Jacksonville | featured news

A new angle on the fantasy football boom is being generated in Jacksonville that looks to capitalize on a gap in the college game — though the odds of success are not overwhelming.
The website pigskinfantasyu.com is geared for fantasy fans who want to focus on Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-A) teams only in the NCAA.
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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.

First Coast No More Homeless Pets has received a $25,000 grant to pay for a free spay and neuter program that begins Monday.
The grant from Florida Animal Friend Inc. of Tampa will fund the surgeries of about 500 dogs that are or are expected to weigh 40 pounds or more, according to No More Homeless Pets, which runs a low-cost animal clinic in Jacksonville.
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Florida saw yet another record increase in tourism figures for the first half of the year that was mirrored on the local First Coast front of visitation.
Gov. Rick Scott Friday announced there were 57.4 million visitors who came to the Sunshine State in the first six months of this year. It’s an all-time record for visitation and is a 4.3 percent increase over the same time a year ago.
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Florida Department of Health in Duval County has issued a rabies alert for the Mayport/Atlantic Beach area in effect through Oct. 8.
It's due to a rabid raccoon that exposed a domestic animal. Pet owners should keep close attention to their animals and make sure their vaccinations are up to date.
The alert area is bordered on the south by Atlantic Boulevard at Mayport Road, on the north by Wonderwood Drive at Florida A1A, on the west by Shipwatch Drive East at Fiddlers Point Drive, and east by Beach Avenue at 18th Street.

This week’s Pod Rods looks at some new supercars, both gas and electric; checks in with Leno’s projects; goes really fast; and checks out a Chip Foose classic.
And don’t forget our car events calendar that includes a gathering of really interesting
 
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There will be fewer Ruby Tuesday’s restaurants in the world in about a month.
Officials with the restaurant chain based in Tennessee announced in a news release Thursday that it will close 95 of its 724 locations across the country by September.
There are four Ruby Tuesday’s locations in Jacksonville. But officials with the company said they’ll announce which exact locations will be closing later.
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Celebrate the 100th anniversary of Jacksonville’s Norman Studios with a rare screening of “The Flying Ace,” a 90-year-old silent film shot there, at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 25, at the preserved National Historic Landmark studio complex at 6337 Arlington Road.
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The Slingshots are coming.
Then they are going on a 110-mile tour of Northeast Florida, before some of the odd-looking three-wheelers take a 2,449-mile drive to California’s Santa Monica Pier, and drive back home again.
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An open house to present information on the upcoming Beach and University boulevards intersection improvement project will be held from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 24, at the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge at 5530 Beach Blvd. according to the Florida Department of Transportation .
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