Jacksonville, Duval County | featured news

Have you seen 11-year-old Shayanna Erica Addison?
Police say she was last seen wearing a multi-colored short-sleeve shirt, blue jeans with no shoes and carrying a red lunch bag. She's a black female, 5-foot-3 and 100 pounds. She has brown eyes and black long braided hair.
When Shayanna's mom came home from work she noticed her daughter's red lunch bag and shirt on the ground and told her to go pick them up. She scolded the child for leaving her things outside the house, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office says.

As the first anniversary the El Faro’s deadly sinking approaches, the city and ship’s owner are close to transforming a blighted park near the Dames Point bridge into a permanent memorial in honor of the 33 mariners who died in the accident.
The Jacksonville-based cargo ship’s owner, Tote Services Inc., is making a number of improvements to Dames Point Park and will install a 10-foot statue to honor the crew, said Jacksonville City Councilman Al Ferraro.

A Week with Baseball Legends will end at the same place it started: J.P. Small Memorial Stadium.
On Sept. 16 Jacksonville used the field to screen "42," a movie about the life of Jackie Robinson, and several retired Major League Baseball All-Stars will mentor 150 invited kids during a clinic at the ballpark Saturday.
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Aerating turf has long been a science to help grass grow more robustly, and when it comes to athletic fields, a Jacksonville company says it has improved the art of aeration for competitive surfaces.
GT AirInject Inc. for the past five years has been selling its aeration machine called the Air2G2 that goes deeper than most aeration devices. It actually pumps air into the ground to help loosen so-called “compaction” and gets oxygen to the roots of the grass system for playing fields for the most high-profile sports complexes.

Before Scott Ando received an offer last week to become the city’s next inspector general, he spent more than an hour answering questions from a selection panel about his strategic vision, leadership style and professional experience.
However, that panel of city officials, attorneys and a judge never asked Ando about his high-profile ouster as the leader of Chicago’s Independent Police Review Authority, a civilian agency responsible for investigating the Chicago Police Department — even though Ando mentioned it twice during his interview.

Jacksonville police are investigating a death Friday evening on Golfair Boulevard near its intersection with Interstate 95.
After a short statement disclosing the incident as an undetermined death, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office later announced via Twitter a person had been shot. Times-Union news partner First Coast News reported the shooting occurred at a Raceway gas station located at 1040 Golfair Blvd.
The Sheriff's Office has scheduled a press conference for 9:20 p.m. Friday.

Pod Rods takes a wild ride ‘round the ‘Ring in a Lotus; checks out a Lego Caterham; goes very fast in some land speed record holders; and take a seat at the Paris auto show. Plus, check out the myriad of automotive events near and far and sooner as well as later:
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Federal retirees who were swindled by a man their agencies contracted to provide retirement advice can’t sue the federal government, a judge in Jacksonville has ruled.
“While the rampant fraud here calls out for a remedy, one cannot be secured from the United States,” U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan concluded in an order dismissing a case brought by 141 people who lost millions of dollars to Kenneth Wayne McLeod.

Jacksonville’s bus operator is looking at updating fares, possibly raising rates for riders over time, allowing transfers, and changing its policy of allowing people over 65 to ride for free.
Nathaniel Ford, CEO of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority, said the easy answer in its effort to boost “fare recovery” is to raise rates, but the agency must be careful because any action could impact ridership.
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As the first anniversary the El Faro’s deadly sinking approaches, the city and ship’s owner are close to transforming a blighted park near the Dames Point bridge into a permanent memorial in honor of the 33 mariners who died in the accident.
The Jacksonville-based cargo ship’s owner, Tote Services Inc., is making a number of improvements to Dames Point Park and will install a 10-foot statue to honor the crew, said Jacksonville City Councilman Al Ferraro.