St. Augustine local competing to study plastic pollution
Adam Morley is happy to talk about bioaccumulation – excited, even. If the build-up of toxic chemicals in organisms from plastic waste wasn’t an issue, he’d probably be even happier.
off-campus
Local law enforcement says recent meth bust underscores growing epidemic
By Cal Colgan| jcolgan@flagler.edu
Davis Shores is a neighborhood in St. Augustine’s city limits littered with the towering-two story complexes and mowed lawns of middle class suburbia. But on Feb.17, police found that some residents of this community right across the Bridge of Lions had materials to make what some say is the worst drug in the world.
Pizzalley’s employee self-publishes first novel
By Emily Hoover | ehoover@flagler.edu
Photos by Emily Hoover
More than a year after Victor Holtz lost his Lincolnville home in a fire, he is releasing his first novel, called “And the Violent Taketh by Force.”
Residents say city’s Lincolnville plan gives neighborhood much-needed makeover
By Cal Colgan | gargoyle@flagler.edu
The parking lot in front of M&M Market has been mostly bare for the past few months, save for the patrons of the Chill Grill restaurant next door. But before the St. Augustine Police Department and the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office helped to close down the corner store, many Lincolnville residents knew it as a hub for the community’s criminal activity.
Homelessness in St. Augustine
By Shinavia Gore | gargoyle@flagler.edu
Pictures by Shinavia Gore
Seamus, a homeless man in St. Augustine, said he sees himself as a free spirit.
Seamus, who is from Pennsylvania, has been homeless since he was 19 years old. “This year will be 24 years,” he said. “Too long.”
He said he originally became homeless because of his drug addiction to cocaine. “It screwed my life up,” he said.
Archeologist uncovers lost treasures from “Oldest City”
Written and Photographed by Phillip C. Sunkel IV gargoyle@flagler.edu For Carl Halbirt, finding hidden treasures isn’t only his passion, it’s his job. As the city archeologist of St. Augustine— the nation’s oldest permanent European city — Halbirt has a passion for finding the treasures which lie…
Guide carves niche out of telling 400 years of black history
By Cal Colgan | jcolgan@flagler.edu
Howard Lewis is frustrated that while the city of St. Augustine has started to recognize the importance of the civil rights movement in shaping the town’s history of race relations, most tour guides have left out 400 years of black influence in the nation’s “Oldest City.” He said they do not even acknowledge that Augustine of Hippo, the famous philosopher and theologian who is the town’s namesake, was an African.
“If you look up St. Augustine, you’ll see that he was born in Médéa, and the Internet will tell you that that is now Thagaste, Algeria,” Lewis said.
Locals recount train-hopping across America
By Cal Colgan | jcolgan@flagler.edu
Photos By Aaron Beasley
Rane Harrington’s favorite method of travel doesn’t involve shelling out gas money or cash for an expensive plane ticket. Instead, Harrington hops trains.
Harrington packs an extra set of clothes into a big bag, in case he gets covered with the filth from the dust of the box car or the airborne debris flying past the train. Popularized in the Great Depression by hundreds of hobos looking for out-of-state work, train-hopping still has a loyal following of people across the country.
Stripping the stereotypes: Local yogi divulges truth about the practice
By Caroline Young | gargoyle@flagler.edu
Photos by Evelyn Seiler
Photos contributed by Christopher Baxter
St. Augustine local Christopher Baxter turned to yoga in 1971 to take the pressure off his overwhelming college course load.
“I was really struggling to keep my head above water,” Baxter said.
Already drowning in academic classes, Baxter never actually attended a yoga class. He began with a home practice and taught himself from a book.
Forty years later, he said he has no idea what he would be without yoga now.
Wobbly Fest draws large crowds at White Lion
By Emily Hoover | ehoover@flagler.edu
Photographs by Phillip C. Sunkel IV
Fans of the St. Augustine sing-a-long band Wobbly Toms were not bothered by news of a CD release delay on Saturday, Jan. 15, the second day of Wobbly Fest at the White Lion Restaurant & Pub. Instead, they did not seem to notice. They were too busy dancing, singing, drinking and celebrating what the eight-piece band calls “feel good music.”