~ Bringing Jobs and Fresh Choices ~

NEWBERRY ‒ A trip to the local Publix supermarket just became more convenient for some residents living in and around Newberry. The new Publix supermarket has officially opened its doors, bringing expanded grocery options, fresh products, and convenient shopping to the growing community.

The 54,000-square-foot store located at 24100 West Newberry Road at the corner of State Road 26 and County Road 235, is open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. The store is situated in the plaza at Market at Newberry Farms and features a full-service bakery, deli, seafood department, pharmacy, and a wide selection of fresh produce. The addition of Publix provides Newberry residents with a major grocery retailer in town, reducing the need for travel to neighboring cities for everyday shopping. The adjoining liquor store is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on Sundays from noon to 8 p.m.

Beyond offering high-quality food and household essentials, the new Publix is expected to provide an economic boost to Newberry. The store has created numerous jobs in various departments, offering employment opportunities for locals. Additionally, Publix’s reputation for community involvement means the store will likely support local schools, charities, and events through its well-known donation programs.

Newberry has experienced steady population growth, with more families and businesses moving into the area. The arrival of Publix signals a response to the city’s expanding needs, ensuring residents have greater access to fresh, high-quality groceries and pharmacy services.

The grand opening celebration welcomed shoppers with special promotions, giveaways, and fresh product samples. Store employees and managers greeted customers as they explored the aisles of the highly anticipated new supermarket.

The store offers Publix’s signature services, including online ordering for in-store pickup, delivery through Instacart, and a pharmacy with prescription refills. These features are expected to add convenience for busy shoppers looking for quick and easy ways to complete their grocery trips.

As Newberry continues to develop, the opening of Publix marks a milestone in the city’s growth, providing both a valuable resource for residents and a positive economic impact for the community.

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~ Families Invited To A Fun-Filled Day Of Nature, History, And Art ~

HIGH SPRINGS ‒ Gather the family and head outdoors for a day of fresh air, local history, and hands-on activities at O’Leno State Park’s Spring Frolic on Saturday, March 8, 2025, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 410 S.E. O’Leno Park Road. For just $5 per vehicle (up to eight people) or $4 for a single occupant, families can spend the day exploring one of Florida’s oldest and most beloved state parks while enjoying a lineup of activities designed to entertain visitors of all ages.

This year’s celebration invites guests to experience all that makes O’Leno special. Guided hikes will take participants deep into the park’s natural landscapes, from towering hardwood forests to the winding paths that reveal hidden sinkholes and diverse wildlife. Along the way, historical re-enactors and nature exhibitors will share stories of the area’s past, offering families a chance to learn about the people and ecosystems that shaped the region.

For those looking to take home something unique, local arts and crafts vendors will be on-site with handmade goods and artwork available for purchase. When it’s time for lunch, Charlie’s Chuckwagon food truck will serve up fresh, hot meals to fuel the afternoon adventures.

While the park's iconic suspension bridge remains closed for safety renovations, its rich history still towers over the event. Built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the wooden suspension bridge has long been a symbol of O’Leno’s past, stretching across the Santa Fe River and once connecting visitors to trails and scenic overlooks. Although visitors can no longer walk across it, the bridge remains a popular photo backdrop and a lasting reminder of the park’s historic roots.

The Friends of O’Leno and River Rise, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the park, will also be available to answer questions about volunteer opportunities, fundraising efforts, and future projects, including the upcoming renovation of the park's Dining Hall, which will temporarily close beginning April 1, 2025, and is expected to reopen in late summer.

Beyond the day’s festivities, families are encouraged to explore O’Leno’s everyday amenities, including shaded picnic areas, open playgrounds, and miles of tranquil hiking trails. Whether visiting for the first time or returning to a favorite spot, this event offers the perfect opportunity to unplug and reconnect with nature while celebrating a park that has been a part of Florida’s story for nearly a century.

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Photo special to Alachua County Today

Alachua Spring Concert, March 30, 2025 at 3 p.m., Legacy Park, Alachua

Admission at the door the afternoon of the show, Adults: $8 / Youth: No charge

ALACHUA — The City of Alachua is joining forces with Dance Alive National Ballet (DANB) to present a special collaborative program featuring young dancers from DANB’s Next Generation and danceAbout outreach initiatives. The event will showcase students who have been training under DANB outreach instructors Alison Tucker and Marilyn Deiorio since February, thanks to support from the City of Alachua and danceAbout sponsors.

