Regional

Ocean Highway and Port Authority

Tonnage up; port leaders balk at hiring new director

News Staff
Friday, May 14, 2021
At a meeting in which Worldwide Terminals Fernandina reported its best tonnage numbers since taking helm of the Port of Fernandina, Ocean Highway and Port Authority Commissioner Miriam Hill said she wants commissioners to move forward with hiring a port director, a position currently held by...
Jay Robertson stands at the Dee Dee Bartels Public Boat Ramp in Fernandina Beach. Robertson is Nassau County’s new Parks and Recreation Department director.

HOME SWEET HOME

News Staff
Friday, May 14, 2021
The Nassau County Parks and Recreation Department added a recreation director role in March – to meet the demands of a growing community.  Jay Robertson was hired in March as the first recreation director in Nassau County, with a starting salary of $81,270.49. He said the position was...
St. Marys Riverkeeper Anna Laws stands in front of an array of crab traps filled with oyster shells. Eventually, oysters will grow over the whole structure, creating a reef, like the older ones seen behind her. 

LIVING SHORELINE

News Staff
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
As the tide crept higher and higher, undergraduate students from the University of North Florida’s Coastal and Marine Biology Program hustled to install crab trap structures along the mud-slick shoreline.  The students joined forces early May 1 with...
Fernandina Beach commissioners voted 4-1 last week for the city to continue to manage and operate the Fernandina Beach Golf Club.

City to keep managing Fernandina Beach Golf Course

News Staff
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
The city-owned Fernandina Beach Golf Club will be run with city staff for at least another year, after the City Commission decided not to release a Request For Proposals to manage the course. At the May 4 City Commission meeting, a request for proposals was up for approval for a company to manage...
Baptist Medical Center Nassau earns Chartis Center for Rural Health honor.

Baptist Medical Center Nassau named top community hospital in Florida

News Staff
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
Baptist Medical Center Nassau was the only community hospital in Florida to be named to the Chartis Center for Rural Health’s annual list of the top 100 rural and community hospitals in the U.S. “This is a great honor – one I owe to our team members and physicians who have continued to...
Okan Kizilbayir

The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island appoints new culinary leader

News Staff
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island has appointed Okan Kizilbayir as Chef d’ Cuisine at AAA Five-Diamond Salt restaurant.  Kizilbayir previously served as sous chef at Le Bernardin, the 3-Michelin Star fine-dining seafood restaurant led by Eric Ripert in Manhattan. Prior to Le Bernardin, he...
Nassau County Assistant County Manager Marshall Eyerman discusses his new role in the community.

New assistant county manager learning community

News Staff
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
The new Nassau County assistant county manager, Marshall Eyerman, sat at his spacious desk at the James S. Page Governmental Complex to discuss his career and entrance into Nassau County.  His office is devoid of mess and clutter, a representation of his goal to focus on the community’s...
Chris Ragucci

New York lawsuit says port operator/director Ragucci stole port project

News Staff
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
Worldwide Terminals Fernandina CEO Chris Ragucci is being sued by a former employer who claims Ragucci’s takeover of Nassau Terminals to operate the Port of Fernandina is “brazen theft” when he obtained a loan and bought the business out from under his employer, according to a lawsuit filed in...
Members of the Elm Street Sportsman Association unveil a bench dedicated to Willie Mae Hardy Ashley at the Peck Center. Ashley taught in Nassau County Schools for 35 years, including then-segregated Peck High School.

NOTABLE BENCHMARK

News Staff
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
The Elm Street Sportsman Association dedicated a plaque to a local legend – Willie Mae Hardy Ashley – at the Peck Center on Saturday. Ashley was a well-known teacher, who after graduating from Peck High School in 1940, went to Bethune-Cookman College, teaching in Chester, Yulee, and...
Kathy Burns

First Amendment group retracts allegation

News Staff
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
The First Amendment Foundation retracted its allegation the Nassau County School Board and its superintendent violated state Sunshine Laws, according to a news release distributed May 7. “Upon further review and discussion with experts, the First Amendment Foundation has concluded that neither...