FRIDAY, JANUARY 25.2008 NEWS News-Leader King seeks election to sheriff's office Retired Nassau County Sheriff's Capt. Richard King has announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for Nassau County sheriff. There are four declared candi- dates for sheriff, including Sheriff Tommy Seagraves, retired Capt, Connie Johnson, Fernandina Beach Police Capt. Jim coe and King. Coe is a Demotcrat: the oth- ers are Republicans. King is a U.S. Army veteran, having served in the Army Security Agency, and has 37 years of law enforcement experience. He retired from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office with 25 years of service, served in the federal court system for five years and served seven years with the Nassau County Sheriff's office, where he was director of the Nassau County Detention Center at the time of his retirement in 2005. King is a member of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5- 30 and is a past president. He is also a member of the Nassau County Planning and Zoning Board, and a past chairman of that board, and has accumulated 54 credit hours toward an AAS degree in crim- inology. King said he wants "to bring a new level of professional law enforcement to King the depart- ment, which will restore the morale and pride of the members of the department and result in improved service to the citizens of Nassau County." He also said he "will prioritize the spending of taxpayer budget dollars to ensure they are spent where they can most benefit the citizens of Nassau County." King is a 35-year resident of Nassau County. He has been mar- ried to his wife, Carol, for 46 years, and they have two children, four grandchildren and five great-great grandchildren. They are members of First Baptist Church of Callahan where he is active in the children's ministry. The Republican primary elec- tion is scheduled Aug. 26, and the general election Nov. 4. Crist seeks vote for I TALLAHASSEE With just days until Election Day, Gov. Charlie Crist continues to criss- cross the state encouraging vot- ers to vote Yes on 1 to lower their property taxes. "If we don't pass meaningful tax reform with this measure we may never get another chance," Crist said. "Florida's families have suffered long enough and I urge voters to cut their property taxes by Voting yes on Amendment 1. This plan brings real tax cuts to real people." Crist visited North Florida Thursday and hosted a roundtable with media in the Jacksonville area. He continued on to Broward County where he visited with a group of senior citizens. Visiting an area facing steep increases in property taxes, Crist met with Dave Murphy, a Lake Worth homeowner who would like to move to a smaller home. The local property appraiser has val- ued Murphy's home at $309,000., With the passage of Amendment 1, he could save nearly $1,500 ayear on his property taxes. The average homeowner will be able to take approximately $83,000 in Save our Homes tax benefit with them when they move, saving about $1,500 a year ,on property taxes. Amendment 1 would essen- tially double a resident's home- stead exemption and allow their Save Our Homes tax benefits to be transferred to a new home. Furthermore, businesses would receive a $25,000 exemption for tangible personal property and Democrats may join Republicans in Florida University of Florida GAINESVILLE Candidates seeking the Democratic presidential nomination may start to show up in Florida before the state's Tuesday primary, despite being told by national party leaders not to cam- paign here, a University of Florida professor predicts. "I expect we will begin seeing the candidates in Florida quite soon," political science professor Daniel A. Smith said. -The Democratic National Committee told the candidates to avoid the state because the Legislature moved up the presi- dential primary election date to a week before Super Tuesday Feb. 5. But the race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama has become tighter after the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire and Nevada primary elections. South Carolina Democrats vote Saturday. S 'This is Hillary's to lose, and Florida is her firewall," Smith said. Floridians might also see John Edwards, who is trailing the top two. Edwards has nothing to lose by coming to Florida, Smith said. Florida is even more important to GOP contender Rudy Giuliani. "For Rudy, it's the make or break state because he's basically fore- gone all the other early primaries," Smith said. "It's even more crucial that he does well." The former New York mayor vies with U.S. Sen. John McCain, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul in the state Republican primary. -residents with a second home would never see their property, taxes increase by more than 10 percent. public safety and environmental For further information, POLITICS IN BRIEF Election Day Polls will be open in Nassau County from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday for statewide elections. There are Republican and Democratic presidential prefer- ence primary elections and a statewide vote on a proposed con- stitional amendment on property tax reform. Democratic Club The Democratic Club of Amelia Island is scheduled to hold its monthly dinner meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday at St. Peter's Parish Hall, Eighth Street and Atlantic Avenue, Fernandina Beach. The price of the dinner is $15 per person. The program will be election of 2008 officers and board members. RSVP to Joyce Frink at 225- 2428 or e-mail jabfrink@gmail.com. Reservations are due by 4 p.m. Sunday. Democratic convention The Democratic National Convention is scheduled in Denver in August. Democrats interested in attended must compete in the Fourth Congressional District for seats. Linda Hicks Spencer, state Democratic committeewoman for ,Nassau County, has the appropri- ate forms to become a convention delegate. Call (904) 845-4646 or e- mail her atJLCSpencerl@aol. com. Bring ID whenvoting Early voting has begun for the presidential preference primary We'll Make Your Old Silver Look Beautiful Again! Take advantage of these low prices and have your old, damaged silverware, antiques and family heirlooms restored. Bring your silver in for a FREE estimate. 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If the photo identification pre- sented does not have the voter's signature, an additional piece of identification with the voter's sig- nature is required. Citizens who do not furnish the required identification at the polling place can only vote by a provisional bal- lot. Any combination of the follow- ing identifications may be used to satisfy the signature and photo requirement: * Florida driver's license; * Florida identification card issued by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles; * U.S. passport; * Employee badge or identifica- tion; * Buyer's club identification; * Debit or credit card; * Military identification; * Student identification; * Retirement center identifica- tion; * Neighborhood association iden- tification; * And public assistance identifica- tion. For more information on this and other election laws, visit http://election.dos.state.fl.us. DEBBIE WALSH/FORTHE NEWS-LEADER Fernandina Beach resident Gloria Rubio listens to instructions for poll workers Jan. 18 at election training at the Nassau Nazarene Church conference facility on US 17. She will assist voters at the New life Baptist Church in Yulee during the statewide election Tuesday. Tami Pendleton of the Nassau County Supervisor of Elections office welcomed poll workers for one of three training seminars held to educate community workers who will staff precincts on voting day. -11 EHH PUBLIC NOTICE Fort Clinch hazards. please contact the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Corporate The Department of Defense (DoD) conducted live-fire training and testing of weapon systems at active and former military installations throughout the United States to ensure force readiness and defend our nation. As directed by the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers manages the Military Munitions Response Program (MMRP) for the DoD. Under that program, the Corp assigns priorities to defense sites containing unexploded ordnance, discarded military munitions and/or munitions constituents, based on various factors relating to the potential for The Corps' Jacksonville District is in the process of investigating Fort Clinch, Nassau County, Florida. This site was used as a coastal defense site from 1842 to 1927. The Corps recently completed a site inspection at Fort Clinch. The evaluation criteria, including types of munitions that may be present, ease of access to the site and number of people living near the site, will be available for public review at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 701 San Marco Blvd., Jacksonville, FL 32207. As part of our ongoing investigation, we are seeking additional information from the public about Fort Clinch (site is north of Fernandina Beach off State Road A1A). If you have information, please send it to: Charles Fales, Project Manager, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 701 San Marco Blvd., Jacksonville, FL 32207 or by e-mail to PublicMail.CESAJ-CC@saj02.usace.army.mil. Stakeholders and members of the public are also welcome to attend a Military Munitions Response Site Prioritization Protocol coordination meeting, scheduled for Friday, March 7, 9:00 AM- 11:00 AM at Fort Clinch, 2601 Atlantic Avenue, Fernandina Beach, FL 32034. Communication Office at 904-232-1576.