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ALACHUA ‒ With the continuing COVID-19 pandemic and infection resurgences in multiple states including Florida, the struggle for businesses to survive continues, especially in restaurants and bars. In Alachua, one local restaurant is planning a live entertainment night on Aug. 20 to attract customers and boost revenues.

On Main Street in Alachua, Tony and Al's Restaurant has become a local favorite for Italian food was voted Favorite Restaurant in Alachua by readers of “Our Town” magazine. The restaurant was also known for monthly Art & Music nights with acoustic music and artists exhibiting their works. But the pandemic changed all that.

In Florida restaurants can only serve at 50 percent capacity and bars remain closed. Restaurants have lost more revenue and jobs than any other industry, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In June a survey by the National Restaurant Association showed food service lost nearly $120 billion out of a projected at $899 billion in sales for 2020 so far.

Restaurant owners have been forced to quickly come up with new adaptations on menus, points of service, hours, delivery and takeout models that better serve their local communities just to keep the lights on. Restaurants are known to run on thin margins, which makes a forced closure even more painful as they struggle to keep the business going.

Yelp released an economic report in late June revealing that, as of June 15, more than 57,000 restaurants listed on the site had closed permanently since the onset. Locally, well known restaurants have closed including The Diner in High Springs, and Gainesville’s Leonardo’s 706, The Swamp, Civilization and Francesca's Trattoria.

In April, Toni & Al’s offered take out or delivery and was closed for in house dining. When in-house dining was first allowed, it was limited to 25 percent capacity and later revised to 50 percent, still cutting revenues in half.

Owner and Chef Al Zuluaga was concerned not only about his restaurant, but also about his employees. “It was important to keep everyone employed and keep the restaurant going even if the profit was slim.” Due to the pandemic and fears of infection, Zuluaga said he has also seen a dramatic reduction in people coming out to restaurants.

The pandemic also meant the end of art and music night, which also meant lost income for artists and musicians. Local artist Peggy Justensen had arranged for the monthly showcase for over two years. After five months without entertainment at the restaurant, Justensen stopped in to see how the restaurant was doing.

Zuluaga and Justensen decided it was time to bring back the music as long as the restaurant followed all social distancing rules and opened the patio for outdoor seating. Recognizing the financial hit the restaurant had taken, Justensen created a special event titled “Help Keep Al in Business Night” on Thursday, Aug. 20 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The event will also feature musicians Allan Lowe and Don Hennesy. Lowe was lead singer and acoustic guitar for Dixie Desperadoes through the years, and for the last six years he was lead vocal and acoustic guitar with Wild Blue Yonder with two Dixie Desperados albums and one Wild Blue Yonder albums under his belt.

Don Hennesy was a session musician in Los Angeles. More recently he's has played in several Gainesville bands, his most recent gig playing guitar for local country favorite Clay Brooker.

The two will perform inside and there will be speakers to the patio so outside diners can enjoy the music. The event will start at 6 p.m. with both inside and patio seating. Masks are required unless drinking and/or eating and seating will be limited to 50 percent capacity with all tables socially distanced at six ft apart. Tony & Al's Restaurant is located at 14960 Main Street in Alachua.

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ALACHUA COUNTY — An Alachua County election worker who worked at the High Springs Civic Center (Precinct 20) during the 2020 Primary Election tested positive for COVID-19.

The Alachua County Supervisor of Elections was notified today at about 3:30 p.m. by a Florida Department of Health contact tracer.

Officials from the Department of Health stated that voters who visited the polling place are at minimal risk of contracting the virus because of physical distancing, sanitation procedures, and the brief contact.

Election workers who worked with the individual have been contacted and told by the Supervisor of Elections to get tested for COVID-19. Those who worked closely with the individual — defined as those who were in close proximity of the individual for more than 15 minutes throughout the day — have been advised to self quarantine for 14 days, following guidance from the Florida Department of Health.

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ALACHUA ‒ There is murder and mayhem going on in the Ivy House Mansion on Main Street in Alachua. Multiple victims are meeting untimely and brutal deaths while being stalked by an unknown murderer. But no one has actually been hurt, because it is all part of a horror film called “Call Time” being filmed in Alachua with the majority of the film being shot at the Ivy House.

"Call Time" tells a story about an inexperienced film crew and has-been director Ethan Shaw who attempts to film the greatest scary movie of all time. Little do they know; they are the main stars and victims. Some of the characters’ greed for Hollywood fame turns into a series of twisted betrayals. The guilty rises from the ashes as the innocent fall under grotesque bloodshed.

