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The Jacksonville area's weekday email for news and ways to get involved.
To reflect on the news of the day, Jacksonville Today seeks to include a diverse set of perspectives. These opinion columnists are independent contractors who are paid for their contributions and are not involved in news decisions.
Local Features
AUG. 23 VOTER GUIDE: Duval School Board District 2
Two candidates are running in Duval County School Board District 2, a non-partisan race. The August race, which would normally…
Local Features
AUG. 23 VOTER GUIDE: Florida House District 14
Four Democrats are on the August ballot for the newly drawn state House District 14. The previous District 14 was…
Local Features
AUG. 23 VOTER GUIDE: Property tax increase for Duval Schools
The Duval County School Board is asking property owners to pitch in more for public schools. All Duval voters are…
Local Features
Child sex-abuse allegation surfaces for Clay Commission candidate
Local dirt hauler Dale Carter’s decision to run this year for the Clay Board of County Commissioners was met with…
ADAPT
Jacksonville named at risk for ‘climate gentrification.’ How can we lessen the threat?
A researcher at FSU says climate change fueled displacement of residents is a looming “existential crisis” for Jacksonville and other…
Local Features
Black-owned startup Laundr gets a boost in Jacksonville
Kyle Lampkin and Michael Behfar are monetizing one of the most mundane parts of adulting: doing laundry. The two childhood…
Voter Guides
AUG. 23 VOTER GUIDE: Jacksonville Sheriff
Five candidates – four Democrats and one Republican – are vying to fill the Jacksonville sheriff’s seat, following Mike Williams’…
Voter Guides
AUG. 23 VOTER GUIDE: Jacksonville City Council District 7, District 9
Nine candidates are vying for Jacksonville City Council in the August 23rd election, as sitting council members Reggie Gaffney and…
Local Features
1-in-3 Duval mail-ballot voters are ineligible to vote unless they update their IDs. See where they live
With less than five weeks remaining until the August primaries, a third of the 97,999 Duval voters who requested vote-by-mail…
ADAPT
Citizen scientists help map the heat in Jacksonville
Extreme heat is the deadliest form of hazardous weather and Jacksonville will soon have data showing how the city is…
Local Features
City, nonprofits offer help for homebuyers in Northwest Jacksonville
Cheri Randolph is a homebody. She prefers cooking a meal for her boys and the other mundane activities that turn…
Local Features
Another LGBTQ resource disappears in Duval Schools
Duval County Public Schools has taken down a 12-minute anti-bullying video that taught middle and high school students how to…
Local Features
Florida’s most controversial new laws take effect Friday. Here’s what they mean for Northeast Fla.
Almost 150 new laws will take effect in Florida on Friday, including some that opponents are still trying to stop:…
Local Features
Black labor fuels Jacksonville’s maritime industry
JAXPORT is on pace for another record-setting year in container volume, a volume that would not be possible without its…
ADAPT
Florida Power & Light sets ambitious goal to eliminate carbon emissions by 2045
The parent company of Florida’s largest utility has announced plans to expand its use of solar energy and other renewable…
Local Features
From Green Cove Springs to D.C.: Congressional Black Caucus executive director has local roots
A Jax Today Q&A with Vince Evans Vince Evans stood against a wall, listening and nodding as Rep. Sheila Jackson…
Local Features
More than a third of Jacksonville Sheriff’s officers don’t live in Duval County
Jacksonville’s recently resigned sheriff, Mike Williams, isn’t the only one who was policing the county while living somewhere else. Data…
Local Features
To fight violent crime, Jacksonville offering Rise Up grants for nonprofits
Shontae Jackson does not need to be told how devastating it can be when a family member’s life is shockingly…
Local Features
Jacksonville’s Small Business Equity Fund is stimulus for overlooked companies
Dara Davis started All Construction Group, a company she operates out of her home on Jacksonville’s Northside, in March of…
Local Features
Local leaders respond to Sheriff Mike Williams’ move out of Jacksonville
Jacksonville’s office of general counsel is set to weigh in by 2 p.m. Thursday on whether Sheriff Mike Williams should…
ADAPT
Jacksonville isn’t letting ‘a single grant opportunity slip by’ for resilience
Jacksonville has secured millions in funding for resilience projects and the city expects to get a lot more by the…
Local Features
Former Jax area Wells Fargo SVP says he was fired for objecting to fake interviews for non-white candidates
A Jax Today Q&A with Joe Bruno Joe Bruno, a former executive at Wells Fargo, claimed this month in The…
#AskJAXTDY
#AskJAXTDY: Why doesn’t Florida have rent control?
