Generated by All in One SEO v4.9.10, this is an llms.txt file, used by LLMs to index the site. # Dave Scott Blog Musings, opinions, observations, questions, and random thoughts on island life, Fernandina Beach and more ## Sitemaps - [XML Sitemap](https://davescottblog.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website. ## Posts - [Recent Event Stirs Old Memories](https://davescottblog.com/recent-events-stir-memories/) - I was a guest at an event 56 years ago, April 30, 1970, similar to the White House Correspondents' Dinner April 25, 2026, that was marked by drama, however, not as shocking as the recent attempted assassination of President Trump. President Richard Nixon was scheduled to speak at the event I attended that evening, but - [](https://davescottblog.com/22450-2/) - I attended an event 56 years ago, April 30, 1970, similar to the White House Correspondents' Dinner April 25, 2026, marked by drama, however, not as shocking as the attempted assassination of the President. I was a guest at the 27th Annual White House News Photographers Awards dinner at the April 30, Annual 1970 White - [“Happy 250th USA” - From A Proud Naturalized American](https://davescottblog.com/happy-250th-usa-from-proud-americans/) - July 4th, 2026 marks my 66th year as an American citizen. In 1960 my mother and I were both sworn in as U.S. citizens. My parents immigrated to the United States after Canadian doctors told my father, Cecil, that he needed to move to a warmer climate due to his deteriorating health caused by the - [Print News Dying Of Self-Inflicted Wounds](https://davescottblog.com/print-news-dying-of-self-inflicted-wounds/) - Today’s newspaper business is unrecognizable from the one in which I was first employed 60 years ago this year. The newspaper era I experienced as a reporter is as dead as the New York Times’ reputation for fairness and accuracy, much less publishing a paper containing “All the news that’s fit to print.” At the - [Are “Sailor Boys” Teaching American Students?](https://davescottblog.com/are-sailor-boys-teaching-american-students/) - As America prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of its independence it is apparent that many citizens know little if anything about the history of their country. Based on national statistics students graduating from America’s high schools know little about anything else either, including geography or math. Why? Many students can’t read and therefore cannot - [Irreverence Invades Fernandina Beach On D-Day](https://davescottblog.com/disrespect-lands-on-fernandina-beach-on-d-day/) - June 6 was the 82nd anniversary of D-Day, when Allied Commander General Dwight Eisenhower authorized the landings at Normandy, France that resulted in the eventual defeat of Nazi Germany and brought the planet closer to the end of World War II. Approximately 2,500 American soldiers lost their lives on that single day, June 6, 1944. - [“Hold My Beer” Shouts Fernandina To Veterans & Visitors](https://davescottblog.com/hold-my-beer-says-fernandina-to-attendees-during-memorial-day/) - It was considered impossible for Fernandina Beach to make conditions more unpleasant and miserable for residents and visitors than it did when it initiated paid parking and dug up busy city streets to kick off the summer tourist season, until city officials shouted: “Hold my beer!” While confused visitors and residents maneuvered around heavy equipment, - [Fernandina Beach Becoming Florida’s Rock Ridge](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-becoming-floridas-rock-ridge/) - If Blazing Saddles ever got a sequel, Fernandina Beach would serve as the ideal setting and require little if any recasting. The only major difference between the movie’s absurdly governed frontier town of Rock Ridge and Fernandina is the historical era and geographic location The 1974 film’s corrupt and conniving Attorney General Hedley Lamarr (Harvey - [Mr. Magoo Piloting Observer](https://davescottblog.com/mr-magoo-piloting-observer/) - Despite its name, Fernandina Beach’s online Observer has become the Mr. Magoo of local journalism. Former City Commissioner Susan Stiegar, who founded the outlet, refuses to criticize her creation’s current owner Mike Philipps’ incompetence or its only writer, Mike Lednovich’s bungling mental insolvency. Phillips has turned Ms. Steger's once promising creation into a train wreck - [Dems Would Be Hilarious If They Weren’t So Dangerous](https://davescottblog.com/democrats-would-be-hilarious-if-they-werent-so-dangerous/) - You can study Shakespeare and be quite elite And you could charm the critics and have nothing to eat Just slip on a banana peel, the world is at your feet Make 'em laugh, make 'em laugh, make 'em laugh. For comedic performers and writers there is nothing more gratifying than gales of laughter. For - [Teachers Unions Could Teach AP Courses In Fraud](https://davescottblog.com/fraudsters-can-learn-from-teachers-unions/) - National teachers’ unions are making the Mafia look like pikers and are competing with The Southern Poverty Law Center and Minnesota’s Somali fraudsters in operating massive scams. Teachers’ unions have spent more than $1 billion on political activity and advocacy since 2015, according to The Center Square news outlet, which reported the American Federation of - [Democrats, Cats, Redskins, Etc.](https://davescottblog.com/a-good-democrat-passes-away/) - The death of Georgia Congressman and Democrat David Scott, who died at 80 Tuesday, April 21, provoked a memory from many years ago. I first met Rep Scott at the Atlanta Press Club when he was a newly elected Democratic representative in the Georgia General Assembly. He was a likeable friendly guy, and we joked - [Fleeing New Yorkers To City & State: “Drop Dead!”](https://davescottblog.com/fleeing-new-yorkers-to-state-drop-dead/) - Governor Kathy Hochul, New York’s female version of California’s Gavin Newsome, was demanding wealthy residents who fled the state return and pay for her mistakes, while New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, was unintentionally doing everything he could to ensure they ignored her and stay put in sunny Florida. Fifty years ago, President Gerald Ford - [FL Universities Top The “Elites” Academically](https://davescottblog.com/fl-universities-top-the-elites-academically/) - Florida parents writing checks for their kids’ university or college education are not only blessed with instate tuition but knowing that their progeny also have access to two of the top 10 colleges and universities in the U.S. including the top-rated U.S. school. The Manhattan Institute’s City Journal recently studied 100 colleges and universities assessing - [Leftists Protest An Imaginary King](https://davescottblog.com/leftists-protest-an-imaginary-king/) - When asked by co-workers or neighbors what they did last weekend how many folks hereabouts enthusiastically explained that they attended a “No Kings” protest?” If they admitted their attendance, did they proclaim how the event changed their minds politically and impressed them enough to evangelize others with what they saw and heard? If so, I’d - [Can City Hall Go Lower? It Just Did!](https://davescottblog.com/can-city-hall-go-lower-it-just-did/) - The quartet of free spending Fernandina Beach City Commissioners (Tim Poynter, Genece Minshew, Joyce Tuten and James Antun) not satisfied with milking city residents for wildly unpopular parking fees and questionable impact fees, have hit new lows. Their arrogance and incompetence know no boundaries. In a nutshell here’s what they’re up to now: Making taxpayers - [Democrats & Media Are Iran’s Sleeper Cells](https://davescottblog.com/democrats-media-are-irans-sleeper-cells/) - Iran doesn’t need sleeper cells in the U.S. when it has the Democrat party and the media as its Fifth Column. The Democrat’s irrational hatred of Donald Trump has turned them into a dangerous anti-American organization that only a few years ago would have been labeled traitors and condemned by the mainstream media that today - [Why Daily Newspapers Are Dying](https://davescottblog.com/why-daily-newspapers-are-dying/) - Instead of Monday’s March 9 Wall Street Journal folks who deliver newspapers in my neighborhood mistakenly tossed The Florida Times-Union in my driveway, providing me an opportunity to observe just how badly the metropolitan daily newspaper business has deteriorated. Reading the Times-Union was a vivid reminder of why local newspapers are no longer relevant. A - [Looking For Work?](https://davescottblog.com/looking-for-work/) - The next appointed Iranian Supreme Leader should have a “Kick Me” sign taped to his back. While Iran’s Supreme Council gathering was casting votes to select its next Supreme Leader Tuesday, March 3 it was immediately targeted by Israel and blown to smithereens, ensuring that they are now all supremely dead. Iranian leadership ranks are - [“These People Are Crazy!”](https://davescottblog.com/these-people-are-crazy/) - The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) doesn’t have to create ads for the midterm elections. The Democrats did it for them at President Trump’s Tuesday night (February 24, 2026) State of the Union Speech. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson admitted as much during an interview on national TV following the President’s speech when he said - [Fernandina's Political Pirates Wield Meters Not Swords](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-pirates-wield-meters-not-swords/) - One of the most appealing features of living in Fernandina Beach is the eclectic mix of people residing here from diverse geographic regions boasting a variety of skills. A large population of Fernandina Beach residents are creative, knowledgeable, perceptive folks that migrated here from Democrat controlled blue states, thereby leaving them suspicious of all elected - [Democrats Foment, Fund, Fuel Chaos](https://davescottblog.com/democrats-foment-fund-fuel-chaos/) - What is it about low crime rates that Democrats don’t like? And what is it about murderers, rapists, pedophiles, thieves, gang-bangers, wife beaters, and other criminals that Democrats find so appealing? If, as they constantly preach, “Nobody is above the law,” then why do Democrats defend criminals who come into the U.S. illegally? Many of - [Local Leftists Berserk With Rage](https://davescottblog.com/local-leftists-berserk-with-rage/) - Local left-wing activist and professional protestor, Sheila Cocchi, and wannabe journalist, Mike Lednovich, are prime examples of the local far left’s efforts to squelch or demean the speech of anyone holding viewpoints contrary to their own. Recent instances of their shameless attempts to redirect the toxic characteristics they possess onto others were their attempts to - [Minshew And Poynter Join The City’s Gallery Of Rogues; Fernandina’s Nose-Ring, Blue Hair Brigade Protests ICE](https://davescottblog.com/minshew-and-poynter-join-the-citys-gallery-of-rogues-fernandinas-nose-ring-blue-hair-brigade-protests-ice/) - A large number of Fernandina locals would like to do today to the four pro-paid parking City Commissioners – Genece Minshew, Tim Poynter, James Antun, and Joyce Tuten – what the U.S. Army did in 1861 to railroader, Southern sympathizer and scam artist David Yulee – run them out of town, or at least out - [News Leader Takes A Mulligan](https://davescottblog.com/news-leader-takes-a-mulligan/) - The News Leader took a Mulligan, literally. The Fernandina Beach bi-weekly newspaper announced that it has hired another new editor, Amy Mulligan, the paper’s third in less than a year . In a January 14 front page article announcing Mulligan’s hiring the News Leader said in the last sentence of the article, “Mulligan replaces Jim - [What’s All The *!%&)# Swearing About?](https://davescottblog.com/whats-all-the-swearing-about/) - Until I was inducted into the Army I rarely heard anyone swear. Not in my family. Not at the schools I attended or at family and friends’ homes, and certainly not in public places such as restaurants, parks, theaters, even ball parks. I’m not a prude nor were any of my friends or family members. - [Maduro Snatch & Grab A Pie In Face To Democrats](https://davescottblog.com/maduro-snatch-grab-a-pie-in-face-to-democrats/) - The stunningly successful snatch and grab of Venezuelan “President” Nicolas Maduro is as much a pie in the face to Democrats as it is a tribute to the professionalism of the U.S. military. It is particularly embarrassing to the inept Biden administration for its shameful and humiliating retreat from Afghanistan, an event that will forever - [Fernandina Beach’s Top Cop Welcomes “All Genders”](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-beachs-top-cop-welcomes-all-genders/) - Fernandina’s top cop, Police Chief Jeffery Tambasco, took his unintended stand-up comedy routine public and attracted the attention of local resident, internationally acclaimed author, and columnist Ken Timmerman. Last week after observing the chief speak prior to a Menorah lighting in a downtown Fernandina Beach pocket park Ken satirically wrote: “Breaking News! Fernandina Beach Chief - [Florida’s Thriving, California’s Dying, & RIP New York](https://davescottblog.com/floridas-thriving-californias-dying-ny-rip/) - Do folks living in Florida know how fortunate they are? In addition to sunshine, great weather, thousands of miles of scenic and recreational coastline, top ranked professional and college sports teams, and excellent public and private schools, Florida is free from Democrat governance that has turned socially declining states such as California, New York, and - [National & Local Democrats Embrace Deceit & Larceny](https://davescottblog.com/national-local-democrats-embrace-deceit-larceny/) - Why do Democrats defend and champion illegal aliens, criminals, drug smugglers, the theft of U.S. foreign aid, the plundering of domestic assistance programs and other acts that harm American citizens, steal tax money, and more? They don’t deny it happens but scream that it’s not them doing the stealing. They shriek that it’s the Trump - [U.S. Demand For Skilled Tradespeople Surpasses Supply; Ivy League Liberal Arts Graduates Need Not Apply](https://davescottblog.com/the-demand-for-skilled-tradespeople-surpasses-supply-ivy-league-liberal-arts-graduates-need-not-apply/) - Harvard University recently hired as an instructor one of the graduates of its Divinity School, who was charged with assaulting an Israeli classmate in October 2023, just weeks after Hamas terrorists massacred 1,200 Israelis. Elom Tettley-Tamaklo was caught on camera at a protest accosting a first-year student, an Israeli man, who was then studying at - [Why Are Obvious Paid Parking Foes Missing?](https://davescottblog.com/obvious-paid-parking-foes-missing-why/) - Why don’t the Chamber of Commerce and Main Street publicly support their constituency and membership against paid parking? Isn’t their role to increase business traffic, encourage shopping, assist business owners, provide a welcoming atmosphere, and create an open and friendly environment? Don’t local businesses contribute annual fees to these two organizations? Unless I’m missing something, - [Affordability? Its Democrats We Can’t Afford!](https://davescottblog.com/affordability-its-democrats-we-cant-afford/) - Name one single thing the record-setting 40-day shutdown of the U.S. government the Democrats orchestrated that benefited the American public. Yeh, me either. I haven’t read one article or heard an analyst explain how it was the least bit beneficial. It was supposed to reinforce the Democrats’ claim that there is an “affordability crisis.” If - [Wasting Money 101: A Degree in Public Relations](https://davescottblog.com/wasting-money-101-a-degree-in-pr/) - Add public relations degrees to those in gender studies, dance, sociology, anthropology, drama, etc. that will never realize a return on investment. During my time in corporate communications I hired people to work in media relations, speech writing, internal communications, etc. Not once did I hire a person with a degree in public relations. I - [Lawsuits, Inept Politicians Create Local Economic Chaos](https://davescottblog.com/lawsuits-elected-officials-cause-local-economic-chaos/) - New York City residents fleeing the socialist nightmare of that city’s newly elected Mayor Zohran Mamdani and seeking relief may find that living in Nassau County, FL is not the economic refuge they have been led to believe. Two suits, brought by local developer Compass Group and the multibillion dollar industrial giant RYAM, threaten to - [T-Ray’s Nabs Second Universal Best Burger Honors](https://davescottblog.com/t-rays-nabs-second-universal-best-burger-honors/) - The last time the two Fat Men From Space visited Amelia Island searching for burgers was seven years ago in 2018 when their gluttonous, but discerning appetites declared a tie between Amelia Island’s iconic T-Ray’s Burger Station. 202 South 8th St., and the now shuttered Joe’s 2nd Street Bistro as the best burgers their spacy palates - [“No Kings Day” Protestors 250 Years Late](https://davescottblog.com/no-kings-day-protestors-250-years-late/) - “No Kings Day” in Fernandina Beach resembled a group temper tantrum. The only thing missing from the Saturday, October 17, 2025, event were the 300 or so sign-wavers laying on their backs, kicking their feet, and screaming like toddlers demanding predinner cookies. What was the purpose? I didn’t hear them complain about any local issues, - [A Tale Of Two Men: The Best Of One, The Worst Of Another](https://davescottblog.com/a-tale-of-two-menthe-best-of-one-the-worst-of-another/) - Two people who were influentially involved in my life passed away on the same day last week, Thursday, October 10. Nephew Mike Greenwell (62), who starred for 12 years as the Boston Red Sox’s regular leftfielder, died in Boston where he was undergoing experimental treatment for medullary thyroid cancer. One of my former bosses, Oscar - [Good To The Last Customer?](https://davescottblog.com/good-to-the-last-customer/) - Maxwell House has joined the ranks of Cracker Barrel, Bud Light, Target, and Jaguar by taking a giant Woke step to destroy its iconic brand and alienate loyal customers. For the first time in its 133-year history the storied coffee brand may be down to its “last drop” of goodwill with its name change to - [Democrats Are In A Very Dark Place](https://davescottblog.com/democrats-in-a-very-dark-place/) - The statement "Being a Democrat is a mental disorder" is increasingly ringing true as elected Democrats screech that their political opponents are as ideologically dangerous as Nazis, thereby inspiring their mentally deranged followers to violently attack them. Democrats spewing anti-ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) rhetoric and condemning the arrests and deportations of dangerous illegal immigrant criminals - [Media & Local Cops Say Fernandina Police Chief A Disaster](https://davescottblog.com/fernandinas-top-cop-not-best-boss-award-candidate-media-local-cops-say-chief-a-disaster-morale-tanked/) - Fernandina Police Chief Jeffrey Tambasco is as popular among his cadre of city cops as paid parking, sea turtle soup, and lumberjacks are with city residents. Tambasco, who took over the top cop reins from Mark Foxworthy October 2023 under the short-lived two-month tenure of City Manager Ty Ross, has been the topic of highly - [Charlie Kirk’s Murder Might Be America’s “Turning Point”](https://davescottblog.com/is-charlie-kirks-murder-americas-turning-point/) - Instead of silencing Charlie Kirk, his murder has become a klaxon call ushering in a new era of conservative voices, not just in the U.S., but worldwide. Charlie’s widow Erika, speaking to a national audience just after his death, summed it up best. Choking back tears she told the left: "You have no idea what - [Charlie Kirk’s Killing Sounds An Alarm](https://davescottblog.com/charlie-kirks-killing-sounds-alarm/) - While visiting the Utah Valley University campus September 10 and appearing before a crowd of 3,000 while sitting under his traditional banner that proclaimed, “Prove Me Wrong”, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was shot and killed by a cowardly madman. The 31-year-old outspoken Christian conservative invited anyone attending his sessions to debate him, offering - [Democrats Have Mutated Into A Cult](https://davescottblog.com/democrats-have-mutated-into-a-cult/) - During its summer meeting in Minneapolis Democrats sounded more like followers of a frenzied cult than a political party. After listening to remarks by its featured speakers folks may have thought the session was part of the annual chaotic Burning Man frenzy in the Nevada desert. Attendees were forewarned as opening remarks by a morbidly - [Trump Advice Saves Uncle Herschel](https://davescottblog.com/trump-advice-saves-uncle-herschel/) - Cracker Barrel saw the light! The Bud Light! After losing more than $140 million in market value and receiving massive consumer and media backlash the company decided not to stuff iconic Uncle Herschel into his barrel and roll him out behind the barn to face Old Yeller’s fate. Sound advice from President Trump, may have - [Fernandina Beach City Commission Parks Common Sense With A Widely Unpopular Parking Meter Sell Out](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-beach-city-commissioners-park-their-common-sense-in-puzzling-parking-meter-sell-out/) - Paid parking in downtown Fernandina Beach appears to be as popular as Bud Light’s bikini-clad poster boy Dylan Mulvany at an Octoberfest celebration. Other than the four clueless members of the City Commission, I haven’t discovered a single person who favors installing parking meters in downtown Fernandina Beach. Every single downtown business owner I’ve talked - [News Leader Starting To Report News!](https://davescottblog.com/news-leader-starting-to-report-news/) - The Fernandina News Leader is beginning to resemble a traditional newspaper. Reporters are producing unbiased factual articles, the opinion pages are providing entertaining, informative, and educational columns, and the sports section has vastly expanded its coverage. The paper’s new Publisher Todd Frantz and its new Editor Jim Luksic wasted little time ridding the paper of - [Left-Wing Scorn Makes Jeans Ad A Winner](https://davescottblog.com/left-wing-scorn-assures-an-ads-success/) - The Sydney Sweeney American Eagle blue jeans promotion accomplished what advertising is supposed to do – create chatter, sell products, generate revenue, and build brand recognition. An unexpected bonus is that, as of this writing, American Eagle’s ad impact has also increased the firm’s stock price by a whopping 24 percent. Much to their chagrin - [Free Taxpayer Ride Is Over For Cheats & Freeloaders](https://davescottblog.com/the-free-ride-is-over-for-cheats-freeloaders/) - How many people would tolerate a ne’re do well brother-in-law and his pals crashing on their couch, drinking their beer, and constantly snacking out of the fridge. It wouldn’t be long before they would be told to hit the bricks and find a job. By passing the One big Beautiful Bill last month the Republicans - [Redskins Fans On The Warpath](https://davescottblog.com/redskins-fans-on-the-warpath/) - Fans of the Washington Redskins football team are on the warpath. They want their NFL team’s original name back. This time they have powerful allies, President Donald Trump and Native Americans. President Trump has called for the NFL team in Washington, D.C. to have its longtime nickname restored after it was stripped during the “woke” - [Dems Upset “Alligator Alcatraz” Not A Tropical Resort](https://davescottblog.com/democrats-upset-alligator-alcatraz-not-a-tropical-resort/) - Democrats describe the illegal immigrant detention center in Florida's Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz” as cruel and a waste of federal funds. Democrat members of Congress visited the site, Saturday, July 12, and described seeing bugs on mattresses, toilets, sinks and showers that lacked privacy, small food portions, and temperatures between 83 and 85 degrees - [Biden Claims World Is Asking For His “Wisdom”](https://davescottblog.com/biden-says-world-is-asking-for-his-wisdom/) - Joe Biden publicly claimed that world leaders are calling, asking him to get “engaged.” The addled geezer believes he's still super important and necessary on the world stage. If Biden hadn’t actually said it, people would think it was a parody mocking the last administration. If nothing else he’ll gain sympathy from folks who feel - [Despite Moving Ross Still Making Local Headlines](https://davescottblog.com/despite-moving-ross-still-making-local-headlines/) - The Yulee News June 26, 2025, front page story headlined: “The Cost of Control: How Chip Ross Maneuvered Fernandina Beach into Another Losing Lawsuit” revealed a behind the scenes scenario that most hereabouts were unaware took place. The biased, professionally written, well-researched, investigative article describes how Ross, a controversial former Fernandina Beach Commissioner, who now - [Chamber Confusion Confounds County Commission](https://davescottblog.com/chamber-confusion-confounds-county-commission/) - The local Chamber of Commerce got itself in a pickle with Nassau County’s Board of Commissioners. The Chamber’s head honcho, Regina Duncan, wrote an opinion editorial in the June 13 News Leader newspaper labeling the county “Not business friendly,” a description that aptly describes the city of Fernandina Beach, not the county. The City of - [Let's Change Yulee's Name From A Zero to A Hero](https://davescottblog.com/lets-change-yulees-name-from-a-zero-to-a-hero/) - Yulee, Florida is not a town, a city, or a village. It’s a “place.” Yulee is officially designated as a “place” – a census-designated place (CDP) – located in East Nassau County. CDPs are unincorporated communities that are identified as “places” for statistical purposes during the census. That’s it, nothing more, nothing less.. Sure, it’s - [Fernandina Beach's 21st Century "Pride & Prejudice"](https://davescottblog.com/pride-prejudice-in-21st-century-fernandina-beach/) - The title of Jane Austen's 19th Century book “Pride & Prejudice” would be applicable if it appeared in Fernandina Beach today. Both “’pride” and “prejudice” are terms being bandied about by opposing local groups. One says efforts to ban the pride group’s public displays are prejudice against them. Those opposing say pride’s sexual displays offend - [After Rejecting, Fair, Objective And Balanced Reporting An Angry News Leader Editor Exits Before Being Booted](https://davescottblog.com/news-leader-editor-exits-before-being-shown-the-door-after-rejecting-fairness-objectivity-balanced-news/) - Fernandina Beach News Leader Editor, Tracy Dishman, has bolted. She's miffed that new publisher, Todd Frentz, and the paper’s Athens, Georgia-based ownership want to convert the liberal mess she created into a factual, fair, objective, and balanced newspaper. The leftist editor announced her Friday, May 30 departure in a letter sent to a near empty - [Fernandina Commission Laughingly Promotes Residents' Health While Simultaneously Picking Their Pockets](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-city-commission-unintentionally-promoting-their-health-while-picking-pockets-of-stunned-residents/) - Articles I recently read report that doctors at the Mayo Clinic and elsewhere claim laughter is medically beneficial dialing up levels of constructive chemicals and dialing down detrimental ones. Pratfalls, puzzled looks, outrageously silly comments, and humiliating blunders that have produced laughter on stage, in movies, and on TV for generations, are now the trademark - [Defeated Dems Trampled By Trump's Revised GOP Tactics](https://davescottblog.com/degrees-grades-nobody-cares-its-can-you-do-the-job/) - Once upon a time not many years ago when Republicans ran for office and won they spouted conciliatory phases such as “reach across the aisle” and “find common ground.” It did no good. No matter what Republicans said or did, Democrats never changed their tactics of reaching out to snatch the spoils, malign their opponents - [Where Have All The Good Democrats Gone?](https://davescottblog.com/where-have-all-the-good-democrats-gone/) - What happened to the Democrat party? Senators Frank Church (Idaho), Henry “Scoop” Jackson (Washington), Joe Lieberman (Connecticut), Sam Nunn (Georgia), Bob Kerrey (Nebraska), and President John Kennedy (Massachusetts) were all Democrat politicians I would have voted for when I was a young man. There’s no one left in that party that’s comparable. Today the Democrat - [Busted Leg Sparks A Reading Frenzy & A New Business Idea](https://davescottblog.com/busted-leg-sparks-a-reading-frenzy-a-new-business-idea/) - I'm currently laid up at home with a busted fibula in my left leg. I’m wearing a doctor- prescribed massive black boot that resembles a device used in a medieval torture chamber or the Frankenstein family’s preferred footwear. My mobility is severely limited. I spend most of my time sitting up with the gamey leg - [Will Bud Light’s Former Bumbling Marketing Hacker Knock The Fragile LIV Golf League Into The Rough?](https://davescottblog.com/will-bud-lights-former-bumbling-marketing-hacker-knock-the-fragile-liv-golf-league-into-the-rough/) - Have you ever wondered whatever happened to the blundering, pompous Harvard-grad marketing person that plopped a guy drinking a Bud Light and pretending to be a gal, into a bubble bath, and almost overnight sank the reputation of a beer once favored by most American men? Her disastrous 2023 Bud Light marketing fiasco demolished the - [1954 Act Casts Doubt on Democrat's Legitimacy](https://davescottblog.com/1954-act-casts-doubt-on-democrats-legitimacy/) - There's no need for supporters to reestablish a U.S. Communist party because the Democrat party has reversed its 1954 position when President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Communist Control Act outlawing the party. In 1954 Democrats didn’t offer even token opposition to the act; on the contrary, they enthusiastically supported it. No longer. Democrats haven’t lost - [Local Rehab Center Says Distress Signal A False Alarm](https://davescottblog.com/rehab-center-says-distress-signal-a-false-alarm/) - This past Wednesday alert reader, entrepreneur, and local security expert, Bernard Martinage, alerted me to a troubling signal implying that all was not well inside the Fernandina Rehab and Nursing Center’s 1625 Lime Street (Quality Health of Fernandina Beach) facility. As he was driving past Bernard noticed that the American flag outside the institution flying - [Round Trip Jacksonville-Miami Amtrak Ride An Eye-Opener](https://davescottblog.com/train-trip-to-miami-an-eye-opening-experience/) - A keen observer with a curious and analytical mind, Fernandina Beach resident Pat Keogh, an 81-year-old New York City native, still views life through a Bronx lens and an acerbic wit. Pat grew up dependent on public transportation. He sold beer at Yankee Stadium to pay for tuition and books at what was then Manhattan - [Manatee No Longer A Canadian Blue Plate Special](https://davescottblog.com/manatee-no-longer-on-canadian-blue-plate-specials/) - There’ll be no more manatee and perch pie for Sunday lunch in Canada. In a retaliatory move against Domald Trump’s tariffs Canadians will soon be unable to purchase and consume manatee meat imported from the United States it was reported by Canadian TV news this week. Other U.S. imports the Canadian government is slapping retaliatory - [Efforts To Help U.S. Shrimpers Too Late For Fernandina; Was Phony "Bean Town Hall” A Democrat Party Scam?](https://davescottblog.com/are-efforts-to-help-shrimpers-too-late-for-fernandina/) - Former boat builder, realtor and local historian, Nick Deonas, says U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy’s (R-LA) endeavor to crack down on international financing that Cassidy says is harming the domestic shrimp industry may be too late for area shrimpers. If Senator Cassidy is successful it may help shrimpers in Louisiana and other Gulf of America coast - [Oops! Journalism Malpractice Continues At News Leader](https://davescottblog.com/oops-journalism-malpractice-continues-at-news-leader/) - When I saw the Fernandina News Leader’s bold-faced front page “Second Coming” headline blaring: “Voters: Where’s Bean?” Wednesday, March 14, I realized I’d been duped. Last Friday I penned a commentary here expressing my optimism that the bi-weekly print Fernandina News Leader was actually going to start practicing journalism under new publisher Todd Frantz. I - [Is Journalism Making A Comeback At The News Leader?](https://davescottblog.com/is-journalism-making-a-comeback-at-the-news-leader/) - Todd Frantz, the newly appointed publisher of Fernandina Beach’s News Leader, brought his journalism experience with him. From what I’ve observed Frantz has swiftly exercised his influence on the paper’s “Opinion” pages. It appears that he has cleaned house, booting the frenzied far-left columnists who considered those who opposed their views racist boobs and fanatics - [Frantic National & Local Democrats Appear Deranged](https://davescottblog.com/national-local-democrats-are-angry-and-confused/) - “Disgusting, shameful, appalling, disgraceful” and “repulsive” are just a few of the adjectives the media and a majority of Americans are using to describe the Democrats’ obscene behavior in the House chamber when President Trump addressed a joint session of Congress Tuesday evening, March 4. Despite the public rebukes, their unhinged behavior continues and is - [Gov. DeSantis’ Property Tax Proposal Would Be Boon For Residents & A Nightmare For Local Governments](https://davescottblog.com/gov-desantis-property-tax-proposal-would-be-boon-for-residents-a-nightmare-for-local-governments/) - Governor Ron DeSantis' recent property tax proposal would be a dream come true for Fernandina Beach City property and business owners and the City Commission’s worst nightmare. Desantis wants to get rid of property taxes in Florida via a ballot initiative in 2026. Both the city and county would have to scramble to seek new - [Leftists Are Scared Their Golden Goose May Be Cooked As They’re Being Exposed By The Folks They're Deceiving](https://davescottblog.com/leftists-are-scared-their-golden-goose-may-be-cooked-as-theyre-being-exposed-by-the-folks-they-deceived/) - The Democratic Party recently recorded a record low approval rating of just 31% according to a January favorability rating by Quinnipiac. I’ve witnessed events nationally and locally that would appear to more than justify the Democrats dismal poll numbers. Let’s start with the national scene. Despite their crushing presidential defeat last November, and disgusted major donors - [Trump’s Clean-Up Actions Were Years In The Planning](https://davescottblog.com/trumps-clean-up-actions-were-years-in-the-planning/) - How did President Trump manage to react so quickly and put the unprepared defenseless Democrats into their current hysterical panic mode? Trump and his team had years to plan for their actions. One move was to immediately replace the political appointees in jobs that did not need Senate confirmation. They moved in immediately after Trump took the - [Are Protestors Hurting Market As Home Prices Stall?](https://davescottblog.com/home-prices-stalling-and-local-wackos-arent-helping/) - Those who know much about such things are saying home prices nationwide have peaked? Home mortgage rates have hit 7.0% and if they don’t level off it won’t be good for sellers say national economists. In order to make monthly payments possible for prospective buyers sellers will have to lower prices, particularly as mortgage rates, - [Democrats Display Their Hatred Of Fellow U.S. Citizens As They Declare Affection For Illegal Alien Gangsters](https://davescottblog.com/democrats-display-their-hatred-of-fellow-us-citizens-as-they-declared-their-affection-for-illegal-alien-thugs/) - Based on recent news reports it’s obviously true – as the title of Mark Levin’s bestselling New York Times book proclaims – that “The Democrat Party Hates America” ? His next book title should be “Democrats Are Dumb Too.” The Biden administration’s wide-open border and rampant crime by illegal aliens proves it. They’re either dumb - [Trump Has Done More In 4 Days Than Biden Did In 4 Years](https://davescottblog.com/19786-2/) - Donald Trump has accomplished more in four days that Joe Biden did in four years. He’s making FDR’s "First 100 Days" in 1933 look trifling. As he promised, illegal alien criminals are being rounded up in sanctuary states and cities around the country with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initially arresting some of the most - [The More I Hear About Calif. The More I Love Life In Fla.](https://davescottblog.com/the-more-i-read-about-calif-the-more-i-love-life-in-fla/) - The more I hear and read about the devastating fires in California the more thankful I am that I live in Florida. It’s not because wildfires can’t, won’t and don’t happen here. They do. They’re terrifying. It’s how they’re managed in California that’s even more terrifying. The ineptitude and incompetence of California’s progressive politicians are - [Happy Christmas And A Prosperous New Year](https://davescottblog.com/happy-christmas-and-a-prosperous-2025/) - The regular commentary will return following the publication of the Amelia Island News Wrecker the end of January. - [This Christmas America Is Happy, Jolly & More Optimistic; News Wrecker Prepares Once Again To Misinform Locals](https://davescottblog.com/this-christmas-americans-are-jolly-happy-optimistic-news-wrecker-preparing-to-misinform-nassau-county/) - Have you, like me, noticed that the mood in America has dramatically changed from despair and handwringing to optimism and enthusiasm following the November 5 national election? President-elect Trump’s demeanor and enthusiasm for the country is contagious. You can feel the aura. The cheerfulness is palpable. With few exceptions people appear to be more enthusiastic, - [We’ll Be Back After The News Wrecker Is Published](https://davescottblog.com/well-be-back-after-the-news-wrecker-is-published-2/) - The blog commentary will continue to take a few weeks off to concentrate on researching, writing, printing, and distributing the Amelia Island News Wrecker, an annual parody about local, regional, state, national and international events. The new News Wrecker will be distributed to various bars, restaurants, shops, and other public locations in Nassau County. It contains - [We'll Be Back After The News Wrecker Is Published](https://davescottblog.com/well-be-back-after-the-news-wrecker-is-published/) - This commentary will take a few weeks off to concentrate on researching, writing, printing and distributing the Amelia Island News Wrecker, an annual parody about local, regional, state, national and international events. The new News Wrecker will be distributed to various bars, restaurants, shops and other public locations and contain stories other news outlets missed - [America’s Headache Is Over, Fernandina’s Is Just Starting](https://davescottblog.com/americas-headaches-end-fernandinas-just-beginning/) - (Editor’s note: There will not be another commentary for several weeks following this one as we will be working on the annual Amelia Island News Wrecker, scheduled to come out before the end of the year. Those