Category Archives: Commentary
Commentary: Reflections on Earth Day
By Linda Hart Green Earth Day 1970, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I only skipped school [...]
1 Comments
Apr
Dear Readers: Prepare for Change
By Mike Phillips Observer Editor and Publisher In the coming weeks, you will start seeing [...]
10 Comments
Commentary: It’s Now or Never to Keep Our City Liveable
By Mike Lednovich The deadline is just six weeks away for candidacy in the Fernandina [...]
7 Comments
Apr
Commentary: Book-Banners Who Preach a War Between Good and Evil
By Linda Hart Green A number of books have been removed from Nassau County school [...]
43 Comments
Apr
Commentary: Six Short Lessons for Our School Board
By Mike Phillips The Nassau County School Board was treated Thursday evening to a lesson [...]
Mar
Commentary: Living With Grief Is a Long, Learning Process
By Linda Hart Green I exhale with relief when the date of March 6 passes. [...]
Mar
Commentary: Good Old Boys Versus the Public Good
By Mike Lednovich In the heart of Fernandina Beach, important decisions that shape our community’s [...]
Mar
Commentary: An Interview With Johnnetta Betsch Cole
By April L. Bogle Johnnetta Betsch Cole’s lineage alone could fill a book. She is [...]
Feb
“You People” — a Commentary
By Chip Ross, city commissioner I recently received an email from a local charter boat [...]
Feb
Commentary: How Religious Freedom Was Born in the USA
By Linda Hart Green This is the current signboard in front of the First Baptist [...]
Feb
Commentary: When a Helping Hand Is a Jar Opener
By Linda Hart Green I received this fancy jar opener for Christmas. This may seem [...]
Jan
Commentary: The King Celebration Goes to the Very Roots of Fernandina
By Linda Hart Green Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2009 marked my first visit to [...]
Jan
Commentary: A Topsy-Turvy Year at City Hall
By Mike Lednovich Now after more than a year in office, how did the 2023 [...]
Jan
Do You Have Room for a Labor of Love?
By Linda Hart Green New Year’s Day was special for my brother and me. We [...]
Dec
Commentary — The Manager Solution: Make Charlie George Permanent
By Mike Lednovich What many folks don’t realize is that over the past 12 months, [...]
Dec
Pay Attention: Really Hearing People is a Gift
By Linda Hart Green It’s crunch time for gift buyers. At least, that is what [...]
Dec
Commentary: Sure Things Lost and Lessons Learned
By Mike Phillips One day, back in my corporate career, I lamented to the CEO [...]
Dec
Commentary: A Nightmare on 14th Street
By Chip Ross City Commissioner Traffic is about to get much worse on South 14th [...]
Dec
Commentary: It’s Not the Alcohol, It’s Everything Else
By Suanne Thamm Dear City Commissioners: Please accept my sincere sympathy for the position that [...]
Dec
Commentary — For the Good of the Order: Resignation
Editor’s note: We are offering publication of brief, thoughtful, well-written commentaries on this subject. They [...]
Dec
Learning to Wait Is a Spiritual Discipline
By Linda Hart Green In the golden light of an early summer evening, I swished [...]
Dec
In Dark Times, Find Small Hopes and Nurture Them
By Linda Hart Green I’m hearing that folks are finding it difficult to be hopeful [...]
Nov
We Could Use More Table Talk in This Community
By Linda Hart GreenDo you remember the kitchen or dining room table in the home [...]
Nov
Commentary: It Was a Black Day at City Hall
By Mike Lednovich Last Tuesday in Fernandina Beach was a day of ignominy. That’s when [...]
Nov
Commentary: Deaths We Know, and Deaths Beyond Understanding
By Linda Hart GreenI think about tomatoes when I think about my friend’s husband. He [...]
Oct
Commentary: Port Commission Simply Isn’t Functioning as it Should
By Mike Phillips It’s time to say this, and say it bluntly: The Ocean Highway [...]