The Jacksonville Today team is answering your housing questions, as rents in the region have climbed by more than twice…
Local Features
What Duval Schools is cutting from its LGBTQ+ Support Guide
In response to Florida’s new, critic-dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” law, Duval County Public Schools plans to slash the district’s decade-old…
Local Features
Some Black groups say they were left out of Jacksonville’s bicentennial, so they’re holding their own events instead
Celebrating the city’s two centuries of history – warts and all – was the challenge the Jacksonville Historical Society was…
Local Features
‘It all boils down to one paragraph.’ Duval Schools could change its LGBTQ support guide Tuesday
The Duval County School Board is set to meet Tuesday morning to discuss an update to its LGBTQ support guide,…
ADAPT
Calling for stricter pollution control, advocates urge JEA to phase out Northside Generating Station
More than 90% of all greenhouse gas emissions from large facilities in Jacksonville can be traced back to JEA and…
Local Features
EXPLORE: How much did rent go up in your neighborhood?
Rent prices in the Jacksonville metro area have increased by more than 30% since the start of the pandemic —…
Local Features
Hello, I’m Jacksonville Today Reporter Will Brown
The first time I truly understood the power, the potential and grace of journalism was when I screwed up. I…
Photo Essays
Photo Essay | Hauling It
A driver shortage in Jacksonville triggered missed garbage pickups by the thousands. Through it all, the men and women who…
Local Features
Independent Florida water providers are shutting down. American Beach’s doesn’t want to be next.
Construction will begin soon on a new water and sewer system in American Beach, the historically African American community in…
ADAPT
UNF program pairs tomorrow’s environmental leaders with today’s challenges
The Environmental Leadership Program at the University of North Florida is preparing students to be future environmental leaders through training…
Local Features
Climbing costs leave Jacksonville families struggling for food
Jacksonville mom Krista Jones is buying beans instead of meat for protein. It’s one of the creative steps she’s had…
ADAPT
A surprising climate change contributor: retention ponds that reduce flooding
While stormwater ponds do offer benefits, new research from UF indicates that they may be delivering a net disservice by…
Arts & Culture
Public art in bloom — yes, even at the Duval Courthouse
The Duval County Courthouse is certainly a sight to behold. With its precast concrete and steel facade, the 800,000-square-foot, seven-story…
ADAPT
Florida rooftop solar change seems likely to pass, over pushback from solar industry
Fleming Island state Sen. Jennifer Bradley says her bill would get rid of a subsidy that utility customers without rooftop…
Local Features
EXPLORE: Is your voting precinct one of Jax’s highest-turnout? Or the lowest?
Plus, 5 takeaways from the City Council election Republican Nick Howland will be sworn in on Jacksonville’s City Council Wednesday,…
ADAPT
Where do Jacksonville City Council candidates stand on climate change?
With election day fast approaching, the race to fill the at-large Jacksonville City Council seat left vacant by the late…
Photo Essays
Photo Essay | The Skyway in Transit
As the pace of development in the city’s urban core continues to ramp up, Jacksonville’s Downtown is beginning to look…
Local Features
QUIZ: How well do you know Jacksonville’s at-large group 3 candidates?
