St Augustine area non-profit, KEEPERS OF THE COAST, will be hosting "Clean Up Your Beach in Jax Beach" from 3:30pm-5:30pm. Participants can stop by the Keepers of the Coast booth located on the boardwalk in front of the Jax Beach Pier to pick up all the materials to clean up the beach. 

The St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park congratulates Ms. Kylie Rodgers from Liberty Pines Academy for her outstanding entry into the 3rd Annual Edu-Gator Contest! The prize, a young American Alligator, will be awarded to Kylie’s classroom on Wednesday, January 26th at 11:30 a.m. Katie Girvin, Curator of Education at the Alligator Farm, will make the presentation.

Kylie won the alligator for her classroom in an county-wide contest in which each fourth grade student was asked to submit an individual project answering the question “Why are American Alligators important?”  Kylie created a short film and submitted it to the contest, where it was named first-place winner. Kylie and the rest of Ms. Southworth’s fourth grade class at Liberty Pines Academy will enjoy the American alligator, an unusual class pet, for the remainder of the school year. 

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is currently monitoring a Virulent Exotic Newcastle Disease diagnosis which occurred in Cormorants in Pinellas County last week.  Exotic Newcastle Disease is an extremely contagious and fatal foreign avian disease that affects most bird species but is not life threatening to humans.  Human contact with Exotic Newcastle Disease may cause minor irritations such as pink eye or skin irritations.