Feb. 17 – 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).

Today is Presidents’ Day, which means federal offices, most banks and all schools in Putnam, Flagler and St. Johns counties are closed.  You might want to give a nod of recognition to Abe Lincoln on Feb. 12 and George Washington, the nation’s first president, on Feb. 22, their real birthdays.

Lake George turned out to be the place to be for the winner of the FLW Toyota Series over the weekend. Pro fisherman Trevor Fitzgerald, who grew up near the lake, won top prize with a three-day catch of 57 pounds, 12 ounces of bass. Fitzgerald, out of Belleview, won $38,048. Also making the top 10 pro list was Jason Meninger of St. Augustine who came in at No. 9. Top amateur angler was Edwin Bartlett who brought in 29 pounds 12 ounces over three days. The Casco, Maine, angler, who lives in Florida part of the year, won a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with 115-hp Suzuki outboard worth $33,500.

St. Johns County Animal Control and the Sheriff’s Office are investigating a dog attack in Hastings on Friday. The woman attacked was taken to Orange Park Medical Center with life-threatening injuries after the attack by two Rottweilers that lived about a quarter of a mile from the woman’s home. She was feeding her cats when the Rottweilers attacked. When Fire Rescue and Sheriff’s deputies arrived the dogs began acting aggressively toward them and a deputy fired and shot both dogs. One died, the other was taken to the vet.

Deadline for new registrations and party changes for the Florida Presidential Preference Primary is Tuesday. In Florida the election is open only to registered Republican and Democratic voters to choose their party nominees for president. The Republican field has four candidates, the Democratic ballot 16. Contact the supervisor of elections office in your county for details. The presidential primary is March 17.

Rain cancelled out the Daytona 500 on Sunday, but racers should be back on track and on the track today. You can follow what’s happening on WIYD 1260 AM and WIYD 104.9 FM. Race coverage starts at 4 p.m.

Flagler County School Board is looking for a new superintendent since Jim Tager is leaving because he’s in the state D.R.O.P. program and has reached his time limit. Tager isn’t ready to get out of education however, and on Friday announced he had been chosen to run three small school districts in Vermont. The Franklin West Supervisory Union Board of Directors in northeast Vermont unanimously chose Tager. During his seven years in Flagler he got the district back up to an A grade.

Valentine’s Day always brings some special moments. At the Flagler County Courthouse Friday it brought simultaneous weddings of eight couples and renewal of vows for seven couples. That included Linda and Greg Hansen. Greg is a Flagler County commissioner. They married in Pearl Harbor. Greg was on R&R from duty in Vietnam, Linda was a Pan Am flight attendant.  They’d met while he was in training and she knew it was serious when he left his motorcycle with her when he went to Vietnam. They’ve been married 48 years, according to flaglerlive.com.

This is Marcia Lane, your roving reporter.