BY DAN HILDEBRAN Monitor Editor KEYSTONE HEIGHTS— HCA Florida Orange Park Hospital’s Vice president of Operations Tina Pugh gave the Lake Region Prosperity Partners an overview of the hospital’s activities and its plans for growth, during the Clay Chamber group’s Thursday, Sept. 22 meeting at the Keystone Beach pavilion. Pugh highlighted the hospital’s two current … Read more
BY DAN HILDEBRAN Monitor Editor KEYSTONE HEIGHTS— A Lake Region man prohibited by court order from stepping foot on a Keystone Heights-area property did so anyway and was tased by three deputies after daring the lawmen to shoot him. Travis Allen Wright, 37, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, cyberstalking, burglary, petit … Read more
Eric Anderson, the emergency preparedness manager for the Northeast Florida Regional Council, told the Keystone Heights Rotary Club during its Sept. 21 meeting that when Florida’s 10 regional planning councils were first established in the 1970s, their mission was to manage growth within the state through regional planning. Anderson added that now, growth management is … Read more
The president of the Clay Education Association thanked two outgoing school board members for standing up for teachers. Vicki Kidwell said Tina Bullock and Janice Kerekes have always spoken out for instructors in Clay County. “Teaching isn’t easy,” Kidwell said, “and seeing our school board members at school functions, reading to our kids, and speaking … Read more
After a jury acquitted former Clay County Sheriff Darryl Daniels of lying to law enforcement and destroying evidence, Daniels issued a statement calling his arrest and prosecution an abuse of power. “The abuse and overreach that I have had to endure over the past three years is an example of what happens when sectors of … Read more
Union County’s unemployment rate decreased from 2.9% to 2.7% during August, while Clay County’s jobless rate fell from 2.6% to 2.5% during the month. Bradford’s rate held steady at 3.1%. Nassau County had the lowest rate in northeast Florida with 2.4%, and Putnam County reported the highest at 4%. Statewide, the unemployment rate remained unchanged … Read more
The debate over books in public school libraries continued during the Sept. 1 meeting of the Clay County School Board. During the June 30 school board meeting, Bruce Friedman, Florida president of No Left Turn in Education and the father of a Middleburg student, attempted to read portions of the memoir “Lucky” by Alice Sebold. … Read more
A $41.3 million bid to construct the 17-mile pipeline for the Black Creek Water Resource Development Project was nearly $20 million under engineers’ cost estimates. The St. Johns River Water Management District-supervised project will divert up to 10 million gallons daily from the creek during wet-weather, high-flow periods. The water will be pumped through a … Read more
A jury acquitted former Clay County Sheriff Darryl Daniels of all charges Thursday night after a three-day trial in Green Cove Springs. Prosecutors claimed that while sheriff in 2019, Daniels ordered deputies to arrest his mistress: Cierra Smith, for stalking him. He was charged with lying to law enforcement about the circumstances surrounding Smith’s arrest … Read more
During its Sept. 13 meeting, Clay County commissioners approved a $333,444 bid to convert the tennis courts at Twin Lakes Park east of Keystone Heights and the W.E. Varnes Park on College Drive in Orange Park to pickleball. Commissioner Betsy Condon said the planned conversion is bringing excitement to the Lake Region. “They have 35 … Read more
