LOCAL NEW 12, 15, 2021

This is Marcia Lane, your roving reporter.
A head-on collision on Old Highway 17 in Crescent City occurred around 7:47 a.m. this morning. The wreck was in the area of Crescent City Jr.-Sr. High School and traffic was backed up as Florida Highway Patrol and Putnam County deputies worked the accident involving a pick-up truck and a sedan. Injuries have been reported.
St. Johns County has a new county commissioner —Sarah Arnold, director of resource development for United Way of St. Johns County. Gov. Ron DeSantis made the appointment to fill the seat left vacant by the resignation of Commissioner Jeb Smith. Smith is the new president of Florida Farm Bureau. The District 2 seat, which includes much of south St. Johns, will be up for election next year.
Apparently some people don’t know the only poop at Christmas should be from reindeer. A woman arrested in Crescent City Monday didn’t take well to being in a police car; she defecated on the back seat and then threw the poop at the Putnam County Sheriff’s deputy. Neomi Brown, 41, was originally arrested because she was acting erratically and carrying a machete in her backpack while in Winn-Dixie. The store manager asked deputies to remove her from the property, and while deputies were writing up the incident they found Brown had a warrant for her arrest from Volusia County. When told of the warrant she reportedly became violent and began fighting with deputies, kicking one in the face. They then put her in the patrol car which she used as a bathroom. When deputies were cleaning out the car back at the jail, they found a baggie with 12-grams of methamphetamine in the backseat. Brown was charged with two counts of battery on an officer, resisting arrest with violence and possession of meth. She was being held in the jail without bond. On Tuesday delivery truck drivers transferring goods at the Putnam County Fairgrounds reported finding excrement in their vans. That is not the Christmas spirit.
Flagler County School Board attorney Kristy Gavin had her contract renewed by a 3-to-2 vote. Two members — Janet McDonald and Jill Massaro — voted not to renew her contract. One, McDonald, several months ago tried to have her fired following a book banning issue.
Volunteers are needed to help with the annual SEA Center Community Christmas Basket GIve-A-Way in Elkton. One basket per family will be distributed Friday at 6408 Armstrong Rd. In Elkton between 9 a.m to 1 p.m. For more, call Malinda Peeples at 904-806-3939 or Kathy Taylor at 904-615-4994.
Palm Coast government and the Indiana-based company MetroNet are working together to bring high-speed fiber optic to the 550 miles of residential streets in the growing Flagler County community. The $50 million project is scheduled to take place over the next two years. MetroNet sees the town as a regional launching pad and is also looking at expanding to Bunnell and Flagler Beach.
Putnam Community Band will perform this Friday in a free concert on the porch of the Bronson-Mulholland House at 100 Madison St. in Palatka. Putnam County Historical Society is hosting the event from 5-7 p.m. with the concert beginning at 5:30. Light refreshments will be available.