wishing to contribute hilarious, clever parody or purchase an ad can contact me at davidnscott@bellsouth.net). Fernandina Beach got - [News Leader Sinks Further & Further Into Irrelevance](https://davescottblog.com/news-leader-sinks-further-further-into-irrelevance/) - Following next week’s commentary I’ll be taking time off to concentrate on producing the Amelia Island News Wrecker, an annual parody of local, regional, and national events. The annual Wrecker has traditionally been published during the Amelia Island Shrimp Festival, but I thought it would be more fun to do it following the national, regional, - [Will Fernandina Become Pottersville or Bedford Falls? City Residents Are Now Making That Decision At The Polls](https://davescottblog.com/will-fernandina-become-pottersville-or-bedford-falls-local-residents-will-make-that-decision-at-the-polls/) - Fernandina Beach voters have a stark choice this election between preserving their Norman Rockwellesque town or turning it into Pottersville, the nightmare in the film It’s a Wonderful Life. Residents desiring to preserve the current family atmosphere with kids riding bicycles, shooting hoops in driveways, families attending downtown church services, bustling ice cream parlors, Little - [Govt. Bureaucrats, Democrats & EVs Add To Storm Misery](https://davescottblog.com/government-bureaucrats-dems-evs-add-to-storm-misery/) - While Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina residents continue looking for missing relatives and neighbors and dig out from underneath the devastation of Helene and Milton, the doofus bureaucrats that run FEMA say the agency is broke. They say it 'ran out of money' after spending billions on illegal immigrants. They added that they need any - [Award-Winning Veteran Columnist Bolts News-Leader; Local Paper Continues Its Collapse Under Leftist Editor](https://davescottblog.com/award-winning-veteran-columnist-bolts-news-leader-local-paper-continues-to-stumble-under-liberal-editor/) - Residents of Fernandina Beach are watching the downfall of a once cherished 170-year-old local institution as it publicly suffers and slowly dies from self-inflicted wounds that will soon prove fatal. The Fernandina News Leader newspaper, founded in 1854, is suffering a humiliating public death exacted by out of town liberal editor, Tracy Dishman, and a - [Native Americans & Fans Want The “Redskins” Name Back; Chaos And Confusion On The Harris-Walz Campaign Trail](https://davescottblog.com/native-americans-chaos-and-confusion-follow-harris-walz-candidacy/) - The NFL’s Washington Redskins football fans are on the warpath to get their iconic mascot image and “Redskins” name back. So is the family of the Blackfeet Chief who was the face of the team. The “Redskins” name, which had been used since 1933 – some ninety years -- was abandoned by the “woke” leadership - [7 FL Democrat Reps Betray Their District's Moms & Kids; Minshew Admits She Switched Parties To Deceive Voters](https://davescottblog.com/seven-florida-democrat-reps-betray-their-districts-kids-minshew-admits-she-switched-parties-to-deceive-voters/) - Seven Florida Congressional Democrats where among the 158 that voted against a U.S. House bill last week to deport and make inadmissible criminal foreign nationals convicted of domestic violence and sex-related offenses, including sex crimes against children. Fortunately the bill passed despite the majority of House Democrats, 158, voting against it. All of Florida’s Republican representatives voted - [Why Did You Register As A Republican Genece Minshew? Joyce Tuten, Why Did You Abandon The Democrat Party?](https://davescottblog.com/genece-minshew-why-did-you-register-as-a-republican-joyce-tuten-why-did-you-abandon-the-democrat-party/) - Genece Minshew, the former head of the local Pride organization, abandoned the Democrat party the day before she filed to run for Fernandina Beach City Commission Seat 2, Wednesday, April 24, 2024, and registered as a Republican. Why? Commission candidate Joyce Tuten also chucked her Democrat party affiliation in her bid for the Commission’s Seat - [Nassau County Buyers, Sellers & Renters Feel The Pain](https://davescottblog.com/nassau-county-home-buyers-sellers-feeling-the-pain/) - Increasingly escalating property values, high mortgage rates and home owners reluctant to give up low interest mortgages have dramatically slowed the Nassau County’s real estate sector according to statistics compiled by the Amelia Island Nassau County Association of realtors. Numbers posted in the online Neighbor site (13) News Feed — Nextdoor displayed Amelia Island Nassau - [Fun Football Names, Dim Docs, Electric Shockers & More](https://davescottblog.com/fun-football-names-dim-doctors-electric-shockers-more/) - This past Labor Day Monday, September 2, a fleet of some 65 boats took off from Amelia Island’s Dee Dee Bartels Boat Ramp on the North end of the island to enjoy a day on the water and display their support for Donald Trump as shown by a few of them in the picture above. - [Housing & Taxes On Tips Are Key Issues For Florida Voters](https://davescottblog.com/housing-taxes-on-tips-are-key-issues-for-florida-voters/) - The large number of new residents pouring into Florida and its massive hospitality industry have made affordable housing and taxes on gratuities serious campaign issues for Floridians. No industry has been hit harder by government regulations and the Harris-Biden inflationary government spending programs than housing. And Donald Trump’s plan to eliminate taxes on tips, then - [The Countdown Begins For A Comrade Harris Meltdown](https://davescottblog.com/countdown-starts-now-for-comrade-harris-meltdown/) - During the Democrat National Convention this week it was apparent that Democrats are like members of an isolated tribe. They’re comparable to the ones in Afghanistan. They don't think of themselves as belonging to a nation, but to a specific clan. For example, to Afghan tribal inhabitants, that country is not a place on a - ["I'll Fix These Things," Says Woman Who Broke Them](https://davescottblog.com/political-donations-rule-that-cox-will-be-a-leftist-judge/) - Following the forced ouster of Joe Biden, the Democrats had moved quickly to repackage Kamala Harris, who has been cast by both sides as an inept cackling dolt for the past three and one-half years. Whoever’s in charge of her campaign is doing their best to keep her away from the media and on a - [Judicial Candidate Ashley Cox Says She’s A Conservative; Her Record Says Otherwise So The Voters Will Judge Her](https://davescottblog.com/joe-biden-belongs-on-mount-nomore-not-rushmore/) - Last week during a Fernandina Beach “We The People” forum for candidates for Circuit Judge 4th Judicial Circuit, Group 34, Ashley Cox told the largely Republican audience that she was a conservative. Her opponent, Nancy Cleaveland, stated that she too is a conservative. There is evidence Ms. Cox didn’t tell that group the truth, far - [Gaus Reaps Support for Nassau School Superintendent; Current & Past Educators, Tax-Payers, Parents Speak Out](https://davescottblog.com/gaus-reaps-support-for-nassau-school-superintendent-current-past-educators-tax-payers-parents-speak-out/) - Following a June 17 meeting featuring Nassau County School Superintendent candidates Kathy Burns and Curtis Gaus, I wrote that I could find no serious differences between the two candidates, and I’d probably be voting for Burns to continue as superintendent. I was wrong. I should have done more investigating and given it more thought because - [Governor Ron DeSantis Has Florida Prospering & Growing While Keeping Local Governments From Screwing Things Up](https://davescottblog.com/governor-desantis-has-florida-prospering-growing-while-keeping-local-governments-from-overstepping/) - Those of us living on Amelia Island are fortunate. We’re doubly fortunate that Amelia Island is in Florida. Even before the COVID pandemic Florida was the go-to state for folks escaping the Democrat-run “tax-it-if-it-moves” states of New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Illinois, Pennsylvania, etc. West coast folks fleeing the miseries of California, Washington and Oregon - [Fernandina Marina Awash In Debt & Double Talk; Area Trump Supporters Rally By Land, Sea & Air](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-marina-awash-in-debt-trump-supporters-active-on-land-sea-air/) - Fernandina Beach City Manager Dale Martin is scrambling in all directions to obfuscate his ineptness and the collective incompetence of the City Commission in their handling of the FEM/Marina fiasco that has left the tax payers holding the bag for more than $15 million of debt. That’s a lot of money folks! Divide that up - [Go Ahead, Make Somebody's Christmas Day; Put Dirty Harry's Magnum in Their Stocking](https://davescottblog.com/go-ahead-make-somebodys-christmas-day-put-dirty-harrys-magnum-in-their-stocking/) - Remember when you were a kid and you and your chums raced bleary-eyed out of the almost four-hour Saturday matinee of a western double-feature, six cartoons, a news reel, previews of coming attractions and a Flash Gordon serial, pointing cocked fingers at each other pretending you were Roy Rogers, The Durango Kid, or Gene Autry? Even - [Americans Won’t Accept Being Played For Suckers](https://davescottblog.com/americans-wont-accept-being-played-for-suckers/) - The media, the White House, and the Democrat Party have been caught flagrantly deceiving America. Joe Biden’s faceplant at the debate combined with his worsening rambling disjointed attempts at struggling to publicly explain it revealed that he needs serious and immediate medical intervention. The Democrats, their media accomplices, and the White House staff knew this - [Relief, Retribution & Unity Will Come At The Polls In Nov.](https://davescottblog.com/relief-retribution-will-come-at-the-polls-in-november/) - Despite firefighter and rally attendee Corey Comperatore being murdered, two others severely wounded and President Trump less than an inch away from a kill-shot by a Pennsylvania shooter Saturday, July 13, Democrats continue to ramp up their inciteful hate speech unabated. With Biden on the ropes dazed and confused, the Democrat party and its media - [Biden Says He’s Doing “Goodest” Job He Can Do](https://davescottblog.com/biden-says-hes-doing-goodest-job-he-can/) - During the Friday, July 5 George Stephanopoulos interview on ABC News Joe Biden mumbled: “If Trump wins in November, I’ll feel as long as I gave it my all and did the goodest job I know I could do.” At the Thursday, June 27 debate he ended one of his most incoherent mumbling episodes muttering - [Debate Reveals That Biden’s Not In Charge Of Anything!](https://davescottblog.com/debate-reveals-that-bidens-not-in-charge-of-anything/) - A scene in 1976 film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” has King Arthur and his band of knights stumbling upon a castle manned by rude Frenchmen who hurl taunts at them. Bewildered and confused by the reception Arthur shouts: ”Is there someone else up there we can talk to?” The French respond by pelting - [Fernandina's New Ranking As Most Conservative FL City Exposes Candidate Minshew’s Phony Conversion To GOP](https://davescottblog.com/fernandinas-new-ranking-as-most-conservative-fl-city-blows-candidate-minshews-phony-conversion-to-gop/) - A recent national real estate site study that ranks Fernandina Beach as Florida’s most conservative city exposes the blatant hypocrisy and transparency of leftist City Commission candidate Genece Minshew’s stealth switch to the Republican party. Minshew filed to run for Seat 2 against incumbent David Sturges, on Wednesday, April 24. The day before, Tuesday, April - [Fernandina's Fees Fleeced Flick Admits City Commission; Developer Awarded Settlement In 5-0 City Hall Mea Culpa](https://davescottblog.com/fernandinas-fees-fleeced-flick-admits-city-commission-developer-awarded-settlement-in-5-0-city-hall-mea-culpa/) - In a major about-face the City of Fernandina Beach admitted that local developer Ron Flick, owner and CEO of Compass, Inc., was fleeced out of $512,948.54 in 2019, agreed that it screwed up and will pay him back.. The City Commission, by a unanimous 5-0 vote, admitted the criminality at its Tuesday, June 18 City - [Illegals' Damage To Schools Shocks Congressman Bean; Nassau County System Says It’s Constrained By The Feds](https://davescottblog.com/illegals-damage-to-schools-shocks-congressman-bean-nassau-county-school-candidates-officials-are-silent/) - “Illegal immigrants are wreaking havoc on our K-12 education systems and putting students last,” said Fernandina Beach native and Florida’s 4th District U.S. Republican Congressman Aaron Bean, explaining how a subcommittee he chairs uncovered a chaotic mess caused by illegals pouring into the country In a June 5 letter to constituents Congressman Bean, the - [“Permits! We Don't Need No Stinkin’ Permits! But You Do!"](https://davescottblog.com/permits-we-dont-need-no-stinkin-permits-but-you-do/) - Both Fernandina Beach’s Building Department and local restauranteur and City Commission candidate, Tim Poynter, appear confused about the requirements necessary to obtain building permits and who is required to obtain them. A wide variety of construction activity has been going on at 14 South 2nd Street, the site of the now shuttered Joe’s 2nd Street - [Harrison Butker: A Kansas City Star, That’s What He Are*](https://davescottblog.com/harrison-butker-a-kansas-city-star-thats-what-he-are/) - The left’s pointy little heads began exploding following Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker’s commencement speech at Catholic Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, about two weeks ago. In his talk the NFL footballer embraced his Catholic faith as he criticized President Joe Biden for supporting abortion, as well as “the people pushing gender ideologies onto - ["Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh; I Really Hate Your Alma Matuh!"](https://davescottblog.com/hello-muddah-hello-faddah-i-really-hate-your-alma-matah/) - A little more than 60 years ago comedian/singer Allen Sherman wrote and performed a novelty song ("Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh!") https://genius.com/Allan-sherman-hello-muddah-hello-fadduh-a-letter-from-camp-lyrics about a young Jewish boy who was sent to camp. The parody describes unpleasant, dangerous, and tragic situations, such as fellow campers going missing or contracting deadly illnesses. Unlike the late Mr. Sherman’s comical - [Residents Fleeing Democrat Asylums Stampeding To Florida](https://davescottblog.com/residents-fleeing-democrat-asylums-stampeding-to-florida/) - Florida’s residents don’t dare get too close to the state line for fear of being trampled by refugees fleeing Democrat state controlled hellholes to take up safe residence in the sunshine state. Floridians watch in disbelief as residents of California, New York, New Jersey, Michigan etc. are terrorized by antisemitic pro-Hamas, anti-American groups chanting “Death - [“Caveat Emptor” Should Be The Posted At All U.S. Universities; Florida Universities Won’t Tolerate Abusive Campus Behavior](https://davescottblog.com/caveat-emptor-should-be-ivy-league-schools-new-motto-florida-universities-wont-tolerate-abusive-campus-behavior/) - Imagine paying $80,000 to $90,000 or more annually to study at Cornell, MIT, Columbia, George Washington, etc. and then being told not to walk around the campus or attend classes because it's too dangerous. Oh, your graduation ceremonies are cancelled too. That’s what’s happening at college campus across the country to Jewish students and those - [Minshew Comes Out Of Political Closet, Registers Republican As A Commissioner She Would Be The City's Worst Nightmare](https://davescottblog.com/minshew-as-commissioner-is-fernandinas-worst-nightmare/) - Former Fernandina Pride President Genece Minshew (pictured above) has “come out of the closet” in her third run for a Fernandina Beach City Commission seat, registering as a Republican. Minshew, abandoned City Commission candidate Tim Poynter’s campaign, where she was serving as treasurer, to embark on her third attempt to secure a Commission seat. She - [Fat Men From Space Advised To Avoid The “Bosey Burger”](https://davescottblog.com/fat-men-from-space-told-to-avoid-bosey-burger-menu-items/) - Joe Biden spoke — or more accurately, mumbled and slurred a series of run-on sentences — at a campaign event in Pennsylvania, April 17. He had just returned from the Scranton Veterans Memorial Park, where his late uncle Ambrose J. Finnegan Jr.’s name is reportedly listed on a memorial wall. It instantly became obvious why - [Don't Worry About The Women & Children, Hide The Burgers! The Fat Men From Space Are Headed Back To Nassau County](https://davescottblog.com/dont-worry-about-the-women-children-hide-the-burgers-the-fat-men-from-space-are-headed-back-to-nassau-county/) - Forget developers, tourists, illegal immigrants, and refugees fleeing New York, California and other states economically decimated by Democrats. Nassau County is bracing once again for an invasion of the ravenous Fat Men from space. The last time the Fat Men attacked locally was six years ago, July 2018. The results of that assault can be - [Protest Purpose Perplexes Passersby, Planners, & Protesters](https://davescottblog.com/silent-protesters-appeared-perplexed-about-protest-purpose/) - The April Nassau County Citizens Defending Freedom organization’s regularly scheduled monthly meeting at Amelia Island’s American Beach, Thursday, April 4 attracted a goofy gagged gaggle of sign-waving protestors aghast that folks have opinions that differ from theirs. Without realizing it, a hilariously befuddled crew of protesters publicly displayed the outrageous hypocrisy of the folks that - [PR Pros & Journalists - The Good, The Bad, And The Unhinged](https://davescottblog.com/pr-pros-journalists-the-good-the-bad-and-the-unhinged/) - As a former daily newspaper reporter and public relations practitioner I admire both a well-crafted news story and a factual press release and respect folks that produce them. A reporter’s job is to objectively report news without bias and the PR professional’s job is to present an enterprises’ positions honestly and straightforwardly on relevant topics. - [Thinking Of Buying An EV? Maybe It’s Time To Think Again](https://davescottblog.com/thinking-of-buying-an-ev-maybe-its-time-to-think-again/) - Folks considering the purchase of an electric vehicle should brace themselves for more than sticker shock. If they are still charged up after they get past the price tag and end up with one plugged into an outlet in their garage their troubles could just be beginning. Despite many buyers expressing disappointment with their pricey - [It’s Spring & The “Crack Of The Bat” Beckons](https://davescottblog.com/its-spring-the-crack-of-the-bat-beckons/) - The good news is this is the first week of spring and the even better news is that baseball season officially opens in the U.S. next week Thursday, March 28. There’s something energizing about walking into a baseball park on a warm spring day whether it’s a major league or minor league stadium, a little - [Progressive Pod People Infest Fernandina News Leader](https://davescottblog.com/area-newspaper-infested-with-progressive-pod-people/) - The date the Fernandina News Leader was impregnated by Progressive Pod People can probably be traced back to its acquisition by the New York Times in the 1970s. Once its liberal seed gestated, Mother Ship Times jettisoned its Nassau County progeny from the nest in 2000. Its work here was complete. However, instead of the - [UF's Fired DEI Employees Will Now Have To Work For Pay; Local Lefties Providing Entertainment Not Enlightenment](https://davescottblog.com/ufs-fired-dei-employees-will-have-to-work-for-a-paycheck-local-left-wing-radicals-provide-more-entertainment-than-enlightenment/) - Congratulations to Governor Ron DeSantis and University of Florida President Ben Sasse. They brought common sense back to the University of Florida while at the same time unwittingly solving a workforce issue for Gainesville area Starbucks and other fast food joints. UF, under the leadership of former Nebraska Republican Senator Sasse, recently fired all of - [You might be a Democrat If……](https://davescottblog.com/you-might-be-a-democrat-if/) - In 1989 Jeff Foxworthy produced a hilarious best-selling book titled “You might be a redneck if…” that was an instant sensation and today is in its 30th printing with more than one million copies sold. Foxworthy has since produced a number of equally successful “You might be a Redneck…” books and spinoffs such as “The - [School Superintendent Burns Faces Suits, Complaints, Etc. School Board’s Curtis Gaus Announces He’ll Run For Her Job](https://davescottblog.com/school-superintendent-burns-faces-suits-complaints-etc-school-boards-gaus-announces-hell-run-for-top-job/) - If Nassau County School Superintendent Kathy Burns hasn’t been seen campaigning for reelection it’s understandable, she’s busy battling a rapidly growing list of complaints, a lawsuit and more. In addition to the recently filed lawsuit Burns is wrestling with a public outcry over her excessive one mill tax increase and the highly inflated purchase price - [Amelia Island, Nassau County, Douglas, GA Lose Beloved Icon](https://davescottblog.com/amelia-island-nassau-county-lose-a-beloved-icon/) - Amelia Island, lost a beloved icon last Saturday, February 10, with the passing of Francis Lott, 87. Although he originally hailed from Douglas, Georgia, it didn’t take long for his good nature and word of his economic, community and charitable activities to spread throughout Nassau County. He and his efforts are held in as high - [Florida Leads U.S. In Movement To Take Back Public Schools; Nassau School Board Sued For Access To Student Curricula](https://davescottblog.com/florida-leads-u-s-in-movement-to-take-public-schools-back/) - Left-wing indoctrinators have infested all levels of academia across the country, from Maine to Florida and California to Texas, not just the recently exposed Ivy League institutions of Harvard, Penn, and MIT. Local school boards around the country have been contaminated by “gender affirming” radicals who attempt to isolate parents from their children while universities - [Economy & Illegal Aliens Key Concerns Say Nassau Residents; But Local Media Say No Problem There’s Nothing To See Here](https://davescottblog.com/economy-but-local-media-say-democrats-have-both-under-control/) - Voters in Nassau County and nationally unanimously and mutually agree that illegal immigration and the inflation-wracked economy are the two issues that concern them most. Former President Donald Trump overwhelmingly leads President Joe Biden on the economy and immigration, which are two top issues to swing-state voters, according to the national Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll. U. - [Fernandina News Leader Cuts Off Its Own “Nose for News”](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-news-leader-cuts-off-its-own-nose-for-news/) - In his Wednesday, January 17 “Steve’s Marketplace” News Leader column veteran journalist Steve Nicklas detailed his August 2021 personal observation of illegal aliens arriving at Jacksonville International Airport. Absent from his column was how he had a major national news story snatched from him by the short-sightedness of the paper’s former editor, Scott Byran. Last - [Cranky Columnists, Celebrity Cyclists & Bold Billboards](https://davescottblog.com/cranky-columnists-celebrity-cyclists-bold-billboards/) - (Following – in no particular order – is a conglomeration of local items and musings unlikely to be found in other area media.) Where did the bi-weekly newspaper, Fernandina News Leader find its two leftist opinion columnists, Mark Tomes and Chuck Oliva? Were they picked up at a yard sale or plucked from a “clearance” - [Local Politician, “Journalist” Get Deserved Public Beat Downs](https://davescottblog.com/local-politicians-journalist-receive-deserved-public-beat-down/) - You never know who might be sitting next to you in a restaurant, barbershop, bar, or coffee shop so it’s probably wise to choose your words with care before speaking to strangers. For example, former City Commissioner Mike Lednovich boasted this past Wednesday that he was a “journalist” for the online Fernandina Observer after asking - [College Wokeism Exposed By Fernandina Beach FSCJ Student](https://davescottblog.com/college-absurdities-revealed-by-local-fscj-student/) - A discerning young Fernandina Beach student enrolled at Florida State College at Jacksonville demonstrated how much more perceptive she is than the far left indoctrinators that staff that institution anticipated. This alert young freshman displayed that her thought processes aren’t susceptible to the barrage of woke silliness they spew when she pointed out to her - [Is Florida’s Swamp Ape Now Living On Cumberland Island? Fernandina Man Pleads Guilty To Making SCOTUS Death Threat](https://davescottblog.com/maybe-floridas-swamp-ape-lives-on-cumberland-island-fernandina-man-guilty-of-making-scotus-death-threats/) - (Have a happy Christmas and prosperous New Year. This column will return Friday, January 5.) For many decades Florida residents and tourists claim to have spotted a fur covered ape-like creature that has been tagged with names ranging from Swamp Ape and Skunk Ape to Florida Yeti and Big Foot, among others. Most - [Are Ivy League Institutions Offering Degrees in Nitwittery? Baseball Will Soon Be Unaffordable For Its Most Loyal Fans](https://davescottblog.com/are-ivy-league-institutions-offering-degrees-in-nitwittery-baseball-will-soon-be-unaffordable-for-its-most-loyal-fans/) - Perhaps nobody better describes the muddled mumbo jumbo and leftist arrogance spewed by the three nitwit presidents of Harvard, MIT, and Penn than Fernandina Beach/Gainesville resident commentator, columnist and pundit, Jeff Childers, in his online Coffee and Covid commentary. Attorney Childers used his sharp literary skills to dice the three pathetically smug distaff stooges’ faculty - [Columnist Says “Bidenomics Is Working”! Really? For Whom? Fernandina City Commission Session Resembled an AA Meeting](https://davescottblog.com/columnist-says-bidenomics-is-working-really-for-whom-fernandina-city-commission-session-resembled-an-aa-meeting/) - I assumed the “Bidenomics is working” headline in Friday’s November 24 News Leader was parody and was prepared for a few chuckles. They never materialized. The writer, Mark Tomes, was as serious as an alcoholic in a beer chugging contest. For older News Leader readers, “Bidenomics” probably brings back memories of the Jimmy Carter years - [Instead of Hailing Israel U.S. Liberals Are "Seig Heiling" Hamas](https://davescottblog.com/instead-of-hailing-israel-americas-left-is-seig-heiling-hamas/) - Instead of recoiling in revulsion and demanding a reckoning, the American left insists that Israel play nice with the October 7 Hamas Islamic butchers. The psychopathic Hamas terrorist killers attacked Israel without provocation or warning October 7 to intentionally slaughter Jewish women, children, the elderly, and anyone else they came across. These depraved butchers murdered - [HAPPY THANKGIVING](https://davescottblog.com/happy-thankgiving/) - (The regular commentary will resume Friday, December 1.) - [Failed Fernandina Commissioner Failing As A Reporter Too; Democrat Math Doesn’t Add Up For American Businesses](https://davescottblog.com/failed-fernandina-commissioner-now-failing-as-reporter-democrat-math-doesnt-add-up-for-american-businesses/) - (Due to the Thanksgiving holiday I'll take a break next week and resume the blog again Friday, December 1.) It must be galling to Mike Lednovich, a failed City Commission reelection candidate and wannabe journalist for the pathetic online sight-impaired Fernandina Observer, to realize that he is distrusted and mocked by a clear majority of - [Local Pride Group Ignores Worst Atrocity Since Holocaust; Yet Demands City Issue Proclamation About A 1999 MA Death](https://davescottblog.com/local-pride-group-ignores-worst-atrocity-since-holocaust-demands-city-issue-proclamation-about-unsolved-99-death/) - When Hamas barbarians attacked Jewish communities in Israel October 7, killing, raping, beheading, and burning 1,400 and kidnapping 240 the Fernandina Beach Pride group remained silent. Yet because one person in Massachusetts was killed in 1999 in a still unsolved incident this local crowd demanded this week that the Fernandina Beach City Commission issue a - [College Campuses Have Become Hotbeds Of Hate & Hypocrisy; The Blind Observer Intentionally Endangers First Responders](https://davescottblog.com/college-campuses-have-become-hotbeds-of-hate-the-blind-observer-intentionally-endangers-first-responders/) - It’s shocking how quickly U.S. college campuses transformed from being ridiculous clown shows packed with whimpering sniveling snowflakes into dangerous seething cauldrons of violent antisemitic hatred? What happened to all the speech codes and the assortment of pronouns universities insist students must use along with demands for expulsion for saying anything “hurtful” to minorities? Where - [When Will Fernandina's Knight in Shining Armor Arrive?](https://davescottblog.com/where-is-fernandina-beachs-knight-in-shining-armor/) - The difference between the “smash-and-grab” mobs in major U.S. cities and those committing similar crimes in Fernandina Beach are the thugs performing the mayhem and their tactics. Merchants in Fernandina ranging from one-person operations selling hot dogs to a guy and his wife peddling coffee have been victims of the city's mob, their businesses now - [When Will Former City Hall Embarrassment Mike Lednovich Explain His Support Of Pro-Hamas Black Lives Matter Haters?](https://davescottblog.com/when-will-former-city-hall-embarrassment-mike-lednovich-explain-his-support-for-pro-hamas-black-lives-matter/) - Mike “Left-Coast” Lednovich, a defeated Fernandina Beach commissioner, who alarmed residents with a series of pratfalls and bizarre antics during his one term, is publicly criticizing current Commissioner and Mayor Bradley Bean, a dignified, articulate, and highly-respected city representative – all the things Lednovich wasn’t when he was a Commissioner. California transplant Lednovich, a failed - [Congressional & College Crazies Celebrate Israeli Carnage; America's Haters And Elected Loons Date Back Many Decades](https://davescottblog.com/congressional-america-haters-and-elected-loons-date-back-many-decades/) - Appalling pro-Hamas comments by members of the so-called U.S. Congressional "Squad" to defend the Hamas massacre in Israel are justifiably generating condemnation. Even the White House’s normally inept Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre joined in slamming the repugnant comments being made by Representatives Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rashida Tlaib, D-MI), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Cori Bush (D-MO) - [Want To Get Rich? Amelia Author Entertainingly Explains How](https://davescottblog.com/want-to-get-rich-local-author-entertainingly-explains-how/) - In 1965 Amelia Island resident Pat Keogh was attending law school in Washington, D.C. holding down a fulltime job as a 21-year-old intern with the federal government’s General Services Administration and bought his first house. A few months later he bought another one. He has never slowed down. Over the years Keogh, an Amelia Island - [Local GOP Representative Dean Black Exposes Florida's Dems As His Talk Verifies Book: “The Democrat Party Hates America”](https://davescottblog.com/local-gop-representative-dean-black-exposes-floridas-dems-confirms-levins-book-the-democrat-party-hates-america/) - Prior to attending a talk by Republican District 15 Florida House of Representative Dean Black, last Monday evening, September 25, I was reading Mark Levin’s latest book: “The Democrat Party Hates America.” Black’s first-hand experiences with the Democrat Party’s Marxist tactics in Tallahassee, verifies the reality of Levin’s book. The danger is closer to home - [News Leader’s Editorial Pages Taken Over By The Far Left; Fernandina Forces Hillbilly Hotdogs To Move Out Of Town](https://davescottblog.com/news-leaders-opinion-page-taken-hostage-by-the-far-left-fernandina-forces-hillbilly-hotdogs-to-move-out-of-town/) - When someone at the Fernandina News Leader shouted: “Take out the garbage!” instead of hauling it to the curb Editor Tracy Dishman shoveled it all onto the paper’s Wednesday, September 15 Opinion page. Two of the guilty litterers are a pair of far-left New Yorkers via Florida and back, Chuck Oliva, and Mark Tomes. They've - [China Is Getting Its Money’s Worth From Its Biden PR Team; Ross-Lednovich Cranks Continue Confrontational Craziness](https://davescottblog.com/china-is-getting-its-moneys-worth-from-its-biden-pr-team/) - The millions of dollars China is funneling into the Hunter-Joe family “business” organization is paying off handsomely for the Chicoms as demonstrated by Joe Biden’s performance on the world stage in Southeast Asia Sunday, September 10. During his rambling, slurred and at times incomprehensible talk last Sunday evening in Communist Vietnam, America’s well-placed and generously - [Batten Down The Hatches Sailor Jack, It's Possible There Could Be A Tsunami Of Insanity Headed In Your Direction](https://davescottblog.com/brace-yourself-sailor-jack-there-could-be-a-tsunami-of-insanity-headed-in-your-direction/) - Cracker Jack has been a staple at baseball parks since their introduction in 1896, some 126 years ago. The lyrics to the 1908 song “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” immortalized the brand with its “Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack…” lyrics still being sung at games all across America today. When the - [The Government Spews Whoppers About EVs and Covid](https://davescottblog.com/the-government-spews-whoppers-about-evs-and-covid/) - Has anybody anywhere read or heard any RELIABLE government information about covid and the vaccines? I haven’t. According to Covid & Coffee blogger and part time Fernandina Beach resident Jeff Childers, there isn’t any. Both Linda and I can testify to that. Be very suspicious of anything the government tells you about covid. Remember when - [The Nassau County School Board Needs A Spanking!](https://davescottblog.com/the-nassau-county-school-board-needs-a-spanking/) - The Nassau County School Board won't tell local tax payers how it spends their money. Nassau Citizens Defending Freedom (NCDF) Director Jack Knocke and one of his Board members, Rich Lamken, have been attempting for several months to discover how the massive County School Board budget is being spent. Their efforts have been repeatedly thwarted - [Teenage Stock Market Prodigy Startles Local Library Staff! Fernandina News Leader Prints Karl Marx Essay Winner!](https://davescottblog.com/teenage-stock-market-prodigy-startles-local-library-staff-fernandina-news-leader-prints-karl-marx-essay-winner/) - Fernandina Beach Librarian library director, Julie Cannavino, admitted to local author Pat Keogh earlier this week that she and her staff had never experienced anyone younger than 60 requesting to look at Value Line, a comprehensive investment research and analysis stock market report. So the librarians were stunned when 13-year-old Rory McCready, who was visiting - [Fernandina Resident Turned Government BS Into Cash Cows](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-resident-turned-government-bs-into-cash-cows/) - Fernandina Beach resident, Harvey Slentz, is an example of a government employee who not only can sling BS, but can also profit from it as well. In the early 90’s, Slentz, who served as an executive manager of Louisville's United States Postal Service (USPS) facility, demonstrated why he would be a valuable asset to any - [Fernandina Beach & The Observer Need To Take Out The Trash](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-beach-the-observer-need-to-take-out-the-trash/) - The sad excuse for an online local news outlet Fernandina Observer and Fernandina’s city hall need to take out their garbage. One of the most stomach-churning stenches hereabouts originates from the myopic Observer where Black Lives Matter activist and failed former Fernandina Beach City Commissioner candidate Mike Lednovich fantasizes about being a reporter. An equally fetid - [Wake Up Fernandina Beach! We're All Still Getting Ripped Off!](https://davescottblog.com/wake-up-fernandina-beach-youre-getting-ripped-off/) - The city of Fernandina Beach blatantly extorts its residents and only a handful notice, care, or voice concern. Those that financially suffer the most due to the strong-arming by the criminal enterprise running the city’s corrupt unelected administration are afraid to speak up because they fear retaliation from the bureaucrats for future projects. They pay - [Joe Biden’s White House Is Weirder Than Alice’s Wonderland; Studies Say Florida's Coast Fosters Prosperity and Happiness](https://davescottblog.com/joe-bidens-white-house-is-weirder-than-alices-wonderland-studies-say-floridas-coast-fosters-prosperity-and-happiness/) - A first-time visitor to Joe Biden’s White House could undoubtedly relate to Lewis Carroll’s Alice, who tumbled down a rabbit hole and encountered a variety of thoroughly illogical and very strange beings and situations. Instead of a hookah-smoking Caterpillar the visitor would meet a crack pipe-smoking Hunter Biden. Instead of the Mock Turtle, the visitor - [Observer “Reporter" Revels In FL Bashing By Socialist Crowd](https://davescottblog.com/observer-reporter-revels-in-fl-bashing-by-socialist-crowd/) - Bogus local “news” outlet Fernandina Observer whose “observers” are in desperate need of strong corrective lenses, stumbled all over itself July 1 in a hysterical myopic piece by April Bogle. Headlined “Florida’s Worst Legislative Session Ever Attacks Personal Freedom, Some Laws Go Into Effect Today” this gal's fawning biased piece could just as easily been - [It’s A 'Wonderful World’ Viewed Through The Islander’s Lens While The Observer Serves Biased Reporting & Explosive Food](https://davescottblog.com/its-a-wonderful-world-viewed-through-the-islanders-lens-the-observer-forks-up-biased-reporting-explosive-lunches/) - The editorial content in the online Fernandina Observer and the print Amelia Islander magazine are distinctly divergent while their restaurant reviews are interchangeable, both garnished with over-the-top slavering accolades. Readers won’t find a single article in the Amelia Islander Magazine critical of anything, anyone, or anyplace. The online Fernandina Observer, on the other hand, suffers - [Anheuser-Busch’s Marketing Chief’s Awfulness Applauded; Baseball’s Blasphemous Dodgers Can’t Dodge Angry Fans](https://davescottblog.com/anheuser-buschs-marketing-chiefs-awfulness-applauded-baseballs-blasphemous-dodgers-cant-dodge-angry-fans/) - Corporate marketing staffers aren’t worth their weight in three-piece suits if they don’t have the guts to stand up and proclaim why the idiotic promotional programs their bosses are suggesting will spell disaster. They may get fired for being brutally honest and bursting out in uncontrollable laughter during the boss’s presentation, but it beats being - [During Emergency Evacuations EVs Are Concrete Life Boats; The