Free Republic

President Trump on Friday addressed seniors at The Villages in Florida and touted his second-term achievements that have made life more affordable for those in their golden years. “I’m much, much younger than the people in this room, but I feel I can relate to you anyway,” the 79-year-old president joked at the world’s largest retirement community, before rattling off policy after policy his administration has pushed to benefit seniors. Trump lauded the “largest tax refunds of all time” received by American seniors this year thanks to his One Big Beautiful Bill Act. **SNIP** The president then tore into former...

Florida students deserve high-quality education, and great teachers deserve recognition and competitive pay. But time and again partisan school unions have shown that they do not act in the best interests of the teachers they purport to represent, let alone the best interests of students. Today, I was proud to sign legislation to hold unions accountable and to reward the educators who go above and beyond to inspire students across Florida.

Friday is May Day, the day radical leftists come out and scream about the evils of capitalism. Yet it's always a funny thing when they do that; Why are they still living here, rather than fleeing to a Communist country, if they hate capitalism so much? Of course, they don't because they're hoping to push our country further left. Now, you had a conglomeration of them out in D.C. for all the current causes: May Day, anti-Iran military action, and anti-ICE. While they were in for a day of chanting the same things robotically, President Donald Trump was off to...

A pastor who runs a ministry in a rumored swingers community for Florida seniors — and ironically wrote a book on how to love your spouse — was arrested Wednesday following allegations that he married multiple women. Leslie Williams, 62, was taken into custody at the sprawling retirement center, The Villages, on an outstanding warrant out of Georgia tied to a bigamy charge, according to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office in Florida. He is currently being held without bond due to his status as an out-of-state fugitive, with legal holds stemming from Rockdale County, Georgia. "Florida marriage records were obtained...

A Florida pastor who wrote an advice book on how to love your spouse was arrested this week for allegedly having multiple wives. Leslie Williams, 62, was arrested Wednesday on an outstanding warrant for bigamy near his house in rumored swingers’ paradise, The Villages retirement community, according to the Sumter County Sheriff Department and the Villages News. The pastor, who runs his own ministry out of the sprawling 55+ community, is wanted in Georgia after the Rockland County Sheriff’s Department there issued a warrant for his arrest on bigamy charges on April 3. Williams was nabbed by Sumter County sheriff...

A 300-pound Villager who stands 6 feet 4 inches tall has been sentenced after stalking a resident’s grandson he met through an online dating application. Russell Edward Thompson, 54, of the Village of Springdale, has been placed on probation for three years after pleading no contest last month in Sumter County Court to charges of burglary and theft. A charge of stalking, a charge of criminal mischief and two additional counts of theft were dismissed as part of the plea deal. A man who was living with his 73-year-old grandmother in Village of Santo Domingo met Thompson through an online...

A Villager was arrested after an alleged brawl with a woman after going out to dinner. Jean Dorothy Pultorak, 66, of the Village of Poinciana, was arrested Tuesday afternoon on a felony charge of battery of a person over the age of 65. The arrest followed an incident which occurred at about 7:30 p.m. Monday in The Villages. A 73-year-old woman said she and Pultorak had gone out to dinner, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. When they returned home, they got into an argument which turned physical. The 73-year-old said Pultorak used an “open...

A man's five minutes of fame at a Florida golf course where he hit a hole-in-one and had his picture taken is what allegedly helped officers arrest and charge him in connection with a deadly assault that took place in the course's parking lot. The Sumter County Sheriff's arrested Robert Moore, 75, of the Villages, on July 27 and charged him with aggravated manslaughter on an elderly person in connection with the June 28 incident that took place at the Glenview Country Club, court documents say. Dean Zook, 87, allegedly was heading to the club that day with his wife...

LIVE: Rally in support of President Trump in The Villages, Florida #Trump2024 https://t.co/biVnmhZ1mz— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) March 21, 2023

A Village of Poinciana woman was arrested early Monday morning after a booze-filled brawl on a lanai. Jean Dorothy Pultorak, 65, was arrested on a felony charge of domestic battery by strangulation at about 2 a.m. by Sumter County sheriff’s deputies. An 86-year-old man living in the home was awoken and discovered Pultorak involved in an altercation with another woman on the enclosed lanai of the home. Both women appeared to be intoxicated. The other woman said Pultorak had put her hands around her neck during an argument and she had been unable to breathe. The report noted a table...

