Year in review: Top 10 topics of 2024

A Nassau County Bicentennial Challenge Coin and a Vision 2050 sticker. Photo by Ashley Chandler/News-Leader

Opposition to a proposed bioethanol plant at the RYAM campus in Fernandina Beach quickly organized into No Ethanol Fernandina, a grass roots organization fighting to keep the facility from being built. Photo by Julia Roberts/News-Leader

The November general election was heated, with homegrown candidates upset by relative newcomers to the city as Bradley Bean and David Sturges lost their seats to Joyce Tuten and Genece Minshew. Photo by Julia Roberts/News-Leader

Members of the Nassau County Fire Rescue pose for a photo at the groundbreaking of Station 10 earlier this year. Photo by Ashley Chandler/News-Leader

Nassau County School District attorney Brett Steger, right, presided over the May 20 textbook objection hearing along with hearing officer Sharyl Wood. Submitted

Nassau Schools earn top grade in state in 2024. Submitted

While the Ocean Highway and Port Authority is moving forward with a sale of a parcel of property near the Port of Fernandina, thanks to the efforts of community members who attended a meeting near the port, deed restrictions were placed on the sale. Photo by Julia Roberts/News-Leader

Voters and candidates were out for last-minute campaign efforts on election day. Photo by Julia Roberts/News-Leader

Expansion in the county was seen heavily in Wildlight with the new Commerce Park. Submitted

Jacksonville Transportation Authority buses travel down State Road 200 in October. JTA took over as the Nassau County Community Transit Coordinator (CTC) this year. Photo by Ashley Chandler/News-Leader

Fireworks explode behind the Robert M. Foster Justice Center as the Christmas tree is lit earlier this month at Nassau County’s annual Tree Lighting. The event was “bigger and better” in celebration of the bicentennial. Photo by Ashley Chandler/News-Leader

Fernandina Beach celebrated its first Olympian as local skateboarder Poe Pinson competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Submitted

Emergency Management Director Tim Cooper shows radar images to the Nassau County Board of County Commissioners on Oct. 7 after the county declared a State of Emergency ahead of Hurricane Milton’s landfall. Photo by Ashley Chandler/News-Leader