Ponzi suspect Wayne McLeod: ‘I have decided that death was a better option’
Kenneth Wayne McLeod left his waterfront home in St. Johns County and steered his black Hummer into the rush hour traffic heading north toward San Jose Boulevard.
He had a 9 a.m. appointment in Jacksonville with some government lawyers, but texted them 10 minutes before he was due.
“I will not make it this morning,” he wrote. “I have decided that death was a better option. I am truly sorry for all the harm I caused.”
The big SUV would be found before noon in a Mandarin park. McLeod, a gregarious financial adviser accused of bilking clients out of $34 million, would be dead from a single gunshot.
Putnam teacher from St. Johns was decapitated, sheriff reveals
ST. AUGUSTINE — The details of how an elementary school teacher’s body was decapitated and dismembered have rattled even St. Johns County Sheriff David Shoar, a 30-year law enforcement veteran.
“This is probably one of the most heinous crimes that I have been involved in,” he said Friday.
Shoar announced new details about the death of 48-year-old Jan Dunn Keller, whose funeral will be today
Good News: Jacksonville boy wins laptop in Woody’s design contest
Dylan Owens likes pink pigs. So much so that he made one out of such recycled items as a bleach bottle, plastic juice jugs, toilet paper rolls for hands, soda cans for legs, a plastic fruit bowl for a face, water bottle caps, construction paper and plastic sauce containers.
The 8-year-old Jacksonville resident’s entry so pleased the judges that he took the top prize in the national creative design contested sponsored by Woody’s Bar-B-Q. As a result, he won a laptop computer.
“I think my pig is very cute,” Dylan said in a news release. “I got the idea when we went to Woody’s one day, and I really wanted to do it so I took a picture of the pig on the website.”
His mother, Donna Haas, helped, and it took two days, he said.
“It was so awesome making my own pig, and my mom thinks it’s cool and cute,” he said in the release.
Not only did he win the pig contest but his family has adopted Bartram Road on the Southside in honor of his grandfather, Donald J. Haas, and he helps clean it each month. Additionally, he’s an all-star baseball outfielder with the San Jose All Stars.
Here’s more good news:
- Augustus Bennett captivated audiences with a performance of a sonnet and monologue from Shakespeare to take first place in the English-Speaking Union’s Jacksonville Branch regional competition.
That won Bennett, a student at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, a trip to Lincoln Center in New York for the national competition where he was a semi-finalist among 58 competitors. He also got to attend an acting workshop at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
The school-based program is designed to help students develop speaking and critical thinking skills and an appreciation of literature as they explore Shakespeare’s works.
- Abaca Davine Dowling, a student at Stanton College Preparatory School, has been helping preserve Florida’s waterways. She chose this as her state program while serving as state president of Children of the American Revolution.
She focused on the St. Johns River and its tributaries and sold a preservation pin and bookmark that raised $5,000 for the St. Johns Riverkeeper, a news release said.0
During the year, the teen coordinated meetings and events with the Riverkeeper to acquaint Children of the American Revolution members with the St. Johns. The Riverkeeper helped the group with a guided river cleanup at North Shore Picnic Park, a guided boat trip along the Ortega River and a presentation at the Lightner Museum.
At the organization’s meetings throughout the state, the teen spoke about the St. Johns and the importance of preserving it, while encouraging other chapters to take on waterways in their areas.
- A team of employees from PBS&J’s Jacksonville office and JEA recently spent a week in El Adelanto, Guatemala, installing a water system. Employees joined other volunteers with Wisconsin Water for the World, an organization that provides resources for safe drinking water to people in needy communities, and Agua Para Salud, an in-country nonprofit dedicated to building water systems in Guatemala.
“Locals of El Adelanto face severe health and hygiene issues due to limited access to clean water,” Heather Cavanagh, a volunteer and an engineer with PBS&J, said in a news release.
The team used a nearby mountain spring as its water source. The completed project included a storage tank, collection basin and transmission piping to transport the water from its source to the new faucets. A disinfection mechanism and water meters also were installed.
