Featured image for “Leaders fight possible closure of Atlantic Beach Elementary”
Atlantic Beach city commissioners approved a resolution Monday urging Duval County Schools to keep Atlantic Beach Elementary School open. | News 4 Jax
April 9, 2024

Leaders fight possible closure of Atlantic Beach Elementary

Duval County Public Schools is considering a recommendation to close 37 schools across the county.…

Featured image for “DeSantis comes to Jacksonville to sign social media limits on kids”
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed shows HB 3, the social media restrictions he signed Monday, March 25, 2024, at Cornerstone Classical Academy in Jacksonville. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
March 25, 2024

DeSantis comes to Jacksonville to sign social media limits on kids

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB3 at Cornerstone Classical Academy, banning children younger than 14 from having social media accounts.…

Featured image for “#AskJAXTDY l Why can’t I vote at any polling place on Election Day?”
A Jacksonville Today reader wonders why voters can't cast their ballot at any polling place.
March 22, 2024

#AskJAXTDY l Why can’t I vote at any polling place on Election Day?

A Jacksonville Today reader wonders why voters can’t cast their ballots at any polling location, the same as they can…

Featured image for “Randy White appears a lock for council president as Carrico, Boylan vie for VP”
Council President Ron Salem, left, and Council Vice President Randy White, right, listen as their colleagues pledge to support White as the next City Council president when Salem steps down July 1. | Casmira Harrison, Jacksonville Today
March 11, 2024

Randy White appears a lock for council president as Carrico, Boylan vie for VP

Randy White appears set to take the reins as the president of the government body this summer. The race for…

Featured image for “OPINION | A look back at a bad legislative session for Northeast Florida”
The Florida Capitol Complex is viewed, Tuesday, March 29, 2022, in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
March 10, 2024

OPINION | A look back at a bad legislative session for Northeast Florida

What do we make of the 2024 Florida legislative session that just wrapped up? And how did Jacksonville fare?…

Featured image for “Jacksonville’s new planning director lays out his mission”
R. Brett James is Jacksonville's new Director of Planning. | NAVFAC Southwest
February 9, 2024

Jacksonville’s new planning director lays out his mission

R. Brett James, a former Navy civilian director, took over this week as Jacksonville’s chief of planning and development.…

Featured image for “Housing Authority CEO abruptly resigns, saying he feels forced out”
Dwayne Alexander resigned as president and CEO of the Jacksonville Housing Authority. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
January 30, 2024

Housing Authority CEO abruptly resigns, saying he feels forced out

President and CEO Dwayne Alexander was the third major departure from the agency in recent weeks.…

Featured image for “#AskJAXTDY l What happens with the money set aside to remove Confederate monuments?”
Statues that decorated the monument to the Women of the Confederacy were removed from Springfield Park in Jacksonville and placed in storage in December.
January 26, 2024

#AskJAXTDY l What happens with the money set aside to remove Confederate monuments?

There was already money in the budget for the removal of the Confederate statues at Springfield Park. A reader asked…

Featured image for “How to change your party affiliation ahead of an election”
January 26, 2024

How to change your party affiliation ahead of an election

The deadline to register to vote or change your party affiliation ahead of the March primary is coming up Feb…

Featured image for “Polling locations are changing in St. Johns County”
A Jacksonville Today reader wonders why voters can't cast their ballot at any polling place.
January 18, 2024

Polling locations are changing in St. Johns County

Changes in polling locations will affect about 23,000 of the 217,000 registered voters in St. Johns County.…

Featured image for “Jacksonville Council rails over removal of Confederate statues”
Jacksonville General Counsel Michael Fackler listens to City Council questions Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024, about the removal of Confederate statutes from Springfield Park.
January 2, 2024

Jacksonville Council rails over removal of Confederate statues

City Council members spent over an hour Tuesday criticizing General Counsel Michael Fackler for the removal of Confederate statues in…

Featured image for “City councilman seeks reform after mayor’s no-bid contract”
A City Council committee approved an ordinance that would require certain businesses to provide changing tables for adults. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
December 7, 2023

City councilman seeks reform after mayor’s no-bid contract

Councilman Nick Howland is pushing legislation he calls the “Transparency for Taxpayers Act,” which would require a City Council vote on…

Featured image for “Mayor stands her ground on contract with lobbying firm”
City Council members at a Finance Committee meeting this week nudged the mayor’s office to phase out a contract with a lobbying firm, but the administration said it does not plan to acquiesce to the request.
November 8, 2023

Mayor stands her ground on contract with lobbying firm

Mayor Donna Deegan says she won’t comply with requests to withdraw a lobbying contract awarded without seeking bids.…

Featured image for “When DeSantis says ‘woke,’ some in Jacksonville hear ‘Black’”
Gov. Ron DeSantis has said Florida is a place where woke goes to die. In Jacksonville, some pastors and civil rights groups, consider anti-woke as a euphemism for anti-Black. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
October 31, 2023

When DeSantis says ‘woke,’ some in Jacksonville hear ‘Black’

As Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis campaigns for president on a platform of “anti-wokeness,” pastors and civil rights activists in Jacksonville…

Featured image for “#AskJAXTDY l How did Northeast Florida’s reps vote for House speaker?”
Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., takes the oath to be the new House speaker l Alex Brandon/AP
October 31, 2023

#AskJAXTDY l How did Northeast Florida’s reps vote for House speaker?

