[Last updated on September 27, 2018, at 7:31 p.m.]
The much anticipated $1.2 million Cheddar’s restaurant at 4065 SW State Road 200, west of Interstate 75, is nearly finished.
Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen has made-from-scratch food since the 70s. The founders, Aubrey Good, and Doug Rogers, believe that when a meal is prepared and cooked fresh just for customers, it not only tastes better but makes people feel good.
Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen serves made-from-scratch House Smoked Baby Back Ribs, hand-battered Country Fried Chicken, Scratch Burgers, Homemade Onion Rings, Chicken Pot Pie, and more.
According to the company’s website, it started in 1979 in Arlington, Texas. The company operates 165 locations in 28 states, including 17 in Florida.
In an email, a spokeswoman for Cheddar’s told Ocala Post that the restaurant is scheduled to open in November… just in time for Thanksgiving.
Winter Haven — On Saturday, September 22, 2018, Polk County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to an animal cruelty investigation at 4073 Mahogany Run, Winter Haven.
According to a press release, two people heard what sounded like a dog “yelping” coming from a dumpster behind an apartment complex.
One of the Good Samaritans jumped inside the dumpster and pulled out a sealed trash bag. The bag contained a live Chihuahua wearing a pink collar.
Animal Control responded and discovered a microchip implant on the pooch, which was registered to 41-year-old Shawkimo Anderson.
Following a canvas of the area, deputies found Anderson near-by.
Anderson told deputies that she had given her dog “Diamond” to a lady two months ago.
Anderson then retracted her story and admitted to sealing the dog in the trash bag and putting it in the dumpster. She said that she could no longer afford to care for the dog.
Anderson was arrested and charged with Aggravated Animal Cruelty. She was released from jail on a $1,000 bond.
Sadly, on Tuesday, the PCSO announced that the dog had died. A necropsy will be done to determine the exact cause of death.
“I don’t know how anyone could do this to a pet. This woman stuffed an innocent creature into a bag and left it to die when all she had to do was give it to someone or surrender it to Animal Control, no questions asked. Because of her selfish action, the dog has now passed away. I commend the people who did their best to try and save her,” Said Sheriff Grady Judd.
Motorists traveling in Marion County will experience the following lane closures:
Oct. 1, 2018, to Feb. 13, 2019—County Road 320 between the intersections of Interstate 75 and North US Highway 441. Your penny at work! This project is funded by Marion County’s Penny sales tax initiative.
Oct. 1, 2018, to Feb. 13, 2019—Avenue G in the town of McIntosh, from North US Highway 441 to approximately the end of the existing pavement.
Oct. 1, 2018, to Feb. 23, 2019—Marion Oaks Boulevard between the intersections of Marion Oaks Manor (east) and Marion Oaks Manor (west). Your penny at work! This project is funded by Marion County’s Penny sales tax initiative.
Crews will place barricades, signage, and have flaggers to direct traffic through the work zone.
Many of the aforementioned areas have a lot of traffic in the mornings. Drivers should plan accordingly. Drivers should expect delays and are encouraged to use alternate routes, when possible.
Work will primarily be during daytime hours, however, some nighttime work may occur.
Please note that construction schedules may change due to weather or other circumstances, and if this happens, the closure may be rescheduled.
Officials ask that all drivers remember to yield to roadside workers and obey posted speed limits. Speeding fines are doubled in a construction zone.
[Last updated on September 25, 2018, at 11:01 a.m.]
A Florida teacher says she was fired after she refused to give students a grade of 50 percent on an assignment that they never turned in.
On social media, parents say that “participation trophy syndrome” is now being extended to students in the form of grades.
Something experts say is a sure way to dumb down today’s generation of entitled children.
The teacher, Diana Tirado, said she refused to give a 50 percent to a student who did nothing.
Tirado is a history teacher at West Gate K-8 School in Port St. Lucie, Fl.
According to Tirado, students had two weeks to complete the assignment.
Several students failed to turn in the assignment so Tirado gave them a zero. That is when she said she found out about a “no zeros” policy at the school. The school has a policy that states a student must not receive less than a 50 percent for assignments not completed or turned in.
