Check out what's happening in the NewQuestCity Forums for Florida .

Merry Christmas from Ocala!
01/13/2012

Photo by Lois Anne.

Check it out here.

01/13/2012

The treatment of this photo expresses, more or less, the coldness that has enveloped our fair city. For those of you who live in the northland, you probably wouldn't think lows in the 20s and highs in the 40s very cold, but it is freezing to us. Tonight will be worse and then we'll be in a warming trend and back to normal by the weekend. And that's a good thing as I don't want to suffer from golf deprivation!

01/13/2012

I have never noticed this pay phone in Ocala's downtown square and I would probably not have noticed except my eye caught what appeared to be a homeless man walk across the square and make a call. The square is frequently used as a rest area for homeless people during the day.

01/13/2012

As Gov. Rick Scott's staff scurries from committee chamber to committee chamber presenting his proposed budget, the details his pledge to up education funding by $1 billion are becoming clearer.

First, much of the money is not "new" funding. A large percentage replaces funds that were in last year's budget, but would (without action) go away this year.

State to close seven prisons
01/13/2012

The state plans to close seven prisons, including a major institution at Raiford, as part of a consolidation plan that's possible because of declining numbers of prisoners, the Department of Corrections said Thursday.

Four work camps will also close. The facilities will be shut down by July 1, the agency said.

Food Lion departure might mean higher prices
01/13/2012

Locals are likely to feel it in the pocket when area Food Lion stores close in a month or so, economists said Thursday, even if they didn’t shop at the grocery chain.

The chain is closing all its North Florida stores within 30 days, including the four locations in St. Johns County — 2469 U.S. 1 South by the Lewis Point Extension, 7462 U.S. 1 North by Palencia, 181 Blackford Way across from the Shores and 445 State Road 13 in Fruit Cove, according to a Food Lion news release and spokeswoman Christy Phillips-Brown.

Man dies after two-hour standoff in Ponte Vedra Beach
01/13/2012

A Ponte Vedra Beach man involved in a standoff situation with St. Johns County Sheriff’s deputies was found dead Thursday evening after officers sent a bomb robot into his condo.

“We’re not sure if he’s taken his own life or not. That’s pending an autopsy,” said Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Chuck Mulligan Thursday.

The man’s name was not being released until his family was notified.

“Our thoughts go out to his family,” Mulligan said.

House candidate bows out
01/13/2012

St. Augustine attorney Terry J. Shoemaker on Thursday announced that he has jumped into the race to become state attorney for the Seventh Judicial Circuit of Florida and will run against incumbent State Attorney R.J. Larizza.

Shoemaker, a Republican, had previously filed to run for the District 20 House of Representatives seat being vacated by state Rep. William Proctor, R-St. Augustine, who is term-limited.

Shoemaker informed the Division of Elections to remove him as a candidate in that contest and enter him as a candidate for Seventh District state attorney.

Ceremony recalls officer's sacrifice
01/13/2012

Even after 37 years, Brenda Parker still fights back tears when she recalls the night Doug Woodall showed up at her door to tell her that her husband, St. Augustine Beach Deputy Marshal Ron Parker, had been killed in the line of duty.

Brenda Parker, who never remarried and now lives in Georgia, was in town Thursday for a memorial honoring her husband at the park bearing his name on the corner of Pope Road and Old Beach Road. It’s something she does every year.