Pride Crowd Demands A Month But Vets Only Get A Day](https://davescottblog.com/during-emergency-evacuations-evs-are-concrete-life-boats-the-pride-crowd-demands-a-month-but-vets-only-get-a-day/) - We’re three weeks into the five-month hurricane season and those of us living on hurricane prone Amelia Island understand that we will eventually be whacked again and should take precautions. Preparedness bulletins I’ve read say that if a hurricane evacuation order is issued residents should anticipate driving 200 miles inland or beyond, depending upon the - [L.A. Dodgers Strike Out By Honoring Anti-Catholic Gay Group; Amelia Island Resident Was An Owner Of The Denver Nuggets](https://davescottblog.com/l-a-dodgers-strike-out-by-honoring-anti-catholic-group-amelia-island-resident-was-an-owner-of-the-denver-nuggets/) - Cultural vandalism is rampant in sports. Major league baseball’s Cleveland franchise banished its beloved mascot Chief Wahoo and their “Indians” name and adopted the insipid “Guardians” moniker. Sadly, the same thing happened when Washington’s milquetoast front office caved to the woke crowd and whose Redskins war paint was washed off after 90 years to reveal - [Eating Smoked Mullet Is Cultural Appropriation! Who Knew?](https://davescottblog.com/smoked-mullet-is-cultural-appropriation-who-knew/) - While pondering what I was going to write about this week along comes reader “Julia” to save my day. Over the years, of all the topics I’ve written about here, in magazines, online, in newspapers, and on bathroom walls, the least controversial would be smoked mullet. With the exception of myself and a few pals, - [‘Avoid Florida’ Says NAACP But It Can’t Explain Why](https://davescottblog.com/avoid-florida-says-naacp-but-it-cant-explain-why/) - The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is warning blacks to avoid Florida but it can’t explain why. Other than spouting baseless generalities such as “Florida is not a safe place for them” and calling the state’s inhabitants “openly hostile” this antiquated and pathetic organization is coming up empty attempting to justify - [Your Childhood Friends: Where Are They Now?](https://davescottblog.com/your-childhood-friends-where-are-they-now/) - In the early 1990s when I headed up Corporate Communications and Advertising for Atlanta-based National Data Corporation (NDC: NYSE) the company “adopted” Kittredge Magnet School for high achievers, grades 4-6. Georgia’s DeKalb County School System sponsored the “adoption” program, to introduce its students to area firms so they could learn about the businesses and the - [Could Tucker Carlson Revive The Flatlining Bud Light Brand?](https://davescottblog.com/could-tucker-carlson-revive-the-flatlining-bud-light-brand/) - Attention Anheuser-Busch! Here’s a proposal that could take your terminal Bud Light brand off life support and miraculously breathe new life into that flatlining brewski. In every bar I’ve been to the past few weeks I hear morbid jokes about the dying brand. Nobody wants it. Even people who traditionally quaff and really liked the - [Gay Events, Lousy Journalism, A Cranky Commissioner & More](https://davescottblog.com/gay-events-lousy-journalism-a-cranky-commissioner-more/) - Fernandina Beach has always been a quiet low key Florida backwater and to some degree still is. It resembles almost every other sleepy small Florida coastal community – full of retirees from New York and New Jersey with shoulder-length nose hairs, puttering 10 miles an hour down the middle of the main traffic arteries in - [The 'King of Beers' Is Now The Drag Queen Of Beers](https://davescottblog.com/king-of-beers-now-the-drag-queen-of-beers/) - Anheuser-Bush spent 42 years building Bud Light into one of the most popular beers in the country for men. It took less than a week for the company’s woke VP of marketing to destroy the iconic brand. Instead of creating marketing programs to strengthen its customer base and promote and sell Bud Light to new - [Amelia Island News Wrecker Being Readied For Publication](https://davescottblog.com/amelia-island-news-wrecker-being-readied-for-publication/) - This blog will take a couple of weeks off following this posting to complete work on the upcoming issue of the Amelia Island News Wrecker. The seventh annual tabloid newspaper parody of local events and skewering sacred cows will be published and ready for distribution Thursday, May 3, the day of the annual Shrimp Festival - [Fernandina Beach’s Hair-Cutting & Hot Dog “Angel” In Battle With City’s Extortionist Thugs To Keep Her Businesses Open](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-beachs-hair-cutting-hot-dog-angel-in-battle-with-citys-extortionist-thugs-to-keep-her-businesses-open/) - Colleen Angel, the owner of Fernandina Beach’s immodestly named “Amelia’s Best Barbershop,” is being told by the city of Fernandina that she’s the one who'll be “taking a haircut” if she insists on putting any kind of seating in the parking lot or interior of her Hillbilly Hot Dog eatery and adds signs advertising her - [Biden Bloviates While Bungling Banking Bozos Blow Billions](https://davescottblog.com/15329-2/) - Following two of the biggest bank failures in the U.S. (Silicon Valley Bank and Signature) President Joe Biden went on national TV last Monday and mumbled that the banking system was safe. He concluded by pivoting at the lectern, searching for the door, scratching around for a knob, then shuffling out of the room while - [News-Leader Columnist Condemns America As Racist Country While Its Editor Tells The Readers How Great The Paper Is](https://davescottblog.com/news-leader-columnist-blasts-america-as-a-racist-country-while-its-editor-tells-its-readers-how-great-the-paper-is/) - After reading side-by-side News Leader columns by Editor Tracy Dishman and columnist Mark Tomes Wednesday, March 8, I concur with journalist Jimmy Breslin when he declared, “Media, the plural of mediocrity.” Editor Dishman rambled on like a giddy schoolgirl about how much her friends, colleagues and family enjoy the newspaper she edits. She gleefully relates - [DeSantis Victorious Over Disney’s Army Of Societal Misfits - While Governor’s New Book Soars To Top Of Best Seller List](https://davescottblog.com/desantis-victorious-over-disneys-army-of-societal-misfits-while-governors-new-book-soars-to-top-of-best-seller-list/) - Disney’s far-left army of dwarfs, slumbering hotties, shoeless wannabe princesses, dim clumsy giants, cross dressers, wooden boy puppets, and anthropomorphic rodents, domestic pets and farm animals are no match for Florida’s conservative Governor Ron DeSantis. Not even the company's desperate cries of “Abracadabra” could halt Florida's crusading conservative governor’s victorious march on its “Magic Kingdom.” - [New City Scorecard Says Residents Now Have A Solid Lead](https://davescottblog.com/city-hall-scoreboard-has-residents-with-a-commanding-lead/) - The Fernandina Beach City Commission voted 3-2 to pull the plug on City Manager Dale Martin’s support system terminating his governmental existence hereabouts and effectively putting residents back in charge of their city. Three Commissioners – Darron Ayscue, Bradley Bean and David Sturges – concurred that there was no further hope for the doomed city - [Shouldn’t Fernandina Beach’s City Manager And Attorney Welcome A State Audit That Could Clear Their Names?](https://davescottblog.com/why-wouldnt-fernandina-beachs-city-manager-attorney-welcome-a-state-forensic-audit-to-clear-their-names/) - If Fernandina Beach City Manager Dale Martin and City Attorney Tammi Bach are convinced that the city has never violated state statues by charging extortionist-like fees and it has never illegally transferred money from department-to-department in alleged money laundering schemes that violate state statues shouldn’t they welcome the state to ride in and prove that - [City Hall Variety Show Includes Tongue Lashing, A Potential Firing, And The Ostracism Of A Cantankerous Commissioner](https://davescottblog.com/15048-2/) - Fernandina Beach City Manager Dale Martin was put on notice that his job is on the line, City Attorney Tammi Bach was alerted that her dubious past actions may be catching up with her, and a habitually grumpy cantankerous Commissioner Chip Ross was consistently ignored at the Tuesday evening, February 7, City Commission meeting. The - [A Sneaky Snake Fix For America’s Busted Southern Border; What Good Has Commissioner Ross Ever Done For The City?](https://davescottblog.com/a-sneaky-snake-fix-for-americas-busted-southern-border-what-has-commissioner-chip-ross-ever-done-for-the-city/) - Now he doesn’t have any arms or legs You cannot see his ears And while we are not looking He’s stealing all of our beer --- Lyrics from Tom T. Hall’s Sneaky Snake Texas is awash with tens of thousands of illegal immigrants pouring into that state each week while at the same time Florida - [Fernandina Beach Residents Editorially Hammer City Hall](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-beach-residents-factually-punch-out-city-hall/) - Fernandina Beach’s “consigliore” Tammi Bach and pompous gasbag Commissioner Chip Ross took it on their chins by well-researched opinion editorials penned by two informed residents in the Wednesday, January 26, 2023, print News Leader. Glen Stettler (With new City Commissioners new honesty”, Fernandina News Leader, Wednesday, January 25, 2023) literally pounded City Attorney Bach for - [Losers’ Sour Grapes, Poll Manipulation & Illegals Locally](https://davescottblog.com/losers-sour-grapes-poll-manipulation-local-illegals/) - Illegal immigrants in Nassau County enrolling their kids in Nassau County public schools can do so without worry or cost says Biden’s U.S. Department of Education. In fact, the Nassau county School System says it has no idea how many illegals may be enrolled in its school system and it has no way of finding - [Grieving TCU Fans Can Call On Herb’s Café Support Group](https://davescottblog.com/grieving-tcu-fans-can-call-on-herbs-cafe-support-group/) - If you are a TCU fan or a Texan who wants to erase the ugly memory of Monday night’s, 65-7, national football college championship drubbing of the Horned Frogs by Georgia and have your spirits restored, then pick up a copy of the late Dan Jenkins’ 1981 book “Baja Oklahoma”. Reading TCU graduate Jenkins' book - [2022 A Banner Year For Florida Residents Thanks To DeSantis; Governor Leaves Conservatives Cheering & The Left Seething](https://davescottblog.com/2022-a-banner-year-for-florida-residents-thanks-to-desantis-governor-leaves-conservatives-cheering-the-left-seething/) - 2022 was a “very good year” for folks in Florida, Nassau County, and particularly Fernandina Beach. While other states were defunding law enforcement; telling boys they can be girls, girls they can be boys, and even telling kids they can be cats and can use litter boxes (I'm not making this stuff up); releasing violent - [News Leader Columnist Sapp, Reporter Roberts Fail Miserably Southwest Airlines Winner Of 2022 Christmas Grinch Trophy](https://davescottblog.com/news-leader-columnist-sapp-reporter-roberts-fail-miserably-as-southwest-airlines-wins-annual-christmas-grinch-trophy/) - This week’s Wednesday, December 28 Fernandina Beach News Leader scrambled to cobble together a two-column editorial page apology for a misleading and inaccurate article about a downtown developer while at the same time publishing another embarrassing Ron “Get Off My Lawn You Little Bastards” Sapp column right smack next to it. In addition to his - [“Shut Up And Listen” City Manager Tells New Commissioners While News Leader Columnist Offers Some Practical Advice](https://davescottblog.com/shut-up-and-listen-city-manager-tells-new-commissioners-while-news-leader-columnist-nicklas-offers-practical-advice/) - Imagine you were just hired by an organization as one of five people selected to sit on their board to make decisions about the direction of this multimillion-dollar enterprise to ensure that it operates efficiently and in the best interests of the people that hired you. You and your four colleagues will play a major - [“Good Golly Miss Mollie!” Your Talk On Amelia Island Revealed How Feds, Media And Social Media Colluded](https://davescottblog.com/14555-2/) - The suppression of the Biden scandal and the federal government’s and media’s blatant participation in it was highlighted this past Sunday evening, December 11, by Federalist senior editor and Fox News contributor, Mollie Hemingway, who spoke to a crowd of almost 400 at Amelia Island’s Omni Hotel. Hemingway, who was a guest of Nassau County's - [Will Fernandina's Voters Turn Out & Maintain The Momentum That Inspired Family Values Voters To Make Fla Bright Red?](https://davescottblog.com/will-fernandinas-voters-turn-out-maintain-the-momentum-that-inspired-family-values-voters-to-make-fla-bright-red/) - Floridians made it very clear this past election that they won’t vote against their own self interests? On November 8 Florida voters declared that they won’t tolerate higher taxes; teachers unions and their school indoctrination garbage; liberal prosecutors; rising crime rates; and the idiocy of woke culture. In a nutshell, they don’t want radical Democrats - [Fernandina’s Future At Stake In December 13 Election Runoff As Lednovich-Minshew Reject Traditional American Values](https://davescottblog.com/fernandinas-future-at-stake-in-december-13-election-runoff-as-lednovich-minshew-reject-traditional-american-values/) - In his November 8 victory speech in Tampa Governor Ron DeSantis said: “Freedom is here to stay.…we chose facts over fear, education over indoctrination, law and order over rioting and disorder.” Governor DeSantis rightfully pointed out that Democrats have discarded American beliefs saying: “The survival of the American experiment requires a revival of true American - [Why Are Struggling Local News Outlets Alienating Readers?](https://davescottblog.com/why-are-struggling-news-outlets-alienating-readers/) - Newspaper editorials used to have significant influence and sway with readers. They contained well-researched factual material to back up their opinions. The Internet changed all that. The print media couldn’t compete, and many went under leaving a handful of dailies and weeklies struggling for any remaining advertising dollars and readership. The papers that endured are - [Two Fernandina Beach City Commission Candidates Actively Promoting Programs Designed To Sexualize Local Children](https://davescottblog.com/two-fernandina-beach-city-commission-candidates-promote-programs-to-sexualize-children/) - Following his impressive win November 8 Governor Ron DeSantis proclaimed: “Florida is where woke comes to die.” Well, it’s still thrashing around in Fernandina Beach and voters here have an opportunity to drive a stake through its heart December 13. DeSantis won reelection mainly because he championed traditional American values, particularly parental rights, over the - [Will Fernandina Remain Bedford Falls Or Become Pottersville? City Voters Will Decide December 13](https://davescottblog.com/will-fernandina-remain-bedford-falls-or-become-potterville-city-voters-will-decide-december-13/) - Fernandina Beach residents have another chance Tuesday, December 13 to prevent their idyllic community going from a classic Norman Rockwell setting to a far left hellscape of cultural demolition and wokeness. Two of the worst candidates to ever run for elected office in Fernandina Beach – activist left wingers Genece Minshew and Mike Lednovich – - [Two Fernandina Commission Candidates Hiding Perverse Views](https://davescottblog.com/two-fernandina-commission-candidates-hiding-perverse-views/) - Two Fernandina Beach City Commission candidates are being deliberately dishonest and evasive with voters by concealing their backgrounds and refusing to respond to questions about their views that all other candidates have openly answered. I highlighted this issue last week, but because this election is so vital to the future of Fernandina Beach it demands - [Voter Warning! Two Left-Wing Extremist City Commission Candidates Want To Drastically Change Fernandina Beach](https://davescottblog.com/voters-beware-there-are-two-extremist-city-commission-candidates-that-want-to-change-the-image-of-fernandina/) - The election of two extremist candidates November 8 would change Fernandina Beach in ways that would leave most residents and visitors shocked and have moms and dads scrambling to cover their children’s eyes and ears. In Nassau County, where the vast majority of voters are registered Republican, two candidates running for seats on the Fernandina - [In Case Of Emergency Run Away From That EV -- Not In It!](https://davescottblog.com/in-case-of-emergency-run-away-from-that-ev/) - Electric vehicles are great, unless you want to go someplace in a hurry like, you know, the emergency room or maybe take an evacuation route while looking in your rearview mirror at a wildfire, flood, or tornado. They’re also terrific, unless you want to take a road trip to a wilderness area, a national park, - [Democrat States’ Pain Becoming Florida’s Gain](https://davescottblog.com/liberal-states-pain-becoming-floridas-gain/) - While Chicago, New York, and major California cities are losing corporations and residents Florida is benefiting as those people and companies fleeing high taxes and crime are finding a safe haven in the Sunshine State, particularly in cities like Miami, which resembles a boom town. The polices of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, U.S. Senators Marco - [After Ian Blasts Florida The Governor Blasts A Biased Media](https://davescottblog.com/after-ian-blasts-florida-gov-desantis-blasts-biased-media-governor-his-team-are-applauded-while-media-discredited/) - CNN demonstrated this past Sunday why it’s rapidly losing viewers when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis displayed how adept he is at handling biased media during an interview with a CNN dolt posing as a news reporter. “Do you stand behind Lee County’s decision to not have that mandatory evacuation until the day before the storm?” - [Prices Continue To Climb For Florida Houses Ian Left Behind](https://davescottblog.com/prices-climb-for-florida-houses-that-ian-left-behind/) - (This week's commentary was completed while Hurricane Ian was rolling by Amelia Island and in hopes that my Florida relatives, friends, and neighbors survived it safely with no serious damage to their properties. Also, a huge “Thank you" and shout out to the Nassau County Emergency Management Department and county Public Information Officer Sabrina Robertson - [The “New Normal” From An Abnormal Administration](https://davescottblog.com/the-new-normal-from-an-abnormal-administration/) - Americans are experiencing what is called the “new normal.” This “new normal” is directed by a group of faceless unelected bureaucrats that are pulling abnormal Joe Biden’s strings causing economic, educational, social, and personal misery for millions. In spite of the obvious chaos, the puppet masters and ventriloquists hiding behind the Oval Office curtains keep - [Bizarre “Cocktail Napkin” Defense Offered By City Consigliere To Justify Trial Losses & Alleged Illegal Impact/Capacity Fees](https://davescottblog.com/bizarre-cocktail-napkin-defense-offered-by-city-consigliere-to-defend-trial-loses-alleged-illegal-impact-capacity-fees/) - Comments at the Tuesday, September 6 Fernandina Beach City Commission session by resident Glen Stettler combined with his August News Leader opinion editorial, have revived the contention swirling around the city’s alleged illegal impact/capacity fees and building code mismanagement. In Stettler’s Wednesday, August 26 News Leader op-ed piece (“View from the cheap seats”) and his - [They’re From The Government And They’re Here To Help](https://davescottblog.com/theyre-from-the-government-and-theyre-here-to-help/) - I’ve known local resident Fred Borakove for more than 10 years. He’s a very pleasant man, smart, courteous, well-read, and well-spoken. He’s also a retired employee of the Internal Revenue Service, serving full time from 1971 to 2003. Following his IRS employment, Fred served from 2003 to 2012 as a Senior Law Enforcement Advisor for - [Media & Democrats Take Lying And Deception To New Heights](https://davescottblog.com/media-politicians-take-lying-to-new-heights/) - Prominent Ohio Republican Congressman Jim Jordan told an enthusiastic crowd at Amelia Island’s Walkers Landing last night (Thursday, September 1) that the media and the Democrats are in lockstep and “the disdain they have for ‘We the people’ is scary.” Speaking without notes or a teleprompter, the eloquent 15-year influential congressman didn’t hold back in his - ['Come On Man' Where’s The Black Book?](https://davescottblog.com/come-on-man-wheres-the-black-book/) - For fun let’s assume that the real reason behind the DOJ’s and FBI’s unprecedented raid on former President Donald Trump’s Florida home was that the Dems were desperately searching for child molester Jeffrey Epstein’s little black book of guests who visited his fantasy island of underaged girls in the Caribbean. The late Epstein’s girlfriend, Ghislaine - [Amelia Island Journalist Witnessed American Media’s Demise He Chronicles The Sordid Details In His Upcoming Book](https://davescottblog.com/amelia-island-journalist-witnessed-american-medias-demise-he-chronicles-the-sordid-details-in-his-upcoming-book/) - Mainstream journalism in America is on its death bed and Amelia Island’s Ken Timmerman was one of the first casualties when it was attacked from within. Timmerman was an international reporter some 30 years ago when the media administered its first self-inflicted wound. He has publicly chronicled its demise ever since. He was there at - [Forget Illegals, Drug Smugglers, Sex Offenders & Terrorists The FBI And The IRS Are After Folks That Offend Democrats](https://davescottblog.com/forget-illegals-drug-smugglers-sex-offenders-terrorists-the-fbi-and-the-irs-are-after-folks-that-offend-democrats/) - Hypocrisy, dishonesty, lying, and cheating don’t even begin to describe today’s Democrats. The total politicization and weaponization of the IRS and FBI by the Democrat party is now complete as evidenced by the FBI’s raid of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home this week and the morbidly obese spending bill voted on by every Democrat - [News Leader Writer's Book Review Causes Mental Dyspepsia](https://davescottblog.com/news-leader-columnists-book-review-yields-mental-dyspepsia/) - Fernandina Beach News Leader columnist and former local car dealership owner, Rick Keffer, wrote in his Friday, July 29 "Keffer’s Corner" column (“A historic eye opener”) that he recently read a book, something he admitted he rarely does. He wrote, “I am not a book reader” but “digested this one ‘bit by bit’ and ”learned - [City Manager’s Budget Adds To Fernandina’s Economic Pain; City’s Fiscal Shenanigans Need State Forensic Investigation](https://davescottblog.com/city-managers-budget-adds-to-fernandinas-economic-pain-citys-fiscal-shenanigans-need-state-forensic-investigation/) - Fernandina Beach residents got hit harder financially than most others due to the lingering effect of the pandemic on the tourism industry and inflation’s impact on the numerous local retirees on fixed incomes. The pandemic knocked area residents for a fiscal loop. Busted supply chain issues added to the misery with retailers and shoppers still - [Costs Of Owning An Electric Car May Be A Shocker](https://davescottblog.com/perils-of-owning-an-electric-car-may-be-a-shocker/) - Electric Lemon would be a great name for a band particularly if they were as awful as the name implies. An electric lemon is exactly what a St. Peterburg, FL teenager named Avery Siwinski got according to news reports out of that Pinellas County community. The teenager’s used electric car conked out on her after - [“California Here We Go” Sing Residents Headed to Florida](https://davescottblog.com/california-here-we-go-sing-residents-headed-to-florida/) - While Miami is welcoming Chicago‘s $51 billion dollar Citadel hedge fund, and Texas is toasting the arrival of that violent city’s Boeing and Caterpillar headquarters operations, clueless sad sack Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is toddling off to Europe to promote her crime-ridden city as a viable place to do business. At the same time as - [Former Nassau County Exec. Joins DeSantis Administration](https://davescottblog.com/former-nassau-county-executive-joins-desantis-administration/) - Laura DiBella, Former Nassau County Economic Development Director and head of the Ocean Highway and Port Authority of Nassau County, has accepted a position this week in Florida Governor Rob DeSantis’s administration as Deputy Secretary of Commerce for the State of Florida. You read it here first. In her new position, which she assumes July - [Could Our Military Be Defeated With "Forbidden" Pronouns? You Can't Drink Abortion Protestors Pretty At Closing Time](https://davescottblog.com/our-enemies-have-new-weapons-shouting-the-wrong-pronouns-theres-no-drinking-these-protestors-pretty-at-closing-or-any-other-time/) - After viewing a recent U.S. Navy training video Chinese, North Korean and Iranian military leaders must be concluding: “WOW! This is going to be a lot easier than we thought.” A wildly woke training video featuring two rainbow-clad U.S. Navy sailors explaining how to create a “safe space” by using “proper gender pronouns,” and “inclusive - [The Woke Mob Celebrates Gender Appropriation](https://davescottblog.com/the-woke-mob-celebrates-gender-appropriation/) - Remember when kids were scolded by loony left-wing extremists for wearing sombreros on Halloween, telling them it was a form of demeaning appropriation? They said the same about white restauranteurs who sold tacos and burritos. Don’t even think of wearing black face unless you’re the Prime Minister of Canada (Justin Trudeau) or a Democrat Governor - [Are Escalating Taxes Sinking Our Island Paradise?](https://davescottblog.com/are-escalating-taxes-sinking-our-island-paradise/) - Are we losing our island paradise? (The following commentary was submitted by Dr. Gerald (Jerry) Decker, a regular local guy who pays his taxes, mows the lawn, and takes out the trash. Dr. Decker moved to Fernandina Beach a little more than 15 years ago from Fairfax, Virginia, where he and his wife raised their - [Biden’s America Beginning To Resemble A Soviet Era Hellhole](https://davescottblog.com/bidens-america-starting-to-resemble-a-soviet-era-hellhole/) - I’m old enough to remember watching news reports about the Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellite states describing electricity blackouts, stores with empty shelves and people standing in long lines at shops to purchase scarce necessities. Commentators explained how only government officials had access to nice homes or cars and how only government employees - [FL Sheriffs Voice “Graveyard Dead” Consequences For Killers As Clueless Democrats Call For Sympathy & Understanding](https://davescottblog.com/fl-sheriffs-express-graveyard-dead-aspirations-for-killers-as-clueless-democrats-request-sympathy-understanding/) - Democrats want to take guns away from law abiding citizens and erect signs that say “gun free zones” to protect school children. Florida’s sheriffs have more practical tactics in mind. Following the massacre of Texas school children last week, a trio of Florida sheriffs articulated their no-nonsense, rationale approach to crazed armed folks who want - [Like A Creepy Perverted Neighbor State Farm Is There](https://davescottblog.com/like-your-creepy-perverted-neighbor-state-farm-is-there/) - I cancelled my coverage with State Farm Insurance Company this week due to an outrageous program the firm initiated in Florida that flies in the face of the majority of the state’s residents, the Florida Legislature, Governor Ron DeSantis, and defies the values of most Americans. A leaked memo from State Farm, said the company's - [Republicans Outnumber Democrats in Florida For First Time; Politicos Have Area Watchdogs Looking Over Their Shoulders](https://davescottblog.com/republicans-outnumber-democrats-in-florida-for-first-time-area-watchdogs-have-politicos-looking-over-their-shoulders/) - Late last year, for the first time in Florida history, Republican voter registration surpassed that of Democrats. The Florida GOP now enjoys a state-wide registration advantage of more than 110,000 voters. Polls also indicate that the large bloc of voters not affiliated with any party are also leaning more conservative than in the past. My - [Does City’s Nervous Silence Foretell An Impending Storm?](https://davescottblog.com/does-citys-silence-foretell-an-impending-storm/) - Certain members of the Fernandina Beach City Commission and City Manager Dale Martin have been awfully quiet recently in their defense of the outrageous and out-of-whack city building code charges and the notorious “impact” or “capacity fees” as they are now called. Building and permitting fees the city charges in many cases are five times - [With The SCOTUS Leak The Left Rediscovers Women](https://davescottblog.com/is-the-scotus-leak-a-birthing-person-dilemma/) - With the leak of the SCOTUS opinion overturning Roe vs Wade it appears that the left suddenly discovered that biological women are really a thing? Vice President Kamala Harris said on Tuesday, May 3, that the potential Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade represents an attack on women. Women? Wait! What happened to the - [Area News Media Shuffle Underway](https://davescottblog.com/area-news-media-shuffle-underway/) - A flurry of media activity is taking place in Northeast Florida including reporting and editorial shuffling, an upcoming challenge to the area’s legacy news outlets, and the reemergence of the satirical Amelia Island News Wrecker. Nationally, on Wednesday, April 26, the Biden Administration announced it would take steps to combat misinformation on social media by - [The Next Edition Of The Amelia Island News Wrecker Scheduled To Once Again Misinform Nassau Residents](https://davescottblog.com/the-next-edition-of-the-amelia-island-news-wrecker-scheduled-to-once-again-misinform-nassau-residents/) - This blog will take a break for the month of April while we concentrate on writing and editing articles and selling ads for this year’s Shrimp Festival edition of the Amelia Island News Wrecker. The annual Shrimp Festival News Wrecker wasn’t published the past two years because there wasn’t a Shrimp Fest and the businesses - [Nassau School Board Sessions Are Backwards And Confusing: “A Guy Is A Guy Wherever He May Be” -- "Not So" Says The Left](https://davescottblog.com/nassau-school-board-sessions-are-backwards-and-confusing-a-guy-is-just-a-guy-not-so-fast-say-far-left-loons/) - Nassau County School Board meetings are open to the public and comments are welcomed. Just don’t expect the folks that run the system to pay much attention to your concerns according to feedback I’ve received. Also, don’t waste time searching for amplification in the local media, they’re busy looking after their own interests. The online - [Ukrainian President Has America Yearning For A Real Leader](https://davescottblog.com/ukrainian-president-has-america-yearning-for-a-real-leader/) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s leadership and resolve during the Russian invasion of his country have inspired his countrymen and moved many western democracies to compare him to Great Britain’s iconic World War II leader Winston Churchill. War-ravaged Ukraine is blessed that its leader is an articulate, self-assured head-of-state, whose courage, rhetoric, and resolve inspire and - [The Nassau County School Superintendent Is Stonewalling; And Taxpayer Watchdog Group Is Told To Go Pound Sand](https://davescottblog.com/the-nassau-county-school-superintendent-is-stonewalling-local-tax-payers-and-watchdog-group-on-property-purchase/) - Jack Knocke of the local watchdog group Common Sense is questioning School Superintendent Kathy Burns about why $3.7 million of our tax dollars are being spent on a questionable Yulee property purchase. He was told to pay up, shut up and wait. Knocke, the head of Common Sense, sent a letter to Ms. Burns and - [Fernandina’s Online “Blind Observer” Doxes A Local Resident; Its “Veteran Reporter” Says She Doesn’t Know What Doxing Is](https://davescottblog.com/fernandinas-online-blind-observer-doxes-a-local-resident-its-veteran-reporter-says-she-doesnt-know-what-doxing-is/) - The online Fernandina “Blind” Observer reached an apex of awfulness this week with an article that was so exceedingly tasteless and inappropriate it’s hard to know where to begin. It inexcusably and unjustifiably attacked a local resident for reasons it can't explain. The Observer, which traditionally serves as a mindless and harmless word-for-word mouthpiece for - [Companies Should Stick To Their Businesses Not Stick It To Us](https://davescottblog.com/ceos-should-stick-to-business-instead-of-sticking-it-to-us/) - Why do corporations and their CEOs believe they need to voice an opinion on issues totally outside of their areas of expertise? If a company manufactures bowling balls why would its CEO think he has an obligation to comment on social activism and politically sensitive issues that have no bearing on the bowling ball business. - [GoFundMe To Canadian Trucker Donors: “Go Screw You!”](https://davescottblog.com/gofundme-to-canadian-trucker-donors-go-screw-you/) - GoFundMe created a justifiable public uproar and backlash when it was caught red-handed in a blatant attempt to outright steal from donors, deceive the public, and betray the community it says it serves. The felonious GoFundMe corporate doofuses flat out told Canadian Freedom Convoy trucker contributors that coughed up more than $10 million that they - [Local "Foar From Home" Crew Receives National Attention For Military Vets After Rowing Across The Atlantic Ocean](https://davescottblog.com/the-foarfromhome-rowing-quartet-gains-national-attention-for-veterans-after-rowing-across-the-atlantic-ocean/) - A quartet of Fernandina Beach military veterans that completed a more than 3,000 mile 51-day row across the Atlantic Ocean to raise awareness and money for veteran suicides is gaining national attention for its extraordinary fund-raising effort. The four -- Billy Cimino (US Army), Cameron Hanson (US Air Force), Hupp Huppman (US Navy) and Paul - [FL Politicians Fight Back Against Feds Dumping Illegals Here; Are Illegals In School System? The Superintendent Won't Say!](https://davescottblog.com/fl-politicos-fight-back-against-feds-dumping-illegals-here-are-illegals-in-countys-school-system-dont-ask-the-superintendent/) - Legislators in Florida, joined by those in Pennsylvania, are fighting back against the Biden regime for dumping thousands of illegal aliens in their home states. Florida legislators, led by local State Senator Aaron Bean and encouraged by Governor Ron DeSantis, are planning on gifting Delaware, Joe Biden's home state, the illegal immigrates flown in from - [Democrats Are Crying ‘Uncle’ As They Face Massive Fallout From Their ‘Woke’ Agenda, Failed Policies & Angry Citizens](https://davescottblog.com/democrats-are-crying-uncle-as-they-face-massive-fallout-from-their-woke-agenda-failed-policies-angry-citizens/) - While running for President Joe Biden vowed to unite Americans. He’s done the exact opposite. Democrats and their “woke,” “BLM,” “Antifa,” “Socialist” and “Critical Race Theory” disciples are demolishing the country’s historical monuments and attempting to alter the history of America’s founding. They’re attacking and trying to annihilate the First and Second Amendments, chiseling away - [Fernandina Beach's Good News Could Mean Bad Tax News With Greedy City Politicos Eyeballing Rising Home Valuations](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-beachs-good-news-could-mean-bad-tax-news-with-greedy-city-politicos-eyeballing-rising-home-valuations/) - The good news for Amelia Island home owners is that this area is located in the second hottest real estate market in the country according to Zillow, an online real estate marketplace company. Number one is the Tampa area. The bad news is that a couple of Fernandina Beach City Commissioners and City Manager Dale - [Democrat Party’s Pantry Contains Only Vile Verbal Abuse; Florida’s 2021 Hospitalization Statistics No Worse Than 2018](https://davescottblog.com/democrat-partys-pantry-contains-only-vile-verbal-abuse-floridas-2021-hospitalization-statistics-no-worse-than-2018/) - Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was smeared as being “missing in action” by leftists while he was accompanying his wife Casey DeSantis during her cancer treatment. The couple made the diagnosis public back in October. Moronic and hypocritical Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY), vacationing mask-less in Miami, was one of the mindless ghouls chiming in. At - [Happy Christmas And A Prosperous New Year To Everyone!](https://davescottblog.com/happy-christmas-and-a-prosperous-new-year-to-everyone/) - (Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year to all the subscribers and readers. Unless something compels me this will be the final column of 2021. Thanks to all of you for your loyal readership, comments, and article ideas this year. I wish you all a bountiful and conservative New Year. The column will resume January - [Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Hitting Back At Joe Biden’s Dumping Of Illegals Into Our State Including Nassau County Schools](https://davescottblog.com/florida-gov-ron-desantis-hitting-back-at-joe-bidens-dumping-of-illegals-into-state-including-nassau-countys-schools/) - Quick! Name one thing Joe Biden and the deep state puppets that manipulate him have done to benefit the residents of Florida and Nassau County. Yeh, I couldn’t either. While Biden’s inventory of beneficial programs is nonexistent the list of abuse and dishonesty his pathetic administration has leveled at Florida is extensive. Florida’s no-nonsense governor, - [Amelia Island Resident Tells How Sen. Dole Changed His Life; How The Country's School Systems Are “Gaslighting” Parents](https://davescottblog.com/how-the-countrys-school-systems-are-gaslighting-parents-amelia-island-resident-tells-how-sen-dole-changed-his-life/) - Following the death of former Republican Senator, majority leader, and 1996 presidential candidate, Bob Dole (98), this past Sunday morning Amelia Island resident Mike Creed told me a story of how Senator Dole changed his life “I remember the call like it was yesterday,” recalls Mike. “It was December 18, 1973, our phone rang at - [The Fernandina Beach Sandbar And Kitchen Toasting Justice By Serving A Special "Kyle Rittenhouse Hat Trick” Cocktail](https://davescottblog.com/the-fernandina-beach-sandbar-and-kitchen-toasts-justice-with-the-kyle-rittenhouse-special-hat-trick-cocktail/) - Kevin Dooner, owner of the popular Fernandina Beach Sandbar & Restaurant on Main Beach, boasts that his establishment serves 1,200 different whiskies, more than any other bar in Florida. I challenged the affable Mr. Dooner on that claim following the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse, defying him to produce a bottle of Rittenhouse Rye. He confidently - [The Biden Administration Is Channeling The '62 NY Mets](https://davescottblog.com/happy-thanksgiving/) - There is