A reader asked us which Northeast Florida Representatives voted for new House Speaker Mike Johnson.…

Featured image for “Michael Fackler recommended as Jacksonville’s top attorney”
Michael Fackler discusses his observations of the General Counsel's Office to a panel considering his appointment on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. | Casmira Harrison, Jacksonville Today
October 26, 2023

Michael Fackler recommended as Jacksonville’s top attorney

The General Counsel Qualification Review Committee endorsed Fackler’s hiring as general counsel. City Council still must approve the appointment.…

Featured image for “OPINION | In defense of Ron Salem”
Ron Salem is a member of the Jacksonville City Council. He was reelected in March 2023. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
October 23, 2023

OPINION | In defense of Ron Salem

Ron Salem, a Republican of Palestinian descent, is taking hits for his no vote on a City Council resolution offering…

Featured image for “OPINION | ‘Both sides’ now?”
Democratic Reps. Tray McCurdy of Orlando, Angie Nixon of Jacksonville, and Felicia Robinson of Miami Gardens sit on the Florida state seal in protest of congressional redistricting by the Florida Legislature last spring. | AP
October 18, 2023

OPINION | ‘Both sides’ now?

The reaction of some local politicians on Israel was contradictory at best and, at worst, incomprehensibly tone-deaf. …

Featured image for “OPINION | Who drew first blood? A Jax election retrospective”
Jacksonville University hosted a mayoral debate between the seven candidates vying for election this spring. They were placed in alphabetical order: Omega Allen, LeAnna Cumber, Daniel Davis, Donna Deegan, Al Ferraro, Audrey Gibson and Frank Keasler. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
October 5, 2023

OPINION | Who drew first blood? A Jax election retrospective

Jacksonville’s recent local elections were the nastiest in our city’s history. These campaigns slung first mud.…

Featured image for “Mayor: ‘Everything’s on the table’ when it comes to city ownership of EverBank Stadium”
The Jacksonville Jaguars have proposed renovating EverBank Stadium into the "Stadium of the Future."
September 19, 2023

Mayor: ‘Everything’s on the table’ when it comes to city ownership of EverBank Stadium

Though she likes city ownership of EverBank Stadium, Mayor Donna Deegan says all options are being considered at negotiations begin.…

Featured image for “OPINION | Where did Deegan go wrong? Lessons from the failed Ferraro and DeFoor nominations”
September 18, 2023

OPINION | Where did Deegan go wrong? Lessons from the failed Ferraro and DeFoor nominations

Two failed nominations reveal a surprising lack of understanding of how the City Council actually works and thinks.…

Featured image for “Jacksonville demonstrators decry white supremacy, point fingers at DeSantis ”
Jacksonville teacher and activist Neil Jefferson was among the speakers during a demonstration decrying white supremacy on Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. The incident was slated to celebrate the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, but shifted into a demonstration following racial violence in Jacksonville's Grand Park neighborhood on Aug. 26. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
August 29, 2023

Jacksonville demonstrators decry white supremacy, point fingers at DeSantis 

A rally in James Weldon Johnson Park changed into a demonstration against white supremacy after Saturday’s racist shooting.…

Featured image for “Dollar General shooting aligns with anniversary of racist violence of Ax Handle Saturday”
Paula Findlay was among the hundreds who attended a prayer vigil on Sunday, Aug. 27, 2023 following a mass shooting fueled by racial animus toward Black people at a Dollar General in the Grand Park neighborhood. Findlay is a lifelong Jaxon who is the principal at Arlington Elementary. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
August 28, 2023

Dollar General shooting aligns with anniversary of racist violence of Ax Handle Saturday

Sunday’s vigils for the racially motivated shooting occurred on the 63rd anniversary of Ax Handle Saturday.…

Featured image for “Jacksonville labor leaders, March on Washington attendee reflect, 60 years on”
Sandra Thompson is one of the few Jaxons who attended the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in August 1963. She was a senior at Florida A&M University at the time who was active in the NAACP and viewed attending the march the next step in her activism. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
August 27, 2023

Jacksonville labor leaders, March on Washington attendee reflect, 60 years on

Jacksonville’s own A. Philip Randolph’s activism and mastery of mobilization helped make the March on Washington a reality.…