$1.00 Wednesday, OctOber 9, 2019 / 20 Pages, 2 sectiOns • fbnewsleader.com Driver sentenced HOMECOMING SPIRIT 2019 for hit-and-run A driver in a second on-beach incident in April is still at large PAMELA BUSHNELL News-Leader Fernandina Beach resident Gregory Lee Green Jr., 49, was sentenced this week to seven years in Florida State Prison for leaving the scene after running over a sunbather with his Jeep. Green’s driver’s license was revoked for life. The incident happened May 21 in a short area near Seaside Park in Fernandina Beach BETH JONES/NEWS-LEADER where vehicles are allowed to drive to Friday was homecoming for Fernandina Beach High School, and it kicked off in the afternoon with the park on the beach. annual parade downtown. The football team defeated visiting Paxon 28-21 that night. Clockwise from the The victim, a woman visiting from top, Pirates Rainer Richardson and John Fallon bring down a Paxon Eagle Friday night. The 2019 home- Akron, Ohio, suffered multiple broken coming court’s Amelia White and Katelin Richards wave to the crowd during the parade. Fernandina ribs and a blood clot in her lungs as a Green Jr. Beach Middle School cheerleaders Lyla Arndt, Meg Thomas and Mindy Douberly show their Pirate spirit. result of the incident. Witnesses said Green was told he had injured someone before he drove off the beach. Medical Center Nassau, where she was The incident was captured on a sur- treated for injuries to her legs. veillance video from Sliders Seaside Grill The Peters Point incident is still that shows Green’s silver Jeep Cherokee under investigation and the woman’s going over an escarpment in the sand. attorney has asked for the public’s help The woman was in front of the ridge cre- in identifying the driver. Leeper asks ated by the tide. anyone who has information or knows The police traced the vehicle’s the whereabouts of the vehicle to call the license number to Green’s nearby resi- Nassau County Sheriff’s Office at (904) dence and arrested him there. 225-5174. The State Attorney’s Office declined The county has authority over beach- to comment on the outcome of the case. es on the south end of Amelia Island In a similar incident that occurred while the city of Fernandina Beach gov- less than a month before, another woman erns those within its limits on the north – this time from St. Marys, Ga. – sus- end. The first incident happened on the tained injuries to her legs when she was county’s portion of the beach while the run over on the beach at Peters Point. second, involving Green, was on a city The left front tire of a Jeep traveled over beach. the woman’s legs, according to Nassau A working group established by County Sheriff Bill Leeper. Witnesses the Nassau County Board of County described the vehicle as a newer model Commissioners has been deliberating Jeep Wrangler, either white or light gray over the summer on whether county in color, with a black canvas top and a beach ordinances need to change. The spare tire on the back. There appeared group’s members have yet to complete to be two people inside. their final recommendations to the That victim was transported by BOCC. Nassau County Fire Rescue to Baptist [email protected] Three firms present their dune walkover ideas Ferrar Hansen Pyle JULIA ROBERTS firms and come back to the commission News-Leader in two weeks with proposals for demon- stration projects. The Fernandina Beach City Jon Hansen, business director for Commission has now heard proposals Wagner, said his company’s engineers from three companies that want to build looked at two walkovers and designed dune walkovers for access to the city’s projects that use piles 10 to 12 feet beaches. apart with stringers between the piles The city has 41 beach accesses with and decking material on top of that sup- 27 of them having dune walkovers, port system. some of which had to be dismantled He said his company would use a and rebuilt this year because of their composite fiberglass material to build deteriorated conditions. A study of the the pilings, which is initially more walkovers showed that all but five are expensive than wood but has a much at the end of their life expectancy. The longer expectancy. cost of replacement could be more than The railings of the Wagner walk- $100,000 per walkover. overs could be galvanized or stainless At a workshop held Oct. 1, Links steel. Either a composite or mesh-type Bridges USA, Wagner CFT, and material would be used for the decking. SUBMITTED PermaTrak presented proposals to the Wagner would give a seven-year war- Don Ferrar with Links Bridges USA said his company proposes to build a model walkover at Beach Access City Commission. ranty on materials