Wren Song Organics & More: Opening in Alachua

The locally-owned firm specializes in over 200 certified organic and responsibly wildharvested single herbs and blends in liquids and additive-free veggie capsules.

According to company spokeswoman Barbara Sowa, Wren Song also provides “custom formulations  blended to your specifications” in addition to free consultations with a staff herbalist “to discuss your needs and ensure you are buying only those products that make sense for you, a process that we know from long experience will save you money and improve your results every time you buy.

“Our staff are professional and committed herbalists who are serious about helping you.

Wren Song Organics & More is accepting customers by appointment at Alachua Integrative Medicine

“At first, we are going to open by appointment only to gauge interest. If we find that people do indeed want our store, we will get the space and arrange to open full time.”

Sowa says Wren Song can provide A-Z organic herbs and spices in bulk (loose) form, veggie capsules and liquid extracts. The company also provides all NutraMedix products and the INFINITY Practioner line, as well as organic herbal teas and accessories.

To make an appointment, call 352-462-3492.

Alachua City Manager Clovis Watson has announced he will retire in three months, earlier than announced several weeks ago, and, according to critics, under an ugly fiscal storm cloud that gathered after it was revealed the City, on his watch, spent almost $1.5 million in emergency reserves rather than scale back government initiatives, projects, staffing and salaries.

Clovis Watson, Jr.

Mr. Watson’s announcement also coincides with a proposed 17 percent tax increase that residents and businesses  in one of the poorest counties in Florida would seem ill-able to pay at any time – much less during a deep national recession.

For the record, if your taxes have been running $1,000 per year, a 17 percent increase will add $170 to the bottom line, enough to pay perhaps half of one of Alachua’s notoriously inflated monthly electricity bills.

So what do YOU think about the announcement and financial condition of the City as it has played out under his tenure?

Vote quickly and anonymously in our poll – or, feel free to speak out for the record and in detail using the comments box on this page.

Alachua Community Bulletin Board asks Mike New, City of Alachua Public Service Director:

Mr. New, We daily see beer bottles, “go cups”, soft drink bottles, sundry car trash, broken glass, beer tops, marijana bags and more littering parking lots and spilling over onto the properties of homes and businesses in the general area of certain restaurants on Main Street.

THE PARTY'S OVER: And this is what's left of the night before on Main Street.

Our  question is this: Are taxpayers paying City employees to clean this up, and, if so, can you calculate how much we are paying them – and explain why the cleanup is sloppily done at best.

If the City is not responsible for cleaning up this trash, please advise why the City isn’t warning and/or citing, prosecuting and fining the litterers, both individually and, to the extent that the owners of businesses are enabling a nuisance and not cleaning up after their patrons, the owners themselves?

After all, they profit from their patrons – not taxpayers. Picking up after their patrons not only would create goodwill in the community, it wouldn’t cost much if done daily … 10 to 15 minutes would keep parking lots, sidewalks and roads clean and the City wouldn’t have to waste precious public funds on the job.

In these tough ecomomic times especially, we, and we think many others, resent having to spend public money to do a job businesses themselves should be doing. We also wonder about the violation of open container laws, although we know that isn’t in your purview.

Mike New, City of Alachua Public Services Director, answers Alachua Community Bulletin Board:

It is true that a minority of patrons of Main Street businesses fail to properly discard their trash.

The City is tasked with maintaining its street right of ways and public parking lots. Litter pick up is part of that maintenance responsibility. Our staffing levels are not sufficient to permit us to make daily (or more frequent) tours for this specific task. Our staff do not pick up litter from private property.

The cost for collection of litter by City staff is borne by our tax payers.

Littering violates state law. Offenders can be cited by law enforcement personnel. I have every confidence that the Alachua Police Department cites all persons that are observed to be littering in our community (or at least requires the offender to pick up and properly dispose of their litter in lieu of receiving a citation).