A man in a wheelchair and his female companion were arrested in an alleged shoplifting scheme at Best Buy in Lady Lake. Matthew Mehrhoff, 48, of Umatilla, was in a wheelchair in the store shortly before 11 a.m. Saturday and was being pushed by 21-year-old Miranda Sue Chapman, also of Umatilla, when store personnel noticed that the pair were behaving in a suspicious manner, according to an arrest report from the Lady Lake Police Department. They were seen on surveillance making contact with merchandise packaging followed by Mehrhoff placing an item in his jacket and zipping it up. Store personnel...

A Villager was arrested after a brawl ignited by the disconnection of a computer from the internet. Bryant Lynn Yarbrough, 74, of the Village of Sanibel was arrested after an altercation at about 5 p.m. Wednesday, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. A woman said she had been checking her email and printing tickets on Yarbrough’s computer when he became impatient and disconnected the computer from the internet. The woman responded by calling the native Texan, “an ass,” the report said. He grabbed her by the wrists and shoved her. The woman tried to call...

No wonder so many people are moving to Florida, some say it's an Urban Legend others say it's the real thing, my first reaction was LOOFAHS, really ?? For years I've heard the Villages in Florida is a retirement community where anything goes for those inclined to partake, evidently now the swingers have a system to indicate who and what they are into. Personally, I may never buy a loofah again.

A fight over a seat at a popular restaurant ended with a Villager behind bars. The altercation took place at about 7 p.m. Friday at Harvest Restaurant at Brownwood Paddock Square. Julie Ann Marsh, 56, of the Village of Pine Ridge, took a seat at the outside bar at the restaurant, but the seat had been claimed by another couple, according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department. The couple apparently confronted Marsh when they returned from the restroom. The man informed Marsh she was in his chair, prompting a verbal altercation. Marsh announced she was “not getting...

John Davis Ferron and his wife moved to the Village of St. James in 2020. They loved their new home, including two “very nice looking cranes” already in their front planter. The birds were placed there by the previous owner and had been there for years. Then came the dreaded knock on the front door by Community Standards. An anonymous complaint had been received about the birds. The couple grudingly removed the cranes. “However, many of our neighbors who also have cranes and other decor in there front yards are unaffected,” he said. Ferron said it’s a perfect example as...

A Villager who had previously been ordered into anger management has been jailed after a fight at a restaurant at a town square in The Villages. Wildwood police were called to investigate the fight which occurred at about 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Prima Italian Steakhouse at Brownwood Paddock Square. The first officer on the scene spotted a red Toyota RAV4 which was attempting to leave the parking lot, according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department. During a traffic stop, a passenger in the vehicle was identified as 47-year-old Pamela Lyness, who lives in the Crestview Villas in...

A one-legged man known by the alias “Ponce de Leon” was arrested with a gun after violating an injunction and getting into an altercation over a dog. Mario Arteaga, 62, who lives in the Harbor Hills community in Lady Lake, was arrested Monday evening by Lake County sheriff’s deputies after violating an injunction obtained by his neighbor. Arteaga was taken into custody at Marion County Road and Saddle Ridge Lane in Weirsdale, not far from Harbor Hills. Arteaga and a friend had been “antagonizing” a dog, 51-year-old John Michael Keenan, also of Harbor Hills, told deputies. Keenan asked Arteaga to...

He went off the deep end. A Florida man famed for his intense loathing of former President Donald Trump has been banned from a community pool after berating a woman for her “Joe Biden Sucks” T-shirt, according to a report. Ed McGinty, 74, has long been known in The Villages for plastering his golf cart with signs denouncing Trump and defiantly cruising his community’s sleepy streets. The homemade placards often feature blunt language. “Biden will kick Trump’s fat ass,” reads some of McGinty’s golf cart copy. As a blaring liberal presence in a deeply conservative enclave, McGinty has often skirmished...

<p>SUMTER COUNTY, Fla. - An argument between two men on the green at The Villages over golf etiquette led to one of them facing a battery charge, according to Sumter County deputies.</p><p>Richard Randell, 77, entered a not guilty plea for his alleged crime against his 84-year-old friend, court documents filed in late May confirmed.</p>

Election officials in Florida's are looking into voter fraud from voters — or snowbirds — who live part of the year in the sunshine state and voted in the 2020 election. So far three residents of the Villages retirement community have been charged with voting more than once in last year’s presidential election.