no blog this week due to the Thanksgiving holiday. However, you can read my recently published national BizPac Review column at https://www.bizpacreview.com/2021/11/24/dave-scott-biden-makes-62-mets-look-good-1167337/. While I'm thinking about it, I'm sure someone could make a fortune selling tickets to watch Joe Biden debate Joe Biden. Whenever he makes a statement the White House staff comes - [Paying More For Gas, Groceries, Rent, Etc.? Thank Joe Biden!](https://davescottblog.com/12079-2/) - (Happy Thanksgiving! There’ll be no blog next Friday, November 27, as I’m taking a week off to celebrate the holidays. The next one will appear Friday, December 3.) Like me, if you’ve purchased gas hereabouts recently you’ve probably noticed the Joe Biden “I did that” stickers pasted on local gas pumps showing a grinning President - [Despite A Murder And Governor DeSantis Sounding The Alarm Local Media Ignore Alien Invasion & Attack Messenger Instead](https://davescottblog.com/despite-murder-national-press-congressional-exposure-local-media-continue-to-ignore-the-illegal-alien-invasion/) - A murder, illegals being flown into Jacksonville under the cover of darkness, alarms sounded by District 4 U.S. Congressman John Rutherford (R-FL), and a verbal spanking by Governor Ron DeSantis, have all failed to awaken a dozing, indifferent area media to the damage the Biden administration is inflicting on northeast Florida. Just the opposite. Validating - [Florida Times-Union An Example Of A Lousy Daily Newspaper; Floridians Enthusiastically Welcome "Brandon" To The State](https://davescottblog.com/florida-times-union-an-example-of-a-lousy-daily-newspaper/) - I cancelled my daily Jacksonville-based Florida Times-Union newspaper subscription in 2018 when they sent me an invoice for more than $1,100. When I initially subscribed to the paper in 2011 I paid less than $200 a year for a seven-day home delivery. Despite the paper shrinking in size along with continually diminished editorial content and - [The Biden Administration Meets Monty Python & Mel Brooks](https://davescottblog.com/the-biden-administration-meets-monty-python-and-mel-brooks/) - The Biden presidency has become so absurdly preposterous that it could be the subject of a “Blazing Saddles” meets “The Search for the Holy Grail” documentary. The biopic film’s proposed disclaimer would probably read as follows: “This is a work of nonfiction. No names or places have been changed, no characters invented, no events fabricated. - [National Media Reports Feds Are Dumping Illegal Aliens Here While Our Pathetic Local Media Continue To Ignore The Story](https://davescottblog.com/national-media-reports-feds-are-dumping-illegal-aliens-here-while-our-pathetic-local-media-continue-to-ignore-the-story/) - The New York Post, Townhall Weekly, Fox News and more media outlets this week finally reported what I wrote here August 27, six weeks ago -- that the Biden administration has been transporting illegals around the U.S. in the dead of night with the Jacksonville Airport playing a key role. What took them so long? - [Common Sense Is An Alien Concept To Fernandina Commission As It Ignores A Generous Offer By The Common Sense Group](https://davescottblog.com/common-sense-is-an-alien-concept-to-fernandina-commission-as-it-ignores-a-generous-offer-by-the-common-sense-group/) - Fernandina Beach citizen watchdog group Common Sense is an organization consisting of local property and business owners, retirees, professionals, teachers, writers, real estate brokers, corporate executives, laborers and more…..all concerned residents of Fernandina Beach. This group, fronted by entrepreneur and college educator, Jack Knocke, addresses local matters of interest to the community, asking insightful questions - [“Trust Us,” Proclaims The Fernandina Beach City Commission As It Flushes Your Property Tax Dollars Down the Toilet](https://davescottblog.com/trust-us-proclaims-the-fernandina-beach-city-commission-as-it-flushes-your-property-tax-dollars-down-the-toilet/) - Property owners in Fernandina Beach can avoid an upcoming financial drubbing if they ignore the greedy city hall wastrels fevered plea to vote for a proposed $23 million bond issue. In the early years of the U.S. only landowners could vote. Not a bad idea when you consider what the Fernandina Commission has in mind - [Should Fernandina Residents Sue City Hall For Deception?](https://davescottblog.com/should-fernandina-residents-sue-city-hall-for-deception/) - Maybe residents of Fernandina Beach should follow the lead of the folks that filed a class-action lawsuit against Inventure Foods, Inc.? The Inventure suit claims the company is deceiving consumers because it sells “onion ring snacks” that don’t contain any onions, only trace amounts of onion powder. Why don't Fernandina Beach residents file a similar - [Tell City Commissioners To Stop Spending Or You’ll Fire Them! Should Fernandina’s David Yulee Statue Stay Or should It Go?](https://davescottblog.com/tell-city-commissioners-to-stop-spending-or-youll-fire-them-should-fernandinas-david-yulee-statue-stay-or-should-it-go/) - For some inexplicable reason – other than it’s a characteristically senseless far-left Democrat concept – the March American Rescue Plan funds being distributed to states forbids using the $200 billion in tax payer money to lower taxes. In other words, the Democrats in DC want to make sure we don’t get any of our money - [A Marxist Mayor, DOA Letters To The Editor And Much More](https://davescottblog.com/marxist-mayor-doa-letters-to-the-editor-and-much-more/) - Fernandina Beach Mayor “Marxist Mike” Lednovich, apparently wants locals to be aware that airplanes coming and going at the Fernandina Beach Airport make noise. Folks tell me he doesn’t like that. However, I’m not sure, because he won’t talk to me. He bought a house near the airport and has posted social media notices about - [Canadians Provided Solace And Comfort During 9/11 Attack](https://davescottblog.com/canadians-provided-solace-and-comfort-during-9-11-attack/) - Since this week marks the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attack on America by primitive middle eastern Islamic terrorists that resulted in the deaths of some 3,000 men, women, and children I looked for a bright spot to commemorate that terrible tragedy. I found it in the account of an anonymous Delta Flight 15 airline - [U.S. Rep Rutherford Alerts Locals About Illegals & More; Inside Source Says Fernandina Bureaucrats Bungled Budget](https://davescottblog.com/rep-john-rutherford-warns-locals-about-illegals-inside-source-says-fernandina-bureaucrats-bungled-budget/) - Covid-infected illegal aliens flooding into northeast Florida and the Biden administration’s attempt to nationalize America’s police forces were two topics of local interest covered by Republican 4th District Congressman John Rutherford during an appearance at a gathering at Shucker’s Restaurant this past Monday, August 30 attended by a standing-room-only crowd. The Congressman said that some - [JAX Airport A Hub For Illegals Riding The “Biden Express” While Americans Are Running For Their Lives In Afghanistan](https://davescottblog.com/jax-airport-a-hub-for-illegals-riding-the-biden-express-while-americans-are-running-for-their-lives-in-afghanistan/) - Thousands of Americans and their Afghan allies abandoned by the Biden Administration are stranded in a medieval country hunted by fanatical Taliban killers while thousands of illegal aliens in America are being provided plane tickets and luxury buses to be transported around the country at tax payer expense. Detailed information and photos leaked out of - [Joe Biden Becomes First American President To Surrender; Fernandina Beach Mayor Dismisses And Ignores Tax Payers](https://davescottblog.com/joe-biden-becomes-first-american-president-to-surrender-fernandina-beach-mayor-dismisses-and-ignores-tax-payers/) - When the Iranians took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 they took 66 Americans hostage. Today the Taliban in Afghanistan hold thousands of Americans hostage and they didn’t have to lift a finger. Joe Biden handed them over. He closed the impenetrable Bagram air base that provided air cover and an escape hatch, - [U.S. Soccer Sad Sack Sinking Subway’s Sandwich Sales; Fernandina Commissioners Need To Wield A Budget Axe](https://davescottblog.com/u-s-soccer-sad-sack-sinking-subways-sandwich-sales-fernandina-commissioners-need-to-wield-a-budget-axe/) - While watching TV earlier this week an ad for Subway sandwiches appeared featuring the purple haired anti-American, kneeling U.S. female soccer player, Megan Rapinoe, hawking that chain’s sandwiches. The ad prompted wife Linda to comment out loud saying: “That reminds me we got a coupon in the mail for a Subway sandwich that needs to - [Woke Islanders Are Strangers To Logic, Reason & Humor](https://davescottblog.com/woke-islanders-are-strangers-to-logic-reason-humor/) - Meet the Woke Islanders, angry finger-wagging hypocritical scolds dictating what they decree others should be allowed to read, say, and do, while they do the opposite. Don’t confuse Woke Islanders with Wake Islanders, folks who live on one of the most remote and isolated islands in the world in the Pacific Ocean. Their nearest inhabited - [Former Fernandina Exec Lashes Out At Current Hogswallop; "You cannot Be Serious" She Says Of Proposed 7% Tax Hike](https://davescottblog.com/tax-increases-we-dont-need-no-stinkin-tax-increases/) - Fernandina Beach resident Patti Clifford knows her way around a balance sheet, thoroughly understands how corporate and city budgets are prepared, and comprehends the methodology used by enterprises to plan their fiscal years among other complex financial matters. She should. She served 14 years as Controller, Comptroller and Finance Director for the City of Fernandina - [How Can Companies Compete With Government Handouts While They Are Frantically Searching For Employees?](https://davescottblog.com/how-can-companies-compete-with-government-handouts-while-they-are-frantically-searching-for-employees/) - When a restaurant owner asked Joe Bidden at this week’s CNN Townhall meeting in Cincinnati what he could do to encourage people to come back to work Biden unashamedly told him: “Pay them more.” The sock puppet, who has never held a private sector job in his life, said this while his administration is paying - [Area Lib Screams For Attention With Pricey Newspaper Ads But All They Buy Are Reader Ridicule And Head Scratching](https://davescottblog.com/area-liberal-screams-for-attention-with-pricey-newspaper-ad-but-all-it-buys-him-is-reader-ridicule-and-head-scratching/) - Jumbled left-wing gibberish gushes out of Stephan R. Leimberg like tortured screams. He clutters local newspapers with full page advertising messages but is incapable of conveying a coherent message that a rational reader would take seriously or comprehend, much less act on. He apparently has the funds to purchase pricey forums but lacks the talent - [Could Brett’s Waterway Café’s Impending Watery Departure Open The Door To A City-Owned Gastronomic Catastrophe?](https://davescottblog.com/could-bretts-waterway-cafes-impending-watery-departure-open-the-door-to-a-city-owned-gastronomic-catastrophe/) - Downtown Fernandina’s Brett’s pier-based restaurant’s condemnation, impending deterioration, and imminent plop into the water opens a variety of opportunities that the city is currently exploring that will represent the re-enactment of an old Marx Brothers script. Folks unfamiliar with the Brett’s issue can go to: https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2021/07/03/fernandina-beach-restaurant-declared-structurally-unsafe-by-city/ Commenting on the city’s future plans for the restaurant - [Fernandina Beach City Attorney Says The Reporting About City On This Site Is “Malicious”, “Patently False” & “Erroneous”](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-beach-city-attorney-says-the-reporting-here-is-malicious-patently-false-and-erroneous/) - Last Thursday afternoon, June 24 at 2:55 pm, I received an email from Fernandina Beach City Attorney Tammi Bach, castigating me for a May 28 item here that characterized the city’s use of impact fees as “illegal.” In her email she said that a May 28 item in my Blog headlined: “Quiet Please! Criminals At - [Is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Trump Without The Harumph?](https://davescottblog.com/is-fl-governor-ron-desantis-trump-without-the-harumph/) - Those of us that live in Florida are fortunate, extremely fortunate. In addition to the great weather and beaches the sunshine state is one of the most prosperous in the nation. It boasts the country’s third-largest economy and continues to thrive as more and more businesses and people pour in to escape the economic wrecks - [Fernandina Beach City Manager Obscures With Mumbo Jumbo While City Commissioner Chip Ross Fires Off Another Law Suit](https://davescottblog.com/fernandinas-city-manager-obscures-with-mumbo-jumbo-while-ross-fires-off-another-law-suit/) - Residents of Fernandina Beach will soon be hammered with tax increases, but City Manager Dale Martin thinks he can lull local tax payers into a state of indifference with a series of incomprehensible weekly media columns. Meanwhile his sidekick and self-appointed city spokesperson, City Commissioner Chip Ross, continues his litigious rampage. While Martin's penned sleight-of-hand - [Golf Course Mulligan, Ross Recall, A Blind "Observer" & More](https://davescottblog.com/golf-course-mulligan-ross-recall-a-blind-observer-more/) - The latest results of this site’s recent informal poll asking if Fernandina Beach City Commissioner Chip Ross should be recalled stood at 87 percent saying “yes” and 13 percent “no”. The poll and conversations I’ve had with local folks indicate that the abrasive city commissioner is about as popular hereabouts as Jane Fonda at an - [Residence Inn By Marriott On Sadler Is The Hotel From Hell](https://davescottblog.com/residence-inn-by-marriott-on-sadler-is-the-hotel-from-hell/) - My brother-in-law and his family experienced a memorable Memorial Day weekend they won’t soon forget. Following a more than 1,000-mile drive from Texas, David Pickering – wife Linda’s brother – his wife and 10-year-old grandson, arrived on Amelia Island Saturday evening, May 29, at the 2301 Sadler Road Residence Inn by Marriott only to be - [Books, Battles, Burgers & Beer On Tap At PJD’s Beer Garden](https://davescottblog.com/books-battles-burgers-beer-on-tap-at-pjds-beer-garden/) - Local resident Bill Craun’s book that portrays a fictional account of his life in combat is now published, and the former mercenary will be signing and selling copies tomorrow, Saturday, May 29, beginning at noon at PJD’s Beer and Wine Garden, 12 South 2nd Street downtown. “Working the Kill Zone” details Bill’s actual combat stories - [Biden’s Money Spigot Is Crippling American Businesses; Democrats Voted For Joe Biden And Got Bernie Sanders](https://davescottblog.com/bidens-money-spigot-crippling-american-businesses/) - Anyone in America that doesn’t have a job doesn’t want one. We recently returned from a 2,480-mile driving trip that took us from Amelia Island through north Florida, the southern halves of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas and back home through the upper halves of those states. All along our mostly state and county highway - [Local Online Observer And News Leader Letter Writer Share Similar Disregard For Facts, Logic Or Any Trace Of Objectivity](https://davescottblog.com/local-online-observer-and-news-leader-letter-writer-share-similar-disregard-for-facts-logic-and-any-objectivity/) - If there was an award for ignoring important news, the online Fernandina Observer, edited by wannabe reporters Suanne Thamm and Susan Steger, would run away with that honor as hands down winners of journalism’s P-yew-prize. These two “There’s nothing two see here” editors proclaim their publication is a “journal of news and opinion”. It’s not. - [Gov. Ron DeSantis Sings A Tough Tune To Florida's City Halls: “Take Your Covid BS & Shove It, It Ain’t Working Here No More”](https://davescottblog.com/gov-ron-desantis-sings-a-tough-tune-to-florida-city-halls-take-your-covid-bs-shove-it-it-aint-working-here-no-more/) - With apologies to the late Johnny Paycheck and his classic country song “Take This Job and Shove It” Johnny Paycheck - Take This Job And Shove It (Audio ... Take your BS and shove it It ain't working here no more The governor said so and took all the reasons Ya’ll was working for You better - [Govt. Contempt For Fernandina's Citizens On Public Display](https://davescottblog.com/govt-contempt-of-fernandinas-citizens-on-public-display/) - When we wake up, Linda and I scan the newspaper, turn on the news, then mutually proclaim how fortunate we are to live in Florida, governed by Ron DeSantis. Imagine waking up in New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania, or California and anticipating with dread the bizarre daily abuses to be dispensed by the oblivious - [Knuckleheads, Knuckleballs & Idiots Who Knuckle Under](https://davescottblog.com/10383-2/) - A knuckleball is one of the most difficult pitches to throw and few baseball players have successfully mastered it. However, being a knucklehead is easy. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred became the game’s most notorious knucklehead when he yanked the All-Star game out of Atlanta because of Georgia’s new voting law, a piece of legislation he - [Folks Traveling From Florida To NY, NJ, MI, Etc. Will Feel Like They're Going Through Check Point Charlie Into A Dark Place](https://davescottblog.com/folks-traveling-from-florida-to-ny-nj-mi-etc-will-feel-like-theyre-going-through-check-point-charlie-to-a-dark-place/) - In 1963 as I crossed through Check Point Charlie from West Berlin into communist controlled East Berlin, I had a foreboding I’ll never forget. It was like switching from a happy technicolor musical to a film noir. Only after returning to West Berlin did that dark mood lift. Traveling from Florida to New York, Michigan, - ["Green" Forms Of Energy Leaving Folks Broke & In The Dark](https://davescottblog.com/green-forms-of-energy-leaving-folks-in-the-dark/) - Those hideous, useless, bird-chopping, oil-leaking windmills that froze up in Texas this winter are just one example of the failure of the alternative forms of energy that Democrats tout as they pull the plug on fossil fuels and wonder why they’re freezing in the dark. Oh, and before I lose the thought, where did the - [Tentacles Of Fernandina Beach’s Building Extortion Racket Squeezing Area Developers, Home Owners, Contractors, Etc.](https://davescottblog.com/tentacles-of-fernandina-beachs-building-extortion-racket-squeezing-area-developers-home-owners-contractors-etc/) - Just when you thought the problems with Fernandina Beach’s Building Department couldn’t get worse, they do. Nobody at city hall gives a rip despite the fact that Building Department Director Stephan Beckman and his wayward organization are about as popular hereabouts as a clogged sewer drain. Several residents that have had unfortunate experiences with Mr. - [Final Chamber Of Commerce Building Dept. Survey Results Reveal That A Complete Teardown Is Required Immediately](https://davescottblog.com/final-chamber-of-commerce-building-dept-survey-results-indicate-that-major-renovations-are-required-immediately/) - Final results of the Nassau County Chamber of Commerce survey of the Fernandina Beach Building Department were released last Friday, March 19, and the results weren’t bad – they were worse than bad. Local community watchdog group Common Sense says the 164 responses from builders, businesses, and residents were “unbelievably rotten - 79% not satisfied - [Battle-Hardened Fernandina Baker Pens Fictional Account Detailing His Real-Life War Experiences As A Mercenary](https://davescottblog.com/battle-hardened-fernandina-baker-pens-fictional-account-detailing-his-real-life-war-experiences-as-a-mercenary/) - Many locals hereabouts fondly recall chatting with Bill Craun (59), the amicable baker who greeted them when they walked in the door of Diana’s Bakery at its South 11th Street and Atlantic Avenue location, until it closed more than a year ago. Those who encountered the 6-foot one-inch, 190-pounder in his previous vocation in Iraq - [Fernandina Residents Have Had It With “Shakedown City”! Building Dept. Victims Publicly Exposing Corrupt Tactics](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-residents-have-had-it-with-shakedown-city-building-dept-critics-publicly-exposing-corrupt-tactics/) - A crisis that has been simmering in Fernandina Beach’s Building Department is boiling over. When I began commenting here a few weeks ago about complaints directed at Fernandina Beach’s Building Department, examples confirming the coercion, overcharges, incompetence and outright deception started flowing into my email inbox. Results of a Nassau County Chamber of Commerce City - [Area Citizen Group Has Organized A Public-Private Partnership To Create A Comprehensive Island Waterfront Project](https://davescottblog.com/area-citizen-group-is-planning-a-public-private-partnership-to-complete-a-comprehensive-island-waterfront-project/) - A group of influential, successful, and determined local citizens have come together to provide Fernandina Beach and Nassau County governments, their citizens and businesses an opportunity to realize a project that the Fernandina Beach city government has failed to get off the ground for more than 35 years – an extensive downtown waterfront complex involving - [Fernandina City Hall Adds One More Sneaky Shakedown Fee As It Continues To Pile Onto Its Pandemic-Stressed Taxpayers](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-city-hall-adds-one-more-sneaky-shakedown-fee-as-it-continues-to-pile-on-pandemic-stressed-taxpayers/) - The sneaky methods the City of Fernandina Beach government has of shaking down its financially suffering tax payers are ingenious and know no boundaries. In an article in the online Nassau County Florida Independent (NCFL Independent) Tuesday, February 23, Editor Mary Maguire discovered the city has yet another plan for squeezing cash out of its - [Fernandina City Commission Is Area’s Most Entertaining Venue](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-city-government-areas-most-entertaining-venue/) - Folks seeking entertainment to take their minds off the pandemic should consider attending any Tuesday evening session of the Fernandina Beach City Commission meeting featuring the tragicomic duo of Chip “Sue Their Pants Off” Ross and Dale “The Big Spender” Martin. This past Tuesday Mayor Mike Lednovich joined the duo’s slapstick burlesque act siccing the - [Mandatory Wage Increase Will Hammer Hospitality Industry; Island Eatery Trio Nix Local Group For Ideological Reasons](https://davescottblog.com/federal-mandatory-wage-increase-to-hammer-hospitality-industry-trio-of-island-eateries-inhospitable-to-locals-for-ideological-reasons/) - High school kids working as hostesses and food runners and high school dropouts washing dishes who are anticipating a $15 an hour paycheck may instead find themselves with no jobs and no paychecks. The Biden administration’s plans to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour will only add to the misery of the - [Locals Are Fed Up With Fernandina Officials' Incompetence](https://davescottblog.com/locals-are-fed-up-with-fernandina-officials-incompetence/) - Fernandina Beach residents unhappy with the city’s out-of-control spending, inability to manage projects, and its upside-down list of priorities are increasingly voicing their grievances to their elected city commissioners. Those that take the time to voice their displeasure to the Commission often receive a snarky, dismissive response from the self-righteous, pompous, and self-appointed city spokesperson - [City Hall Loud Mouths Publicly Screaming “Stop The Noise!” Seawall! We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Seawall. We Need A Dam!](https://davescottblog.com/city-hall-loud-mouths-publicly-scream-stop-the-noise-we-dont-need-no-stinkin-seawall-we-need-a-dam/) - While sitting at the Ash Street and South 2nd Street Boat House Restaurant & Bar sipping a beer with News Leader columnist and friend Steve Nicklas this past Tuesday evening we were assailed by blaring outside city hall speakers facing that eatery. Ironically the publicly broadcast City Commission session included a discussion about a “loud - [Florida’s Liberal Invasion & Fernandina’s FEMA Financial Fiasco](https://davescottblog.com/floridas-liberal-invasion-fernandinas-fema-financial-fiasco/) - As I watched another car with New York license plates follow a moving van into our neighborhood the other day I thought, “Oh! Oh! We’re going to soon see something far more dangerous than Covid-19 spreading throughout our state – the contagion of liberalism.” The Chinese couldn’t have cooked up anything more deadly than this - [“Apologist” Duo Driving Media Outlet's Reputation Off A Cliff; City’s “Capo” Ross Says Residents Are Golden Egg-Laying Geese](https://davescottblog.com/fernandinas-capo-says-residents-are-gold-egg-laying-geese-citys-apologist-duo-a-cinch-to-win-prestigious-pr-award/) - The online Fernandina Observer distaff duo of “Editor” Susan Steger and “Reporter” Suanne Thamm should be a cinch to snag the coveted Public Relations Society of America’s (PRSA) 2020 Golden Anvil, the highest achievement award that can be presented to public relations practitioners. Throughout 2020 and earlier, these two PR flacks masquerading under the guise - [Fernandina City Manager Accused Of Discriminatory Behavior](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-city-manager-accused-of-discriminatory-behavior/) - (Editor’s Note: I will be taking time the next two weeks to spend the Christmas holidays with friends and family members. As a result, I won’t be posting this column again until January 8. I appreciate all of the readers who slog through it each week and sincerely hope all of you have a happy - [Fernandina Residents Saddled With Expensive Time Share; Amelia Islander’s Book Predicted Election Cheating Issue](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-residents-saddled-with-expensive-time-share-amelia-islanders-book-predicted-election-cheating-issue/) - Congratulations tax payers of Fernandina Beach on your recent golf course and marina time share deal. What? You didn’t know you owned a time share? The slick talking pitchmen who peddled you these money pits were none other than the notorious local snake oil peddling duo of Fernandina Beach City Manager Dale “The Big Spender” - [Will The New Fernandina Commission Cut Waste & Spending?](https://davescottblog.com/will-the-new-fernandina-commission-end-the-spending-spree/) - If you think your vote doesn’t count, think again. David Sturges, Group 2 candidate for the Fernandina Beach City Commission won the Fernandina Beach City Commission runoff election, this past Tuesday December 8, against Genece Minshew, with 1,719 votes to Minshew’s 1,681, a winning margin of just 38 votes. The turnout of 3,400 represented only - [Fernandina Continues To Splurge On More And More “Stuff”](https://davescottblog.com/city-of-fernandina-beach-continues-to-buy-too-much-stuff/) - In 1981 comedian Gorge Carlin performed a routine called “A place for my stuff.” He exclaimed that houses were merely boxes with lids that contain our stuff, and all that stuff is an expensive and time-consuming burden. He said other people use his stuff, or take and break his stuff, mostly the good stuff. “Sometimes”, - [Amelia Island Professor’s Study Says Young People Fed Up; They Say Technology Is All Work And No Longer Any Fun](https://davescottblog.com/amelia-island-professors-study-says-young-people-fed-up-with-technology-saying-its-all-work-and-no-longer-any-fun/) - When I joined IBM’s public relations department in the early 1970s my job was to educate the public about the benefits of computers to society. The massive computer systems designed, manufactured, and marketed by IBM at that time cost millions of dollars and occupied entire floors of a building. Raised floors, special cooling systems and - [Fernandina's Walls Breached By An Army Of Bureaucrats](https://davescottblog.com/fernandinas-walls-breached-by-an-army-of-bureaucrats/) - For thousands of years fortified city walls were designed to prevent violence and plundering by keeping bad guys out enabling the good guys to go about their business unmolested. Early residents of Fernandina Beach were surrounded by walls of water. They constructed Fort San Carlos on the northwest side of Amelia Island and Fort Clinch - [America Has Survived Worse Than The Biden-Harris Duo](https://davescottblog.com/america-has-survived-worse-than-the-biden-harris-combination/) - Can America survive a Joe Biden Presidency if he's eventually declared the winner? If the United States can survive inept leaders like Jimmy Carter (1976-80), James Buchanan (1857-61) pictured above, center; Franklin Pierce (1853-57) pictured above far left; Andrew Johnson (1865-69), pictured above far right; John Tyler (1841-45) and Millard Fillmore (1850-53), it can certainly - [Area Media Stay Silent About Fernandina's Fiscal Schnanigans](https://davescottblog.com/local-media-outlets-remain-silent-about-fernandinas-fiscal-malfeasance/) - A disturbing “There’s nothing to see here!” parallel exists between the national news media’s coverage of the corrupt Joe Biden family and the local media’s coverage of the “crime syndicate” running the city of Fernandina Beach. As reported by the Wall Street Journal this past Monday, the major media outlets (networks, wire services and major - [Fernandina Beach Responds To Criticism Of Building Fees: Local Women Marchers Publicly Parade Their Delusions](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-responds-to-criticism-of-its-building-fees-local-marchers-publicly-parade-their-delusions/) - When I pointed out last week that building permitting and review fees were almost six times higher in Fernandina Beach than in the county for the exact same commercial properties and more than two times higher for identical residential properties, I received two lengthy responses from the city’s Building Director Stephen Beckman that appeared in - [Fernandina Beach's Price Gouging Has Become An Art Form; Joe Biden's “Lying Dog-Faced Pony Soldier” Is A Local Gal](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-beachs-price-gouging-is-an-art-form-lying-dog-faced-pony-solider-is-a-local-gal/) - If you were shopping locally for a new car and found two identical models that met all your specifications at dealerships directly across the street from each other where would you buy the car? Would you purchase the one on Mike & Taco’s Nassau County lot for $37,876 – which Kelley Blue Book says is - [The Time Has Come For “We The People” To Take Control Of The Fernandina Marina?](https://davescottblog.com/the-time-has-come-for-we-the-people-to-take-control-of-the-fernandina-marina/) - Jack Knocke, and the watchdog group Common Sense he helped create, have conceived a logical, business-like approach for the city to consider in an effort to rescue the city marina from the fiscal lunacy currently running amok in city hall. Mr. Knocke and the Common Sense group are envisaging putting together a team of experienced - [If Blazing Saddles Was About Fernandina Beach It Would Have Been Considered A Documentary](https://davescottblog.com/if-blazing-saddles-was-about-fernandina-beach-it-would-be-considered-a-documentary/) - A well-informed resident observer of the fiscal nonsense taking place at Fernandina Beach’s city hall sent me some well-penned comments this past week stating some obvious facts and asking probing questions. Paraphrasing U.S. Army Chief Counsel Joseph Welch during the late Senator Joseph McCarthy hearings of the 1950's my local well-placed source rightly asks of - [No! We Are Not “All In This Together” -- Unless You’re A Policeman, Doctor, Fireman Or Nurse](https://davescottblog.com/no-we-are-not-all-in-this-together-unless-youre-a-policeman-doctor-fireman-nurse-etc/) - Whenever I hear the folks on the public address system at the local Publix grocery store warn shoppers to “Shop smart, stand six-feet apart – we’re all in this together,” I want to conk them with one of their bowling ball-hard tomatoes. That insipid cliché needs to be sanitized, ostracized, and vaporized. Unless we all - [Attention Democrats! Karl Is Not A Marx Brother](https://davescottblog.com/attention-democrats-karl-is-not-a-marx-brother/) - When I see and hear Democrats, TV news talking heads, newspaper columnists, professional sports team executives and their players, corporate CEOs, and Nassau County locals praising and donating money to Black Lives Matter (BLM) I’m appalled. Do they have any idea what BLM is and what it represents? If they do it's worse than I - [Conventions Provide Two Contrasting Views - GOP: Hope & Optimism; Dems: Gloom & Doom](https://davescottblog.com/conventions-provide-two-contrasting-views-gop-hope-dems-gloom-doom/) - The contrast between the dark, gloomy, negative atmosphere of last week’s Democrat Convention and the upbeat Republican one this week couldn’t be greater. The RNC successfully portrayed America as a nation filled with optimism and hope and an agenda to fulfill that vision. The Democrats portrayed the country as a nation of victims, hopelessness, and - [Things Are Getting “Curiouser and Curiouser” Here In Our Fernandina Beach City Rabbit Hole](https://davescottblog.com/things-are-getting-curiousier-and-curiousier-here-in-our-fernandina-beach-city-rabbit-hole/) - Just when you think things can’t get any nuttier in Fernandina Beach they do. Following is some of the most recent craziness: Lightweight Mayor Johnny “Moonbeam” Miller, who ran seven years ago on a pro-business platform, is endorsing a move by some folks hereabouts to boycott downtown shops that display pro-Trump images or sell Trump - [Local & National Media Have Lost All Credibility While Pro Sports Is Now A Propaganda Forum](https://davescottblog.com/local-pro-sports-has-become-a-propaganda-forum/) - The media – nationally and locally – are justifiably suffering and doing their best to conceal their self-inflicted wounds. Thanks to the national media’s incompetence and slanted left-wing coverage Covington (Kentucky) High School student Nick Sandman graduated this year with more than $500 million in his bank account and much more likely to pour in. - [City & The Mafia Make You Pay For Protection And Both Force You To Do What They Want](https://davescottblog.com/the-mafia-city-make-you-pay-for-protection-and-both-force-you-to-do-what-they-want/) - The major difference between the Mafia and Fernandina Beach’s city government is that the Mafia attempts to conceal its activities. Even during the financially crippling pandemic Fernandina Beach’s free-spending and unapologetic city government blatantly flaunts its financial ruthlessness and greed, ignoring calls for fiscal restraint from citizen groups, financially stricken business owners, and individuals. Citizens - [Fernandina’s Massive Debt Continues To Pile Up Knocke Knocks But Observer Won’t Open Door](https://davescottblog.com/fernandinas-massive-debt-continues-to-pile-up-knocke-knocks-but-observer-wont-open-door/) - As a property owner and Fernandina Beach tax payer do you have any idea how much debt the City Commission and City Manager have racked up in your name? Most folks don’t because they don’t have the “big picture.” A wise local man, who knows more than most hereabouts and is concerned about the city’s - [What Causes The Most Harm To Area Citizens? The Virus Or The Fernandina City Commission?](https://davescottblog.com/whats-the-worst-thing-that-can-happen-to-you-the-virus-or-the-fernandina-beach-city-commission/) - Like most U.S. municipalities residents of Fernandina Beach are experiencing distressing financial suffering due to the rampaging virus pandemic and government mandated lock downs. But unlike other towns Fernandina Beach’s misery is compounded by a trio of uncaring city commissioners and a tactless city manager indifferent to its citizens’ financial pain. The state of Florida - [If You Enjoy Looting, Rioting, Arson & Killings Then Vote For A Democrat On November 3rd](https://davescottblog.com/enjoy-looting-rioting-arson-and-violence-then-vote-for-a-democrat-this-november/) - In Portland, Oregon “peaceful protestors” are free to demolish federal buildings, set fire to a Police Association Headquarters building, and destroy and bankrupt that city's downtown businesses. The idiot Democrat mayor of Portland and the equally dim Democrat governor of Oregon told the federal government to get their police out of town, they didn’t need - [Commissioner Ross Says Our Taxes Can Be Cut But The City Will Have To Make A Few Sacrifices](https://davescottblog.com/commissioner-ross-says-our-taxes-can-be-cut-but-the-city-will-have-to-make-a-few-sacrifices/) - Fernandina Beach City Commissioner Chip Ross (aka The Fernandina Beach Budget Bully) mocks city property-owning taxpayers who appeal for tax relief by demanding to know what “essential and critical city services” they would like sacrificed in order to satisfy their pleas. Apparently City Manager Dale Martin has appointed Ross official city spokesperson and budgetary point - [Want To Get Rich And Keep It All In The Family? Then Buy Local Resident Pat Keogh's New Book](https://davescottblog.com/want-to-get-rich-and-keep-it-all-in-the-family-then-buy-local-resident-pat-keoghs-new-book/) - If you’re anything like me you probably don’t understand much of what stock brokers or brokerage firms tell you, what the stock prospectuses say, or the incomprehensible gibberish spouted by securities analysts and so-called market experts quoted in financial publications. Here's a quote I plucked from a recent issue of the Wall Street Journal. If - [Fernandina Beach Tax Payers Getting Hosed; The City Commission Promises It’ll Get Worse](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-beach-tax-payers-getting-hosed-the-city-commission-promises-itll-get-worse/) - If you’re a property owning tax payer in Fernandina Beach you’re getting hosed and it’s going to get a lot worse, the City Commission and City Manager guarantee it. City Commissioner Chip Ross explains our financial soaking as payment for “quality of life” amenities. Meanwhile, City Manager Dale Martin -- whose lips never move while Ross - [Walk To Demonstrate Support For Local Police; Cross The Line Crosses The Line For Veterans](https://davescottblog.com/downtown-walk-to-show-support-for-local-police-cross-the-line-crosses-the-line-for-veterans/) - Opining weekly about the hapless Fernandina Beach City Commission, its slippery City Manager Dale Martin and his double-talking sidekick Commissioner Chip Ross is getting depressing. The city’s suspicious and inept actions concerning the fiasco surrounding the missing FEMA funds for marina reconstruction deserve attention, and we’ll keep after it because massive sums ($12-15 million) of - [The Observer "Observes" But It Doesn’t Report; Ban Collective Bargaining Not The Police Dept.](https://davescottblog.com/the-observer-observes-but-doesnt-report-ban-collective-bargaining-not-the-police/) - When Susan Steger announced eight years ago that she was creating an online newspaper, the Fernandina