A man is killed and a woman injured in a 'targeted' afternoon shooting at a Florida shopping mall
Authorities in central Florida have issued an arrest warrant for a 39-year-old man accused of fatally shooting another man at a shopping mall two days before Christmas in which police say the victim was “targeted” for the attack.
DeSantis-Disney feud continues to heat up; Governor claims company ’will pay its debt’
Gov. Ron DeSantis held a press conference in Ocala on Wednesday where he answered questions about a bill that was introduced Monday, which would give Florida control of Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District, changing its name to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.
Man and bear killed in Florida motorcycle crash
OCALA, Fla. – The Florida Highway Patrol says a motorcyclist hit a bear that was standing in the westbound lane of State Road 40 near Ocala. Troopers say the crash late Thursday night killed the man and the bear. A news release says the 42-year-old man was taken to Ocala Regional Medical Center where he later died of his injuries. The bear was dead at the scene. The agency did not release the name of the man.
Ernst wins Drive On Championship for 3rd LPGA Tour title
Albane Valenzuela misses a putt during the final round of the LPGA Drive On Championship at Golden Ocala in Ocala, Florida on Sunday, March 7, 2020. [Alan Youngblood/Special to the Ocala Star-Banner]OCALA, Fla. – Austin Ernst won the Drive On Championship on Sunday for her third LPGA Tour title, pulling away to beat fellow former NCAA champion Jennifer Kupcho by five strokes at Golden Ocala. She won the NCAA title in 2011. It’s just unfortunate that’s when mine came for the week.”Winless on the tour, the former 23-year-old former Wake Forest star from Colorado won the NCAA title in 2018 and the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur in 2019. Nelly Korda, tied with Ernst and Kupcho for the first-round lead, had weekend rounds of 76 and 75 to tie for 28th at even par.
Florida prison failed to protect women inmates from staff, report shows
OCALA, Fla. – Federal investigators say a Florida women’s prison has likely violated inmates’ constitutional rights by failing to protect them from sexual abuse by staff. According to a report released Tuesday, the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida concluded that there is reasonable cause to believe that the conditions at Lowell Correctional Institution in north Florida violate the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. The Eighth Amendment prohibits “cruel and unusual” punishment. The Justice Department provided the prison with written notice and suggested minimum remedial measures that include installing additional video surveillance and adopting new policies to protect inmates.
Fugitive of 35 years was living in Florida under fake ID
OCALA, Fla. – Authorities say a man who fled a drug conspiracy charge in Nebraska 35 years ago has been arrested in Florida, where he was living under a false identity. Court records show 72-year-old Howard Farley Jr. was arrested Wednesday at his north Florida home. He faces a passport charge in Ocala federal court and up to 10 years in prison. According to a criminal complaint, Farley applied for a passport in February using the false identity. Records show that Farley was the only defendant not apprehended in the case.
Florida police chief killed in plane crash
DUNNELLON, Fla. – Authorities say a Florida police chief died when the plane he was piloting crashed into an open field. Ocala Mayor Kent Guinn confirmed the death of Ocala Police Chief Greg Graham on Sunday. Marion County Fire Rescue says the plane crashed around 11:30 a.m. into an open field, not far from the Marion County Airport. Guinn says Ocala Deputy Chief Mike Balken will be named interim police chief. “He loved Ocala and Ocala loved him,” Sheriff Billy Woods told WKMG-6 in Orlando.
Wall Street-owned loans tricky for hoteliers in virus era
FILE - In this Oct. 23, 2019 file photo, developer Danny Gaekwad talks about the roof top bar on his Hilton Garden Inn hotel that is presently under construction in Ocala, Fla. Since the coronavirus crisis started, hotel owners say they are struggling to get relief on a type of loan that Wall Street investors buy. [Doug Engle/Ocala Star-Banner via AP)
Boy, 9, charged with attempted murder of 5-year-old sister
OCALA, Fla. – A 9-year-old boy has been charged with trying to kill his 5-year-old sister by stabbing her with a kitchen knife inside their Florida apartment last month, officials said. The boy was charged Tuesday with attempted first-degree murder and appeared in court on Wednesday in the central Florida city of Ocala, prosecutors said. When she returned, she said she found the boy stabbing his sister with a kitchen knife in a bedroom. The child told investigators he thought of killing his sister two days before the Jan. 28 stabbing, Ocala police said. The public defender's office is awaiting results of a competency examination that will determine whether the boy understands the charges, the Ocala Star-Banner reported.
Florida mother, her 4 kids found dead
Casei Jones, 32, and her children, who range in age from 1 to 10, were last seen about six weeks ago in the Ocala, Florida, area, the sheriff's office said. On Sunday, Michael Jones crashed his van near Brantley County in southeast Georgia, about 150 miles north of Jones' last known Florida address. Deputies "smelled a foul odor" coming from Michael Jones' van, according to a Brantley County Sheriff's Office press release. Marion County officials said a warrant for second-degree murder charges has been issued for Jones' arrest. "True evil poked its head up here in Marion County," Sheriff Billy Woods said.