Callahan News

The Florida Community College Upward Bound Program is recruiting ninth and 10th grade students for the fall session, which begins in September.

Early voting began last week for the Aug. 26 election. All registered Nassau County voters may vote at either City Hall, 204 Ash St., Fernandina Beach; the Supervisor of Elections office, James S. Page ...

With voters casting their votes for the primary run-offs and electing several officials Aug.

Lengthy school supply lists, pricey clothes and early bus routes have some parents speaking out about the back-to-school rush.

The parole board agreed he was rehabilitated; he's due to be released Oct. 12. By Paul Pinkham, TALLAHASSEE - A former Callahan man who was recaptured 32 years after escaping from prison after a bad-check ...

By WENDI ZONGKER The Times-Union Authorities are trying to confirm reports of a possible tornado touch down in Hilliard in western Nassau County as a strong line of storms moved through the region.

The Nassau County Commission will consider a $158.2 million budget for fiscal 2009 in an attempt to preserve most services while accounting for lower property and sales tax revenues.

People have been seen walking along Third Street through the Beaches hauling large crosses through the years.

Nassau County and municipal budgets are going to take a hit next year from declines in the taxable values of personal property.

Lorie Johnson, principal of Sonshine Christian Academy in Callahan, wants to share her secret with anyone who will listen.

County contends couple's land use plan no 'misunderstanding' A couple who owns property in Callahan has withdrawn an application to construct a borrow pit at Owl's Nest Court near Lem Turner Road, citing a ...

At the end of August Sandalwood English teacher Linda Cugini will present a workshop highlighting the age-old yet stylish country of Austria. Education First Travel Club members will take a look at the government, as well as the major cities and landmarks of this diverse nation. They will learn that Austria is a federal republic with a parliamentary democracy. It is comprised of nine independent states, which include the well known Vienna and Salzburg in addition to Upper and Lower Austria, Carinthia, Burgenland, Styria, Tyrol and Vorarlberg. Participants will also discover that Austria is part of both the United Nations and the European Union. The language of almost all of the country’s eight million inhabitants is German. However, its rich multicultural population includes Czechs, Hungarians, Slovaks, Burgenlandic Croatians, and Slovenians. The religion most commonly practiced in this country is Roman Catholic. The informational session will next draw attention to one of the most well-known cities of Austria. The capital city of Vienna stylishly spans the ages. Travel club members will view a major landmark of this city, the Museum of Modern Art. This striking museum is in the shape of huge ebony cube constructed from basalt stone. Basalt, which is made of lava that has solidified, is extremely strong. Its substance makes it both a durable and challenging material for architects, since it is resistant to erosion but difficult to cut and shape. Thus, this resilient stone is used primarily to build structures with simple but distinctive architectural lines. The Museum of Modern Art displays approximately 7,000 pieces of modern artwork. Workshop participants will then focus on another famed landmark in Vienna, the Leopold Museum. This landmark exhibits priceless art of both the 1800s and 1900s. It boasts the world’s largest collection of art by the expressionist painter Schiele.

A second entrance to the largest state forest in Nassau County opened last week, providing access to more than 8,000 acres of forest via a south entrance on Pacetti Road.

In August Sandalwood English teacher Linda Cugini will make a multimedia presentation about Germany for Education First travel club members. The online presentation will focus on the rich historical, artistic, and literary legacy of this central European culture. Members of the Travel Adventurers Club will explore these countries to build background for future EF travels. Cugini’s presentation will feature the sights, sounds, and experiences of her July educational tour of Germany. The presentation will highlight such important sites as Frankfurt, the international finance center perhaps best remembered as the hometown of the great writer and philosopher Goethe. Participants will then focus on the ancient village of Rothenberg, which was miraculously preserved, according to legend, by the mayor’s ability to win a bet by drinking a huge flagon of wine. Club members will learn of the Romantic Road, a medieval trade route connecting the region’s ancient walled villages. They will see the remarkably preserved arched guard towers and wooden walls that protected Rothenburg. Group members will follow the Romantic Road to Munich, the birthplace of the Glockenspiel. The bells of the Glockenspiel daily ring as full-scale figurines act out the marriage of Duke WilhelmV. Figures of knights engage in jousting tournaments, and those of wine barrel makers dance to celebrate the “death” of a tragic plague of the 1500s. Next, the cultural presentation will shift gears, as participants focus on the grisly horrors so aptly memorialized at the Nazi concentration camp of Dachau. Tortured prisoners of war in this camp were finally set free by the Allies in 1945. Participants will then shift from an atmosphere of grim reality to that of surreal fantasy, as they visually enter the enchanting world of Bavaria’s Neuschwanstein Castle. Interestingly, this palace served as the inspiration for Disneyland’s well-known Sleeping Beauty Castle. Group members will learn of the “mad” king, Ludwig, who dedicated this fanciful castle to his beloved mentor, the world renowned composer Richard Wagner. The presentation will then draw attention to the Black Forest region of Germany, which is well noted as the setting for such fairy tale classics as Hansel and Gretel. The region is also famous for its traditional cuckoo-clocks as well as its colorful folk costumes with their curiously large pompoms.

Monday evening members of the Anderson family got a call that made them fear tragedy had struck twice.

Education First group leader Linda Cugini recently held a cultural awareness dinner at Applebee’s near Queen’s Harbor. Participants on the EF Northern European Classics tour set for June 11 to 19 met to get acquainted and discuss travel plans. Tour members included Cugini, Sandalwood English teacher, and husband Tim, Edward White history teacher; Sandalwood humanities teacher Mary McLaughlin; Sandalwood English teacher Darrah Welfare and husband Donald; as well as Sandalwood records clerk Nancy Milk and husband Cary. Other group members included Lavilla School of the Arts history teacher Joyce Thomas and science teacher Darlene Huffman; Don Brewer fourth-grade teacher Tiffany Emanuel-Wright; Sadie Tillis first-grade teacher Daisy Emanuel; University of Florida research assistant Alan Alfaro; and Florida State University freshman Jessica Newman. Participants also included Florida Community College of Jacksonville sophomore Victoria Mobley and freshmen Sydnee Mitchell, Jessica Carson, and Katie Sengstack. Travel group members discussed the cultural contributions of the French and Italian Rivieras as well as Florence and Venice, Italy. In the first part of the trip, travelers will visit Cannes and Monaco, the sites of an international film festival and Grand Prix race. They will travel the winding road on which Princess Grace of the fated Grimaldi family tragically met her death. Travelers will also visit Nice, France, the luxurious resort town selected this summer by actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt as the birthplace for their twins. In Cannes, travelers will marvel at the rugged cliffs that dramatically jut out of the Mediterranean Sea. They will be able to sunbathe on the world-renowned beaches and shop in the high-fashion boutiques favored by the elite. Group members will also be able to stroll through the unique villages of the Cinque Terre region as they experience the distinctive sights, sounds, and tastes of each ancient settlement.

The community is invited to take a glimpse into West Nassau's history at the Hilliard Public Library throughout the month of August.

Monday evening members of the Anderson family got a call that made them fear tragedy had struck twice.

In a second attempt to cast a vote deciding whether or not to dismiss a counter claim against Bobbi Boone, Callahan's town council members elected to drop the suit in a 3-1 vote.

One of my New Year's resolutions this year was to spend as much time as I could listening to Nassau County citizens in order to learn about their hopes, fears and aspirations for the future.