Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan, right, listens to Toni Bingham, center, and Marlena Smalls, right sing during a rememberance of Florida's Emancipation Day on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today

Jacksonville at-large councilman Ron Salem, who chairs the City Council Finance Committee. | Casmira Harrison, Jacksonville Today

Local officials celebrate the announcement that a private company had withdrawn its request to take 600 acres of conservation land in Ponte Vedra. From left are St. Johns County Commissioner Clay Murphy; Rep. Kim Kendall, R-St. Augustine; St. Augustine Beach Mayor Dylan Rumrell; St. Augustine Mayor Nancy Sikes-Kline; and St. Johns County Commissioner Ann Taylor. | Noah Hertz, Jacksonville Today

Brennan Asplen is the next superintendent of St. Johns County Schools. | St. Johns County School District

A car passes Wicked Barley on Baymeadows Road, where a man and his child were killed on Friday, May 16, 2025. | Michelle Corum, Jacksonville Today

Dorami stands out as a kid-friendly food truck option | Hanna Raskin

A JB Coxwell video about the McCoys Creek project shows part of the Northbank Riverwalk and pedestrian crossover dismantled for the time being. | JB Coxwell

Protesters line State Road A1A on Saturday, May 17, 2025, near the site of the proposed land swap in St. Johns County. | Noah Hertz, Jacksonville Today

Tony Cugno, chief operating officer of the Jacksonville Aviation Authority, provides an update Monday, May 19, 2025, about vehicles trapped in a burned parking garage at the airport. | Mike Mendenhall Jacksonville Today.

Tim Johnson, the volunteer chairman of the A.L. Lewis Black Opportunity & Impact Fund, listens to Sharon Coon during a reception May 15, 2025, celebrating the 40 organizations that received funding from the fund this year. Coon is the founder of the Friends of Brentwood Library, a nonprofit that will use funding from the Lewis fund to sponsor a writer's festival this summer. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today

A tiger walks in an overhead enclosure at the Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens, where palm trees and ferns are integrated into the design. | Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens

Smoke billows from the hourly parking garage at Jacksonville International Airport on Friday, May 16, 2025. | News4Jax

Former crew members of the USS Stark lay a wreath in front of a memorial to the 37 men killed in an Iraqi attack on the ship in 1987. The ceremony was part of an annual memorial Friday, May 16, 2025, at Naval Station Mayport, the ship's home port. | Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today

Jacksonville, seen here in the mid-1950s, has a higher-than-average rate of heirs' property. | State Archives of Florida/Johnson

This metal mosquito statue is the size of an adult human, not an adult mosquito, and it sits outside of the Disease Vector Education Center that the district operates in St. Johns County. | Noah Hertz, Jacksonville Today

Smoke billows from the International Flavors & Fragrances plant on Lane Avenue, on Jacksonville's west side, on Thursday, May 15, 2025. | Michelle Corum, Jacksonville Today

The Plaza de la Constitución is lit up during Nights of Lights in downtown St. Augustine. l St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra, and The Beaches Visitors and Convention Bureau

Former Florida Sen. Travis Hutson. | Phil Sears, AP

Renovation is beginning on EverBank Stadium. | Casmira Harrison, Jacksonville Today

City Council member Michael Boylan, left, presents information about a planned 2.3-mile sidewalk project on part of Mandarin Road during a meeting Wednesday, May 14, 2025, at the Mandarin Community Club. | Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today

Mayor Donna Deegan, left, listens as Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Chief Keith Powers speaks during a news conference Nov. 30, 2023. | Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today

The Guana Wildlife Management Area is a state-owned conservation area north of St. Augustine where visitors can walk on paths and enjoy the great outdoors, but also hunt for waterfowl. | Flickr, Justin Ellenberger

Vivianna Rivera, left, and Netsury Lominy are two members of the Thrive Scholars Jacksonville high school class of 2025. The two announced their intentions to attend the University of Central Florida and the University of North Florida, respectively, during a celebration Tuesday, May 13, 2025, inside the Jessie Ball duPont Center. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today