Jim Ross: A few things on my mind
Ocala Star-Banner
For some Marion County residents, State Road 40 East through the forest is the most feared local road. So many crashes out that way. So many injuries and deaths through the years.
That stretch certainly worries me. But the route that always gets my full attention is the stretch of State Road 200 between County Road 484 and the Citrus County line.
For many years I commuted to and from Inverness, and that two-lane part of SR 200 always was a concern. The vehicles move fast and portions of the corridor are pretty narrow.
It's been more than a decade since that road was part of my daily commute, but the memories certainly came back Friday morning, when reporter Austin L. Miller called me at 8 a.m. to report on a horrific crash.
In case you missed his report, three people died and two more were seriously injured in the crash. The highway was blocked off for hours
We don't know all the details yet, but what we know so far is that an eastbound pickup truck for some reason veered into the westbound lane and struck two other vehicles.
The state plans to widen that stretch of road, though I'm not sure when. And, of course, widening the road doesn't necessarily mean crashes won't still happen.
Just curious: Which Marion County road causes you to grip the steering wheel a bit tighter?
You have to feel for bar and restaurant owners here and throughout Florida.
Friday morning, they were planning for what they hoped would be a good weekend. By Friday afternoon, they were either closing their doors or swarming social media to update customers on how the state's new order applied to them.
The state on Friday issued an order, effective immediately, that no on-premises alcohol consumption would be allowed in bars — that is, establishments where alcohol sales account for 50% of sales.
Reporter Carlos Medina spoke to two Ocala bar owners who were really disheartened. One man just took in $3,000 worth of inventory that he now can't sell.
Meantime, multiple places were posting to Facebook to point out that they remain open because they are more restaurant than bar, or to note that they could still do takeout service even if their bars were closed.
The Star-Banner's Ocala Restaurant Scene Facebook page had nine posts as of Friday evening, and I saw other posts show up in my news feed.
These are confusing times, and I don't envy those in the food and beverage business.
The 2020 Census statistics aren't ready yet, of course. But last week the Census Bureau gave us a bit of a sneak peak when it released its annual population report for counties and metro areas.
Marion County's population increased 1.8% between July 1, 2018, and July 1, 2019, from 359,062 to 365,579.
That overall growth is about what we have come to expect in these annual reports.
The percentage of residents ages 65 and older ticked up to 29.1 (106,675) from the previous 28.9 (103,883.)
The percentage of residents ages 45-64 is 24.8 (76,450). It had been 25% (74,427).
Marion County's median age ticked up from 48.6 to 48.7.
As far as metro areas go: The Ocala metro area is defined as all of Marion County. Only six Florida metro areas had as good or better population growth between 2018 and 2019: The Villages (2.9%), Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin (2.6%), Punta Gorda (2.2%), North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton (2.0%), and Jacksonville and Naples Marco Island (both 1.8%.)
Finally, in last week's column, I noted some good news about the local arts scene. Unfortunately, on Friday, we learned some bad news: The Reilly Arts Center has postponed the Wynonna & The Big Noise concert that had been set for July 3 at the Ocala Drive-In. The new date is Dec. 9 at the Reilly. Tickets go on sale Wednesday.
To avoid ending the column on a sad note, there's this, also from the arts scene: The Brick City Center for the Arts gallery is debuting a new mixed-media show, "Ocklawaha: Wild and Endangered River," on Thursday. It will run at the Brick, 23 SW Broadway St., Ocala, through July 18.
Opening Day festivities will run 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and a lineup can be found at freetheocklawaha.com/events
Contact Jim Ross at jim.ross@starbanner.com