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Saturday, July 04, 2009
About Us
| Our market | Top |
| Putnam County is centrally located between Jacksonville, Daytona Beach, Gainesville and St. Augustine, with Atlantic Ocean beaches about a half-hour drive away. The total county population is 72,000. Palatka is the county seat with a population of 11,000. Other incorporated municipalities include Interlachen, Crescent City, Pomona Park and Welaka.
Unincorporated towns include Bardin, Bostwick, East Palatka, Edgar, Florahome, Georgetown, Grandin, Hollister, Johnson/Johnson Crossroads, Melrose, Putnam Hall, San Mateo and Satsuma. The Daily News has also adopted Hastings, in nearby St. Johns County but with close ties to Putnam, for coverage.
The Palatka Daily News publishes Tuesday through Saturday with a daily circulation of 11,733 according to our last audit .
We cover crime, wrecks, schools, seven local governments and their various agencies and departments, environment, business, health, military, entertainment, fund-raisers, religion, features, prep sports, college sports, recreational sports, fishing tournaments and all manner of general assignment stories.
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| Why we do what we do: | Top |
| Sometimes we get to make a difference, often by shining a light on areas that inspire others to make a difference, or by influencing public policy for the betterment of our community. We play our part as the eyes and ears of people who care and want to know about their community.
Big-picture priorities
1. To educate and entertain our readers with the information they need and want to know.
-- By engaging in a dialogue between the newsroom and community to present the information that is most important to them and most affects their lives.
-- By seeking out and pursuing the most interesting stories.
2. To hold a mirror up to the community, accurately reporting the events and issues to provide a thorough understanding of the community and world we live in.
-- By keeping abreast of local, state and national issues and reporting how they affect readers¹ lives.
3. To put a human face on our reports.
-- By finding people affected by the news and illustrating the issues by telling their stories.
How to get there:
4. To provide timely coverage of breaking news events in the community.
By being responsive to tips to further encourage more tips.
5. To keep readers informed about government -- educating the electorate to make informed decisions at election time; to inform the public ahead of time about decisions that could affect them; report on the actions governments take; report on the state of the services governments provide (whether or not it comes up in a public meeting); provide a fair and accurate account of the performances of elected and appointed officials.
6. To keep readers informed about important community issues to explore the lives of the people affected; to explore all major points of view; to explore the solutions to problems and resources to help; to provide local perspective to state, national and international issues of local interest.
7. To report community events provide advance notice of events of interest; cover major events with photos and/or reports.
8. To provide a forum for the public to announce events, publicize achievements and activities and express opinions.
9. To provide community leadership through editorials; offer fair criticism and praise where due; in columns, present a cross section of opinions and issues of the greatest interest to readers.
10. To keep readers informed about major state, national and international news through wire services; to emphasize those items of particular local interest.
11. To feature interesting people, places and events to entertain and enrich readers.
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| Business and Industry: | Top |
| Major employers include the school system; a Georgia-Pacific paper mill that produces Brawny, Northern and Angel Soft consumer paper brands; Seminole Electric and FP&L power plants; Lafarge Gypsum wallboard manufacturing plant and a Precision Response Corporation telephone support call center. The county is considered the most industrialized rural county in Florida. Agriculture includes timber, fern, cattle, potato and cabbage farms.
Retail growth has boomed. In recent years. Publix Supermarket, Wal-Mart, Big Lots, Tractor Supply, Zale's, Radio Shack, Blockbuster, Rhino Games, Chili's and many others have located or relocated along State Road 19. Lowe's and Home Depot opened in late 2004 along SR 19.
Additional growth is expected. The Florida Department of Transportation is now working to provide a four-lane highway connection between Interstates 75 and 95 that cuts right through the heart of Putnam County. U.S. 17 already provides four-lane access to Interstate 295 at Jacksonville. State Road 207 is four lanes to Interstate 95.
The St. Johns River Water Management District, the North East Florida Educational Consortium and the regional offices of the Florida Highway Patrol are headquartered in Putnam County.
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| Lifestyle: | Top |
| Spring comes early and with style in Putnam County. In late February and early March, the county is ablaze in azaleas. Many local residents let the plants grow in tall hedges along property lines and around large live oak and pine trees. Palatka¹s Ravine Gardens State Park offers a two-mile drive with more than 95,000 azaleas offering a flood of various colors.
All year long, residents and visitors enjoy the north-flowing St. Johns River as it makes its way through Putnam County to its mouth in Jacksonville. Between the river, its estuaries and the nearby 9,600-acre Rodman Reservoir, the area is known as the Bass Capital of the World. In 1998, the St. Johns was named one of 14 American Heritage Rivers.
Putnam Community Medical Center is a 161-bed hospital with about 400 health-care professionals and a physician staff of more than 80. Florida Cancer Center offers cancer treatment.
Palatka includes the main branch of St. Johns River Community College. The campus includes the Florida School of the Arts, the only state-supported arts college.
The Putnam County School District provides K-12 public education.
