First Coast Connect

It was a good week for the state GOP. Shortly after a U.S. Supreme Court decision opened the door to widespread redistricting and gutted the legal basis for minority access districts, Florida legislators adopted a new congressional map that all but eliminates Democratic power, cutting blue-leaning districts in half, to just four of the state’s 28 House seats. We talk to state Republican Party Chair Evan Power and State Rep. Christine Hunschofsky about how the Supreme Court and state lawmakers have reshaped the political landscape and what it means for party power going forward. We also get political analysis from attorney and public policy expert Rick Mullaney about how both developments fit into Florida history and how they may shape its future.

Guests:

• Florida Rep. Christine Hunschofsky, D-Parkland, incoming House Democratic leader-designate
• State Republican Party Chair Evan Power
• Rick Mullaney, executive director of the Haskell Public Policy Institute at Jacksonville University

In our monthly House Call with Dr. Joe Sirven, we discuss how political pressure is putting psychedelics on the fast track, a surging tick season (and attendant conspiracy theories) and a suspected outbreak of hantavirus on a cruise ship that has left three passengers dead.

Guest: Dr. Joe Sirven, Mayo Clinic neurologist and host of WJCT’s What’s Health Got To Do With It?

Each Friday, our media roundtable dives into the biggest stories of the week. Among our topics this week:

• Two major decisions, from the U.S. Supreme Court and the Florida State Capitol, are reshaping minority political representation for years to come.
• Florida’s attorney general initiates yet another Jacksonville investigation — this time into JEA. 
• A memorial to the victims of the Dollar General mass shooting is destroyed by vandals.

Guests:

• Sylvia Perry, editor of the Jacksonville Free Press
• Brenda Priestly Jackson, former Jacksonville City Council member, former Duval County School Board member
• John Daigle, political consultant, former City Hall reporter
• A.G. Gancarski, reporter at Florida Politics, columnist for Jacksonville Today

Public media is well known for providing context for news developments, but the work doesn’t end with the headlines. Context matters for music, too, as it shapes and is shaped by the culture, politics and society from which it emanates. Music guru and Electro Lounge host David Luckin turns his focus and editing skills to creating a sonic landscape that showcases iconic songs inside a temporal milieu. The project, This Week in Music History, is an hourlong spinoff of his popular daily segment, Today in Music History. It launches at 7 p.m. Sunday and airs weekly in that time slot going forward. We talk to Luckin about the inspiration for the project and why he wanted to explore, as he says, “history you can feel.”

Guest: David Luckin, host, Electro Lounge, WJCT Public Media station manager

Sporting Club Jacksonville women's team has one final home game after a remarkably successful inaugural season. The team clinched a spot at the playoffs in early April after dominating in their first year as an expansion team in the Gainsbridge Super League. And although they’ve suffered a couple losses in April, before that they held a seven-game winning streak and hadn’t allowed more than one goal in any game since Oct. 25. We talk to the team’s star defender, Georgia Brown, and the defender-turned-striker Paige Kenton, as well as the women’s head coach about their first season in the sun and how they’re preparing for the playoff challenge.

Guests:

• Stacey Balaam, Sporting Club Jacksonville women's soccer head coach
• Georgia Brown, Sporting JAX defender
• Paige Kenton, Sporting JAX forward

A Jacksonville-based artist with a global, even universal vision, is the focus of a new exhibition at MOCA Jacksonville. Outside Looking In: The Paintings of Amer Kobaslija features works showcasing his life and travels, from his childhood in war-torn Bosnia to his series Florida Diaries to his portrayal of the devastation from the 2011 tsunami in Japan, One Hundred Views of Kesennuma. Throughout his work, Kobaslija offers colorful, even whimsical views of damaged and denuded landscapes, whether by natural forces or man-made devastation, including rampant development and climate change. The exhibit opens Thursday and runs through Sept. 20.

Guests:

• Amer Kobaslija, visual artist, associate professor of studio art at the University of Central Florida
• Amber Sesnick, director of marketing, arts University of North Florida and MOCA Jacksonville

Celebrating the people and organizations pushing Jacksonville’s cultural and creative ecosystem forward is the focus of the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville’s annual art awards. The 49th Annual awards ceremony is also the group’s largest fundraiser, with 92 cents of every dollar raised returned to local arts and culture. The event promises a “multilevel experience” with a theme of “Neon Noir” to celebrate those who light the way for the rest of the community. The event will be at 6:30 p.m. May 9 at Decca Live. Tickets are required.

