Florida, Ocala | featured news

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has released a study that indicates about 60 percent of teen driver crashes involve distraction - which appears to be on the increase - and reminds other drivers that the number of teen driver crashes rise as more teens drive during the summer months.

Three local blackberry U-pick locations include Lost Valley Farms in Shiloh, Taylor Gardens Nursery in Sparr and the Wet Hammock Farm in Citra. Although these are in the northern part of the county, David Holmes, director of the Marion County UF/IFAS Extension Service, said blackberries can be grown in all areas.

Ocala native James Hunter, the father of a 6-year-old boy and 3-month old daughter, is seeking a kidney for reasons besides his own health.

Marion County residents, like many other people in Central Florida, are responding to the call for blood donations in the wake of the Orlando nightclub massacre.

Ocala is feeling reverberations from the shooting at Orlando's Pulse nightclub, a venue close enough to home that it's a known name in the local LGBT community.

A candlelight vigil is being organized in Ocala in the immediate wake of the Pulse nightclub shooting. The vigil is slated for 8 p.m. Wednesday at Copa, a South Pine Avenue nightclub, according to a Facebook event created by Trans Ocala.

A senior appreciation luncheon will begin at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the College of Central Florida's Webber Center, in conjunction with World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.

There are 21 million people who have been diagnosed with diabetes in the United States, or about 9.3 percent of the population, according to the American Diabetes Association. Of those diabetics, only about 1.25 million have Type 1. The others are Type 2 diabetics. Another 8.1 million have Type 2 diabetes and do not know it. Officials say that an additional 86 million people in the United States are pre-diabetic.

Fatigue finally took its toll on Marion County-connected Exaggerator in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, and the colt that had been favored to win the final leg of the Triple Crown race fell deeply short. Another local horse had a better shot but was kept out of the winner’s circle by inches.

Terrance J. Hurst, a 32-year-old Florida man, is being held for another crime but is also suspected to be involved in the murders of Robert Ray and Ruth Amelia Schwamberger in May.