Next Generation, DANB’s youth performance group, will take the stage alongside danceAbout participants to present a dynamic lineup of performances, including Le Corsaire Suite, Night Sky, Appalachian Spring, Boogie Shoes, Playground and Boogie Wonderland.

The program aims to introduce young dancers to a range of classical and contemporary styles. Le Corsaire Suite was chosen to expose students to classical ballet and character dance, while Night Sky, choreographed by DANB Resident Choreographer Tales Ribeiro, is designed for older dancers. Younger members of Next Generation will perform Appalachian Spring, a piece choreographed by DANB Principal Rachel Ridley.

Other featured works include Boogie Shoes, created by DANB’s Judy Skinner, and Playground, choreographed by guest artist Michelle Zada. The performance will conclude with Boogie Wonderland, which will feature danceAbout students before transitioning through ballet, jazz, contemporary, and tap, with guest artist Victor Mancuso leading the tap segment. The finale will bring together both danceAbout and Next Generation dancers in a celebratory performance.

The event not only highlights young talent but also supports DANB’s outreach programs. Proceeds will benefit these initiatives, which aim to enrich the lives of youth by providing them with choreography, instruction, and performance opportunities.

Founded in 1966 in Gainesville, Florida, Dance Alive National Ballet is a premier touring company in the southern United States, known for its diverse repertoire ranging from classical ballets like The Nutcracker to innovative contemporary works. Under the leadership of Executive Artistic Director Kim Tuttle and Company Choreographer Judy Skinner, the company has toured extensively in the United States, Brazil, Cuba, Costa Rica, and Russia.

Dance Alive National Ballet receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Florida Department of State’s Division of Arts and Culture, the City of Gainesville’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs department, and Visit Gainesville, Alachua County. The organization is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, with additional financial details available upon request by calling (800) 435-7352.

With a mission to foster artistic expression and provide young dancers with performance experience, DANB’s Next Generation continues to serve as a vital part of the region’s arts community. The upcoming showcase in Alachua promises to be an inspiring evening of dance, creativity, and collaboration.

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~ Cites Lack of Rational Basis, Improper Evidence And Instructions ~

GAINESVILLE – Attorneys for Alachua County Sheriff’s Office have formally requested a significant reduction to the $15 million jury award granted to a sheriff's office employee, arguing the verdict is grossly excessive and unsupported by the evidence presented at trial.  The award came on Feb. 7 when an all-white jury handed down a more than $15 million verdict after a weeklong trial in which Alachua County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) Sergeant Kevin Davis, also white, claimed racial discrimination and retaliation.  

The jury awarded Davis, the plaintiff, $115,724 for lost wages and benefits.  The jury also awarded an astounding $15,000,000 for emotional pain and mental anguish, although no medical records were admitted, nor were there any medical or psychological expert witnesses who testified to the extent of such pain and anguish.

In a motion filed on February 21, 2025, the Sheriff's legal team contends the multimillion-dollar judgment, awarded for emotional distress and lost wages in a workplace discrimination and retaliation lawsuit, “shocks the judicial conscience” and should be lowered to $30,000 for emotional damages and $16,457 for lost wages.

Davis, who remains employed with the Sheriff’s office and according to the Sheriff’s motion, has never lost pay or been disciplined, alleged emotional harm stemming from adverse employment actions.  However, according to the Sheriff’s motion, the plaintiff's evidence of emotional distress was limited to general claims of trouble sleeping, occasional crying spells, feelings of isolation, and concerns over blood pressure—without medical diagnosis or expert testimony to support the claims.

“The evidence presented provides little detail of the duration, severity or consequences of the condition,” the motion states, labeling the plaintiff's claims as “garden variety” emotional distress that typically warrant only modest compensation.

Disputing the Numbers

During closing arguments, the plaintiff’s attorney suggested the jury award $11 million – calculating $1 million for each year of alleged past emotional distress and $8 million for future distress. The jury ultimately returned a verdict totaling $15 million, an amount the Sheriff's attorneys argue is arbitrary and fueled by passion rather than fact.

“The extra four million dollars has absolutely no basis in the record for support,” the motion argues, suggesting the jury's verdict functioned more as punitive damages – prohibited under the law in this case – disguised as compensation.

