Jacksonville, Florida | featured news

A ceremony to commemorate the 48th anniversary of the Battle of Hue, one of the longest battles of the Vietnam War, will be held Sunday at Naval Station Mayport.
The ceremony will be hosted by the captain and crew of the USS HueCity, a Ticonderoga Class of Aegis guided-missile cruisers and the only ship named after a battle. The ship holds a memorial service each year to honor the U.S. Marines who fought in the battle, and memorialize those who died there.

TALLAHASSEE | Describing the misconduct as “essentially unprecedented,” the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that two attorneys should be permanently disbarred for their roles in setting up the drunken-driving arrest of an opposing lawyer during a high-profile case.
Justices unanimously supported the disbarment of Robert D. Adams and Adam Robert Filthaut, who were with the Tampa firm Adams & Diaco, P.A. in January 2013 when the bizarre series of events occurred.

While organizers of the Tech Coast Conference were thrilled that about 800 people attended the event Aug. 17 in Jacksonville, they’re assessing the real impact the conference had on the local technology industry beyond the numbers and say it’s basically planted a stake in the ground.
“We’ve got a long way to go,” JAX Chamber President Daniel Davis said of Jacksonville’s place in the technology industry. “… Technology is at the forefront of [most] industries.

Arthur Milam, whose leadership helped save what is now the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, died early Wednesday. He was 89.
“MOCA would not be in downtown Jacksonville if it weren’t for Arthur Milam,” said Alan Howard, a long-time friend and law partner. “MOCA probably wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for Arthur Milam.”
Milam was chairman of museum’s board when it sold its long-time home in the Koger Center in 1999 and began seeking a downtown location.

An increase in mosquito-borne disease activity in parts of Duval County forced the Florida Department of Health’s local office to issue a new advisory Thursday after a human case of West Nile illness was confirmed in the area.
The advisory was filed due to a concern that more residents will become ill, while the risk of further transmission to humans exists, according to the Health Department.
In addition the state announced 11 new travel-related cases of the Zika virus, including one in Jacksonville — its eighth case.

The fourth annual River Ruckus comes to the Riverside Arts Market from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at 715 Riverside Ave. under the Fuller Warren Bridge.
Planned in conjunction with the St. Johns Riverkeeper, the family festival celebrates the river with a flotilla of boats, a “casting clinic” for young or experienced fishermen, children’s arts and crafts, stand-up paddleboard lessons, free marine science education boat trips from the Jacksonville University Marine Science Research Institute, music and food.

“The Secret Life of Trees” is the topic of a special presentation at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 8, at the Amelia Island Museum of History at 233 S. Third St. in Fernandina Beach.
In partnership with the Amelia Tree Conservancy, biomedical engineer Munsell McPhillips will discus barrier islands like Amelia Island, how they “work” and why the live oaks that grow on them help make them resistant to hurricane damage.
Admission is a $50 donation, seating first-come/first-served.
For more information go to ameliamuseum.org.

A Saturday Safari of White Oak’s 12,000-acre nature preserve is set for 2 p.m. Sept. 10 at the conservation facilities at 581705 White Oak Road in Yulee.
The facility off U.S. 17 offers an in-depth tour to show families the work being done to preserve the endangered species that live there, including a new baby giraffe born there Aug. 1 to a young female also born the same date in 2012.
For more information about this and other White Oak events, call (904) 904-225-3396 or go to whiteoakwildlife.org.

Keisha Mosley wears a T-shirt featuring a drawing of a baby with angel wings.
“Still born. Still loved,” it reads.
Her son Noah was stillborn on March 19, 2014, 32 weeks into her pregnancy. The loss itself was crushing, but what followed — feeling isolated, wanting to somehow honor his existence but not sure how, other people not knowing what to say and deciding to not mention him at all — compounded her devastation.

Is the proposed half-cent sales tax for eliminating Jacksonville’s pension debt “the progressive solution” for moving Jacksonville forward?
Is the sales tax a “conservative plan for our conservative Jacksonville?”
The answer to those questions is yes and yes, according to Yes for Jacksonville, the political committee that uses the terms “progressive” and “conservative” in different campaign mailers about the plan.