Ocala

Marion County Schools Will Now Paddle Students

It would seem that corporal punishment and Florida would go hand in hand because derpy-derp!And now, thanks to Marion County, they do! Last September, Carol Ely, incoming School Board member and former principal at Ocala's Shady Hill Elementary, came up with the fantastic idea of having kids who ac ... More >>

Eric Biddines Is So Obsessed With Coffee, He Even Raps About It

Ryan, Obama, Romney, and Biden's Moms: Too Many Matriarchs in the Race (VIDEO)

Preparing for the vice presidential debate Thursday in Kentucky, Paul Ryan was in Fort Lauderdale yesterday with his mom, Betty Douglas. Indeed, the 78-year-old made the campaign's nine millionth campaign fundraising call. Well, I am sick and tired of moms in this election. Just a few months ag ... More >>

Marion County Schools Might Start Paddling Students

Good news, Marion County kids! Paddling might be making a return to your school! Yay! Carol Ely, an incoming School Board member and former principal, wants to bring corporal punishment back to Marion County schools. And apparently she's going hard to the hoop to make it happen. A principal at Oca ... More >>

Homeless Guy Gets 180 Days in Jail for Stealing $2 Worth of Candy

Better get a candy lineup ready. Delvis Rodriguez-Ramos, a 21-year-old homeless man, was sentenced to 180 days in jail for stealing a Twix and a Snickers from an Ocala, Florida, store. The total price for both candies: $2. We're not sure which is the bigger outrage here: the punishment, or the ... More >>

Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson Second Official to Resign This Week

A note to anyone contemplating taking a state job in Tallahassee: You will probably have to work in Tallahassee.For the second time this week, a Florida official has resigned to be "closer to home" or some such thing: Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson submitted his resignation yesterday, saying ... More >>

Eat St. Films Mojo on the Go (Photos)

The parking lot at Sawgrass Recreation Park was pretty much flooded by a fast-moving storm that dumped several inches of rain in a matter of minutes, but that didn't stop a large crowd of people from heading over to the gateway to the Everglades for a taste of traditional deep-south cuisine and a ch ... More >>

Republican Presidential Candidates Owe Floridians More Than $230,000

Newt Gingrich's campaign for the Republican presidential campaign is over. Done-zo. Finished. The guy is walking around his home state wearing a Mitt Romney sticker.But the former speaker of the House isn't even close to concluding the dealings surrounding his campaign, as documents filed over the w ... More >>

Cops: Michael McClintock's Excuse for Having Sex With 11-Year-Old -- It Was Her Idea

Marion County Sheriff's OfficeMichael McClintock, who allegedly told the cops it was the 11-year-old girl trying to have sex with him.​Michael McClintock, 21, found out a pretty successful method of being held without bond on a capital sex-battery charge -- by allegedly telling the cops he was ... More >>

For Some Reason, a Video Exists of the Serial Pooper in Action (NSFW)

Ocala Police DepartmentKenneth Martin Sarsony doesn't always poop, but when he does, he apparently prefers to be in a learning environment.​We're not sure who the first person was who asked the cops, "Hey, can we get a video of that guy taking a poop at the middle school?" but we can tell you the ... More >>

Kenneth Martin Sarsony Identified by Ocala Cops as the Serial Pooper

Ocala Police DepartmentThis guy, allegedly Kenneth Sarsony, pooped several times outside a middle-school classroom.​The cops caught the crapper -- Ocala police say 23-year-old Kenneth Martin Sarsony is the man they believe pooped outside a middle-school classroom on four occasions.The incidents st ... More >>

Florida Police Looking for Man Who Keeps Pooping Outside Middle School Classroom

​UPDATE: Police believe they have caught the pooper.The Ocala Police Department is asking for the public's help identifying a perpetual pooper who keeps leaving his dumps outside of the same middle-school classroom.According to the Ocala cops, someone phoned in a report on September 6 that there w ... More >>

Florida: Today Is the Last Day to Legally Have Sex With Animals

​Attention, Florida: Today is the last day to legally buck a bronco, hump a horse, grope a goat, or perform any other activities related to barnyard bangin'.Senate Bill 344, which bans "sexual contact" and "sexual conduct" with animals, goes into effect on Saturday.Unfortunately for animal sexers, ... More >>

Kid KJ Is the World's Most Famous, and First, 8-Year-Old Monster Truck Driver

Florida May Have a Machete Problem: Seven Reported Attacks-by-Machete This Month

collider.comMachete Danny Trejo did not committ any of the machete attacks in Florida this month.​After Florida's seventh reported machete attack this month, it may seem as if we may have a few too many Jason Voorhees wannabes here in the Sunshine State.We don't know what the obsession is with try ... More >>

"Choose Life" License Plate Funds Jacked From Counties in Favor of Anti-Abortion Group

Choose to give your money to make an extremely uncomfortable advertising campaign.​Only in Florida -- where the government prefers to privatize anti-abortion license plates.Florida's "Choose Life" license plates, created by Ocala-based Choose Life Inc., started popping up on bumpers since the legi ... More >>