Caps On Damages Awards

Beyond contesting the sufficiency of the evidence, the Sheriff’s office also pointed to statutory limits on damages under both federal and state law. Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, compensatory damages are capped at $300,000 for large employers, while Florida’s Civil Rights Act (FCRA) imposes a $200,000 cap on claims against government entities.

“Even considering the uncapped claims under Section 1981, the most that the evidence supports is an award of $30,000,” the Sheriff’s attorneys wrote.

Future Pay Dispute

The motion also challenges the jury’s award of $115,724 in lost wages and benefits, asserting that figure improperly includes front pay – a form of relief that courts, not juries, are tasked with determining.  The Sheriff’s motion points to the Plaintiff’s expert, stating that the plaintiff's actual lost wages and benefits total just $16,457.

Motion to Set Aside the Verdict

In addition to the remittitur request, the Sheriff’s Office is seeking to have the jury’s verdict set aside entirely. One of the key issues raised in the motion is the alleged violation of attorney-client privilege. The Plaintiff’s legal team, according to the Sheriff’s motion, improperly questioned witnesses about confidential communications between the Sheriff’s Office and its legal counsel. The defense argues that this violated established legal protections and unfairly tainted the trial by introducing privileged information to the jury.

Further compounding the issue, the Sheriff’s Office claims that the Plaintiff introduced irrelevant and prejudicial evidence, including references to other African American employees with criminal backgrounds. These references, the Sheriff argues, were not only unsupported by evidence but were used to improperly suggest a pattern of racial discrimination that was not directly related to Kevin Davis’s case. The motion asserts that this type of evidence was inflammatory and unjustly biased the jury against the Sheriff’s Office.

Hearsay and Improper Evidence

The Sheriff’s team also objects to the admission of hearsay evidence. Several statements made by Sheriff’s Office employees were admitted under the Florida Evidence Code’s party admission rule, but the defense argues that these statements were not appropriately authenticated. Because the witnesses did not meet the necessary criteria, the defense claims that the statements should have been excluded from the trial. As a result, they believe the jury was exposed to irrelevant information that unfairly impacted their verdict.

Flawed Jury Instructions

Another critical point in the motion is the contention that the jury instructions regarding retaliation claims were misleading. The Sheriff argues that the court’s instructions improperly grouped several separate acts of alleged retaliation together, preventing the jury from evaluating each one on its own merits. The defense asserts that this led the jury to mistakenly weigh each action in a cumulative manner, which prejudiced the Defendant by making the individual acts appear more significant than they were.

Request for a New Trial

If the court does not set aside the verdict, the Sheriff’s legal team is requesting a new trial. They contend that the errors made during the trial, particularly the admission of irrelevant and prejudicial evidence, as well as the improper closing argument, deprived the Sheriff’s Office of a fair trial. The Sheriff’s Office argues that the cumulative effect of these mistakes resulted in an unjust verdict, including the inflated emotional distress award, and that a new trial is necessary to ensure fairness.

Additionally, the Sheriff’s legal team challenges the Plaintiff’s claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, which, in accordance with a 1978 case referred to as “Monell,” required the Plaintiff to prove that the Sheriff’s Office had a discriminatory custom, policy, or practice that led to retaliation or race discrimination. The defense asserts that the jury was not properly instructed on this matter and did not make the required findings. Without these findings, the defense argues, the Plaintiff is not entitled to damages under the civil rights statute.

A Call for Fairness

The Sheriff’s Office emphasizes that the trial’s fairness was compromised by the introduction of inflammatory and irrelevant evidence, hearsay, and the improper jury instructions. The motion argues that these issues unfairly swayed the jury and led to a verdict that was not based on the greater weight of the evidence.

As the court reviews the motions, a decision is expected soon regarding whether the jury’s verdict will be set aside or a new trial will be ordered.

The motions requests that the presiding judge:

1. Set aside the jury verdict and enter a directed verdict in favor of the Sheriff’s Office or grant its motion for a new trial; and
2. Reduce the damages in line with the Sheriff's arguments if broader post-trial motions seeking to overturn the verdict are not granted.

As of March 4, 2025, no response from the Plaintiff has appeared on the Clerk of Courts website.  The motions filed by the Sheriff’s Office do not represent an appeal but rather are post-trial motions.  An appeal, if any, would be likely be filed within 30 days after entry of a final judgment or ruling on a motion for reconsideration, which has not occurred yet.

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