Featured image for “Mayor and finance board spar over diversity chief funding”
August 25, 2023

Mayor and finance board spar over diversity chief funding

The Finance Committee recommended slicing a portion of the mayor’s budget that would have paid for a chief of diversity.…

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Mayor Donna Deegan answers questions at a news conference on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023, to rally support for her nominee for general counsel, Randy DeFoor, right. | Casmira Harrison, Jacksonville Today
August 23, 2023

Mayor decries ‘smear campaign’ over top attorney’s appointment

City Council voted Tuesday to send a second request to the Florida ethics commission about Randy DeFoor’s ability to take…

Featured image for “OPINION | No sleep till Milwaukee: A Republican presidential debate preview”
Gov. Ron DeSantis visits Florida State College at Jacksonville on July 18, 2022. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
August 22, 2023

OPINION | No sleep till Milwaukee: A Republican presidential debate preview

Ron DeSantis must show the American people the aggressiveness and ability to confound his opponents that elevated his national profile.…

Featured image for “OPINION | Jacksonville isn’t Ron DeSantis’ town anymore”
August 21, 2023

OPINION | Jacksonville isn’t Ron DeSantis’ town anymore

What’s clear is that Ron DeSantis has taken his eye off Jacksonville — like the rest of the state — and…

Featured image for “Mayor announces seven more appointments, including Randy DeFoor as general counsel”
Randy DeFoor, a former city councilwoman, speaks at a news conference Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, at City Hall. | Casmira Harrison, Jacksonville Today
August 10, 2023

Mayor announces seven more appointments, including Randy DeFoor as general counsel

Mayor Donna Deegan said she’s building a “rockstar team of difference-makers and innovators and collaborators.”…

Featured image for “OPINION | Al Ferraro’s appointment deserves scrutiny ”
Mayoral candidate Al Ferraro is proposing a Confederate monument voter referendum | Photo: Al Ferraro for Mayor via Facebook
August 9, 2023

OPINION | Al Ferraro’s appointment deserves scrutiny 

What makes Mayor Deegan’s appointment of Al Ferraro to lead the city’s Neighborhoods Department, so baffling.…

Featured image for “Disagreement blows up between Democratic Reps. Daniels and Nixon”
State Rep. Kimberly Daniels (D-Jacksonville) accused fellow Democrat Angie Nixon (D-Jacksonville) of defamation on July 27 after the two disagreed, to different degrees, with the Florida Department of Education's social studies standards for the 2023-24 academic year. | Will Brown
July 28, 2023

Disagreement blows up between Democratic Reps. Daniels and Nixon

Rep. Kimberly Daniels called a news conference to accuse Rep. Angie Nixon of defamation. Nixon called the discord “just pettiness.”…

Featured image for “OPINION | Better late than never for Duval Schools + City budget bewilderment ”
Duval Schools HQ
July 5, 2023

OPINION | Better late than never for Duval Schools + City budget bewilderment 

Mike Clark reacts to progress in school administration and also what doesn’t make sense to him about this time of…

Featured image for “Proposal for city to buy Brentwood liquor store is withdrawn”
A proposed liquor store at the corner of Golfair Boulevard and Davis Street is less than 200 feet away from KIPP Voice Academy. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
June 6, 2023

Proposal for city to buy Brentwood liquor store is withdrawn

Legislation would have had the city buy the property using dollars earmarked for removing Confederate monuments.…

Featured image for “OPINION | ‘Love over fear’: An epilogue for the 2023 election”
Donna Deegan celebrates winning the Jacksonville mayoral election on Tuesday, May 16, 2023. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
May 16, 2023

OPINION | ‘Love over fear’: An epilogue for the 2023 election

Donna Deegan met the negativity from Daniel Davis’ campaign with a positive vision, managing to rebuff insipid and dishonest attacks.…

Featured image for “OPINION | The campaign we deserved? Looking back on the 2023 Jax mayor election”
Donna Deegan and Daniel Davis
May 15, 2023

