Executive Director Ann B. Shortelle, Ph.D.
St. Johns River Water Management District

Dear Historic City News readers:

April is Water Conservation Month in Florida, an observance intended to heighten public awareness about the variety of ways we all can reduce our water use and preserve this critical resource for future generations of Floridians and visitors. Counties and cities across our 18-county region are adopting Water Conservation Month proclamations to show their commitment to protecting our water resources.

Randy Fine (R) 53 is trying to break the monopoly newspapers have on the lucrative legal notice market.  This is a pet peeve of Historic City News who is not allowed to compete with print newspapers because of an antiquated Florida law.

Lee Geanuleas
St. Augustine, FL

Special to Historic City News

On March 9, 2019 The St Augustine Record published an editorial titled “Tracy is the right person at the right time,” extolling the selection of former Mayor-Commissioner Tracy Upchurch to fill the remainder of Mayor Nancy Shaver’s term.  Mayor Shaver resigned after suffering a stroke on February 25th at the end of an emotional City Commission meeting.

It goes without saying that when The St Augustine Record was owned by Florida Publishing Company, they never got the concept of citizen journalism. But neither did their successor, Morris Communications — well, at least not until October 2, 2017, when they were forced to sell the newspaper. By then, Historic City News, St Augustine and St Johns County’s free press, was already seventeen years old.

Letter: Up-zoning threatens the stability of residential neighborhoods

Melinda Rakoncay
St Augustine, FL

Dear Historic City News:

“Up-zoning” is something that should concern all property owners living in residential neighborhoods. Up-zoning is the practice of rezoning property to a more intensive use than its present zoning.

Letter: PZB to hear requests to Up-Zone the Mission Grounds

William Ferrigno
St Augustine, FL

Dear Historic City News readers:

Our Historic Uptown District on San Marco Avenue is under siege again! The Bishop and the Catholic Diocese are planning to create a Catholic Retreat on the Mission grounds and their property along Ocean Avenue.

Historic City News will have published for 19-years next month (March 18, 2000) and we’d like to have some fun testing our knowledge of local facts.  We invite you to play along and see just how many of our local quizzes you can pass.