When elected officials resign mid-term it is important for voters to find out why

City of St. Augustine Beach public information officer Melinda Conlon reported to Historic City News Monday afternoon that effective January 31st, St. Augustine Beach Commissioner Ernesto Juan Torres-Perez has resigned after a police report alleged that he berated and tried to use his elected position to gain favor with local officers during his wife’s arrest…

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Government

FDOT Northeast Florida Road and Lane Closures Weekly Report

Florida Department of Transportation Community Outreach Specialist Allen Nelson has updated Historic City News with the weekly lane closure report containing information regarding ongoing construction projects and traffic impacts for the coming week.  Our readers and subscribers will be updated every Friday by 5:00 p.m., with some unavoidable exceptions and state holidays.

Community

Beach vacation rental becomes the scene of a believed murder-suicide

Historic City News learned that a vacation rental home outside of St Augustine Beach became a crime scene Saturday night after residents reported hearing gunshots at 5318 A1A South in Anastasia Hills.  Detectives with the St Johns County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the discovery of two Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office deputies found dead inside.

Public Safety

Will fiscal impact statements help businesses hold local government accountable?

In 1973, the Florida Legislature enacted the Municipal Home Rules Power Act, giving cities and counties the power to enact their own laws — unless state law overrides them.  This legislative override, or “preemption”, is either the trampling upon local rights – or – a bulwark against a patchwork of parochial laws, depending on who…

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Government

Lawmakers grapple with the cost of our obsession with privacy

The annual assault on Florida’s popular open government laws continues this legislative session. Even as the public clamors for greater transparency and access to their elected officials and government, our own Representative, Cyndi Stevenson, has added to the problem by introducing a bill that would hide voter registration records from media and members of the…

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Government

Legislature considering a proposal to broaden the use of bed tax funds

Counties across Florida collectively bring in hundreds of millions of dollars a year in hotel bed tax revenue — but the uses for that money are limited.  Historic City News has reported when controversial organizations have used pressure locally to influence who the recipients of that money will be in St Johns County and what…

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Government