The City of Jacksonville Beach denied any liability in connection with an injury sustained by a swimmer who was struck by a surfboard allegedly being used in a restricted area.
The plaintiff, Roland Davis, sued the city and surfer Dean Cowan for $10,000 in damages as the result of the July 30, 1964, accident.
The suit was filed in the admiralty division of the U.S. District Court. It was contended the collision occurred in the navigable waters of the United States, which would give the federal court jurisdiction in the case.
In its answer to the suit, the city denied the allegations in the complaint, including the one charging the surfboard was being operated in a posted area where surfing was prohibited by regulation.
In another defense of the suit, the city charged Davis with contributory negligence in that he knew surfers were operating in the area where he was swimming, but did not take any precautions to avoid being struck by the board.
No date was set for a hearing of the case.
• James Bryan lost the first round in his battle to keep his Candy Cane and Forest Inn nightclubs open beyond 2 a.m.
Circuit Judge Marion Gooding denied Bryan’s plea for a temporary injunction restraining the state Beverage Department from enforcing against his establishments the Duval County “bottle-club law” enacted by the 1965 Legislature.
The law applied to any business in Duval County commonly referred to as a bottle club and “whose primary purpose of existence and operation is the mere establishment and operation of a drinking location.”
The law required such clubs to obtain a $750 license from the state and to close at 2 a.m., subject to the same rules as other licensees with consumption of alcoholic beverages on the premises.
Bryan’s attorney, Arthur Boone, said the clubs were operated primarily as restaurants. The law exempted restaurants that obtained the majority of their income from sale of food.
However, Vice Squad Sgt. James Pfeiffer said in court more than 75 percent of the consuming being done at Bryan’s clubs was of alcoholic beverages, not food.
He also said the sheriff’s office received numerous complaints from patrons alleging their bills had been padded, they had been robbed or had received “knockout drops” at the clubs.
The denial didn’t mean Bryan’s fight was over. A date was to be set later on his additional pleas for a declaratory decree exempting his clubs from the law or declaring the law unconstitutional.
• A man walked into a pharmacy brandishing a handgun and said, “Let me have it.”
When pharmacist Wendell McIntosh hesitated instead of handing over the cash in the register at Fair Trade Drugs at 809 Kings Road, the bandit smashed his pistol against the side of McIntosh’s head.
“Let me have it,” the robber repeated.
McIntosh again made no move toward the cash register, but a clerk, Edward Thurston, who was sitting out of sight behind the counter, rose suddenly and let the gunman have it –– with a .38 caliber pistol.
The would-be armed robber fell to the floor with a shoulder wound.
Robert Dunbar, 33, of 735 Lafayette St., was treated at Duval Medical Center before being charged in the attempted robbery. The gun Dunbar used in the alleged crime was a broken cap pistol.
• School officials were faced with the possibility of getting out picks and shovels to dig a ditch.
At least that’s the way it sounded after the County Commission received a letter from school officials requesting the commission to have a ditch near the new Fort Caroline Junior High School dug two feet deeper.
“It’s their problem,” said County Commissioner Bob Harris. “And they are trying to put it off on us.”
Referring to the site of the school, Harris said, “The thing was floating when we went out and looked at it.”
At the suggestion of the school board, during construction, the county dug a ditch in the vicinity of Outina Drive and bordering the school property. It was reported in the letter to the commission that recent rains had flooded the area and better drainage was needed.
• After eight weeks at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass., John Canarina said he was “eagerly looking forward to my fourth season conducting the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra.”
He and three other conductors attended the summer music center of the Boston Symphony Orchestra on fellowships.
While at Tanglewood, Canarina studied with guest conductors Leopold Stokowski and Seiji Ozawa. Aaron Copland was chairman of the faculty.
• A woman’s thirst for moonshine led to a charge of contributing to the delinquency of her 9-year-old nephew. Police said he picked up the illegal liquor as an errand boy.
Ora Mae Sease, 43, of 1530 Mount Herman St., was bound over to Criminal Court after a preliminary hearing before Juvenile Court Judge Lamar Winegeart Jr.
Lucia White, 45, of 1540 Johnson St., also was bound over. She originally was charged with contributing to the boy’s delinquency by selling him the half-pint of moonshine for 75 cents.
However, the boy said in court that a man sold him the moonshine. The charge against White was changed to contributing to the boy’s delinquency by allowing him to be in a place detrimental to his welfare and morals.
• Del Lewis was first across the finish line in the inaugural 5-mile Jacksonville Beach race with a time of 26 minutes and 42.9 seconds.
Fifty-five young men from Jacksonville area schools set off on the course from Ramp 3 at Seminole Beach to the bandstand at Jacksonville Beach, preceded by a civil defense car, two police officers on motorcycles, several police cars and one very large police dog.
Bathers, children on bicycles and surfers watched the progress along the strand. Homeowners along the ocean applauded as the runners passed.
Lewis and John Sutton set an early fast pace and soon were about a mile ahead of the other 53 participants.
Sutton finished in 27 minutes and 16.5 seconds. Third place went to Raymond Walker, who gained ground on the leaders at the end of the race and finished with a time of 27 minutes and 56 seconds.
• A young couple from Natchez, Miss., crashed in a small airplane in the front yard of a home along Terrell Road, but were not seriously injured.
Claude Pressgrove, 29, told investigators he ran out of fuel and was trying to land the plane on Terrell Road, near Lem Turner Road, when the single-engine Beechcraft struck a power line above the highway.
Pressgrove and his wife, Patricia, were taken to St. Luke’s Hospital for treatment. She suffered a minor back injury and the pilot sustained lacerations on his hands, arms and face.
“This is the first plane to land on my new airport,” said Molly Sallis, in whose yard the plane crashed. The home was on land that was to be used for construction of Jacksonville International Airport.
Sallis said she and her family were inside the home when they heard the crash and the lights went out. The aircraft came to rest on the driveway about 50 feet from the front door.