Local

HIGH SPRINGS ‒ A homeless man was arrested at 10:35 a.m., Friday, May 20, in High Springs after he trespassed at a High Springs residence on three consecutive days.

The victim contacted the High Springs Police Department when she found the man had walked up to her front door, which was cracked open and stood there looking inside at her and her 11-year-old daughter. The victim and her daughter were alone in the apartment at the time.

Christian David Greenwald, 31, who is described as “homeless” on the arrest report, was arrested when the victim reported that he stood outside her apartment, which is located near Winn-Dixie, for three days in a row. He was trespassed from the location on May 19 by the High Springs Police Department.

Post Miranda, Greenwald reportedly said that he believes the victim is Taylor Swift and that she has his child. He was charged with trespassing and is being held on $25,000 bond.

#     #     #

Email cwalker@

alachuatoday.com

NEWBERRY ‒ The Newberry Watermelon Festival was back for its 77th annual celebration on Saturday, May 21.  The annual festival brought out thousands who enjoyed sweet and juicy watermelon, games and activities for the young and not-so-young alike, and entertainment.

The nation’s longest-running watermelon festival was held at the CountryWay Town Square. The festival featured more than 100 vendors offering items for sale, food and drink, nonprofits sharing information, and politicians promoting their 2022 campaigns. There was also plenty of activities for kids including bounce houses, face painting and pony rides. As in previous years, the free slices of watermelon were popular with the crowd.

The event started at 10 a.m. with a parade in downtown Newberry featuring floats sponsored by local businesses and organizations that included a golf cart decoration contest. At the Country Way Town Center, some 100 vendors lined the streets and at the gazebo, K Country 93.7 FM announced events along with singer and DJ Brandon McFarlan.

The previous week the festival committee had held its annual pageant for naming the annual Newberry Watermelon Queen, teen queen and junior queens.  Kensley Catelynn Durrance was crowned the 2022 Newberry Watermelon Queen, Ashlee Thomas was crowned the 2022 Newberry Watermelon Ms. Teen Queen and Laney Grinstead was crowned the 2022 Newberry Watermelon Teen Queen. The Newberry City Commission also awarded Bethany Barfield with a key to the city. Barfield was the Newberry Watermelon Queen in 2019 and then went on to win the Florida Watermelon Queen for 2020-21 before claiming the National Watermelon Queen title.

Watermelon festival traditional events included the popular pet contest featuring four dogs. Link, Duchess, Callie and Ellie Mae won prizes for Best Dressed Boy, Best Dressed Girl, Best Behaved and Best Overall, respectively. There was a hog calling contest and the traditional watermelon seed spitting contest that has been held every year featuring local politicians competing for bragging rights for the longest spit.

Last year, Alachua County Sheriff Clovis Watson, Jr. took the crown from Congresswomen Kat Cammack with a 23-foot mark.  The winning marks this year were much farther than Watson's record last year. Daniel Fisher, running for Alachua County School Board, launched a watermelon seed 41 feet. He won the contest with that shot, leaving Newberry City Commissioner Mark Clark in second place with 37 feet.

Newberry’s Watermelon Festival started in 1946 after the end of World War II.  A group of local citizens decided to hold a festival celebrating the area’s watermelon production and the Newberry Watermelon Festival was born. The event has now been held yearly on the third Saturday in May.  

The festival is organized and produced by a committee of local residents with the support of the city and business sponsors. The actual event is produced with a large group of volunteers, including Police Explorers who help manage traffic and parking. Sponsors provide donations either as cash or in-kind products. The festival also receives additional funds through a $5 parking fee. Some of the money raised funds four $1,000 scholarships for Newberry High School seniors to cover tuition and books to attend Santa Fe College. Any additional money goes to the schools for supplies and to the Red Cross for any local need that arises.

While last year’s festival was smaller due to COVID-19 health concerns, the crowds were back in full this year. Just like its beginning in 1946 after World War II, the festival again brought a sense of community and return to normalcy.