When litterers are not cited it is because our law enforcement personnel did not observe them littering. Here again, it is a staffing issue. Our police department is not staffed to have a full-time presence in the Main Street business district.

I will pass your concerns on to the appropriate staff to ensure we are more diligent in trash pick up. I will also advise our Police Chief of your concerns.

Littering is a pervasive problem in our world, not just Alachua. The problem really exists at the individual level with an individual’s values. A person either considers it inappropriate (like you and I) or they do not.

I do not believe we can legislate people’s values. As such, we will continue to do our best to keep our community as attractive and litter free as possible.

Thank you for taking time to submit your concerns. Please advise if you have questions or comments.

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School board scrutinizing new High Springs location
The Alachua County School Board has been talking about a new elementary school in High Springs for two years, and is now looking into a  location on U.S. 441. – The North Florida Herald

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Poe Springs cannot charge for entry from the river
After a local visitor argued that he could swim in Poe Springs without paying admission when he entered from the Santa Fe River, a state investigation determined that further admission cannot be charged until a person steps onto land. – The North Florida Herald

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Cigarettes led to shooting at Alachua’s “Tree”
An argument over a pack of cigarettes ended with one man dead when James Davis of Gainesville allegedly shot Dave Washington, 78, of Alachua. – The North Florida Herald

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WingStreet joins Pizza Hut
WingStreet, a Pizza Hut companion that adds eight flavors of wings to the menu, recently joined the Alachua store. – Alachua Today

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Walmart plans to add Subway
Walmart is planning to include a Subway restaurant in the U.S. 441 location. – Alachua Today

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Military horses retire to Alachua
The Retirement Home for Horses is adding two new residents: retired members of the Fort Carson Mounted Color Guard in Colorado. – Alachua Today

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Nashville filmmaker stops in High Springs on nationwide tour
Jon Russell Cring brought a film festival to High Springs as part of his national tour, showing 12 films and teaching acting and directing workshops. – Alachua Today

To read the whole story, click Beautyberry Leaves Repel Biting Bugs.

If you decide to use beautyberry as an insect repellant, apply  to a small spot of skin to check for allergies before you use over a larger area. Back in the day, reports SD, folks not only used beautyberry for themselves, they broke sprigs and limbs from the shrub and attached them to harnesses to protect their horses from ticks, mosquitos and biting flies.

The Alachua County Board of County Commissioners and Gainesville City Commissioners will hold a joint special meeting on “Community Healthcare Access Concerns” on Wednesday July 15, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. in the Jack Durrance Auditorium (room 209) located in the County Administration Building (12 SE 1^st Street, Gainesville).

Moderated by former Alachua County Health Department Director Tom Belcuore, the meeting will include an in-depth presentation by Shands Healthcare CEO Tim Goldfarb.

Other presenters include Jeff Feller of Well Florida, current Alachua County Health Department Director Jean Munden, North Florida Regional Medical Center CEO Ward Boston, and Sally Lawrence with the Alachua County Medical Society.

The purpose of the meeting is to provide information to the public concerning the future of healthcare access in light of the November 2, 2009 scheduled closing of Shands AGH.

Following the presentations there will be a question and answer period for the Boards and the citizens.

The meeting will be broadcast live on Cox Channel 12 and live online.

The meeting will be replayed on Ch. 12 and will be archived online for on demand viewing.

To access the County’s Video on Demand site, click here.

To view the meeting live, scroll down to the Upcoming Live Events box.  For viewing on demand at a later time, scroll down to the Commission Special Meeting box and click on the Community Healthcare Access Concerns meeting.