Observer, I was enthusiastic. Over the years that enthusiasm waned but I wasn’t surprised as I was forewarned about the Observer’s eventual direction. Ms. Steger, a retired banker, former city commissioner and sixth generation native of Fernandina Beach, made it - [City Manager & Commission Bet Big On FEMA But Throw Snake Eyes And Stiff Tax Payers](https://davescottblog.com/city-manager-commission-bet-big-on-fema-but-throw-snake-eyes-siffing-the-tax-payers/) - Common Sense, the recently created Fernandina Beach watchdog group, sent the local media the opinion piece "The $12 million Elephant In The Room" (below) about the marina situation this week. As you read it consider that Common Sense is not a single-issue activist group prone to rants, shouting down speakers, parading in front of - [Democrats Get Rioting & Protesting Confused; City Has Taxpayers Drowning In Marina Debt](https://davescottblog.com/democrats-get-rioting-common-sense-calls-halt-to-city-spending-spree/) - If the “protests” that broke out across the country are peaceful cries for justice, then I wouldn’t want to be within 10,000 miles of an actual riot. Democrats and media “observers” of the chaotic looting, arson, destruction, vandalism, and death insist these gentle folks were peacefully expressing their displeasure at systemic racial injustice. It appears - [Increasing Home Values Mean Higher Taxes: Dumb & Dumber & Other Democrat Dummies](https://davescottblog.com/increasing-home-values-mean-higher-taxes-dumb-dumber-and-other-democrat-dopes/) - The reason politicians speak in gobbledygook or use foreign phrases to describe their actions is because if they used plain English we’d quickly understand how badly we’re being screwed and throw them out of office or grab a pitchfork or torch and march on city hall. Their actions remind me of a line I heard - [A Tale of Two Cities: One Gone! One Going? Fed Up Amelia Residents Dissolve Their Town](https://davescottblog.com/a-tale-of-two-cities-one-gone-one-going-angry-amelia-residents-dissolve-their-town/) - (“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it - ["Good Golly Miss Molly" Little Richard Died! Common Cents Aim Of Common Sense Group](https://davescottblog.com/good-golly-miss-molly-little-richard-is-dead-new-city-group-making-sense-saving-cents/) - My Tampa Plant High School classmate, friend, and current American Spectator writer, Larry Thornberry, penned a note to me and several more of his pals earlier this week about the loss of rock and roll pioneer Little Richard. It brought back a lot of memories. Like Larry I was a young teenager in Tampa when - [Fernandina Residents Demand Fiscal Curbs Not More Spending & Jabberwocky Gibberish](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-residents-want-fiscal-restraint-not-more-spending-jabberwocky-gibberish/) - While local businesses and residents are seeking a prescription for the financial pounding they’re taking due to the virus-inspired shutdown the "doctors" governing and administering Fernandina Beach are padding their bill instead of alleviating the suffering. Instead of seeking ways to ease the pain, city officials are aggravating the financial agony of those businesses and - [Experiences, Observations And Thoughts Recorded Daily During Virus Self Isolation](https://davescottblog.com/my-daily-journal-records-experiences-suffered-during-the-virus-self-isolation/) - During the pandemic lockdown I thought it might be useful to keep a journal of daily notes to be opened at a far-off future date. Day 1: Settled down in a comfy chair with “Napoleon Bonaparte”, Alan Schom’s 888-page biography, that’s been sitting on one of my bookshelves for more than 15 years. I intended - [Once The Coronavirus Pandemic Is History How Does Fernandina Beach Pay Its Bills?](https://davescottblog.com/once-the-coronavirus-pandemic-is-history-how-does-fernandina-beach-pay-its-bills/) - One of the of founding members of the recently created Common Sense Fernandina Beach Group, (http://www.commonsensefb.org/) Jack Knocke, is looking beyond the COVID-19 pandemic to unresolved issues that remain on the Fernandina Beach City Commission agenda and to help with post virus economic recovery. (I've been told that their site is down temporarily so if - [City Spending, Firearms, Newspapers, Tattoos, Pandemic Observations & Random Thoughts](https://davescottblog.com/tattoos-jeans-firearms-newspapers-other-observations-random-thoughts/) - Despite severe pandemic belt tightening by local businesses and residents, Fernandina Beach City Manager Dale Martin and his Four Horsemen of the Free Spending Commission are acting as if they’re flush with cash and are going through our tax money like drunken sailors on shore leave, with one astonishing exception -- Commissioner Mike Lednovich, a - [City Continues Its Reckless Spending Despite Lednovich's Unexpected Call For Restraint](https://davescottblog.com/8055-2/) - Resorting to reason, facts, and common sense Fernandina Beach City Commissioner Mike Lednovich -- formerly known here as “Left Coast” -- posted on his Facebook page last week that the current pandemic is a clarion call for the city to stop tossing money around like a bunch of drunken rednecks in a topless honky tonk. - [2020 Amelia Island News Wrecker Edition Has Been Wrecked By The Virus Pandemic](https://davescottblog.com/the-2020-amelia-island-news-wrecker-schedule-wrecked-by-the-virus-pandemic/) - (Editor’s Note: Many businesses are negatively impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic. Especially hard hit are the nation’s newspapers with many completely closing while others are cutting back on the number of pages and days of the week they print. For example, as advertisers melt away the Jacksonville-based Florida Times-Union said reporters and editors who earn - [Democrats Block Critical American Relief Bill To Push Their Garbage-Filled Far Left Agenda](https://davescottblog.com/democrats-block-a-critical-american-aid-bill-to-push-their-garbage-filled-far-left-agenda/) - During the past week’s Congressional debate over the economic and medical relief package, Democrats were surprised to learn the stimulus bill would actually stimulate the economy and therefor want nothing to do with it. No matter how much Americans might suffer, a stimulated economy is bad news for these left-wing fanatics at the ballot box. - [Local Group Seeks To Hold Fernandina Beach City Staff And Elected Officials Accountable](https://davescottblog.com/local-group-seeks-to-hold-fernandina-beach-city-staff-and-elected-officials-accountable/) - Several months ago Fernandina Beach City Commissioner Chip Ross contacted a handful of individual city residents who have been publicly critical of the city and city commissioners for a variety of reasons, ranging from the management of city assets (golf course, marina, etc.) and conservation land purchases to the city’s deteriorating infrastructure, budget growth and - [“Left-Coast” Lednovich Realizes An Epiphany While Dr. Ross Still Writing Rx’s For Spending](https://davescottblog.com/loopy-left-coast-lednovich-has-an-epiphany-while-doctor-ross-keeps-writing-rxs-for-spending/) - Wednesday evening Fernandina Beach City Commissioner Mike Lednovich did an impersonation of a rehabilitated Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas morning as he looked down on the street and offered to pay the first boy he saw a huge sum to “deliver the big turkey hanging at the poulterer's to Bob Cratchit's house.” California transplant Lednovich’s epiphany - [Amelia Island’s Economy Heavily Impacted By Consequences Of The Coronavirus Hype](https://davescottblog.com/amelia-islands-tourist-economy-not-immune-to-consequences-of-the-coronavirus/) - Amelia Island’s economy, which is heavily dependent on the hospitality industry, is getting whacked as the Coronavirus has businesses and tourists canceling plans to visit while others are contemplating doing the same. At least two large organizations have already cancelled or postponed plans for upcoming meetings here including AT&T opting out at the Omni Plantation - [As The Election Looms Democrat Candidates Become More & More Desperate And Extreme](https://davescottblog.com/as-the-election-looms-democrat-candidates-become-more-more-desperate-extreme/) - As I watched the Democrat Presidential debate this past Tuesday evening it occurred to me that not once did any of the hopefuls have a single positive thing to say about the United Sates…not one. They spent their time telling the audience what’s wrong with America and dissing each other. The entire event looked like - [In Spite Of A Bumbling, Cowed, Inept City Hall Local Economy & Property Values Strengthen](https://davescottblog.com/local-economy-property-values-strengthen-despite-a-bumbling-cowed-local-government/) - If increasingly high housing costs hereabouts are pricing folks out of the market and upping property taxes it’s not because of greedy developers. Nope, the blame is totally the fault of inept and inefficient local government, reports the Georgia Public Policy Foundation citing a study published by NewGeography.com. “Housing remains affordable in some of the - [Two Florida Representatives Join Other Dems To Turn The U.S. Into A Third World Hellhole](https://davescottblog.com/two-florida-representatives-join-other-dems-to-turn-the-u-s-into-a-third-world-hellhole/) - Two Florida members of the U.S. House of Representatives (Alcee Hastings, D-FL-20, and Frederica Wilson, D-FL-24) and one from Georgia (Hank Johnson D-GA-4) are three of 44 Democrat sponsors of a little-known bill (New Way Forward, H.R. 5383) that puts their hatred of the United States on full display and would turn our country into - [Area Resident The Only University President To Pitch To Mickey Mantle And Willie Mays](https://davescottblog.com/area-resident-the-only-university-president-to-pitch-to-mickey-mantle-and-willie-mays/) - In just a few weeks the long-anticipated phrase “pitchers and catchers report” will echo across the land announcing the start of baseball spring training and the arrival of major leaguers and prospects to their training camps in Florida and Arizona. Some 65 years ago area resident Jim Brady was one of those eager prospects, a - [U.S. Refugees Fleeing To Florida; Gallbladder? I Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Gallbladder](https://davescottblog.com/democrat-state-residents-fleeing-to-florida-gallbladder-i-dont-need-no-stinkin-gallbladder/) - If you’ve noticed an assortment of cars with out-of-state license plates pulling into driveways in your neighborhood and their occupants saying things like dem, dese and dose don’t be alarmed. They’re refugees escaping what the Democrat party’s presidential candidates are proposing: high taxes; strangling regulations on business; rising costs of energy; sanctuary cities; lousy schools; - [Due to illness, there's no blog post this week :(](https://davescottblog.com/due-to-illness-there-will-be-no-blog-post-this-week/) - [Hollywood Hypocrites Can’t Take A Joke While The US Media Have Become A Joke](https://davescottblog.com/hollywood-hypocrites-cant-take-a-joke-while-the-us-media-have-become-a-joke/) - (Editor’s note: This blog wasn’t posted last Friday because GoDaddy, the company I pay to host it, told me that their server had a “catastrophic failure” while it was “migrating my data and it would take seven or more days to complete the transfer and fix the issue.” The "catastrophe" was that they lost/destroyed my - [I’m Sorry! Except, I’m Really Not](https://davescottblog.com/im-sorry-except-im-really-not/) - When I was kid I led some pals of mine through a neighborhood yard trampling freshly planted flowers into mush, an incident that incited the neighbor to call my mother and complain. My widowed working mother -- a no-nonsense disciplinarian with little time or patience for stupidity or lame excuses -- quickly extracted a confession - [Let’s Buy A Cop A Christmas Coffee!](https://davescottblog.com/lets-buy-a-cop-a-christmas-coffee/) - (Editor’s Note: I will take a couple of weeks off to celebrate the Christmas season with family and friends. The blog will resume January 10. I appreciate your readership and comments and hope all of you have a very happy Christmas and a prosperous 2020.) If I was in a Starbucks and an incident occurred - [Are “Fat, Drunk & Stupid” Keys To Success?](https://davescottblog.com/fat-drunk-stupid-not-keys-to-success/) - “You can’t go through life fat, drunk and stupid son,” said Dean Vernon Wormer in the 1978 film Animal House to Delta Tau Chi fraternity member Kent "Flounder" Dorfman, who boasted a 0.2 GPA. Former FBI Director James Comey and his staff, various members of the Obama Administration, and others who dirtied their hands with the - [“Midway” Stands Out In A Sea Of Film Trash](https://davescottblog.com/midway-stands-out-in-a-sea-of-film-trash/) - I don’t go to movies very often. Based on the films I see advertised I already know the plots and endings because I read the scripts in comic books by the time I was nine years old – “Batman”, “Superman”, “Ironman”, “Stupidman”, “The Invasion of the Toilet Snakes”, etc. The movie reviews I’ve seen indicate - [Parks? We Don’t Need No More Stinkin’ Parks!](https://davescottblog.com/parks-we-dont-need-no-more-stinkin-parks/) - The Fernandina Beach landowner that owns the most property is the city itself, which owns about one-third of the approximately 7,000 acres of land in the city limits. And it wants more. If the owners won’t sell it to them then it’ll just take it through eminent domain as it’s attempting to do with a - [Up Stepped A Man With A Big Cigar Who Said "Come Here Kid I’m Gonnna Make You A Star” *](https://davescottblog.com/up-stepped-a-man-with-a-big-cigar-who-said-come-here-kid-im-gonnna-make-you-a-star/) - Last week on a return trip from Asheville, NC, we visited Linda’s cousins in the North Georgia town of Cleveland (population 3,410) where Linda and I were unexpectedly invited to be “extras” in a movie being filmed in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Georgia’s Rabun County. Rabun County is as far north - [Commissioner Ross Disputes Park, Suit Comments; Waterfront Park Plans Questioned by Merchants](https://davescottblog.com/commissioner-ross-disputes-park-suit-comments-waterfront-park-plans-questioned-by-merchants/) - (Editor’s Note: There will not be a blog the next couple of weeks. It will resume Nov. 22. I appreciate all the readers who take time to read it, particularly those who leave comments, whether you agree or disagree.) Rarely do I agree with Fernandina Beach City Commissioner Chip Ross on issues. However, I do - [Rogue Commissioners, Double Talking City Manager, Etc. Just Another Day At The Beach](https://davescottblog.com/rogue-commissioners-double-talking-city-manager-etc-just-another-day-at-the-beach/) - A couple of rogue Fernandina Beach City Commissioners, a double-talking City Manager, bands of hostile environmental extremists, and the resignation of the county’s highly successful Nassau County Economic Development Director and Ocean Highway and Port Authority Director, are factors that must certainly have future investors reconsidering Nassau County -- particularly Fernandina Beach -- as places - [Is City Of Jacksonville Guilty Of Identity Theft For Posing As Amelia Island To Conde Nast?](https://davescottblog.com/is-city-of-jacksonville-guilty-of-identity-theft-for-posing-as-amelia-island-to-conde-nast-2/) - If a city could be charged with identity theft then Jacksonville would be under arrest. Here’s why. A few weeks ago U.S. News and World Report released a list of the “125 Best Places in the U.S. to Retire” and Conde Nast Traveler published the top 10, which included Jacksonville. Wait! What? Jacksonville? Yep, it ranked Jacksonville - [Is City Of Jacksonville Guilty Of Identity Theft For Posing As Amelia Island To Conde Nast?](https://davescottblog.com/is-city-of-jacksonville-guilty-of-identity-theft-for-posing-as-amelia-island-to-conde-nast/) - If a city could be charged with identity theft then Jacksonville would be under arrest. Here’s why. A few weeks ago U.S. News and World Report released a list of the “125 Best Places in the U.S. to Retire” and Conde Nast Traveler published the top 10, which included Jacksonville. Wait! What? Jacksonville? Yep, it ranked Jacksonville - [Inquisitive Luncheon Quintet Chews Over Issues To Digest Lack of Area’s Conservative Viewpoints](https://davescottblog.com/inquisitive-luncheon-quintet-chews-over-issues-to-digest-lack-of-areas-conservative-viewpoints/) - During lunch at Lagniappe Restaurant earlier this week I dined with an eclectic group of Amelia Island businessmen and entrepreneurs, with island politics being one of the topics we chewed on. This quintet of native and long-time residents discussed a variety of subjects ranging from “what the heck is wrong with Fernandina Beach’s city government” - [Zany Duo Plan November City Hall Performance That Promises To Keep Local Audience Laughing](https://davescottblog.com/zany-duo-plan-november-city-hall-performance-that-promises-to-keep-local-audience-laughing/) - Just when you think the politicians and environmental wackos in Fernandina Beach couldn’t get any crazier they do. And when they combine their efforts it gets downright hysterical. If you’re in town November 19, make sure to attend the Fernandina Beach City Commission “workshop” beginning at 5 p.m. at city hall. Get there early for - [Fernandina City Commission’s Weekly Show Makes Visitors Laugh While Locals Weep](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-city-commissions-weekly-show-makes-visitors-laugh-while-locals-weep/) - Just when you thought Fernandina Beach’s city governance couldn’t get any nuttier it does. For example, City Commissioner and self-appointed turtle guardian, Len Kreger, has accused city employees of “harassing” his beloved turtles when they collect litter from the beach. No, really! He actually said that. He went on to add that the city needs - [Non-Mayor’s Campaign Survey Results Are In; Abolish City Hall & Everybody In It They Say](https://davescottblog.com/non-mayors-campaign-survey-results-are-in-abolish-city-hall-everybody-in-it-they-say/) - The results of a non-scientific surreptitious survey conducted in some of Amelia Island’s most popular watering holes, has taken the pulse of the community and uncovered the most critical issue facing area residents. “The people have spoken,” I explained in a press release. “They demand that once I’m elected non- mayor they’ll settle for nothing - [Here Are A Few Of America’s Most Dangerous, Disingenuous & Dimmest Screwups](https://davescottblog.com/here-are-a-few-of-americas-most-dangerous-disingenuous-dimmest-screwups/) - When I was a child my mother warned me about people who lie, exaggerate, steal, take advantage of others, capitalize on the misery of unfortunates, and say and do stupid things. “Avoid them,” she said. “They’re toxic and people like that will not do you any good, just the opposite.” Whenever I watch the current - [Here Are The Most Destructive, Disingenuous & Dim People Making A Mess Of Nassau County?](https://davescottblog.com/here-are-the-most-destructive-disingenuous-dim-people-making-a-mess-of-nassau-county/) - Last week I listed a variety of duplicitous public figures who—in my opinion -- are screwing up our country. I also asked readers to help me identify those who are working overtime to mess up Nassau County. A number of locals responded, and with few exceptions their nominations mirrored mine. In fact, a couple of - [Local Climate Protestors Fail to Locate Planet’s Thermostat & Smart Kids Ignore Their Silly Advice](https://davescottblog.com/local-climate-protestors-fail-to-locate-planets-thermostat-smart-kids-ignore-their-silly-advice/) - With the exception of a handful of the usual suspects the local “Global Warming Climate Strike” gathering in Fernandina Beach’s Central Park looked more like a sparsely attended family picnic with just a few dozen showing up last Friday in an attempt to locate the planet’s thermostat and turn it down a notch or two. - [Hurricane Dorian Observations, Immigrant Kids, Norwegian Socialism, And Fighting City Hall](https://davescottblog.com/hurricane-dorian-observations-immigrant-kids-norwegian-socialism-and-fighting-city-hall/) - While trading emails about Hurricane Dorian with friend, Tampa Plant High School classmate, and American Spectator writer, Larry Thornberry, I noted that when I was in the local Publix it appeared they had over-ordered water as I heard an announcement requesting: “Assistance on Aisle 17, customer drowning.” I also said I found it ironic observing - [Scott Announcing Candidacy For Non-Mayor And Withdraws “Free Ponies For All” Pledge](https://davescottblog.com/scott-announcing-candidacy-for-non-mayor-and-withdraws-free-ponies-for-all-pledge/) - Editor’s note: This weekly blog received the following press release from me earlier this week. Yeh, I know, it’s confusing to me too.) Fernandina Beach, FL (August 16, 2019) – Fernandina Beach resident Dave Scott announced his candidacy for non-mayor of Fernandina Beach by promising he will not deliver a pony to every city family - [Move Over Cheers! There’s A Fun Bar In Town With Eclectic Regulars And Homey Ambience](https://davescottblog.com/move-over-cheers-theres-a-fun-bar-in-town-with-eclectic-regulars-and-homey-ambience/) - Beginning about eight years ago every Wednesday evening I would meet four friends at the North 2nd Street Crab Trap’s cozy downstairs bar for “Wing Night” beginning about 5 pm and lasting until 7 or later. Affable Crab Trap owner Richard “Choo Choo” Germano offered some of the biggest, tastiest and most reasonably priced wings - [Americans Are Tiring of Being Called Names; “The Squad” Is Succeeding In Destroying Dems](https://davescottblog.com/americans-are-tiring-of-being-called-names-the-squad-is-succeeding-in-destroying-dems/) - Last Saturday, July 20, Peggy Noonan devoted her weekly Wall Street Journal opinion column to America’s need to rediscover tact, citing Democrat NY Governor Mario Cuomo’s “rubbing their noses in it” act of lighting up New York City skyline landmarks in pink following his Democrat controlled state legislature passing one of the country’s most pro-abortion - [News Leader “Lunatic Fringe” Flourishing](https://davescottblog.com/news-leader-lunatic-fringe-flourishing/) - When I was a newspaper reporter for the Binghamton Sunday & Evening Press and Tampa Tribune in the 1960s and 1970s people who wrote letters to the editor had to take time to type or handwrite their comments, address an envelope, buy a stamp and then mail us their opinions. Prior to slipping their letters - [Amelia Island Resident Deb Boelkes Never Reluctant To Speak Her Mind](https://davescottblog.com/amelia-island-resident-deb-boelkes-never-reluctant-to-speak-her-mind/) - I first met Amelia Island resident Deb Boelkes when I was invited to attend one of her “We the People” sessions to hear a Heritage Foundation guest speaker. I was impressed. I’ve been to a number of these gatherings since. They’ve featured speakers ranging from US congressmen, state representatives and senators to nationally respected authors - [Silent Spokesmen & Lawyers Who Can’t Lawyer Star In Local Activist Group's Comedy](https://davescottblog.com/spokespeople-that-cant-speak-lawyers-that-cant-sue-all-part-of-radicalized-activist-groups-berserk-with-rage/) - What Amelia Island’s loud, tiny, fist-shaking activist groups lack in rational reasoning and organizational skills they make up for in entertainment. Members of the recently formed Conserve Amelia Now (CAN) and something called Lights for Liberty have two characteristics in common: 1- they are aflame with paranoia and demented rage and; 2- they are funny, - [Nassau County And Fernandina Beach United In Their Thuggish Anti-Business Tactics](https://davescottblog.com/county-city-bureaucrats-are-united-in-their-thuggish-anti-business-tactics/) - Laura DiBella plays a delicate balancing act. Her job as director of the Nassau County Economic Development Commission (NCEDC) is to persuade companies that pay taxes and hire locals to locate in Nassau County while convincing a group of good ‘ole boy county commissioners not to malign, extort, sue, or attempt to cook the golden - [Fernandina “Stuck” Seeking An Identity](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-stuck-on-finding-its-identity/) - Fernandina Beach needs an identity. It needs something to make it stand out above the ho-hum, humid, hot, look-a-like Florida communities and divert attention from the stupid stuff going on hereabouts. So far it’s not going well. Fueled by lots of cold beer, I’ve conducted some unscientific research and discovered that there are lots of - [Business Bashing Still Popular In Newsrooms](https://davescottblog.com/go-away-nobody-likes-you-so-go-away/) - In newsrooms where I worked it was fashionable to sneer at businesses. Even many of the business writers and editors I knew considered most corporations to be greedy, polluters, selfish and cold-hearted. Only government and its regulations could save us from these evil schemers proclaimed my media pals. I thought that ironic since the media - [Captain Jacks Smokehouse Latest Addition To Growing Landscape Of Island BBQ Joints](https://davescottblog.com/captain-jacks-smokehouse-latest-addition-to-growing-landscape-of-amelia-island-bbq-joints/) - If you like barbeque -- particularly beef brisket -- then strap on a bib, grab a fork and knife, and head to the just opened Captain Jacks for some of the best tasting beef ‘cue you’ll put in your mouth outside of Texas. Sensing Amelia island’s growing appetite for barbecue and deep south tastes, Jon - [Stop Calling Us Names You #%$&*^!](https://davescottblog.com/stop-the-name-calling-you/) - I pointed out last week that the folks at Conserve Amelia Now (CAN) don’t care for me or my opinions and they make that abundantly clear with their comments here and on their web site. They don’t hold back. Here’s a sampling with no editing for grammar: CAN member Brad Coker disputes that he said - [Development? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Development!](https://davescottblog.com/development-we-dont-need-no-stinkin-development/) - The folks that populate the recently created Conserve Amelia Now (CAN) organization obviously don’t care for me or my opinions very much as indicated by their recent Facebook postings in response to my comments last week condemning their Amelia Bluff and other anti-development activities. On Facebook its president, a Brooklyn, New York native named “Chuck” - [Conflicted Local "Conservationists" Lash Out At Those Most Willing To Help Their Cause](https://davescottblog.com/irrational-angry-conservationists-lash-out-at-those-most-willing-to-aid-their-cause/) - Ask any of the folks representing the three conservationist groups – Conserve Amelia Now (CAN), Amelia Tree Conservatory (ATC), The local Sierra Club – how much they have contributed to the city’s conservation fund, and they’ll quickly change the subject. The answer is nothing, not a cent. The only groups that have contributed and taken - [Kate Smith, George Washington & John Wayne Must Be Erased From U.S. History](https://davescottblog.com/kate-smith-george-washington-john-wayne-must-be-erased-from-u-s-history/) - When I was growing up in the 1950s the Cold War was raging, and my elementary school classmates and I were ducking under desks to protect ourselves from the imminent Soviet Union nuclear attacks. While reporting on the militaristic Soviet activities in those days the U.S. news media often published Pravda and TASS pictures of - ["Happy days are here again, Skies above are clear again, Let's sing a song of cheer again!"](https://davescottblog.com/happy-days-are-here-again-skies-above-are-clear-again-lets-sing-a-song-of-cheer-again/) - Almost every Nassau County restaurant, bar, shop and other businesses I've delivered bundles of News-Wreckers to the past couple of weeks have “help wanted” signs posted. I don’t know one unemployed person who is looking for a job. I do know some folks who have good jobs and are seeking even better ones. I - [Mayor Miller Hits A Homer With “Yes” Vote; The News-Wrecker Hit the Streets This Week](https://davescottblog.com/news-wrecker-hits-the-streets-this-week-mayor-miller-hits-a-homer-with-yes-vote/) - Congratulations to Fernandina Beach Mayor Johnny Miller, the former darling of the loud, local, left-wing environmental extremist crowd, that now loves to hate him. Johnny’s “yes” vote Tuesday, April 16 was the decider that enabled Amelia Bluff developers to rightly proceed with their planned housing project on Citrona, across from Fernandina Beach High School. Johnny’s - [The Amelia Island News-Wrecker Scheduled To Make Burgers Out Of Local Sacred Cows](https://davescottblog.com/the-amelia-island-news-wrecker-scheduled-to-make-burgers-out-of-local-sacred-cows/) - This blog will take an extended Spring Break to complete the next issue of the Amelia Island News Wrecker, which will be on the streets starting during Shrimp Festival May 3,4,5 if all goes as planned. The blog will resume May 10. If the Wrecker doesn’t come out on the first day of Shrimp Festival, - [Movie's "What We Have Here Is Failure To Communicate" Message Now A Social Issue](https://davescottblog.com/did-wardens-what-we-have-here-is-a-failure-to-communicate-foretell-societys-future/) - In addition to the coffee and scones, I enjoy visiting downtown's Centre Street Amelia Island Coffee Shop to chat with folks, read a newspaper or magazine, or just people-watch. During a recent afternoon visit Linda and I sat next to a delightful quartet of Fernandina Beach High School girls who were studiously working on algebra - [After A Tumultuous Commission Meeting Will We Have Litigation Or An Agreement?](https://davescottblog.com/after-a-tumultuous-commission-meeting-will-we-see-litigation-or-an-agreement/) - Long-time Amelia Island residents Pat Keogh and Phil Griffin are successful businessmen, entrepreneurs, and two very savvy, well-respected citizens who disagree with Fernandina Beach City Commissioners Chip Ross and Mike Lednovich about the controversial Amelia Buff housing development. They articulately voice their opinions on why here. But first some background. Lednovich, and his partner in - [Major League Baseball, Canadian Blue Hairs, And Mean Biker Gal All Part Of Guy's Day Out](https://davescottblog.com/major-league-baseball-canadian-blue-hairs-and-old-biker-gals-all-part-of-guys-day-out/) - This past Monday I accompanied three local pals -- Billy Cimino, Cameron Hansen, and Hupp Huppman -- to a Spring Training baseball game between the Atlanta Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates at the Braves complex outside of Orlando. This quartet was an eclectic mix and we learned a lot about each other during 15 hours in - [Who To Tip, Who Not To Tip, What To Tip, And Where To Tip Have Me At The Tipping Point](https://davescottblog.com/who-to-tip-who-not-to-tip-what-to-tip-and-where-to-tip-has-me-at-the-tipping-point/) - A few days following my 16th birthday I landed a part-time at a Kwik Chek grocery store on Tampa's Bay-to-Bay Boulevard where I worked until graduation from nearby Plant High School. My starting salary was 30 cents an hour, and when I graduated I was raking in 85 cents an hour. The hourly wage was - [Anti-Development, Lawsuits, Chicken Poop; All Business As Usual For City Commission](https://davescottblog.com/anti-development-lawsuits-chicken-poop-all-business-as-usual-for-city-commission/) - A number of years ago while preparing a response to a media inquiry about the sale of a company asset I asked the chairman and founder of the corporation I worked for if the property in question was indeed for sale. He answered saying: "For the right price everything is for sale except my dog - [Far Left Democrats Bring Two Films To Life Imitating "Life of Brian" and "Being There"](https://davescottblog.com/far-left-democrats-bring-films-to-life-imitating-life-of-brian-and-being-there/) - “Life imitates art far more than art imitate life” claimed Oscar Wilde, citing a child's tendency to imitate what he or she reads in books and stories as an example. Nothing confirms Wilde's belief today more than freshman congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her rabid left-wing followers and media acolytes who are accurately imitating two 1979 - [Cuba Tour Illustrates Democrat Party's Vision Of Their Plan For The Future Of America](https://davescottblog.com/cuba-tour-illustrates-democrats-vision-of-their-plan-for-the-future-of-america/) - (Editor's note: Guest editorial writer Pat Keogh is an entrepreneur, businessman, lawyer and investor who owns restaurants and other properties in Fernandina Beach and Nassau County. He recently returned from a trip to Cuba and shares his views of what he saw there that Democrat Party Socialists now enthusiastically want to foist onto the American - [Concert Issue Highlights How Out Of Tune Fernandina's Politicos & Local Luddites Are](https://davescottblog.com/unelected-luddites-dictate-to-local-businesses/) - The livelihood of businesses in Fernandina Beach -- from ice cream parlors and restaurants to clothing stores and hair salons -- are all impacted by decisions made by the elected city commissioners, the unelected city manager, and unelected city-appointed groups such as the Special Events Committee. I find it ironic that not one person involved - [Hostile Sounds From City Hall Drown Out Popular Local Sounds On Centre Concerts](https://davescottblog.com/hostile-sounds-from-city-hall-drown-out-popular-local-sounds-on-centre-concerts/) - The pleasant melodious sounds coming from downtown's popular Sounds on Centre concerts have been drowned out by the chaotic confusing sounds on Ash coming from City Hall. A thoroughly ill-conceived, poorly thought-out, and downright stupid decision last week by the City Commission and the City Manager dictated that the Historic Fernandina Beach Business Association - [News Leader's Editorial Pages Are Following The Main Stream Media Wolf Pack](https://davescottblog.com/local-papers-editorial-pages-follow-main-stream-medias-wolf-pack/) - After the 2016 presidential election the media went totally off the rails becoming an unhinged, censorious, accusatory mob. And as the Trump Administration moves deeper into its second year they have become even more bitter and angry, with their current discourse displaying all the decorum of professional wrestling. While the right is attempting to make - [It's Time To End Mayor Moonbeam's Madness](https://davescottblog.com/2334/) - Folks who read this blog regularly obviously know I am not voting for Johnny Miller for Fernandina Beach City Commissioner and am encouraging others to vote for former commissioner Eric Childers to oust Moonbeam Miller from that commission seat. Of all of us that joined together to work on Johnny Miller's 2013 election campaign, there - [How About An Airport On A Stick?](https://davescottblog.com/how-about-an-airport-on-a-stick/) - Since Fernandina Beach City Manager Dale Martin and the town's commissioners are hell bent on building an airport that looks like an airplane why not an airport on a stick? I found the above photo in a file I was browsing through and am willing to share this unique design concept free of charge with - [Obese Orbiting Astronautical Duo Are Gorging On Quest To Sample Our Island's Best Burgers](https://davescottblog.com/duo-of-obese-orbiting-astronauts-gorging-as-they-seek-to-gauge-our-islands-best-burgers/) - "You can find your way around Amelia Island using burger joints the way a navigator uses stars." -- French Huguenot explorer Jean Ribault, 1562. The loud booms, whooshing, and gurgling atmospheric sounds heard recently were nothing to cause concern as they were merely the digestive clatter of our two gluttonous galactic Fat Men From Space - [Impact Fee "Extortion" Has Negative Impact; City & Commissioners Blissfully Unconcerned](https://davescottblog.com/impact-fee-extortion-has-negative-impact-city-commissioners-blissfully-unconcerned/) - The Fernandina Beach City Commission unanimously voted last week to raise city impact fees for infrastructure to the maximum allowed by the state despite the fact that: The city already has excess impact fee money it hasn't spent; the Public Utilities director says he doesn't need it; a judge declared them illegal; and a recent - ["Red Rover, Red Rover, Come On Over" Chant Democrats](https://davescottblog.com/red-rover-red-rover-come-on-over-chant-democrats/) - The majority of Americans polled say they are in favor of more border barriers -- steel or concrete, it doesn't matter to them as long as it helps stem the flow of illegals across our southern border. The experts -- agents that patrol the border daily -- unanimously agree it's necessary. Americans living near the - [Government? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Government](https://davescottblog.com/government-we-dont-need-no-stinkin-government/) - Last week the Dow Jones jumped more than 700 points and is still climbing; the Federal Reserve said it wasn't considering raising interest rates anytime soon; the December job numbers blew way past the predicted 176,000 to more than 312,000; U.S. manufacturers say they are experiencing their best phase in two decades; and unemployment is - [I'll Start Listening More This Year As I Might Hear Something That's Worth Remembering](https://davescottblog.com/listen-up-this-year-as-you-might-hear-something-thats-worth-remembering/) - Fay Vincent, commissioner of Major league Baseball, 1989-92, wrote a Wall Street Journal opinion piece Monday, December 31, 2018, that impressed me. The premise of Mr. Vincent's piece was that we should listen more, particularly to older folks, who can vividly project the power of oral history, making it come alive and relevant. Now in - [Holy Moley! Things Just Keep Getting Better](https://davescottblog.com/holy-moley-things-just-keeps-getting-better/) - (Editor's note: This commentary will take time off during the holidays to spend more time with family and friends. I'd like to thank all of you who have read this blog the past five years and particularly to those who take time to comment, whether you agree or disagree. I hope all of you have - [Florida's Tory Past, Olive Trees & An Election](https://davescottblog.com/floridas-tory-past-olive-trees-the-election/) - Although Florida's role in the American Revolution is one of the most unusual stories about that conflict, it's one not recorded in history books or told in classrooms. A few months ago I attended a lecture at the Amelia Island Museum on South 3rd Street and learned from University of Florida Professor of History, Roger - [Florida's Most Laughable, Bungling Groups: The Democrat Party & Jacksonville's Jaguars](https://davescottblog.com/floridas-most-laughable-bungling-groups-the-democrat-party-jacksonvilles-jaguars/) - Other than the Democrats in Palm Beach and Broward Counties is there an organization in Florida that is more dismal, inept, disreputable or ridiculous than the miserable Jacksonville Jaguars football team that last Sunday lost its seventh consecutive game to the NFL's lowest scoring lineup? This bungling Jaguars hit a new low worthy of disgraced - [President Trump Emulates Calvin Coolidge Making The Business of America Business](https://davescottblog.com/president-trump-emulates-calvin-coolidge-making-the-business-of-america-business/) - (Editor's note: Guest editorial writer Pat Keogh is an entrepreneur, businessman, lawyer and investor who owns restaurants and other properties in Fernandina Beach but fled the city in 2016 for Austin, Texas due to the outrageous city fees, taxes and bureaucracy.