#     #     #

email rcarson@

alachuatoday.com

NEWBERRY ‒ Alachua County’s proposed one percent Sales Tax Referendum took center stage in discussions between the City of Newberry and the Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) during their joint meeting Monday, May 23. Having already presented the issue to three other municipalities with lukewarm receptions, county commissioners came armed with facts and figures to ask Newberry’s Commissioners to back the referendum.

Assistant County Manager Gina Peebles introduced the sales tax referendum, which ties together funding for the popular Wild Spaces and Public Places (WSPP) and the unpopular tax for roads.

In past years, Alachua County has asked voters to support a referendum for roads on two occasions, which was defeated both times. However, when they asked the citizens to approve the Wild Spaces and Public Places (WSPP) Referendum with a one-half percent sales tax in 2008 and again in 2016, it was approved.

Dec. 31, 2024, the WSPP one-half percent sales tax sunsets and many municipalities have expressed a desire to continue it. Funds from WSPP have been used throughout the County to improve recreation facilities and to support other related projects.

Voters will be asked on Nov. 8, 2022 whether they would like to extend the WSPP half-cent sales tax along with a half-cent sales tax dedicated to infrastructure through 2032.

The proceeds from the surtax will be split between the County and the municipalities, with each entity required to allocate half to WSPP projects such as parks and recreation, open space and natural resources; the other half will be allocated to other infrastructure projects including road improvements as defined in Florida’s statutes. Up to 15 percent of the non-WSPP half of the surtax may be used to fund economic development projects to improve the local economy.

Allowable projects can include but are not limited to land acquisition; land improvement; costs related to constructing or improving public facilities that have a life expectancy of five years or more; and land acquisition for a residential housing project in which at least 30 percent of the units are affordable to those with a household income not exceeding 120 percent of the area median income.

The county will get over half the funds and the rest distributed to municipalities based on population. The County will also allocate $6 million (half for WSPP projects and half for other infrastructure projects) of its share of the tax to the City of Gainesville “for uses… that Alachua County finds, in its sole discretion, have countywide significance.” Gainesville will have to submit a detailed request for each project.

Another $6 million will be allocated to all the municipalities, including the City of Gainesville. Each municipality can submit detailed requests for funds, but the ordinance does not address how the requests will be prioritized. This will be a one-time allocation of a total of $12 million, not an annual allocation.

The county estimates that the surtax will raise about $49 million in the first year, with almost $28 million going to the county, $17 million to the City of Gainesville, $1.35 million to the City of Alachua, $895,000 to Newberry, $861,000 to High Springs, $189,000 to Hawthorne, $156,000 to Archer, $124,000 to Waldo, $87,000 to Micanopy and $51,000 to La Crosse.

Alachua county residents have long complained about the condition of the county-maintained roads. Alachua County Commissioner Chuck Chestnut said that citizens have told the county to improve the roads with the existing money they are receiving each year. He said they have done so as much as they could, but that more funds are required to maintain the roads properly.

Peebles said the county can only have one surtax at a time, which is why the county commission is proposing a one-half percent sales tax for WSPP and another one-half percent sales tax for roads and infrastructure maintenance.

Alachua County Public Works Director and Engineer Ramon Gavarrette said that the cost for road work has increased by 30 – 40 percent and that many of the roads are failing. If this referendum passes, he said the county commission is targeting $50 million per year for roads, which will come from several sources.

Newberry City Commissioner Rick Coleman said his constituents were concerned about the county taking land off of the tax rolls and using the citizens money to do it.

Mayor Jordan Marlowe expressed concern that if voters buy into the system proposed by Gavarrette and he moves on to another city, someone else who comes into the job may throw out the old plan for a new one. Marlowe doesn’t want to keep developing plans—he wants the county to have a plan and stick to it. Coleman said buying land is not right, but something has to be done about the roads.

Newberry City Commissioner Tim Marden said the county’s priorities haven’t been right, but Marlowe pointed out that this is not the same county commission Newberry has dealt with in the past and pointed to several successful joint projects this county commission and the city have been able to accomplish recently.

