5 years ago, 2013
One day after the Florida Department of Health told Orange Park Medical Center to shut down its level two trauma center, hospital of­ficials took part in a DOH workshop to again plea their case to continue trauma care and services.

Opponents of a zoning change that could pave the way for an asphalt plant along County Road 15A prepared for a March 5 public hearing that was to be attended by members of the local Sierra Club now interested in the subject.

Sheriff Rick Beseler laid a wreath at the gravesite of Detective David White as part of a Feb. 15 ceremony honoring White’s service to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office. White was shot February 16, 2012 in a raid of a home on Alligator Boulevard in Middleburg that was found to be a methamphetamine operation.

10 years ago, 2008
Engineer Tony Robbins of the Jacksonville-based engineering firm Prosser Hallock told Orange Park Town Council that the town is basically built out with only 100 acres of undeveloped land remaining the town’s five square miles borders.

U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns(R-Ocala) traveled to Camp Blanding to hand out $25 million in federal funds to help enhance the base’s role in military readiness in the global war on terror.

The Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida donated $75,000 to the Way Free Medical Clinic in Green Cove Springs.

20 years ago, 1998
Orange Park Police joined Clay County Sheriff’s Office deputies to apprehend James Bonnard Wells of Jacksonville who climbed an Orange Park water tower near Wells Road and threatened to jump after a lengthy police chase that started on Fleming Island.

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office investigated the deaths of cattle found dead in a pasture in the 2700 block of County Road 739 in Lake Asbury.

The Board of County Commissioners approved a uniform 30 miles per hour speed limit on Moody Avenue after an engineering study supported the move, which was opposed by residents.

30 years ago, 1988
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office investigated a drive-by shooting in the 100 block of Ursa Street near Orange Park. Jimmy Roman, 24, told officers that his mother-in-law shot him while passing by in the passenger’s seat of a red pickup truck.

Fleming Island residents publicly opposed a plan by DuPont to build more than 3,000 homes on a 2,133-acre tract citing everything from air and noise pollution to strained infrastructure on schools and roads if the plan was approved.

Orange Park High School teacher Larry Lancaster announced he would run for Clay County School Superintendent saying he can relate to the old folks and the new folks.

40 years ago, 1978
Green Cove Springs residents were without electricity for eight hours after a Jacksonville Electric Authority pole carrying a 69,000-volt transmission line fell into a swampy area on Wright’s Dairy Road. The live wires electrocuted eight milk cows.

Judge Lamar Winegeart refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Merrill Glisson of Keystone Heights against the St. Johns River Water Management District. Glisson’s suit charged that the District’s tax authority was illegal and done so without representation.

Korona Ingram Prince, a 1963 honor graduate of segregated Dunbar High in Green Cove Springs, was named headquarter federal women’s program coordinator for the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C.