“When the rest of the universe is trying to make it easier for business, Fernandina - [Florida Residents Feeling Financial Impact Generated By The Illegal Alien Invasion](https://davescottblog.com/florida-residents-feeling-financial-impact-caused-by-the-illegal-alien-invasion/) - Illegal aliens cost American taxpayers a staggering $134.9 billion annually, according to a detailed analysis of federal, state and local programs that include education, medical care, law enforcement, and welfare. U.S. citizens, particularly those of us in Nassau County, are on the hook for that tab. And it's only going to get worse. Conducted by - [Florida Ranks Third In The Number Of People But It Comes In First With Strange Creatures](https://davescottblog.com/florida-ranks-third-in-the-number-of-people-but-it-comes-in-first-with-strange-creatures/) - Florida is the third most populous state in the country, Texas is second and California is first based on the Census Bureau's count of residents. Each of these three states is uniquely distinctive in its population, politics and environment. California ranks first hosting a massive illegal alien population that its politicians say is entitled to - [A Very Befuddled City Commission Candidate Would Be A "Freakin'" Disastrous Selection](https://davescottblog.com/a-very-confused-city-commission-candidate-would-be-a-freakin-terrible-voter-choice/) - Group 5 Fernandina Beach City Commission candidate Cason Zylinski didn't do herself any favors in a rambling, disjointed front page interview with Julia Roberts -- the News-Leader reporter with the fortunate name -- in that paper's Wednesday, October 19 edition. Headlined "Cason Zylinski is running on a hometown perspective" the 36-year-old Ms. Zylinski lost little - [Pharma Company Finds A Rx For Happiness By Moving The Jersey Firm To Amelia Island](https://davescottblog.com/pharma-research-firms-rx-for-happiness-move-the-company-to-amelia-island/) - In 1978 the complexion of Amelia Island was changed forever when Union Carbide gave up plans for an industrial mining operation on the south end of Amelia Island and sold its property there to Charles Fraser, owner of Sea Pines Company of Hilton Head, who developed the Plantation Resort complex. It's ironic then that despite - [Democrats Falsely Whine At Local Campaign Rally: "You an' me, we sweat an' strain"](https://davescottblog.com/three-job-democrats-whine-at-local-rally-you-an-me-we-sweat-an-strain/) - "Nobody should have to work three jobs to support their kids," said a guy named Russell Harper, president of something called the North Florida Central Labor Council, who was a warm-up speaker at a sparsely attended Amelia Island Democrat Party rally for Chris King, the party's candidate for Florida's Lt. Governor, last Sunday afternoon. “Can - [Hate The Boss? Then He's Likely A Good One](https://davescottblog.com/hate-your-boss-then-hes-probably-a-good-one/) - If you don't like your boss very much that person is probably a good leader. If they're humble, even better. At least that's what I picked up from a couple of recent Wall Street Journal articles citing assessments offered by a firm founded and headed by Amelia Island resident, Dr. Robert Hogan. In an essay - [Florida: The Deadliest Place To Ride a Bicycle](https://davescottblog.com/florida-the-deadliest-place-to-ride-a-bicycle/) - Ever since I was a kid, I've enjoyed biking as a leisurely and efficient way to get from one place to another. As a kid in junior high and high school in Tampa, I had no choice. I peddled my bike to school and back, to visit friends, go to the movies, etc. until I - [Mayor Moonbeam's Top 10 Silly Thoughts](https://davescottblog.com/mayor-moonbeam-millers-top-10-silly-thoughts/) - Fernandina Beach Mayor Johnny "Moonbeam" Miller's embrace of wacky causes is reminiscent of the Monty Python Ministry of Silly Walks sketch, where candidates perform highly exaggerated and outrageous gaits to obtain government endorsement and grants. Instead of silly walks, Mayor Moonbeam heads up Fernandina Beach's Ministry of Silly Thoughts with his most recent madcap notion - [Recent News Leaders Offer Poor Judgment, Shoddy Reporting And Editorial Nonsense](https://davescottblog.com/recent-news-leader-issue-offers-readers-both-poor-judgment-and-shoddy-reporting/) - As you work your way through the dreary local bi-weekly News Leader newspaper occasionally something odd happens. You notice something. It can be informative, but usually it isn't. More often than not it's puzzling. For example, last Friday's, June 15 issue of the News-Leader and this Wendesday's June 20 issue were chock-a-block with head-scratchers making it - [Publication's Fawning Restaurant Reviews May Be Hard For Many Readers To Swallow](https://davescottblog.com/publications-glowing-restaurant-reviews-may-be-hard-for-some-readers-to-swallow/) - Readers looking for articles about dim, corrupt politicians, the police blotter, chaotic and confusing city and county commission meetings, and angry and incoherent letters to the editor, needn't bother reading the Amelia Islander Magazine. It's as squeaky clean as the monthly "United Church Observer." Co-publishers and editors, Philip and Deana Kelly, produce a glossy 75-page - [Cancelled Road Trip Has Me Reminiscing About My Favorite Beer Joints And Dives](https://davescottblog.com/cancelled-road-trip-has-us-reminiscing-about-our-favorite-beer-joints-dives/) - We cancelled our plans to take a 12-14 day road trip this week along the coastal roads in the Carolina's, Virginia and Maryland because Hurricane Florence plotted the same route. So, as we packed, unpacked, and watched Weather Channel updates, I began to reminisce about some of the really fun eateries, joints and dives in - [Ges Who's Running For Congress?](https://davescottblog.com/ges-whos-running-for-congress/) - (Editor's Note: This blog will take a two-week hiatus and will be back on Friday, September 28, 2018) It wasn't until I got to the wordy second paragraph of News-Leader Editor Peg Davis' lengthy patronizing August 31 Page 1, article about a fellow named Ges Selmont that I realized she wasn't gushing about a rock - [Unintelligible Nonsense For Sale: $47,000](https://davescottblog.com/unintelligible-nonsense-for-sale-only-47000/) - Jacksonville-based marketing and advertising agency Burdette-Ketchum is exceptionally skilled at verbal and written obfuscation. This is the agency that was hired for between $45,000- $47,000 by former Nassau County manager Shanea Jones -- using a discretionary fund -- to re-brand the county's image from that of a primitive backwater hillbilly haven to a modern backwater - [74 Million Baby Boomer Retirees Are Projected To Make Economy Go "Boom!"](https://davescottblog.com/baby-boomer-retirees-to-make-economy-go-boom/) - Between 2008 and 2030 Some 74 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 -- about 10,000 a day -- are retiring into the Social Security and Medicare system. Nassau County will feel the impact more than many areas as almost 25 percent of its current residents are 65 and over, with many more fast approaching - [Friendly Bank Executive Solves ATM Issue](https://davescottblog.com/friendly-bank-executive-solves-atm-issue/) - I don't know much about banks or how they work. In the old days before automatic deposits, when I received a Friday paycheck from the newspaper where I was a reporter I'd rush to the bank and deposit it, hopeful that I could get there ahead of the check I wrote the day before. Once - [HELP! Mr. Potter Took Over My Bank](https://davescottblog.com/help-mr-potter-took-over-my-bank/) - I recently received a letter from Keith Leibfried, CEO and President of First Federal Bank, headquartered in Lake City, a town about 95 miles west of here. He wrote to tell me that my current bank, CBC, has been acquired by his bank. He enclosed a booklet explaining the changes I could expect. In it - [Fat Men From Space Proclaim A Dead Heat For Amelia Island's Number One Hamburger](https://davescottblog.com/fat-men-from-space-proclaim-a-dead-heat-for-amelia-islands-best-hamburger-eatery/) - Following a year of munching their way through Amelia Island hamburgers the Fat Men From Space have reached the end of the grill and announced their list of the top 10 places to get a really good burger among Amelia Island's United Federation of Hamburger Joints. The final results surprised me -- not because I - [The Fat Men From Space Boldly Go Where No Hamburger Reviewers Have Gone Before](https://davescottblog.com/the-fat-men-from-space-boldly-go-where-no-hamburger-reviewers-have-gone-before/) - Hamburgers -- The final gastronomic frontier. These are the voyages of the Fat Men From Space. Their one year mission: To explore all available Amelia Island hamburger possibilities. To seek out new and better burger enterprises. To boldly go where no burger reviewers have gone before! With their cholesterol levels soaring to astronomical heights, the - [The Fat Men Find The Most Expensive Burger As The "Best Island Burger" Search Continues](https://davescottblog.com/the-fat-men-find-the-most-expensive-burger-as-the-best-island-burger-search-continues/) - The Fat Men From Space tell me these are the last hamburger reviews they'll be doing this year. Not because they are tired of munching local burgers but because they've determined that they've hit all the Amelia Island burger spots ...... places where they might bump into Popeye's hamburger-addicted pal Wimpy, who promises owners he'll - [JAX Ad Agency Lays Another Branding Egg That Might Cost County Tax Payers $47,000](https://davescottblog.com/jax-ad-agency-lays-another-branding-egg-thatll-cost-nassau-county-tax-payers-47k/) - The Jacksonville-based Ketchum-Burdette marketing and advertising agency presented its revised Nassau County branding program to the County Board of Commissioners last Monday. It didn't go well. Locals in the chambers didn't like what they saw and said so, with several approaching the lectern to voice their blunt disapproval. If anybody agreed they stayed quiet. And - [This Is Not My Mother's World!](https://davescottblog.com/this-is-not-my-mothers-world/) - Not once did I ever hear my Mother swear. My widowed mom was no prude as her aptitude at poker, the horse and dog tracks, Jai Alai fronton and more contributed to paying the rent and buying groceries, and booze led to her untimely death at 64. However, profanity was not one her of vices. - ["Oh, Say DID You See......"](https://davescottblog.com/oh-say-did-you-see/) - Do you have a cause or an issue that you care deeply about? Do you want to generate publicity and inform others in the community? Then why not raise a banner to prominently display your passion at City Hall in downtown Fernandina Beach and let it fly under the U.S. flag and next to the - [Will The "Looks-Like-An-Airplane" Terminal Top Atlanta's "Big Chicken" As An Attraction?](https://davescottblog.com/will-the-looks-like-an-airplane-terminal-top-atlantas-big-chicken-as-an-attraction/) - That munching sound is me eating my words. When local restaurateur Tim Poynter (Karibo, Karibrew and the Timoti's Seafood Shak chain) was serving as a Fernandina Beach City Commissioner he emphatically told me over a beer at his Karibrew bar that I was badly mistaken for ridiculing the city's proposed new "It-looks-like-an-airplane" airport terminal. If - ["Extra! Read All About It!" Oh, Never Mind](https://davescottblog.com/extra-read-all-about-it-oh-never-mind/) - For the first time in my life I no longer have a local daily newspaper delivered to my home. I didn't renew my annual subscription to the Jacksonville-based Florida Times-Union for the following reasons: Cost: When I first subscribed to the Times-Union in 2011 the annual subscription cost was $185.12. It is now $623.65, a - [The Annoying Mr. Cooper; County Branding Bandits; Killer Bambi; How Not To Be A Jerk](https://davescottblog.com/who-the-heck-is-mr-cooper-and-why-is-he-constantly-annoying-me/) - Who The Dickens Is Mr. Cooper? Over the years I have occasionally purchased products pitched by iconic corporate celebrities including Betty Crocker, Ronald McDonald, Aunt Jemima, Mrs. Paul, Uncle Ben, and Colonel Sanders. Although I'm not a fan of all their products, none of these peddlers have ever given me any reason to doubt their - [Legionnaires, Dr. "No", & A Pair Of Insomniacs Part Of Wacky Commission Rezoning Session](https://davescottblog.com/legionnaires-doctor-no-two-insomniacs-part-of-wacky-commission-rezoning-debate/) - Fernandina Beach City Commissioners Dr. Ronald "Chip" Ross (aka Dr. No), turtle-guy Len Kreger, island newcomer and commissioner wannabe, Michael Lednovich, and a pair of vocal local insomniacs say they know better than the property owners about what should be done with their property. American Legion Post 54 at the corner of Gum and - [Will $47K Define Nassau County's Real Image? Is It Sprawl Ya'll, Swamp Ape, or Naked Folks?](https://davescottblog.com/spending-47k-to-define-nassau-countys-image-is-it-sprawl-yall-swamp-ape-or-naked-folks/) - Nassau County is paying Jacksonville marketing and advertising agency Burdette Ketchum (Burdetteketchum.com) $45,000 plus $2,000 in travel expenses to come up with a logo, seal and tag line in an effort to rebrand itself. The campaign is designed to make the county more appealing and encourage folks to move, visit, and do business here. But - [Swamp Ape, Swine Herding, Jerry Jeff Walker Are All Part Of St. Johns Houseboat Excursion](https://davescottblog.com/swamp-ape-swine-herding-jerry-jeff-walker-all-part-of-st-johns-houseboat-excursion/) - A little over a month ago two good friends and I, along with my apprehensive wife, Linda, attempted to answer an age-old question: Will four and a half cases of beer, 12 bottles of wine and a quart of Vodka be enough for three and a half days floating down the St. Johns River on - [Was Oil Discovered In Amelia Island's Waters? Will The City Marina Harbor Mud Wrestling?](https://davescottblog.com/has-oil-been-discovered-in-amelia-islands-waters-will-the-city-marina-soon-harbor-mud-wrestling/) - Is Amelia Island soon to become a petroleum boomtown of explosive growth due to massive oil deposits recently discovered in its offshore waters? Is the Fernandina Beach Marina to become a mud wrestling venue? Did a Russian foreign exchange student meddle in a local high school's student council election? These are just some of the - [YMCA Property Sale An Exercise in Futility Thanks To Two Cantankerous Commissioners](https://davescottblog.com/ymca-proposed-property-sale-an-exercise-in-futility-thanks-to-two-cantankerous-city-commissioners/) - The local First Coast YMCA in the Amelia Park subdivision wants to sell a dormant 4.42 acre site that it owns there to developers. But a couple of mulish Fernandina Beach City Commissioners are opposed. The YMCA says the proceeds from the sale will enable it to expand its rapidly growing operations to accommodate more - [Is Facebook The New Group Therapy?](https://davescottblog.com/is-facebook-the-new-group-therapy/) - A number of acquaintances and friends I've known for many years post on Facebook. But since the November 2016 presidential election something happened to many of my liberal pals. They snapped. Their Facebook postings went from photos of family vacations, their kid's educational, sports and job milestones, boasting about their alma mater's football teams, and - [Tibetan Yak Herders & Hungry Laotians Beneficiaries of U.S. "Spending" Bill](https://davescottblog.com/tibetan-yak-herders-undernourished-laotians-beneficiaries-of-new-spending-bill/) - If Hillary Clinton had been elected she would have been thrilled with the "$1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill" signed last Friday by President Trump. Let's get the terminology out of the way first. Why are these D.C. bozos even calling this a spending bill? The country is broke. There is no money to pay for - [The Times-Union Lays Another Editorial Egg Inspiring The Jaguars PR Staff To Celebrate](https://davescottblog.com/the-times-union-lays-another-editorial-egg-inspiring-the-jaguars-pr-staff-to-celebrate/) - The Jacksonville Jaguars public relations department must have slapped themselves silly with high fives last Saturday when they picked up the Florida Times-Union newspaper. While subscribers and casual readers were left scratching their heads over the front page lead story headlined "What will new Jags uniform look like?" the football flacks at Everbank Stadium were - [New Store Offers Books, Brownies & Booze With A Somewhat Progressive Environment](https://davescottblog.com/new-store-offers-books-brownies-booze-with-a-somewhat-progressive-flavor/) - During a visit to the new 1430 Park Avenue (off South 14th Street) Story & Song Bookstore & Bistro the other day I found it to be an inviting place to browse for books, have a light lunch, a glass of wine, craft beer, or cup of coffee. Pastries are available and tables set up - [Fernandina Beach Commission Chimes In As Raging Gun Debate Further Divides Factions](https://davescottblog.com/raging-gun-debate-further-divides-factions/) - As a result of the Parkland, Florida high school shooting, there's been a variety of "solutions" offered by pundits, alleged experts, politicians, among others on how to stop these tragic and senseless killings ranging from calls to ban all guns or just certain guns to arming teachers and putting police officers in schools. Editorials, letters - ["Well, You Got Trouble, My Friend, Right Here, I say Trouble Right Here In River City"](https://davescottblog.com/well-you-got-trouble-my-friend-right-here-i-say-trouble-right-here-in-river-city/) - "Ya got trouble, folks! Right here in River City Trouble with a capital "T" And that rhymes with "B" and that stands for beach, booze and bullets!" Apologies to Meredith Wilson and the Music Man's Professor Harold Hill, who was actually preaching to the citizens of River City about the evil influences of the game - [A Pragmatic Populist President?](https://davescottblog.com/a-pragmatic-populist-president/) - Donald Trump's presidency consists of many presidential firsts. He took the oath as the oldest person to ever hold the office at 70 years and seven months. Ronald Reagan was the second oldest at 69 and 11 months. All other presidents before Trump held previous government positions or served in the military. President Trump is - [War, Crime & Bikes A Major Portion Of Life For 91-Year-Old Amelia Island Resident](https://davescottblog.com/war-crime-bikes-a-major-portion-of-life-for-91-year-old-amelia-island-resident/) - Amelia Island resident Alfred "Al" Kremler has led an interesting life -- from riding circles around veteran bicyclists, surviving Japanese kamikaze attacks, and walking a beat as a New York City cop. When 16-year-old Kremler graduated from high school in Queens in 1942 his father, a Manhattan banker, told him: "Forget about college, get a - [Baseball's Worst "Wrong Mistake"](https://davescottblog.com/rob-manfred-baseballs-worst-wrong-mistake/) - Rob Manfred, is the guy who walks into a crowded chili parlor wearing a tie and complains that the juke box playing "Waltz Across Texas" by Earnest Tubb is too loud. He's the guy who asks the waitress at a southern meat "n" three for an arugula salad and a glass of skim milk and turns - [Print Newspapers Take Social Media Beating; Hurt Themselves With Biased, Silly Reporting](https://davescottblog.com/print-newspapers-take-social-media-beating-hurt-themselves-with-biased-silly-reporting/) - The newspaper industry has shed a fifth of its journalists since 2001 and revenues have plunged as competition from Internet media is squeezing print publishers into oblivion according to Pew Research and the Newspaper Association of America. Florida's Tampa Bay area which once boasted five daily newspapers just a few years ago is an example - ["Actor" Says He's From Fernandina Beach Adding Another Rogue To Our Local Gallery](https://davescottblog.com/actor-says-hes-from-fernandina-beach-adding-another-rogue-to-our-local-gallery/) - (Editor's note: We're taking some time off for a couple of weeks so the next blog will be published January 26.) Local author, Fernandina Beach High School Counselor and blog reader, Rob Hicks, tells me that Fernandina Beach is home to a new "celebrity." However, nobody that I or Mr. Hicks knows have ever heard - [The Day The Music Died On Amelia Island](https://davescottblog.com/the-day-the-music-died-on-amelia-island/) - A long long time ago I can still remember how That music used to make me smile And I knew if I had my chance That I could make those people dance And maybe they'd be happy for a while But January made me shiver With every paper I'd deliver Bad news on the doorstep - [Frenzied Feminists, Muddled Media, Flaky Films, And More Made 2017 A Wild Ride](https://davescottblog.com/frenzied-feminists-muddled-media-flaky-films-and-more-made-2017-a-wild-ride/) - From my bar stool perch 2017 was an exceptionally interesting and entertaining year on Amelia Island and nationally and here's a few - in no particular order -- of what I think were some of the most significant events. What The Heck Just Happened? Nationally, we witnessed Donald Trump's inauguration applauded by some 62,984,825 - [More Proof Liberalism Is A Mental Disorder; Because Baby They're Crazy Out There!](https://davescottblog.com/more-proof-liberalism-is-a-mental-disorder-because-baby-its-crazy-over-there/) - Liberal Grinches have decided that the classic seasonal song Baby it’s Cold Outside -- where a man tries to convince his love interest to stay at his place -- should be banned because it promotes sexual harassment and non-consensual sex. In an opinion piece in The USA TODAY by Mary Nahorniak, that publication's deputy managing - [Dec. 12 Last Chance To Stop The Grinch From Descending Mt. Crumpit To Terrorize Locals](https://davescottblog.com/tuesday-is-last-chance-to-stop-the-grinch-descending-mt-crumpit-to-terrorize-citizens/) - Following last Friday's blog urging readers to vote for Fernandina Beach City Commission candidate Orlando Avila and not Chip Ross, I received an email from Ross saying: "Too bad you did not stay to the end of the forum last night ...my closing statement was written with you in mind." Ross' closing remarks at the Thursday, - [Family's Home Became A Bottomless Money Pit Due To Candidate Chip Ross' Legal Antics](https://davescottblog.com/familys-home-becomes-endless-money-pit-due-to-commission-candidates-legal-antics/) - John and Teresa Sauer, and son, John Jr., expected to be settled in their new home for Thanksgiving, instead they were in a hotel thanks to legal actions taken by Fernandina Beach City Commission candidate Ronald "Chip" Ross. Mr. Sauer and his family bought a house at 205 Broome Street in Fernandina Beach's historical district - [Famed Local Pundit Shares His Eye Witness Accounts Of American Politics In New Book](https://davescottblog.com/area-author-relates-his-eye-witness-accounts-of-u-s-history-in-new-book-skirmishes/) - Amelia Island resident Neal B. Freeman's new Book "Skirmishes" is one that I defy readers to pick up, open to any page, and stop reading. The book is broken down into six subject chapters, each rich with this fascinating man's insight, wit, eye-witness historical perspective, thought-provoking commentary, and more. The 320-page tome consists of Mr. - [This Thanksgiving Marks 40th Anniversary Of Amelia Island's "Highest" Level](https://davescottblog.com/thanksgiving-the-40th-anniversary-of-an-amelia-high-city-says-new-airport-terminal-will-attract-big-spenders/) - Next week Amelia Island will celebrate the 40th anniversary of what would be a very memorable event if any of those involved could remember what the hell it was. Those who actively and enthusiastically participated have only vague and hazy recollections of what took place during those giddy days following the explosion of the shrimp - ["There's Nothing To See Here" Says Times-Union About Kneeling Jaguars And The NFL](https://davescottblog.com/theres-nothing-to-see-here-says-times-union-in-response-to-kneeling-jax-jaguar-footballers/) - "I do not take a single newspaper, not read one a month, and I feel myself infinitely happier for it." -- Thomas Jefferson. If Thomas Jefferson lived in Jacksonville he'd probably be an even stronger opponent of newspapers than he was in the 18th Century once he got a look at the Florida Times-Union. The - ["First, Do No Harm!" Don't Vote For Chip Ross!](https://davescottblog.com/first-do-no-harm-do-not-vote-for-chip-ross-heres-why/) - Residents of Fernandina Beach who vote for Ronald "Chip" Ross for City Commissioner Tuesday, November 7, couldn't do more harm to the community and local citizenry unless they burned the city to the ground. A vote for Ross is like praying for a category 5 hurricane to hit the city dead center as he offers - [Future Women Marchers Need A Purpose; How About Discouraging Single Motherhood?](https://davescottblog.com/women-marchers-need-a-purpose-how-about-single-motherhood/) - I've read that women protestors who marched this past January may be planning another such event soon. The last time the powder-puff fascist organizers encouraged its escadrille of sign-wielding, gong-clanging gals to descend on the public square their followers seemed confused as to why they were there. We witnessed march organizers wearing silly obscene hats, shouting the - [Soccer Or Turnips Boiling! What's More Exciting?](https://davescottblog.com/soccer-or-turnips-boiling-whats-more-exciting/) - Jacksonville is one of 34 cities being considered as a host for the 2026 World Cup, the Super Bowl of soccer. The last time it was held in 2014 in Brazil, 200 teams played a total of 853 matches in 30 days and scored a total of three points. For most Americans, watching turnips boil - [Are The Dog Track And A Coffee Can Your Retirement Programs?](https://davescottblog.com/when-the-dog-track-and-a-coffee-can-are-your-retirement-programs/) - Financial statements from brokerage firms contain terms and phrases I don't understand, particularly when the promised results didn't materialize and my long-term investment program is now the 1-8-5 trifecta in Thursday's second race at the Orange Park Greyhound Track and some loose change in a coffee can, mostly Canadian pennies and nickels. I don't trust hedge - [Why Do We Need A Fernandina Beach City Government?](https://davescottblog.com/we-dont-need-a-fernandina-beach-city-government/) - (Editor's note: Guest editorial writer Pat Keogh is an entrepreneur, businessman, lawyer and investor who owns restaurants and other properties in Fernandina Beach but fled the city for Austin, Texas due to the outrageous city fees, taxes and bureaucracy. “When the rest of the universe is trying to make it easier for business, Fernandina Beach - [Airport Needs More Hangars, Restrooms, Etc. Not A Disney World Winged Pig In A Poke](https://davescottblog.com/airport-needs-more-hangers-restrooms-etc-not-a-disney-world-like-winged-terminal/) - Fernandina Beach City Commissioner Tim Poynter told me that our airport, which will soon have a $4.9 million “It-almost-looks-like-an-airplane” terminal building, has the highest gas prices of any airport in the area. Sean McGill, President McGill Aviation, tells me that Commissioner Poynter's highest gas price" scenario isn't so and has the numbers to back it - [Krupa, Hampton Sessions Paved Career Path For Island Jazz Festival Founder Les DeMerle](https://davescottblog.com/session-with-lionel-hampton-sparked-career-of-island-jazz-festival-founder-les-demerle/) - In the early 1960s when Amelia Island resident Les DeMerle's dad took him to see Gene Krupa, Lionel Hampton and other musical greats at New York City's Metropole Cafe, the corner of Manhattan's 48th Street and Broadway, those visits were major factor's in the then young teenager's decision to made music a career. Even though Les's dad - [Chased Through The Rural South By Irma](https://davescottblog.com/chased-through-the-rural-south-by-irma/) - During the recent hurricane Linda and I made a 2,125 mile road trip through seven southern states, staying just ahead of, and behind Irma. Following are observations, random thoughts, and opinions collected during our 12-day trek to visit son Eric and family in Asheville, NC and attend the wedding of Linda's niece in Mississippi, a - [My Friend Irma! NOT!](https://davescottblog.com/my-friend-irma-not/) - My Friend Irma, was a top-rated, long-run radio situation comedy that was so popular in the late 1940s that its success escalated to films, television, a comic strip and a comic book. The 1949 movie was the first for the new comic duo of Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin in 1949 that rocketed them to - [Will Taliban/ISIS Wannabe Statue Vandals Target Fernandina Beach's David Yulee?](https://davescottblog.com/will-talibanisis-wannabe-statue-vandals-target-fernandina-beachs-david-yulee/) - "Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always - [Are Burger Reviews UnAmerican & Bigoted?Despite the Criticism Here Are The First Five](https://davescottblog.com/are-burger-reviews-unamerican-bigoteddespite-the-criticism-herere-the-first-four/) - It's highly unusual for this blog to receive attention from a celebrated national figure when we can barely get family members to read it. But it happened recently when the following missive arrived in our mailbox from Mr. Ronald McDonald. With tongue firmly wedged in one cheek and a hamburger in the other, here's what he had to say: - [New Newspaper Blowing Yulee's Horn](https://davescottblog.com/new-newspaper-blowing-yulees-horn/) - Curtiss Quarrier wants to blow Yulee's horn -- the community's, not the scalywag it's named after. Quarrier, a third generation Yulee native, has started a new print newspaper -- the Yulee Bugle --directed at Yule residents, an enterprise that may raise an eyebrow or two since print newspapers appear to be on a downward skid - [City's "Looks-Like-An-Airplane" Terminal Takes Off; Marina Is Sinking To The Bottom](https://davescottblog.com/citys-looks-like-an-airplane-terminal-takes-off-marina-is-sinking-to-the-bottom/) - A gentleman from Georgia's St. Simons Island was complaining on Facebook recently about the lack of progress on repairing damage to Fernandina Beach's downtown marina caused by Hurricane Matthew last October. Here's what he said: "I'm not sure who the commissioners there are and I know they have a thankless job. But those of - [Comedians Today Aren't Funny -They're Mean & Vulgar](https://davescottblog.com/comedians-arent-funny-anymore-theyre-mean/) - Humor on TV, in movies, and on the stage isn't funny anymore. It's become cruel, mean and vulgar. I haven't seen or heard anything "funny" in a long time that I'd be comfortable escorting my grandson, neighborhood kids or someone's Quaker granny to hear or see. Funny people like Carol Burnett, Dick Van Dyke, Bob - [Mamma's Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys; Not Doctors And Lawyers And Such](https://davescottblog.com/mammas-let-your-babies-grow-up-to-be-cowboys-not-doctors-and-lawyers-and-such/) - In their 1978 song "Mamma's Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys" Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings urged mothers to encourage their kids to become "doctors and lawyers and such." But the popular western music duo never met Fernandina Beach attorney Clinch Kavanaugh or Dr. Ronald "Chip" Ross or they would have sung a - [Two New "Fat Men From Space" Blast Off Searching For Amelia Island's Best Burger](https://davescottblog.com/two-fat-men-from-space-blast-off-to-seek-amelia-islands-best-burger/) - Despite the fact that the only benefits to be had are weight gain, high cholesterol, cases of indigestion, and a lighter wallet, a number of folks applied for this blog's position of "Fat Man From Space", the island hamburger connoisseur, whose job is to sample as many hamburgers as possible in local island eateries from - [The Difficulties of Swamp Draining!](https://davescottblog.com/the-difficulties-of-swamp-draining/) - Former full-time and now part-time Amelia Island resident, Pat Keogh, had an article printed in late May in the Washington DC based "Government Executive Magazine," a publication that says it offers "practical advice for federal leaders on managing people, processes and projects." In it Pat offered sensible and sound tips on how to efficiently manage - [Amelia Island Enjoying A BBQ Bonanza](https://davescottblog.com/amelia-island-enjoying-a-bbq-boom/) - BBQ joints are popping up on Amelia Island faster than Bill Clinton could pencil in "Monica" on his "To Do" list every morning. The latest island addition is Michael Stringer's State Line Barbeque, which opened just this week next to Flash Foods at the intersection of Will Hardee and Sadler Road, across from the Post - [Chicken Little Has A Pal - Chicken Littler!](https://davescottblog.com/chicken-little-has-a-pal-chicken-littler/) - That clucking noise coming from the Fernandina Beach City Commission chambers is Commissioner Johnny Miller and Dr. Ronald "Chip" Ross, two Chicken Littles, frantically attempting to peck to death a proposed affordable apartment project with their preposterous "end of the world" scenarios. Mindlessly following these two clucking birdbrains are the usual raggedy handful of leftover - [Work From Home? "Fuggedaboutit" Says IBM](https://davescottblog.com/work-from-home-fuggedaboutit-says-ibm/) - IBM recently announced that telecommuting from home or the local coffee shop is no longer an option and that the 152,000 of its 380,000 employees currently tapping away on computers from the master bedroom or the local coffee shop need to get back to the office pronto or hit the bricks. One of the pioneers in the - [Job Opening: "Fat Man From Space" Wanted To Rate Amelia Island's Hamburger Offerings](https://davescottblog.com/successor-to-fat-man-from-space-required-to-review-amelia-islands-hamburger-joints/) - Where's the best hamburger on Amelia Island? Some two years ago this blog's hamburger expert, the Fat Man From Space, and I determined that the best burgers in these parts were: 1-Putt Putt at Main Beach. Yes, you read that right, Putt Putt! Try it. 2- T-Rays; 3- Salty Pelican; 4- Leddy's Porch at the - [Fox News Personality Writes To Warn Me That Amelia Island Is Targeted For Trouble](https://davescottblog.com/fox-news-personality-writes-me-to-warn-that-amelia-island-is-targeted-for-trouble/) - Fox News commentator Sean Hannity tells me there's big trouble headed our way. In a six-page letter to me Mr. Hannity told me that bucolic Amelia Island has been identified as an "emerging immigrant community" that is being ".....transformed into a haven for displaced, Middle Eastern illegal immigrants" and worse. He painted a grim picture of Amelia - [A Visit To Kings Bay Naval Base Confirms That Tax Dollars There Are Being Well Spent](https://davescottblog.com/a-visit-to-kings-bay-naval-base-confirmation-that-our-tax-dollars-are-being-well-spent/) - In the more than six years I have lived on Amelia Island I've had people tell me that they wish they could tour one of the submarines housed at the U.S. Kings Bay Naval Station just north of us in Kings Bay, GA. Opportunities to visit this unique facility, that is home to the most destructive - [News-Leader Editorial Pages A Laugh Riot; But Not In The Way Its Editor Intended](https://davescottblog.com/news-leader-editorial-pages-a-laugh-riot-but-not-in-the-way-its-editors-intended/) - The dreadful opinion page columnists on the pages of the local bi-weekly News-Leader newspaper are like balloons in a swimming pool. As soon as you think you have one pushed under water another one pops up. Ron "Get off my lawn you little bastards" Sapp the crusty liberal curmudgeon, who has been wasting space in - [Smoked Mullet, Worm Grunting & Oysters Make The "Forgotten Coast" Unforgettable](https://davescottblog.com/smoked-mullet-worm-grunting-oysters-make-the-forgotten-coast-unforgettable/) - Florida's multiple coastlines are named according to their history and surrounding attractions. For example our “First Coast” area which includes Amelia Island down to St. Augustine refers to both the first permanent European settlement in St. Augustine and the fact that it is the first coast within Florida that folks encounter while traveling southbound down - [Why Can't Folks East of The Mississippi River Fix Brisket The Way Pit Masters In Texas Do?](https://davescottblog.com/why-cant-folks-east-of-the-mississippi-river-fix-brisket-the-way-pit-masters-in-texas-do/) - Despite the infinite number of barbeque joints that pepper the rural deep south, I've never discovered any that fix beef brisket the way the folks in Texas do it. For reasons that I've never understood, folks in Dixie rarely lay a slab of beef on a grill unless it's a steak on their Weber at - [Don Poynter: One Of The Most Interesting Characters I've Ever Met!](https://davescottblog.com/meet-the-most-unforgettable-character-youve-never-met/) - Over the years I've met and interviewed an interesting mix of folks ranging from pool hustler Minnesota Fats and Dallas Cowboy quarterback Roger Staubach to World War II Hiroshima bomber pilot Paul Tibbets and Vice President Spiro Agnew. However, during my years as a newspaper reporter and PR practitioner I've never met a personality as - [Florida: Best State Ever Or The Funniest?](https://davescottblog.com/florida-best-state-ever-or-the-funniest/) - (The blog will take a two-week spring break beginning next week to enjoy a visit with our visiting son, daughter-in-law and grandson and work on the upcoming issue of the Amelia island News-Wrecker to be distributed Thursday, May 4. We'll be back April 27.) Sitting on the back porch in a pair of shorts, drinking - [Does This $400,000 Wall Street Journal Ad Make You Want To Buy Perfume?](https://davescottblog.com/how-does-this-400000-wsj-ad-sell-perfume/) - A full page ad in the Saturday/Sunday, March 25-26 edition of the Wall Street Journal caught my eye, not because I was interested in the product or that it was so clever it made me pause to read it. Nope, there was nothing to read. The full color ad, which filled the entire back page of - [Local Light Brigade's "Charge" Will Keep Turtles In The Dark And Lighten Up Wallets](https://davescottblog.com/light-brigades-charge-painful-to-the-wallet/) - OK folks it's time for Jeopardy. The category is Fernandina Beach City Commissioners Gone Wild. Answer: The Charge of the Light Brigade. Question: What is $500 a day? That's correct. If Fernandina Beach residents turn on a light or even posses a shiny object that can be seen from the beach during sea turtle sex - [In A Fight The Irish Will Have Your Back](https://davescottblog.com/in-a-fight-the-irish-will-have-your-back/) - Guest Commentary (Patrick Keogh, a friend, long-time Fernandina Beach resident, entrepreneur, attorney, out-spoken city critic and business owner who took his capital and fled Amelia Island for Austin, Texas because of the city’s unfair and extortionist impact fees, offered this fascinating commentary as we celebrate St. Patrick's Day today, March 17.) It’s during St Patrick’s - [Time