Immigration Attorneys in Palatka, FL

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Putnam County officials expect the stormy weather from Hurricane Debby to continue subsiding as the day continues.

The hurricane has decreased to a tropical storm, according to a 1:30 p.m. update from the county’s Emergency Management Department. County officials said their biggest concerns are water on the roads, downed trees and powerlines, and power outages.

Steffen Turnipseed, the chief of emergency operations and preparedness, said the most damage reported had been trees knocked down.

“We’re gonna keep getting rain the rest of the day and probably through tomorrow and the rest of the week,” he said. “It’s gonna die down, and the impacts will lessen.”

Turnipseed reported 1.8 inches of rain in some parts of Putnam County but as much as 4 inches of rain near the Rodman Reservoir.

At 4 p.m., Florida Power & Light reported 1,830 Putnam customers without power, and Clay Electric Cooperative reported 1,947 of its customers in the area were without power.

FPL users can report power outages at fpl.com while Clay customers can do so using the MyClayElectric app or by calling 888-434-9844.

Crescent City Mayor Michele Myers said the city experienced minor damage, including fallen trees and branches. She said city staff have been working to clean up debris throughout the day.

“Our area was blessed with only small, manageable impacts,” Myers said in a text message. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to those communities harshly impacted by the wrath of Debby.”

People who see downed trees or powerlines can report them to the county’s non-emergency phone number, 386-329-0800.

In Interlachen, Town Clerk Joni Payne said she did not receive any reports of damages. Town Hall is set to reopen at 8 a.m. Tuesday.

“Our water utilities have remained in service during the storm,” Payne said in a text message. “We have had a few trees down, our public works department has worked diligently at keeping the roads open.”

Palatka Public Works Department officials suspended residential garbage pickup today. According to a city press release, Monday’s garbage collection will move to Tuesday, and Tuesday’s collection will take place Wednesday.

The city will not be collecting yard debris this week, but officials asked residents to pile any yard debris next to the curb of their homes once the storm ends.

“There will be no change in commercial collection,” the press release stated.

The county’s trash pickup will continue to run as usual since there was no change in Monday’s schedule, according to the Emergency Management Department.

The county could still see some scattered showers and thunderstorms during the rest of this week, according to weather.com, and Putnam was still under a tornado watch by 4 p.m.

“(A) tornado threat is still out there so we are still watching that for now,” Turnipseed said.

Reporter Carter Mudgett contributed to this story.

Crowds revel in Palatka, Interlachen July 4 events

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Putnam County residents turned out in their best red, white and blue outfits Thursday to wish America a happy birthday.

The town of Interlachen and the city of Palatka hosted Independence Day festivities that drew in hundreds, if not thousands, of spectators.

People packed the streets of Interlachen early for kids activities, games and the popular parade downtown. State Rep. Bobby Payne, R-Palatka, served as the parade’s grand marshal and led a series of items, including horses, candy and blow-up rubber ducks decorated for the Fourth of July.

Vendor booths wrapped around Atlantic Avenue and Washington Street while children cooled off colorful water slides or played putt-putt golf next to the town’s famous caboose.

Interlachen resident Kathie Kelley joined in on the celebrations while watching over the West Putnam Pop Warner. Kelley, who has been attending Interlachen’s Independence Day celebrations for 45 years, enjoyed carrying on the patriotic vibe of the day while informing spectators about the area’s youth sports scene.

“It was awesome this year,” Kelley said after the parade. “I would have liked to have seen a lot more children involvement within the parade, but it was awesome.”

Putnam County Board of Commissioners Chairman Larry Harvey has spent nearly 40 years organizing the town’s Independence Day events. Kelley commended him for always putting a lot of effort into the event.

“Larry does a great job on getting this together, works very, very hard,” Kelley said.” “Always has. This year, it was great.”

The city of Palatka hosted its Fourth of July bash later in the day. Families from Putnam County and surrounding areas set up chairs and blankets from Riverfront Park, 100 Memorial Parkway, to River Street. Kids played with sparklers as the sun went down, and boats dotted the St. Johns River to get a different view of the fireworks show.

While waiting for the pyrotechnics to begin, some people visited the St. Johns River Center, 102 N. First St. in Palatka, to learn about the river and the local ecosystem.

Attendees Shelby and Brian Boswell don’t live in Palatka, but they visited her family and stayed to watch the fireworks with their daughters.

“I get to be with my family,” she said. “It’s the Fourth of July, and it’s my hometown.”