The new system gives about 50 homes and more than 300 residents access to sanitized water. Recent rains and mudslides from Tropical Storm Agatha damaged nearby water systems, but the new installation in El Adelanto remains intact.
Other donors contributing to the project included Florida Water Environment Association, Florida Rotary Partners and Florida Section of American Water Works Association.
- Terri Taylor, a READ 180 teacher at Englewood High School, is one of four teachers nationwide to receive the 2010 Scholastic Outstanding Educator Award.
Have good news? Send items to goodnews@jacksonville.com or fax them to (904) 359-4478 or mail them to The Florida Times-Union, P.O. Box 1949, Jacksonville, FL 32231.
0 CommentsA day after bankruptcy, Sea Island Co. says employees will keep jobs
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Uncertainty has given way to guarded optimism the day after Sea Island Co. declared bankruptcy.
In its filing for Chapter 11 protection from its creditors in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Sea Island has agreed to sell its golf courses, hotels, spa, beach club and other resort properties for $197.5 million because it cannot repay the $482 million it owes.
Bill Jones III, the third generation head of the family-owned company, met with employees and club members Wednesday to explain what was done and how he expects things to play out.
Employees declined to reveal what was said, but spokesman Michael Geczi said prospective buyer Sea Island Acquisition LP will keep all employees in their current positions. Jones will continue as chairman and chief executive officer and David Bansmer will remain as president and chief operating officer. Sea Island Acquisition will also continue club memberships that are necessary to keep the golf clubs and resort properties viable, Geczi said.
If no other buyer outbids Sea Island Acquisition in an auction, the new company should emerge from bankruptcy in November, he said.
Geczi said there will likely be some news in coming days that will sound bad to the uninformed.
“Employees in a few days will receive a warn notice,’’ he said.
The federally required notices will inform the 1,400 employees that their jobs will be terminated in about 60 days, but they will be quickly rehired by the new owners, he said.
The new owners, who are principals in Oaktree Capital Management of Los Angeles and Avenue Capital Group of New York, are familiar with Sea Island’s traditions and reputation for service and want that to continue, Geczi said.
Some in the close-knit business community are hoping a bright future is on the horizon for the company.
“All the speculation about the bankruptcy added a lot of anxiety and uncertainty,” said Vicki Palonen, president of a firm that does the monogramming work for the company. “But now, that’s all behind us and I think everything will calm down.”
In a release announcing the bankruptcy, the company said all club members will be allowed to enjoy the same benefits and services at the respective golf and other clubs and receive full credit for membership deposits.
That could be good news for real estate agents. Houses on the market that had Sea Island memberships have been sitting unsold for more than a year because of doubts the memberships would be honored.
“The memberships will become valuable again and enhance the value of the property,’’ said Gene Hoaster, a St. Simons real estate agent.
It was an upgrade of the elegance that got the company in trouble as it built the Lodge at Sea Island on St. Simons and tore down and rebuilt the Cloister, its Beach Club and spa. It reduced the number of rooms and more than doubled rates.
For a time, the company was relying on its real estate sales to prop up its resort business, which was losing $80 million a year. When the real estate markets crashed, Sea Island couldn’t come anywhere near meeting its obligations and defaulted on loans approaching $300 million on Jan. 10, 2009.
Popular St. Simons Island barbecue joint rises from the ashes
ST. SIMONS ISLAND – A perfectly smoked pork butt or rack of ribs is a work of art. Nothing is closer to pitmaster Harrison Sapp’s heart except his family and friends.
“I’ll be doing barbecue forever. It’s a Zen thing for me,” Sapp said Wednesday.
Fire destroyed their landmark building in March, but Sapp and the close-knit crew of Southern Soul Barbeque kept putting the hog on the log, along with beef brisket and turkey, for a loyal legion of locals and tourists alike from a cook wagon at their original site and two other island locations.
A nationwide audience, however, soon will be getting a taste – figuratively for now – of Southern Soul. Sapp and his popular barbecue will be featured on separate cable network programs highlighting the best in barbecue.
