Local

NEWBERRY ‒ In a move that will bring a commercial center and storage facilities to Newberry, the City Commission on May 8 unanimously approved a rezoning application on second reading for property located on the south side of West Newberry Road/State Road 26 between Southwest 218^th Street and Southwest 226^th Street. The approval amends the City’s Official Zoning Atlas to change the zoning from Commercial General (CG) to Commercial Intensive (CI) zoning district on 8.28 +/- acres of land.

“Plans are for the site to be developed as a commercial center up front and additional boat and RV storage to the south, with possibly mini storage in-between,” said Planning and Economic Development Director Bryan Thomas. He explained that Commercial General is usually reserved for small scale commercial, while Commercial Intensive is usually for automotive uses.

In his recommendation to enact this change on second reading, Thomas said that the CI Zoning District is compatible with the mixture of uses in the area along State Road 26 and is consistent with the Corridor Study and community visioning indicators. This application was unanimously approved by the Planning and Zoning Board on March 6 and unanimously approved again on first reading by the City Commission on April 10.

In other City business, Thomas presented the proposed timeline for revising the Newberry Comprehensive Plan, something the Commission has been talking about reviewing for some time.

The Comprehensive Plan is the community’s expression of its vision for future growth. The Plan is intended to provide guidance from a high-level perspective, while the Land Development Regulations are the tools to implement that vision. Newberry’s Comprehensive Plan has not been thoroughly revised since 2006 and contains elements that are no longer applicable to the current environment, as well as very specific language that is more suitable to being in the Land Development Regulations.

The process will bring multiple public and Commission open houses to provide the community with ample opportunities for input. In addition to public input, the revised Plan will incorporate the recently adopted Mission, Vision, and Core Values that were developed during last year’s visioning workshops.

All workshops and meetings will take place at the Municipal Building and are scheduled to occur from 6 – 9 p.m. Public workshops and meetings will be held May 24, June 6, July 10 (provide update to the Commission) and Aug. 14 for a Commission workshop.

Upon approval by the Newberry City Commission, the Comprehensive Plan will be sent to the state for review and approval, which can take up to 45 days.

In other business, City Manager New announced that the City was awarded a $55,000 USDA Rural Business Development Grant. It will be used to fund a development business plan for the Agtech Park and also to “further develop our stakeholders to get enough momentum to get the initial round of infrastructure constructed and the first facilities, which we think will be the incubator building”.

New also reported that the City was funded for two $1 million grants for a water storage tank and for a wastewater treatment plant expansion by the Florida Legislature in the 2023 Session that ended on May 5. He said the funding “will have to go before the governor’s veto pen”.

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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ Walter Bickmeyer and Gracie were inseparable. For the past 13 years, people never saw one without the other. Bickmeyer had multiple health issues and Gracie always kept an eye on him whenever they went out, making sure he was okay and making sure everyone else was also aware of her concern for him and dedication to his wellbeing in case she needed help. That devotion and dedication went both ways as Walter always made sure Gracie was okay as well.

The duo was well known in High Springs, especially Gracie, who was friends with everyone, meeting new people every time they went out in public while watching Bickmeyer as well. Everyone at various restaurants and venues knew both of them, especially Gracie who became somewhat of a local celebrity. They traveled together as well, taking a seven-week trip across the country to California in 2021, along with multiple smaller trips, always together, sharing adventures.

Gracie was not Bickmeyer's spouse, significant other, or girlfriend. She was his dog, with a unique calm and friendly disposition that everyone who met her was attracted to.

“I got her as a puppy from the pound, but on the way home she pooped on my car seat and I questioned whether I made the right decision,” Bickmeyer chuckled. “But it never happened again, and she grew to be a calm, well-trained and intelligent dog that became my constant companion. We understood each other perfectly.”

But one of the unfortunate facts of life is that our pets never live as long as we do, and last week Gracie passed as she lay on Bickmeyer’s lap. Anyone who has pets knows this loss, but with Gracie it affected the community beyond just her owner.

The Pink Flamingo Restaurant in High Springs was a popular stop for Walter and Gracie. Upon learning of her death, the staff and management planned a tribute to Gracie.

