Latest news with #KimKendall
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sidewalk safety concerns for St. Johns County students inspire new law
After years of concerns over a dangerous walk to school, there is now a solution for some st. Johns County students. A new Florida law will require a bus to take students living in the St. Johns Forest neighborhood to and from Liberty Pines Academy. Kimberly Reach lives in that neighborhood and has four kids who go to the school. She said she never let her kids walk to school on the sidewalk along County Road 2209, where 9B and St. Johns Parkway meet. 'That sidewalk is extremely dangerous,' said Reach. 'No kid should have to go on a walk like that, and no parent should have to worry about their kids going to school.' In 2018, the school district cancelled bus service for most of the St. Johns Forest neighborhood when crews built the sidewalk for children to walk to school. But that sidewalk, which was already rebuilt in 2023 because of safety concerns, has now been deemed hazardous by a new bill signed by Governor Ron DeSantis. The state law revises what it means to have 'hazardous walking conditions.' 'For 5 years, there have been life flights,' said State Representative Kim Kendall. 'There have been cars that have flipped over onto the sidewalk. There have been cars that have crashed into the overpass.' [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] Kendall, who introduced the bill, said there have been many accidents in that area, and 5 years ago, when she was approached by some parents raising concerns, she made it a priority to help them get a bus back in their neighborhood. 'The day bill drafting opened up, I instantly wrote this bill first through bill drafting,' said Kendall. 'This is one of those times that we needed to be proactive, and I am just so thankful that nothing terrible has happened up to this point that we can get this bill implemented and these kids safely on the school bus.' As state law, it will not only help these St. Johns County students, but also those who are experiencing a similar situation in other counties. 'When I did write this legislation and go through the committee process to hear from other legislators, even Duval County and Orange County and places across the state, they said that this bill will help those students.' Which is something Reach is also thrilled to hear. 'It just makes me so happy that this will impact more than just our neighborhood,' said Reach. 'That this can be a positive thing for a number of children .' The bill takes effect on July 1st, so students in the St. Johns Forest neighborhood should have a bus starting next school year. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Guana land swap proposal withdrawn following widespread backlash
State Representative Kim Kendall, R-St. Augustine, confirms The Upland, LLC has withdrawn its application for the proposed land swap that would have transferred 600 acres in the Guana River Wildlife Management Area into private hands. Action News Jax has obtained the following letter from Upland's representative, which was sent to the state Department of Environmental Protection deputy secretary announcing the withdrawal. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] News about the proposed land swap brought swift condemnation from national state and local leaders. The plan called for trading the 600 acres in the northeast corner of St. Johns County, where the Guana River Wildlife Management Area sits, for more than 3,000 acres along the Florida Wildlife Corridor in various parts of the state. Even White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, a resident of nearby Ponte Vedra, spoke out condemning the land swap in the Jacksonville Tributary. In the letter, a representative for The Upland LLC said there was 'never any intention to develop the acquired land for commercial or community development purposes.' Instead, it claims the deal would have resulted in additional conservation land for Florida, and the backlash was fueled by 'misinformation.' St. Johns County Commissioner Sarah Arnold says local leaders planned to pressure the Governor and Cabinet, who would have ultimately determined whether to approve the trade. 'I would say the same thing we said with the state parks argument, parks are for people,' Arnold told Action News Jax earlier Monday. 'This land, this conservation land is for the residents of this county and this state.' [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Terrifying': Guana land swap protests continue with questions about private company involved