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Political activist makes public records requests for emails
Charles Grapski, a political activist known for his requests for records from the City of Alachua and the University of Florida, has requested records of correspondence among the city managers of Hawthorne, Archer and Alachua and set off a dispute regarding public records laws. – Alachua Today

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Lowe’s Home Improvement impacts local businesses
In the four months since the Lowe’s Home Improvement store opened, some businesses, such as Ace Hardware, are experiencing low sales, while others see increases. – Alachua Today

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Archer commissioner threatens lawsuit over censorious statements
Archer commissioner Laurie Costello may take legal action against the City of Archer and city officials if they do not retract statements made concerning a plan to censure her for “abusive and embarrassing” behavior that was never pursued. - Alachua Today

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Development threatens Newberry’s Canterbury Equestrian Showplace
The City of Newberry is exploring public-private ownership of the Canterbury Equestrian Showplace which is in danger of development due to its prime real estate location. – The North Florida Herald

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Wal-Mart takes ‘divide and conquer’ approach to public meeting
Residents who showed up for a public meeting to discuss a Wal-Mart Supercenter expected to see a presentation and hear the concerns of others. Instead, questions were asked and answered on an individual basis. – The North Florida Herald

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To balance Alachua’s budget, increase taxes or utility rates
The City of Alachua wants to reduce the amount of a transfer from the electrical system which add $2 million to the city’s general fund, but would have to raise taxes to do so. – The North Florida Herald

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Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission offers free hunter safety courses
Free hunter safety courses are offered in Lake City, or online. – The North Florida Herald

ALACHUA – 4-Page Media, Inc.’s Derek Clontz took Top 3 Blog honors on WordPress on Tuesday, June 30, attracting a staggering 24,687 readers to his world-exclusive reports, MICHAEL JACKSON IS ALIVE … ELVIS PRESLEY PHOTOGRAPHED AT GRACELAND JUST DAYS AGO … MICHAEL JACKSON DEATH HOAX STUNNER – WE KNOW WHERE HE IS HIDING … NOSTRADAMUS PREDICTED CASEY ANTHONY VERDICT … and many more.

Clontz’s blog averages 1,500 readers a day, making the spike to 24,000 significant. So far this year, 277,000 readers have visited the blog to read and enjoy – or rant and rage against – his unique mix of fact, fantasy, the serious and the absurd.

No stranger to mass market newspapers, Clontz, 57, spent 25 years writing for or editing various tabloids, including GLOBE, National Examiner, SUN, Star and, most notably, The National Enquirer’s iconic Weekly World News. He moved to Alachua in 2003.

For those who don’t know, WordPress is Planet Earth’s biggest and, arguably, best blogging community, featuring everyone from Joe Blow and Sally Doe to every major celebrity and news personality from CBS, CNN, FOX, MSNBC, ABC, all major newspapers and … the list goes on and on and on.

Read Clontz’s lastest at derekclontz.wordpress.com or yourworldreport.com

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Newberry to move forward on recreation complex
Newberry’s City Commission voted to move forward with the Cooperstown Dreams Park project, which will bring a state-of-the-art facility to the city. – Alachua Today

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Hawthorn OKs gated community project
City commissioners approved The Villages of Hawthorne project, a single-family gated community with 500 homes that will be located on the edge of Little Orange Lake. – Alachua Today

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Funding stands in way of I-75 improvements
The Florida Department of Transportation has found three possible fixes for the Interstate 75 interchange at U.S. Highway 441 in Alachua, but funding for these projects has not been approved. – Alachua Today

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Archer commissioners censure Commissioner Costello
Commissioner Laurie Costello is being reprimanded for unprofessional behavior deemed “abusive and embarrassing.” – Alachua Today

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Advanced Nutrition Foods delays Newberry application
The company that could bring 2,000 jobs to Newberry has postponed its application to the city while it finalizes its financial backing. – The North Florida Herald

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Alachua County investigates early deterioration of newly paved road
The residents of 142nd Avenue waited almost 50 years to see their road paved, but cheap pavement and heavy trucks have resulted in
serious damage. – The North Florida Herald

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Florida bans commercial turtle harvesting
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has officially banned all commercial harvesting of freshwater turtles in Florida. – The North Florida Herald

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