Leaders: Initiative seeks to set up prosperous future for generations to come

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Local business and community leaders unveiled an ambitious plan Thursday to take Putnam County’s economic development and talent retention efforts to the next level.

Community stakeholders gathered at the Roy G. Campbell Civic Center at Ravine Gardens State Park in Palatka to hear about Elevate Putnam, the five-year, multi-million-dollar initiative its leaders say will increase local residents’ quality of life.

With a feasibility study and other groundwork initiated by the Putnam County Chamber of Commerce and Putnam County Economic Development Council, Elevate was started to attract a wide range of businesses while supporting existing businesses, boost wages, increase consumer expenditure in the county and keep Putnam residents from having to travel elsewhere for opportunities.

Mark Litten, the Chamber’s vice president of economic development, said the council conducted its feasibility study in the fall of 2023 and originally settled on a fundraising goal of $2 million. However, he said, council members soon realized they should shoot for more startup funding.

“As we progressed forward – the beginning of this year – we realized that to fully support our vision, we needed to aim higher,” Litten said. “And we had early success in the capital campaign, and we increased the goal to $3 million.”

The goals for Elevate Putnam include creating 750 near primary jobs and more than 220 indirect support jobs, securing $500 million in new capital investment, generating more than $65 million in new annual earnings and adding $36 million in new local annual consumer expenditures.

The group’s ambitious fundraising goals proved to be attainable, as 10 local leaders – each holding a piece of paper displaying either a digit, comma or dollar sign – stood in front of the room to show $3,033,750 had been raised.

Businessman and Putnam native Benjie Bates, one of Elevate Putnam’s co-chairs, said the county is on the precipice of greatness, but the campaign needs the community’s support to succeed.

A graduate of Palatka High School, Bates said Elevate is meant to improve retail, tourism, workforce development, education, agriculture and other sectors in the area. The campaign’s success could be the catalyst that brings home many Putnam residents who left the county because of a lack of opportunities.

“The excitement and energy that I feel for this event stems from a profound belief that our community is on the verge of greatness,” Bates said. “We’re about to take a giant step forward, and with that comes unparalleled opportunity.

“We don’t want future generations to feel that they need to leave for better opportunities. Instead, I want to send a beacon of hope and opportunity signaling far and wide that this community is a place where dreams can be realized.”

Charlie Douglas – who, like Bates, is a Palatka High alumnus and local business leader – shares the desire to keep Putnam’s talented and knowledgeable residents in the county.

Many students will leave for college, he said, but he wants to see them return once they’ve finished school. There are also career technical and entrepreneurial options in Putnam County, he said, and one of the goals for Elevate is to increase the number and quality of those options.

“For me, it’s about keeping our best and brightest here in Palatka,” he said. “If we are going to succeed as a community, I believe that we must bring more industry, more jobs, to Putnam County.

“We have to swing for the fences. We’re going to have strike-outs, but when we connect, it’s going to be something big. It’s going to be bold. It’s going to be impactful for our generation and many generations to come.”

With all of the development happening in surrounding counties, Putnam should not miss out, said Kelley Smith, a former county commissioner and state legislator. Smith, who was the keynote speaker at Thursday’s event, said St. Johns County is developing faster than its infrastructure can handle, and Clay County is undergoing its own projects.

“It’s our job … to get out there and make sure that we do things like try to keep that small-town atmosphere but yet encourage the growth,” he said. “(Elevate) is going to involve a lot of people here, and it’s going to evolve us into a community that we can all be proud of. … The potential is certainly here.”

After it was announced more than $3 million had been raised for Elevate, Bates announced a new stretch goal of $3.5 million. He and Douglas acknowledged the numerous businesses and individuals who had already invested in Elevate Putnam and stressed the importance of additional community buy-in.

Douglas said Thursday there were 60 more days left in Elevate’s fundraising efforts. He wants to recruit more donors to invest in Elevate, which he said is an investment in Putnam County.

“Together, it’s worth it, not just as a charitable contribution,” Douglas said. “This is truly a business investment, that the jobs that will come to Putnam County, the industry that will locate here, will directly impact all of the businesses represented here as part of the Chamber. Together, we’re going to see tremendous success. Thank you all for supporting Putnam County.”

Alumni, historians hope to preserve, restore dilapidated building

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In front of an aged building left to crumble sits a brand new historical marker honoring a piece of Putnam County’s Black history.

