Local

OCALA ‒ Marion County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Jordan Tyler Jax, 23, of Newberry and Tarod Deshae Goodman Jr., 23, of Gainesville on Wednesday, Jan. 25, on federal charges of mail theft.

Deputies say that between October and January, Goodman and Jax used a stolen or reproduced key to break into postal collection boxes near Southeast Maricamp Road and 64^th Avenue Road.

If convicted, they could each face up to 15 years in federal prison.

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NEWBERRY ‒ A Newberry High School student is facing multiple charges after bringing a loaded gun to school. Dennis L. Hale, 16, was charged with possession of a firearm on school grounds, theft of a firearm and possession of a firearm by a minor on Tuesday, Jan. 24, after the School Resource Deputy (SRD) at Newberry High School reportedly found a stolen firearm in his backpack.

According to Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, school staff notified the deputy that Hale had checked in late and possibly smelled strongly of marijuana. The deputy escorted him to the dean’s office, where the dean informed Hale that she was going to search his belongings based on the marijuana odor. Hale reportedly said that there was something in his backpack that he shouldn’t have. When asked what that meant, he reportedly said he had a gun, and a loaded .22 caliber handgun was reportedly found in his backpack.

Hale reportedly said he had been given the gun by a friend and had put it in his backpack, then forgotten to take it out; he said he had no intentions of using it at school. The serial number matched a gun that was reported stolen in Alachua County in 2022.

Newberry High School sent a notification to parents about the incident, saying there was no evidence that the student had shown the gun to other students or removed it from the backpack. The message said that Hale “faces serious consequences from both the school and law enforcement” and asked parents to remind students that no weapons, including pellet or “toy” guns, are permitted on campus.

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NEWBERRY ‒ The phrase “Everything Tastes Better with Bacon” took on new meaning this past weekend at the Alachua County Agricultural & Equestrian Center. The Barbeque and Bacon Festival featured over 70 arts and craft vendors and 11 food vendors featuring some of the best barbecue trucks in North Central Florida.

“People love barbecue,” said Margaret Buckler, founder of Buckler Shows who organized the event. “We had people come all the way from the other side of Jacksonville over the weekend. They like to try different barbecues and we had a good variety of styles at the festival.” Buckler says that in addition, several of the food vendors had various recipes for bacon, including chocolate covered bacon.

Buckler has been organizing events and festivals since 1989 and now averages 15 events per year throughout Florida. Originally Buckler Shows did smaller craft shows but has continued to expand and now does six strawberry and two blueberry festivals in Florida. Buckler came up with the idea to create additional festivals based around barbecue due to its popularity in the South.

The event had more to offer than barbecue and craft vendors. “We provide activities including rock painting for kids, a petting zoo, sack race and a bacon relay with contestants carrying a fake bacon strip across a field with tongs,” said Buckler employee June Font. “There are multiple games and activities for all ages as well.”

Font said the idea is to make the event entertaining for everyone so they give free space to other activity vendors including axe throwing, face painting, pony rides and a batting cage. Font says they also had bounce houses and train rides for kids.

“We also keep the entry fee low at $6 with an additional $1 discount if people bring canned goods, which we donate to the Hitchcock Field & Fork Pantry program,” said Font. Part of the proceeds goes to Veteran of Foreign Wars Post 211, which helps homeless or financially troubled veterans get back on their feet. All events feature live music, with local band Centerlane this weekend’s featured entertainment.

Among all the entertainment and activities, the biggest draw was the free Frisbee Dog Show by the group Disc-Connected K-9s. The group uses rescued or shelter dogs to showcase their abilities. Their dogs compete in frisbee challenges and put on exhibits throughout the world including winning several world championships. Disc-Connect also helps find homes for over 30 shelter dogs per year.

“This was our first Barbecue and Bacon event in Newberry,” said Fonts. “We had over 5,000 people attend over the two days so we are happy with the turnout and are hoping to make this an annual event here in January.”

