Colorful stains cover this runner's shirt. The race raised money for the local March of Dimes.

ALACHUA – The crowd chanted with the man on the megaphone.

“3… 2… 1… run!”

It was mayhem. The crowd took off while a fire extinguisher shot a pink mushroom cloud of dust over the runners, coating them in the first of many different colors to come.

On Saturday, Oct. 26, the City of Alachua invited the Color Me Rad foundation to host its second 5K race in the area to raise money for the March of Dimes, a nonprofit foundation that supports medical research to help expecting mothers and premature babies.

Through the excitement of the raining color, it was clear the race was on. Emily Walter, 21, was moving from the back of the line toward the front of the crowd.

As she zigged and zagged her way to the first spot, yellow dust was thrown and splattered across the front of her chest and abdomen. Another throw and her thighs were covered, turning her into a pink and yellow speckled runner.

The three-mile race took place at Rembert Farm, located at 13126 NW 174th Ave., and held over 2,000 people.

Both runners and walkers lined up at the starting line in waves, starting at different times. They awaited the announcer to send them forward through the multi-terrain course, which consisted of grassy hills, dirt paths and rocky roads.

Along the course, runners and walkers moved through five color-bomb stations, which consisted of rad volunteers who would toss colored powder at runners to coat their white T-shirts and running shorts.

Walter finished her run in 25 minutes, but the big accomplishment was the amount of colors she had splashed across the front of her body.

Pink, yellow, orange and green stained her legs and shirt.

“It was awesome getting hit by the color, but I didn’t like the color that was in water,” Walter said, as she pointed to green streaks down her arms and legs. “It was just way too cold to be sprayed with the water, or else I probably wouldn’t have cared.”

Other runners seemed to feel the same way as Walter talked about hearing gasps and shouts from other participants as she ran through the water color-bombs.

“Since it was cold out I didn’t want to be wet and once it started to dry it just felt gross,” she said.

The green and yellow water dye seemed to be the crowd’s only complaint. Participants of the run not only complimented and applauded the Color Me Rad foundation for a well-run 5K, but also have continued the praise through the foundation’s Facebook page.

Bags of powder were tossed into the crowd before each of their set race times, allowing them to accumulate new colors early.

“My friend caught one of the color bombs, and we popped it open by doing a high five,” Walter said.

The color run attracted a large number of participants. While Walter ran, many other participants were able to walk and enjoy the swirls that stained their shirts at the end of the race.

“It’s unlike most 5K’s because you don’t have to run, but you can still come out and get the same experience,” Walter said.

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Governor Rick Scott answers questions from the press after the ground-breaking ceremony. The new facility is expected to be operational in early 2015.

ALACHUA – Riding in a limousine, the governor pulled up to the site in Alachua that promises to add new jobs to the city.

Governor Rick Scott spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday, Oct. 23, for the biotech company Nanotherapeutics’ new research and manufacturing facility, which the company expects to bring 150 jobs to the city of Alachua.

“That’s a big deal anywhere in the state,” Governor Scott said.

The 165,000 square-foot facility, located at 13200 NW Nano Court, is being constructed with money secured by a contract between Nanotherapeutics and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)that was awarded earlier this year.

The contract charges Nanotherapeutics with developing countermeasures to protect against biological terrorism and epidemics, particularly for the military.

Nanotherapetuics got $135 million, and could get up to $358 million over a span of 10 years from the DoD.

In late September, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also committed to a contract with Nanotherapeutics to increase the national capacity to develop flu vaccines.

At the ceremony, Governor Scott presented James Dalton, CEO of Nanotherapeutics, with the Governor’s Business Ambassador Award.

The state of Florida’s economy has turned around since Scott took office, he said, with the help of companies such as Nanotherapeutics.  

“Florida is experiencing an incredible economic turnaround thanks to our job creators like Nanotherapeutics,” Governor Scott said.

The site of the new facility has historical significance for Alachua, said Mayor Gib Coerper.

It is where the Copeland Sausage plant used to be located. Copeland Sausage employed about 400 workers who lost their jobs when the plant closed down in 1978.

The groundbreaking ceremony is celebrated on the same site that taught Alachua a lesson about the importance of attracting diverse businesses, Coerper said.

Now, Alachua has a wide range of businesses in the bioscience fields, Coerper said, boasting the third highest concentration of bioscience companies in the state.

“We strive to make Alachua business-friendly,” he said. “Today is a great day for your company, and a proud day for the City of Alachua,” he told CEO Dalton.

Nanotherapeutics started in the Sid Martin Biotech Incubator, but quickly grew. It eyed several states as potential hosts for the new facility, including California, Michigan and North Carolina. In the end, it chose to remain in Alachua.

