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In today’s Digest:
🏫 St. Johns Schools erased a $23 million deficit by cutting up to 130 instructional positions.
🌿 A $12 million private sale cost the county its top-ranked conservation target.
☘️ The Celtic festival and St. Patrick parade are ending after 15 years.
📋 A school custodian's ICE detention exposed a gap in employer status notifications.
🧠 A county suicide-prevention summit runs today from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
🥭 Peruvian ceviche on Anastasia Boulevard
Just over the Bridge of Lions at 415 Anastasia Boulevard, Llama Restaurant serves modern Peruvian dishes from owner and chef Marcel Vizcarra, a native of Lima. Locally sourced seafood and produce anchor the menu.
Micro Greens of St. Augustine grows Peruvian produce for the kitchen, and the ceviche lineup includes classic corvina plus a vegan mango version. The dining room seats just 28, so make a reservation before heading over.
Read more here.
How to Start Your Own Pink Zebra Moving Business
Between UGA and the families steadily moving in, Athens households move all year long, and most of them need a mover. Most of that work still goes to companies nobody recommends twice, which is exactly the gap Pink Zebra Moving was built to fill, with hot-pink zebra-striped trucks and a customer experience people actually rave about.
It comes from UGA grad Ron Holt, who grew a single cleaning store into a $40 million, 90-location brand before selling it and pointing the same playbook at moving. Owners get comprehensive training, a recession-resistant service, and no moving experience is required because the model runs semi-absentee alongside what you already do.
The numbers show what is possible: franchisee Drue Chrisman’s location generated $2.5 million in revenue and $707,000 in net operating income in its first full calendar year, even after franchise expenses and new-truck purchases.* Across the network, franchise owners average $135,904 in net operating income.*
Athens gets only one owner, and whoever raises their hand first gets the territory.
If you have been quietly wanting something of your own with no ceiling on the upside, tap below to explore the model and request more information directly from the Pink Zebra team.
Thank you to our local sponsors who help make this publication possible!
🏫 $23M School Budget Gap Brings Deep Cuts
The Gist: St. Johns County Schools balanced its $1.5 billion budget after closing a $23 million deficit. Superintendent Brennan Asplen said the district cut $8 million and 20 positions from its central office, removed 150 portable classrooms and eliminated 120 to 130 instructional positions.
Why It Matters: Fewer instructional positions can mean larger classes, and the county's rapid growth still creates demand for new campuses.
What's Next: The district plans to build only one high school during the next three years, postponing another K-8 campus and two elementary schools.
Read more here.
🌿 County Loses Top Conservation Target in $12M Sale
The Gist: A private buyer paid $12 million on July 30 for 50 acres along the Matanzas River that ranked first on the county's 2025 conservation list. The county appraised the land at about $6.8 million and assembled roughly $7 million in grant funding, but the seller declined its offer.
Why It Matters: The tract contained what county staff called the last northern mile of marsh coast in southeastern St. Johns and could have connected to the Moses Creek Conservation Area.
What's Next: The county has paused new Land Acquisition and Management Program purchases while it reviews possible property-tax reform effects on the fiscal 2027 budget.
Read more here.
☘️ Celtic Festival and Parade End After 15 Years
The Gist: Romanza-St. Augustine will not hold the Celtic Music & Heritage Festival or St. Patrick's Day Parade in 2027. The volunteer group cited lost arts grants, declining local support, rising labor costs, work-visa trouble for international bands and an aging board.
Why It Matters: The events have filled Francis Field and downtown since 2011 while celebrating St. Augustine's claim to America's first recorded St. Patrick celebration in 1600.
What's Next: Romanza Festivale remains scheduled for May 2027, but the organization has not decided whether that event will continue afterward.
Read more here.
📋 ICE Detention Puts School Employee on Leave
The Gist: ICE detained St. Johns County Schools custodian Leonel Armando Bolivar Linares on August 5 while headed to work. ICE says he lacks authorization to remain in the country, while his legal counsel says a pending asylum case and valid work permit authorize his presence and employment.
Why It Matters: The district says it received no notice of a status change. Florida employers with more than 25 workers must use E-Verify for new hires, but state law does not explicitly require later status checks.
What's Next: Bolivar remains employed but on leave, and his first detention hearing is scheduled for August 26 at 1 p.m.
Read more here.
🧠 Countywide Suicide-Prevention Summit Meets Today
The Gist: Retired California Highway Patrol officer and author Kevin Briggs will keynote today's Zero Suicide St. Johns County Summit. LSF Health Systems CEO Christine Cauffield said local suicide rates have risen sharply during the past three years even as Florida and national rates fell.
Why It Matters: The summit brings health professionals, educators, advocates and residents together to improve training, care and safety practices across St. Johns County.
What's Next: The public event runs today from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Embassy Suites Oceanfront, 300 A1A Beach Boulevard in St. Augustine Beach.
Read more here.
Family Friendly
🏄 Florida Skimboarding Pro/Am Tournament 2026 | Vilano Beach | St. Augustine | Saturday and Sunday, August 15-16, sunrise to sunset | More
Watch pro and amateur riders compete in this free beachside tournament.
🎣 Genung's Fish Camp Vendor Expo | Genung's Fish Camp | Crescent Beach | Saturday, August 15, 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. | More
Browse fishing gear, enter raffles, and catch free live music.
🐚 GTM Research Reserve: Beach Exploration | GTM North Beach Access | Ponte Vedra Beach | Saturday, August 15, 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. | More
A GTM guide leads a free half-mile beach hike; advance registration is required.
🥁 Seminole War Commemoration | St. Augustine National Cemetery | St. Augustine | Saturday, August 15, 10:00 to 11:15 a.m. | More
Follow period reenactors to a free ceremony with cannon and musket volleys.
🚘 Cruisers Car Club Cruise-IN | Classic Car Museum of St. Augustine | St. Augustine | Saturday, August 15, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. | More
See classic cars, hear music, and enter drawings at this free meetup.
Adult Events
🛶 Hallowes Cove Kayak Trip | Riverfront Park Kayak Launch | St. Johns | Friday and Saturday, August 14-15, 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. | More
Paddle through cypress habitat at sunset with a county naturalist.
🎸 Human Clay: Ultimate Tribute to Creed | Cafe Eleven | St. Augustine Beach | Saturday, August 15, doors 7:00 p.m., show 8:00 p.m. | More
A touring Creed tribute recreates Higher, My Sacrifice, and One Last Breath.
🤠 Jordan Davis | St. Augustine Amphitheatre | St. Augustine | Sunday, August 16, doors 6:00 p.m., show 7:00 p.m. | More
Hear the country hits Buy Dirt and Next Thing You Know live.
🎤 Squeeze with Adam Ant and Haircut 100 | St. Augustine Amphitheatre | St. Augustine | Tuesday, August 18, doors 4:30 p.m., show 6:00 p.m. | More
Three generations of new wave share one bill under the stars.
🎨 Music and Art by the Sea: Feedback the Band | St. Johns County Ocean Pier | St. Augustine Beach | Wednesday, August 19, 3:00 to 9:00 p.m. | More
Browse local art, grab dinner, then dance to a free waterfront concert.
If you want to read any of our previous issues, check them out HERE on our website.
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