5 years ago, 2012
The Clay County Transit Authority joined ranks with the Jacksonville Transportation Authority to announce plans to build a Park-N-Ride on County Road 220 at Sleepy Hollow Road to offer commuters a transportation alternative to driving to work.

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office investigated a scheme involving placing drugs on greeting card stamps to get the drugs to inmates in the county jail.

Christopher J. Creswell, associate director of bands at Fleming Island High, was selected to become Jacksonville University’s first ever marching band director after a national search involving 50 candidates.

10 years ago, 2007
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office seized 50 electronic slot machines from Lucky Joes at 920-7 Blanding Blvd. near Orange Park and shut down the illegal gambling operation.

The Clay County School Board considered names for its two newest schools that were set to open in August 2008. Names were needed for Elementary School “W” in the Oakleaf area and Elementary School “X” in Lake Asbury.

Quigley House was awarded the 2007 Reinhold Community Service Award and its accompanying $10,000 award for “setting a standard of excellence for combatting domestic violence and sexual assault.”

20 years ago, 1997
Pat Sickles, a nursing supervisor at Vencor Hospital in Green Cove Springs, announced she was weeks away from opening the River Park Inn as the city’s first bed and breakfast inn.

Green Cove Springs Fire Chief Richard Knopf relieved Tony Lee Sweat of his firefighter duties after he was charged with sexual battery on a 15-year-old girl.

It took the Orange Park Fire Department, and other are fire departments that joined in to help, six hours to extinguish a fire at the Cedarwood Center at 1414 Kingsley Ave. where every occupants’ businesses were completely destroyed.

30 years ago, 1987
Court officials blamed state sentencing guidelines for a three-year probation sentence given to Joseph Roberts for the rape and assault of a 15-year-old girl when he could have been handed a 15-year sentence.

Orange Park Town Council passed an ordinance that would allow the town to pay future retirees for unused comp time.

Orange Park family therapist Hartwell T. Wilson was convicted of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old male patient.

40 years ago, 1977
Orange Park Town Manager Richard Fellows negotiated with tax-exempt Moosehaven to have the retirement center donate $5,000 to the town yearly. With its property valued at $4.74 million, Moosehaven could otherwise pay an estimated $16,122 in property taxes.

The Clay Board of Commissioners and Orange Park Town Council voted to jointly purchase a 36-acre tract of land on Moody Avenue in hopes of building a park.

Early morning fog was blamed for an 18-vehicle chain reaction crash on U.S. 17 on Fleming Island that injured six – with one hospitalized – and caused $20,000 in damages to vehicles, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.