Five years ago, 2019

• A Middleburg woman drove more than 26,000 miles in a brown Kia Soul, searching for a kidney match for her son. Randy Sheppard, her son, was diagnosed with renal failure in 2010. 
  
• During a lawsuit between the Clay County Board of County Commissioners and the School Board, the judge sided with the BCC. The school board wanted a special election for a half-cent sales tax. The BCC, instead, wanted it held during the 2020 general election. 
• The Jacksonville Transportation Authority opened the Magenta Line, connecting Keystone Heights to Gainesville. The route is still in operation today and used primarily by residents to visit UF Health Shands Hospital or Malcolm Randall VA Medical Center. 

10 years ago, 2014

• Deputy Charlie Welch returned to work at the Clay County Sheriff's Office, even though an internal investigation led by Lt. Kenneth Wagner claimed Welch violated the law enforcement agency’s policy by complaining about State Attorney Angela Corey to Gov. Rick Scott. 
  
• During a lawsuit between the Clay County Board of County Commissioners and the School Board, the judge sided with the school board. The BCC wanted to delay putting a referendum on the ballot until 2016. The school board, instead, wanted to put the following referendum on the ballot in 2014:  whether the school superintendent should be appointed or elected.
• The Clay County Animal Care and Control found homes for 1,133 dogs and cats in the three-month Rachael Ray $100,000 Challenge.

20 years ago, 2004

• The Clay County Sheriff’s Office arrested Gary Barnard McCray II and charged him with four counts of murder in the first degree in what police said was a drug-related shootout in the 1000 block of Blanding Boulevard. Sheriff Scott Lancaster called it Clay County’s first mass murder.
• A Tynes Elementary School teacher was arrested on child pornography charges after a federal investigation. John McIntyre was arrested after trading child pornography online with an undercover FBI agent.
• • St. Johns River Community College celebrated its first class of registered nursing students graduating from its Orange Park campus.
  

30 years ago, 1994

• Donna Ringoringo of Houston, Texas, ended a 15-day hunger strike in front of the Clay County Courthouse after Judge William A. Wilkes placed six-year-old Rodger Whittington in the custody of his father, Billy Whittington. She was protesting the child being placed with his mother.
• Keystone Heights High was one of 66 Florida high schools to receive a $10,000 grant from the Florida Department of Education to increase the number of college-ready graduates.
• The Clay County School Board voted unanimously to allow voters to determine whether the school district's superintendent would be appointed or elected. Board members said there appeared to be no reason why the BCC would not place the item on the November ballot.
  

40 years ago, 1984

• Orange Park Town Council members discussed suing Clay County Board of County Commissioners, saying the $73,800 the county planned to distribute to the town from gas tax proceeds simply was not enough.
• The Clay County Sheriff’s Office investigated a robbery at Agape Christian Book Store involving two teens the store clerk said entered, punched her in the stomach and escaped on dirt bikes.
• U.S. Rep. Connie Mack of Sarasota came to Orange Park to help celebrate the official opening of the Clay County Republican Party headquarters
  

50 years ago, 1974

• Green Cove Springs City Council members discussed finding “a more suitable location” for the city’s police department, saying the city spends $2,400 a month “to keep the present structure stable.
• Orange Park Town Council members announced the town’s new Charter Review Commission would soon begin meeting. Members were to draft a new charter that laid out a council-manager form of government.
• Norma R. Coyle, Ph.D., was named director of the nursing service at Greater Orange Park Community Hospital.