Five years ago, 2019

• The Clay County Board of Commissioners narrowed down the next county manager to four finalists:  Craig Coffey, Steve Howard, Len Sossamon and Howard Wanamaker. Wanamaker would eventually be offered the job after a 3-2 vote. 

• In a 22-17 vote, the Florida Senate passed a bill that allows all 67 school districts in the state to decide whether they want teachers to carry weapons. All Democrats in the Senate voted no, and all but one Republican voted yes. Clay County District Schools instead opted to rely on its upcoming police department, which would be in service for five years. 

• Keystone Heights Airport officials broke out their groundbreaking shovels for the new Fixed-Base Operator facility, a $1.2 million building with a pilot’s lounge and a larger conference room which was fully funded by the Department of Transportation. The facility would be officially open in 2021. 

10 years ago, 2014

•   Orange Park Town Council was deciding between two candidates to be the new town manager:  Jim Hanson and Sarah Campbell. The town council voted 4-1 in favor of Hanson; however, it would eventually grant the job to Cambell in 2017. 

•   Following a three-day suspension, Clay County Sheriff deputy Joseph B. Wiggins was given 90 days to complete a remedial driver training program after he was speeding when he was involved in a three-car collision where two others died.

20 years ago, 2004

• A drug raid on a residence in the 5000 block of Beauty Bush Lane in Keystone Heights led police to uncover $5,500 in cocaine and marijuana and another $3,276 in cash. Police made eight arrests in the sting.

•  Clay County School Board attorney Bruce Bickner said he was pleased with a Clay County jury’s decision in a lawsuit against the district. The jury found the school acted properly in handling a case in which female students at Keystone Heights High alleged male students at the school had sexually harassed them.

• The Clay County School Board awarded Barton Malow Company a $16.8 million contract to construct Lake Asbury Junior High.

30 years ago, 1994

• A study was underway to determine the feasibility of converting the old Clay County Jail into a museum.

• The Clay County Board of Commissioners voted to approve a request to raise the tax that funds the E-911 system from 35 to 50 cents a month. 

•William Floyd Damren, of Palatka, was charged with killing Donald R. Miller of East Palatka while on the job at RGC Mining, just off U.S. Highway 17, south of Green Cove Springs.

40 years ago, 1984

• A proposal floated in the 1984 Florida Legislature would have raised the Board of County Commissioners' annual salaries from $16,781 a year, plus travel allowance and insurance, to $17,873.

• Frank Harrison of Middleburg presented Gov. Bob Graham with 2,100 signatures from residents urging the paving of Branan Field Road to the Duval County line.

• Clay County Sheriff Jennings Murrhee said two men were arrested for stealing timber from the J.P. Hall Ranch south of Green Cove Springs. Officials charged William H. Wells of Worthington and Clyde Douglass of Lake Butler with grand theft.

50 years ago, 1974

• Orange Park Town Council discussed the qualifications required to hire a new town manager.

• The Clay County School Board named Walter Brock, principal at Grove Park Elementary, as the new principal at Orange Park High.

• Green Cove Springs City Manager Richard Fellows developed a list of items needing repair before he and other officials would accept a wastewater construction project as finished. Evans Construction Company was the contractor on the project.