To Terminate The Terminal?](https://davescottblog.com/time-to-terminate-the-terminal/) - City Manager Dale Martin and many on the Fernandina Beach City Commission, believe the proposed new airport facility is a good idea and a project that is ready for takeoff, but to many it won't fly.... except when it's not supposed to. Based on articles in local news organizations, comments from former city managers, previous - [It's A Dog's Life On Amelia Island](https://davescottblog.com/its-a-dog-life-on-amelia-island/) - In addition to its ideal climate, bucolic views, friendly people, historic Norman Rockwell-like downtown, delightful harbor, golf, fishing, and relaxing beaches there is another aspect of Amelia Island that intrigues me and that's the island residents' fondness .... no, their slavish devotion, for dogs. I've lived in other communities where people owned dogs and I've - [Airport & Golf Course Situation Muddled As Fernandina Continues Its Bizarre Maneuvers](https://davescottblog.com/airport-golf-course-situation-confusing-as-city-continues-its-strange-maneuvers/) - The headline on the lead story on the front page of the local bi-weekly News-Leader last Friday, February 17, blared "City weighs sale of Amelia River golf property." It quoted Fernandina Beach City Manager Dale Martin, and Airport Advisory Chairman Sam Lane, but nowhere in the story was a member of the Amelia River Golf - [“Clearance, Clarence. Roger, Roger. Vector, Victor & Also Explain The New Airport Bldg."](https://davescottblog.com/clearance-clarence-roger-roger-vector-victor-who-can-explain-new-airport-building/) - For a number of months I've been hearing about something to be built at the local airport that is supposed to look like an airplane, but maybe it won't and will be a welcome center, unless it isn't. Depending on who you talk to or what you read this structure will be a "welcome center" - [The Wall: If We Build It They Won't Come! And Advertising And Marketing Will Get It Done](https://davescottblog.com/the-wallif-we-build-it-they-wont-come-and-advertsing-and-marketing-will-get-it-done/) - The wall along the southern border will be built no matter how much American liberals rant and the Mexicans kick their feet and hold their breath. The only roadblock I can see so far is paying for it. The Mexican government says it isn't coughing up a single peso and President Trump claims the U.S. - [Reader Reactions Mixed On "Liberal" Women's March Commentary](https://davescottblog.com/reader-reactions-mixed-on-liberal-womens-march-commentary/) - All of the 32 comments posted thus far on last week's blog were about the "Liberal Women's March" that was intentionally and erroneously labeled by its organizers a "Women's March." One of the comments was neutral, 14 disagreed with my remarks with two of them resorting to name-calling, while 17 agreed, a number I find - [Women Marchers Outraged But Not Sure Why](https://davescottblog.com/women-marchers-outraged-but-not-sure-why/) - I've read and heard a number of news reports about the women's marches conducted in various communities including Fernandina Beach last Saturday but still have no idea what the gals' overall objective was. And I'm not sure they do either. Signs carried by many of those marching encouraged onlookers to: "Respect my rights", "Stay outraged" - [What's The Difference Between Fernandina's Capacity Fees And A Mob Extortion Racket?](https://davescottblog.com/is-there-a-difference-between-fernandinas-capacity-fees-and-a-mob-extortion-racket/) - Public Utilities Director John Mandrick's eyes must be spinning like a slot machine ready to hit the jackpot with the news that five of the 13 new restaurants and bars opening on the island this year are sitting on his Fernandina Beach shake-down turf. All of the Fernandina Beach locations will be "Mandricked" as the - [2017 To Be Year of Restaurants And Bars; Cheers-Like Joint & Gastronomes Planned](https://davescottblog.com/2017-to-be-year-of-restaurants-and-bars-cheers-like-joint-gastronomes-planned/) - 2017 will be a boon year for the bar and restaurant aficionados on Amelia Island with seven new restaurants and bars planning on opening and six others being refurbished under new ownership or management. Of the new ones, one of the most fascinating might be the smallest and guaranteed to be packed with Cheers-like locals -- PJD's Beer & Wine - [What Celebrity Would Have Travelers Hip Hopping Down The Florida Tourist Trail?](https://davescottblog.com/what-celebrity-would-have-travelers-hip-hopping-down-the-florida-tourist-trail/) - I'd never heard of Pitbull until Governor Rick Scott sacked the state tourism chief and a pair of his executives resigned after it was discovered they signed the Miami rapper to a secretive state-funded million dollar contract to promote Florida. After checking out the hip hop entertainer I've concluded that Governor Scott made a very prudent - [Small Plates? I Don't Want No Stinkin' Small Plates!](https://davescottblog.com/small-plates-theyre-for-small-people/) - (This will be the last commentary of 2016 as I am taking a Christmas break and will resume the blog January 6, 2017. I wish all readers a very happy Christmas and a prosperous, healthy and fun New Year.) Two popular restaurant trends I don't like are wraps and small plates. If I want a - [Bob Dylan Was Right - The Times They Are A-Changin' And Faster Than He Imagined](https://davescottblog.com/bob-dylan-was-right-the-times-they-are-a-changin-and-faster-than-he-imagined/) - In 1977 I was a member of the public relations team that helped put together the dedication ceremony for IBM's new General Systems Division Headquarters building in the northwestern section of Atlanta. The Atlanta Symphony, state and local politicians, and local business leaders attended including the governor and mayor while local, regional and national media - [Local Woman Volunteer Puts Whole New Blush On The Term "Camp Follower"](https://davescottblog.com/local-lady-volunteer-puts-whole-new-blush-on-term-camp-follower/) - When I was inducted into the U.S. Army the first duty station following basic training where I was assigned was in Kirchgoens, Germany, a remote, Godforsaken, freezing, Third Armored Division outpost where I arrived on December 22. I spent my first Christmas away from family and friends in a drafty army barracks where I didn't know anyone and felt very - [Mr. Rogers Never Met My Neighbor!](https://davescottblog.com/mr-rogers-never-met-my-neighbor/) - A satirical piece making the rounds on the Internet since the election ended describes those on the left that are unable to accept the fact that Donald Trump won as suffering from Trump Acceptance Resistance Disorder (TARD). According to the spoof, TARD is a pattern of pathologically dissociative and psychotic behavior, first observed in the - [Utilities Water Board Businesses In The Dark And Then They Force Them To Pay For It](https://davescottblog.com/well-water-board-businesses-in-the-dark-and-theyll-pay-for-it-say-local-utilities/) - The past two Sundays Fernandina Beach business owners, ranging from hotels and restaurants to toy stores and clothing boutiques and more have been left sitting in the dark without knowing why thanks to Florida Public Utilities. The Sunday (October 30) following the crowded Saturday Florida-Georgia game day and just before brunch the power went - [Baseball's Cubs: A Perfect Election Diversion](https://davescottblog.com/baseballs-cubs-a-perfect-election-diversion/) - As a kid in the 1950s, I followed the then 16 major league baseball teams (eight in the National League and eight in the American League), and determined that the Braves of Boston -- then Milwaukee and now Atlanta -- and that team's left-handed pitching machine, Warren Spahn, were the most worthy of my loyalty. - [Are Mayor Moonbeam's Media Tactics Legal? Buy-Gones' Gone Sign Saga Gets Sillier Still](https://davescottblog.com/are-mayor-moonbeams-media-tactics-legal-buy-gones-gone-sign-saga-gets-still-sillier/) - Fernandina Beach Mayor Johnny "Moonbeam" Miller has banned and blocked a number of people including me from viewing or commenting on his personal Facebook page and such actions may soon be tested in a Florida court case. Those excommunicated on Facebook by Mayor Moonbeam have access to his official mayoral Facebook comments but not his personal - [Island Musical Duo Issue Their First Album; Area Locals Help Each Other During Storm](https://davescottblog.com/island-musical-duo-issue-their-first-album-area-locals-help-each-other-during-storm/) - Two of the most admired musicians on Amelia Island, whose popularity is quickly growing throughout Northeast Florida, are the duo of Dan Voll and Michele Anders, talented and fun entertainers with a dedicated group of followers that are now treated to the couple's first CD -- "Kiss Me Salty." Baraboo, Wisconsin native Voll, who has lived hereabouts - [Buy-Gones Gone Sign A Bad Sign For Local Fernandina Beach Businesses](https://davescottblog.com/buy-gones-gone-sign-a-bad-sign-for-local-fernandina-beach-businesses/) - One of the signs on the South 8th Street woman's resale boutique Buy-Gones is gone and that's a bad sign for other Fernandina Beach businesses. Buy-Gones, which has been a community fixture for more than 25 years was purchased a decade ago by Barb Kent, who also operates a Buy-Gones retail outlet in Yulee and - [Mayor Miller's Groucho Impersonation; The Perfect Muffuletta & Is Uber Coming Here?](https://davescottblog.com/mayor-millers-groucho-impersonation-the-perfect-muffuletta-is-uber-coming/) - Fernandina Beach doesn't have a comedy club forum but as long as Mayor Johnny Miller sits on the City Commission it doesn't need one. Last Sunday Mayor Miller took his "Miller Time" stand-up routine to the Green Turtle Tavern in an event billed as a reelection fund raiser and it was one of the most knee-slapping, - [Lawyers & Bureaucrats; The Mayor Bounces A Check; Flag Flap; Sloppy Journalism & More](https://davescottblog.com/lawyers-the-mayor-bounces-a-check-flag-flap-sloppy-journalism-more/) - During a talk to the European American Business Club this past Tuesday evening, local architect John Cotner not only held the rapt attention of his audience with his relaxed and entertaining speaking style, but also took aim at bureaucrats and lawyers, two groups of people whose objectives he says impede progress and increase costs without - [Who Needs Jubilation T. Cornpone When We Have David Yulee & Duncan Lamont Clinch?](https://davescottblog.com/who-needs-jubilation-t-cornpone-when-you-have-david-yulee-duncan-lamont-clinch/) - I've never been able to fathom why Fernandina Beach pays homage to two of the most notoriously corrupt, dishonest and inept figures in the history of Florida -- David Yulee (aka David Levy) and Duncan Lamont Clinch. Not only is a nearby town named after Yulee, but a statue of the dishonest and treasonous politician - [Are You Sure You Want A Self-Driving Car?](https://davescottblog.com/are-you-sure-you-want-a-self-driving-car/) - Self-driving cars make me uneasy and according to a recent Wall Street Journal article I'm not alone. From what I've read the majority of folks expressing doubts about self-driving vehicles are baby boomers like me. The first time we old-timers experienced a "self-driving" car was at a county fair when we were about five years - [Cuba, Frisco Football Fiasco & Pretzelpalooza](https://davescottblog.com/cuba-frisco-football-fiasco-pretzelpalooza-more/) - So, how well have the Cuban people fared since Obama restored relations with that communist nation? It appears that instead of getting better, human rights in that dictatorship are getting even worse than they were before Obama's diplomatic blunder in which the United States and the poor Cubans got absolutely nothing in return. In fact - [It's Preposterous, But I Petted A Rhinoceros](https://davescottblog.com/its-preposterous-but-i-petted-a-rhinoceros/) - I know it's preposterous, But I petted a rhinoceros; I saw a Cockatoo. In fact, I spotted a few. I watched a wild ass, Munch on the grass; And was amazed by the scary Double wattled cassowary. I was puzzled by an okapi, That's like a giraffe, but not as tall...at all! I fed giraffes - ["Frankly, Sir, We Don't Give A Damn!"](https://davescottblog.com/frankly-mr-hirsch-we-dont-give-a-damn/) - The Southeastern Association of Law Schools (SEALS) President Jeffrey M. Hirsch, recently sent a letter to the owner, the CEO, and the President of the Dallas, Texas-based Omni Hotels & Resorts telling the three of them that if they didn't remove the word "plantation" from their Amelia Island property name the group would not return - [Solar Subsidies; Silly Science; Burns Bounce; Democrat Documentary; Funny Boat & More](https://davescottblog.com/solar-subsidies-silly-science-burns-bounce-democrat-documentary-funny-boat-more/) - If your neighbors or local businesses said they were going to install solar panels on their houses or stores and asked you to help pay for them your answer would probably be the same as if they asked you to pay a portion of their electric bill: "No!" So, if you don't want to subsidize - [A Local Hero; Jumbled Jaguar Judgment; Miller Time Ending? New Condos & More](https://davescottblog.com/a-local-hero-jumbled-jaguar-judgment-miller-time-ending-new-condos-more/) - "Give me that wallet," demanded Thaxton Rowe, when he caught up with the bicycle-riding thief who fled with a Green Turtle Tavern customer's wallet last Saturday (July 23) evening. The startled thief was quick to obey, tossing the purloined wallet on the ground and taking off after Rowe released the grip he had on his - [Would You Vote For A Pecuniary Polymath For Nassau County School Superintendent?](https://davescottblog.com/would-you-vote-for-a-pecuniary-polymath-for-school-superintendent/) - The other day I spoke to a gentleman named Brian who told me that a little over a week ago a fellow named Carter, from the Janet Adkins campaign, phoned him to personally ask for his vote for Ms. Adkins, saying that he was recently in Brian's 'neighborhood and knocked on his door, but nobody was home. - [New Team On Tap At Amelia Tavern; BLM Hatred In St. Marys; Rep. Brown Jail-Bound?](https://davescottblog.com/new-team-on-tap-at-amelia-tavern-blm-misery-heads-to-st-marys-rep-brown-jail-bound/) - It didn't take local restaurant entrepreneurs T.J. Pelletier, Roberto Pestana and Al Waldis long to cash in on their wildly successful downtown Fernandina Beach Amelia Tavern as after less than three months they handed over the keys last week to their key financial backer, Amelia Island resident Dr. Robert Hogan, and his newly recruited management - [Opportunity Isn't Just Knocking Here! It's Battering Doors Down With Local Mill Jobs](https://davescottblog.com/opportunity-isnt-just-knocking-here-its-battering-doors-down-with-local-mill-jobs/) - If I was a young man unsure of exactly what I wanted to do for a living but knew I wanted to live comfortably in the tropical resort community of Amelia Island, then I'd have been hanging off the gates of the WestRock Fernandina Beach Paper Mill to be one of the first in line - [Political Correctness, Toy Soldiers & Farms, The Pony Express, Gun-Free Zones & Tonto](https://davescottblog.com/political-correctness-toy-soldiers-farms-the-pony-express-gun-free-zones-tonto/) - When I was a kid about eight or nine years old wandering through a toy store I spotted a boxed western frontier fort, complete with tiny soldiers and Indians and relayed to my mom that's what I wanted for Christmas that year. It wasn't an extravagant request as it consisted of a series of painted - [As LGBT Community Races To Buy Guns Amelia Expert Offers All Free Safety Classes](https://davescottblog.com/as-lgbt-community-races-to-buy-guns-amelia-expert-offers-all-free-safety-classes/) - In response to the horrific massacre of 49 people at a gay night club in Orlando earlier this month many LGBT people are turning to guns with gun ownership and membership in gun clubs exploding in the U.S. among the LGBT community since the shootings by an Islamic terrorist. According to the USA Today newspaper - [Deceitful, Inept Politicians Capitalize On Tragedy To Promote Left Wing Nonsense](https://davescottblog.com/deceitful-inept-politicians-capitalize-on-tragedy-to-promote-left-wing-nonsense/) - While law enforcement officials and even many in his own party in Washington and elsewhere were calling the Orlando shootings an act of terrorism, loopy Florida 8th Congressional District Congressman Alan Grayson, D-Orlando, immediately jumped in front of TV cameras and called the attack a "hate crime” because the shooting happened at a gay club.Grayson made the statement - [Weak Canadian Dollar Makes Trip To Buy Beer, Bacon, & Cheddar Cheese A Bargain](https://davescottblog.com/weak-canadian-dollar-makes-trip-to-buy-beer-bacon-cheddar-cheese-a-bargain/) - Does anybody else remember the "Europe on Five Dollars a Day" books that were popular in the late 1950s and 1960s?Written by Arthur Frommer, I was introduced to the books when I was a GI stationed in Germany in the mid-1960s and took advantage of the do-it-yourself tour guides to see as much of Europe - [Bad Bookkeeping Begets BBQ Brouhaha](https://davescottblog.com/bad-bookkeeping-begets-bbq-brouhaha/) - There's a brouhaha still brewing over the cancellation of the Fernandina Beach BBQ and Bluegrass Festival competition that was scheduled at Main Beach June 10-11.After discovering that participants were asked to write checks to Parks & Recreation City Manager Jay Robertson instead of the city, outraged City Manager Dale Martin exercised his management authority and - [I Kneed To Take A Break!](https://davescottblog.com/i-kneed-to-take-a-break/) - Due to a mechanical failure with my right knee I will not be posting a blog for the next couple of weeks. If everything goes the way I hope it will the next Blog will be June 10.My right knee appears to have suffered irreparable damage over the years, and according to the specialist that - [Untimely! Inaccurate! Silly! Ridiculous! Read About It In The Amelia Island News-Wrecker](https://davescottblog.com/untimely-inaccurate-untrue-silly-read-all-about-it-in-the-amelia-island-news-wrecker/) - The second edition of the satirical tabloid newspaper, the Amelia Island News-Wrecker is now online at amelianewswrecker.com and print copies are available at bars, restaurants and shops all over Amelia Island and in Yulee. A massive iceberg threatening Amelia Island, a demolition derby at the Concours d'Elegance, and the local News-Leader accidently printing an accurate article are - [Loopy Local Lemmings Intimidate City Commission](https://davescottblog.com/loopy-local-lemmings-intimidate-city-commission/) - Local "Get off my lawn you little bastards" curmudgeon Ron Sapp danced a written jig of joy in an April 27 News-Leader column after like-minded, but misguided commissioners, Mayor Johnny Miller, Roy Smith and Len Kreger, voted "no" during a recent session recommending that certain parcels of property on Fletcher Avenue be modified to enable - [A Tale of Two Cities: Jacksonville & Atlanta](https://davescottblog.com/a-tale-of-two-cities-jacksonville-atlanta/) - I don't venture often into downtown Jacksonville for the same reason I rarely visited downtown Atlanta when I resided in that city's outskirts -- crime. Atlanta and Jacksonville share a lot in common. They both have beautiful rivers running through them, that they have never capitalized on -- Atlanta the Chattahoochee and Jacksonville the St. - [Great Scott! Mistaken Identity May Be OK!](https://davescottblog.com/great-scott-mistaken-identity-may-be-ok/) - When I Googled my blog recently and the name of tri-athlete "Ironman" Dave Scott popped up it reminded of an incident about 10 years ago when I was running my own marketing and PR consultancy in Atlanta. I had written and issued a press release for a client, Novartis Ophthalmics, the one-time Atlanta-based company - [Thursday, April 21 Is Beer Lovers Day!](https://davescottblog.com/april-21-is-beer-lovers-day/) - If you're a beer drinker mark Thursday, April 21 on your calendar. The long anticipated Amelia Tavern at 318 Centre Street at the corner of South 4th Street, will open its doors to the public beginning at 4 p.m. that day, and if my sneak preview is any indication this is going to be a - [Cash Cow's Car Clamor Calamitous Claim City's Churlish Curmudgeons](https://davescottblog.com/cash-cows-car-clamor-calamitous-claim-citys-churlish-curmudgeons/) - According to Amelia Island Tourism Chief Gil Langley, the month of March with its automotive events that included the Concours d'Elegance, Festivals of Speed and the new Vintage Grand Prix drove a lot of money onto the island. And according to Fernandina Beach City Commissioner Len Kreger it drove some of his constituents nuts with - [Experience, Local Supporters Make Burns The Best Candidate to Head School System](https://davescottblog.com/experience-local-supporters-make-burns-the-best-candidate-to-head-school-system/) - If the county's 14,371 registered Democrats wanted to vote for one of the two leading contenders for Nassau County School Superintendent they'd have to have switched party affiliation and joined the county's 32,696 registered Republican voters. There are also 12,059 other registered voters ranging from Independents to Green, Ecology, and even a group claiming allegiance - [Where Can You Send Your Kid For An Education Instead Of An Indoctrination?](https://davescottblog.com/where-can-you-send-your-kid-for-an-education-instead-of-indoctrination/) - If I was still living in Atlanta, had a child ready to enter a university and had only two institutions to choose from -- Emory University or Georgia State -- it wouldn't take more than a nanosecond for me to decide to pack junior off to State even if the kid had a full boat - [The Next News-Wrecker Issue Being Readied With Hard-Hitting, Fast-Breaking News Items](https://davescottblog.com/the-next-news-wrecker-issue-being-readied-with-hard-hitting-fast-breaking-news-items/) - A massive iceberg wedged between two sandbars off Main Beach; a license required by Fernandina Beach officials to take photos of local sunsets; the discovery of a vast canyon and mountain range on the south end of Amelia Island; and a local man building a personal computer using only discarded plastic bags, are just a - [When Comparing Daily Newspaper Coverage The Jacksonville Florida Times-Union Flunks](https://davescottblog.com/when-comparing-daily-newspaper-coverage-the-jacksonville-florida-times-union-flunks/) - While spending our Christmas holiday between Blue Ridge and Ellijay in North Georgia I occasionally made a trek from our remote mountain cabin to a local convenience store to pick up the Chattanooga Times Free Press, which after reading for several days, I now consider to be one of the finest daily newspapers in the - [Media Negative About Restaurant Chain's Positive Principles While Ignoring Reality](https://davescottblog.com/media-negative-about-restaurant-chains-positive-principles-while-ignoring-reality/) - A couple of years ago fast-food chain Chick-fil-A made national headlines when company President Dan Cathy spoke out in support of traditional marriage causing liberals and gays to come unhinged and launch nationwide protests against the chain. The Atlanta-based company was founded on Christian beliefs and today still staunchly follows those tenets in dealing with - [In Cassadaga, FL It's Not What You See There But Rather What You Don't See That Matters](https://davescottblog.com/in-cassadega-fl-its-not-what-you-see-there-but-rather-what-you-dont-see-that-matters/) - Folks that travel to the tiny central Florida community of Cassadaga aren't concerned about what there is to see there, it's the things they can't see that attract them to the 122-year-old town that doesn't boast a flashing traffic light, much less a stop light, because it simply doesn't need one. Last weekend Linda and - [Without Double Standards The Left Wouldn't Have Any Standards](https://davescottblog.com/without-double-standards-the-left-wouldnt-have-any-standards/) - Discussing the vacant seat on the U.S. Supreme Court caused by the sudden death of Antonin Scalia On ABC's This Week Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said: "You know, the Constitution, Ted Cruz holds the Constitution, you know, when he walks through the halls of Congress. Let him show me the clause that says the president’s - [Living In Florida Just Keeps Getting Better And Nassau County Is A Contributing Factor](https://davescottblog.com/living-in-florida-just-keeps-getting-better-and-nassau-county-is-a-contributing-factor/) - An organization called The John Locke Foundation, a North Carolinian think tank, created an index to rate the freedom of individual states and if you live in Florida the results look terrific, and if you live in New York, they stink. Look up John Locke, one of the good guys, even though he is considered - [Isn't It Time To Ditch Black History Month And Establish American History Month?](https://davescottblog.com/isnt-it-time-to-ditch-black-history-month-and-establish-american-history-month/) - Why do we set aside February to celebrate black history when we don't do the same for any other race or culture? Shouldn’t America encourage the celebration of diversity? Aren’t Hispanics the fastest growing minority in America? What about the Native Americans? Where is their month? Or the Jews, who were also taken as slaves - [Fernandina Beach Mayor Miller Should Adopt Groucho's Refrain For His Next Campaign](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-beach-mayor-miller-should-adopt-grouchos-refrain-for-his-next-campaign/) - "Whatever It Is, I'm Against It" was Groucho Marx's most famous refrain and I'm convinced that Fernandina Beach Mayor Johnny Miller could adopt it as a campaign slogan if he intends to once again run for a seat on the City Commission or any other political office he aspires to attain. It would also grant - [Sometimes 'The Sound Of Music' Is Too Much; But Many Local Bands Hit The Right Note](https://davescottblog.com/sometimes-the-sound-of-music-is-too-much-but-many-local-bands-hit-the-right-note/) - Not too long ago I walked into an off-island restaurant, took a seat and while looking over the menu, asked the waiter if he could turn down the ear-splitting music that was piped in from ceiling speakers. He said: "No, the guys in the kitchen like it." As I laid the menu on the table, - [Study Says Bart Simpson Was Mistaken When He Said "Don't Have A Cow, Man!"](https://davescottblog.com/study-says-bart-simpson-was-mistaken-when-he-said-dont-have-a-cow-man/) - A recent study by Carnegie Mellon University is enough to give even the most passionate vegetarian environmentalist heartburn. "Step away from that lettuce," say the CMU academics because they claim a diet rich in fruit and vegetables could actually be more harmful to the environment than consuming a steak. Lettuce is “over three times worse - [A Wrap? I Don't Want No Stinkin' Wrap! What I Want Is An Old-Fashioned Sink Sandwich!](https://davescottblog.com/a-wrap-i-dont-want-no-stinkin-wrap-what-i-want-is-an-old-fashioned-sink-sandwich/) - Go to almost any eatery, scan the menu, and where sandwiches should be there's a listing for something called wraps, which consist of a bewildering combination of leaves, twigs and colored goop stuffed inside a tortilla that's rolled up into a rubbery tube.I don't want no stinkin' wrap. I want a sandwich. When I - [Fernandina Beach's New "Amelia Tavern" Will Be Boon To Downtown & Beer Lovers](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-beachs-new-amelia-tavern-will-be-boon-to-downtown-beer-lovers/) - When former Amelia Island Ritz-Carlton professionals Al Waldis and T.J. Pelletier met for happy hour about five years ago the ideas the two of them batted around over a few margaritas have materialized to positively alter the landscape of downtown Fernandina Beach's bar and restaurant scene. Al, who left the Ritz to strike out on - [If You Don't Agree With Mayor Miller In 2016 Then Brace Yourself For A Windstorm of Rage](https://davescottblog.com/if-you-dont-agree-with-mayor-miller-in-2016-then-brace-yourself-for-a-windstorm-of-rage/) - Newly sworn in Fernandina Beach Mayor Johnny Miller has no tolerance for folks that don't share his extreme views on environmental or energy issues. In fact, the normally personable Palace Saloon barkeep turns downright nasty when people challenge his obsessive, fanatical opinions on topics ranging from solar panels and wind turbines to fracking and seismic - [Before Solar Panel Activity Heats Up Local Officials Need To Study Other Cities](https://davescottblog.com/before-solar-panel-activity-heats-up-local-officials-need-to-study-other-cities/) - Before the City of Fernandina Beach gets too excited about a proposed solar panel farm that Mayor Johnny Miller says could help lower electric bills, it might want to take a look at other communities that held out similar hopes only to see them turn dark, particularly one just a couple hundred miles north of - [Why Are Outsiders Financing Rep. Adkins' Nassau County School Superintendent Race?](https://davescottblog.com/why-are-outsiders-financing-rep-adkins-nassau-county-school-superintendent-race/) - I haven't paid much attention to the three-woman race for Nassau County School Superintendent until it was recently pointed out to me that some 80 percent of all the financial contributions for Janet Adkins, who has the largest campaign bank account so far, have come from folks that don't live in Nassau County and don't - [News-Leader Columnist Says Readers Are "Stupid" If They Don't Agree with His Opinion](https://davescottblog.com/news-leader-columnist-says-readers-are-stupid-if-they-dont-agree-with-his-opinion/) - Move over Dickie Anderson. Your "From the Porch" column is no longer the most incoherent and amateurish regularly scheduled piece of babble printed in the local bi-weekly News-Leader. With a single swat Joe Palmer's Friday, November 27 "Cup of Joe" outburst smacked you off that pedestal. While Ms. Anderson's self-indulgent and high-schoolish column is an incomprehensible - [Six New Restaurants Opening In Downtown Fernandina Within The Next Three Months](https://davescottblog.com/six-new-restaurants-opening-in-downtown-fernandina-within-the-next-three-months/) - Six locally owned and operated restaurants, all within walking distance of each other, will have opened up in downtown Fernandina Beach by the end of the first quarter of next year and if the numbers and expectations I've heard from the Amelia Island Tourist Development Council, local hotels, bars, and current restaurant owners are correct, - [Want To See Misery During Your Vacation? Then Cuba's Probably The Place For You](https://davescottblog.com/want-to-see-misery-during-your-vacation-then-cubas-probably-the-place-for-you/) - An Amelia Island friend recently told me that he and his girl friend are planning a vacation trip to Cuba because, he said: "I want to see the old American cars and Cuba before it's full of McDonalds, Burger Kings, neon lights, etc." Really? In that case the two of them should take a trip - [Sign This Then Take Off All Your Clothes](https://davescottblog.com/sign-this-then-take-off-all-your-clothes/) - What's happening on college campuses around the country today should frighten any parent about to send a kid off for the first time to further his or her education. The University of Missouri and Yale made headlines this past week as students, including those on the Missouri football team, challenged their school administrators. Students should - [New Entertainment Complex To Take Island From 'Hallelujah' To 'Yee Haw' - Texas Style](https://davescottblog.com/new-entertainment-complex-to-take-island-from-hallelujah-to-yee-haw-texas-style/) - The corner of 14th and Sadler is going from "Hallelujah" to "Yee Haw"! And it's doing it Texas-style -- big and flashy! A massive portion of the site where the Journey Church once sat and now only contains the Loop restaurant is being transformed by Amelia Island bar and restaurant veteran Bill Childers (40) and - [Guess Who's NOT Coming To Dinner?](https://davescottblog.com/guess-whos-not-coming-to-dinner/) - We all are acquainted with neighbors, relatives, celebrities, politicians and news makers that we would be reluctant to invite to have dinner in our homes and chat with our spouses, children or grandchildren, and I have a list of those that would never make it past my front door at dinnertime or any other - [Great Smoked Mullet & BBQ Brisket No Longer Require Long Drives Or Air Travel](https://davescottblog.com/great-smoked-mullet-bbq-brisket-no-longer-require-long-drives-or-air-travel/) - There are two reasons I travel to Houston, Texas. The first and foremost is to visit our son, Eric, daughter-in-law, Leslie, and four-year-old grandson, Luke. The second is to gorge myself on friend Ron Craig's Luling City Market's BBQ brisket, smoked beef links, and bring home as many bottles of the Market's BBQ sauce as - [Could Fernandina Commission Blowhards Generate Enough Air to Power Windmills?](https://davescottblog.com/could-fernandina-commission-blowhards-generate-enough-air-to-power-windmills/) - The Financial Times recently reported that electricity generated by U.S. wind farms fell six percent the first half of this year due to the softest air currents in 40 years, even though wind farm capacity grew by nine percent. However, if the folks in charge of those windmills would attend a Fernandina Beach City Commission - [When Asked Where She lives Commission Candidate Becomes Defensive & Evasive](https://davescottblog.com/when-asked-where-she-lives-commission-candidate-becomes-defensive-evasive/) - When someone asks where I live it takes me less than 10 seconds to provide an answer as it's not a complex question that requires a lot of thought or intense research. However, when I asked that question of Group 4 Fernandina Beach City Commission candidate Jennifer Hartrich-Schriver it took her four tries and a - [News-Leader's Role in Community Shrinking As Online Publications Pull In Ads & Readers](https://davescottblog.com/news-leaders-role-in-community-shrinking-as-online-publications-pull-in-ads-readers/) - The imminent death of America's daily and weekly print newspapers is being reported with regularity and as a former daily newspaper reporter I would hate to see them disappear. However, when I read papers such as the local News-Leader, I can understand why its name may soon appear in an online obituary. Like an alcoholic - [Benevolent Local Beach-Front Home Owner Annoys Misguided Pitchfork & Torch Crowd](https://davescottblog.com/benevolent-local-beach-front-home-owner-annoys-misguided-pitchfork-torch-crowd/) - If I was Baxter Hayes I'd be bitter, angry and frustrated. But I'm not. And he isn't. Mr. Hayes is the gentleman who built an ocean-front home on Fletcher Avenue next to Beach Access 33 and got permission from then City Manager Joe Gerrity to upgrade the landscaping of the shabby beach access next door - [Kavanaugh, Smith & Lentz Are The Best Fernandina Beach Commission Choices](https://davescottblog.com/kavanaugh-smith-lentz-are-the-best-fernandina-beach-commission-choices/) - This November 3, Fernandina Beach residents will have an opportunity to select two members to the Fernandina Beach City Commission, recommend a mayor, and vote "yah" or "nay" on a couple of proposals. I've made up my mind and here's how I'm voting and why: Roy Smith has my vote out of the four running in - [Legal Leeches Are Costing Us All And Trashing The Legal Profession](https://davescottblog.com/legal-leeches-are-costing-us-all-and-trashing-the-legal-profession/) - While watching TV or listening to the radio we've all seen and heard the torrent of ads promising us money for alleged damages for everything from medical implants and car accidents to asbestos and falls while shopping. Many of these ads lure clients in and end up draining innocent victims dry with false claims. And - [Did You Know Nassau County Has Ghost Towns & Cliffs That Can Be Visited By Boat?](https://davescottblog.com/did-you-know-nassau-county-has-ghost-towns-cliffs-that-can-be-visited-by-boat/) - Locals and visitors that want to visit a place they've probably never seen or even heard about in our area will want to get in touch with Captain Flip Gallion, owner of the charter boat Oceanbird, and have him escort them to the Nassau County ghost town of Crandall to view the "sand falls" and "bluffs" among - [Local Lady Vocalists And The Upright Bass; They're Both Beautiful And Both Sound Great](https://davescottblog.com/local-lady-vocalists-and-the-upright-bass-theyre-both-beautiful-and-both-sound-great/) - I've always liked the double or upright bass. I like the way it sounds and I like the way it looks. The last time I recall hearing one outside of a symphony hall that knocked my socks off was in a live performance in 1996 at the now shuttered Oak Room in the Algonquin Hotel - [Former FSU Quarterback Ernie Saltmarsh Scoring Touchdowns in the Business World](https://davescottblog.com/former-fsu-quarterback-ernie-saltmarsh-scoring-touchdowns-in-the-business-world/) - There are many things to admire about local entrepreneur Ernie Saltmarsh but two stand out: 1- He works hard, very hard, never asking his employees to tackle jobs that he wouldn't pitch in to do himself, ranging from mowing the grass to helping out in the kitchen; and 2- He is sincerely dedicated to improving - ["Miller Time" At City Hall Not A Happy Hour For Current And Future Area Businesses](https://davescottblog.com/miller-time-at-city-hall-not-a-happy-hour-for-current-and-future-area-businesses/) - Listening to liberal activist Commissioner Johnny Miller bloviate with haughty moral certitude on a litany of far left social and economic topics ranging from increased bureaucratic regulations to outrageously strict environmental curbs will probably have any business that was considering Fernandina Beach as a possible location scurrying to seek a more sane climate to set - [Some Commissioner's Comments Regarding New City Manager Search A Real Gas(s)](https://davescottblog.com/some-commissioners-comments-regarding-new-city-manager-search-a-real-gass/) - Based on some of the comments made by one Fernandina Beach City Commissioner to the recruiting firm searching for a new city manager it appears that she didn't give much thought to the fact that anything said might be a matter of public record or she didn't give a rip. The very aggressive, timely, - [A World War II Paratrooper's Amazing Tale; Naked Bartenders? Sorry, They're Off Today](https://davescottblog.com/a-world-war-ii-paratroopers-amazing-tale-naked-bartenders-sorry-theyre-off-today/) - Have you ever had someone tell you something that sticks in your memory and just won't let go? A couple of weeks ago it happened to me when I met newly arrived Amelia Island resident from Kentucky, Mike Creed, while sipping a beer on the balcony of the Salty Pelican. While discussing military experiences, our - [Eliminating The Name "Redskins" Has Many Washington D.C. Football Fans Seeing Red](https://davescottblog.com/eliminating-the-name-redskins-has-many-washington-d-c-football-fans-seeing-red/) - Raise your hand if you've ever seen a red person. Yeh, me either. I've seen brown, beige, pink, black and white folks, but I've never, ever seen a red person. There are no people