St. Johns County leaders and residents are continuing to speak out against a proposed land swap that would transfer 600 acres in the Guana River Wildlife Management Area into private hands. On Wednesday, the state Acquisition and Restoration Council will decide whether to recommend trading 600 acres of land in the Guana River Wildlife Management Area for just over 3,000 acres along the Florida Wildlife Corridor in various parts of the state. The proposal unveiled last Tuesday, sparked immediate condemnation, with protests held over the weekend. State Representative Kim Kendall (R-St. Augustine) sent a message to all members of the Florida Legislature, calling on lawmakers to oppose the proposal. 'This goes against the spirit of the law, the legislation we just passed to prevent development in state parks and this really shouldn't be happening,' said Kendall on Saturday. Even White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, a resident of nearby Ponte Vedra, spoke out condemning the land swap in the Jacksonville Tributary. St. Johns County Commissioner Sarah Arnold told Action News Jax that local leaders are planning a press conference Tuesday morning to continue pressuring the Governor and Cabinet, who will ultimately determine whether to approve the trade. 'I would say the same thing we said with the state parks argument, parks are for people. This land, this conservation land is for the residents of this county and this state,' said Arnold. It's unknown exactly who is behind the trade. The Upland, LLC is the party listed on the ARC proposal, but there are suspicions the company could be tied to Dream Finders Homes. Dream Finders is a client of Driver, McAffee, Hawthorn & Diebenow. The firm partners with Contega Business Services and offers the company's services to its clients. Contega is listed as the registered agent for The Upland, LLC and Steven Diebenow signed off on the formation documents for the company. Dream Finders also recently developed a community in Colorado called 'Uplands' and CEO Patrick Zalupski is associated with six LLC's tied to that development, though none exactly match the company named in the land swap. Despite all the apparent connections, Dream Finders Homes has denied any involvement in the land swap or The Upland, LLC. 'Even with the state parks, we were at least able to look at renderings, the plans and we knew what we were up against, what they were hoping to do,' said Arnold. 'This time we know nothing and that in and of itself with the very short timeline that we've been given to fight it is terrifying.' Arnold said she's also hoping to get the board of county commissioners to come out in formal opposition to the plan during Tuesday night's commission meeting. She and other local residents will head to Tallahassee Wednesday to share their concerns with ARC in person. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump's chief of staff joins chorus opposing controversial Florida land swap
Over the weekend, outrage over the state of Florida's latest controversy involving public lands spilled onto sidewalks as residents launched protests. By Sunday night, it had also reached the White House. Susie Wiles, chief of staff for President Donald Trump and a longtime resident of northeast Florida, issued a statement to the Tampa Bay Times condemning the proposed swap of 600 acres of the Guana River Wildlife Management Area to a private company. 'Guana Preserve and its beauty, familiarity and serenity is woven into the fabric of our communities and is, indeed, a treasure in northeast Florida. To allow — even enable — this land grab to occur is outrageous and completely contrary to what our community desires,' Wiles said. 'Elected and appointed leaders should vote against this development wolf in sheep's clothing and preserve this extraordinary natural bounty,' Wiles said. Her comments were first reported by the Tributary, a Jacksonville nonprofit news outlet. Wiles' comments represent an extraordinary instance of a powerful and often behind-the-scenes figure wading into a local political issue that has struck a nerve across the state, particularly northeast Florida. But she also joins the growing chorus of bipartisan opposition from state and local officials against the proposal to trade away 600 acres of the protected wildlife area in exchange for a patchwork of more than 3,000 acres in four counties. State Rep. Kim Kendall, a Republican from St. Augustine, plans to hold a news conference Tuesday near the wildlife area in St. Johns County alongside county commissioners to oppose the swap. Kendall is also scheduled to hold another news conference Wednesday morning in the Florida Capitol, just before the proposal will be reviewed by the state's land acquisition council. Kendall blasted an email to every member of the Florida House around 4:30 a.m. Saturday asking for help building opposition. She also emailed the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, asking them to reveal the identity of the person or company behind the proposal, she told the Times. Opposition to the swap reached across party lines, as Reps. Lindsay Cross of St. Petersburg and Allison Tant of Tallahassee, both Democrats, also voiced their outrage over the weekend. Last week, the director of the division of state lands abruptly resigned. On Sunday, a top official from the Florida wildlife agency that manages the Guana River Wildlife Management Area, Rodney Barreto, posted on Facebook a photo of himself standing next to DeSantis and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush after an apparent round of golf together. 