Monday night, the barbecue will be featured on a segment of “Diners, Drive-ins & Dives” hosted by Guy Fieri on the Food Network. The episode, “Old Time Attitude,” celebrates longtime cooking traditions. Fieri will spotlight how Sapp is slow-smoking meat the old-fashioned way.
Fieri had filmed at the restaurant in February, about a month before the fire.
“Guy is a guy’s guy. The first thing he told me was he was a cook, and ‘just remember you’re hanging out with a cook,’ ” Sapp recalled while watching construction workers rebuilding the restaurant.
On Aug. 12, Sapp and his pit crew will be among four teams kicking off the second season of “BBQ Pitmasters,” a reality cooking competition, on TLC. Southern Soul competes against three other top barbecue teams in an escalating series of challenges, said Carley Lake, a TLC spokeswoman.
The episode’s winner will secure a berth in the finals to be aired later, where the top pitmaster will receive $100,000, which is the largest prize awarded in a barbecue competition, Lake said.
Harrison Sapp submitted his audition videotape to “BBQ Pitmasters” a week before Southern Soul burned to the ground.
They competed over three days in early July in Malibu, Calif.
“It was a very tough competition, but we all had a lot of fun,” Sapp said. He was joined by his wife, Kitty, the barbecue’s dining room manager, their 9-year-old son, Brent, and the rest of the restaurant team.
Because the show hasn’t aired, Sapp wasn’t allowed to reveal the contest’s outcome or other details.
Ruled accidental, the March 27 blaze destroyed the rustic concrete block and pine timber building that had stood for more than 50 years at Frederica and Demere roads. The fire broke out as Sapp and employees were preparing barbecue for an employee’s wedding, and as a lunchtime crowd filled the small dining room.
No one was injured. The building was gutted, but Sapp, his business partner, Griffin Bufkin, and employees saved the mobile smokers.
It broke more hearts than those of the owners.
Bill Girtman came from Pennsylvania in May to spend some time on his boat moored at a St. Simons Island marina.
“I didn’t even stop at the boat. I came right here because I wanted to get here before they closed and was just crushed. There was nothing but the smoky shell,” he said.
They were back serving up barbecue within days, though, when local restaurants let them use their kitchens.
Southern Soul is rising from the ashes of its original site. It should be done in about 90 days. Meanwhile, they’ve got a mobile barbecue wagon serving up their pulled pork, ribs, brisket, turkey and homemade side dishes under a newly built metal canopy at the site.
In addition, Southern Soul is operating at two other island locations.
“We should be open in the new building right around the Georgia-Florida weekend,” Sapp said.
There’s no chance, he said, that they’ll be “going Hollywood” as a result of the television exposure.
“I’m more about the fun and flavor of the barbecue,” Sapp said. “I found out that I love cooking barbecue. That’s what I should be doing and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Times-Union writer Terry Dickson contributed to this report.
teresa.stepzinski@jacksonville.com, (912) 264-0405
0 CommentsPennsylvania woman recalls terror of shark attack at Mickler’s Landing
As Kimberly Presser and her family made their way to Mickler’s Landing Monday for a little beach time, Presser’s 6-year-old son Alex expressed a fear of being attacked by a shark.
“I remember telling my son that sharks are out deep and there’s nothing to be scared of,” Presser, 37, told The Times-Union this morning.
Lessons learned.
A 4- to 5-foot shark took a chunk out of Presser’s left arm Monday as she was wading in chest-deep water on the beach in St. Johns County. She received 150 stitches and was released from the Mayo Clinic late this morning.
The attack is the third suspected shark bite on the First Coast since June.
Presser, a math teacher, said she and other family members came from Pennsylvania for her brother’s change of command ceremony tomorrow at Mayport Naval Station. She said she’s been to Mickler’s Landing in the past and loves to swim in the ocean.
Presser said she was in the water about 11 a.m. as her mother and a nephew passed her riding a wave on their boogie boards. She said she was facing a clear ocean when she saw the shark about five feet away.
“I saw the whole fish,” she said. “It wiggled its tail and charged at me.”