and a 25-year war- 4N at no charge to the city. This is so officials and residents can evaluate the structure. Ferrar said Links While the commission took no official ranty on paint. The paint that can be Bridges would also invite other prospective clients to see the example. Ferrar said that, while his firm has action at the workshop, City Manager not built beach walkovers before, it has “a collegial relationship” with a group led by Frank Hopf, a geomor- Dale Martin was directed to speak to the WALKOVERS Continued on 3A phologist and expert on dunes. INDEX legal notiCes – 8-9a Looking Back 25 Years Business – 4a oBituaries – 2a After the Fernandina Beach Classified ads – 10B people/plaCes – 7B City Commission closed a portion Court report – 6a poliCe report – 6a of Marine Street in Old Town, the editorial – 7a puzzles – 7B Florida Department of State asked fishing/tides – 3B sports – 1B that it be kept open. Oct. 5, 1994 News-Leader, 165th year. No. 81, Copyright, 2019 NL Wednesday 10.09.indd 1 10/8/19 7:38 PM 2A Wednesday, OctOber 9, 2019 NEWS News-Leader OBITUARIES ily will receive friends from 4 p.m. until the hour much enthusiasm as she had devoted to her career. He shrimped as a young boy Michael Patrick Casey of the service. She was a docent at the Amelia Island Museum of with his father, Gorenflo Wilder, Michael (Mike) Patrick Casey, 75, of Amelia Those wishing to leave condolences can do so History for several years and was very active in the and his two older brothers, Gonnie Island, Fla., succumbed to pneumonia September by visiting www.oxleyheard.com. Amelia Island Chapter National Society Daughters and Lewis. After graduating from 30, 2019, following a long illness. Oxley-Heard Funeral Directors of the American Revolution. She was chapter Yulee High School in 1964, his A native of St. Louis, Mo., Mike grew up in regent from 2015 to 2017. Upon her planned return first job was with Humpty Dumpty Normandy, Mo., where he attended St. Ann to Fernandina Beach, she would have assumed Egg Farm. Next, he worked at Catholic Church and later graduated from Christian Eleanor Barker Conway her office as vice president of the Princess Amelia Acme Fast Freight as a shipping Brothers College (CBC) High School. After earn- Mrs. Eleanor “Grace” Barker Conway, 90, of Chapter National Society Colonial Dames XVII rate clerk while also working a second job as man- ing his Bachelor of Arts in Engineering from the Yulee, Fla., passed away Thursday, October 3, Century. ager of a Burger King in Jacksonville, Fla. Some University of Missouri and his Juris Doctorate 2019. Summers were usually spent at the family cabin years later, he started working at Rayonier. After from Washington University Law School, Mike She was born October 4, 1928 in Jacksonville, in Lake Keomah, Iowa, where she visited with retiring, he started shrimping again. embarked on a long and distinguished career as Fla. to the late Vess Cola Taylor Barker and Carl friends and family. She was at her cabin when she Mallory enjoyed spending time with family and an attorney in St. Louis. He retired in 2008 from Oliver Barker. Grace came to Christ at the age of fell and subsequently contracted pneumonia. friends and being surrounded by good food. He Lewis Rice LLC after many years as a senior part- 24 at Ramona Boulevard Baptist In addition to her parents, Cindy was prede- loved the ocean and running shrimp boats over the ner in the firm and moved to Amelia Island to spend Church. She worked as a human ceased by her paternal grandparents, Howard and years. He knew he was one of the best shrimpers time with family and friends. resources placement agent and Frances Montgomery Glenn, and her maternal around and had the stories to prove it. He was Despite the harsh physical and mental toll his many years in the dental career grandparents, Walter and Maybelle Perry. loved so much and will be missed by so many. disease took on him, he came to bear his affliction field. She retired three times and She is survived by her brother, Tupper Glenn, Mallory was predeceased by his parents and two with a grace and dignity that transcended – if not hated it so much she went back to and his two sons, Andrew and Joshua, as well as brothers, Gonnie and Lewis. defied – his circumstances. work. In her last profession, Mrs. Iowa cousins, Lynnette Lubbock and Melvin Baker, Mallory is survived by his three children, He is survived by his wife and companion of 45 Conway was a folk hero as a cross- and close family friends, Larry Moore and Cheryl Tresca (Peter) Reeves, Mallory (Lonnie) Jones, years, Linda; his son, Michael Patrick Casey Jr.; ing guard at an elementary school in Fernandina Mitchell.