School administrators were angry that Tirado gave the students a zero and fired her on September 14.
Tirado then wrote a message on a whiteboard in her classroom.
The message read, “Bye, kids. Mrs. Tirado loves you and wishes you the best in life! I have been fired for refusing to give you a 50% for not handing anything in.”
On Facebook, Tirado wrote, “I’m so upset because we have a nation of kids who are expecting to get paid and live their life just for showing up and it’s not real.”
She said, “A grade in my class is earned.”
Tirado is now calling for policy change.
In an email to Ocala Post, the school denied that they fired Tirado for giving students a zero, but refused elaborate on the subject.
According to Tirado, written in red in the school’s handbook, it reads, “No Zero’s — lowest possible grade is 50 percent.”
She said it was pointed out to her after the fact.
Tirado says that administrators told her to her face, “never give a student a zero.” She was then terminated.
Dozens of parents have turned to social media in Tirado’s defense.
Two teens, both 19, were killed in a single-vehicle crash Monday after the driver’s car slammed into a tree.
At approximately 9:42 p.m., the Florida Highway Patrol responded to a single vehicle crash on State Road 40, just east of Northeast 64th Avenue.
Troopers say the driver, Lindsey Hart, and her passenger, Leondre Thomas, was traveling eastbound on SR 40, when Hart lost control of her 2012 Mazda 3, veered off the roadway, and slammed head-on into a large oak tree.
Marion County Fire Rescue arrived and pronounce both teens deceased at the scene.
Troopers said all airbags deployed at the time of impact.
The new law stems from the beating death last year of a 9-month-old Labrador retriever puppy in Volusia County. The new law was named “Ponce’s Law” after the puppy.
The law will basically allow judges to keep those who have been convicted of animal cruelty from owning pets. The law will also increase the severity ranking of animal-abuse related crimes, therefore it will be more likely that offenders will serve time.
The new legislation also addresses animal shelters.
The new law states in part, “Animal Welfare ; Requiring specified entities that take receivership of lost or stray dogs or cats to adopt written policies and procedures to ensure that every reasonable effort is made to quickly and reliably return owned animals to their owners; authorizing a court to prohibit certain offenders from owning or having custody or control over animals; revising the ranking of offenses on the offense severity ranking chart of the Criminal Punishment Code, etc.”
The Marion County Board of County Commissioners passed an animal abuser registry ordinance, which went into effect on January 1, 2017.
The ordinance, known as “Molly’s Law,” is comprised of a list of individuals residing in Marion County who have been convicted of animal abuse. Convictions can be misdemeanor or felony.
The ordinance states that anyone on the list cannot possess, live with, or work with any animals.
A former Marion County Jail corrections officer who resigned in 2011 after he smuggled marijuana into the jail has been arrested.
According to inside sources, Joseph Charles Jones, 38, was arrested and charged with Having Sex with a Minor.
The 16-year-old girl, who said she had gotten close with Jones, told investigators that the two had consensual sex on multiple occasions. The girl said that she and Jones stayed in hotels in Orlando, went to beaches, and other locations where they had sex several times.
Initially, Jones denied knowing the girl but later admitted to taking the girl places and having sex with her at his residence.
Jones is being held at the Marion County Jail on a $25,000 bond.
Ocala, Florida — The Marion County Legal Support Association is now accepting applications for the Mary Sullivan Scholarship Award in the amount of $500.00 for students interested in obtaining a degree in the legal field.
Deadline to apply for the scholarship is December 1, 2018.
No application fee.
For scholarship information and/or an application packet, please contact Scholarship Chair, Lisa M. Wilson, FRP, at lisa@deananddean.net or 352-368-2800 x 108.
A man who struck and killed a father as he walked his daughter to a bus stop Friday has been released from jail.
Jeffrey Kimberlin, 38, was walking southbound on Southeast 180th Avenue Road with his 7-year-old daughter when he was struck from behind by a 2001 Ford Cargo van, driven by Dylan Roberts, 27.
