The Florida Times-Union

  A Baker County woman was critically injured Tuesday when the SUV she was driving ran off a road and into some woods, the Florida Highway Patrol reported. Tabbatha L. Armstrong, 23, of Glen St. Mary was taken to Shands Jacksonville by helicopter after the 5:15 p.m. wreck. A Highway Patrol report said Armstrong was driving north on Florida 121 at County Road 23B when the GMC SUV she was driving ... Full Story »

A crowd of families and friends comforted each other at the edge of the tarmac at Jacksonville Naval Air Station as they stood waiting for the body of Lance Cpl. Jonathan Taylor to come back home Tuesday morning. Several yards away, 100 or so Marines snapped to attention as the remains of the 22-year-old were carried off the plane that had brought them here from Dover, Del. Taylor was killed Dec ... Full Story »

BRUNSWICK — The economy claimed another casualty Tuesday. Georgia-Pacific is “closing indefinitely” its Brunswick gypsum plant, idling its 20 remaining employees, company officials said. “We’re winding down production and by the end of the year all operations will cease at the plant,” Randal Morris, company spokesman, said. Officials told the employees Tuesday morning. The workers will continue ... Full Story »

Bill Cissel remembers the first day of construction on two high-elevation bridges on Beach Boulevard over the Intracoastal Waterway. Work began right outside his restaurant, Billy’s Boat House Grill, which is just north of the Intracoastal, on June 8, 2006. Within months, Billy’s had lost 35 percent of its business. “We were lucky to have been around for a few years, so some of our customers ... Full Story »

A group suing to stop a federal ban on red snapper fishing will use testimony from Northeast Florida’s fishing industry to help make its case. Business owners from the Jacksonville area, Cape Canaveral and elsewhere are being asked this week for affidavits describing how the six-month ban scheduled to start Jan. 4 will hurt them, said David Heil, a lawyer representing the Recreational Fishing ... Full Story »

Slain Marine returns home for funeral The body of a Jacksonville Marine who died in Afghanistan will be brought back home today. His funeral, which will be open to the public, is scheduled for Wednesday. Lance Cpl. Jonathan A. Taylor, 22, died Dec. 1 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.  He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment. read more Full Story »

The folks who run the Clay County Agricultural Fair have a stocking stuffer suggestion. Give friends and family advance discount tickets to the 24th annual fair, which will be held April 1-10. Ticket prices now through Dec. 31 are  $1 less than they will be as of Jan. 1 and $3 less than they will be once the fair gets under way, according to a news release. read more Full Story »

One of the beams in the sculpture is bent, blasted from the World Trade Center as its twin towers collapsed to the streets of Lower Manhattan one year ago yesterday. read more Full Story »

The Jekyll Island Authority has suspended contract negotiations with Linger Longer LLC, the development company that was to have built a new convention center, condominiums and a retail center on the state-owned island, the authority said this afternoon. The authority and Linger Longer had been negotiating a contract since signing a partnership agreement about a year ago in which the company was ... Full Story »

JEKYLL ISLAND — The day was a little chilly and the governor was a little late. Still, hundreds of people waited patiently for the groundbreaking for Jekyll Island’s new beach village, while “It’s all good ...,” part of the lyrics of a song by The Mary Dream, rang out over loudspeakers. And it really did seem to all be good in that moment, despite years of controversy over plans to redevelop the ... Full Story »

JEKYLL ISLAND - The Georgia Farm Bureau is holding its 71st annual convention on Jekyll Island this week, but one thing hasn't changed in all that time. Farming is still a hard way to make a living, farmers said. But unlike many other sectors of the economy, farmers don't have a lot of trouble selling what they produce, Appling County farmer Randy Branch said. "People are going to eat," said ... Full Story »

KINGSLAND - The wait is over for those waiting for their swine flu shot. The free shots will be given in Glynn County starting at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at a drive-through clinic on the roadway at the Glynn County football stadium. Earlier this year, the health department conducted a drive-through clinic at the stadium for seasonal flu vaccine. Officials are determining other areas of the Coastal ... Full Story »

