Feb. 27 – Marcia Lane, roving reporter

This news bulletin is brought to you in conjunction with NATKIM Radio. Listen to WPLK (800 AM), WIYD (1260 AM) and WPLK FM (98.3 FM).

Get your dog on and celebrate the finale of this year’s One Book One Putnam read “Because of Winn-Dixie”. Menestrelli Dog Circus Show is this Thursday at the GFWC Woman’s Club of Palatka on South 13th Street. It’s free and open to the public. The show, perfect for kids and adults, is at 6:15 p.m.” Dogs bring us joy and that’s the message of ‘Because of Winn Dixie’,” said Jeremy Yates with the Putnam County Library System. If you can’t make the evening show, the circus will be at the Melrose Library for a performance at 3 p.m. Thursday.

Speaking of joy, the Tin Lizzie Club of North Central Florida is bringing plenty as club members hold their 2019 Model T Winter Tour. Staying at World Golf Village, the group is taking daily drives around the area. On Tuesday it was Palatka’s turn and people were giving double takes and smiles as nearly 140 Tin Lizzies motored through town.

Flagler County Commission has cancelled a workshop and special meeting on relocating Captain’s BBQ at Bing’s Landing. Residents in the area protested not enough notice had been given on the meeting about the restaurant in the county-owned park. Owners of the restaurant want to enlarge and move the restaurant to a more prominent location. Protests have been going on weekly.

St. Augustine Mayor Nancy Shaver is recovering from a stroke she suffered after Monday’s City Commission meeting. She was still in City Hall when the incident occurred and was taken first to Flagler Hospital and then to Baptist Medical Center in Jacksonville. It was a contentious meeting including a failed attempt by Shaver to get the commission to rescind buying two lots in Davis Shores. At the end of the meeting Shaver told commissioners her cancer had reoccurred but she was fighting it.

A man was reported killed Tuesday night when his motorcycle crashed into a sign at the St. Augustine Marine Center. The St. Augustine Police Department said the crash happened on Riberia Street near the center.

Owners of the Wetland Preserve LLC in Putnam County have been honored as the 2019 Florida Land Steward Landowner of the Year. Ben and Louann Williams are actively conserving their 3,275 acre area that borders Rice Creek. They were singled out by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The two are among founding members of St. Johns Riverkeeper.

Abandoned homeless camps continue to be an issue. In Flagler County people are seeking ways to deal with a homeless camp behind the Main Library building in Palm Coast. In St. Augustine a local resident is spearheading Operation Clean Camp 2019, a coordinated effort where the homeless population and community volunteers are clearing out remains of abandoned homeless campsites. On Saturday the group is working on a camp near the railroad overpass on State Road 312.

And congrats to the Palatka Panthers basketball team who are going to the 6A Regional Final after a 61-60 win over Eastside High Tuesday night. The winning goal came in the last four seconds of the game. The Panthers will host Nature Coast Tech on Friday for a shot at the Florida High School Athletic Association 6A Final Four berth.  Coach Bryant Oxendine will be on our stations Thursday morning at 6:45 a.m.

This is Marcia Lane, your roving reporter.