OPINION | The campaign we deserved? Looking back on the 2023 Jax mayor election

What the Donna Deegan vs. Daniel Davis’ race says about Jacksonville voters and what kind of politics people here really…

Featured image for “OPINION | The body is the crime scene”
The fourth floor rotunda is abuzz with activity before Gov. Ron DeSantis' State of the State speech, Tuesday, Mar. 7, 2023 at the Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Phil Sears)
April 19, 2023

OPINION | The body is the crime scene

Recent legislative measures target the very existence of marginalized groups.…

Featured image for “OPINION | Ring the alarm ”
Ron DeSantis speaks to supporters in 2018. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
April 5, 2023

OPINION | Ring the alarm 

Florida Republicans are stripping people of safety, bodily autonomy and dignity while masquerading as choice.…

Featured image for “OPINION | Are local parties a factor in the Jax elections?”
Donna Deegan and Daniel Davis
April 2, 2023

OPINION | Are local parties a factor in the Jax elections?

Candidates like Donna Deegan and Daniel Davis can’t necessarily rely on the Duval Democratic and Republican parties to help them…

Featured image for “#AskJAXTDY | How does the election supervisor do his job when his son is running for office?”
March 27, 2023

#AskJAXTDY | How does the election supervisor do his job when his son is running for office?

With his son on the Jacksonville City Council ballot this spring, here’s what Election Supervisor Mike Hogan can’t do.…

Featured image for “OPINION | Why you should run for local office – and why you shouldn’t ”
March 15, 2023

OPINION | Why you should run for local office – and why you shouldn’t 

Advice on running for Jax City Council from a former councilman, who says now is the time to prep for…

Featured image for “3 takeaways from the Jacksonville mayoral debate”
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
March 9, 2023

3 takeaways from the Jacksonville mayoral debate

Here’s what the candidates had to say about infrastructure needs, their Downtown plan, and the importance of the St. Johns…

Featured image for “OPINION | The debate we deserve”
March 5, 2023

OPINION | The debate we deserve

Mayoral candidates are headed to a debate this week, courtesy of WJXT, host Kent Justice, and Jacksonville University. What can…

Featured image for “OPINION | What the Donna Deegan surge means”
Donna Deegan | Submitted by campaign
February 20, 2023

OPINION | What the Donna Deegan surge means

Donna Deegan has raised a fraction of the money her opponents have. So why is she polling better?…

Featured image for “OPINION | Changing the urban landscape in 2023”
January 24, 2023

OPINION | Changing the urban landscape in 2023

2023 could be a year of big change for Jacksonville’s urban core. Here’s a look at five trends to watch…

Featured image for “OPINION | We don’t have a labor shortage”
Labor organizations were among more than 150 groups that took part in Monday's MLK Day parade in Jacksonville | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
January 18, 2023

OPINION | We don’t have a labor shortage

The U.S. workforce suffers from the unwillingness of corporations to pay workers a wage that signifies value, worth, dignity and…

Featured image for “OPINION | A tale of two parties”
Sheriff T.K. Waters, a Republican, has retained his job unchallenged in the 2023 election. Dan Scanlan | WJCT News
January 16, 2023

OPINION | A tale of two parties

It looks from the outside like Urban Meyer is coaching the Duval Dems and Doug Pederson the GOP, but it’s…

Featured image for “OPINION | The 2023 mayoral race is getting real”
Photo: WJCT News
January 2, 2023

OPINION | The 2023 mayoral race is getting real

It is now 2023, and city elections are all but upon us. If you’re in the mayoral race, you’d better…

Featured image for “OPINION | Remember, reconcile, repair”
The Confederate statue in Springfield Park. | WJCT News
December 14, 2022

OPINION | Remember, reconcile, repair

“Take ‘Em Down!” is an ineffectual narrative strategy to effect change.  Is it a demand of adamance? Absolutely.  A passionate…