Bond set at $3.35 million BY DAN HILDEBRAN Monitor Editor STARKE— A 21-year-old Starke man was arrested for 29 counts of possession of child pornography and an equal number of charges for using a two-way communications device while committing felonies. Justin Anthony Dwight Garrison is being held on a $3,350,000 bond. According to an arrest … Read more
MELROSE— A 500-square foot addition to the Putnam County Library in Melrose continues into December. The addition on the east side of the building, which faces the post office, will house a multi-purpose meeting room. Putnam County commissioners approved the project in 2020, and construction began in July 2021. A completion date for the project … Read more
BY DAN HILDEBRAN Monitor Editor KEYSTONE HEIGHTS— Clay Electric Cooperative said that due to the rising costs of generating power and other expenses, it is raising the price of power to its members. Customers will see an increase to their power cost adjustment in December, and an increase to the co-op’s access charge the following … Read more
BY DAN HILDEBRAN Monitor Editor GREEN COVE SPRINGS— Clay County Property Appraiser Tracy S. Drake said he has hired a firm to look for improper homestead exemption claims among the county’s 55,000 parcels with the exemptions. Florida law provides for a number of property tax exemptions, assessment reductions, and classifications which will reduce the taxable value (and … Read more
BY DAN HILDEBRAN Monitor Editor STARKE— Bradford deputies arrested a former City of Lake Butler employee after determining he made over $1,700 in gasoline purchases for his personal vehicle using a city credit card. Michael Clayton Hall, 19, of Raiford was arrested by Bradford deputies on Nov. 26 for larceny and fraud. According to a … Read more
Nov. 20 through Nov. 26 The following individuals were arrested recently by local law enforcement officers in Bradford, Union or Clay (Keystone Heights-area) counties. All defendants are considered innocent until convicted in a court or until pleading guilty or no contest. Information in this report is from law enforcement agencies and court documents, which are … Read more
BY DAN HILDEBRAN Monitor Editor STARKE— A 31-year-old Starke woman was sentenced to a year in prison after pleading to an attempt to cash checks from her dead grandparents’ checking account. Priscilla Lynn Curtis pleaded no contest to the Aug. 25 offenses of uttering counterfeit checks and to fraud. According to an arrest report, VyStar … Read more
BY DAN HILDEBRAN Monitor Editor STARKE— A registered sex offender who was caught with drugs during a Starke Police Department raid at the Budget Inn was sentenced to 42 months in prison. Javares Lamar Barnes, 41, of Starke pleaded no contest to the July 26 offenses of failure of a sexual offender to report a … Read more
BY DAN HILDEBRAN Monitor Editor STARKE— The State Attorney’s Office dropped felony criminal mischief charges against a Georgia man accused of causing over $1,000 in damages to Starke’s Best Western. According to court papers, Antwaun De’shun Lewis, 43, of Loganville was accused of damaging furniture, linens, electronic equipment and bathroom fixtures at the motel on … Read more
