News

Michael Plant, left, a friend and colleague of Jim Warmowski, and Team Navy Jax cyclist Shawn Wynn unveil the memorial sign erected by the Florida Department of Transportation at the site where Warmowski died five years ago.

Cyclists participate in Share the Road Jim Warmowski Memorial Ride

By BILL JOHNSON / bill.johnson@myclaysun.com 

On U.S. 17, a few miles south of Green Cove Springs, the four-lane highway — divided by a wide, wind-swept grassy median — meets the treetops as it rises nearly 50 feet to pass over a viaduct.

Jayden Fischer, 7, doesn't seem to know what to make of her first haircut.  

By CHANEL MARTIN / chanel.martin@jacksonville.com

What could have been a somewhat somber event Saturday was instead a celebration of life, as the 8th annual Kutting for Kids collected hair for Locks of Love. Between two locations — the Orange Park Mall and the American Academy of Cosmetology on Blanding Boulevard — 310 donations and $510 was collected in only four hours.

With minimum hair donations at 10 inches when tied in a pony tail, it amounts to a lot of hair for charity.

Orange Park teen with disability completes memorable event at Ponte Vedra Beach

By MAGGIE FITZROY / maggie.fitzroy@jacksonville.com

Brienna McElyea was a little nervous but she tried not to let it show.

She’d never participated in a triathlon.

The 13-year-old from Orange Park, nicknamed “Bri,” knew she would have a lot of support from family and friends at the Lifestyle Realtors Beaches Fine Arts Series Sprint Triathlon Saturday at Mickler’s Landing in Ponte Vedra Beach.

So every time one of her supporters looked her way, she lifted her head and gave them a wide, brave, eye-sparkling smile.

By DENISE BUZZY / Special to My Clay Sun

Grilling is what summer is all about, and it is so simple.

Just turn a few valves, hit a button and wait about 10 minutes. When done cooking, turn it off; wait 10 minutes for the grill to cool before you lightly scrape the grates and you are done.

One trick to great barbecue is to use a marinade or rub to add tenderness and flavor. Marinades can be made of just about anything. Use some lemon juice, or something acidic, along with some kind of fruit or fruit juice to tenderize meat.

Photos by CHRISTA HIEBER/staff intern
Ashley Sarra and Liz Rozier show off their spots at Eagle Harbor Chick-fil-A.

Kids dress up like cows for Fleming Island restaurant’s promotion

By MARY MARAGHY / mary.maraghy@myclaysun.com

Some Eagle Harbor people made cows of themselves to get a free lunch.

July 13 was Chick-fil-A’s Cow Appreciation Day to promote “chickin eatin,” the restaurant’s theme. Customers who dressed like a cow got a free combo meal.

By BETH REESE CRAVEY / beth.cravey@myclaysun.com

Clay County’s seventh public high school is in need of a name.

The School Board is expected to seek public input on the name of the school, which is to open in 2010 in the OakLeaf area.

Tonight, the board is to receive engineering plans and specifications for the school and a list of potential names proposed by school district staff. Board members are expected to seek public input on those names and seek alternative suggestions as well, as they did for two recently named elementary schools.

The high school may be the first of its kind in Clay County — a three-story school — and is expected to cost at least $45 million. The school will be located at Branan Field Road and Plantation Oaks Boulevard, adjacent to The OakLeaf School, a kindergarten-eighth grade complex that eventually will be a standalone junior high.

By ANNE SPONHOLTZ / My Clay Sun correspondent

A severe thunderstorm halted the Keystone Heights City Council meeting Monday, just as discussion turned to ways to get more water into area lakes.

Not long after a report from the Our Country Day committee on the July Fourth event and an award was presented to members of the Red Cross, a storm arrived with thunder so loud it was difficult at times to hear the discussion.

But the discussion stopped when the lights went out, throwing the meeting room into total darkness and temporarily stopping the meeting.

The emergency lights in the council meeting room failed to kick in. Also, the generator, which is supposed to provide power to City Hall in any emergency situation, failed to come on and no one on hand knew how to resolve the problem.

By MARY MARAGHY / mary.maraghy@myclaysun.com

Say “Warped Tour” and Orange Park High School student Baileigh Johnson envisions scary, rowdy crowds.
“My friend went to it once and got her nose ring ripped out,” the 16 -year-old said.

But Green Cove Springs law enforcement officials said they are prepared for the rock circus coming to Green Cove Springs today in the form of the 2007 Vans Warped Tour — 7,500 teens, 61 punk rock bands and extreme sports demonstrations.

“We’ve got it covered. It’s a large endeavor, but we have it under control,” said Green Cove Springs police chief Richard Musco, who said extra support will be provided by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Orange Park and Starke police and federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

MARY MARAGHY/staff
Dorothy Rendell hugs Gamble Wright, family services coordinator for Clay Habitat for Humanity, at a home dedication ceremony last Friday. Rendell, mother of five, was living in a substandard home before getting a Habitat home in Green Cove Springs.

By MARY MARAGHY mary.maraghy@myclaysun.com

Dorothy Rendell used to go to bed at night worrying that the exposed electrical wires would burn down her house.

The low-income mother of five said she’s grateful to God and Clay Habitat for Humanity for her newly built 1,200-square-foot home on Center Street in Green Cove Springs.

By MARY MARAGHY / mary.maraghy@myclaysun.com

After 18 months of discussion, Orange Park officials agreed Tuesday night that a green oak tree inside an orange oval will be the logo the town uses for some standardized signage planned for the town.

“It’s simple. It’s not real busy,” said councilman Travis Cummings. “This appears to be what we’re looking for.”
Councilman Pete Morgan agreed it was time to just pick one, after looking at many designs proposed by hired consultant, Fleet & Associates of Mandarin.