Feb. 3 – 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 is going to the bass this week as major league anglers head into town for the 2020 AFTCO Bassmaster Elite. Some fishermen were on the St. Johns River this weekend, practicing for the event. Expect Palatka’s riverfront park to be filled with trucks and displays as vendors arrive for the event that starts Thursday. Weather is expected to be unpredictable which translates to expect a little bit of everything.

Two Good Samaritans are credited with saving the life of a driver trapped in a burning truck in Flagler County on Friday. Flagler County Sheriff’s Office says a pick-up truck towing a trailer with a Bobcat excavator was traveling at a high rate of speed when the driver lost control, struck a box truck and then crashed into a concrete wall at Marina Cove before catching fire. Two witnesses put out the fire at the crash scene near Palm Harbor Parkway and Club House Road. Palm Coast Fire Department used Jaws of Life to extract the driver, who was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

Some Putnam County residents could qualify for free sanitary sewer improvements if they’re in the areas of Horse Landing/Dunns Creek and Elsie Drive/Pico Road. A special meeting tonight from 5 to 7 p.m. at Putnam County Agriculture Extension Office will provide information on the possible grant opportunity with St. Johns River Water Management District. Putnam County Board of Commissioners has been exploring the option that would allow individuals to receive up to $12,500 worth of sanitary sewer improvements at no cost. Some commissioners may be at the meeting.

St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a Jacksonville man accused of stealing money and firearms several times in June of last year from a self-storage facility on Palm Valley Road. The Sheriff’s Office says videos show Alan Lawson, 37, entering units at Atlantic Self Storage. They say he picked locks and used bolt cutters and an ax during break-ins. Among items taken: guns in a safe, about $200 from a lock box, a compound bow and accessories valued at $1,200, a generator and a t-shirt for Atlantic Storage. He was jailed on a variety of charges with bond set at $132,000.

Authorities say three people were injured Saturday in a head-on collision in Satsuma. The accident happened in the early evening in front of Me-Ma’s Restaurant on U.S. 17 South. A medical helicopter was requested. Details including names are pending.

A member of the Flagler County School Board has submitted her application to be the next appointed school superintendent. Colleen Conklin, who’s been on the board 20 years, put in her name as the deadline neared Friday. Conklin has been a popular school board member easily winning re-election. Also in the latest list of applicants is Matanzas High School principal Jeff Reaves. Current superintendent James Tager announced his intentions of retiring in June since he is enrolled in the state’s DROP program and his deadline is coming up.

A traffic accident Friday at Crill and Palm avenues backed up traffic in Palatka. It was apparently a case of drivers taking their eyes off the road as a woman reportedly ran down the street naked. She then climbed into a dumpster by a shopping center and refused to come out when authorities arrived. Reportedly she had to be sedated before officers could get her out and take her to the hospital.

If you’ve been thinking about adopting a dog, now’s the time. Putnam County Animal Shelter officials say overcrowding has them looking at the possibility of having to put down some of the dogs. That would be the first time since 2015. On Saturday, workers were in Mandarin at an adoption event. Dogs can be seen at the shelter off U.S. 17 in Palatka. The county has the land for a new facility and some money has been set aside.

This is Marcia Lane, your roving reporter.