Local

NEWBERRY ‒ Newberry’s Oscar LaRocca has been awarded special recognition. During the Jan. 9 Newberry City Commission meeting, Director of Parks & Recreation Travis Parker introduced LaRocca, an employee of the Facilities Maintenance Department and announced that he had been named Newberry 2022 Employee of the Year for his exemplary service to the community.

“Oscar LaRocca was chosen as the City of Newberry’s employee of the year because he lives and acts out the City of Newberry’s core values each day,” said Parker. “He places an emphasis on teamwork, responsibility, accountability, innovation, leadership and superior service. Oscar displays a positive attitude each day and provides superior service to our residents.”

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. ‒ Find Your Paw-fect Match this Valentine’s Day at Humane Society of North Central Florida! Stop by the 4205 N.W. 6th Street location on Saturday, Feb. 11 from 11-3 for a family open house event featuring adoptable pets, food trucks, and interactive booths for all ages.

A puppy kissing booth, adoptable pets, BluLine Q, Lulu’s Gelato, and a kids craft station are just a few of the fun activities you’ll find at the Humane Society of North Florida’s first ever in-house event brought to you by Parks of Gainesville.

The event seeks to find forever homes for puppies, dogs, cats and kittens at the Humane Society’s North Campus shelter as spring ramps up and kitten season begins. The event will feature pets in the shelter and from foster homes. All pets are spayed or neutered, microchipped, and up to date on vaccinations.

“We are thrilled to open the doors to the community with this fun event that features something for everyone. This event is extra special as it allows the public to see each important program that we provide in-person in our shelter building,” says Executive Director, Chelsea Bower.

“Our staff and volunteers are excited to welcome the community to this one of a kind event and share their love of the animals and hopefully make some paw-fect matches!” said Joshua Sexton, Director of Volunteer Programs. The event will take place at Humane Society of North Central Florida at 4205 N.W. 6th Street from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Feb. 11. Adoptable dogs will be available for a reduced adoption fee of $14 with the exception of puppies under 5 months of age. Check out all the available pets at HumaneSocietyNCFL.org/Adopt!

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Below are the updated City of Gainesville traffic impacts scheduled for February 17-24, 2023. 

 New Notices

SW 12th St.: Southwest 12th Street will be closed from University Avenue to Southwest First Avenue until Tuesday, Feb. 28.

Continuing Notices 

Clark Butler Blvd. and SW 43rd St.: Roadway reconstruction work on Clark Butler Boulevard from Southwest 42nd Street to Southwest 43rd Street, and roadway reconstruction work on Southwest 43rd Street from Clark Butler Blvd to Southwest 24th Avenue will be performed under a complete roadway closure. This closure will remain in place from Feb. 1, through July 31, 2023.

Traffic will be detoured via Southwest 24th Avenue and Plaza Boulevard. Southwest 42nd Street and the crosswalk on Clark Butler Boulevard immediately north of Southwest 42nd Street will remain open at all times. 

 SW Ninth Terrace: Southwest Ninth Terrace will be closed between Southwest First Avenue and University Avenue due to the construction of a new development. Construction is expected to last through August 2023.

 Note: All lane and road closures are subject to change due to unforeseen conditions, such as inclement weather.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Below are the updated City of Gainesville traffic impacts scheduled for February 3-10, 2023. 

New Notices

SW Fifth Ave.: Southwest Fifth Avenue will be closed between Southwest 13th Street and Southwest 12th Street to through traffic starting Monday, Feb. 6 and continuing through Friday, Feb. 10.

Continuing Notices 

Clark Butler Blvd. and SW 43rd St.: Roadway reconstruction work on Clark Butler Boulevard from Southwest 42nd Street to Southwest 43rd Street, and roadway reconstruction work on Southwest 43rd Street from Clark Butler Blvd to Southwest 24th Avenue will be performed under a complete roadway closure. This closure will remain in place from Feb. 1, through July 31, 2023.

Traffic will be detoured via Southwest 24th Avenue and Plaza Boulevard. Southwest 42nd Street and the crosswalk on Clark Butler Boulevard immediately north of Southwest 42nd Street will remain open at all times. 

 SW Ninth Terrace: Southwest Ninth Terrace will be closed between Southwest First Avenue and University Avenue due to the construction of a new development. Construction is expected to last through August 2023.

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ALACHUA, Fla. ‒ On Oct. 27, 2022, the Alachua Police Department, in conjunction with the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), arrested Larry Charles Lee, 56, of Trenton, Florida, for possession of child pornography and the investigation revealed that Lee had been storing it at his place of employment in Alachua, Florida.

