The Baker County Press Baker County's Circulation Leader

Several former employees of the now-closed Macclenny nonprofit Baker Community Counseling Services (BCCS) spoke with The Press recently regarding their involvement, or lack thereof, with the alleged sexual and financial misconduct in the office.

Most of them pointed to executive director Chris Thomas as the culprit, saying he sexually harassed female subordinates, gave himself bonuses and allegedly used the organization’s credit card for personal expenses.

When contacted, Mr. Thomas, who joined BCCS in 2006 following a stint as an assistant to the clerk of courts, denied any financial wrongdoing and declined to comment on the sexual allegations. Read More »

The Baker County school district is beginning the 2013-14 budget process facing a deficit that would take nearly $1.3 million in cash reserves to balance the ledger. If that’s the route taken, it follows a similar amount pulled from emergency savings last year to fund a budget gap.

The cause of the shortfall is a drop in state education funding attributed mostly to a decline in student enrollment.
“We are now in significant declining enrollment,” Marcelle Richardson, the school district’s chief budget officer, told the school board during a budget workshop on June 3. Read More »

File this column away in the “D’ya ever notice?” folder.

I’ve been writing, and many of you have been reading, what the business used to call the “police blotter” for more years than, well, more years than many of you readers have been alive.

Hometown crime has evolved somewhat over those decades. Now if you beat your wife, it isn’t “your business” anymore. Illegal substances people are caught with have transformed from moonshine to methamphetamine. In fact, I’ve seen more moonshine at Christmas parties than I ever saw seized by the authorities.

One constant remains and it has to do with what we’ll term “lack of foresight” when it comes to stupid things lawbreakers do to get themselves caught. Helping police do their job, if you will.

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Chris Adams of Macclenny really loves Krispy Kreme donuts.

So when the location on Cassat Avenue reopened on May 28 after a seven-plus-year closure, and promised free donuts to the first 100 customers, Mr. Adams had to be there.

He recruited his reluctant girlfriend, Christie Rutland, 29, to spend the night at the Krispy Kreme to ensure their place in the line for the grand opening at 6 am.

As customers number 29 and 30, they will each receive a dozen free donuts once a month for the next year. Plus, they got free T-shirts.

Read More »