Marion County Fire Rescue transported the father to Ocala Regional Medical Center where he later died from his injuries.
According to Florida Highway Patrol Homicide Investigator Corporal Mark Baker, Roberts was driving on a suspended drivers license.
Roberts was arrested and charged with Driving While License Suspended and Driving While License Suspended Causing Death. He was released from the Marion County Jail on Saturday on a $10,000 bond.
State records show that Roberts has five other arrests for similar offenses.
The East Marion Elementary School student, whose name has not been released, was not injured.
A mother who was disciplining her 15-year-old daughter by taking her cell phone away was arrested and charged with Larceny Theft Under $200.
Later, the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office added an additional charge of Larceny by Conversion.
The charges are punishable by up to 93 days in jail each.
In a court statement, the Grandville, Michigan mother, identified as Jodie May, said, “I was just being a mom, a concerned parent and disciplining my daughter.”
According to court records, May had taken her daughter’s iPhone 6 in April after she got in trouble at school.
The girl’s parents are divorced and share custody of the 15-year-old.
After May took her daughter’s cell phone, the girl’s father called the sheriff’s office and reported it stolen. The father said that the punishment was a crime because the phone belonged to him and not his daughter.
May, who has a newborn, was breastfeeding her baby when a deputy showed up at her home on May 12…the day before Mother’s Day. The deputy told May that he had a warrant for her arrest. May asked if she could turn herself in after she made arrangements for her baby, who was not taking a bottle at the time.
The deputy told her no and took her into custody. She was later released on a $200 bond.
May was arrested in May and the trial was set for Tuesday, September 18.
During the trial, prosecutors approached the bench and asked that all charges be dropped. Prosecutors told the judge that they had encountered new evidence they felt would significantly change the case.
Ottawa County Assistant Prosecutor Sarah Matwiejczyk said, “I’ve had an opportunity to discuss this case with the victim in this case, or at least the person we believed owned the property.”
Matwiejczyk said that the girl’s father did not actually own the phone.
Records show that the father had given the girl the phone as a Christmas present.
May’s court-appointed attorney, Jennifer Kuiper-Weise, said that she was furious that the case had made it as far as it did. She said that she was ready for a fight because she knew it was a case of “parental discipline.”
In an email, Ottawa County Prosecutor Ronald Frantz blamed the mother for the case making so far in the court. He wrote that May never told anyone she took the phone away from her daughter as punishment. He said that it was not mentioned anywhere in the report.
May said that the arresting deputy is being dishonest. She said she did tell him why she took the phone.
In a statement to Ocala Post, the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office said that the arresting deputy was just doing his job.
This is the second time something like this has happened. In 2013, a Texas father was arrested after his ex, who had remarried a police officer, called police after the father took his 12-year-old daughter’s phone away. When police arrived at Ronald Jackson’s home, they told him to give the phone back. Jackson responded by telling police that they did not have the right to interfere with the way he parents his child.
Jackson hired an attorney and requested a trial by jury. In 2016, a judge ordered that the jury find Jackson not guilty.
Jackson’s attorney described the case as an episode from the Jerry Springer show.
The officer in Jackson’s case was accused of abusing his power but never faced any charges.
In May’s case, all charges have been dismissed.
May is now looking for answers.
The family is calling this case government overreach.
A truck driver was transported by ShandsCair helicopter to Ocala Regional Medical Center Wednesday after he rolled his semi and became trapped inside.
Florida Highway Patrol Troopers said the driver of the semi, Gary Lentz, 64, was traveling southbound on County road 315 approaching a right curve near the intersection of Northeast 247th Lane when the driver lost control of the semi.
Troopers say Lentz over corrected, at which time the semi and trailer overturned and skid across both lanes of County Road 315.
Marion County Fire Rescue Technical Rescue was dispatched to assist the extraction of the driver.
Recently, Facebook posts from women claiming they were followed while shopping have been circulating the internet.