Oct
Commentary: The Wise Know What They Don’t Know
By Linda Hart Green I don’t like to admit I was a know-it-all in school. [...]
Oct
State of the City: A First of Five Responses to Ty Ross
STATE OF THE CITY – By Chip Ross 10 October 2023 Last week all the [...]
Oct
Commentary: Insults on Local Media Unworthy of the Mayor’s Chair
By Mike Lednovich At Tuesday night’s city commission meeting, Fernandina Beach Mayor Bradley Bean’s unvarnished [...]
Oct
The Language of Trees Gladdens Human Hearts
By Linda Hart Green I grew up with “sand between my toes,” as my parents [...]
Oct
A Comment for and About William H. Goodwin Junior
Dear Sir, I’ve been reading about you. I do that a lot: reading about people [...]
Oct
Commentary: How a Jeweler Would Untangle a Community
By Linda Hart Green My jeweler/watchmaker father earned a nickname in the community where his [...]
Sep
Commentary: Vote AFTER the People Have Spoken
By Mike Lednovich Twice in eight days the Fernandina Beach City Commission told residents your [...]
Sep
Commentary: Turning Sympathy Into Empathy
By Linda Hart Green I had a different topic chosen for this commentary. I couldn’t [...]
Sep
Commentary: Finding Divine Goodness in Angry Times
By April L. Bogle My father was a pious young man who attended a Bible [...]
Sep
Commentary: Musing About Connections That Make Life Better
By Linda Hart Green I took a photo of a mishmash of wiring out of [...]
Aug
Commentary: A Highly Seasoned Boater’s Advice on Our Marina
By Wally Moran Having stopped in Fernandina Beach by boat more than 50 times myself, [...]
Aug
Commentary: Blindsided by a ‘Good Neighbor’ Church
By Samuel Jefferson Kennard I am shocked and dismayed to hear that Amelia Baptist Church [...]
Aug
Commentary: Hard Choices for United Methodists
By Mike PhillipsMy first church fight scared the pants off me. I was only five [...]
Jul
Commentary: It Isn’t Just $30,000 — It’s the Principle of the Thing
By Mike PhillipsThe cost of the city commission’s 50% pay raise that’s under discussion is [...]
Jul
Commentary: Farewell, Dale Martin. Flagler Beach Is Lucky
By Suanne Thamm On Friday, July 14, 2023, former Fernandina Beach City Manager Dale Martin [...]
Jul
Commentary: OK Commission, Stop Kidding Yourselves About Taxes
By Suanne ThammNero fiddled while Rome burned. The Fernandina Beach City Commission (FBCC) sticks its [...]
Jul
A celebration of Southern Grassroots Music
By Lauri deGaris Recently, a good friend of almost 40 years gifted me an LP [...]
Jul
It’s Time to Reframe Our Conversations
By Linda Hart Green “Why don’t they get it?” It’s the question public theologian and [...]
Jun
Commentary: Let’s Face Facts — Brett’s Has To Go
By Mike Phillips So here we go again. Yet another well-respected engineering firm has told [...]
Jun
June 26 Florida Legislative Forum to Transcend Party Affiliation
By Melissa A. Moss Recent history shows there are a lot of thoughtful folks in [...]
Jun
Feeling Welcome Means Feeling Safe
By Linda Hart Green Actions and words should match. Easy to say but difficult to [...]
Jun
Commentary: A Budget Cut That Doesn’t Need to Hurt
By Mike Phillips Wow. Did that governor of ours ever give us something to think [...]
Jun
Habitat Honors Ed Stanley With New Award
Nassau Habitat for Humanity (NHFH) has announced that this year’s inaugural Al Pertuz Impact Award [...]
Jun
Commentary: Think About a Run for Commission — Yes, YOU
By Suanne Thamm Fernandina Beach wants YOU to consider running for city commission in 2024. [...]
Jun
Let’s Learn from Fernandina Beach of the Past
By Linda Hart Green“Why did people here turn so ugly?” mused Lisa Williams, her big [...]