#     #     #

Email cwalker@

alachuatoday.com

HIGH SPRINGS ‒ For many Americans, Memorial Day is a three-day weekend to travel, enjoy the outdoors or party. The original meaning of the holiday may be acknowledged, but oftentimes little is done to honor it during their weekend plans. For others, the true meaning of Memorial Day carries a more somber quality as we remember those who served and did not return as well as those who came back but have since passed. This is the real meaning of Memorial Day.

On May 28, the High Springs Lions Club will host a Memorial Day concert to raise funds for a Gold Star Monument in Gainesville. Although all who serve deserve respect and appreciation, those who did not come back deserve more in recognition of a life cut short by war, leaving families and friends to mourn the emptiness of their loss. Their families suddenly belong a singular group that no one wants to join, known as a Gold Star Family.

What sets Gold Star families apart and makes them special is the sacrifice they have made and the loved one they have lost in military service to the country. That death is not only a devastating loss of their loved one – it can often also seem like the loss of an identity, of a community, changing lives forever. There is another group that is strongly affected by these lives lost, and that group is their fellow soldiers who survived, remembering the comrades who didn’t come home.

Hershel “Woody” Williams was born on a dairy farm in 1923 in Quiet Dell, West Virginia. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and served in the Battle of Iwo Jima. Williams’ actions, commitment to his fellow service members, and heroism during Iwo Jima were recognized on Oct. 5, 1945, when he received the Congressional Medal of Honor from President Truman at the White House. Williams is now the sole surviving Marine from WWII to wear the Medal of Honor.

As War II began, Williams came into direct contact with families in his own community when he delivered Western Union telegrams informing the Gold Star families of the death of their loved one. Williams says that those experiences gave him a “greater appreciation for life and an understanding of a difference in death in the normal world as expected in life, and those lost serving in the military for their country.”

Williams noted that “consideration and recognition of the families of those lost in military service was very inadequate.” This observation and his personal commitment to veterans and their families brought about the creation of the Woody Williams Foundation The foundation’s goal is to honor these families by creating large granite Gold Star Monuments in every state. To date, Williams and his foundation are responsible for establishing 96 Gold Star Families Memorial Monuments across the United States with more than 79 additional monuments underway in 50 states and one U.S. Territory. They are currently building one in Gainesville.

Eric “Roscoe” Mattingly is a 100 percent disabled veteran of the Iraq War who was injured during the battle for Taji. When he returned from the war and mindful of his injuries, he sought a career that was achievable. Mattingly had always loved music and earned a degree in Live Show Production from Full Sail University. He has continued producing music shows and as a veteran he became involved with the Woody Williams Foundation and their Gainesville project. By organizing a benefit concert to raise funds for the Gold Star Monument.

The High Springs Lions Club and the Military Vets MC Club have a large stage and plenty of audience space. They have hosted a number of benefit concerts at their location and were happy to coordinate with Mattingly to produce the show. Mattingly contacted regional bands he had worked with who would provide their time and talent for a concert. The concert will be dedicated in honor of four local soldiers who paid the ultimate price—including Sergeant Campbell, Lance Corporal Clark and Staff Sergeant Reiners.

On May 28, the High Springs Lions Club will host Mattingly's “Roscoe's Memorial Day Celebra-Jam” featuring four Florida bands. Starting at 2 p.m., The Huligans from Jacksonville will take the stage. Dustin Monk and the Hustle are another Jacksonville band. Trae Pierce and the T-Stones are based in Miami and are four-time Grammy winners. Jesse Smith is originally from High Springs but is now based in New Orleans and New York. His band, Jasper Smitty & Gumbo Funk will close out the concert.

The show costs $25, which, after expenses, will go to fund the Gainesville Gold Star Monument. The concert takes place at 26900 U.S. Hwy 27 in High Springs. Gates open at noon in an outdoor venue and chairs are suggested. On this Memorial Day weekend, this is a concert for a good cause to honor the soldiers who paid the supreme price and the shattered families they left behind.

#     #    #

email rcarson@

alachuatoday.com