This is Marcia Lane, your roving reporter.
Beginning today Florida’s Back to School sales tax holiday gets underway and continues through Aug. 7. Specific items related to getting ready for school — including clothing — will be sales tax free. Among items on the tax free list are most school supplies selling for $50 or less, learning aids and jigsaw puzzles for $30 or less, clothing shoes and accessories for $100 and less. Some big ticket items are on the list — computers and accessories. You’ll get a pass on tax on products for $1,500 or less.
Two wrecks in the area Sunday claimed lives, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. In St. Johns County, a 23-year-old Statesboro, Ga., man was killed in a single-car accident after he was ejected from the Jeep in which he was a passenger. The accident around 2:45 a.m. on Interstate 95 about 1.5 miles north of County Road 210. The driver reportedly lost control of a Jeep, veered off the roadway and collided with a guardrail rotating counter-clockwise before overturning onto the center median guardrail. Neither the driver nor the two passengers were wearing seatbelts, according to FHP. The 23-year-old was ejected onto I-95 and struck by the car behind it. The Jeep driver and other passenger had minor injuries. In Putnam County a pedestrian was struck and killed in Interlachen on State Road 20 about 4 a.m. Sunday. FHP reported the 63-year-old man was walking west on SR20 near Martha Drive when he was struck by the right front bumper of an SUV traveling in the same direction. He was taken to an area hospital with serious injuries and later pronounced dead.
On Friday two teens in Flagler County were both sentenced to 15 years in prison after being found guilty of an armed home invasion in prison. Both were 15 at the time of the attack on a family of four in the P-section of Palm Coast on Dec. 13, 2020. The family was held at gunpoint and threatened with death as their home was torn up and $1,400 stolen. They were quickly caught. Korie Jones, now 16, and Darius Watts, now 17, joined Carlos Dupree, 34, and an unknown man in the home invasion. Dupree was apparently ringleader. A deal set up by the state attorney’s office and defense lawyers led Circuit Judge Terence Perkins to sentence both to 15 years in prison, followed by 15 years probation for Jones and eight for Watts. Jones physically brutalized victims. Watts fired a gun into the ceiling.
Tonight at the Cathedral Basilica in St. Augustine a mass will be celebrated as a statue of St. James the Apostle goes on display. It’s a special occasion and statue that was created in Spain. It’s been displayed in cathedrals in Cordoba, Madrid, Aviles and Santiago de Compostela. Now it’s arrived at its final destination. St. Augustine has been designated the starting point of the Camino de Santiago de Compostela in the U.S. The Camino de Santiago is a pilgrimage leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in Spain where tradition holds the remains of the apostle are buried. Tonight’s mass is at 7 p.m. and is open to the public. A formal ceremony is set for October. On Sunday the Cathedral saw the new bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine officially take possession of the Diocese. Bishop Erik Pohlmeier is expected at tonight’s ceremony. the United States.
A reminder today is the deadline for new voters to register and for party affiliation changes. Contact your local Supervisor of Elections office for details. Early voting will begin Aug. 8.
NATKIM Radio 