Early voting is underway in the race to fill the Jacksonville at-large city council seat vacated by the late Tommy…
Arts & Culture
Painter Richard Heipp forces us to see the world, and his art, anew
In Wes Anderson’s new film, The French Dispatch, Julian Cadazio (a huckster of substantial means played by Adrien Brody) is…
ADAPT
Controversial author Steven Koonin to speak about climate change in Jacksonville
When it comes to climate change, many of Koonin’s views — as expressed in his book and in prior speaking…
ADAPT
Could bacteria help reduce shoreline erosion? UNF researchers aim to find out
Researchers at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville are studying how a naturally occurring bacteria could be used to…
ADAPT
Doug Eng: Environmental activism through art
Through his art, Jacksonville photographer Doug Eng is trying to help people gain more of an appreciation for the natural…
ADAPT
Under JEA’s SolarMax program, companies can get 100% electricity from solar
Companies including Florida Blue and Johnson and Johnson are signing onto a new program from JEA that allows corporations to…
Arts & Culture
How 4 Jacksonville artists made it to Miami Art Week
It’s just after 5 p.m. on the Monday before Thanksgiving. Artist and Professor Dustin Harewood dons a paint-splattered denim apron…
ADAPT
Rising seas swamp Black, Spanish and Indigenous history in St. Johns County
A city reliant on heritage tourism struggles to protect its most valuable assets.…
Arts & Culture
3 local photojournalists frame up the First Coast in ‘Last Coast’
The term First Coast is synonymous with Jacksonville and its four surrounding counties: Clay, Nassau, Baker and St. Johns. A…
Arts & Culture
In ‘Age of Cognizance’ 3 Jacksonville artists explore their individual identities through collective consciousness
The Age of Cognizance, which opened this month, is the Yellow House’s first in-person exhibit in nearly two years. A…
ADAPT
A Florida climate scientist sees 5 ways the infrastructure bill will help protect us
One of Florida’s top climate scientists says the Biden administration’s new infrastructure bill isn’t a climate panacea but, he says,…
Local Features
Duval students are growing more diverse, so DCPS wants teachers to be, too
When Ingrid Carias began working in the Duval County Public School system around 2014, there were about 5,500 students the…
Photo Essays
Photo Essay | Downtown Jacksonville dresses up for Toni Smailagic
Introduction by Matthew Shaw | Photographs and captions by Toni Smailagic When Toni Smailagic brings out his camera, it seems,…
Photo Essays
Photo Essay | Jacksonville through the lens of Michael Rakim
Introduction by Matthew Shaw | Photographs and captions by Michael Rakim The first time I saw the work of Wesley…
ADAPT
Fewer fumes: What the switch to electric vehicles means for Jacksonville
Experts say electrification of trucks and cars would be an essential step toward canceling out America’s yearly greenhouse gas emissions…
Photo Essays
Photo Essay | Leighton Hoey’s view from inside Jacksonville’s music scene
Introduction by Matthew Shaw | Photographs and captions by Leighton Hoey As someone who has spent the last half-decade or…
Photo Essays
Photo Essay | Tom Schifanella’s hidden Jacksonville
Atlantic Beach-based landscape photographer Tom Schifanella trains his lens on Jacksonville’s natural beauty.…
ADAPT
A Q&A with Jacksonville’s first-ever Chief Resilience Officer
Anne Coglianese, Jacksonville’s first Chief Resilience Officer, has been on the job since July, 2021. She has been tasked with…
ADAPT
Your flood insurance premium will probably rise; Climate change and coastal development are to blame
The vast majority of the more than 1.7 million households in Florida that have flood insurance policies through the National…
ADAPT
A Florida city wanted to move away from fossil fuels. The state made sure it couldn’t.
