AmeliaHart's blog

The Nassau County Sheriff's Office reported today that deputies seized 737.9 pounds of marijuana July 10 during a traffic stop at the southbound agricultural inspection station on Interstate 95.

Deputies responded to assist inspection station officers who pulled over a 2007 Ford van for failing to stop at the station, according to a press release today.

After being given consent to search the van's load of boxes, searchers found the marijuana.

Noemi Romero of Fayetteville, N.C., was booked into the Nassau County Jail on a charge of trafficking more than 25 pounds of marijuana. Bond was set at $100,000.

Kathy Warner/Special -- Fourth- and fifth-graders in the Emma Love Hardee Elementary School gifted program examine a caterpillar on the Satsuma tree in the Demonstration Garden at the James S. Page Governmental Complex in Yulee in May.

Nassau County Extension Service’s demonstration garden at the James S. Page Governmental Complex in Yulee is earning national praise.

The National Association of Counties has awarded the garden a 2008 Achievement Award, according to a press release Friday from County Coordinator Edward Sealover.

A horse in Nassau County has tested positive for Eastern Equine Enchephalitis.

The virus, which is transmitted by bites from infected mosquitoes, primarily affects horses, but humans can become infected.

So far this year, there have been no reports of any Nassau County residents with mosquito-borne diseases, the county Health Department said in a press release this afternoon.

The Health Department officials reminds horse owners to ask their veterinarians about vaccines to protect their animals against EEE and West Nile Virus infections.

They also urge residents to protect themselves from mosquito bites:

by AMELIA A. HART

amelia.hart@mynassausun.com

As of Nov. 20 — the day of the American Cancer Society’s annual Great American Smokeout — Baptist Medical Center Nassau’s campus on 18th Street in Fernandina Beach will be totally tobacco-free.

The hospital is part of a coalition of Jacksonville hospitals that pledged today to eliminate tobacco use on their campuses.

Smoking has been prohibited inside Baptist Nassau for many years, but people could still smoke outside.

Beginning Nov. 20, tobacco use will be prohibited on all hospital property including the pond and picnic area at Auxiliary Park, building entries, walkways and parking lots.

by AMELIA A. HART

amelia.hart@mynassausun.com

The Nassau County School District has once again received an “A” from the Florida Department of Education.

Ten of the district’s 12 schools received A grades on school accountability reports released this morning by the department, including Fernandina Beach High and Hilliard Middle-Senior High which both received Bs last year.

West Nassau High School rebounded from last year’s D grade to earn a B grade for the 2007-08 school year.

In its second year, Yulee High School slipped from a C to a D.

by AMELIA A. HART

amelia.hart@mynassausun.com

Danny Leeper tendered his resignation as Fernandina Beach fire chief at 4:45 p.m. today, meeting a deadline set by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.

The office ruled June 20 that Leeper’s run for the Nassau County Commission put him in violation of the federal Hatch Act, which restricts partisan political activity by government workers whose jobs involve programs funded by the federal government, and gave him until today to end his candidacy or resign his job.

"I choose not to disregard the opinion or disregard the law. I don't want to be in violation of the law. I'll just find another way to change the law,” Leeper said this afternoon.

The office found Leeper in violation because he is listed as a contact person on a grant application to the Department of Homeland Security for a pair of night-vision goggles and because he supervises the applicant, then Deputy Fire Chief Jeffrey Bunch.

The grant was awarded in December, but the goggles have not yet been delivered, so the grant is still considered open.

by AMELIA A. HART

amelia.hart@mynassausun.com

FERNANDINA BEACH -- City commissioners declined tonight to either reject or alter a federal grant for night-vision goggles that is forcing Fire Chief Danny Leeper to resign his job next week or give up his run for the Nassau County Commission.

Commissioner Ron Sapp asked fellow commissioners to reject the goggles as a way to help an "exemplary" city employee leave the employ of the city with "honor."

When no commissioners seconded that motion, Sapp made another asking the city contact the federal government to switch the contact name on the grant application from Leeper to Police Chief Jim Hurley.

By AMELIA A. HART
amelia.hart@mynassausun.com

Amelia Island will host its first triathlon — the Atlantic Coast Triathlon at Amelia Island — on Saturday, Oct. 4., the Amelia Island-Fernandina Beach-Yulee Chamber of Commerce announced today.

The event, sponsored by Gatorade, Open Road Bicycles and Hammer Nutrition, will feature a 1.2-mile swim at Main Beach, a 56-mile cycle along the coast and through the island interior and a 13.1-mile out-and-back run through Fort Clinch State Park.

The event will have a field of 800 participants for the Long Course event and 200 for the Olympic-distance “Ameliaman.”

by AMELIA A. HART

amelia.hart@mynassausun.com 

Lightning ignited three more wildfires yesterday in Nassau County, including a 25-acre fire in the Mizell Tract.

Firefighters also responded to a 3-acre “Hart Fire” off Kolars Ferry Road and the 1-acre “Yulee Powerline” fire at Interstate 95 and Florida A1A, the Division of Forestry reported today.

No structures were damaged and no injuries were reported.

The new blazes join three other active wildfires in Nassau, including the 105-acre Tiger Point fire which was started by lightning June 16.

By AMELIA A. HART
amelia.hart@mynassausun.com

A pair of night-vision goggles means Fernandina Beach Fire Chief Danny Leeper is now facing a July 7 deadline to either end his bid for the Nassau County Commission or step down as chief.

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel ruled June 20 that Leeper is in violation of the federal Hatch Act because he is listed as a contact person on a 2007 grant application to the Department of Homeland Security for a night-vision kit and because he supervises the applicant, Deputy Chief Jeff Bunch.

The city was awarded the grant in December, but hasn’t yet gotten the goggles.