'It was a great day of golf this morning at Biltmore Hotel,' Barreto wrote in the social media post. In the photo, DeSantis is wearing a dark hat with what appears to be the logo of Cabot Citrus Farms, the luxury golf course developer at the center of a previous land swap proposal revealed last year by the Times, which also stirred uproar. Cabot Citrus was seeking more than 300 acres of the Withlacoochee State Forest to expand its golf operation in Hernando County. In June, that proposal was added to the Cabinet's agenda the day before the meeting through an unusual, last-minute process typically reserved for natural disasters and other extenuating circumstances. Emails show DeSantis' deputy chief of staff, Cody Farrill, drafted agenda language with environmental agency officials a day before the rest of the Cabinet was officially notified of the new item. DeSantis' office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday night about the Facebook post or Wiles' statement. Although Wiles managed DeSantis' first campaign for governor, the two have since had an acrimonious falling out. The Times first reported last week that the deal to trade the Withlacoochee State Forest is dead, after a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection said Cabot Citrus Farms 'has informed the department that they are no longer pursuing the exchange.' But just as one hot-button land swap proposal was shelved, another emerged with the agency announcing a previously unscheduled meeting for its land acquisition council this Wednesday. The rushed meeting is scheduled at the same time as top officials in Barreto's wildlife agency, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, convene to discuss one of the agency's most controversial proposals in years: opening a black bear hunt in Florida. Environmental groups, preparing to oppose the hunt, were quick to express their anger that they couldn't be in two places at once to also voice opposition to the proposed Guana land swap. Hundreds of Floridians convened on the corner of A1A in St. Johns County Saturday morning in protest of the deal. In a letter sent to the land acquisition council, Clay Henderson, an environmental lawyer and former president of the Florida Audubon Society, pointed to the similar outrage from Floridians last year over plans to develop state parks. 'Floridians deeply care about our state parks and conservation lands,' he wrote. 'This outlandish proposal could destroy the trust that Floridians have come to value that conservation lands should be protected in perpetuity.'
BBC News
07-04-2025
- BBC News
Withernsea Lighthouse shines light on town's history
Towering above the flatness of the Holderness countryside, Withernsea is home to an unusual 127ft-tall (39m) structure is located in the centre of the town some distance from the in 1894, it remained operational until its closure it was bought by Kim Kendall in 1986 who transformed it into a museum and visitor centre. Manager Lindsey Jones said it was built after accidents in the 1880s involving the town's pier."A number of ships crashed into the pier and completely demolished it," she said."I think on this stretch of coast about 200 ships have been lost."The 1,196ft-long (365m) pier opened in 1875, but a procession of ships hitting it saw its length gradually lighthouse came just too late to save it when a cargo ship struck it in 1893, leaving just 50ft of the structure the entire pier was removed in 1903, leaving just the twin castle-like towers at the entrance which still remain as a landmark on the town's promenade. Ms Jones said that the museum offers a chance for visitors to see inside a building that many have fond memories of."The light, when it used to go around, would flash in your bedroom at night," she said. "You would see it all night long. "The lighthouse would be going and it was one of those buildings that you wondered what was inside and what was it like." One of the reasons Ms Kendall bought the building was to house a collection of memorabilia about her film star sister Kay Kendall, who was born appeared in a number of productions in the1950s, including Genevieve before her death from leukaemia in 1959 aged just museum still attracts fans of the late actor who married Rex Harrison shortly before she died. The literal high point of the visit is a chance to climb 144 steps up a spiral staircase to the former offers 360 degree views of the surrounding land and sea as far as Flamborough Head to the Jones said: "When it's a sunny day, it's a fantastic view. The majority of visitors want to come to the top of the tower."However, she added that not all visitors want to stare at the far horizons."There's a guy who lives in one of these houses and he likes to come once a year to go up to the top just to see if he's got any roof slates missing."Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
