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GAINESVILLE Fla.—Rebecca Hall of Alachua County has been named as a state finalist for the Florida Farm Bureau Federation Excellence in Agriculture award.She will compete for the statewide honor later this month at the 2023 Florida Farm Bureau Annual Meeting in Orlando, Oct. 25-27.

Hall serves as the vice president of Promised Land Family Ministries Inc., a nonprofit founded by her and her husband. The couple own a 54-acre farm, considered to be within a food desert. To help serve families in need, Hall initiated a community garden to provide a variety of produce to those in the area. Hall oversees all administrative, fundraising and marketing efforts as well as the coordination of volunteers for the non-profit.

 “We seek to be a blessing to the community and one way we do that is through our community garden,” said Hall. “One hundred percent of produce we grow goes to families in need. I take produce to families and keep spreadsheets with data from our garden so we can make notes and improve our yield the next season.”

The Excellence in Agriculture Award is based on an applicant’s involvement in agriculture, leadership ability and participation in Farm Bureau and other civic organizations. Each Excellence in Agriculture award finalist will make a presentation to a panel of qualified judges at the Florida Farm Bureau Annual Meeting in Orlando..

The Excellence in Agriculture Award winner will receive a utility vehicle, courtesy of Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company, $500 in cash and an expense-paid trip to the 2024 American Farm Bureau Annual Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, Jan. 19-22, 2024.

Florida Farm Bureau, the state’s largest general agricultural organization, represents more than132,000 member-families. We serve to enhance farm enterprise and improve rural communities.

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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ A High Springs man has been charged with possession of child sexual abuse material. Jon Walter Crawford, 34, was arrested on Thursday, Sept. 21, at 10:35 a.m. and charged with one count of possession of child sexual abuse material with additional charges pending.

The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office received a Cyber Tip in October 2022, alleging that a person using a Yahoo account sent two files with child exploitation material via email on Sept. 4, 2021. The investigator reviewed the files provided in the tip and determined that at least one video, which is 2.46 in length, met the criteria for child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

A subpoena revealed that the IP address belonged to Windstream, and Windstream responded in January 2023 with a physical address in High Springs. Crawford lives at that address.

Deputies made contact with Crawford and he reportedly denied possessing any CSAM and gave consent for a search of his phone. Crawford went into the house and returned with his phone. The deputy reported finding an 11:32-minute video that met the criteria for CSAM and informed Crawford that he was under arrest.

Post Miranda, Crawford reportedly admitted to possessing the video and viewing images showing child pornography; he said he received the files via an online messaging app and normally watched a video and then deleted it unless he liked it enough to save it. Crawford aided the investigator and was cooperative during the investigation.

Additional charges are pending a search warrant for his electronic devices.

Crawford has no local criminal history. Bail was set at $25,000 by Judge Thomas M. Jaworski. Crawford has since bonded out.

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ALACHUA ‒ Despite a light rain Saturday morning, the classic car show charity event at the property of Dexter and Sarajo O’Steen went on as scheduled and was a great success.  The Fellowship of Christian Athletes D&S Classic Car Show was held for the benefit of the North Central Florida Fellowship of Christian Athletes.  In all, some 80 cars were entered in the contest and show, which featured classic cars, trucks and motorcycles, food tents, raffle and awards.  In addition to the car entrants, the event was also well-attended by spectators, whose entry came with free admission.

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NEWBERRY ‒ The City of Newberry Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) on Sept. 25 approved their Fiscal Year 2023-24 budget of $509,500, with 92 percent of that funding for projects within the CRA District.

Newberry Assistant City Manager and Chief Financial Officer Dallas Lee said that revenues increased by $160,000 to $480,840, with $80,000 coming from the City and the same amount from Alachua County. Lee also said that $40,000 in unused façade grant funds from last year will be rolled into this coming year’s budget.

Other budgetary line items include insurance and legal fees at $33,000 and training and memberships at $8,000, with no increase over last year’s amount. Façade grant amounts were increased by the Commission from $15,000 to $25,000 in the coming year’s budget. Contract/Professional Services have been set at $128,500, which includes the stormwater master plan, project design and downtown marketing. Costs for infrastructure are set at $315,000, which includes sidewalk improvements, streetlights, way-finding signs, utility extensions, capital grants and road design.

CRA Executive Director Bryan Thomas presented the establishment of a Newberry CRA Commercial Corridor Beautification Program to further enhance the aesthetics of the district. The program would initially focus on improving the intersection at Newberry Road and State Road 45, and eventually branch out in other directions.

While several suggestions were made as to how to proceed, Newberry Mayor Jordan Marlowe suggested that the Board start with business owners who want to work with the City. The consensus was to contact Domino’s Pizza management to discuss ways their corner property could be improved with landscaping.

Also suggested was that City Codes Enforcement contact the owners of the Circle K to get them to either demolish the building or improve the property.

Thomas said he would bring this back to the Board again after contacts were made with the business owners on that corner. No other action was taken by the Board at this meeting.

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ALACHUA COUNTY ‒ The residents of Micanopy are seeing their fire services move from the Town of Micanopy to Alachua County as the town’s services have transitioned to Alachua County's Fire Rescue Department (ACFR).  Ongoing Issues such as staffing, equipment and insurance led in part to the decision to move operational control to Alachua County.

The transition, which came at the request of Micanopy officials, took place on Sunday, Oct. 1. According to County officials, that transition will dramatically strengthen fire and rescue services in this area. 

Last May, Alachua County and The Town of Micanopy entered into an Interlocal Agreement to transition these services. The new service protects residents and property in an over 25 square mile area. 

With a dedicated three-person crew operating an Advanced Life Support Engine, “Station 64,” ACFR's 16th station, will provide 24/7 coverage year-round. This new station will meet or exceed the standards recognized by the Insurance Service Office (ISO), which will benefit property owners' insurance rates.

“This is a major step forward in providing critical emergency services to residents of the Town of Micanopy and the surrounding unincorporated area," said Alachua County Fire Rescue Chief Harold Theus. "I am grateful for the cooperation of all of the elected officials and for their support and commitment to public safety."

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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ Robots, art and music will descend on the lawn of the High Springs Brewing Company, 18562 N.W. 237^th Street, High Springs, on Sunday, Oct. 15 from 2 – 5 p.m. to raise funds and awareness for these great programs.

Parents and kids alike can take an opportunity to learn about the Swampbots robotics program and meet members of the Frogmen, the Byte Squad, Innogators, Tadpoles and the Turtlebots teams.

The middle and high school robotics teams will race and display their best, including a large robot built and controlled by the high school team. The teams, which span grades 1 – 12 will also be selling pizza by the slice from Prohibition Pizza as well as kid-friendly drinks, with proceeds to benefit both Swampbots and Good News Arts.

Good News Arts (GNA) will have complementary hands-on art experiences for all ages to create and play. Donations are welcome. In addition, a silent auction will be held for five quilts made this summer by students at GNA’s Summer Arts Camp. All proceeds support GNA’s educational programs.

To complement these great organizations, Santa Fe High School student Trevor Ellis will be providing live music featuring favorites in southern rock, reggae and country. Only 15 years old, Ellis already has quite a resume including an appearance on PBS. He excels at the drums, piano and guitar challenging himself with the most intricate compositions of John Mayer and Zach Brown on guitar and Vince Guaraldi on piano. 

“Investment in our kids is an investment in our whole community. In just a few years, these two programs have provided solid success for our kids,” said Ross Ambrose, who has supported both programs since they were launched.

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