Features

Advocates for removing Jacksonville’s Confederate monuments are growing impatient, as two pots of money for addressing Confederate monuments on public land – half a million dollars in Jacksonville’s city budget, and a philanthropic offer to fund a facilitated community discussion – are sitting idle, and Jacksonville City Council stalls promised action on Confederate monuments. Over the past year, the Council

Mikynzi Alexander spoke with confidence as she recited Useni Eugene Perkins’ poem “Hey, Black Child” at her school’s ribbon-cutting last month.  Mikynzi is a first-grader at Becoming Collegiate Academy, where she learned the poem this fall, concluding with the lines:  Learn what you must learn Do what you can do And tomorrow your nation will be what you want it

Climate change is fueling toxic blooms of blue-green algae. Exposure to poisons produced by the blooms can lead to health effects that last for years. In some cases, the results can be deadly.

In a crowded debate that featured heavy time constraints, mayoral hopefuls met Monday at the Rotary Club to explain their positions on education, crime, business development and the environment. Nine candidates are vying to be Jacksonville’s next mayor, but only seven were on stage: former state Sen. Audrey Gibson (D), council members Leanna Cumber (R) and Al Ferraro (R), Theresa

Republicans narrowly flipped the U.S. House this election cycle, gaining four seats in Florida  — including one in the newly drawn District 4, which covers part of Jacksonville. A Jacksonville Today analysis of voting data show District 4’s predecessor, the former District 5, would have been a close race with a possible Democratic win if Gov. Ron DeSantis hadn’t vetoed

Nearly a dozen Northeast Florida eateries are participating in Black Restaurant Week.  The Jacksonville restaurants offering special dishes this week include a vegan restaurant, pie shop, Caribbean-themed diner, a bakery and a baked-potato franchise. Funnel Cake Queen Icecapade Frozen Treats Irie Diner Caribbean Restaurant Kravegan Where Food is Love Little Black Box Mixed Fillings Pie Shop Mr. Potato Spread (Jacksonville

When Black Panther: Wakanda Forever debuts this week it will serve as a cinematic eulogy to Chadwick Boseman. The actor portrayed a handful of legendary characters who resonated with millions of Black Americans — Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall, Levee Green in August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom  — but he was most revered for playing T’Challa in 2018’s Black Panther.

A smile slowly crept across Dr. Charles B. McIntosh’s face as he watched the unveiling last week of a rendering of the community center that will bear his name.  The longtime Jacksonville pediatrician’s legacy is being affixed to the facility in Northwest Jacksonville, meant to both address health disparities and provide a place for youth in the area to gather.

About 30% of registered Duval County voters have already cast a ballot – that’s more than 136,000 people who voted early and 58,000 mail ballots. Between those combined ballots, Republicans have a slight lead of 2,500 votes. Republicans had more combined early and mail ballots than Democrats in most recent midterm races, except the 2018 midterm under former president Donald Trump.

Southside Jacksonville evangelist Doris Rodgers spent her Friday morning posted outside the Northside’s Highlands Regional Library, one of Jacksonville’s early voting sites. She wasn’t holding a Bible or talking about her faith but saw this morning as another kind of ministry: She’s one of more than 25 Jacksonville faith leaders trained as a “poll chaplain,” tasked with ensuring voters feel