Lazaro Aleman ECB Publishing, Inc. County Manager Shannon Metty tendered her resignation to the Jefferson County Commission on Thursday evening, Feb. 5, effective June 12 in order to allow time for an…
Category: Front Page
County manager again under the gun
Lazaro Aleman ECB Publishing, Inc. County Manager Shannon Metty once again finds herself in the crosshairs of critics, her contract at stake. Listed on the agenda for the coming Jefferson County Board…
Monticello gets a new City Clerk
Lazaro Aleman ECB Publishing, Inc. Monticello has a new city clerk-treasurer. He is Roosevelt Brooks, a certified public accountant and internal auditor with multiple years of experience, according to his resume. The…
Charter review committee readies to submit recommendations to city council
Lazaro Aleman ECB Publishing, Inc. After nine months of discussions and a deep dive into the city charter, the five-member Monticello Charter Review Committee is ready to present its product to the…
Florida bans purchases of junk food by SNAP recipients
Lazaro Aleman ECB Publishing, Inc. Beginning in April of this year, Florida will no longer allow subscribers of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to use their electronic benefit transfer cards to…
Alicia Marie Kelly arrested after fraud complaint
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Contributor On Oct. 28, 2025, a local Monticello tax accounting business owner came to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) reporting that an employee, Alicia Marie Kelly, was…
Investigation continues into recent dog shooting
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Contributor On Jan. 12, 2026, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Deputies responded to a residence in Lloyd in reference to a dog which had been shot. The dog had…
Bucket truck rear-ends pickup on I-10
Laura Young ECB Publishing, Inc. On Thursday, Jan. 29, at around 7 p.m. a bucket truck rear-ended a pick-up truck towing a trailer on a westbound section of Interstate 10 in Jefferson…
Florida hopes to make one of its laws a test case for U.S. Supreme Court
(Law in question allows death penalty for rapists of minors under 12) Lazaro Aleman ECB Publishing, Inc. Beginning with a House bill that passed and was signed into law by Governor Ron…
Senate passes Rural Renaissance Bill
Lazaro Aleman ECB Publishing, Inc. In a bipartisan vote on Wednesday, Jan. 14, the second day of the legislative session, the Florida Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill (SB) 250, titled Rural Communities,…
Dexter’s Law is now in effect
Lazaro Aleman ECB Publishing, Inc. One law that took effect on Thursday, Jan. 1, is called “Dexter’s Law,” although the actual designation is CS/HB 255 –Aggravated Animal Cruelty. The legislation has been…
New bill aims to legalize recreational marijuana
Lazaro Aleman ECB Publishing, Inc. A bill recently filed in the current Florida legislative session seeks to legalize recreational marijuana, even as Smart & Safe Florida continues its efforts to get an…
Governor announces major rate relief due to insurance and tort reforms
Lazaro Aleman ECB Publishing, Inc. Governor Ron DeSantis recently announced significant statewide insurance rate relief for Florida homeowners, saying that Citizens Property Insurance (CPI) policyholders statewide would see meaningful premium reductions beginning…
Commissioner expresses multiple concerns
Lazaro Aleman ECB Publishing, Inc. District 4 Commissioner Austin Hosford had a long list of items to discuss toward the end of the Jan. 15 meeting of the Jefferson County Board of…
Early morning crash kills two
Laura Young ECB Publishing, Inc. Part of U.S. Highway 90 near Abram Road in Jefferson County was closed during the wee hours of Friday, Jan. 23, as law enforcement and emergency personnel…
Fire Chief issues another burn ban
Updated Monday, Jan. 26 Laura Young ECB Publishing, Inc. On Thursday, Jan. 22, Jefferson County Fire Rescue Chief Derrick Burrus enacted a ban on all outdoor burning. The ban will remain in…
Bill aims to control artificial intelligence
Lazaro Aleman ECB Publishing, Inc. No sooner said than done. Promptly following on the heels of Governor Ron DeSantis’ call for legislation to curb Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data centers, Republican Senator…
2025 Year in review
Click here to revisit the Monticello News and Jefferson County Journal front page headlines from 2025!
Area agency cuts ties with senior center (Commission donates $30,000 to agency)
Lazaro Aleman ECB Publishing, Inc. As a recent letter from the head of the Area Agency on Aging for North Florida (AAANF) to the larger local community made clear, the former organization…
Plan revived for subdivision just west of city
Lazaro Aleman ECB Publishing, Inc. City officials are once again considering a development on the southwestern part of town that when first proposed as a Planned Unit Development (PUD) in 2007…