger cost of $0.25 per KW to fully recharge a Tesla or other EV car for 250 miles of range costs approximately $22. The stations are free to any Tesla owner who bought their car before 2018.

The Supercharger network allows EV drivers to plug in at a convenient location, take a break, do a little shopping or get a bite to eat. “This station not only benefits the citizens of Alachua and High Springs, it also provides travelers on I-75 a chance to explore our community and businesses after using the station,” said Giselle Alvarez.”

#     #    #

email rcarson@

alachuatoday.com