The production includes crew from a variety of places including New Jersey, California and Tampa but also includes local crew and talent as well. The original shooting location was to be in Pennsylvania, but fell through due to COVID-19. While the producers were looking for a suitably scary Victorian mansion, one of the actors, Tiffany Jordan, worked in Alachua at the Ivy House as a groundskeeper. She suggested the house, which was vacant at the time, as a location and the producers agreed it was perfect.

The movie is being produced by20/20 Vizion Entertainment and 1st Dibz Production in association with Love Logan Productions and is based on the script by Nicanson Guerrier, 1st Dibz CEO.

The film stars actor Marcus T. Paulk (“Moesha” and new scripted series “Pump”), reality star Royce Reed (VH1’s “Basketball Wives”), recording artist and reality personality Lynese Wiley, known as Babs Bunny (MTV’s “Making of the Band” and YouTube series “Queen of the Ring”), actor and YouTube sensation Tyrone Magnus, and actress Mercedes Gutierrez.

“Although we were originally going to film in the Philadelphia area, when we saw a picture that Tiffany sent of the Ivy house and the town of Alachua, it fit our vision of where this movie would take place,” said film director Derrick Hammond. “Alachua had the right atmosphere for the setting. I think the location change was our best move. We have already written in five new parts based on the small town feel of Alachua.”

Based in New Jersey, Hammond's directing credits include the movies “Her Little Secret,” “Breaking Point” and award winning “Always with You,” as well as the TV series “Chase Street.”

The Ivy House provides an historic private location and also offers cast and crew a chance to shoot on a closed set in adherence to COVID-19 regulations.

Hammond anticipates completing shooting around Aug. 23, but will likely return in September to shoot new parts and make-up shots. The expected release will be around September or early October 2021, coinciding with Halloween.

Due to current COVID-19 restrictions and lack of open theaters, the movie will be released on streaming channels and internet services like Hulu and HBO. The producer also sees this as a horror movie series, similar to “Halloween,” “Nightmare on Elm Street,” “Friday the 13^th” and “Scream.”

“We actually plan to start shooting the second one while this one is in post-production” said Hammond.

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GAINESVILLE - Motorists traveling westbound Newberry Road (State Road 26) near the Interstate 75 interchange this week may experience delays for construction activities.

The outside westbound lane of Newberry Road, from Northwest 69^th Terrace to Northwest 75^th Street/Tower Road, is scheduled to close Tuesday night. Traffic will be reduced to two lanes in this area both day and 

This lane closure will not impact motorists entering Interstate 75.

This is part of a $2.4 million project on Newberry Road.

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Clovis Watson, Jr. (right) receives a congratulatory hug from a supporter Tuesday evening following results from the race for sheriff in which Watson handily won over incumbent Sheriff Sadie Darnell.

ALACHUA COUNTY ‒ Clovis Watson, Jr. handily defeated incumbent Sadie Darnell to be Alachua County’s top law enforcement official. After first being elected Nov. 14, 2006, the longstanding Sheriff Darnell will lose her seat in the coming months as Watson formally takes over the role of Alachua County Sheriff at the beginning of 2020.

Watson picked up 23,110 votes, or 59.3 percent compared to Darnell’s 15,851 votes, or 40.7 percent of the votes according to the unofficial tally by the Alachua County Supervisor of Election.

Watson and Darnell were in a closed primary race, meaning only Democrats could cast ballots because Rob Brinkman jumped in the race as a write-in general election candidate. That means Watson will face off against Brinkman as a write-in candidate in the general election, although Watson’s election is nearly a foregone conclusion since Brinkman is not campaigning.

While only registered Democrats could cast ballots in Tuesday’s primary, according to campaign finance reports, Watson garnered a wide cross-section of support.

Watson currently serves in the Florida House of Representatives in House District 20. For several years, he led his hometown, the City of Alachua, as its city manager, and has an extensive background in law enforcement, having served for many years as the Deputy Police Chief in the City of Alachua.

Darnell was not the only incumbent to lose in the Aug. 18 primary. Longtime Alachua County District 1 Commissioner Mike Byerly with 34.2 percent lost to fellow-Democrat Mary Alford who picked up 65.8 percent of the vote tally.

Alachua County Commissioner for District 3, Robert “Hutch” Hutchinson, who chose not to seek re-election, will be replaced by Anna Prizzia (49.1 percent), who beat Kevin Thorpe (36.9 percent) and Jason Stanford (14 percent).

Alachua County Commissioner for District 5, Charles “Chuck” Chestnut, IV, faced no challenger in the Aug. 18 election and will retain his seat. As a result of Tuesday’s election, and for the first time, women will make a majority of the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners.

In an historic shakeup on the Alachua County School Board, Diyonne L. McGraw (52.4 percent) won the District 2 seat over Khanh-Lien R. Banko (47.6 percent). McGraw replaces Eileen F. Roy on the school board. Meanwhile, Leanetta McNealy (61percent) will retain her District 4 school board seat after defeating Sande Calkins (39 percent). With McGraw, McNealy, and Tina Certain (District 1), the School Board of Alachua County will consist of three African-American women for the first time in school board history.

