u/BeyondFlorida

Far right-wing activist Jeremy Clepper - dressed as Hulk Hogan - has Alachua County locals raising their eyebrows after he raised his hand in a "salute" at a Newberry, Florida 4th of July Parade. Many Newberry citizens are wondering how Clepper and his political signs were allowed in this parade. The Mayor of Newberry, Tim Marden, is an acquaintance of Clepper's as well as a lobbyist for the John Birch Society, a fringe far right-wing organization.

Clepper's sign says "Vote Rockwell OUT" - and is referring to Dr. Sarah Rockwell, a school board member for the Alachua County Public Schools.

According to public records, including police reports and court documents reviewed by Mainstreet Daily News, Clepper has been jailed for two offenses, including leaving the scene of an accident and reckless driving involving alcohol. Clepper has been found guilty by a court or judge in five separate incidents, including for battery and several alcohol-related incidents in four counties.

In an interview, Clepper said he doesn’t “handle authority” well but blamed “leftist, liberal police officers” and judges for his arrests and convictions. According to the Main Street Daily News, Clepper's now removed facebook posts have included antisemitic tropes, claiming “the world is controlled by Jews and Muslims,” even criticizing DeSantis for flying to Israel to sign hate crimes legislation. Dr. Rockwell, a frequent target of Clepper's, is Jewish.

Newberry Mayor Tim Marden has openly supported Clepper, appearing in person to ask that the State Board of Education punish the Alachua County Schoolboard and Dr. Rockwell for their reaction to Clepper's erratic behavior at school board meetings. Clepper routinely has gone over his allotted 2 minutes of time, and has been cut off several times by Rockwell. The Florida Board of Education, itself a right-wing organization, has sided with Clepper in the dispute.

What would you do?

It's a camelia shrub, about 8 feet tall. Snek was black, with this white face. I believe it's a Southern Black Racer. There was a birds' nest in that bush, I think it was old. However, I didn't check. Here's hoping the snek didn't eat the eggs. Then again, I suppose that's just nature just doing what nature does.

1. Go to https://beyondfloridamedia.com/vote-florida/
2. Click "Vote by Mail" next to your county.
3. Pour a cold drink, wait for your ballot, and vote from the couch!

We've got to get these developer-friendly elected officials OUT OF OFFICE and I wanted to make it as easy as possible for you to do so. Enjoy!

The area now known as Little Haiti was previously called Lemon City for well over a century. Several people settled near Biscayne Bay north of the Miami River after the Civil War, squatting on unclaimed land. Some of the squatters eventually applied for homestead grants for the land they were squatting on. By 1889 a community had formed, with a post office named "Motto". "Lemon City" replaced "Motto" as the name of the community by 1893. A school had opened in 1890, and Lemon City also included several businesses and a newspaper, as well as port facilities on Biscayne Bay. With the extension of the Florida Coast Railway to Miami in 1896, Miami quickly overshadowed Lemon City.

Newberry is a city located in the southwest corner of Alachua County Florida. The population was 7,342 as of the 2020 census, up from 4,950 at the 2010 census.

Neberry's growth has been swift, and much of its success is thanks to the fact that this town is in Alachua County - where Gainesville and the University of Florida's modern, progressive approach has helped pave the way for Newberry's advancement. Despite this, Newberry's right wing leaders continue to bash Gainesville and UF in their small town media appearances, and the town recently elected a far right-wing mayor who is a lobbyist for the fringe group known as the John Birch Society.

Today, cheap homes, Wendy's Restaurants and Wawas are being built over wild spaces and historic sites. Many think that Newberry is a perfect example of growth gone wrong.

Between 1877 and 1923, Florida leased incarcerated people - disproportionately Black Floridians arrested under harsh vagrancy laws - to private corporations. Railroad magnate Henry Flagler, along with other developers, heavily utilized this forced labor to construct the Florida East Coast Railway and lay tracks across the state's expanding infrastructure network.

Albert Symington Chalker was born August 9, 1843 in Horry County, South Carolina. When he was just 9 years old, he moved with his parents and siblings to Clay County, Florida. On May 16, 1863, at the age of 19, Chalker was mustered into the Confederate Army at Callahan under Captain Robert Harrison in Company H of the Second Florida Cavalry. He spent much of his time at Baldwin, Florida, and served as a courier for General Joseph Finegan. Albert Chalker was honorably paroled on May 17, 1865 after Florida's Confederate forces formally surrendered to General Edward M. McCook of the United States.

After his parole, Chalker returned to Clay County and married Martha Ann Bardin in December 1865. Martha's father, William Sims Bardin, gave his Middleburg residence to the couple as a wedding gift. Albert and Martha Chalker settled and remained there for the rest of their lives. Albert Chalker served for 17 years as Middleburg's postmaster, and as tax collector for Clay County from 1881 to 1885. He was also a prominent businessman, and operated both a private ferry on the south prong of Black Creek and a general store in Middleburg. Today their home is on the National Register of Historic Places.

This video features a letter he sent to his then-sweetheart Martha (Maddie) Bardin, where he responds to her inquiry regarding whether or not he'd ever desert the Confederate Army. I hope you enjoy.

The Ghost Town of Hedges, Florida. Today only a handful of homes and trailers remain. But in the 1890s, many thought this was going to be Nassau County's biggest city. Today, bulldozers approach from the south, and soon nothing will be left of old Hedges. I hope you enjoy learning a bit about this place.