A Day to Remember at Sunset Cove Amphitheater 4/17

Underoath Became a Veteran Post-Hardcore Act Awfully Suddenly

Doctors Who Ask Patients Whether They Own Guns Would Face Up to $100,000 in Fines Under Proposed Law

​Being a doctor in Florida these days is risky business, and pill mill doctors aren't the only ones who should be worried about being on the wrong side of the law. A proposal being debated in Tallahassee would slap big-time fines on any doctor who asks a patient whether he owns a gun.A s ... More >>

Market 17 Brings Trendy Concepts — Dining in the Dark and Farm-to-Table Foods — to South Florida

Interview With Chef Daniel Ramos of Market 17 (Part 1)

photo: Deirdra FuncheonDaniel Ramos in the new digs. ​After months of anticipation (and a few delays), the new farm-to-table eatery Market 17 is now open on 17th Street in Fort Lauderdale. The restaurant is no small undertaking. All dishes are prepared from scratch. It serves ostrich. It makes cev ... More >>

Fried Oreos and More at the Broward County Fair: Q&A With Rene Piche, "King of Fried Food"

Click here to see more photos of food from the Broward County Fair.​For half a century, Rene Piche has been bringing delicious fried food to fairgoers throughout the country and even Canada. Piche, who claims to be the inventor of fried dough, will be one of the many food vendors found at the Brow ... More >>

Three Cities Cope, or Fail to Cope, With Unsightly Homeless People

​It seems SoFla is taking a page from the Rudy Giuliani playbook, trying every which way to get homeless people off of our streets and out of our sight. To that end, three initiatives have been proposed in three cities in recent weeks.Two weeks ago, Palm Beach County unveiled a plan to dissuade d ... More >>

Election Mantra: Que Sera Sera

​-- Ken Keechl, the outgoing Broward mayor, is getting some love on Facebook. Hey, it was good while it lasted. -- Speaking of former elected officials, Stephanie Kraft continues to lurk. She was spotted at the election victory party in Coral Springs for several politicians including A ... More >>

Gays Still Can't Marry in Florida, but Straights Sure Can Divorce

flickr.com​Though certain Florida politicians would have you believe they are dutifully "protecting" marriage with laws preventing gay people from legally marrying, a new list of America's 50 Divorce Capitals has more cities from the Sunshine State than anywhere else.The website, The Daily Beast, ... More >>

Don't Ask, Don't Tell Crimes and HIV

Palm Beach County Sheriff's OfficeLawrence Hunt has been charged with second-degree murder.​L.C. Swain Middle School teacher Calvin Williams, 41, was allegedly shot and killed this May by a lover who believed Williams had HIV.The lover, Lawrence Hunt, 20, told police he fired his gun because Willi ... More >>

Sick Tour, Bro

Delray's KoffeeOkee to Be Setting for Addiction Documentary

Until lately, Dr. Harold Jonas didn't have a demand problem. He had attracted so much national interest for the counseling and training services he offered through Sober.com, the real problem was supplying those services to struggling addicts and aspiring recovery specialists who for financial reas ... More >>

Mutual Benefits Con Man Joel Steinger Spent a Lifetime Getting Mobbed Up

Mutual Benefits czar Joel Steinger manipulated local politicians and the state legislature. But divorce court too?

Reille Hunter Post

The Rielle Deal

How local scandal begets national scandal in the charged world of Fort Lauderdale politics and business

Look at That Pig in Lipstick

As the housing market collapses, desperate sellers get creative

The Muscle Men

Inside the "Rejuvenation Centers" at the heart of the nation's largest illegal steroid and HGH operation

Witch Hunt at New Mount Olive

Trustees at the state's biggest black church and its pastor are at odds – and heading for court.

Low-Rent Airport

Goodbye, North Perry

Weed Wars

Everyone loves Riviera Beach's special bud — except the potheads.

Mayor Al's Shady Pal

When you're a politician helping out a felon, it's better not to ask questions.

Tailpipe

Clam Up

The Big Chil

Bikers, gourmands, 30,000 country fans, and bare boobies collide at a massive chili cook-off. Bottoms up!

Prostrate Loyalty

My President, Right or Wrong

The Swift and the Dying

Plantation gringo Scott Klier stands astride struggling Dania Jai-Alai

Rebellion, Maybe

The A-team staggers into a hippie ritual, threatening to bring in "The Man"

Crazy to Kill

In October 2002, they finally led Aileen Wuornos to where she wanted to go: the death chamber

A Real Cowboy

The search in suburbia for the reincarnation of John Wayne

Tourist Trappings

Alt-country newcomers send a mint julep postcard from Holopaw

River of Sorrow

The West Palm alt-rock scene mourns one of its favorite sons

Wally's War

Walter Philbrick's Hollywood lair is the one-stop shop for all your post-9/11 needs - and home to some truly odd characters

Kitty Up

The Killing Fields

For 24 years toxic soot from the Wingate dump rained down on Leola McCoy and her neighbors. She calls it environmental racism.