ALACHUA –A Georgia man was arrested in Gainesville after buying around $540 worth of merchandise from the Lowe’s in Alachua with fraudulent checks.

The Gainesville Police Department notified the Alachua Police Department about the arrest of Ricky Demond Dyer around a 4:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 19.

Dyer went to Lowe’s in Alachua and purchased $541.66 worth of items several hours before he tried to do the same at a Home Depot in Gainesville.

After Dyer tried to purchase $527.87 worth of merchandise at the Home Depot, store employees denied the transaction because the routing numbers on the check were fictitious.

Dyer tried to leave in a Chevy Malibu. Officer Pat Donnelly stopped him at 4400 NW 20th Street in Gainesville.

Dyer threw a wallet out of the car just before being stopped. It had four different Georgia ID cards with variations of his name and different dates of birth.

He was found in possession of several fraudulent Bank of America checks.

Items from a Sears in Valdosta, Ga. were also found.

Alachua Police Department public information officer Jesse Sandusky was unable to comment, since the investigation is still ongoing.

Dyer is being held at the Alachua County Jail, with a $50,000 bond, according to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office website.

He is being charged with four felonies related to counterfeiting and fraud.

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CARL MCKINNEY/Alachua County Today

A student leaps over her rope. The event raised around $2,000 by the time it was over. About five days later, the total was up to nearly $5,000.

ALACHUA –Caiden Flanigan was born with two holes in his heart. By now, at the age of 7, one of the holes has almost completely closed up. Caiden, a student of W.W. Irby Elementary School in Alachua, was the Heart Ambassador for this year’s Jump Rope for Heart event.

For over 20 years, Irby Elementary has participated in Jump Rope for Heart, which is dedicated to raising money and awareness for healthy hearts and healthy living. This year, it took place from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 14.

“It makes more people aware,” said Catherine Flanigan, grandmother of Caiden. “These diseases can affect children, they can affect adults.”

Many parents volunteered to help with the event, which couldn’t have taken place without them, said Ray Crone, physical education teacher at Irby.

“It’s a community event,” he said. “It’s not just for the school.”

Jump Rope for Heart has been around for 35 years. This is Irby’s 21st year participating. It aims to promote health awareness and live a healthy lifestyle by exercising, eating well and getting adequate sleep, in addition to raising money.  

The goal this year was to raise $8,000 for the American Heart Association. By raising money, students had a chance to earn tiny rubber ducks as trophies. The top duck, earned once a child reaches $75 in donations, is Mr. Cool, the P.E. duck. The students went on a mission to gather funds from local residents. They then assembled at the school’s bus depot for a one-hour jump rope marathon.

Last year’s biggest earner, Ava Adams, who raised $1,264, has a cousin who had to have heart surgery when he was only a 4-month-old. Adams, who had raised $540 at the time she spoke to Alachua County Today, said she thought of her cousin when she was jumping rope.

The event started out with a 20-minute long-rope jump across all grade levels. Then, students switched to shorter ropes. Finally, there was a first-grade and second-grade competition to see who the best at each grade-level was.

Callie Callaway was the top first-grader, with CJ Ramsey being the best second-grader.

The students get excited about Jump Rope for Heart, Crone said.

Heavyn Kies was so eager for the occasion that she started practicing as soon as she woke up that morning.

“She made my day,” Crone said. “She couldn’t wait to get here.”

“It was wonderful to see all the boys and girls excited,” said Valdenora Fortner, principal of Irby.

“They truly understand they were doing it to help people with their hearts.”

Not every child got to be in the big competition. Qualifying competitions were held, and only the best could be in Jump Rope for Heart.

By the time the children were done jumping rope, the school had raised over $2,000, though it was still accepting donations. The latest figure given to Alachua County Today by crone was around $5,000.

“Even though we are short of the $8,000, I would think that raising nearly $5,000 is an accomplishment in this economy,” he said.

Whoever raises the most money gets the honor of throwing a pie in Crone’s face.

The event is usually held on a Wednesday, but bad weather prompted the school to postpone it until Valentine’s Day.

The children grasped the impact of what they were doing, Crone said.

“We were helping kids who have sick hearts,” said Zoe Jeter, 7.

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ALACHUA –When Alachua City Commissioner Gary Hardacre’s children graduated, they had to leave town to find a job, he said at an Alachua City Commission meeting. The next generation may be more fortunate, as another 164 jobs are coming to the city of Alachua.

Coqui Radio Pharmaceuticals Corp. selected Alachua as the site for a new facility for designing, constructing and supplying medical isotopes.

Over 10,000 hospitals worldwide use radioisotopes in medicine, mainly for diagnosis procedures, according to the World Nuclear Association. The isotopes are generally injected, inhaled or taken orally, giving off energy that can be detected and tracked by special equipment so doctors can learn more about what parts of the body are failing or diseased.

The 164 jobs will be created over a three-year period, said Assistant City Manager Adam Boukari at the Monday, Feb. 24 commission meeting.

They will range from unskilled jobs to careers requiring doctoral degrees, said Susan Davenport, vice president of economic development for the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce. About 87 of the jobs are unskilled or semi-skilled, she said.

Not only will residents of Alachua have more jobs available, but people from all around the area will too, Davenport said.

“It will be a great opportunity for people in the region,” she said.

It’s a time for Alachua to be on the map and shine, said Alachua Mayor Gib Coerper.

The new 100,000 square-foot facility, with a capital investment of $227 million over the next for years, is the only of its kind in the country and one of only three or four in the entire world, Davenport said. The average annual compensation for workers will be $70,000.

Because there is a shortage of one of the particular isotopes the company will create, Alachua will have a chance to have a major impact on global health, she said.

At the Feb. 24 meeting, the commission approved a motion to offer Coqui a Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund.

Coqui qualified for a $7,000 tax credit for each job that will be created, amounting to $1,148,000.

The program requires a 20 percent match from local government, meaning local government will provide $229,600. The City of Alachua will provide $114,800, with Alachua County providing the rest.

The program was set up by the state to make Florida an attractive environment to business.

In order to be considered, companies have to apply to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. There are six criteria. The company has to be in a target industry, demonstrate it will make a material difference in expanding the local community, create at least 10 new full-time jobs or expand an existing operation by 10 percent, pay an average annual wage at least 115 percent of the state or local wages, demonstrate the jobs make a significant contribution to the area and get a resolution passed by local government to commit to providing 20 percent of the refund.

Last year, Alachua-based Encell Technology, which designs high-efficiency batteries, received just a little over $1 million in tax credits from the program.

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CARL MCKINNEY/Alachua County Today

City workers clear a street before installing new trash bins. This was one part of the city's plan to make improvements to downtown Alachua.