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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ The Jan. 26, 2023 High Springs City Commission meeting was held at the Civic Center as the City Hall elevator was being replaced. It is expected that the Feb. 9 City Commission meeting will be held at City Hall.

The Commission considered four issues at Thursday night’s meeting, including approving a handicap accessibility self-evaluation plan, a transition plan for handicap accessibility and a Section 504 Grievance Procedure of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. The purpose of the plans is to have all publicly accessible City owned facilities made handicap accessible.

The Commission awarded a $8,950,249 contract for Phase 1 of the wastewater treatment plant facility and infiltrative wetlands project. The contract was awarded to SGS Contracting Services, Inc.

The City plans to use $6,116,658 from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection/Suwannee River Water Management District grant, $1,040,000 from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, $960,000 in existing impact fees and new development impact fees or City Contingency funds of $833,591.

The City’s engineer, Mittauer & Associates, and City staff recommended removing Phase 2 Wetlands in order for the City to seek additional grant funding while the Wastewater Treatment Plant is under construction. The City made modifications to materials based on availability and budget that have already reduced the Phase 2 amount by $529,702.

High Springs is looking to ramp up interest in the Mayor’s Youth Council and explore ways to increase more applications by interested students. An online application is available on the City’s web page for High Springs students. Staff will be implementing some of the suggestions in an effort to attract more applicants.

Once several applications are received, the item will be placed on the agenda for the City Commission to choose students to serve on the Council.

In another business, Commissioners unanimously agreed to purchase six generators for City lift stations that do not currently have one. Lift stations are used to move wastewater from lower to higher elevations. ARPA funds will cover the cost of $495,000 for the generators. Once the generators are installed, every lift station will have a generator. Each generator will be powered by natural gas to guarantee the generators will continue to work even in a power outage.

The City’s current waste provider appears to be on the chopping block. Complaints about poor trash and recycling services have mounted to the point where Commissioners directed the City Attorney and staff to work together to terminate the current waste provider, Green for Life. City staff is working to provide options for a new provider as soon as possible.

The City is embarking on a planned road repaving project. The roads that are going to be paved will be milled first to prepare them for paving. After all of the roads have been milled, paving will occur.

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NEWBERRY ‒ Patrick Michael Perkins, 33, was arrested on Wednesday, Jan. 25, and charged with possession of 10 or more child pornography images and three counts of electronic transmission of child pornography.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children provided information to the Gainesville Police Department (GPD) regarding a Google account that had uploaded 17 child pornography images and two videos to Google Drive between March 7 and July 12, 2022. The images contained nude, prepubescent female children, approximately 6 to 10 years old, exposing their vaginal area. Three of the images contained “clear sex acts being done to the children.” All of the images and videos were reportedly verified to be child pornography.

Google provided IP addresses for the uploads and logins, along with a name on the account, a date of birth matching Perkins’ date of birth and an email address. A search warrant was executed on Perkins’ residence on Nov. 22, 2022, and Perkins and another resident were interviewed.

The officer reported that as soon as he mentioned child pornography, the second person immediately started asking Perkins about his photography business and whether any of his models were minors. He reportedly told that person that all his models provided identification showing that they are of legal age and completed a form.

The detective also reported that when he read the email address, the second person immediately looked at Perkins, but both of them denied any knowledge of that email address. The detective interviewed Perkins separately, and Perkins reportedly said he didn’t know why the IP address came back to his home or why the date of birth on the account matched his.

The detective reported that information from Google showed that the only phone active on the email account was Perkins’ phone. The detective also learned that a new device accessed the email account on March 8, 2022, and that Perkins activated a new T-Mobile device on that date.

Perkins went to GPD for an interview. Post Miranda, he reportedly said he did not remember getting a new device in March, “due to a bad memory.” He reportedly said he’s the only one with access to his device and that he believed the information showing his device logging into the Gmail account used to upload the images “could be spoofed.” He did not admit to uploading any images.

Bond was set at $50,000.

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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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