5 Years Ago, 2011
The Board of County Commissioners restored $1.3 million of the $2.5 million in county budget funds the board has previously diverted from the Clay County Sheriff’s Office budget after cutting it two weeks prior.

Nancy Mills, administrator of the Clay County Health Department, said a Clay County man was the county’s first case of West Nile virus was its first since 2009.

Former Berean Baptist Church Associate Pastor Gregory Neal held a press conference saying he was innocent of allegations of video voyeurism involving a hidden camera that filmed women changing clothes in the church.

10 Years Ago, 2006
About 30 residents spoke against the Board of County Commissioners assessing an annual $110 universal solid waste collection fee, which, as presented, would rise to $164 a year each year after approval.

The Victims Service Center opened at Idlewild Avenue and State Road 16 in Green Cove Springs eliminating Clay County victims from having to drive to Jacksonville for assistance.

County commissioner George Bush said he wanted to rescind a vote taken earlier in 2006 to support construction of the First Coast Outer Beltway after the Florida Department of Transportation announced plans to remove a portion of the Shands Bridge on State Road 16 and replace it with a toll booth.

20 Years Ago, 1996
Clay County’s Black Creek rose above flooding level during Tropical Storm Josephine. The rain flooded residents’ cars on Wisteria Lane in Middleburg.

Six years after halting the Cross Florida Barge Canal Project, Clay County received a check for $11 million in ad valorem taxes the county paid into the project since its inception in 1930.

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office arrested Carl Amos Gibbons of Orange Park for two counts of attempted murder for allegedly trying to kill his parents, Denver Gibbons and Lisa Gibbons.

30 Years Ago, 1986
Car dealers along the corridor known as “Little Detroit” in Green Cove Springs experienced a rash of at least five car thefts. Police said the thefts involved new and used cars.

Green Cove Springs City Council rejected a request from Clay Memorial Hospital to establish a mobile health unit on grounds it would violate the city’s mobile home ordinance.

Orange Park Town Council contracted with Kohler Engineering Group to oversee water and sewer and drainage and road repairs on Miller Street near 14 homes considered sub-standard.

40 Years Ago, 1976
The Board of County Commissioners announced it wanted to hire a county planner to marshal the new state requirement of devising a Comprehensive Plan for Growth Management. The position was to pay between $13,200 and $17,580.

The Clay County Transit Authority announced it would lower commuter fares from 75-cents to 50-cents for the Orange Park Flyer, which was launched in recent weeks in collaboration with the Jacksonville Transportation Authority.

The Clay County School District braced for an inspection of its transportation department in the wake of student population growth. Officials wanted to study how the district had handled busing more than 9,000 students that year, up from transporting just 3,000 students in 1971.