TALLAHASSEE — Even as the state borrows $300 million a month from the federal government to pay unemployment claims, a key senator said the Legislature is unlikely to consider a change in the law that could bring more than $400 million in federal stimulus money to Florida. The GOP-dominated Legislature last year rejected a “modernization” measure by Sen. Tony Hill, D-Jacksonville, that would ... Full Story »

Twelve people needed hospital treatment for exposure to carbon monoxide that built up around gas appliances at a Southside apartment complex, Jacksonville officials said Monday. Fire and Rescue spokesman John Bracey said reports of a gas odor started coming in just before midnight Sunday from a complex on the 2900 block of Willow Street off Philips Highway. read more Full Story »

Jacksonville City Councilman Jack Webb didn’t appear before the Ethics Commission on Monday as invited, and commission members had no choice but to shrug off the no-show. They said they need to focus on shoring up their own procedures before requiring public officials to appear before them. read more Full Story »

BRUNSWICK — Fairley Cisco is not entitled to a change of venue, federal prosecutors assert, because there is no evidence that he cannot receive a fair trial in Southeast Georgia. Cisco, 67, of St. Marys, is to stand trial in Waycross on fraud, bribery conspiracy and trademark infringement charges leveled in a 17-count indictment accusing him and four others with a multimillion-dollar fuel fraud ... Full Story »

Twelve people needed hospital treatment for exposure to carbon monoxide that built up around gas appliances at a Southside apartment complex, Jacksonville officials said Monday. Fire and Rescue spokesman John Bracey said reports of a gas odor started coming in just before midnight Sunday from a complex on the 2900 block of Willow Street off Philips Highway. Rescue personnel found high levels of ... Full Story »

TALLAHASSEE — Legislation that would clear the way for creating a commuter rail system in central Florida zipped through the House on Monday, but it was headed for an uncertain fate in the Senate. It also includes an increase in the state’s subsidy for the existing Tri-Rail commuter system in South Florida and sets up two agencies to plan and build future passenger rail systems of all types ... Full Story »

The idea: Draft Tim Tebow . Many have thought it. Bumper stickers with the phrase are circulating around the region, and the general notion is that the locally grown Florida Gator football legend is the remedy for dwindling Jaguars ticket sales at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. Gov. Charlie Crist joined that chorus Monday while talking football with several news reporters in Tallahassee ... Full Story »

Suspensions are down by 71 percent in Duval County’s public schools in just one year, according to figures comparing the first nine weeks of the previous school year with the current school year. In the first 44 days of school, suspensions fell from 8,541 last year to 2,500 this year. Discipline referrals — when a student is written up by a teacher for bad behavior — are down by more than 30 ... Full Story »

Twelve people needed hospital treatment for exposure to carbon monoxide that built up around gas appliances at a Southside apartment complex, Jacksonville officials said Monday. read more Full Story »

As a little girl growing up in Ayden, N.C., Jessica Bright McMullen dreamed of becoming queen of the annual Collard Festival. She gave up that idea after her family moved to Jacksonville when she was 10. But McMullen never lost her interest in food. "I love to eat," jokes McMullen, 33, who often goes by her maiden name of Bright in her work as a chef and food and nutrition teacher. Last week ... Full Story »

The idea: Draft Tim Tebow. read more Full Story »

Duval County School Board members visited Ed White High School on Monday to get honest feedback from students. They left with a little good news, a little bad news and a little gross news. The bottom line from the group of about 40 students: Their school is safer than it was last year, but they want an opportunity to learn more without being stifled by the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test ... Full Story »

ST. MARYS - Lovers of historic sites always have plenty to see on a tour through the St. Marys historic district with its many buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. But once a year visitors can see them in a different light during the St. Marys Christmas Candlelight Tour of Homes. read more Full Story »