Have you ever wondered what stories made headlines in Jacksonville 50 years ago? It may have been a different era of history, culture and politics, but there are often parallels between the kind of stories that made then and today. As interesting as the similarities may be, so are the differences. These are some of the top stories from the week of May 4-10, 1959. The items were compiled from the Jacksonville Public Library’s periodical archives by Staff Writer Max Marbut.
• In the Democratic primary election, John E. Santora Jr. (described as “a young attorney”) won the Democratic nomination for the office of municipal judge, defeating former Mayor C. Frank Whitehead. “Political novices” John F. Lanahan and Brad Tredinnick won their City Council races as did incumbents Ralph N. Walter and Cecil F. Lowe. As of the date of the primary, no Republican candidates had qualified for the general election on June 26.
• Criminal Court Judge A. Lloyd Layton set a record when he sentenced a man to 20 six-month sentences to be served consecutively at hard labor at the county prison.
Veteran court watchers said the sentences, totaling 10 years, added up to the longest county prison term ever handed out by a judge in Jacksonville. There had been many longer sentences, but they were imposed on felons who served their time at Raiford.
Layton imposed the sentences on Granzie Lee Whigham of 761 Court A Blodgett Homes who had pleaded guilty to 19 charges of damaging coin-operated telephones in outdoor booths and one charge of vagrancy. He received the maximum sentence on each of the misdemeanor charges.
• Building permits covering property valued at $2,153,166 were issued by the City of Jacksonville during April. L. Hugh Mainey, acting supervisor of building, said the figure was a sharp increase over the $1,331,855 listed for March.
The largest category of permits issued in April were for non-residential buildings or facilities valued at $1,264,200. The majority was credited to an increased valuation of the eight-story Jacobs Building under construction on Church Street between Clay and Pearl streets. Mainey said the permit was revised to show and increase of $885,000 for a new value of $2 million.
There were 262 permits issued for additions, alterations and repairs to existing buildings and 27 permits for construction of new residential buildings.
• In other news from the beaches, an amendment to the Jacksonville Beach building code outlawed barbed wire fences in residential areas.
• Chairman of the Duval County Board of Public Instruction Raymond said a special meeting would be called in a week to discuss fire hazards and the possibility that some Duval County schools might not be allowed to reopen in September because of unsafe conditions.
His announcement came in the wake of a report by a Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools committee that Andrew Jackson High School would not be recommended for reaccreditation after June unless “crowded and hazardous” conditions were corrected immediately.
Jackson’s official capacity was 1,455 students but 2,000 were enrolled. The report listed improvements needed including repair of defective wiring, poor lighting, unsafe stairs, unsafe bleachers in the gymnasium, leaky roofs and general poor conditions throughout the building.
• Marvin Lester, operator of the Aragon Hotel, was elected president of the Jacksonville Hotel Association, succeeding William Pfeiffer, manager of the Seminole Hotel.
Other officers elected were Arthur Kloeppel, manager of the George Washington, first vice president; Engle Becraft, manager of the Roosevelt, second vice president; Eugene Brown, manager of the Jefferson, treasurer; Frank Winchell of the Tourist and Convention Bureau, secretary; and Doris Wilkes, also of the Tourist and Convention Bureau, recording secretary.
• The Budget Commission was asked to support a special bill which would take the Duval County sheriff off the fee system. Action on the request was deferred pending reaction of the County Commission and County Auditor E.P. Barwald.
A bill proposed earlier by the sheriff’s office was rejected by the Duval County legislative delegation. That bill would have made it mandatory for the Budget Commission to accept the budget submitted by the sheriff. Any alteration of the budget would have to be obtained by appeal by the Duval body to the State Budget Commission.
The amended bill placed the burden of appeal on the sheriff if he should desire to contest any ruling by the Duval commission. It also would eliminate the system under which the sheriff billed the County Commission for fees and would establish a budget system whereby the commission would pay the sheriff one-twelfth of his annual budget each month to operate his office.
Chief Administrative Deputy Sheriff William S. Whitehead said the amended proposal would eliminate a duplication in bookkeeping by both the county auditor and the sheriff.
• Robert H. Jacobs, a construction firm executive and art collector, was elected president of the Jacksonville Council of the Arts. He succeeded Cal Brumley, manager of the Jacksonville office of the Wall Street Journal.
• Harold Scofield of 2931 St. Johns Ave. sustained a scalp laceration when a storm sewer caved in beneath his automobile at the intersection of Bay Street and Myrtle Avenue. He was treated at St. Vincent’s Hospital and released.