Jacksonville | featured news

In Duval County there is a difference between a student’s “assigned” school and their chosen school.
Superintendent Nikolai Vitti hopes parents will know the difference come Monday when school starts. By then several hundred parents will have received letters form the district listing an assigned school for their student; often that will be different from schools parents have chosen.
Vitti said Friday that parents can ignore the letters and take their children to the schools they’ve selected; they’ll fill out some extra paperwork.

Early voting starts Monday and runs through Aug. 28 on a ballot that features a proposed half-cent sales tax along with a slate of races for local, state and federal elective offices.
Election day will be Aug. 30.
The proposed half-cent sales tax would help pay down the city’s massive pension debt. All Duval County registered voters can vote on the sales tax, regardless of party affiliation.
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At debates, candidate Melissa Nelson has said State Attorney Angela Corey should’ve met with 12-year-old Cristian Fernandez’s defense attorneys — including Nelson — to reach the eventual plea deal earlier. Corey said just months after Fernandez was charged with first-degree murder her office offered “an almost identical offer” to what was eventually agreed to.
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Not too long after Kimberly Daniels lost her re-election bid for the Jacksonville City Council last year, she decided to run for the Florida House.
She appeared in public with U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, becoming part of the posse that protected and defended the congresswoman as she faced federal charges. Daniels didn’t let it stand in her way that Brown had already endorsed someone else for the state House District 14 seat back in March 2015 when Daniels was still focused on the city race.

A bronze plaque dedicated to William Tatel of St. Augustine is on the wall of the famed Palermo Opera House in Sicily. It’s there because Tatel was tasked with reopening the facility while serving on the staff of Gen. George Patton during World War II.
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Early voting starts Monday and runs through Aug. 28 on a ballot that features a proposed half-cent sales tax along with a slate of races for local, state and federal elective offices.
Election day will be Aug. 30.
The proposed half-cent sales tax would help pay down the city’s massive pension debt. All Duval County registered voters can vote on the sales tax, regardless of party affiliation.
read more

At debates, candidate Melissa Nelson has said State Attorney Angela Corey should’ve met with 12-year-old Cristian Fernandez’s defense attorneys — including Nelson — to reach the eventual plea deal earlier. Corey said just months after Fernandez was charged with first-degree murder her office offered “an almost identical offer” to what was eventually agreed to.
read more

Not too long after Kimberly Daniels lost her re-election bid for the Jacksonville City Council last year, she decided to run for the Florida House.
She appeared in public with U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, becoming part of the posse that protected and defended the congresswoman as she faced federal charges. Daniels didn’t let it stand in her way that Brown had already endorsed someone else for the state House District 14 seat back in March 2015 when Daniels was still focused on the city race.

A bronze plaque dedicated to William Tatel of St. Augustine is on the wall of the famed Palermo Opera House in Sicily. It’s there because Tatel was tasked with reopening the facility while serving on the staff of Gen. George Patton during World War II.
read more

Two weeks into his job as executive director of the Police and Fire Pension Fund, Tim Johnson can already draw some comparisons between Jacksonville and Pittsburgh, the city he left.
Pittsburgh is defined by its three rivers along with neighborhoods that inspire strong loyalty from residents. Here he sees the St. Johns from the downtown apartment he’s selected for his residence. He sees neighborhood pride as well.
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