The Gainesville Police Department said, “We’ve seen recent posts from various folks in the community that are describing what appears to be incidents of human trafficking, kidnapping, or abductions. People are posting on social media that their kids are being watched while shopping, others have described instances that someone is trying to recruit them into a church for the purpose of human trafficking, and some have posted stories about being watched by people with headphones who seem to be giving updates into their positions.”
“GPD does not have any reason to believe that any of these incidents have been formally reported to us and we do NOT have any open investigations to anything even remotely close to what has been described, and there have been no reports of any child abductions,” officials said.
The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office also stated they the agency does not have any open investigations of such events.
Detectives said that while they do not have any open investigations, citizens should be aware of their surroundings at all times.
The Ocala Police Department responded to Meadowbrook Church Thursday morning in reference to a man in the parking lot holding a package and backpack. The man was allegedly making threats.
The man was detained and is currently in the custody of OPD.
The church building was evacuated and Meadowbrook Academy is on lockdown.
“We are protecting your children and will be updating [the community] as information is available. Please do not come to Meadowbrook as you will not be permitted access at this time. Your children are safe,” OPD said in a statement. “There will be a police presence at the Carlton Arms Apartment complex as a continuance of this investigation.”
School officials said they do not believe a verbal threat was made by the man, whose name has not been released.
The bomb squad is on the scene.
UPDATE
Meadowbrook church and school were given the all-clear shortly after 11 a.m. Using X-RAY technology, the MCSO Bomb Squad could not determine if the package and backpack contained a bomb, so they disposed of it by blowing it up.
According to OPD, the man, whose name has not been released, was placed under a Baker Act to be evaluated for mental health reasons. OPD stated that the man has been Baker Acted in the past and that, he stopped his medications.
Initially, school officials thought it was another threat via social media.
Following an investigation, Ocala Police Department investigators determined that a student had stated he had access to guns.
Police said that the student did not make any threats against the school, staff, or fellow classmates, but rather himself.
In an email, OPD Public Information Officer, Meghan Shay, wrote, “The [student] only referenced having access to guns. The student was Baker Acted as he was determined to be a danger to himself (not others).”
According to a survey by Harris Poll, Taco Bell has been voted the best Mexican-style restaurant.
You read right. Taco Bell, a fast-food joint known for late night “runs” was voted America’s best Mexican-style restaurant over several other choices.
The poll surveyed more than 77,000 people.
The fast-food joint beat out Moe’s, Chipotle, Baja Fresh, Del Taco, and Qdoba.
The release of Nacho Fries seems to be the reason customers like the fast-food restaurant.
Jokes have since circulated the internet. One person wrote and asked, “What did they do, survey 70 thousand potheads?”
What is even more disturbing, is the warning displayed on Taco Bell’s website. The warning reads, ⚠ WARNING : Certain foods and beverages sold or served here can expose you to chemicals including acrylamide in many fried or baked foods, and mercury in fish, which are known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.
A man had just been released from the hospital Sunday said he needed a way home, so he stole an ambulance.
According to a press release, Michael Paul, 25, for unknown reasons, was at North Broward Medical Center, 201 E. Sample Road.
Upon Paul’s discharge, he saw an ambulance, which was “running”, and decided it would make a nice ride for him to get home.
Someone yelled for Paul to stop, but they were not sure if he heard them.
Little did Paul know, the vehicle was equipped with a GPS tracker. Officials were able to track the truck to the 5700 block of North Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale.
Paul was arrested and charged with Grand Theft Auto, Driving without a License, and Violating a Learners Permit.
Paul was all ears while speaking with detectives and confessed. He told detectives that he “stole a red ambulance because he needed a car.”
According to a hospital spokesman, rescue workers often keep their ambulance with the engine on so it can remain air-conditioned for patients.
School administrators and local law enforcement are investigating a social media threat involving West Port High School.
“At this time, the school is operating normally,” said Marion County Public Schools Public Information Officer, Kevin Christian. “If investigators believe there is credibility to the threat, we will let [parents] know with another Skylert message.”
The much anticipated $1.2 million Cheddar’s restaurant at 4065 SW State Road 200, west of Interstate 75, is nearly finished.
