This is Marcia Lane, your roving reporter.
Schools including ones in Putnam, Flagler and St. Johns counties are closed today in honor of Presidents Day. It’s a federal holiday which means post offices and banks are closed as well. County and city government offices vary with St. Johns and St. Augustine offices closed today. Palatka city government is open and most Putnam offices are also. Some county offices in Flagler including the elections office are closed although most are open. Bunnell city offices are open. Presidents Day honors George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Those once were celebrated on the men’s actual birthdays in February.
A 43-year-old woman was killed Saturday morning in a head-on collision on State Road 26 in Melrose, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The accident shortly before 9 a.m. Saturday when the 51-year-old male driver of an SUV heading east on SR 26 crossed the centerline, striking the woman’s car head on. FHP reports both drivers were wearing seat belts. The woman died at the scene, Alachua County Fire Rescue took the man to the hospital with critical injuries.
Appropriately enough the funeral for Clarence “Pooh Bear” Williams Jr. will be on the football field at Crescent City Junior Senior High School. The Saturday funeral service is at 2 p.m. with Flagg Serenity Chapel overseeing arrangements Williams who was a star on the field and off. He played for the Raiders four years, then became a fan favorite at Florida State University before playing for the Buffalo Bills and becoming a coach at Crescent City and later Palatka. He died in a single-car crash early Thursday morning.
In Flagler County a 100-acre prescribed burn continued Sunday with several agencies participating including the Florida Forest Service, Florida Park Service and Flagler County Fire Rescue. The burn on Bulow Creek conservation property is to reduce underbrush that fuels forest fires and for ecological restoration of gopher tortoise habitat.
Beautiful weather up to 78 degrees today ant that will continue during the week. A high rip current risk is in effect through this afternoon along northeast Florida beaches including those in St. Johns and Flagler counties.
On Tuesday well-known country music singer-songwriter Lee Greenwood performs at the St. Johns County Fairgrounds off State Road 207 in Elkton. Greenwood is touring in his 40th annual road tour with concert dates around the nation. He’s had more the 35 singles on the Billboard country music charts.
Green Lion Cafe will be staying at the city-owned Palm Harbor Golf Club in Flagler County. After the City Council decided to end their lease with the popular restaurant, fans turned out in droves for the next council meeting. Council members thought the $600 a month rent too cheap, but some hadn’t realized the Marlow family of Flagler Beach, which owns Green Lion, had put in $100,000 to renovate the facility that was in disrepair. City staff and the Marlows have worked out a deal that doubles the rent and will go up over the next few years.
And finally a shout out to Blue Sky Farms and L&M Farms who helped out Friday when Epic Cure, Palatka didn’t have enough food to supply produce for families in need. The two working farms donated 8,000 pounds of surplus produce to help the organization that provides food help for more than 700 families in Putnam County. Supply chain interruptions were cited as the cause of the shortage.
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