Jun
Say It Loud: No More Anonymity
By Mike Phillips Recent events have convinced me that our reader comments service needs a [...]
Jun
Setting the Record Straight: Private Groups Can Deny Access to Meetings
By April L. BoglePrivate organizations such as Citizens Defending Freedom-Nassau (CDF-Nassau) can assemble in public [...]
Jun
Commentary: Only True Believers Welcome at CDF Meetings
By Mike LednovichEvidently Citizens Defending Freedom – Nassau believes freedom isn’t for everybody. CDF’s meeting [...]
May
A Small Island with a Lot of Room
By Linda Hart GreenOne of my favorite Bible verses is from the gospel of John. [...]
May
Unexpected Bending
By Linda Hart Green “Why are they so angry?” Have you thought that after reading [...]
May
Why Amelia Island Needs a Statue of William Penn
By Linda Hart Green I grew up in a suburb of New Jersey just five [...]
May
Commentary: When is a Public Prayer Out of Line?
By Linda Hart Green “Will you offer a prayer, Reverend?” I have been asked that [...]
May
Commentary: The Times Have Changed, Mr. Knocke
By Darlene Drury FBHS class of 1974 I was born and raised a Fernandinian. When [...]
May
Commentary: Mr. Nicklas Has Opinions. Now, Here Are The Facts
By Chip Ross Steve Nicklas writes an opinion column called “Steve’s Marketplace” for the Amelia [...]
May
Commentary: Bad Advice on ‘Special Privileges’ for Developers
By Faith Ross Recently Tammi Bach, the Fernandina Beach City Attorney, gave a workshop for [...]
May
Commentary: The Divine Creation is Wonderfully Diverse
By Rev. Linda Hart Green Is difference dangerous? There are those who think so. [...]
May
Commentary: The Law Is Clear. Deny the Tringali Townhouses
By Taina Cristner In early 2006, at the beginning of the aughts’ housing bubble, the [...]
Apr
Commentary: We Have a Chance to Degrade Our Home — or Add Value
Dear Nassau County Commissioners, The county’s reduction of coastal building height in 2021 was appropriate [...]
Apr
Commentary: A Church Where ALL means ALL
By Rev. Dr. Mark Charles I was told a story today about an individual in [...]
Apr
Community Leaders Speak: The Riverstone Proposal Is a ‘Hail Mary’
A Letter to the Nassau County Commissioners and County Attorney: Nearly two years ago, the [...]
Apr
Commentary: No Matter Your Beliefs, Stand Up for the Tylers
By Rev. Linda Hart Green In 2010, I was a pastor in Ridgewood, New Jersey. [...]
Apr
Commentary: OK Kids, Let’s Buckle Down
By Suanne Thamm Some years ago a now-departed neighbor added a new acronym to our [...]
Apr
Commentary: Challenges and Qualifications for a New City Manager
By the Conserve Nassau Board of Directors The Fernandina Beach City Charter provides general guidelines [...]
Apr
Commentary: Manager Search Must Be Done Professionally
By Margaret Kirkland Chair, Conserve Nassau With the current size and projected growth of Fernandina [...]
Apr
Commentary: A Deceit Beyond the Pale
By Mike Phillips Over the years I’ve lost track of how many city commissions and [...]
Mar
Commentary: ‘Criminal Enterprise’ Accusers Now on Record With FBI
By Chip Ross For years a few individuals have publicly stated that the city of [...]
Mar
Commentary: What Will it Take to Be United in Keeping Our Paradise?
By Suanne Thamm Hatfields vs. McCoys. Sharks vs. Jets. Natives vs. Newbies. Isn’t it about [...]
Mar
Commentary: What a Mess We Are In, Fernandina!
By Suanne Thamm Confused. Frustrated. Unhappy. Angry. Suspicious. These are just a few of the [...]
Mar
News Commentary: Commission’s City Manager Search Gets Off to a Ragged Start
By Mike Lednovich Fernandina Beach is searching for its most important executive, the city manager. [...]
Mar
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