“She brought a lot of joy to both the staff and the customers, greeting people at the tables, never intrusive, just quietly greeting each one. She was a very loved dog by our entire staff and customers, and I know it was the same at other places as well,” said Pink Flamingo employee Laura Jean Knight. “We decided we wanted to host a celebration of life for her in tribute. Walter and we decided we wanted it to be a fundraiser to give money to organizations helping animals in honor of Gracie. We picked the Alachua County Animal Resources and Care (ACARC),” Knight said.

On May 15, the Pink Flamingo sponsored the Celebration of Life for Gracie. There was no special events or speeches, just a gathering of people to remember a special dog and show support for Bickmeyer and his loss of a partner.

The Flamingo also encouraged people to bring their dogs as well and at least nine people did. Over the course of the afternoon, over 100 people stopped in to pay their respects and donate to the cause of helping other animals in Gracie's name. Over $300 was donated as well as animal food and toys to go the ACARC facility.

“For the pet supplies and toys, we have a large barrel, and it will stay here for donations until it is filled,” said Knight. “We also have a painting of Gracie that we are going to hang in the restaurant as a permanent tribute to her.”

Anyone who would like to pay tribute to a unique and dedicated dog by supporting the shelter and the animals there, can call the Alachua County Animal Resource and Care facility at 352-264-6870 to arrange a donation. It is suggested you mention Gracie's name, so they know it is in tribute to a dog helping her fellow pets that don’t have a loving human companion like she did.

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Staff report/Alachua Chronicle

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Timari Deloris Biddle, 20, and Theodore Isaiah Martin, 16, were arrested May 13 and charged with nine business burglaries over a three-hour period.

At about 1:40 a.m. on May 12, the pair allegedly shattered a window at the Dollar General at 1080 N.E. 16^th Avenue with a baseball bat, with damages estimated at $1,000. The pair allegedly entered the store and stole about $100 in tobacco products. On the way out, Martin allegedly hit two computer monitors with the bat, shattering them and causing another $1,000 in damage.

They also allegedly shattered the glass on the front door of the Department of Children and Families office at 1000 N.E. 16^th Avenue with a baseball bat, with damages estimated at $500. They allegedly entered the office and smashed multiple computer monitors, knocked down two security cameras, and stole a laptop, a laptop case, and an iPhone. The damage inside the office is estimated at over $1,000, and the stolen items are valued at about $1,600. The laptop and laptop case were later recovered at the scene of another burglary.

At about 1:50 a.m., the pair allegedly broke the glass door of Three Rivers Legal Services at 1000 N.E. 16^th Avenue with a bat, with damages estimated at $1,000. The pair allegedly entered the business but were scared off before they could steal anything.

At about 2:00 a.m., the pair allegedly entered Public and General, 1000 N.E. 16^th Avenue, through an unlocked front door. While inside, they allegedly stole a tip jar containing $20-$40 and a U.S. Treasury check made out to Public and General.

At about 2:40 a.m., the pair allegedly tried to break the drive-through window of the Popeyes Chicken at 1412 N. Main Street but left on bicycles when the window didn’t break. Damages are estimated at about $500.

At about 2:54 a.m., the pair allegedly broke the glass door of Fly Smoke Shop, 1212 N. Main Street, with a bat, causing damage over $1,000. They allegedly entered the business and stole $500 from the register and “numerous” other items, with the total loss valued at over $2,500.

At about 4:30 a.m., the pair allegedly tried to break the glass door at Smoke City, 2107 N.W. 13^th Street, with a bat, but they were unsuccessful. They allegedly knocked down two exterior security cameras, causing damage of about $200.

The pair also allegedly smashed glass on the front of Urban Thread, 1236 N.W. 21^st Avenue, causing about $300 in damage. They allegedly entered the business and stole $100 from the cash register.

They allegedly broke a back window at Adam’s Rib Company, 2109 N.W. 13^th Street, with a bat, with damage estimated at $200. They allegedly entered the business and stole $170 from the cash register and a Gatorade from the cooler.

TB Goods Pawn Shop at 325 N.E. 23^rd Avenue is also listed as a victim, but details are unavailable.

The pair were reportedly caught on video surveillance cameras. Hours later, Martin was reportedly found at the Wash King, 210 N.E. 16^th Avenue, still wearing the clothes shown in the video.

Post Miranda, he reportedly admitted to all of the burglaries and implicated Biddle in the thefts.

