Jan. 7 – 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).

Palatka officials are expected to add their input today at the Palatka Housing Authority meeting during a discussion of the authority’s annual plan and their five-year plan for public housing. The 11 a.m. meeting is at the Long Family Investment Center. Mayor Terrill Hill at a recent commission meeting said he believes the city needs to have input on those plans.

A 29-year-old Crescent City man is now charged with first-degree premeditated murder in the shooting death of a man with whom he grew up. Charges were filed Monday against Ahmad Kashard Williams after the shooting of Tykey Nixon, 28, Sunday in a vacant lot about a block from the police station. Williams first left the scene but then arranged to meet law enforcement officers at the Pomona Park fire station about an hour later. Photo lineups were held Monday. Williams is also charged with possession of a weapon or ammunition by a violent career criminal, possession of a weapon or ammunition by a convicted Florida felon, removing the serial number from a firearm and smuggling contraband into a detention facility.

Crescent City residents had a chance Monday to meet the latest group of candidates for the post of city manager. Finalists Lee Garner, Michael Esposito and John Holman are meeting with commission in one-on-one interviews open to the public today. Garner’s name may be familiar, he was interim city manager of Palatka and on the short list for the permanent job. Last year manager Patrick Kennedy announced he would be leaving.

The St. Augustine roundabout citizens are calling an oval-about won’t be finished until spring, according to the Florida Department of Transportation. The DOT project is supposed to calm traffic at the intersection of May Street and north San Marco Avenue and costs $3.5 million. Still to be completed signalization work, concrete work, final paving and striping. It’s also being checked for potholes after a driver reported damage to his truck after hitting pothole as it entered the roundabout on Dec. 30. DOT says that’s been corrected.

Flagler County Sheriff’s Office has a new head of jail and courthouse security and bailiffs. Daniel M. Engert with three decades as a corrections officer and administrator in New York state was chosen for the $96,231-a-year position. He was just sworn in as a town manager in Somerset and will remain as a consultant for the town during the coming year. He starts in Flagler County Jan. 13.

A drone video captured images of a right whale and her calf off the coast of Flagler Beach Monday morning. Each winter the endangered species turns the coasts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina into a nursery for their calves. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as of Jan. 3 12 whale sightings had been reported. Of those 10 new whales, including two calves, were documented. The pair spotted off Flagler Beach haven’t been identified officially yet.

Expect more paving on Crill Avenue. Monday the Florida Department of Transportation was scheduled to begin a roadway resurfacing project on State Road 20/Crill Avenue from Palm Avenue to Osceola Street. Milling and paving of the roadway plus sidewalk repairs, curb and gutter work and upgrading of traffic signals at Palm Avenue, Westover Drive, Husson Avenue and Moseley Avenue are scheduled. The pedestrian flashing beacon on State Road 20 an 18th Street is also scheduled for updating. Periodic road closures will be from 8 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. Look out for workers.

Persistent by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office and a six-year-old boy paid off on Saturday with the recovery of a Chihuahua named Max. A car crash New Year’s Eve caused the dog to run off from the car. Deputies and the dog’s owner have been returning to the scene each day to put out food and look for the dog. On Saturday deputies found Max at the scene and when the six-year-old showed up, he and Max were happily reunited.
This is Marcia Lane, your roving reporter.