CEDAR KEY NEWS, INC.
CEDAR KEY, FLORIDA

Jim Hoy, visionary, creator and longtime editor of the Cedar Key News.  Jean Rigg, everpresent advisor and Cedar Key News attorney. Inspired and guided by Jim Hoy, we began publishing the Cedar Key News in May of 2002, as an online newspaper.  Remarkably, our online visits have reached well into the thousands weekly and continue to remain high, evidence that our community and many people outside Levy County, and as far away as Canada, look to Cedar Key News for timely and important news.  In May of 2004, we added a biweekly print edition so that visitors and citizens who do not have ready access to online news could stay up-to-date on local events.  We then circulated 1,650 free copies of our print edition and distributed them from Cedar Key to Otter Creek and to all Levy County Libraries.  Because we are a non-profit organization, we donate our annual surplus to local charities.  One year, we were able to donate $1,000 to the Celebration of the Arts in Cedar Key. As of this January 2013, low revenues necessitated that we temporarily suspend our print edition; our last issue was January 3. Currently, we are using board members and volunteers to manage the website and uploads daily items to our online newspaper (www.cedarkeynews.com). We are seeking an employee to sell advertisements, initially online but with the ultimate goal of returning to the print edition coupled with our online edition.   Resumption of the print edition would require services of a print layout manager, as well as the cost of printing and distribution. The Cedar Key City Commission met on Tuesday, April 3, 2018, at 6 pm, at Cedar Key City Hall.   Present were: Mayor Heath Davis, Vice-Mayor Sue Colson, and Commissioners Royce Nelson and Dale Register. Commissioner Nickie Rucker was absent. Resident George Oakley requested permission to place a sign on public property advertising his wife Alice Oakley’s Bed and Breakfast. He asked that the sign be placed   at the southwest corner of State Road 24 and Third Street, across the street from The Market. Police Chief Virgil Sandlin read from the Laws of Cedar Key, citing a city ordinance which states that no private signs may be placed on public property. Oakley thanked the commissioners for listening to his request. Grant administrator Fred Fox explained to commissioners the process and requirements of obtaining future Community Development Block Grants. Vice-Mayor Sue Colson suggested that the commission continue its formerly agreed-upon action regarding the cemetery: to initially place a commissioner as director and eventually transition the director function to a staff member. Colson suggested the Police Department, specifically Police Chief Virgil Sandlin. Commissioners voted four-to-zer0 in favor of her suggestion.