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News-Leader

The News-Leader is Florida's oldest continually published weekly newspaper every Wed. and Fri.

12/10/2025

Did you miss Nassau County's holiday celebration over the weekend?

Though "the weather put a damper on multiple aspects of the event," hundreds still came out for the tree lighting, fireworks and festivities Friday night at the Robert M. Foster Justice Center in Yulee.

Enjoy a few of our photos from the fireworks display.

More photos from the event at https://www.fbnewsleader.com/regional-newsletter/rain-and-shine-despite-rainy-weather-locals-put-lights ; full story for subscribers only.

Photos and story by Ashley Chandler/News-Leader
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12/08/2025

HEAVY LAW ENFORCEMENT PRESENCE IN YULEE

Nassau County Sheriff's Office posted the following Community Alert:
Expect heavy law enforcement presence in the area of Yellowtail Ct. in Yulee.
Neighbors in the area are in the process of being evacuated as a precautionary measure while deputies investigate what appears to be an unexploded gr***de.
This is just a precautionary measure and there is no immediate threat to the surrounding area.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office bomb squad has been called to assist. Updates will be provided as we receive them.

Original post: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BTreC2pPQ/

12/06/2025

Last night's boys varsity basketball game in Fernandina Beach earned its "Battle of the Bridge" title.

The Hornets held on to take a 69-65 win over the Pirates back to Yulee.

Here are a few shots from last night's game. Photos by Ashley Chandler/News-Leader

for more coverage, get a copy of the Wednesday, Dec. 10 edition of the News-Leader.
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12/06/2025

Nassau County hosted its annual tree lighting event Friday evening at the Robert M. Foster Justice Center. The rainy weather forced the lighting to be pushed up to 6:30 instead of 7 p.m.

More coverage in next week's News-Leader
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12/05/2025

Happy Friday, Nassau County! Here is the front page and sports front of your Friday, Dec. 5 edition of the News-Leader.

In today's edition, to get you through the weekend: An update on paid parking; Nassau County makes first two CLAM purchases and weighs impact, mobility fee hike; Amelia Island Whale Ambassadors celebrate the first calf spotting of the 2025-'26 right whale calving season; Yulee High and Fernandina Beach High athletes sign letters of intent to play in college; and more.

12/03/2025

"She lived it well."

Today the News-Leader remembers a beloved community figure.

Dee Dee Bartels, a shrimp boat owner and Shrimp Fest founder who fought for the area’s waterways and — among other things — was a painter, author and radio correspondent, died Friday. She was 102.

Aloysia Jean Marie Theresa Bartels was born Aug. 11, 1923, in Victoria, British Columbia, though she grew up in Key West. She graduated from a Catholic boarding school shortly after World War II started. She later hosted a daily radio show for station WKIZ in Key West. Her son, Bill Agricola, recalled seeing her leave for Cuba, where she would interview revolutionaries who toppled Fulgencio Batista’s dictatorship in 1959.

“I can remember her leaving to go on that assignment,” Agricola said. “During the (Cuban Revolution), she interviewed a bunch of revolutionaries.”

She was also a good friend of Ernest Hemingway’s second wife, Pauline Hemingway.
“It was a different world and it goes back a long ways,” Agricola said. “She had a lot of time on this Earth, and I think she lived it well.”

Read the full story from the News-Leader's Nick Blank (subscribers only) at https://www.fbnewsleader.com/local-newsletter/she-lived-it-well-beloved-community-figure-bartels-has-died-102

These photos were taken of Dee Dee in her apartment in Fernandina Beach earlier this year. Photos by Ashley Chandler/News-Leader

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12/03/2025

Good morning, Nassau! Here is the front page of each section of your Dec. 3 edition of the News-Leader.

Also included in today's edition: A Giving Guide featuring some of Nassau County's nonprofits, to help you make an impact this holiday season.

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11/28/2025

Fernandina Beach Mayor James Antun leads the countdown in the lighting of the Christmas tree Friday evening at the Downtown Harbor Marina.

Happy Holidays!

For coverage of the event, pick up a copy of the News-Leader next Wednesday, Dec. 3.

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11/28/2025

Last month, Fernandina Beach-native inline hockey player Jaeys Matz added more international hardware to her collection and a couple prestigious honors to her athletic resume.

Matz competed with the Junior (under 18) and Women’s U.S. Inline Hockey national development program teams at the PanAmerican Championships hosted in October in Mexico. Matz captained the junior squad, leading the team to a gold medal. Her first stint on the U.S. women’s squad earned her a bronze medal and experience that, she said, helped her lead the junior squad to victory.

The junior team’s gold-medal run in the tournament is a definite highlight in Matz’s inline hockey career thus far. Not only did she captain the squad, she scored five goals in the semifinal and three goals in the championship game, and was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament.

“When they put the gold medal around my neck and called my name up for the MVP award, the whole moment felt otherworldly,” Matz said.

READ ON (subscribers only): https://www.fbnewsleader.com/sports-newsletter/most-valuable-player-fernandina-beach-native-takes-mvp-panamerican-gold-junior-us

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11/27/2025

🗞 REMINDER: There will be no new edition of the News-Leader tomorrow (Friday, Nov. 28) due to the holiday schedule. The extra large Wednesday, Nov. 26 edition of the News-Leader includes tons of local content to get you through the weekend.

The News-Leader office is closed today and tomorrow for the holiday and will reopen Monday, Dec. 1.
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🗞 To subscribe and never miss an edition, visit fbnewsleader.com or call 904-261-3696.

11/27/2025

Happy Thanksgiving, Nassau County! 🦃

Enjoy these photos from last Thursday's Thanksgiving luncheon hosted by Nassau County Council on Aging.

The event, 'Giving Seniors Hope,' was held for local seniors facing food insecurity. The food was served by over 30 “celebrity guests” from the local government, law enforcement, various businesses, churches and other local groups. More than 100 seniors gathered at the Janice Ancrum Senior Life Center to enjoy all of the Thanksgiving classics.

In addition to the meal, the luncheon raised $226,250 to combat food insecurity for seniors in Nassau County. Also, an additional 189 meals were delivered to seniors at home through NCCOA’s Meals on Wheels program.

Read the full story (subscribers only): https://www.fbnewsleader.com/local-newsletter/giving-seniors-hope

Photos and story by Marisa DeMar/News-Leader
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🗞 To subscribe and never miss an edition, visit fbnewsleader.com or call 904-261-3696.

11/26/2025

Gracie’s Kitchen in Yulee is providing nearly 600 meals today to families dealing with food insecurity. The Thanksgiving meal will be delivered through a drive-up service. Volunteers spent the week preparing.

Maryellen Crocker, director, spoke to the News-Leader on the “invisible” issue of food insecurity on Nassau County’s eastern side.

“It is invisible, because Fernandina is so affluent and so beautiful, it's where everyone wants to retire to, and there is this whole underworld of people out here that are living really under the edge,” Crocker said.

The community has rallied around the initiative. Groceries will be given out in bags designed by children from the Fernandina Beach Christian School, as well as the Boys and Girls Club. Community members and local nonprofits also aided in collecting items for Gracie’s Kitchen.

“We try to make it personal and special, because a lot of people when they think of a Thanksgiving dinner think of the whole family sitting around the table. And a lot of our people are sitting in their cars eating their Thanksgiving dinner, or sitting on our picnic tables or in tents,” Crocker said. “So, it might be a different look for these guys than the traditional family.”

Read the full story (subscribers only): https://www.fbnewsleader.com/local-newsletter/amazing-gracie

Story and photos by Marisa DeMar/News-Leader

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