In Newberry, incumbent Commissioner Monty Farnsworth was re-elected with 55.3 percent as compared to challenger Walt Boyer’s 44.7 percent of the votes cast in Tuesday’s election. Newberry voters did adopt some revisions to the City’s charter, but declined to increase the terms of service from two years to three years for the mayor and commissioners.

Hawthorne voters elected Patricia Bouie (72.1 percent) to Seat 4 over Wallace F. Russell (27.9 percent). In Archer, voters elected Joan White (61.8 percent) to Seat 1 over Bill Lewandowski (38.1 percent) and Fletcher Hope (62.3 percent) to Seat 3 over Mary Bennett (37.7 percent).

With Alachua County Property Appraiser Ed Crapo declining to seek re-election, Ayesha Solomon (48.8 percent) will take on the role after facing off against Matt Geiger (27 percent), Wendy Sapp (13 percent), Susan M. McQuillan (6.2 percent) and Kelly F. Suggs (5 percent).

Replacing Clovis Watson, Jr. as the Florida House District 20 representative will be Yvonne Hayes Hinson. Hinson, with 61.8 percent of the votes beat out Rodney Long, who had 38.2 percent of the votes cast. Long had served as an Alachua County Commissioner for a number of years in the 2000s, and as a Gainesville city commissioner beginning in 1988, but has been out of elected public office for years since leaving the county commission.

In the hotly-contested U.S. House of Representatives District 3 Republican primary race, Kat Cammack won with 25.2 percent of the ballots cast over Judson Sapp (20 percent), Gavin Rollins (15.3 percent), James St. George (14.1 percent), Todd Chase (9.5 percent), and five other candidates garnering a combined 15.9 percent of the votes. Cammack will face off in the Nov. 3 general election against Adam Christensen who won 34.5 percent of the votes cast in the U.S. House of Representatives District 3 Democrat primary race. Christensen beat out Philip Dodds (32.3 percent) and Tom Wells (33.2 percent). Given the voter makeup of House District District 3, and the history of Republican victories over the district, it is likely that Cammack will prevail in the Nov. 3 general election.

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LIVE OAK ‒ The Suwannee River Water Management District’s Governing Board has voted to table an anticipated staff recommendation to approve the Seven Springs Water Company Water Use Permit renewal application. The vote was taken at the Board’s Aug. 11 meeting. The Board’s determination to table the permit was made based on its view that the company actually bottling the water should be listed as an applicant on the permit application.

Seven Springs has held a permit issued by the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) to withdraw water from Ginnie Springs for 20 years. The permit allows withdrawals up to 1.152 million gallons a day from the spring, but as a smaller local plant, their average withdrawal has been a quarter of the amount, peaking at under 270,000 gallons per day for the past four years.

In January 2019, Nestle Waters North America Corporation (NWNA) purchased the bottling plant from Seven Springs in anticipation of receiving the permit after Seven Springs renewed it. Within the next five years, NWNA anticipates operating four product lines at this facility, one renovated line capable of producing 1,350 half-liter bottles per minute (BPM), and three new lines capable of producing 1,500 BPM and adding two new high-speed bottling lines to the two existing ones. NWNA will also pay an undisclosed amount to Seven Springs.

There is opposition to the Nestle plant by some who say that allowing up to 1.152 million gallons a day to be pumped by Nestle Waters bottling plant would harm the Santa Fe River system, reduce water for public use and is not in the public interest as required by state law for approval of permits.

Nestle maintains they are good stewards of the environment and the bottling plant brings jobs and tax revenue to Florida's economy.

As part of the permitting process, the SRWMD previously requested information from Seven Springs confirming that the withdrawals would not damage the recovering river and were in the best interest of the public. Despite requests for three separate reports, the documents were not provided and SRWMD staff initially recommended denying the permit due to incomplete information from Seven Springs.

The denial recommendation was to be reviewed by the SRWMD Board of Governors at a meeting on March 10, 2020. On March 9,2020, Seven Springs and Nestle filed a petition for administrative hearing on the matter. The petition was forwarded to the Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH) for consideration by an Administrative Law Judge as required by law, effectively taking the matter out of SRWMD’s authority.

Prior to the hearing, Seven Springs provided the information requested earlier by SRWMD and the hearing was canceled, placing the decision back in the hands of the water management district.

Based on the new information, it was anticipated that SWRMD staff would recommend approving the permit at the Aug. 11 Board of Governors meeting. Now that the Board has tabled the permit renewal, that recommendation is in limbo.

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