First Saturday Speakers Series: Save the Manatee Club

River Smith of the Ocala Distance Project won the K-2 boys 1,000 meters at the FLYRA state cross country championships in Lakeland on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, in 3:50.4, the same time as the runner-up. On Saturday, Belleview Middle School finished 19th of 30 teams in the public school girls 3K, led by seventh grader Reese McGovern in 19th place.

Crashes killed 81 people on Marion County public roads in 2025, down from 113 in 2024 and the lowest total in the five years covered by the Ocala Marion TPO's 2026 Commitment to Zero Safety Report. Motorcyclist deaths rose to 21, and 20 bicyclists were killed or seriously injured, the highest yearly total in the report's summary table.

In December, Marion County commissioners said no to 71 homes on a horse farm off SW 80th Street. On Oct. 6 they voted 4-0 to certify the farm as an agricultural enclave, because a new state law gave them little choice. The 71-home plan still goes through county staff review. Commissioners said the state keeps taking decisions away from the people closest to them.

Ocala City Council voted 5-0 on Oct. 20, 2026, to adopt Ordinance 2027-1, repealing the city's local business tax, known as the business tax receipt (BTR). The ordinance was introduced Oct. 6. The city says refunds for paid 2026-27 renewals begin processing by Jan. 14, 2027.

The 2026 OBS October Yearling Sale in Ocala ended Oct. 7 with 267 yearlings sold for $6,775,500. The average rose to $25,376 and the median to $17,000. A Girvin filly bred by Ocala's Glen Hill Farm topped the sale at $190,000.

Marion County voters will decide Nov. 3, 2026, whether the county may issue up to $140 million in bonds for parks, trails, clean water protection, farms and forests, repaid by a countywide property tax of no more than 0.35 mill. Here is the ballot language, the rules the commission attached and the county's project list.