The story behind Florida’s new laws that strip cities of their ability to fight climate change.…
ADAPT
A century of altering the St. Johns River has left Jacksonville more vulnerable to flooding
In 1898 the St. Johns River went about 18 feet down at its deepest point. Now it’s about 40 feet…
ADAPT
What Jacksonville can learn from Nashville about fighting climate change
Compared with Nashville, Jacksonville is doing relatively little to reduce its carbon footprint and does not have a climate action…
ADAPT
Green infrastructure turns old concepts into new reality
Many cities around the country now have proven examples of green infrastructure — Atlanta, Philadelphia, New York, Portland and St.…
ADAPT
Making a more resilient River City: Top 10 findings from new City Council report
The city of Jacksonville is playing catch-up when it comes to addressing climate change, but it’s now poised to take…
ADAPT
Is rooftop solar under threat in Florida? If so, Jacksonville could offer a glimpse into the future
Many are worried that Florida’s powerful investor-owned utilities are pushing regulators to scale back the state’s rooftop solar policy, as…
ADAPT
Environmental justice in Jax: bringing Black communities to the climate table
Environmental advocacy has long been dominated by white voices, even as people of color are more affected by climate change…
ADAPT
Climate action on the rise within local communities of faith
Faith-based efforts like Green Spirits are increasingly popping up around the country as Christians — many of them young —…
ADAPT
As neighbors take buyouts, some Jacksonville residents question city’s plan for flood-prone areas
Sea level rise isn’t a hypothetical future issue in low-lying areas of Jacksonville. It’s forcing people to make life-changing decisions…
ADAPT
St. Augustine struggles to fight a global threat on a small-town budget
As the holiday season approaches and residents look ahead to the annual Nights of Lights festival an old enemy is…
ADAPT
TV weathercasters could be key to climate action
Local weathercasters are well positioned to help educate the public on climate change, which researchers say is necessary before people…
ADAPT
Beach nourishment: not just throwing good sand after bad
A riled-up Atlantic Ocean has been biting off and swallowing huge chunks of Northeast Florida beaches during fierce storms in…
ADAPT
The officer: Julia Nesheiwat
Julia Nesheiwat is Florida’s Chief Resilience Officer Update: Julia Nesheiwat assumed the position of Florida’s first-ever Chief Resilience Officer in July…
ADAPT
The coordinator: Sean Lahav
Sean Lahav is the Resiliency Coordinator for the Northeast Florida Regional Council What does a resiliency coordinator do? A…
ADAPT
The planner: Shane Corbin
Shane Corbin is the City Manager of Atlantic Beach What in your background prepared you to work in Atlantic Beach? …
ADAPT
The city’s tree guy: Richard Leon
Richard Leon is Jacksonville’s Urban Forestry Manager What is an urban forestry manager? What do you do? Half the city…
ADAPT
The conversation starter: Lauren Watkins
Lauren Watkins teaches people how to talk about climate change as the Director of Behavior Change Strategies for Impact By…
ADAPT
The scientist: Adam Rosenblatt
Adam Rosenblatt is an assistant professor of biology at the University of North Florida Tell me about the letter you…
ADAPT
How to make Jacksonville more ‘resilient’: 2 committees’ suggestions
After pulling out of a national resiliency initiative in 2016, the city is working on its own adaptation plans.…
ADAPT
‘Resilience hubs’ could help Northeast Floridians — including animals — weather floods
City planners can use new data to maximize conservation projects’ impact.…
ADAPT
With weather extremes projected for Jacksonville, elected officials cool to aggressive climate action
Letting the market dictate solutions is the prevailing mantra.…
ADAPT
The new vanguard protecting historic sites from sea level rise: Volunteers
The Heritage Monitoring Scouts are helping the state decide which pieces of history to save and which to abandon.…
ADAPT
The Navy is on the front lines of adapting to climate change
“Climate change will affect the Department of Defense’s ability to defend the Nation and poses immediate risks to U.S. national…
ADAPT
Why US carbon dioxide emissions are back on the rise
What’s good for today’s economy isn’t so great for tomorrow’s earth.…
ADAPT
‘Retreat’ not an option for a California beach town, but it’s already happening in Duval County
The city of Jacksonville is offering to buy out homes in a flood-prone riverfront neighborhood.…
ADAPT
Sandy soil and rising seas spell septic tank disaster in Florida
The race is on to deal with Florida’s 2.6 million ticking stink bombs.…
ADAPT
As seas rise, Florida will likely lose more coastal property value than any other state
As coastal property values drop, the economic effects could ripple inland.…
ADAPT
Real estate and sea level rise: A buyer’s guide
In Florida, sellers don’t have to disclose flood damage. So how can buyers assess the risk?…
ADAPT
‘Lift that nest up’: Florida’s endangered birds threatened by floods
The Florida grasshopper sparrow is the continent’s most endangered bird. Climate change isn’t helping.…
ADAPT
These eco-friendly homes are built to weather the storm
A South Florida builder is trying to make prefabricated chic.…