who actually have red skin. But despite that, U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee (Bruce Lee?) has ordered the cancellation of the - [When Screwing Tax Payers It's Good To Be The King; But It's Better To Be The President](https://davescottblog.com/when-screwing-tax-payers-its-good-to-be-the-king-but-its-better-to-be-the-president/) - In his hysterical 1981 film "History of the World: Part I," Mel Brooks, playing the role of French King Louis XVI, turns to the camera several times after molesting a number of buxom filles d'honneur, declaring to the audience: "It's good to be the king." If that movie was to be made today, instead of - [Sheffield Group Gets Bourbon St. Influence; Downtown Works To Fill Empty Storefronts](https://davescottblog.com/sheffield-group-gets-bourbon-st-influence-downtown-works-to-fill-empty-storefronts/) - Joey Ledet has only been in town six weeks, but his influence is already being felt. Colson Hillier, Amelia River Golf Club's director of marketing, invited me to join him and Joey at the Surf for lunch Wednesday for a friendly chat and I learned a couple of things very quickly: 1- Mr. Ledet certainly - [JAX Paper Apologizes for Calling Bruce "Bruce"; Commissioner Miller Provides Comic Relief](https://davescottblog.com/jax-paper-apologizes-for-calling-bruce-bruce-commissioner-miller-provides-comic-relief/) - This past Sunday the Florida Times-Union's Editor Frank Denton, who writes a weekly Sunday column, fell all over himself apologizing that his paper: "...did not reflect the reality that it is Caitlyn Jenner -- not the former Bruce Jenner -- appearing on the cover of Vanity Fair..." According to Mr. Denton the FTU initially reported: - [Smoked Mullet, Cold Beer, Hot Women, Surging Sturgeons & More Await In Cedar Key](https://davescottblog.com/smoked-mullet-cold-beer-hot-women-surging-sturgeons-more-await-in-cedar-key/) - I knew I was really going to like Cedar Key, when local oysterman Mike Davis, who was perched on a bar stool opposite me at the funky waterfront Tiki Bar, revealed the secret of happiness the way Tom T. Hall wrote songs: "A smoked mullet, a cold beer, and a hot woman." The Tiki Bar, with - [Consumer Reports Rips Imported Shrimp; Says U.S. Wild Caught Tastiest and Safest](https://davescottblog.com/consumer-reports-rips-imported-shrimp-says-u-s-wild-caught-tastiest-and-safest/) - The June 2015 issue of Consumer Reports contains a revealing seven-page special report confirming what most of us living on or near Amelia Island already know about the delights of eating fresh wild-caught shrimp and the dangers and foulness of the imported and farm raised rubbish. The magazine's staffers concluded that "when it comes to - [Florida Times-Union Columnist Dismisses Jacksonville's Soaring Crime As "Venting"](https://davescottblog.com/florida-times-union-columnist-dismisses-jacksonvilles-soaring-crime-as-venting/) - Just when I thought the Jacksonville-based Florida Times-Union newspaper had reached its limit of absurdity with its massive nonstop coverage of that city's three-victory NFL football team, which hasn't played a game in almost six months, along comes FTU editorial columnist Tonyaa Weathersbee with outrageous excuses for that city's mindless violence and crime.In her Thursday, - [Alcoholics, Drug Addicts & A Sex Offender Straining An Island Neighborhood's Patience](https://davescottblog.com/alcoholics-drug-addicts-a-sex-offender-straining-an-island-neighborhoods-patience/) - Suppose as many as 24 people, whose objective was to shake alcohol and drug addiction, jammed themselves into the four-bedroom house next to you? And suppose the owner of the house was a registered sex offender? Would any of this concern you? If it doesn't it should, because it is happening in a plush south - [Fernandina City Manager On Hot Seat After Verbal Flogging By Two Commissioners](https://davescottblog.com/fernandia-city-manager-on-hot-seat-after-verbal-flogging-by-two-commissioners/) - Mexico couldn't hold a candle to the goings on at the May 5 Fernandina Beach City Commission session as not even a drunken Cinco de Mayo celebration could have topped the fireworks inside City Hall this past Tuesday evening, May 5. Following a mundane beginning with a variety of proclamations, boring resolutions, code amendments, and - [Sidewalk To Nowhere Still Going Nowhere; City Stiffs Poynter & Pokes Self in the Eye](https://davescottblog.com/sidewalk-to-nowhere-still-going-nowhere-city-stiffs-poynter-pokes-self-in-the-eye/) - So far the "Sidewalk to Nowhere" that doesn't go anywhere from the West corner of Centre Street alongside the Duryee Building to the front of the Salty Pelican is still going nowhere and nobody I've talked to knows anything about when or if it may go somewhere. This bizarre situation gained local notoriety more than - [News Wrecker Parody Newspaper Pokes Fun At Amelia Island's Sacred Cows](https://davescottblog.com/news-wrecker-parody-newspaper-pokes-fun-at-amelia-islands-sacred-cows/) - Last April in this space I announced that I was considering producing the Amelia Island News Wrecker, a satirical newspaper devoted to good naturedly spoofing the island, its history, businesses, government and anything else in my sights and said the target date for publishing it was Shrimp Festival 2015. Well, I made it, even beating - [Fernandina City Commissioner Miller Going On "Fishing" Expedition To Washington, DC](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-city-commissioner-miller-going-on-fishing-expedition-to-washington-dc/) - Oops! Last week I said Fernandina Beach City Commissioner Johnny Miller was asking anyone who would listen to send him money to finance his trip to Washington, DC to help him save the world from plastic bags. I was wrong! Our "save-the-world" commissioner is still in hot pursuit of the dreaded apocalyptic plastic bag, but - [Closed City Commission Lawsuit Meeting, Central Park Master Plan Provoke Interest](https://davescottblog.com/closed-city-commission-lawsuit-meeting-central-park-master-plan-provoke-interest/) - The downtown Fernandina Beach ball fields at Central Park and a closed city meeting on the "sidewalk to nowhere" are items that continued to provoke interest the past week. The Sunshine Law & The Sidewalk To Nowhere: I recently read the 63-page transcript made by court reporter William Hazes of a February 20, 2014 hour-long - [News-Leader's Foaming-At-Mouth Reporting Aims at Poynter & Shoots Self in Foot Again](https://davescottblog.com/news-leaders-foaming-at-mouth-reporting-aims-at-poynter-shoots-self-in-foot-again/) - The headline on the page 1 lead story in Wednesday's, April 1 local News-Leader blared "Business, politics are mixing again" but nowhere in the story about local restaurateur and City Commissioner Tim Poynter's plans to develop an "extended-stay" hotel in downtown Fernandina Beach was there a mention of how politics are playing a role. The News-Leader - [Contact Golf Without the Clubbings Has Arrived At Fernandina Beach's Public Course](https://davescottblog.com/contact-golf-without-the-clubbings-has-arrived-at-fernandina-beachs-public-course/) - I always thought that if golf was a contact sport it would be more interesting and exciting. And I don't mean contact golf the way Tiger Woods' ex-wife, Elin Nordegren, interpreted it when she clobbered her then husband with a nine-iron upon discovering his serial cheating habits. Charles Duarte, who shares culinary chores at Halftime - [Island Adds Former Carson, SNL TV Producer To Growing List of Fascinating Residents](https://davescottblog.com/island-adds-former-carson-snl-tv-producer-to-growing-list-of-fascinating-residents/) - Our small Amelia Island community is home to a variety of intriguing people who hail from all parts of the world and whose backgrounds include professional sports, art, literature, business, the military, journalism and more. While most have excelled anonymously some local residents have achieved national and international celebrity for their accomplishments including retired Baseball - [County And City Officials Come Under Fire By Media & Local Loons For Good & Bad Behavior](https://davescottblog.com/county-and-city-officials-come-under-fire-by-media-local-loons-for-good-bad-behavior/) - I had the very pleasant experience last week of being introduced to Ms. Laura DiBella, the newly appointed executive director of the Nassau County Economic Development Board (NCEDB) and came away very impressed. Following my conversation with Ms. DiBella I walked away thinking how fortunate county residents are to have this very personable, articulate, energetic, - [We Can Call Them "Pay-to-Play" Fees? But No Matter What The Name They're Still Illegal](https://davescottblog.com/we-can-call-them-pay-to-play-fees-but-no-matter-what-the-name-theyre-still-illegal/) - In 2010 Public Utilities Director John Mandrick wrote an opinion editorial in the local News-Leader (City Utilities Department pushes forward, Friday, Nov. 12, 2010) where he stated that his "recent $3.5 million facility improvements would provide enough capacity to take the city to 2030" based on what he said was a "three percent" growth rate. He said - [City Commission Says "Yes" To Illegal Impact Fees & "Not Now" To Firehouse Investigation](https://davescottblog.com/city-commission-says-yes-to-illegal-impact-fees-not-now-to-firehouse-investigation/) - They're baaaaaaack! If the little girl in the 1986 film "Poltergeist II" had attended the February 17 Fernandina Beach City Commission meeting she most certainly would have had cause to squeal her now familiar refrain. But instead of "evil spirits" what has returned to haunt residents of Fernandina Beach is a baffling 5-0 commission - [Hide Junior's Gizmos, Toss Him Outside And Tell the Little Fatty to Entertain Himself](https://davescottblog.com/hide-juniors-gizmos-toss-him-outside-and-tell-the-little-fatty-to-entertain-himself/) - Every once in a while an item pops up on one of the local community Facebook sites where a few parents whine that there is nothing for their kids to do on Amelia Island since the movie theatre, water slides, and roller skating rink closed. These folks think that the community should build water parks, - [Friends of the Library Take a Lot of Gas(s) During Contentious City Commission Session](https://davescottblog.com/friends-of-the-library-take-a-lot-of-gass-during-contentious-city-commission-session/) - Things get so silly and absurd at City Hall at times that if the procedures weren't recorded and televised people wouldn't believe some of the stuff that takes place. The Tuesday, February 3 session is an example. First, some background: Bill Flynn and his dedicated and hard working group of volunteers -- Friends of the - [Welcome To Fernandina Beach: To Sue Us Please Take a Number And Wait Your Turn](https://davescottblog.com/welcome-to-fernandina-beach-to-sue-us-please-take-a-number-and-wait-your-turn/) - Remember when you were a kid and somebody did something you were convinced was wrong and as they beat a hasty retreat they shouted over their shoulder? "So, sue me!" Well, a variation of that manta could very well be inscribed on our city limits sign declaring "Welcome to Fernandina Beach: To sue us, - [Fernandina Beach's City Commission Unresolved Issue List Growing Longer Weekly](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-beachs-city-commission-unresolved-issue-list-growing-longer-weekly/) - In the unfinished business department, the newly aligned Fernandina Beach City Commissioners have a number of unresolved issues that are left over from the fiasco that was the last commission. Following are what I, and a number of other folks, consider projects that need immediate attention in no particular order: The sidewalk to nowhere still - [Another Local Source Added To Fast Growing List of Area News Outlets](https://davescottblog.com/another-local-source-added-to-fast-growing-list-of-area-news-outlets/) - Another news source has been added to the growing local mix with the introduction of former News-Leader reporter Mary Maguire's Nassau County Florida Independent (www.ncflindependent.com) that was launched in mid-October last year. This is no bored housewife banging away on a kitchen table laptop as Ms. Maguire boasts a journalism degree from Pace University in - [Singing The Blues About Trashy Situation Pays Off For Downtown's Pajama Life Shop](https://davescottblog.com/singing-the-blues-about-trashy-situation-pays-off-for-downtowns-pajama-life-shop-3/) - Sometimes it actually pays to "tell it to city hall." Local shop owner, boat captain, contractor, marriage officiator and town character, David "Pajamadave" Voorhees, recently sang the blues to the Fernandina Beach City Commission about the trash being left on South 2nd Street fronting his Pajama Life business, and asked it to enforce existing laws - [All The News About The Jaguars That Fits, The Jacksonville Times-Union Prints](https://davescottblog.com/all-the-news-about-the-jaguars-that-fits-the-jacksonville-times-union-prints/) - The editor of the Jacksonville Times-Union’s Metro Section apparently didn’t get the memo regarding the paper’s Friday, July 25 edition as his was the only one of five sections that day that didn’t run a story on its front page about the city’s hapless pro football Jaguars along with an accompanying photograph. Even the Money - [Ritz-Carlton's "Sports Bar" Prices & Vibes "Out Of This World" Says Fat Man From Space](https://davescottblog.com/ritz-carltons-sports-bar-prices-vibes-out-of-this-world-says-fat-man-from-space/) - The Fat Man From Space (FMFS) has once again beamed himself down to our island, this time providing his opinion on the upscale Ritz-Carlton's Eight Sports Bar with the following galactic observations: I made the trek south and tried the burger at Eight Sports Bar at the Ritz. It was a good enough burger - - [Boating Opportunities On Amelia Island Provide Visitors & Residents Unusual Options](https://davescottblog.com/boating-opportunities-on-amelia-island-provide-visitors-residents-unusual-options/) - Residents and visitors who want to explore the maze of islands, marshes and rivers that separates our island from the mainland, go fishing, take nature walks, watch birds, dolphins, manatees, wild horses, sunsets or go sunbathing or fishing from a boat have plenty of opportunities as a variety of local enterprises offer a diverse choice - [Fernandina Beach City Commission Meetings Are Getting "Curiouser and Curiouser"](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-beach-city-commission-meetings-are-getting-curiouser-and-curiouser/) - During the Tuesday, November 18 Fernandina Beach City Commission meeting I thought I had fallen down Alice's rabbit hole and landed smack in the middle of the Mad Hatter's tea party. I attended mainly to hear about the $1.8 million impact fee settlement, which was buried near the tail end of the agenda, but before - [Is No Public Discussion of $1.8 Million Lawsuit An Example of Shady Local Government?](https://davescottblog.com/is-no-public-discussion-of-1-8-million-lawsuit-an-example-of-shady-local-government/) - From all the buzz I've heard, I'm not the only person surprised that at their last meeting the Fernandina Beach City Commissioners voted Tuesday, November 18 to unanimously approve a $1.8 million settlement of the Water Impact Fee case without a single word of public discussion. Using a convoluted variation of the Queen of Hearts' - [Fernandina Beach City Hall Political & Legal Antics Make "Blazing Saddles" Look Tame](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-beach-city-hall-political-legal-antics-make-blazing-saddles-look-tame/) - The movie theatre on 14th Street has closed but City Hall on Ash Street downtown is helping plug the entertainment gap during the Tuesday evening meetings of the Fernandina Beach City Commission. If you're a resident and tax payer you'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll recoil in horror as you watch the most bizarre collections of - [Talking to Local Liberals Like Debating Victims of Attention Deficit Disorder](https://davescottblog.com/talking-to-local-liberals-like-debating-victims-of-attention-deficit-disorder/) - Fernandina Beach City Commissioner Johnny Miller, who is very skilled in his use of social media to express his opinions and display his left-leaning ideology, took to that media to voice his displeasure of my last two blogs. His annoyance concerning my comments on the possibility of the City Commission violating the Sunshine Law (Is - [Listener Warning: National Public Radio Can Have Very Serious Side Effects](https://davescottblog.com/listener-warning-national-public-radio-can-have-very-serious-side-effects/) - (Note: This blog will take a break and resume posting January 9, 2015. Thanks for following it the past 12 months. If there are items you think I've overlooked or areas you think I've gotten wrong please don't hesitate to tell me. I can be contacted at davidnscott@bellsouth.net. or you can post a comment below.) - [Fernandina News-Leader's Unhinged Editorial Positions Make Paper A Laughing Stock](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-news-leaders-unhinged-editorial-positions-make-paper-a-laughing-stock/) - The Fernandina Beach News-Leader is part of the privately owned Community Newspapers Incorporated chain of weeklies and it can print whatever it sees fit. But there is little virtue in having editorial and news pages that the paper's masthead says are "...dedicated to the truth, integrity, quality and hard work" and whose aim is to - [Two Commission Candidates Make Top Grades; Fernandina News-Leader Flunks Out ](https://davescottblog.com/two-commission-candidates-make-top-grades-fernandina-news-leader-flunks-out/) - If I was to once again grade the five Fernandina Beach City Commission candidates during their second forum, this one sponsored by the online newspaper Fernandina Observer at City Hall Thursday, October 16, here's what their report cards would look like: Tim Poynter - A. As in the first forum local restaurateur Poynter provided no-nonsense, - [NJ Storm, Romance, And Orphan Bartender Put Six-Degrees Theory To A Positive Test ](https://davescottblog.com/nj-storm-romance-and-orphan-bartender-put-six-degrees-theory-to-a-positive-test/) - The six degrees of separation theory that proclaims that everyone and everything is six or fewer steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person in the world, was somewhat proven about five years ago on a blustery winter night at the Newark Airport by four people, three who are now full times residents - [Northeast Florida Food "Critics" Are a Free Buffet For Local Restaurant And Bar Owners ](https://davescottblog.com/northeast-florida-food-critics-are-a-free-buffet-for-local-restaurant-and-bar-owners/) - I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm not a restaurant or food critic, but I am a critic of restaurant and food critics. If I eat somewhere and the clam chowder tastes like a boiled rubber boot, I'll probably not mention that in this space as there may be others who enjoy - [If Election Was "Amelia Island Idol" Talent Show These Two Challengers Would Be Finalists ](https://davescottblog.com/if-election-was-amelia-island-idol-talent-show-these-two-challengers-would-be-finalists/) - If political forums operated like talent shows and applause was the deciding factor, then two city commission candidate challengers -- restaurateur Tim Poynter and educator Robin Lentz -- would be declared winners. During last Tuesday evening's gathering at the Amelia Park Holy Trinity Church of all the candidates running for city commission seats Poynter's and Lentz's - [That Flushing Sound Is $600,000 Of Our Tax Money Disappearing Down The Toilet ](https://davescottblog.com/that-flushing-sound-is-600000-of-our-tax-money-disappearing-down-the-toilet/) - Close to $600,000 of our Fernandina Beach tax money has been needlessly flushed down the toilet as Adam Kaufman reports in the online newspaper Fernandina Observer last week that the city has spent almost that much prosecuting and defending the two indefensible cases involving its imposition of “impact fees” on new water customers as a - [A Few More Things That Make Amelia Island An Attractive Place To Live & Visit ](https://davescottblog.com/a-few-more-things-that-make-amelia-island-an-attractive-place-to-live-visit-2/) - Sitting at the Green Turtle bar late last week chatting with quirky Addison B&B owner Bob Tidball and patting his dog, Maggie, who was occupying the stool next to me, pretty barkeep "Larry" explained the new beers on tap and asked if we had any questions. Bob thought for a few seconds and said, "Yes. - [Amelia Island Residents Are Living A Norman Rockwell Painting Existence ](https://davescottblog.com/amelia-island-residents-are-living-a-norman-rockwell-painting-existence/) - A little more than three years ago when wife Linda and I had been full-time residents of Amelia Island for about three months the Fernandina Beach News-Leader printed an opinion-editorial I submitted expressing our observations about our new hometown. Surprisingly a number of readers told me that they remember that piece and asked me if - [Do You Remember Your High School Friends And Ever Wonder Where They Are Now?](https://davescottblog.com/do-you-remember-your-high-school-friends-and-ever-wonder-where-they-are-now/) - Raise your hand if you've ever had a discussion with a former high school or college classmate and asked: "I wonder what ever happened to (insert name)?" Over the years I've been fortunate to stay in touch with many of my Tampa Plant High School classmates, even coincidentally running into some of them in very - [Amelia Island's Best Burger Verdict Ain't Final Until The Fat Man From Space Says It Is](https://davescottblog.com/amelia-islands-best-burger-verdict-aint-final-until-the-fat-man-from-space-says-it-is/) - A loyal reader, who goes by the nom de plume of "fat man from space" (FMFS) wrote to inform me that he appreciates my critique on some of the island's better places to grab a good burger (Where's the Best Place to Grab a Good Burger? davescottblog.com, Aug. 8, 2014) and I'm inclined to take - [Are You Seeking An Asian Bride Or UFO Trade? Then Subscribe To Popular Mechanics ](https://davescottblog.com/are-you-seeking-an-asian-bride-or-ufo-trade-then-subscribe-to-popular-mechanics/) - I didn’t subscribe, but for some reason I’m receiving Popular Mechanics Magazine, a publication I haven’t read since I was a kid back in the 1950s, so I decided to compare an issue from July 1958 with the one I received in the mail. The classified ads were my favorite some 55 years ago and - [The New 'Monkey Movies' Are Even Dumber Than The Folks That Review Them ](https://davescottblog.com/the-new-monkey-movies-are-even-dumber-than-the-folks-that-review-them/) - When I was a young sports writer for the Tampa Tribune many years ago a colleague and good friend was the theatre and movie critic who I used to tease about being paid to watch films and stage plays. He fired back saying I was a hypocrite since I picked up a weekly paycheck to - [Where's Amelia Island's Best Burger? Is It Main Beach's Putt Putt, T-Ray's, Or ?](https://davescottblog.com/wheres-amelia-islands-best-burger-is-it-main-beachs-putt-putt-t-rays-or/) - There are some really good hamburgers on Amelia island with South 8th Street’s T-Ray’s being named the best in all of Florida by USA Today, and I’ve got to admit I’ve eaten my share and find it hard to argue with that paper’s verdict. Running a close second or possibly tied for first is a place - [For Doing Absolutely Nothing I Won A $50K Car, Trips, & More! Or Did I? ](https://davescottblog.com/for-doing-absolutely-nothing-i-won-a-50k-car-trips-more-or-did-i/) - The other day at our house someone named Alex representing “The Notification Center” called and left a message saying that he had “excellent news” for me. On the recording he said I “had been selected in an official contest – that I or someone else may have entered in my name” – and I - [Is Current Fernandina Beach Commission Getting Credit for the Work of Others? ](https://davescottblog.com/is-current-fernandina-beach-commission-getting-credit-for-the-work-of-others/) - Steve Nicklaus, an island financial adviser who writes a weekly “Steve’s Market Place” column for the Fernandina Beach News-Leader, is an entertaining and fun guy to join for a couple of cold beers, and his columns are well written, interesting and amusing. I’ve discovered that he is most always factual and rarely lets things get - [Want to Talk to the Dead? Ride in a UFO? Meet Monkey Girl? Then Florida’s the Place for You ](https://davescottblog.com/want-to-talk-to-the-dead-ride-in-a-ufo-meet-monkey-girl-then-floridas-the-place-for-you/) - There is more to the state of Florida than beaches, swaying palm trees, and plenty of year-around sunshine. Lots more! Pick up a copy of Lynn Waddell’s book “Fringe Florida” and you’ll discover some oddities you never imagined existed even if you’re a second or third generation native. For example, did you know there is - [Fernandina City Hall About as Efficient As a ‘Mobile Park Home Owner’s Association’ ](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-city-hall-about-as-efficient-as-a-mobile-park-home-owners-association/) - In a recent comment to this blog resident and tax payer Bill Kremler asks some probing questions about the $8,000 the Fernandina Beach City Commissioners gave to local gadfly Lynn Williams for a Water Injection Dredging (WID) project saying: “Are we, as tax payers supposed to pay for equipment that Lynn Williams allegedly purchased to - [Media On The Offense Against ‘Offensive’ Conservative Columnists And The Redskins](https://davescottblog.com/media-on-the-offense-against-offensive-conservative-columnists-and-the-redskins/) - The nation’s media is on the offense to protect the public from what they consider “offensive.” Editors of several major newspapers in California, Washington State, and Oregon have said they will no longer allow “Redskins” to be used in print in their publications and syndicated columnist George Will's opinion is no longer welcome in the - [Research & Survey Say Niceville's Mullet & Politics The Perfect Mix For A Happy Life ](https://davescottblog.com/research-survey-say-nicevilles-mullet-politics-the-perfect-mix-for-a-happy-life/) - The results of a Clarity Campaign Labs questionnaire I participated in recently indicate that I should be living in Niceville, a Florida panhandle town near Ft. Walton Beach and Eglin Air Force Base as most of the folks there think as I do, or so say the Clarity folks. A recent Pew Research Center report - [Fast Growing Fernandina Beach Company Rapidly Adding Customers & Revenue](https://davescottblog.com/fast-growing-fernandina-beach-company-rapidly-adding-customers-revenue/) - What locally headquartered Fernandina Beach company is rapidly becoming one of the fastest growing on Amelia Island or maybe in all of Nassau County in terms of annual revenues? This does not include the Amelia Island Plantation, Rayonier, Rock-Tenn, or the Ritz Carlton, because even though they represent the area’s largest employers and hundreds of - [Nassau County And Fernandina Beach Cops Have Crime And Criminals on the Run](https://davescottblog.com/nassau-county-and-fernandina-beach-cops-have-crime-and-criminals-on-the-run/) - While it appears that both Nassau County and Fernandina Beach law enforcement agencies are doing bang-up jobs it also appears that a few of those that do commit illegal acts hereabouts have elevators that don’t go all the way to the top. Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper reports that crime fell by 17.2 percent county-wide, - [Need Cash? Then Ask City Hall For A Taxpayer-Funded, No Strings Attached Check](https://davescottblog.com/need-cash-then-ask-city-hall-for-a-taxpayer-funded-no-strings-attached-check/) - If you’re running short of funds and could use a few thousand extra bucks then head downtown to City Hall and ask the Fernandina Beach City Commission to dip into the taxpayer’s till for a “no questions asked, no contract” deal and see if they’ll ask City Manager Joe Gerrity to cut you a check. - [Amelia Island’s Cal Atwood Is A Living American History Lesson](https://davescottblog.com/amelia-islands-cal-atwood-is-a-living-american-history-lesson/) - Amelia Island resident Cal Atwood is one of those rare Americans who has lived a historic chunk of our country’s past that is prominently portrayed in school texts, had numerous books written and movies made about it, a statue exclusively dedicated to it and is represented in one of the most instantly recognizable photographs ever - [Indignant Race Demagogues Whining About Shrimp Festival Parade Whip “Cracker”](https://davescottblog.com/fernandina-beach-residents-living/) - A handful of observers at the Thursday, May 1 Shrimp Festival Parade were whipped into an emotional frenzy by a lone entry walking the route, cracking a bull whip, saying the whip “cracker” was a symbol of slavery and its brutality. Based on an article in the online Fernandina Observer, “Two parade marchers whip up - [City Commission has Bigger Fish to Fry Than Bag Bans, Dogs, Chicken Coops & Water Slides](https://davescottblog.com/city-commission-has-bigger-fish-to-fry-than-bag-bans-dogs-chicken-coops-water-slides/) - In an insightful piece titled “How’s City Government Working for You?” written for the online newspaper Fernandina Observer Monday, May 12, Suanne Z. Thammprovides her perspective on political ailments that impede our town’s progress in her 20 years of observation and it differs very little from what I’ve observed in just three years. While the - [Want To See A Photo Of My Cat? Or Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah](https://davescottblog.com/want-to-see-a-photo-of-my-cat-or-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah/) - The Austin Lounge Lizards, a group I have followed for a number of years, wrote a song called “Old Blevins,” that tells the tale of a guy who retreated from a domestic squabble to a bar only to be trapped next to Old Blevins, an incoherent, non-stop yakker, a situation that is similar to what - [Can You Read, Write & Need A Job? $50K Plus Benefits Could Be Yours](https://davescottblog.com/can-you-read-write-need-a-job-50k-plus-benefits-could-be-yours/) - Flipping through the Fernandina Beach News-Leader last week a display ad in the Help Wanted Classified section jumped off the page and slapped me in the face. The ad said that the RockTenn Fernandina Beach Mill is looking for folks to fill manufacturing operations positions there that require them to handle some simple physical requirements - [Beer, Spirits, Oysters, Patio Dining On Tap for Downtown Fernandina ](https://davescottblog.com/beer-spirits-oysters-patio-dining-on-tap-for-downtown-fernandina/) - …… despite town’s anti-business impact fees It appears that entrepreneurs are shaking off Fernandina Beach’s restrictive and arbitrary impact fees as reports of a rash of new businesses sprouting up downtown range from a distillery and a brew bar to a raw bar and a new outdoor dining venue, all in the very near future. - [Coming to a News Stand Soon: The Fernandina Beach News Wrecker ](https://davescottblog.com/coming-to-a-news-stand-soon-the-fernandina-beach-news-wrecker/) - Just like Amelia Island, the folks in Durango, Colorado celebrate their town’s heritage with an annual festival, an event called “Snowdown,” a celebration devoted to “fun, commerce and tourism” that includes parades, costumes, musical performances and more. But Snowdown has something we currently don’t at our yearly Shrimp Festival. My Indian Rocks Beach, Florida cousin, - [Want a Divorce & Can’t Afford a Lawyer? ](https://davescottblog.com/want-a-divorce-cant-afford-a-lawyer/) - If you’re thinking about getting rid of your spouse, can’t afford a divorce lawyer and a hit man violates your moral code, then you might want to check out mediation, a process that not only costs less, but is much speedier than the litigation route and less messy than an assassin. Pretty blonde attorney Alexandra - [National Parks Service Being Urged To Say ‘OK’ To Florida-Georgia Ferry](https://davescottblog.com/national-parks-service-being-urged-to-say-ok-to-florida-georgia-ferry/) - …….and you can help If you’re one of the many Northeast Florida residents that would like to take a ferry from Amelia Island’s Fernandina Beach downtown harbor to Cumberland Island and maybe even take your bike along, then take a minute to contact Gary Ingram of the National Parks Service at gary_ingram@nps.gov telling him you - [Whacky Law Has Beer Lovers Growling](https://davescottblog.com/whacky-law-has-beer-lovers-growling/) - Because of a Florida law that State Senate President Don Graetz says he can’t explain but will continue to support anyway, beer aficionados awaiting the opening of a micro brew pub in downtown Fernandina Beach at the site of the now shuttered O’Kane’s, will not be able to purchase the popular half-gallon growlers, that are - [Environmentalists say ‘Bag It!’ But in What?](https://davescottblog.com/environmentalists-say-bag-it-but-in-what/) - Last Saturday, at the initiative of Fernandina Beach City Commissioner Johnny Miller, a group of some 20 local citizens including a Sierra Club representative met at Sheffield’s to discuss what they view as a community plastic bag problem. At least this group hasn’t yet reverted to the tactics of the apocalyptic loons who wander the - [Drinking & Driving is Cheaper in Georgia](https://davescottblog.com/drinking-driving-is-cheaper-in-georgia/) - To save a few bucks on liquids the less than 20 mile drive North from Amelia Island to the Georgia state line may be in order as gasoline, wine and distilled spirits all cost less in our neighboring state than they do here says the non-partisan, non-profit Tax Policy Foundation (TPF). At the time of - [Impact Fee “Impact” = Empty Store Fronts](https://davescottblog.com/impact-fee-impact-empty-store-fronts/) - During a conversation at the Centre St. Amelia Island Coffee Shop the other day an acquaintance and life-long island resident told me that he counted 15 empty store fronts in the downtown area, a number he attributed mostly to the negative effect of the city’s reckless impact fees. I may have missed it, but so - [“Going Postal” 100 Years Ago Was a Family Travel Bargain ](https://davescottblog.com/going-postal-100-years-ago-was-a-family-travel-bargain/) - In 1914 if junior wanted to visit granny and granddad, you could just drop him off at the local post office, slap down a little less than 20 cents, and off he went via parcel post. Some 100 years ago the NY Times reported that a small boy was shipped by his grandmother from Stratford, - [‘You’re Fired!’ ‘Really? When was I hired?’](https://davescottblog.com/youre-fired-really-when-was-i-hired/) - In early January, while flipping through its newspaper, management at the Fernandina Beach News-Leader was alarmed to discover that I had been writing a weekly column (Dave’s World) for it the past two years and promptly told me to knock it off. But not because I deserved a break after devoting 15 minutes and a - [Is Florida Going to the Birds?](https://davescottblog.com/is-florida-going-to-the-birds/) - Amelia Island has a lot in common with a number of other Florida communities when it comes to fowl places to live as towns from Coconut Grove to Longboat Key and Plant City to Cape Canaveral have grappled with how to deal with the noisy, nonnative, invasive peafowl while Key West is fighting a chicken - [Being on the Fast Track Not Always Best](https://davescottblog.com/being-on-the-fast-track-not-always-best/) - Marina restaurant owner Patricia Toundas suffered a fate many saw coming for others…her car was whacked by a train as she left it parked on the tracks while she unloaded supplies for her eatery. Ms. Toundes is involved in a property dispute with the city of Fernandina Beach claiming the disputed space between her restaurant - [Island Resident Takes Unique Approach To Help Pay for “Unaffordable Care Act”](https://davescottblog.com/island-resident-takes-unique-approach-to-help-pay-for-unaffordable-care-act/) - Many people are discovering that the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) is anything but affordable. In fact it is just the opposite according to news reports and individual testimonies, thereby forcing folks to scramble for ways to pay for lost health care coverage and its increased costs. Fernandina Beach resident and neighbor Dan Broyles took an - [Eatery Serving Edible Family Heirlooms](https://davescottblog.com/eatery-serving-edible-family-heirlooms/) - Drinking, Dancing & Dining: First Coast Highway’s Wines by Steve and Horizons have teamed up to host a $40 per person (not including tax and tip) dinner Wednesday, February 26 at 6 pm at Horizon’s new location at 5472 First Coast Highway, former home of long-gone Gennero’s. The menu and wines aren’t set yet, but - [‘Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here’ With Wheelchairs, Walkers & High Heels](https://davescottblog.com/abandon-all-hope-ye-who-enter-here-with-wheelchairs-walkers-high-heels/) - Miller Time: To prove a point our newest city commissioner and Palace Saloon barkeep Johnny Miller took off in a wheelchair the other day to try and maneuver the downtown Front St. area from the corner of Centre St. to the entrance of the Salty Pelican and discovered what those who use wheelchairs regularly already know…it can’t be done. On a second attempt he did manage to cross to the other side of Front St. and make the short trip, but it put him smack in the middle of the road and precariously close to the train tracks. OK folks, something really has to be done about this before there is a tragic accident, more law suits and additional groups of disgruntled pedestrian locals and tourists thumbing their noses at all of us. ## Pages - [Blog](https://davescottblog.com/) - Blog 10JulyRecent Event Stirs Old Memories I was a guest at an event 56 years ago, April 30, 1970, similar to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner...Read More I attended an event 56 years ago, April 30, 1970, similar to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner April 25, 2026,...Read More 03July“Happy 250th USA” – From A Proud - [Temporary](https://davescottblog.com/temporary/) - [Archives](https://davescottblog.com/archives/) - Blog Archive 2026 (28)July 10 Recent Event Stirs Old MemoriesJuly 10 July 3 “Happy 250th USA” – From A Proud Naturalized AmericanJune 26 Print News Dying Of Self-Inflicted WoundsJune 19 Are “Sailor Boys” Teaching American Students?June 12 Irreverence Invades Fernandina Beach On D-DayJune 5 “Hold My Beer” Shouts Fernandina To Veterans & VisitorsMay 29 Fernandina - [About](https://davescottblog.com/about/) - About Dave With more than 40 years of journalism, corporate communications and agency experience Dave has a domestic and international background in media relations, speech writing, agency oversight, marketing communications, and strategic planning among others. In addition to running his own agency serving blue chip clients ranging from Nokia and Novartis to IBM and BellSouth, - [Contact](https://davescottblog.com/contact/) - Contact Me Your Name (required) Your Email (required) Subject (required) Your Message 1+3=? Δ ## Categories - [Island Issues](https://davescottblog.com/category/island-issues/)