2008's Top 10 stories

2008's Top 10 stories

Mistakes, murders, mayhem and mismanaged money -- with one or two bright spots

Staff
Publication Date: 12/27/08


The St. Augustine Record's editors and reporters -- after finishing off the holiday eggnog -- sat down and made a thorough review of all the news stories published in the paper during 2008, compiling our annual list of St. Johns County's top 10 stories of the year.

Generally, news reports are too often stories about unpleasant events, such as crimes, arrests, plane crashes, indictments and missing children. Readers must know these things to understand their community better, but bright spots are too few.

The stories chosen are are not in chronological order. The selection committee believes it is better to list them in order of importance as well as relevance and interest to St. Johns County residents.

Here they are:

1. Economy feels state, national pain

Real estate, home building, manufacturing, automobile sales and tourism -- all backbones of St. Johns County's economy -- were pushed into a steep downward spiral this year. Economists say Florida is one of the national leaders in the number of foreclosed homes. Improvement may not come until 2010. Fewer homes mean fewer construction jobs. That affects materials suppliers, independent contractors and home furnishing, carpet and air conditioning industries. High gas prices early in 2008 slowed tourism a little, but the drop in home values sliced chunks off everyone's largest investment. Economic pressures, plus higher grocery prices, has stressed some families into foreclosure. Two local manufacturers, Luhrs and Ideal, shuttered their factories, and other companies have cut back staff.

2. Schools cut to the bone

After already cutting $13 million from its budget, the St. Johns County School District learned earlier this month that it could face an additional $25 million cut in state funding next year, translating to an additional 12 percent of the district's budget. More teachers, particulary recently hired ones, could lose their jobs, and the county's high schools, now on seven-period schedules, might be cut to six periods next school year.

3. Commissioner indicted

County Commission Chairman Tom Manuel of Ponte Vedra Beach was indicted in September on two federal bribery charges and was suspended by Gov. Charlie Crist on Oct. 17. The FBI said it recorded 42 of Manuel's conversations with two government informants over an 18-month period. The trial is set for April 6 in Jacksonville. Manuel has maintained his innocence since word of the FBI investigation leaked out in June. Last week he filed motions to dismiss his indictment. He remains free on his own recognizance.

4. The Amphitheatre's success

The 3,500-seat St. Augustine Amphitheatre in 2008 played host to major acts, from Good Charlotte and Modest Mouse to ZZ Top and Jordin Sparks. In August, Ticketmaster listed the Amphitheatre in the Top 5 for ticket sales for touring concerts among U.S. venues with less than 5,000 seats. In December, it was named one of five finalists for an annual award given to the country's best outdoor venue seating fewer than 10,000 people, stacking it against amphitheaters in Atlanta and Los Angeles. Also in December, the facility set records for the number of children and adults visiting its Winter Wonderland, which offered a new ice slide to complement its popular skating rink with falling snow.

5. Two high-profile murder cases

Mark Dean Aldridge, an inmate from Mississippi State Prison at Parchman Farm, pleaded guilty this month to killing a St. Augustine gas station clerk in 2001. Aldridge was sentenced Dec. 12 to life for the death of Eva Lewis. That sentence is to be served after he completes a 150-year term in Mississippi for rape, armed robbery and burglary.

In another high-profile murder case, Benjamin Colenn Lightsey, 30, of St. Augustine, was charged with first-degree murder in the Nov. 9 death of his wife, Melissa Lee Lightsey, 36, whose body was found in the St. Augustine Inlet. A medical examiner ruled she died from trauma to the head, neck and face and classified the case as a homicide. Lightsey is the son of Glenn Lightsey, who served as a deputy, detective and sergeant for more than 12 years with the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office.

6. San Sebastian project in foreclosure

In late November, The Devlin Group, owner of the 13-acre San Sebastian Harbor Resort project, went into foreclosure with Wachovia Bank, owing $22 million. The project had been projected to eventually reach $200 million in value and result in city taxes of up to $900,000 per year. The Devlin Group planned to build a Westin hotel at King Street and the San Sebastian River. A marina has already been dredged at that location. Downtown merchants and city commissioners had believed the upscale project would bring needed parking to that area of King Street. A project to repave and repair utilities along Riberia Street was awaiting the project's completion. Company CEO Wally Devlin said he still has plans for the project and will legally battle Wachovia.

7. State fines the city over dumping, pipeline

St. Augustine ran into trouble with the Department of Environmental Protection twice this year. The first time was for illegally dumping landfill material into a water-filled borrow pit. The second was for not maintaining a leaky pipeline behind its Waste Water Treatment Plant in sensitive marshland. The city was fined $40,000 for the dumping. DEP requested the material be removed. The city arranged to have the contaminated topsoil taken to a landfill in Nassau County. DEP also fined the city $30,000 for the pipeline. Instead of paying the fine, the city agreed to do an in-kind environmental project and will install a new pipeline in January.

8. New county digs, new commissioners

The St. Johns County Commission and other administrative departments moved into the new $16 million County Administrative Building in September. The commission had to move from its previous building because the Criminal Justice Center needed to expand into that space. The Administration Building's project manager said the two-story structure would last 100 years. In addition to the commission's new home, the composition of the board changed. Two new commissioners, Mark Miner and Ken Bryan, were elected in November. A third, Phillip Mays, was appointed Dec. 23 by Gov. Charlie Crist to replace suspended Commissioner Tom Manuel. The commission's first official meeting is set for Jan. 6.

9. Battling State Attorneys

A 17-month battle between dueling state attorneys ended in November when the 5th District Court of Appeal kept the seal on a grand jury document that presumably criticized one of the prosecutors. State Attorney John Tanner of Daytona Beach spent more than $600,000 to block publication of a presentment issued by a Duval County grand jury under the guidance of Jacksonville State Attorney Harry Shorstein. The root of the dispute between the two went back to Tanner's investigation of alleged abuse at Flagler County jail shortly after one of his daughters was strapped into a restraint chair following a misdemeanor arrest in 2005. The presentment remains sealed. Both Tanner and Shorstein are now out of office.

10. New Veterans Administration nursing home

Construction on the $30 million, 120-bed Clyde E. Lassen Veterans Nursing Home -- planned since 2005 to serve St. Johns County's 17,500 veterans -- began on 15.3 acres off State Road 16 at World Commerce Center this year. It will be the first nursing home in Florida to be built using "green" techniques. The cost of the facility was split between the Florida Department of Veterans' Affairs and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. U.S. Rep. John Mica, R,Winter Park, helped secure the federal funding. Sixty of the home's 120 beds will be devoted to patients suffering from dementia-related illnesses. When completed late in 2009, it will employ 140 people.



Many news stories published in 2008 had to be left off the Top 10 list.

The story of the Conch House Resort & Marina's expansion plans and the resulting legal battle among the St. Augustine City Commission, the resort's developers, planners and attorneys, the Davis Shores neighborhood and a federal bankruptcy court will no doubt be a Top 10 story for 2009.

Others not chosen include the Vilano Beach Town Center; the Tourist Development Council's funding; a West Augustine medical clinic opening; Northrop-Grumman's multi-million dollar contract to build naval aircraft; voter defeat of the St. Johns County Charter and one-cent sales tax referendums; preparations for St. Augustine's 450th birthday in 2015; the Legislature's property tax reform and its effect on St. Johns County's budget and services; approval of Hydro Aluminum's expansion; and the University of Florida assuming control of St. Augustine's 34 historic properties.


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