Panel to meet today on Palatka GP wetlands center

Few showers
30 % rain chance
Graphic Novel Exhibit
County Commission town meeting
FloArts will present a gallery exhibition for
artists Leela Corman and Tom Hart.
Putnam County commissioners will gather in the Johnson community today at
6 p.m. to hear the concerns of residents in the area.
See Page 2A
80 | 64
See Page 2A
For details, see 2A
PALATKA DAILY NEWS
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2013
$1
www.mypdn.com
ARTOBERFEST DRAWS A CROWD
Panel to meet
today on Palatka
GP wetlands center
Public session set for 5:30 p.m.
BY ASIA AIKINS
Palatka Daily News
Photos by CHRIS DEVITTO / Palatka Daily News
Rissi Cherie of Interlachen spent Saturday shopping among the many arts and crafts vendors in downtown Palatka during
ARToberfest. The annual event drew hundreds to Palatka’s sunny streets and riverfront.
Art, cars decorate downtown
by Keep Putnam Beautiful.
Cars and trucks of many colors
and years ranging from vintage to
Art in various forms drew people contemporary sat on display court o t h e S t . J o h n s r i v e r f r o n t tesy the Azalea City Cruisers.
Saturday.
“This is our fifth year,” said
Booths lined the walkways in the Ramicah Watkins, of Keep Putnam
park from a block along St. Johns
Avenue for Artoberfest, sponsored
See ARTOBERFEST, Page 3A
BY PETE SKIBA
Palatka Daily News
Putnam: Cut
state taxes on
electric bills
INDEX
Advice ............................. 5A
Briefing ........................... 2A
Classified/Legals .......... 10A
Comics............................ 5A
Horoscope ...................... 5A
Lottery............................. 9A
Obituaries ....................... 6A
Opinions ......................... 4A
Sports ............................. 8A
Sudoku ..........................11A
BY PETE SKIBA
BY ASIA AIKINS
Palatka Daily News
Palatka Daily News
Many people don’t expect cancer patients to laugh,
play and enjoy themselves.
Saturday, the men and women in pink proved the
gloomy group way wrong at the first Cancer Center
of Putnam’s Survivorship Celebration.
“For years we have known that those with a positive attitude are more likely to follow through on
their treatment, while those with a negative attitude
are less likely to comply with treatment,” said Dr.
Anand Kuruvilla of the cancer center. “Studies have
shown that the immune system gets geared up to
fight the cancer when there is a positive attitude.
The underlying joy for life helps with the proper
treatment of cancer.”
The idea for the celebration came from Dr. John
Wells. He said he saw other communities coming out
to support their cancer patients and thought the
Putnam County community deserved a chance for a
day of celebration at the Cancer Center’s campus,
600 Zeagler Drive.
A 2012 American Idol contestant, Steffanie Renae,
sang a rousing rendition of the national anthem. Her
version rang out nearly a capella, but was neatly
PETE SKIBA / Palatka Daily News
Developers are busy making progress
on potential riverfront building concepts
and designs.
City officials heard an update from
Corky Diamond, Riverfront
Development Group LLC before the
commissioners meeting Thursday.
“We are now calling this ‘Riverfront
Square,’” Diamond said, referring to the
100 Block buildings. “The buildings are
looking beautiful.”
The city recently partnered with
Riverfront Development Group in
the development of the 100 Block,
agreeing to clean out the properties
in an effort to draw interest from
potential renters. The agreement
states that Riverfront Development
Group has 360 days (from Aug. 1,
2013) to secure the money to purchase the property and pre-lease the
space.
A parachutist drops into the Survivorship Celebration on
Saturday as part of the opening ceremonies.
See SURVIVORS, Page 2A
See PROJECTS, Page 3A
Bluegrass fans already looking forward to next February’s extravaganza
The Voice of
Putnam County
since 1885
BY BRANDON D. OLIVER
Palatka Daily News
VOL. 125 • NO. 206
PALATKA, FLA.
By mail, 1 section
See WETLANDS, Page 3A
Progress report:
Projects moving
ahead downtown
Cancer survivors
celebrate life, living
Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE — Florida
Agriculture Commissioner
Adam Putnam is pushing to
cut taxes charged on electric
bills.
Putnam suggested the tax
cut at the Monday opening of
his annual energy summit.
Putnam’s office estimates
the 3.5 percent tax cut —
which would apply to businesses only — would save
$250 million once it is fully
implemented three years
from now. Putnam also
wants to steer the remaining
electric taxes collected into a
school construction fund.
Public Notices
on Page 10A
Dave Martin of Green Cove Springs photographs
his auto entry during ARToberfest.
The advisory committee for
the St. Johns River Wetlands
Education Center will meet
for the first time Tuesday
afternoon.
The city is partnering with
Georgia-Pacific to build the
center to be located on
Palatka’s riverfront. The center is projected to serve as a
“hub” for ecological activities
in the Putnam County region,
GP Media Relations Manager
Terry Hadaway said.
“This first meeting is just
for the advisory committee
(members) to meet each
other,” he said.
According to Hadaway, this
will be the first of many meetings where committee members will share their advice
and expertise in local environmental, educational and historical studies.
Questions were raised during last Thursday’s city com-
missioners meeting regarding
whether the advisory committee meetings should be held in
public session.
“We want to get input from
the advisory committee without any chilling effects,”
Hadaway said. “We want
them to be able to voice their
opinions. That’s why we went
to great lengths to find people
who are so knowledgeable
about the area.”
The advisory committee
will not be making final decisions for the building design
or curriculum, Hadaway said.
They will participate in open,
conversational meetings
where they will give their
opinions about material presented to them by GP and the
selected contractors.
“Based upon my understanding of the role of the
committee, it appears to me
that it is intended to accept
This weekend’s bluegrass festival,
though smaller than its February
counterpart, was a success and looks
to grow next year, officials said.
From Thursday to Saturday, the
Rodeheaver Boys Ranch played host to
the sixth annual Fall Palatka
Bluegrass Festival, where many of
bluegrass music’s most popular artists
performed.
The Grascals closed out the show
shortly after 10 p.m. on Saturday and
the people camped out in RVs have
since left the ranch, but Rodeheaver
Development Director Jeff King said
that he is still delighted with the
recent festival.
“Expectations for October was about
as good as you can get,” King said. “We
had a lot of new people this year. This
was their first time at the festival.”
In addition to the fall festival, the
boys ranch hosts the Spring Palatka
Bluegrass Festival, which takes place
every February.
The spring festival is always larger
than the festival in October, mainly
because people who spend their winters in the South have yet to leave
their homes in the northern states,
King said.
But the audience members who were
there had a great time listening to many
of the artists that they love, he said.
At each of the festivals, promoter
Norman Adams, owner of Adams
Bluegrass LLC, hires high quality and
wholesome entertainers, much to the
audiences’ delight, King said.
“The talent that Norman brought in
was tremendous,” he said. “I’ve had
zero negative comments about it.”
King said the number of people at
the year’s fall show was roughly the
same as previous October bluegrass
festivals.
The ranch was in charge of RV
camping reservations, and during the
time before and during the festival,
there were approximately 170 RVs
camped out at the ranch, King said.
See BLUEGRASS, Page 3A
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