This Week in History 10/18/18

5 years ago, 2013
A five-day sting investigation by Clay County Sheriff’s deputies and other partner law enforcement agencies netted the arrests of 17 men for sex-related charges.

Claiming the Clay County School District reneged on a contract it entered into a year ago, kitchen equipment supplier, Mobile, Ala.-based Mobile Fixture and Equipment Co. Inc., filed sued in federal court seeking “damages in excess of $75,000.”

In the aftermath of speeding up the retirement of Town Manager Cindy Hall, Orange Park Town Council selected former Town Manager John Bowles, who left the job in 2010, from among three potential candidates for the role while a permanent search was underway.

10 years ago, 2008
Green Cove Springs City Council member Bob Page asked the city attorney to review all
City Council members’ residency at its next meeting and to get each council member to provide
a statement verifying their legal residency requirement to serve.

The anti-vaxxer reality hit locally as the Clay County Health Department issued a child vaccination warning regarding pertussis, or whooping cough, after four cases of the
highly-contagious disease were found in local children.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals complained to the USDA that Clay County Animal Control violated federal regulations prohibiting animal experimentation when officer Bill Wilson left a rottweiler to die unattended for an hour in the hot enclosed carrier of his transport truck. Wilson’s boss, Bill Bodenweber, defended Wilson by saying Wilson was
conducting an experiment and not being negligent.

20 years ago, 1998
Former Clay County Auditor and Clerk of Court John Keene offered the county commission’s $41,754 offer to settle a lawsuit if he agreed to drop a related suit dating back to 1993.

A four-hour standoff with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office ended up with officers wounding 52-year-old Tyrone Brazell of Green Cove Springs after he holed up in his home and threatened to shoot anyone who entered his property.

Brian O’Leary, a St. Johns Country Day School student, won first place in the decorative stitching category for his needlepoint project in the competition held at the National Latin Convention.

30 Years ago, 1988
The Board of County Commissioners directed Acting County Administrator Robert Taylor to contact the secretary of the Florida Department of Community Affairs to assist with funding to alleviate growth management.

The county prepared for the Historic Ham Jam set for Oct. 21 in Middleburg.

County officials, such as Tax Collector Ruth Lee and Extension Director Jesse Goidbold, donned period costumes to celebrate Old Time Day in Green Cove Springs.

40 years ago, 1978
Former Orange Park Fire Chief Bailey M. Theus III pleaded guilty to two counts of misappropriation of public funds after a grand jury indicted him of six counts earlier that year.

The Clay County Development Authority went to lobby legislators in Tallahassee about speeding up the multi-laning of Blanding Boulevard.

Jacksonville City Council President Jake Godbold was set to address the monthly meeting of the Clay County Chamber of Commerce.