An Amtrak stop is located near downtown Palatka and the Kay Larkin municipal airport is located to the west of town. A city-led committee has also secured funds for a ferry to dock at the riverfront.
The county has several state parks -- Ravine Gardens State Park in Palatka, the developing Dunns Creek State Park to the south, Welaka State Forest further south and Etoniah Creek State Forest to the northwest. The county also includes a portion of the Ocala National Forest in the southwest.
Palatka has a municipal golf course and a private golf course operates in South Putnam
Major annual events include the Blue Crab Festival every Memorial Day weekend on the Palatka waterfront; the 500-plus boat Wolfson's Children's Hospital Bass Tournament; the Mug Race, a sailboat race to Jacksonville on the first Saturday in May; The Battle of Horse Landing Civil War re-enactment in November; Azalea Days at the Ravine Gardens in March; Azalea Festival in downtown Palatka in March; the county fair in March; the Blueberry Festival in Bostwick each June; the Catfish Festival in Crescent City each April; and various functions from rodeos to low-country boils. In addition to the Civil War re-enactment, Rodeheaver Boys Ranch has added an annual bluegrass music festival and a Labor Day Melon Blast. In the blast, watermelon and potatoes are launched with air cannons and even catapults. The ranch also is working on a annual gospel music festival.
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| History of the community | Top |
| Courtesy of the Putnam County Chamber of Commerce
In 1845, Florida became a state and William Dunn Moseley became Florida¹s first elected governor. He held that office until 1849, when he located to Palatka. He died here in 1863 and is buried at Westview Cemetery.
In 1849, Putnam County became the 28th Florida county. It was created from parts of Alachua, Orange, St. Johns, Marion and Duval counties. Putnam County was named in honor of Benjamin Alexander Putnam, who was a soldier, lawyer, Florida legislator and the first president of the Florida Historic Society. Putnam died in Palatka in 1869.
Palatka was Putnam County¹s first occupied town. The name, originally spelled Piloaikta or Pilatka, is a Seminole word meaning "crossing over" or "cow¹s crossing". In 1837, the federal government established a military post called Fort Shannon during the Seminole Indian Wars in Palatka. Both Confederate and Union troops also occupied Palatka during the Civil War. Palatka was under fire of gunboats on the St. Johns River. At one time, the city was occupied by 5,000 federal troops.
Between 1840 and 1850, Palatka was a major shipping port for oaks, cedar, cotton, sugar and syrup. Goods were shipped down the Ocklawaha, loaded onto larger steamers in Palatka and plied north on the St. Johns River.
In 1855, Col. Hubbard L. Hart bought and operated the state stage line between Palatka and Tampa. The same year, H.A. Gray started the first line of barge freighters on the Ocklawaha River, propelled by people with poles. Three weeks was the required time between Palatka and Silver Springs. From 1860 to 1919, the Hart Line Steamers operated only through the winter season from Palatka to Silver Springs, and also between Palatka and Leesburg as freight boats.
A disastrous fire swept through the business section of Palatka in November of 1884. Only the courthouse and its records were saved. Another devastation included the entire county at this time. Consecutive freezes during 1894 and 1895 brought the thriving citrus industry to an abrupt standstill.
After the Civil War and through the early 1900s, the county prospered largely because of the use of the St. Johns River and its tributaries. The impressive timber, citrus and farming industries (as well as tourism, in the later part of the 1800s) was extremely profitable for Palatka. Citrus and timber were shipped worldwide and tourism attracted the famous.
In the late 1800s, Palatka had the second largest cypress industry in the world. Palatka boasted several world-class hotels, like the Arlington, Saratoga, LaFayette and the Putnam House. These and other hotels had rooms to accommodate as many as 6,000 guests.
Many famous national figures have wintered in Palatka, among them were Harriet Beecher Stowe, Thomas Edison, President Theodore Roosevelt, Josh Billings, William Cullen Bryant, Sidney Lanier, Henry Ward Beecher, Jay Gould, John W. Gates, Isaac Elwood, James R. Mellon, John Jacob Astor, Ben Butler and many others. Gen. Ulysses Grant visited here after his term in office in the presidency. President Grover Cleveland and his wife spent their honeymoon here.
Crescent City was settled in the mid-1800s. This city sits among wooded bluff between Crescent Lake (shape resembled a moon in crescent) and Lake Stella (shape resembled a star). There are more than 20 historic buildings in the downtown area that reflect the architectural "Golden Age" from when this area was settled. The area is included in the "Fern Capital of the World" and nationally known as the "Bass Capital of the World."
In Welaka, the British developed an outpost in 1780 called Fort Gates. Today, the ferry service that was established to shuttle troops across the St. Johns River still exists as Florida¹s oldest continuously operated ferry.
Developed in 1881, Interlachen, meaning "Land Between the Lakes," was planned to accommodate the rail line that passed through the area between Palatka and Gainesville. The town grew as northern immigrants located here for the mild climate and the hopes of prospering in the citrus industry. In 1894, Interlachen shipped the second largest number of oranges in the entire state. Many of the buildings and homes in this community still stand as a heritage to the local history.