Presser raised her left arm in the water to protect her body and the shark took a quick bite that stretched from her elbow to her forearm. She said she turned and saw blood coming from her arm.
“I stared screaming, ‘Shark! Get out of the water!’ ” she said.
Presser’s mother, Norma Collins, said she was startled by her daughter’s screams.
“I heard the words, ‘Shark! Shark!’ I was like, that can’t be,” said Collins, 64, also visiting from Pennsylvania. “Then I saw this arm with this huge bite out of it and I said, ‘Help her. Somebody help her.”
A lifeguard helped clean and bandage the wound before rescue arrived and took her to the hospital, where Presser underwent surgery to clean and close the wound. She said the bite didn’t do any major damage and she expects a full recovery, though she remains somewhat traumatized.
“I picture that shark everytime I close my eyes,” she said.
Presser said she’s not sure if she’ll return to the beach again this week, though she doesn’t plan to give up on the ocean. Her mother, however, said she might not be so eager to ride her boogie board in the near future.
“I’ll do a little more walking and shell picking,” Collins said.
0 CommentsObama urges small business tax breaks
By Rebecca L. McClay, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — President Obama called Saturday for support for his proposal to extend unemployment insurance and cut taxes on small-business owners.
In his weekly address, the president criticized Republican efforts to defeat the proposals as stalling tactics and obstruction.
Obamas enjoy ice cream on family vacation
The first family stops at “Mt. Desert” for ice cream during their summer holiday in Maine.
He said Republicans have “no problem spending money on tax breaks for folks at the top who don’t need them and didn’t even ask for them; but they object to helping folks laid off in this recession who really do need help.”
In the Republican address, Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts criticized Obama’s recent appointment of Dr. Donald Berwick as the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as done “behind closed doors.”
Roberts said the position, known as the health-care czar, should have been filled not though a recess appointment, which bypasses Senate confirmation requirements, but by a public hearing, debate and vote.
“Americans will not know how much saving a life is worth until Dr. Berwick is calling the shots,” Roberts said. “There should be a public forum where he must address who should make medical decisions — your doctor, the patient, the family, or the government. We urge the president … to at least hold a public hearing now.”
Rebecca L. McClay is a MarketWatch reporter based in San Francisco.
Lenses look like hubcaps but provide comfort and improved vision
Matt Spears’ vision problems had reached the point that the he was legally blind and ready to start learning Braille.
The 32-year-old had 20/400 vision; he couldn’t read, couldn’t watch television, couldn’t drive a car, couldn’t see the expression on his wife’s face.
A condition called keratoconus had distorted the cornea of his eye to the point that what he saw was “like looking at a kaleidoscope after swimming underwater for 12 hours,” he said.
Surgery stabilized his condition but couldn’t reverse the steepening and thinning of his corneas. Conventional contact lenses didn’t help either.
The soft lenses simply conform to misshapen cornea. But a hard corneal lens tends to rub against and irritate the steepened cornea.
It can feel “like you have a rock in your eye,” said Greg Brown, a 45-year-old service director for an automobile dealership who also had keratoconus.
Eventually, each of them ended up in the offices of Brian Armitage, a 53-year-old doctor of optometry who spent 16 years as director of clinical research for Vistakon, the division of Johnson & Johnson that makes Acuvue contact lenses.
He left Vistakon in 2004 to go into private practice.
While Armitage is not the only person in Jacksonville who uses a relatively new type of lens called a scleral contact lens, he has developed something of a speciality using the lenses to treat conditions like keratoconus that can’t be fixed surgically and can’t be effectively treated with conventional lenses.
He fitted Spears and Brown each with scleral lenses. The hard, oversize lenses fit over the entire eye, the edges of the lens fitting over the sclera, the white part of the eye, than over the cornea.
At first glance, a scleral lens “looks like a hubcap,” Brown said. The first time Armitage showed one of the lenses to Jorge Pinzon, Pinzon’s reaction was, “I don’t want to stick those huge things in my eye. That’s not going to fit anybody.”
