Jacksonville, Duval County | featured news

A construction company based in Tampa recently received a contract worth about $23 million to repair a 1,950-foot stretch of pier at Mayport Naval Station.
Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southeast awarded the contract Thursday to Orion Marine Construction Inc., and construction is expected to be complete by September 2017.
The section of the pier in need of repair is called Wharf Bravo and was built in 1970. It is at the western end of Mayport’s turning basin.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said it will hold a briefing at 1:30 p.m. Monday to discuss the arrest of an employee.
Police haven’t released the name of the employee, and if that person is a sworn officer of civilian staff member.
The briefing will be held at the Police Memorial Building on East Bay Street. The Times-Union and Jacksonville.com will have more on the arrest as it becomes available.

The railroad crossing on Prudential Drive at San Marco Boulevard will be closed for repairs from now through midnight Tuesday for repairs, according to Florida East Coast Railway.
Road closures will include the left lane of eastbound Prudential Drive, where the lane begins, and the left turn lane on northbound San Marco Boulevard, where the turn lane returns, according to the railroad.
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Fliers proclaiming “Take America back from the Jews” were thrown in the driveway of the Jewish Community Alliance at 8505 San Jose Blvd. and two other nearby Jacksonville synagogues Sunday morning, only a week before the celebration of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
The fliers, stuffed in plastic bags weighted with rice, claim to come from the Detroit-based Neo-Nazi group National Socialist Movement and urge people to “Join the NSM.”

Federal environmental officials will explain plans this week for a $69 million cleanup of Eastside Jacksonville land where huge amounts of dangerous chemicals were stored for most of a century.
The former Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp. property at 1611 Talleyrand Ave. was used to manufacture or ship pesticides, herbicides and agricultural chemicals starting in 1893. The complex, originally the Wilson & Toomer Fertilizer Co., closed in the 1970s.

KEYSTONE HEIGHTS | Austin Stephens can’t see out of his left eye and can barely see out of his right. Yet he’s watched the movie “Twister” dozens of times, flying cows and all, by pressing his right eye up against a tiny screen.
He’s 14, legally blind, obsessed with weather and weather forecasting, and “Twister” helped feed that passion until weather now takes up just about every waking hour. Including many hours, his parents note, when he should be sleeping.

Vivian Pursell, a lifelong member of Norwood Baptist Church, said she can still hear the faint clink of hammers meeting nails during the church's construction and expansion.
As a former clerk, pianist, choir member and secretary for the church, she can still see her desk and everything around it. “Those were times that we struggled, but we had a growing church,” she said.
Slideshow: The final Sunday at Norwood Baptist Church

The Lincolnville Festival had something of a lazy start Sunday afternoon as folks ambled from church pews and front yards to the sunny field of Eddie Vickers Park.
The scent of barbecue permeated the air, the sound of gospel music induced relaxation and the sight of a very serious game of childhood football sparked nostalgia. The day was hot and leisurely and brimming with a sincerity unique to the 150-year-old neighborhood.

The Duval County Public Schools Board meets again today to discuss future goals for the district and possible mediation for the Board and Superintendent Nikolai Vitti.
The meeting begins at 9 a.m. at district headquarters, 1701 Prudential Drive.
Look for full coverage later Monday on Jacksonville.com and in Tuesday’s Times-Union.
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Vivian Pursell, a lifelong member of Norwood Baptist Church, said she can still hear the faint clink of hammers meeting nails during the church's construction and expansion.
As a former clerk, pianist, choir member and secretary for the church, she can still see her desk and everything around it. “Those were times that we struggled, but we had a growing church,” she said.
Slideshow: The final Sunday at Norwood Baptist Church