At about 5:45 p.m. May 13, Biddle was found outside her residence in the 1800 block of Northeast 15^th Street, wearing the same clothes shown in the video. She reportedly had the same backpack from the video and had “numerous” stolen items in her possession, including the iPhone and a large amount of cash in mostly small denominations. She was reportedly intoxicated and could not be interviewed.

Martin is listed as a co-defendant on all of the arrest affidavits, but his exact charges are unavailable. Biddle has been charged with seven counts of burglary of an unoccupied structure, two counts of burglary with property damage over $1,000, four counts of theft, three counts of property damage over $200, two counts of property damage over $1,000, and two counts of grand theft over $750.

Biddle was previously arrested in January 2021 and charged with five car burglaries with a different juvenile co-defendant. She entered a plea of nolo contendere to the charges and was sentenced to three years of probation, with adjudication of guilt withheld; she was also ordered to pay restitution to the victims. She was arrested again in January 2022 and charged with threatening to shoot another student at A. Quinn Jones School. She was found incompetent to proceed with trial by reason of intellectual disability and was committed to an Agency for Persons with Disabilities training facility. In October 2022, she was found competent to proceed with trial and was released to the care of a family member after entering pleas of nolo contendere to making a threat to kill and five counts of probation violation; her previous probation was revoked, and she was sentenced to two years of probation with a Mental Health Plan.

After she was removed from her mental health treatment group in January 2023 for being uncooperative and for “escalating” behavior including a physical altercation, she was re-arrested for violating the terms of the probation. She was released with a new Mental Health plan in February 2023.

Biddle is currently on probation on the January 2021 and January 2022 charges, which includes a requirement to not violate the law. Bail information was unavailable.

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Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. 

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The Newberry High School Baseball team heading to the Final 4.

NEWBERRY, Fla. - The Newberry High School Panthers Baseball team headed to the 2023 FHSAA State Baseball tournament in Fort Myers on Tuesday morning and received a spirited sendoff from fans. The team boasts a 16-8 season heading into final four tournament play. The Panthers will face off against the Chipley Tigers, 20-7 on Wednesday, May 17. If Newberry wins, they will next play on Thursday, May 18 at 4 p.m. in the Championship title game.

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NEWBERRY ‒ Richard Henry Kautz, 32, was arrested on Wednesday, May 10, and charged with five counts of possession of child pornography and five counts of transmission of child pornography.

On Jan. 23, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received tips about two Snapchat accounts with child exploitation material. Another tip was received about an Instagram account on March 3 with one of the same images and a third tip was received on March 23 about an Instagram account that also had the same image.

A subpoena for the owner of the IP address associated with the uploads produced an address in Newberry where Kautz lives. His photo reportedly matched the photos on the Instagram accounts. A search warrant was executed by Alachua County Sheriff’s deputies at that address on May 10 and the residents were interviewed.

Post Miranda, Kautz at first denied any knowledge of why the deputies might be at his address, but he later admitted that he is attracted to child sexual abuse material. He reportedly admitted owning the Snapchat and Instagram accounts and said the other residents of the house were not involved.

Bail was set at $2,500 for each one of the 10 counts that he was charged with for a total of $37,500. Bail was set by Judge Mark W. Moseley.

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School Board Member Diyonne McGraw weighs in on alternative school models at the May 3 workshop | From Alachua County Public Schools broadcast video

BY AMBER THIBODAUX/Alachua Chronicle

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Alachua County School Board held a workshop on May 3 where they discussed the ongoing behavioral issues and discipline problems facing the district and how best to deal with them. Chief of Equity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement Anntwanique Edwards gave a presentation that outlined six different models (shown below) that the school board could implement to provide further assistance to teachers and students. All six models focused on removing or relocating students with behavioral issues and giving them extra support in more structured settings. Edwards told the board that the referral rate has “skyrocketed,” not just in secondary schools but also in elementary schools, and that the types of behaviors leading to the referrals are of major concern.

Slide from Dr. Edwards’ presentation at May 3 workshop

“We know that increased trauma has occurred with many of our students, especially since COVID, and we would like to minimize the number of various behavioral types that are sitting on one campus,” Edwards said. She noted the various “neighborhood associated issues” (i.e., rival gangs) that carry over to school campuses but said she couldn’t say with certainty that those conflicts would be resolved by creating a second alternative school. She also mentioned the increase in student weapons charges and gang affiliations and worried about separating those students out while at the same time serving their individual needs off-site.