“We are grateful to Nanotherapeutics for wanting to stay,” said Mitch Glaeser, chairman of the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce.  

The Nanotherapeutics Advanced Development and Manufacturing Center should be operational by March 2015, said CEO James Dalton.

As the speeches finished up, Governor Scott, Mayor Coerper and Dalton thrust their shovels into the ground to complete the ceremony, marking the start of construction on the facility.

The plant will be a huge opportunity for Alachua, said Adam Boukari, assistant city manager, in an earlier interview.

“Nanotherapeutics is going to be a big part of Alachua’s future,” he said.

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The Children's Health Fair last spring. Sharon Surrency started igniting For Health Care Justice to advocate access to affordable care.

ALACHUA COUNTY – Weighing in at over 900 pages long, the Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare, can be confusing, leaving many people to not know what the changes can mean for them.

Some citizens in Hawthorne and Waldo are trying to help their community make a smooth transition into the activation of the bill.

Sharon Surrency and Mary Jackson took it upon themselves to help their neighbors ensure they had a better understanding of the new law. They did so by forming a ministry called Igniting For Health Care Justice.

“There are too many people out there that are either uninsured, or just underinsured,” Surrency said. “And to me, that’s unacceptable.”

The ministry group hosted a workshop event on Saturday, Oct. 25 and 26 to help bring some of the issues with healthcare to light.

“Our purpose is to increase awareness and educate people about their healthcare, as well as to advocate that it should be affordable, accessible, accountable and inclusive,” Surrency said.

The event was county-wide and free for anyone to attend. It was sponsored by the United Methodist Church, which received a grant from the General Board of Church and Society.

There was a candlelight vigil on Oct. 25 at Northside Park in Gainesville, followed by an informational workshop the next day at the Senior Services Center on Northwest 34th Street in Gainesville.

The majority of the people who attended were older, but there but there were other age groups.

“I was pleasantly surprised by the middle-aged people that came for both days,” Surrency said.

“I think that people really appreciated the insight about healthcare reform, as well as the information we had about specific diseases, such as diabetes and cancer,” Surrency said.

Around 72 people in total attended the event, which featured physicians giving lectures, as well as nutrition and safety exhibits.

One of the aims of the new Affordable Care Act is to lower the rate of uninsured Americans along with increasing the quality and affordability of health care.

Surrency and Jackson said they feel these are important elements to improving the current system. Whether the bill will have its desired impact is yet to be seen, but people need to understand their care, Surrency said.

The idea for the ministry came to Surrency when she visited a training workshop over the summer in Washington D.C. that was sponsored by a Methodist church.

She teamed up with Jackson, and the two began to share information with others.  

“For me, being a nurse, I saw a chance to help others who are limited in their healthcare access,” Surrency said.

“I hope this can be a positive foundation for a future impact as well.”

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A child loads a pumpkin onto a wagon at the pumpkin patch in Alachua. Thirty percent of the profit from sales helps impoverished families.

ALACHUA - Dave Risi spent the better part of an afternoon walking through the pumpkin patch located right off U.S. Highway 441 in Alachua, just past Hitchcock's. With his wife, he watched his 13-month-old daughter go through the patch and admire the pumpkins.  

“She's having a good time,” he said. As much as she enjoyed the pumpkin patch, though, it has a purpose other than light-hearted fun.  

For several years, the First United Methodist Church of Alachua has organized the pumpkin patch, which features hayrides, games and a hay maze up until Halloween. It sells pumpkins and pumpkin-based treats to raise money to help rebuild homes in the Appalachian Mountains.

Some of the houses the church has helped rebuild in the past were without septic tanks or even floors, said Brett Bultemeier, whose wife is the youth director for the church.

“It's kind of shocking,” he said.

Bobbie Ellis went on one of the church trips to the Appalachians. When she went to deliver food to a family, she was upset by what she saw.

“They have nothing,” she said. “I have never seen somebody so poor.”

Seeing the conditions the family lived in caused her to cry, she said.

The pumpkins are grown by the Navajo people in New Mexico, Bultemeier said. The Navajo set the prices and take 70 percent of the profits, while the other 30 percent goes toward helping the less fortunate, said Anne Gay, a member of the church.

This is the 13th year for the pumpkin patch, but it still seems to be popular.

Over the span of an hour, Bultemeier said he had seen seven or eight whole families come to the patch, which is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. The busiest times are when school buses bring in children during the middle of the day, said one volunteer.

During a Monday evening a parent and her child loaded up pumpkins of all sizes onto a little wagon. The money from the pumpkins is desperately needed to help the less fortunate, Anne Gay said. There are many ways to help, and some are as simple as buying a pumpkin, she said.

"That's why we're here, to share with others," she said.

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