Jacksonville, Florida | featured news

The election bid and overwhelming defeat of State Attorney Angela Corey attracted the type of national attention that would’ve seemed out of place just a few years ago.

Wounded Warrior Project laid off 85 employees this week, including 32 at its home base of Jacksonville, as it sought to bring expenses in line with a more-than-20-percent plunge in donations.
The layoffs equated to about 15 percent of the non-profit’s nationwide workforce. While the overall number of employees is down, Wounded Warrior’s restructuring will be boosting staffing levels for certain programs such as mental-health services.

The election bid and overwhelming defeat of State Attorney Angela Corey attracted the type of national attention that would’ve seemed out of place just a few years ago. But in today’s world, voters who emphasize criminal justice reform have focused on the most powerful officials: local prosecutors.
Elections across the country have cast out controversial prosecutors and replaced them. The rhetoric has largely shifted from cries of lock ’em up and throw away the key to calls for fairness and transparency.

Hurricane Hermine blew past Jacksonville Friday trailing some blustery winds and periodic downpours but leaving behind only minimal damage.
The storm downed several trees and caused scattered power outages as white-capped waves pounded Avondale, Riverside and downtown seawalls. At noon, as Hermine plowed into Georgia and the Carolinas, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry lifted the city’s state of emergency.
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Jake Godbold can’t figure out exactly where his childhood home once stood, a few miles north of downtown Jacksonville. Those old rows of buildings in the Brentwood public housing project — a place back then for poor white families such as his — were razed long ago, replaced with modern subsidized houses and apartments.

Pod Rods is the weekly look at car stuff from around town and the world.
This weekend, we see Leno fly; check out a car-eating dinosaur; wish happy birthday to a classy Volvo; and check in on some Jacksonville events for EV owners, and those who like to drive.
We start with something new from Autoblog, called CarBoom!
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It could take until Thursday before voters learn the outcome of the 4th Judicial Circuit judgeship that was deemed too close to call on Election Night.
Secretary of State Ken Detzner ordered Thursday a machine recount for the race, which came down to a margin of less than one-half percent of ballots cast.
The unofficial tally had incumbent Mark Hulsey, who’s under investigation by a state judicial panel, prevailing over challenger and attorney Gerald Wilkerson by 760 votes.

11:20 A.M. UPDATE: A tornado warning is in effect until 11:45 a.m. for northwestern St. Johns County and doutheastern Clay County.
According to National Weather Service, a thunderstorm with rotation was spotted at 11:16 a.m. near Fruit Cove moving northeast at 45 mph. This storm could produce a tornado at any time. 
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St. Johns Fire Rescue dealt with a variety of storm related incidents during the day on Thursday but they say the most unique involved the assisted rescue of a deer found struggling in the Atlantic Ocean.
Fire Rescue say the deer entered the water near a SJCFR Marine Rescue lifeguard and began struggling in the water unable to return to shore. Concerned for the safety of the animal, lifeguards entered the water with a rescue board and helped steer the deer back to shore.

St. Johns Fire Rescue dealt with a variety of storm related incidents during the day on Thursday but they say the most unique involved the assisted rescue of a deer found struggling in the Atlantic Ocean.
Fire Rescue say the deer entered the water near a SJCFR Marine Rescue lifeguard and began struggling in the water unable to return to shore. Concerned for the safety of the animal, lifeguards entered the water with a rescue board and helped steer the deer back to shore.