On Sept. 19, 2022, the Alachua Police Department was made aware that an employee of a local Alachua business had violated company policy by connecting an external storage device to a company computer, which contained child pornography.

During the initial investigation into the allegations, the Alachua Police Department’s ICAC (Internet Crimes Against Children) investigator, Detective Jacob Eady, confirmed that the material was indeed child pornography.

An arrest warrant for Lee and a search warrant for his residence and any digital devices owned or possessed by Lee that could be utilized in storing child pornography were obtained.

On Oct. 27, 2022, the Alachua Police Department and the FBI conducted a joint operation and arrested Lee. A search of Lee’s residence and his work area located at his place of employment was executed and 16 USB drives were located at Lee’s work desk.

The FBI took possession of the USB drives to obtain search warrants and examine the drives for possible child pornography. After conducting a thorough search of the USB drives by the Alachua Police Department and the FBI, several files containing child pornography were located. Lee was arrested for two counts of possessing child pornography and has since been released on a $200,000 bond.

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GAINESVILLE ‒ Joshua Emmanuel Hall, 36, Micanopy, has been charged with the December murder of Corey Grimmage in Micanopy. Hall, who was already in custody from a Dec. 20 arrest for narcotics and firearm possession, is now being charged with second-degree murder.

Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputies responded on Dec. 7, 2022, to a call about a body found in the roadway on Northeast 6^th Avenue, a rural road in Micanopy. The body of 37-year-old Grimmage was found with four gunshot wounds to his mouth, left hand, right shoulder and right arm. Deputies determined that the body had been there for more than 24 hours. Six 9mm spent shell casings were found nearby, along with a 9mm magazine for a Taurus pistol and a Ruger LCP .380 pistol. No phone, wallet or money was found.

A witness reported seeing a dark Dodge Avenger around the streets of Micanopy and hearing gunshots the night of Dec. 3. Detectives also found that a complaint had been received on Dec. 6 from a woman who had loaned her black Avenger to Grimmage on Dec. 1. He was supposed to return it on Dec. 4, but it had not been returned and she said she began to worry.

Detectives found the Avenger at Arbor Apartments on Dec. 7 and reportedly found a substance believed to be blood on the exterior of the car. Several 9mm bullets were reportedly found between the windshield and the hood, in the wiper blade area. A cell phone was also seen in plain view inside the car. The car was impounded and towed, and a search warrant was obtained.

Detectives obtained cell phone location data for the phone that showed it moved from Northwest 13^th Street in Gainesville to Micanopy on the night of Dec. 3 and hit a cell phone tower about 700 meters from where Grimmage’s body was found at about 10 p.m. the same night. The phone then moved north again to Gainesville, ending where it was later found in the Avenger.

Messages on the phone, which were found to belong to Grimmage, showed a conversation with “JBanz Banz” on social media; that account was found to belong to Hall. The conversation indicated that Hall and Grimmage were involved in the purchase and sale of narcotics. That evidence led to the Dec. 20 arrest of Hall for felony criminal conspiracy, trafficking in narcotics, using a two-way communications device to facilitate a felony, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, trafficking in synthetic narcotics, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a firearm while in the commission of a felony.

Fingerprints from the Avenger and from Grimmage’s phone were identified as belonging to Hall. Detectives also obtained a search warrant for Hall’s phone, and its location data reportedly showed that Hall had traveled the same route as Grimmage’s phone on Dec. 3.

Another witness told detectives that Hall had come to their house sometime near the beginning of December late at night, “stressed” and “out of breath.” They said Hall said some type of “situation” had occurred. That witness described Hall as being homeless and not having a lot of money, but they said he had a lot of cash that night. The witness said that Hall sells “molly” and “weed” and that he had been asking where he could get a gun.

On Dec. 18 detectives received a report from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement that matched the shell casings found at the scene of the murder to the Taurus pistol that was reportedly in Hall’s possession when he was arrested on Dec. 20.

Based on the investigation, Hall has been charged with second-degree murder (dangerous or depraved without premeditation).

Hall has 14 felony convictions and has served four state prison terms, with his most recent release in November 2020. Before the December arrest, his most recent previous arrest was in October 2021 for domestic battery and damaging a TV; he was on probation at the time. After pleading nolo contendere to the charges, he was sentenced to 228 days in jail with credit for 228 days served.

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