Booze Ban Lifted Clay County residents can now buy alcohol on Sunday mornings in the county’s unincorporated areas. Voters repealed the ban during the Nov. 6 election. Bars, restaurants, golf courses, convenience stores and grocers had fought the law, which had prohibited sales until 2 p.m. on Sundays. The Clay County Chamber of Commerce had sought removal of the prohibition, saying it was costing local businesses.
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The reason for not touring given by Grammy-winning duo The Civil Wars sounds like a divorce instead of problems in a singing group. The group has canceled all its upcoming tour dates, including a show at The Florida Theater Jan. 9. The duo, Joy Williams and John Paul White, released a statement Nov. 6, explaining that they were canceling performances because of “internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition.” Earlier this year, The Civil Wars bowed out of some stops on a European tour.
Just a Few Dollars More With just a few days remaining on a goal to reach $20,000, Al Letson has raised more than $15,534 from 286 backers for his radio show “State of the Re:Union.” Letson’s NPR show visits dreamers and doers in cities and towns across America. “The Kickstarter campaign has been steady and I’m confident we will cross the finish line. I’m sure of this because, as always, Jacksonville has stepped up and wrapped its arms around me and this project. I am extremely grateful,” Letson said. The fundraising push ends Nov. 15. So far this year, the show has completed 10 episodes, traveling coast-to-coast. The three additional episodes, to be released by year’s end, will focus primarily on education and the military.
Turtles Toddle Off Two juvenile green sea turtles, Pod and Simpson, have been released into the ocean at Anastasia State Park. Pod, underweight, suffering from mild anemia and missing a right front flipper, washed up on the jetty behind the park on June 24. Simpson was found in a small tidal creek and rescued by staff from the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. Local sea turtle conservation group Eastman Environmental and Anastasia State Park personnel released Pod and Simpson Nov. 1.
10 | FOLIOWEEKLY.com | NOVEMBER 13-19, 2012
be erected, and existing ones could not be replaced or repaired. In the 2004 ordinance, commissioners determined “that billboards detract from the natural and manmade beauty of the county.” In addition, it found “that billboards attract attention of drivers passing by the billboards, thereby adversely affecting traffic safety and constituting a public nuisance and a noxious use of the land on which billboards are erected.” Now Clay County seems to be changing its tune as the commissioners who approved the 2004 ordinance have left office. The commissioners are working on two billboard laws. One is a six-page ordinance written by the county, and the other is an 18-page proposal written by Clear Channel. The proposed county ordinance says, “The County Commission finds that its signage regulations unduly restrict the ability of outdoor advertising companies to operate their businesses in the County.” The ordinance also states “the Board finds and determines that this amendment is not in conflict with the public interest.” Lisa Hall, a spokesperson for the Florida Outdoor Advertising Association, said that the current attrition rate for billboards is less than 3 percent a year. “It doesn’t result in an appreciable reduction in the number of billboards in the foreseeable future,” she said of Clay’s current law. The proposal before the commissioners is for a swap-down plan, where two to three static billboards are swapped for one digital billboard. That would allow the county to reduce the number of billboards in a shorter timeframe, she said. About 50 billboards dot the landscape along Blanding Boulevard near Orange Park Mall, a few more are along the road toward Kingsley Avenue and some pop up in other areas of the county. Some of the billboards are static, while others change their messages by using flipping triple panels — but they are not digital. They advertise Planet Fitness, Orange Park Medical Center, Hooters, Infiniti cars, and doctors and lawyers.
If the change is approved, billboard companies will be able to place shiny new digital signs with thousands and thousands of brightly colored light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The signs can be changed every few seconds, increasing the opportunity for sign companies to sell more advertising. Under the county proposal, each billboard face must be no greater than 675 square feet, and for each digital billboard installed, the billboard company must remove two to three times in standard billboard signage, depending on the number of billboards it owns in the county. The proposal calls for no billboards to be more than 50 feet in height and requires them to use dimming technology that adjusts the brightness of the sign based on ambient conditions. The signs are designed to make people read them. “Taking one’s eyes off the road for more than two seconds is considered to be dangerous, and billboards need five seconds of viewing to be effective,” Brinton said. Jerry Wachtel, a nationally known traffic safety expert who has consulted with both industry and government, said there is “growing evidence that billboards can attract and hold a driver’s attention for the extended periods of time that we now know to be unsafe.” “The bottom line, in my opinion: These digital billboards can be operated in a way not to be a threat to safety, but the outdoor industry is not willing to operate them that way,” said Wachtel, president of The Veridian Group Inc. in Berkeley, Calif. Longtime Clay County resident Bill Garrison of Clay Hill believes the county will approve the electronic billboards, which will result in the reduction in the total number of billboards in the county. “If we can make Clay look better, I’m all for it,” he said. “Too many billboards can be a distraction. They don’t help the appearance of a community.”
Bouquets to Carter G. Woodson Elementary School Principal Cheryl Quarles-Gaston for being named one of three statewide winners of the Leonard Miller Principal Leadership Award in 2012. She will receive the award on Nov. 14 at the University of Miami’s 10th anniversary celebration. She and two other principals will each receive $10,000. Quarles-Gaston is being honored for raising student achievement, empowering staff and building partnerships that support school improvement goals. Bouquets to Susan Conner of the Children’s Museum of St. Johns for raising $700,000 to buy a historic building in St. Augustine to house the museum. Conner told the St. Johns County School Board on Nov. 6 that the museum was about halfway to its fundraising goal of $1.5 million; she hopes to open next summer in the Dow Museum of Historic Homes. The initial fundraising dollars will be used to buy the property and another $4 million will be sought for future expenses, she told The Florida Times-Union. Brickbats to Jacksonville City Council President Bill Bishop for seeking $160,000 to hire a lobbyist who will report to the Council. We aren’t saying that Jacksonville might not need another lobbyist, but $160,000 is a lot of money for a city budget barely squeaking by, especially because the city already has a $101,500 lobbyist who reports to the mayor. Maybe the mayor and City Council should work together on how much lobbying power the city really needs.
Ron Word rword@folioweekly.com