The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's High Springs-Croom Line was a historic rail line in northern Florida. The line dates back to the late 1800s and was used for both passengers and freight.

From High Springs, the line proceeded southeast to Gainesville and continued south through Ocala and Leesburg before reconnecting with the DuPont-Lakeland Line in Croom.

The High Springs-Croom Line also connected with the Atlantic Coast Line's Palatka Branch just south of Gainesville at Rochelle.

The town of Croom, Florida is now a ghost town. High Springs is a small town, alive and well.

Folks I made this video a couple of years ago when I was out visiting this old space. Really enjoyed my time out here and I'm sure if you've been you have also had a unique experience. Sadly, recent news points to a new development called "Old Brick Crossings" out of Palm Coast that will wipe out these woods and this historic piece of Florida history. Here's the story:

https://flaglerlive.com/old-brick-crossings/

As of now, the development has been put on hold but we've seen this movie before, folks. I wish I felt confident that this would be preserved, but if I were a betting man I'd bet on the developers. Thanks for watching.

Officer Baird was killed in the line of duty when he stopped to attempt to move an extremely heavy batting cage that was removed from the baseball field of Gainesville High School and placed in the road as a prank and was hit by a car. As of today nobody has been charged in his death. There have been several rumors about which team did this, and who was involved, but nobody has ever come forward. There must be at least 4-5 people who know the truth, I'm shocked that after all this time nobody's broken their silence.

Richard Charles Byrd was a lifelong businessman and entrepreneur in Mayo, Florida, who owned and operated several local establishments like Byrd's Recreation Center and Byrd's 76 Filling Station. He passed away on August 25, 2017, at the age of 82.

He appeared on The Price is Right in January of 1983. I spoke with his grandson, who shared this information with me:

"My Grandfather was an incredible person. He lived here in Mayo and built every house he ever lived in by hand. He lived in that home all the way up until his last days. My grandfather loved Mayo and the people in it. He thought it was a wonderful little town and he owned several businesses here.

He loved watching the Price is Right and a few of his customers believed that the show was rigged and he did not believe that and so he wanted to go out there just to prove to everyone that it was a real show and he did lol.

Grandpa told me it was one of the coolest things he ever did. He kept all of the prizes. I now own the piano that he won, which is in my home and my daughters both have learned how to play it. He was an excellent piano player, so it was an honor for me to be able to have that. I do believe that my Aunt Sonia kept the scooter for years and yes, it did go that fast.

The one thing that I wish folks knew about my grandfather Richard was that he was an incredible man. He was a wonderful businessman and he could build almost anything by hand. He was a wonderful God-fearing person and he loved people. He had a heart, the size of Texas. If I’m ever half a man he is I will be successful."

In July 1970, children discovered a severed human head buried in the backyard of the abandoned Dr. Horace Drew Mansion in the Springfield neighborhood of Jacksonville, Florida. This place wasn't always so creepy, it once belonged to a prominent local doctor in the early 1900s and it's pretty clear this was an elegant estate.

By 1970 it was abandoned and a few terrible things happened at the house this year. First, a few teens snuck in to poke around and drink some beers, but they were followed inside by a some men who kidnapped and sexually assaulted the female teens before letting them go.

Later that year, some kids playing in the yard found a human head buried in a plastic bag in the back yard.  According to published newspaper reports, the head was reported stolen from the Duval Medical Center and belonged to a man who donated his body to become a teaching cadaver.

According to sources, an informant told investigators the head was taken by an orderly who worked at the local hospital. The orderly not only knew the man who donated his body to the medical center, but after stealing the man’s head, he slept with it the first night before burying it in the backyard of the Drew Mansion, and occasionally showed it off to friends. The offender's whereabouts these days are unknown.

Asberry Cemetery is a nearly abandoned historic site located in Alachua County, Florida. A mining company purchased the land years ago, and the cemetery has been completely untouched since the early 2000s. At one time, this cemetery served a small African American community and church that lived out here after the Civil War. Very few records survive.

Ten years ago, someone went out there and documented the site and came away with a bit more information than I did, but not much: http://www.desolationflorida.com/2015/11/asberry-cemetery.html

Folks these seem pretty reasonable. None of these really jump off the page, but I think the one that will really have an effect down the line is the crash tracking portion of the law. We're going to see just how many of these "bike accidents" are really "ebike accidents" and then more regulations will follow. Just my .02 cents as an ebiker!

• Sidewalk & Path Speed Limits: You cannot exceed 10 mph when a pedestrian is within 50 feet.
• Yielding and Signaling: On shared or recreational pathways, riders must yield to pedestrians and give an audible warning (such as a bell or vocal call) before passing.
• Local Ordinances: Cities and counties have the authority to set minimum age requirements and mandate that riders carry government-issued photo identification.
• Crash Tracking: Local police and state troopers must formally track all e-bike and micromobility collisions. This data is submitted to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to help shape future legislative rules.

Nickels Forest is about the only patch of green left in this over-developed town. The city commission declared the forest a "surplus" in 2025, allowing the city to enter negotiations with a developer. Click the link in my website to sign a petition. If the petition isn't on the front page, click "Past Featured Causes" and it will be there. #floridadevelopment #floridaenvironment #boyntonbeach #palmbeachcounty