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CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK P I A ‘Forgotten Historic N G S E war’ pub crawl I PAGE 1B 2 PAGE 4A D E 75¢ FRIDAY, July 24, 2009 /20 PAGES, 2 SECTIONS • fbnewsleader.com Bear roams DEAN FINNEY/FOR THE NEWS-LEADER island MICHAEL PARNELL News-Leader County park now a reality A bear crossed the parking lot of Comfort Suites, 2801 Atlantic Ave., Thursday morning. Dean Finney of RYAN SMITH Kingsport, Tenn., said two women News-Leader were loading luggage into their car when they came into the hotel lobby A ceremony Wednesday celebrated screaming, “Bear! Bear!” the opening of the Goffinsville/Nassau Finney took a photograph (above River Regional Park. The park features left), and off the bear lumbered. a boat ramp, a fishing pier, nature walk The black bear was sighted numer- and a children’s play area. ous times this week on Amelia Island. Construction on the park began in The Florida Fish and Wildlife September, on acreage purchased by Conservation Commission urged the the county with the help of the Trust public to avoid contact, and said oth- for Public Land. However, the park erwise the bear posed no threat. had been on the drawing board much The bear was seen at Fort Clinch, longer than that, Nassau County Amelia City, Osprey Village, Burney Commission Chairman Barry Park, Summer Beach, Ocean Village Holloway told ceremony attendees. and Fort Clinch again. It was at “This is something we can be proud Summer Beach 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, of in our county,” he said. “This has near the Atlantic Avenue Recreation been the work of many, many years. I Center at 7:30 a.m. Thursday. know the first grant was applied for “We put public safety first and the way back in 1993.” bear second,” said state wildlife biol- The park was built on the site of ogist Rebecca Shelton. “(But) It has the East Coast’s first oyster canning shown no signs of nuisance or aggres- plant, built some time after the Civil sion. ... We have a very gentle, curious, War. In 1893, a Russian immigrant tender black bear here.” named Saul Goffin purchased the plant. PHOTOS BY RYAN SMITH/NEWS-LEADER The land remained in his family until Noah Wilder, 4, above, tests the slide at the opening of the Goffinsville/Nassau River Regional Park BEAR Continued on 3A his granddaughters, Doris Mellion, on Wednesday. Below right, Jennifer Phipps of Girl Scout Troop 400 leads a color guard of Boy Kiki Umla and Barbee Baron, decided Scouts from Troop 152 and Cub Scouts from Pack 549 during a ceremony celebrating the opening of to sell it to the county. the park. Below left, Doris Mellion, who sold family property to the county for construction of the “Ms. Mellion and her family – they park, and former Fernandina Beach Mayor Charles Albert, who grew up nearby, share a moment. sold us the land,” Clerk of Court John Crawford told the crowd. “And let me tell you, they could have gotten multi- City OKs ples of what we could offer, but they wanted to contribute to the county. ... We should be proud in Nassauville, because we’re now in ‘high cotton’.” Former Fernandina Beach mayor new TV Charles Albert said the area was spe- cial to him because he spent his child- hood nearby. “This is the greatest of pleasures policy to me because it brings back so many fond memories. If you look to your left, I was born on that creek,” he said. ANGELA DAUGHTRY “(The park) is something we can use, News-Leader each of us. We don’t have to have a boat – we can throw out a line and A new broadcasting policy has been catch a fish. ... When we talk about approved for the city-controlled public- ecology, we talk about our relationship access television channel. to the environment – and that rela- Four city commissioners approved Tuesday a Public, Educational and PARK Continued on 3A Government (PEG) policy, which is meant to give the city more control over programming of its public-access channel 29. Commissioner Tim Poynter was absent. Starting immediately, there will be Swine flu case at county building? no advertising allowed on the chan- nel, including candidates running for public office. Solicitation of funds will RYAN SMITH coughing into a Kleenex and then not be allowed. However, religious News-Leader Swine flu in the workplace washing your hands. Using hand san- groups will be permitted to broadcast itizer as well – that’s effective against as long as they do not promote mem- A possible case of swine flu at the Preventing the spread of swine flu and other influenza viruses in the this virus. bership. Nassau County Judicial Annex in workplace is basically a matter of common sense and good hygiene. “Every year, most offices have The new policy gives priority to