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| History of the Palatka Daily News | Top |
| Trying to trace the history of the Palatka Daily News and decide which papers it is descended from has been difficult and the trail has been elusive.
There have been at least 14 newspapers and a number of political broadsheets dating back to 1843 with the Whig Banner.
George W. Pratt, a circuit-riding Methodist minister, founded the Eastern Herald in 1869. That became the Times-Herald, which eventually merged with the Daily News.
The Putnam County Journal appeared in 1881. In 1885, Alex Wattles founded the Palatka Advertiser, believed to be the forerunner to the Palatka Daily News.
An unaffiliated newspaper called the Palatka Daily News opened in 1884.
In 1885, the Southern Sun began publishing. After four years, it was purchased by the Palatka Herald, formerly the Eastern Herald.
In 1891 came the emergence of the Palatka Weekly Times, which eventually consolidated with the Palatka Herald to become the Times-Herald.
In 1902, Wattles sold it to William Russell of Crescent City and M.M. Vickers. The new publication became the Palatka News and Advertiser.
At least three other Palatka papers started and failed.
On Oct. 11, 1919, the News and Advertiser went daily to become the Palatka Daily News. It was published every afternoon at South Second Street.
In 1958, John H. Perry Newspapers purchased both the Times-Herald and the Palatka Daily News and the papers were merged.
The Daily News moved to its current home at 1825 St. Johns Ave. on April 17, 1967.
In November 1970, it was purchased by Cowles Communications, and 13 months later was purchased by the New York Times Co.
Community Newspapers Inc., headquartered in Athens, Ga., purchased the Daily News in 2000.
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| How to get announcements in the newspaper | Top |
| Organizations can ensure better coverage by helping themselves. Here's how:
Plan ahead. Get information to the newspaper as early as possible.
In preparing press releases, say what's happening, where, when, why, who benefits, what it costs and who can people call for more details. Please check on the spelling of names. Include suggestions on where you think the item should run (see below). Include a date you would like it to run. We'll accommodate requests when we can.
We can often use photographs. Be sure to list the order and identity of everyone in the photo.
There are many places in the newspaper to include announcements:
- Page 2A briefs or short stories. These items run once, but can run again if we receive another announcement. Briefs or short stories can also run in one of three lifestyle sections on a space available basis and can include photos.
- Community Calendar. In the Community section every Wednesday. Includes ongoing meetings and events and one-time events. A one-time event will run every week from the time of announcement until it's over. The section also includes Church Briefs for church and religious events.
- Calendar in the Weekend! section. Runs every Friday, listing at least a week's worth of local entertainment, or more on a space available basis.
- Saluting Community Volunteers. Runs in the Currents section every Saturday. Nominate a Volunteer of the Week for an upcoming event as another way to promote it. The page is also a place to list organizations that provide volunteer services.
- A letter to the editor. If written far enough in advance, most letters would run before the event. We do make some allowances for time-sensitive information. Shorter letters are easier to fit in sooner.
- Buy an advertisement. It's your money -- you pick the size, content and day of publication.
- Schools! Monthly section includes photos and short stories of events that occurred in Putnam County public schools. Check with your school to see who's in charge of submitting these.
There is always the possibility that we will write our own story and take our own photos. You can also try to get interest from our columnists who write about entertainment, or West Putnam and South Putnam events.
Announcements can be sent by mail, e-mail, fax or hand delivery. It's always a good idea to follow up with a phone call.
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| Star athletes from Putnam | Top |
| John L. Williams - Palatka High, University of Florida, NFL running back, two-time Pro Bowl selection, first-round pick of the Seattle Seahawks in 1986, eight seasons with Seattle and two with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
John Henry Lloyd - Negro League star and baseball hall of famer.
Bryan Jacob - Palatka High, Olympic athlete U.S. weightlifting team 1992 and 1996.
Jarvis Williams - Palatka High, first-team college All-American football player at UF in 1987. Miami Dolphins rookie of the year 1988. Played for the Dolphins until 1994, then signed with the New York Giants for one year.
Lefty Turner - former Central Academy, Negro League player 1940s.
Bill Swaggerty - Former South High, Major League pitcher, Baltimore Orioles (1983-85) and Kansas City Royals (1986).
Pooh Bear Williams - Crescent City High, Florida State running back from 1993-96, and Buffalo Bills in 1998.
Charles ŒRabbit¹ Smith - Former Putnam High, University of Georgia from 1943-46, first Putnam County high school product to play in the NFL - of the Chicago Cardinals¹ 1947 championship team..
Billy Tuten - golfer, Palatka High, University of Houston All-American in 1983 and played on Cougars¹ 1982 NCAA championship team. Played in three U.S. Opens (1990, ¹91 and ¹93), one Masters (1984)
Mary Wisham - Spent six seasons in the All-American Girls¹ Professional Baseball League, pitching in the first AAGPBL All-Star Game in 1943.
Napoleon DuBois - Washington Redskins
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