Central Academy alumni and preservation enthusiasts revealed the building’s first historic marker Thursday morning to an eager crowd. It’s been 26 years since the building, located on the corner of Washington and 13th streets, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and 53 years since the school shut down.

Shirley Edwards, a Central Academy graduate and the daughter of one of the school’s teachers, said milestones like adding a historical marker are part of the fight to preserve the school.

“It might be blighted, but we’re here,” she said. “And I welcome you to the fight, to the struggle and to join us in faith and hope.”

The original Central Academy building was built in 1892 to serve Palatka’s Black residents in first through eighth grades. The school later expanded to serve students into 12th grade, according to the marker.

In 1925, the landmark became the first accredited Black high school in Florida. A fire destroyed the original building in 1936, and the structure standing today was erected during the 1937-1938 school year, the marker states.

When Putnam County schools were integrated in 1971, Central Academy closed, and the building eventually fell into disrepair.

Keynote speaker and Central Academy alumnus Andrew McRae, who enlisted in the Navy in 1973 and attended Bethune-Cookman College in 1981, said he remembers coming back to Palatka and watching Central Academy deteriorate over the years.

McRae said it didn’t have to get to that point.

“I always considered this hallowed ground,” he said. “I’m going to say, even though I consider it an honor to be here on this historical ground, I’m also appalled at the negligence of this building.”

He remembered standing in front of a statue of the school’s Bulldog mascot before every home game and singing the school song, “Dear Old C.A.” The statue is long gone.

McRae, who recalls seeing the building descend through a downward spiral over the years, said hardly anyone spoke up about saving the school when it first closed.

Efforts to restore the building rekindled in 1998 when historians and alumni made efforts to get the building placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Members of The Historic Central Academy Preservation and Community Development Corp. Inc., which is composed of young community members and Central alumni, are continuing those efforts.

Members from an organization known as '76 Strong, which is made up of former Central student who would have graduated in 1976 had the school not closed, bought the historic marker.

However, McRae said he has heard people recommend letting the building go because it already served its purpose.

“Brothers and sisters, I have a problem,” he said. “I say today that those of us who say, ‘Central Academy Elementary is simply a relic of the past, wipe the slate clean, allow her to fade into Palatka’s past,’ these are (people who) either don’t know or don’t care or don’t want to deal with the real reason why there was a need for Central Academy in the first place.”

The building, which has been reduced to a roofless structure with only four walls, is a reminder of segregation. America needs to own up to its past, not shy away from it, McRae said

“Nobody knows the real story of Central Academy Elementary, but we know it because we lived it,” he said. “Until we come to grips with why we had to have it and what we are because (of it), we’re never going to get to where we need.”

Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify that '76 Strong paid for the building's historic marker.

A Crescent City Junior-Senior High School graduate and legal council for Crescent City is taking the bench after being appointed judge Wednesday.

Robert Pickens III was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to serve as Judge on the Seventh Judicial Circuit Court, which oversees Flagler, Putnam, St. Johns and Volusia counties.

“I was in shock,” Pickens said in an email. “It took awhile for the reality of the situation to set in, but I am looking forward to taking the bench.”

Pickens replaces Judge James R. Clayton, who retired in April, according to a press release from DeSantis’ office.

In 2021, Pickens was hired by Homes & Young P.A., a Putnam County-based law firm that has offices in Palatka and Crescent City, but also serves clients in the other three counties in the circuit, according to the firm’s website. On behalf of the firm, Pickens also provides legal services to the Crescent City Commission.

Pickens said he wanted to serve the community as a member of the judiciary.

He graduated from Florida Coastal School of Law in 2017 and was admitted to the Florida Bar in September 2017, according to his profile on the Florida Bar website. He remains in good standing to practice law, has no disciplinary history and sat on the Judicial Circuit Grievance Committee, according to the Bar.

Pickens previously served as an assistant state attorney for the circuit court, according to the governor’s office.

“While serving as an assistant state attorney, I was able to gain valuable courtroom and trial experience that I feel will be beneficial to me once I take the bench,” he said.

He thanked everyone who supported him throughout his career and during the process toward becoming a judge.

Some of his biggest supporters came from city officials. Mayor Michele Myers said they are all very proud of him.

“He has set the example that dreams are achievable through hard work and determination,” she said.

Pickens went to college, obtained experience and came back home to help the community. She said becoming a judge is an honor for him.

“We know he’ll be successful,” Myers said, “and he will truly be missed in our commission chambers.”