Hendry County will soon have a new amphitheater located in Janet B. Taylor Community Tree Park thanks to a partnership between local Harlem leaders and U.S. Sugar.

The amphitheater is viewed as a potential hub for major community events, where residents and local organizations can host large gatherings.

“This amphitheater will bring our local residents together for fellowship and music for many years to come,” said Brannan Thomas, U.S. Sugar’s Community Relations Director. “We are proud to support our community through local initiatives that unite one another, and this amphitheater goes a long way toward accomplishing that goal.”

U.S. Sugar originally donated the land to build the park, which was dedicated in 2022 to recognize former Hendry County Commissioner Janet Taylor.

Now, U.S. Sugar is donating to help fund construction of the amphitheater, which is expected to be completed in time to celebrate this Summer. David’s Carpentry & Concrete, a local, family-owned company, will oversee the construction project.

“What started as a vision for our community is now becoming a wonderful reality thanks to U.S. Sugar,” Taylor said. “Soon, our community will have a place to celebrate during holidays and gather on weekends while listening to music.”

U.S. Sugar has consistently contributed to community projects, such as dedicating new benches at Clewiston’s Harlem Community Tree Park, helping renovate and reopen the C.S. Mott Community Pool in Clewiston, and donating youth sports equipment to the Montura Clubhouse.

That’s in addition to routine back-to-school giveaways, where U.S. Sugar helps provide returning students with backpacks and other school supplies.

The group, which helps provide thousands of local jobs and supports more than 250,000 acres of farms in the region, also brings holiday cheer by transforming its locomotive into the “Santa Express” and offering giveaways during the holidays to contribute gifts and food to those in need within the community.

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Republican Sen. Clay Yarborough’s measure (SB 820) to codify the Office of Faith and Community in the executive branch is ready for the floor.

Yarborough told the Senate Appropriations Committee that the initiative follows up on Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2019 launching “the Governor’s Faith and Community Initiative to support faith and community organizations serving vulnerable Floridians.”

“This included the administrative establishment of the Office of Faith and Community within the EOG and assigning resources and staff to assist with administrative and programmatic implementation of the initiative,” the Jacksonville Republican said.

The goal of the bill, according to Yarborough, is to “codify the work of the office by defining the purpose of the office of Faith and Community, detailing the establishment of the office, specifying the responsibilities of the Liaison for Faith and Community” and to show the “performance and priority of it.”

The Office would be headed by “the liaison for faith and community or a director appointed by the liaison who reports to the liaison,” according to the bill language.

The Governor would appoint the Director.

The goal of the Office would be “to better connect with, communicate with, and provide resources to this state’s faith-based and community based organizations” and to “better serve the most vulnerable persons of this state through more robust and connected faith and community networks in coordination with state resources.”

The bill contemplates a number of ways to make this happen, including advocating for faith- or community-based agencies; establishing and operating the “Florida Faith and Community Phone Line” for those agencies to connect with the Governor’s Office; setting up “meaningful lines of communication” between these groups and the Governor’s Office; and using technology to develop “resources for enhanced connection between civil service systems, state agencies, and faith-based and community-based organizations.”

Ahead of the vote to advance the measure, Democratic Sen. Tina Scott Polsky pressed Yarborough about the “interaction” with Hope Florida, which shared a “liaison” — Erik Dellenback — with the Office of Faith and Community (OFC).

Yarborough noted that Dellenback, who stepped down from the former amid the ongoing controversy related to programming legal settlement funds into political activity, is still with the OFC. Yarborough would not speak to whether it was “appropriate” for state money to be used to message against constitutional amendments, and didn’t want to speculate about the question given his limited knowledge of that issue.

In debate, Polsky questioned whether the office had fully informed Yarborough of its political actions and the full scope of what it does given messaging against weed and abortion amendments.

She also said it was “upsetting” for her religious perspective — she’s Jewish — “to be marginalized,” warning against the emergence of a “faith-based government” and this group’s “connection with Hope Florida.”

“Just putting faith at the top echelons of our government to me is not correct and not right. We are all not of the same faith. We are all not people who have particular faith. There are a lot of people who don’t,” Polsky said.

“And so I think our government needs to be completely agnostic in that sense. Everyone can believe what they want to believe. Everyone can practice what they want to practice, but don’t force it on the rest of us, and that’s how this Office makes me feel. How this bill makes me feel. And how so much of what we do in general makes me feel.”

Asked by Senate Democratic Leader Jason Pizzo if the Faith and Community Initiative should be used as a “vehicle, vessel, or instrumentality of political messaging,” Yarborough said the “Office should focus on what the Office is designed to do.”

Pizzo warned that the conflation of faith-based initiatives and political messaging works to “desecrate the sanctity and the special nature of your pure and innocent faith in God by imbuing it with any participation whatsoever of political messaging.

“I want to understand why we’re codifying faith in our secular government,” added Democratic Sen. Lori Berman.

Yarborough said 3 out of 4 Floridians have faith affiliation and therefore “faith is something that is important to the vast majority of Floridians out there.”

In his close, he added that the Constitution doesn’t guarantee a separation of church and state, and that the belief it does stems from a Thomas Jefferson letter asserting that it is there.

The bill has completed the committee process in the House and is on the Second Reading Calendar.

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A new clinic to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other impacts for first responders and military veterans is opening in Central Florida.

The company eTMS Florida has been expanding its footprint in Florida in recent months and the newest clinic near Orlando opened this month. Electroencephalogram Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (eTMS) therapy is a non-invasive treatment for those suffering traumatic brain injuries, PTSD and sleep disorders.

The new Central Florida facility is located at 555 Winderley Place, Suite 300, just outside of Orlando. Some state funding is provided to the clinics that helps to provide free treatment to first responders and veterans.

Dirk Harkins, U.S. Army combat veteran and a Purple Heart recipient, credits eTMS therapy with saving his life. After struggling for 12 years with chronic headaches, sleeplessness and other ailments caused by the lasting effects of service-related trauma, Harkins said the treatment is a welcome relief.

“After years of struggling and feeling like I had tried everything without any relief, eTMS treatment gave me my life back,” Harkins said. “For the first time in 12 years, I was pain-free and able to sleep peacefully. I finally started to feel like myself again.”

The business opened its second location in Jacksonville earlier this month and a new location in Tampa in February to help frontline public servants and U.S. military veterans with access to equipment designed to ease brain trauma and associated conditions. There are also locations in Miami.

One of the first patients to visit the newest clinic, Keenan Yoho, also weighed in on how eTMS therapy has helped him.

“Before starting eTMS, I was waking up 4 to 6 times a night and struggling with constant hyper-vigilance,” Yoho said. “By the second week of treatment, I was waking up half as often and sleeping longer and more soundly. By the end of four weeks, I was only waking once or twice a night and when I did, I no longer felt the need to get up and walk around. I could fall back asleep within 15 to 20 minutes.”

Among professionals, the treatment is seen as effective in easing depression. Treatment sessions last about 15 minutes. Many conditions require up to 20 treatments to produce a full benefit. Those seeking treatment must have valid identification and proof of service at their appointments.

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