Career and Technical Education focus

After listening to the pros and cons of each model and associated costs, the board unanimously agreed to proceed with Model 4, which would change the service delivery at A. Quinn Jones (currently the only alternative placement school in the district) to a Career and Technical Education (CTE) focus. Edwards told the board that she had spent extensive time looking at alternative schools across the nation to see which models work best.

“What appears to be most consistent with alternative school placements is really about how we’re delivering services to students – being able to provide those wrap-around services, helping kids to be able to make connections between where they are now and their future, how they’re going to be prepared for it, the employability skills,” Edwards said.

She explained that those students who were most successful were graduating from their alternative school placements instead of going back to their zoned schools, then asked the board to consider investing more money into a setting where a CTE program and mental health services are offered all in one place. 

“There are kids who typically do well in smaller settings, and I think it is probably the fallacy a lot of times in education and other support areas where we take students and we put them into settings, and they do well, and they’re successful, and then we put them back into places where they were unsuccessful – when in reality, the culture and the environment of the small setting was what allowed them to have that success.”

Currently the student-teacher ratio at A. Quinn Jones is very low, with some classes having between 0-3 students per teacher (zero in cases where no students show up to class). The school has 181 spots available but only 107 students are enrolled; 21 of those students have committed felony offenses, and 31 are transfers from other alternative programs or school districts. The school is designed with an exit plan for students to return back to their zoned schools if possible. However, under the proposed Model 4, students at A. Quinn Jones would be provided with alternate education opportunities that are predicted to be of high interest, would receive instruction based on their individual learning styles and needs, and would be given help in behavior support and career readiness preparation. These students would ultimately graduate from A. Quinn Jones.

Edwards also suggested partnering with UF to deploy Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) interns at various schools, since the county only has one BCBA currently employed to serve the entire district.

Edwards said she had spoken with some people at UF and found that they provide other districts with BCBA interns, but not Alachua County. She concluded, “I think they are definitely amenable and open and so we have some upcoming conversations about how can we partner with [UF] in order to be able to get some of that insight from the people who specialize in working with behavior.”

Several factors have delayed staff’s response to board requests for better discipline

Edwards completed her presentation by acknowledging the “delayed responses” in addressing the behavior issues and said the delay had been caused by a lack of existing systems, the difficulty of creating a new system while dealing with day-to-day responsibilities, labor shortages, a lack of written documentation, and an increased number of crisis situations that require an immediate response.

Slide from Dr. Edwards’ presentation at the May 3 workshop

McGraw and Abbitt emphasize the need for communication and consistency

Board Member Diyonne McGraw said that she continues to be in favor of an additional alternative school because most of the staff members she’s spoken with say that the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) model that the district currently follows is not working. “When a kid brings a gun to school and when someone is continuing to attack, they need to be pulled out, they need to be worked with,” McGraw said.

McGraw also addressed the importance of parental involvement and a Parent Academy, saying that she continuously receives phone calls from parents who need help: “Once we build relationships and you’re talking to parents, that’s extremely important.” 

“It’s not about snatching a kid out and separating them, but sometimes, given where we are past COVID, because there’s a lack of discipline – consistent discipline – in the homes, it is affecting us here at the school system. So when you talk about this, this is a lot of work. That’s why you need all the players,” McGraw said.

Member Kay Abbitt stressed the importance of having equal and consistent consequences for negative behaviors so parents and teachers understand what the consequences are for specific infractions. “If I vape in a bathroom, this is my consequence. It doesn’t matter if you’re an A student in school, or an F student in school, or purple or pink – this is what’s going to happen.”

“If you don’t know what the consequence is and if it’s not enforced consistently at schools – and I know for a fact that it’s not because I’ve spoken to teachers and deans and it’s not enforced… to me these things are very simple. You have a rule that someone has to follow, and you have a consequence, and you enforce it,” Abbitt said.

She also emphasized that the district needs to have a behavioral plan in place and “market it like crazy” with a no-nonsense approach, as well as a “Professional Development” plan that goes out to parents who may need help with learning coping skills or parenting techniques.

Chair Tina Certain wrapped up the discussion by taking an informal vote to proceed with Model 4 at an estimated cost of $64,000+, the least expensive of all the models proposed. She reminded the board that “something is going to have to be cut” to secure the funding. 

The workshop can be watched in its entirety here.

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