Waiting list for new apartments

First units available in February   BY MARK J. CRAWFORD Telegraph Editor STARKE — While a new hotel is getting ready to come out of the ground, more permanent rental accommodations have made impressive progress. Arborside Preserve is the new apartment complex being built at the end of Southern Villas Drive in Starke. Chris Savino, … Read more

Work visible at new school site

BY MARK J. CRAWFORD Telegraph Editor STARKE — A great deal of site prep is taking place on Southeast 144th Street to make way for construction of Bradford’s new combination elementary and middle school. Superintendent of Schools Will Hartley said the goal is to get construction underway in February. “So far we are still on … Read more

City: Don’t feed the alligators

BY DAN HILDEBRAN Monitor Editor KEYSTONE HEIGHTS— City leaders are emphasizing the importance of not feeding alligators after a six-foot alligator appeared near a group of children playing at Keystone Beach over the weekend. The incident left a 12-year-old boy stranded on the beach’s swimming platform for over an hour until two men used a … Read more

Clay COVID positivity under 10%

BY DAN HILDEBRAN  Monitor Editor  GREEN COVE SPRINGS— The Florida Department of Health’s administrator in Clay County said COVID-19 cases dropped to 275 during the first week in October and that the county’s positivity rate is at seven percent.    “At one point, we were at that in a day,” Heather Huffman told Clay county commissioners of … Read more

Kingsley Lake bear encounters decrease

BY DAN HILDEBRAN Monitor Editor GREEN COVE SPRINGS— A state bear biologist said the number of bear encounters reported by Kingsley Lake residents have decreased since the area’s  homeowners have taken steps to secure their garbage. Over the summer, Kingsley Lake homeowners reported seeing bears rummaging through garbage or on their properties Mike Orlando, the … Read more

Clay school district short on bus drivers, subs

BY DAN HILDEBRAN  Monitor Editor  FLEMING ISLAND— Parents lined up to complain about the shortage of substitute teachers and bus drivers during the Oct. 7 meeting of the Clay County School Board.   The speakers told school board members that the labor shortages are having a negative impact on students’ education.   Patricia Shaefer said that even though the district’s bus … Read more

Deputy: Please report crime

BY DAN HILDEBRAN  Monitor Editor  KEYSTONE HEIGHTS— A Clay County deputy told a Lake Region business group that one barrier to fighting crime is that many victims now don’t report crimes to the sheriff’s office, choosing instead to complain about the offenses on social media.   Deputy Dimitri Santiago spoke to the Keystone-Lake Region Business Association during the group’s Oct. 12 meeting at the … Read more

Black Creek project awaiting final permits

BY DAN HILDEBRAN  Monitor Editor  FERNANDINA BEACH— An official with the St. John’s River Water Management District said the district has two final permits to obtain before the Black Creek Water Resource Development Project can proceed.  The planned 17-mile pipeline from the south prong of Black Creek to an aquifer recharge area in the southern part of Camp Blanding could transfer up to 10 million gallons of water a day, during high water periods, … Read more

1 KH housing project on hold, 1 changes plans

BY DAN HILDEBRAN  Monitor Editor  KEYSTONE HEIGHTS— City Manager Lynn Rutkowski said the developers of a proposed 180-home project north of Fox Run Road and Commercial Circle and east of SR 21 near American Legion Post 202 have put the project on hold.   Rutkowski said the developers have other projects they are focusing on now and will continue to advance … Read more