A series of multimodal transportation improvements are causing serious traffic congestion in Atlantic Beach.
The $9.6 million Mayport Greenway project will create a 12-foot shared-use path on
Beach Gazette
Community events
What’s happening at the Beaches – week of June 25, 2026
Featured event
Atlantic Beach Centennial Celebration
Friday, July 11
10 a.m. to 2 p.
The story of a community is written in its history. Local newspapers capture the texture of a place, embroidering the record with intricate details of the people who call it home and color the stories with threads woven across generations.
In its inaugural issue, the Beach Gazette pays homage to the history of local news at the Beaches as a launchpad for the next phase of local news. The letter from the editor on the front page of the first edition of The Beaches Leader in 1963, republished below, still resonates in 2026.
All good things must come to an end.
It's easy to swallow when it's layered over something basic like a vacation or a really tasty meal. Greeting the end of something bigger and more meaningful feels like a boat adrift without an oar.
For generations, community newspapers have
Growing up in Jacksonville Beach, the Beaches Leader was always part of my family’s life and probably yours. If you lived at the Beaches for any stretch of time, there’s a good chance you have a clipping from the Leader folded between the pages of a photo album.
In the waning days of the final special session of the Florida Legislature, lawmakers approved moving a proposed change to Florida’s Homestead Exemption to the November ballot to let voters decide the issue.
Summer break has been anything but quiet at Fletcher High School.
When students return in the fall, they’ll walk onto a new artificial turf football field, look up at a 10-by-18-foot digital scoreboard, and settle into a school day that runs on an entirely new clock.
After leading Atlantic Beach on an interim basis for the last five months, Kevin Hogencamp will have the opportunity to put his own stamp on the job following his appointment as the permanent city manager.
The candidate qualifying period for the November 2026 election ended at noon on June 12. All three District seats in Jacksonville Beach remain unopposed, as in the previous cycle.
A short tenure at a local newspaper helped cultivate a lifelong commitment to community service. Following his graduation from the University of Florida, Gary Crumley returned to his parents’ home in Jacksonville Beach to await the results of his board exam as a registered landscape architect.
From its inception, the annual Deck the Chairs holiday event was established to support and encourage children’s imaginations through an integrated approach to the arts.
Now in its 14th year, founder and executive director Kurtis Loftus
