LATEST NEWS

OCALA, Fla. (WCJB) - A family’s home in Marion County is unlivable after a woman fleeing from sheriff’s deputies crashed into the house. On Thursday night, when Marion County Sheriff’s deputies noticed a white SUV speeding nearly 30 miles over the speed limit. “I actually saw them...

WEIRSDALE, Fla. — An employee for a Lake County high school was arrested for allegedly harming two children and others at a restaurant this week. Daniel McCaw, 45, was arrested on Tuesday at a restaurant in Marion County. According to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, McCaw is an employee at Leesburg High School.

A drunk driving suspect with an open wine bottle in her car was arrested after a rear-end collision on U.S. Hwy. 441 in Summerfield. Anita Kaye Hurley, 54, of Belleview, had been at the wheel of a black Volkswagen Jetta at about 11 p.m. Wednesday on U.S. Hwy. 441 north of SE 143rd Lane when she rear-ended a white Mazda CX-9, according to an arrest report from the Florida Highway Patrol.

Stacker compiled statistics about where people in Marion County are looking to buy homes using cross-market demand and monthly inventory data from Realtor.com.

Cheap gas lured in plenty of customers at the new 7-Eleven on Friday on the Historic Side of The Villages. Unleaded gasoline was selling for less than $3 per gallon at the gas station and convenience store at the corner of U.S. Hwy. 27/441 and Griffin Avenue. The new 7-Eleven...

A Marion County judge on Friday sentenced a man to six months in jail for hosting illegal cockfights. Last month, a jury found Cameron Tyrone Taylor, 55, guilty of owning property for use in fighting or baiting animals and attending the fighting or baiting of animals. He was acquitted on a charge of selling, possessing and using equipment for animal fight bait. He will also be given 88 days of time-served credit. ...

A Tavares woman sought for violating her probation was arrested after a deputy found drugs on her when he pulled her over on her bicycle in Leesburg. Amy Marie Trayer, 37, was charged with possession of fentanyl and methamphetamine, along with violating her probation for possession of narcotics equipment. She was stopped by a Lake County sheriff’s deputy around 10:40 p.m. Wednesday when she failed to stop at a stop sign while turning south from Lockwood Street onto South Haines Creek Road, according to the sheriff’s office arrest report.

A nervous repeat offender was arrested with a bag full of drugs and metallic knuckles stashed in her purse. Stephanie Shannon Kilby, 37, was spotted Tuesday afternoon leaving “a residence known to the Fruitland Park Police Department to be prevalent with the use and distribution of illegal narcotics.” When approached by an officer, Kilby, who was arrested in April at Home Depot in Lady Lake, appeared to be “nervous.”

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office arrested a 31-year-old Ocala man after a woman claimed that he shoved her, punched her in the face, and choked her during an argument that turned physical inside a local residence. On Saturday, May 27, an MCSO deputy made contact with the female victim...

ORLANDO, Fla. – Tropical Depression 2 has become Tropical Storm Arlene as it continues to linger off Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. The system is expected to bring more rain to the Orlando area. The storm is located about 265 miles west of Fort Myers and was moving...

A Leesburg man with prior drug convictions was arrested after offering marijuana to an Advanced Discount Auto Parts employee. Jonathan Mark Powell, 47, was charged with possession of methamphetamine, marijuana, and drug paraphernalia after his arrest at the store at 2010 N. State Road 19. Police responded around 1:40 p.m. to a report of a man being on the property since 8 a.m., according to the Eustis Police arrest report.

Staffers at a popular beachfront restaurant were forced to restrain an apparently intoxicated man who allegedly broke a chair and attacked an employee as well as two children. The staffers at Eaton’s Beach in Weirsdale on Tuesday afternoon held down 45-year-old Daniel Paul McCaw until Marion County sheriff’s deputies arrived on the scene. Several 911 callers had alerted law enforcement about the chaotic scene unfolding at the restaurant at Lake Weir. They said the Leesburg High School employee was “out of control.”

A suspected thief who cannot speak English has been arrested in a price tag-switching incident at Walmart at Buffalo Ridge Plaza in The Villages. Lynn Thu Wun, 30, of Lady Lake, entered the store at about 1 p.m. Thursday and was observed by the store’s loss prevention officer as he removed the UPC bar code from an air mattress, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. He selected a brown futon bed priced at $178 and placed the $126 UPC bar code from the air mattress over the bar code for the futon bed. He went to the self-checkout and purchased the futon bed at the lower price. He was taken into custody when he left the store. The arrest report noted he does not speak English.

A 42-year-old convicted felon from Marion County will spend the next 16 years of her life behind bars for conspiring to distribute narcotics and possessing a firearm as an armed career criminal. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge John Antoon II sentenced Nishera Remon Johnson to spend 16 years and 8...

A homeless man from Leesburg was arrested Wednesday evening after police found him sleeping on a bench with narcotics in his pocket in The Villages. Police responded to a report of a man, later identified as 29-year-old Derius Lashane Dabney, laying on a bench for three hours around Drake Drive and Kramer Court, according to an arrest report form the Fruitland Park Police Department.

Rev. Dr. Isaac Deas has always had a way with people and was led to the business of helping them. He serves as pastor for the New Bethel Community Church in Summerfield, and founded Deas Consulting, where he is a counselor for people of all ages. In that capacity, Isaac...

A Fruitland Park man was arrested after his nervous behavior during a traffic stop tipped law enforcement off to the drugs in his possession. Geoffrey Michael Crane, 29, was charged with possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia after he was stopped around 1:20 a.m. on U.S. Highway 441 in Leesburg. An officer on patrol saw Crane make a suspicious movement towards the floorboard when he saw the patrol car, according to the Leesburg Police arrest report.

I am in agreement with the recent Villagers’ comments about the expansion and growth of homes. We no longer have a theater in Brownwood Square or Spanish Springs so we are forced to take our cart or vehicle to Lake Sumter Landing or go out of The Villages to attend a movie that is overcrowded. Sawgrass is not a square and can only accommodate a small crowd. The food and drinks served indoors are overpriced and food not cooked to the Villagers’ request, example, the burgers are only prepared well done. We seem to be losing amenities while increasing Villagers who are renting or snowbirds.

A physical therapist in The Villages has entered a plea in a hit-and-run crash that killed a woman on Rolling Acres Road. Tara Rene Schiessle, 31, of Lady Lake, has pleaded not guilty to charges of leaving the scene of an accident involving death, leaving the scene of an accident involving serious bodily injury and filing a false insurance claim. Schiessle, a Lake Centre for Rehab physical therapist assistant, remains free on $42,000 bond which was posted by her parents.

In response to the post “Money is being wasted on gate attendants.” Gate attendants do more than raise/lower the gate arms. Unfortunately, I no longer have a copy of the job description but if one wishes to verify what I’m saying it’s easy enough to do so. Aside from their obvious duties the gate attendants may need the income. Additionally while traveling on Morse Boulevard recently I was surprised to see a gate arm in an unlikely spot and that particular gate would have benefited from lights on the gate arms and brighter colors as the original poster of “money being wasted” suggested. While foot traffic can easily walk around gates the gates they do deter people in vehicles from selling things door to door.