5 years ago in Clay Today:

• The parking lot at bestbet is empty. Playing cards have been put away and the clacking sounds of poker chips has been silenced by COVID-19 restrictions. Although deemed “essential” by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the doors at most churches in the county also are closed because the same rules limit attendance to just a handful of worshipers.
• Although his name remained on the ballot for weeks following his appointment as the new Superintendent of Schools in Hillsborough County, Addison Davis is not running for a second term in Clay County.
• Along with suspending utility disconnections until April 30, City of Green Cove Springs recently added two new measures to support its utility customers impacted by COVID-19.
• A Clay County man is spending up to $1,000 a day to buy 100 meals from different local restaurants to support their business and to feed 100 employees of a local hospital.

 10 years ago:

• Five-hundred white balloons, symbolizing millions who died in the Holocaust and World War II, floated into the night as a mist fell from the sky, covering them with a wet haze, like the cheeks of the crowd below. About 500 area residents turned out April 16 for Oakleaf High School’s “Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day.”

• With their fur raised over a proposed town ordinance to ban feeding feral cats on non-residential property, feline friends protested in front of town hall April 21 and spoke during public comments. Bill Clark of Orange Park, a self-identified cat activist, said his community of feline friends are calling this the “cat starvation law.”
• With four confirmed cases of measles between Indian River and St. Lucie counties, Florida health officials are urging caution and reiterating the need for childhood vaccinations.
• Cheers emanated from a classroom at W.E. Cherry Elementary School last week as students learned that one of their classmates’ artwork was selected to spread the word about spaying and neutering. The artwork of Kelsey Bailes, 11, of Orange Park, will be placed on a digital Clear Channel billboard.