Yulee prompted county officials to Here are some tips from the Nassau County Health Department and the somebody who’s had the flu. ... So this broadcast of “municipal business of contact the local health department federal Centers for Disease Control: is really no different,” Geib added. “If the city of Fernandina Beach,” which and inform employees. An employee • Cover your cough. Cough into your sleeve or a tissue, not into your they have a lot of people who are ill, includes event information, public at the annex went home this week hand. the health department will help guide meetings, job postings, emergency with flu-like symptoms, but has not • Disinfect common surfaces like keyboards, telephones, countertops, them through it, just so they can information and city-related statistics been confirmed to have swine flu, also doorknobs and bathroom fixtures. Use a disinfectant that is labeled as implement better infection control and data. Other “policy-compliant” pro- known as H1N1. effective against influenza viruses. measures.” gramming has second priority. “We have called the health depart- • Wash hands often, especially after coughing or sneezing. Alcohol- Swine flu has been declared a pan- In spite of City Manager Michael ment about it. They’re aware of it and based hand sanitizers can be used if soap and water are not available. demic because it is worldwide. The Czymbor advising against it, commis- they’ve indicated that there’s no need • Stay home if you’re sick. The CDC recommends employees with flu- Florida Department of Health con- sioners also approved the allowance to panic, especially just in light of one like illnesses stay home for seven days after symptoms begin or until 24 firmed 10 more swine flu deaths on of religious programming. case,” said Shannon Crow, research hours after symptoms end, whichever is longer. Wednesday, bringing the total to 22 Calling religious programming “a and communications coordinator for For more information on preventing the transmission of swine flu, visit thus far. slippery slope,” Czymbor said the city the clerk of court. “If anyone had any www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu. The most recent deaths included should have a “tighter policy that we symptoms, we would send them home two 22-year-old males, one in Broward can loosen up.” and ask them to stay home for seven Prevention Service, confirmed that Geib said the precautions taken to and one in Sarasota County, two 31- “I would suggest we try to be more days.” the courthouse had contacted the keep H1N1 from spreading in an office year-old males, one in Dade and anoth- narrow in scope,” said Czymbor. “That Crow said Judge Robert Foster, department, but said one unconfirmed environment are the same as those er in Polk County, a 42-year-old Palm would be my recommendation.” who administers the courts at the case of swine flu was no cause for to prevent the spread of traditional Beach County man, 44-year-old man in City Attorney Tammi Bach, who annex, was aware of the case, and all alarm. influenza. Broward, 47-year-old male in Sarasota, wrote the new policy, said she allowed employees received an e-mail inform- “We have a suspected case of swine “If you have a case of flu in your a 49-year-old Monroe County female, religious programming because she ing them. The courthouse would not flu, but it’s a single case and not an out- office, what you want to do is clean 51-year-old Lee County man and 55- could not disallow non-profit religious be closing, Crow said. The sick break,” she said. “We know we’re hav- common keyboards, telephones. You year-old male in Dade. groups while allowing other non-prof- employee is not in a position of wide- ing sporadic cases of swine flu can go ahead and wipe it down with Florida currently has listed 2,915 it groups. spread contact with the public, offi- throughout the United States, and it’s any disinfectant that says it’s good confirmed cases of H1N1 swine flu. “The city commission does have cials said. going to continue to happen. We’ve against influenza,” she said. “Anyone Most cases are mild, and pre-existing the opportunity to say, we limit it only Kim Geib, director of the health given them information about swine who’s coughing needs to cover their department’s Disease Control and flu and how to protect themselves.” cough – coughing into your sleeve or FLU Continued on 3A TV Continued on 3A News-Leader INDEX LEISURE ........................................................ 1B SEA TURTLE NESTING SEASON 155th year. No. 57 CLASSIFIEDS .............................. 3B OBITUARIES ........................................... 2A 2009 Nests: 73 Hatched: 203 Copyright, 2009 CROSSWORD ............................ 2B OUT AND ABOUT ................