Jacksonville, Florida | featured news

Attorneys preparing for U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown’s fraud trial asked a federal judge Friday to move the case to a firm date in February.
They’re apparently expecting a crowd from out of town, and want to get ready.
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Mayport Naval Station is set to be the eventual homeport for 12 deployable littoral combat ships despite a recent review of the fleet and various operational changes announced Thursday by the Navy.
The Navy is set to implement immediate short-term changes after the review that covered several factors including training, maintenance, crewing and the ships’ abilities to perform in combat.
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After an upbeat start to the 2016 season under new ownership for the Jacksonville Suns, the Double-A baseball franchise saw attendance slow a bit by the end of the season.
Average game day attendance after 63 home contests after the season concluded Monday came in at 4,197, fourth in the 10-team Southern League. The Suns average game crowd increased slightly over the 2015 figure of 4,128, also fourth in the league.
“Overall, it was great to get through it,” Suns General Manager Harold Craw said with a laugh.

The first year of new ownership for the Jacksonville Suns comes amid the second year of an agreement to share the field at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville with the city’s professional soccer team, and the partnership is growing tighter.
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Nitrogen levels that feed algae in the St. Johns River are falling, but salinity that has already killed some trees is increasing along with chemical discharges reaching Jacksonville waterways, says a report scientists released Friday.
The mixed findings are part of the ninth yearly State of the River Report on the St. Johns lower basin compiled by researchers at the University of North Florida, Jacksonville University, Valdosta State University and Florida Southern College in Lakeland.

More nighttime ramp closures and detours are scheduled Monday through Thursday to update lighting on the ramps on Butler and Southside boulevards, according to the Florida Department of Transportation.
Motorists going east on Butler to the northbound Southside Boulevard exit from 11 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. Monday through Tuesday will instead detour at the Gate Parkway exit, U-turn underneath and get back on westbound Butler to turn off on northbound Southside Boulevard.

Norm Nelson has come in third and even second in the grueling Cannonball Motorcycle Endurance Run across America, both times on 1920’s-vintage BMW motorcycles.
But as the St. Augustine man saddles up at 8:45 a.m. Saturday in Atlantic City, N.J. for his third Cannonball, he is hoping his newest - and oldest iron steed - will bring him in to Carlsbad, Calif. on Sept. 25 in first place.
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This weekend’s Pod Rods say hello to a new Jaguar race car and Lexus concept, farewell to an iconic street version of a rally car, pairs an autonomous truck with a drone, and just goes round and round.
Plus there’s a lot of car events coming, all in Pod Rods:
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Owners of a local craft brewery cleared a crucial step necessary to open shop in Springfield on Thursday despite efforts to delay the project by City Councilman Reginald Gaffney, who says his constituents are concerned about the business’ plans to move close to several churches and a school.
The city’s Planning Commission unanimously approved a request by the owners of Main and Six Brewing to brew and sell craft beer in a vacant building on North Main Street.

Hundreds of St. Johns County students, some walking close to their parents, others in large groups of friends, flooded the gymnasium of Pedro Menendez High School for College and Career Night on Wednesday with one very serious goal: finding “the one.”
The one college, career, trade or military opportunity that would open doors for the moment high school transitions into adulthood. For juniors and seniors, that one choice is nearing an imperative deadline.