But the conventional hard lenses Pinzon had been wearing to correct his vision problems caused by astigmatism and myopia caused so much irritation to his corneas that he’d become extremely sensitive to light. Even when he wore dark glasses, bright light still bothered him.
Fortunately, Pinzon said, while the scleral lenses look uncomfortable, they are easy to wear.
“You don’t even know they’re in there,” said Spears, whose vision improved from 20/400 to 20/30 with the new lenses.
For the first time in years, “I got to see my wife,” he said.
The fact that a scleral lens “vaults over the top” of the cornea and is filled with a liquid before being placed in the eye accounts for the comfort, said Armitage, who, over the last two years, has fitted about 24 people with the scleral lenses.
Armitage said he began wearing glasses at the age of 6 – he now wears contacts – and would see the family eye doctor every year.
“I liked that experience,” he remembered. “There were no needles.”
Armitage received a doctorate in optometry from Ohio State University’s College of Optometry, then earned a master of science degree in the school’s contact lens residency program.
A fascination with contact lens technology and a desire to live in Florida led him to go to work for Vistakon in 1988.
“I get amazed every day that I can put a little piece of plastic in my eye and it helps me see better,” he said.
But eventually he decided he wanted to begin doing practical applications of the technology he had been studying.
“The first time you do a 300-page submission to the FDA it’s exciting,” he said. “But after 16 years, I was getting a little bored with it.”
The scleral lenses have been around for about a decade but were not being widely used, he said.
The people he fits with scleral lenses, many of whom are referred to him by other eye care doctors, usually “aren’t going to get perfect vision,” he said.
But they are getting much better vision than they’ve had. That’s a good thing, most of the time, although it does have a downside, Spears joked: “My friends are uglier than I remembered.”
For more information about Armitage and his use of specialty contact lenses, go to www. BaymeadowsVision.com.
charlie.patton@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4413
0 CommentsSouthside kitchen catches fire Monday when stove accidentally left on
A Southside kitchen caught fire early Monday morning when someone accidentally turned the stove on, the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department said.
District Chief Andrew L. White said firefighters arrived at 7904 Jolliet Drive about 2:40 and had the fire contained within five minutes.
He added that it appeared that materials near the stove had caught fire when the appliance was left on.
Sue Newhall, 47, said everything was fine when she went to bed about 11:30 p.m.
She said the electric stove’s dials were on the front door, where it was very easy for someone to walk by and move a dial from the off position.
Newhall, her teenaged sons and their pets – three dogs and a cat – did not suffer any injuries.
The district chief said the fire “gutted” the kitchen, and Newhall said the wall between the living room and the kitchen was destroyed.
Newhall said she and her family will stay at her best friend’s for the night.
0 CommentsNewsWatch: U.S. stocks to test gains in debut earning week
By MarketWatch
MARKETWATCH FRONT PAGE
The U.S. stock market’s recent gains will be put to the test in the coming week as investors digest a torrent of major earnings and data, which may further mute hopes of economic recovery.
See full story.
2010 investment ideas that hit — and missed
The old market adage to ’sell in May and go away’ sure has a nice ring to it nowadays, with U.S. stocks posting double-digit losses since their late April peak.
See full story.
Stocks to watch Monday: Alcoa, Novellus
Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trading in Monday’s session as earning season kicks off are Alcoa Inc., CSX Corp. and Novellus Systems Inc.
See full story.
Anadarko best, Family Dollar worst stocks for week
Energy and financials stocks were among the top gainers in the S&P 500 Index this week, with retail stocks landing at both the top and bottom of the index.
See full story.
Obama promises help for combat veterans
President says he’ll make it easier to get treatment for post-traumatic stress disorders.
See full story.
MARKETWATCH COMMENTARY
It’s high time for Apple Inc. to try and fix its corporate culture of arrogance, writes Therese Poletti.
See full story.
MARKETWATCH PERSONAL FINANCE
Losing a job is a scary prospect for families during a recession, but there’s a less-noticed problem that also hurts workers: stagnating wages.
See full story.
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