Jacksonville, Florida | featured news

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson is scheduled to be in Jacksonville Tuesday afternoon to discuss with two City Council members the situation at the troubled Eureka Garden apartment complex.
Nelson is to meet with Councilmen Garrett Dennis and Tommy Hazouri at 2 p.m. at Nelson’s district office.
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Massachusetts became the first state Aug. 1 to prohibit employers from asking prospective hires about their salary histories until after they make a job offer that includes compensation.
They can discuss it if applicants voluntarily disclose the information. The new rule is part of a bill which mandates that employers pay men and women equally for “substantially similar work.” The law also forbids companies from lowering the pay of any individual to make the mandate work.

A search team has recovered the voyage data recorder for the lost El Faro cargo ship that sank Oct. 1 killing all 33 crew members.
Investigators and family of the lost crew members are hopeful the data recorder, capable of recording data and audio on board, will provide answers to questions about the last hours aboard the ship, which sank between Jacksonville and Puerto Rico during a hurricane. Many of the crew members lived in Jacksonville.
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A 63-year-old Jacksonville man took home a top prize in the $500,000 Monopoly Florida Edition scratch-off game, the Florida Lottery announced Tuesday.
Eloy Martinez Fleitas bought the winning ticket at a Racetrac at 5109 University Blvd. W. in Jacksonville.
The new $5 scratch-off game launched on July 5 and includes 12 top prizes of $500,000.
 

U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown is expected to tell a federal magistrate Tuesday whether attorneys that have represented her for months will defend her throughout her approaching fraud trial.
U.S. Magistrate James R. Klindt told Brown last month that any changes in counsel needed to be made by the time of a 3 p.m. Tuesday hearing to have her team ready in time for the trial, now set for October.
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U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson is scheduled to be in Jacksonville Tuesday afternoon to discuss with two City Council members the situation at the troubled Eureka Garden apartment complex.
Nelson is to meet with Councilmen Garrett Dennis and Tommy Hazouri at 2 p.m. at Nelson’s district office.
read more

U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown is expected to tell a federal magistrate Tuesday whether attorneys that have represented her for months will defend her throughout her approaching fraud trial.
U.S. Magistrate James R. Klindt told Brown last month that any changes in counsel needed to be made by the time of a 3 p.m. Tuesday hearing to have her team ready in time for the trial, now set for October.
read more

Public Defender Matt Shirk sent a letter Monday to Times-Union Editor Frank Denton expressing his displeasure with a citizen member of the newpaper’s Editorial Board who took part in a July 28 interview with the incumbent who is running for re-election.
In the letter, Shirk asked the Times-Union to refrain from endorsing a candidate in the upcoming public defender race.
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Florida Gov. Rick Scott, St. Johns County leaders and other state officials promised education, cooperation and action in a roundtable meeting Monday to stop the spread of the mosquito-borne Zika virus in Florida.
The virus can cause a birth defect of the brain called microcephaly and other severe fetal brain defects, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s becoming a growing threat with 357 travel-related cases and another 17 non-travel-related in Florida as of Monday.

Jacksonville’s public employee unions give favorable reviews to Mayor Lenny Curry’s push for a half-cent sales tax and are open to working with the city on boosting the amounts employees pay toward their pensions.
But several union leaders voiced concerns about completely eliminating pensions as a retirement option for future hires, which is one of the alternatives that could get hashed out in collective bargaining talks.