Jacksonville, Florida | featured news

Jacksonville City Council members learned Thursday that Mayor Lenny Curry’s proposed budget will take $4.6 million from a pool of money that’s required to be spent on downtown redevelopment, an initiative that’s seen intermittent progress in recent years but has failed to gain long-term momentum.
Council members must now decide whether to waive that requirement — and take money derived from taxes on downtown property that city law says must be spent toward economic development in the area — or uphold it, which would create a large hole in the budget.

Marian Kiler Hall was born in 1913.
She remembers President Calvin Coolidge and all his successors, World Wars I and II and the Great Depression. Throughout her long life — across four states, marrying and raising six children, working in jobs ranging from typist to civilian employee at a naval base after her husband left the family — she has stuck with one political party.
“I’ve always been a Republican,” she said.

Technology in Jacksonville will be at the center of a conference Wednesday that organizers say could be a pivotal event for the local industry.
Over 750 people have already registered for the Tech Coast Conference Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Prime Osborn Convention Center downtown. There are 18 speakers set to address the tech industry participants with over 40 industry companies with vendor booths and 14 sponsors are lined up to support the event that is designed to serve as a forum for technology-related issues on the First Coast.

A large housing development for Nassau County is getting closer to actualization as a general contractor was selected to build the complex that will include about 3,000 homes.
Development firm WG Pitts of Jacksonville will provide the master plan for the Three Rivers mixed-use development, a news release said Thursday. The complex is set to be built on about 1,600 acres of land just west of Interstate 95 in Yulee.

A barbecue sauce manufacturing plant that received about $590,000 in city support to buy and renovate a Commonwealth Avenue building has yet to show it created any jobs, but that isn’t stopping the family behind the business from opening a Jerome Brown BBQ restaurant at that location.
City officials say any jobs created by the restaurant would not count toward the job-creation requirements in a 2011 economic development agreement between the city and Cowealth, which is a business linked to City Council member Katrina Brown.

A 55-year-old Jacksonville man is a top prize winner in the $5,000,000 Monopoly Florida Edition scratch-off game, the Florida Lottery announced Thursday.
Beasley Chester King bought his $20 ticket from Tara Market at 3133 Spring Park Road in Jacksonville. He chose to receive his winnings as a one-time, lump-sum payment of $770,000, the Lottery said.
The new $20 scratch-off game launched on July 5 and features six top prizes of $5 million and 20 prizes of $1 million.

If you called the District 7 School Board race a battle of educators versus businesspeople, you’d would be far off the mark.
Four of the six candidates seeking the Southside and Mandarin-area seat are professional educators or longtime school workers and volunteers. On the other hand, the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce recently endorsed non-education candidate Greg Tison, who has 30 years’ business experience but little in-school time.

Gov. Rick Scott signed an executive order approving an investigation into complaints that the senior division chief for the State Attorney’s Office’s made false and malicious statements about Nassau County tax collector candidate Carlos Slay and attempted to harm the Republican’s election campaign.
Scott signed the order Aug. 2, appointing 7th Judicial Circuit State Attorney R.J. Larizza’s office to handle “the investigation, prosecution and all matters related to Stephen Siegel,” the chief for the Nassau branch of the 4th Circuit State Attorney’s Office.

The very first day of school in St. Johns County was a blur of color. Yellow buses crowding the roads. Neon book bags scattering the hallways. Classroom decor composed of glitter glue and Crayola markers.
But nothing shined brighter than the smiles of students and teachers alike as Superintendent Joe Joyner stepped into their classrooms to wish them a happy school year.
At Crookshank Elementary, the youngest children stared up at Joyner with wide, round eyes.
“One of the teachers said they thought I was the president,” Joyner said.

Erron Markese Coleman, 25, has pled not guilty to three charges, including murder in the second degree of David Rowe behind the Blind Rabbit in Riverside last year, according to Times-Union news partner First Coast News.
It's been a little over a year since 20-year-old Daniel Rowe was shot and killed during an armed robbery behind the Blind Rabbit on King Street. Police announced an arrest on July 26.
According to police, someone stole Rowe's wallet and shot him twice in the head while he was taking out the trash. Police said that two men were seen running from the area.