Guest:

• Diana Donovan, executive director, Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville
• Darren Dailey, president and artistic director, Jacksonville Children's Chorus

Florida has the highest rate of emergency room visits for kids seeking nontraumatic dental care, and the crisis is getting worse. As more families lose or scale back insurance coverage, and as state Medicaid officials “disenroll” families, preventative dental care gets out of reach for more children. It’s a problem that leaves medical staff frustrated and kids in pain, since emergency rooms are ill equipped to treat dental emergencies and often send patients home with little more than an ice pack and painkillers. We discuss what options are on the table and how the state’s new fluoride policies could affect the problem.

Guest: Dr. Frank Catalanotto, founder of Floridians for Dental Access, former dean at the University of Florida College of Dentistry

After enduring what she describes as an early life defined by abuse, Desiree Jones turned her experience into a path forward for others. The founder of Step-by-Step 4 Help Foundation is now a licensed therapist and offers mental health counseling, mentorship, skills training and housing stability assistance to disadvantaged individuals in the city’s urban core. The group was recently recognized in LISC Jacksonville’s Community Development Awards. We discuss what the award means for the foundation and how its work epitomizes the grassroots strategies promoted by LISC.

Guests:

• Desiree Jones, founder and president, Step-by-Step 4 Help Foundation
• Dr. Irvin DePedro Cohen, executive director of LISC Jacksonville

April was a busy month for space exploration, as NASA’s Artemis II completed a successful 10-day voyage around the moon, becoming the first crewed flight of the space agency’s Orion spacecraft. It’s also a busy time for stargazers. Currently, the Leo Triplet, a constellation made up of three interacting galaxies, is overhead. We break down the science of how these galaxies produce so-called “rogue stars” and discuss what we’ve learned from the first crewed space flight beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17.

Guest: Eddie Whisler, director of planetarium and outreach, Museum of Science & History

An Earth Day petition with more than 26,000 signatures was delivered to Chemours chemical company on the same day as its annual meeting of shareholders. It’s just one part of a multi-pronged effort by conservationists and students to protect the Okefenokee Swamp from the effects of nearby titanium mining. A similar plea was delivered to the maker of Oreo cookies and Sour Patch kids, treats that have used titanium dioxide as a product whitener. That letter urged Mondelez International to pledge not to ever use white pigment sourced from Okefenokee-area mines in its snack foods. We talk to two people behind the current campaign about progress to protect the country’s largest blackwater swamp and the challenges that remain.

Guest:

• Josh Marks, environmental attorney, president of Georgians for the Okefenokee
• Mackenzi Hallmark, chair, Georgia Student Swamp Coalition

Make your own meadow. A new step-by-step guide explores the environmental effects of transforming turfgrass lawnscapes into biodiverse habitats. The Florida Meadow Manual recognizes a growing desire by homeowners and landscapers for an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional, monoculture lawns. From plant selection and site preparation to long-term maintenance tips and design principals, the book provides instructions for, and the ecological rationale behind, creating even small, yard-sized meadows. We sit down with the book’s authors to discuss why Florida climate works for these particular landscapes and why meadows are a growing strategy for those seeking low-maintenance and affordable solutions.

Guests:

• Gage Daniel J. LaPierre, post-doctoral research associate at University of Florida and co-author, The Florida Meadow Manual 
• Isabella Browne, landscape designer and coordinator at UF Center for Landscape Conservation and co-author, The Florida Meadow Manual

An exhibit of student artwork showcases “risk-taking, problem-solving and deep reflection,” according to organizers of Global Leadership Academy High School’s annual AP Art Portfolio Exhibition. Presented at Downtown Vision Inc., the show features 2- and 3D art and design pieces by the Advanced Placement students, demonstrating both technical ability and creative thinking. The exhibition’s opening reception is from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday at DVI’s headquarters, 29 W. Duval St. Admission is free.

Guests:

• Amanda Holloway, AP art instructor at Global Leadership Academy High School
• Tika Thornton and Victoria Kurochkin, featured student artists

The poet and educator who coached, encouraged and chastised — but never coddled — First Coast writers as varied as Donna Deegan, Alan Justiss and Jim Draper has become a defining feature of the local literary landscape. Though she lost her beloved Trout River houseboat, once home to the Shantyboat Writers Workshop, during Hurricane Irma, she continues to write, goad and inspire. Now 81, she brings some poems and her inimitable story to Studio 2 Monday morning.

Guest: Lynn Skapyak Harlin, educator, editor and poet

Nearly 40 years after its founding, the legacy of Scenic Jacksonville is visible both in what we see and what we don’t. The organization, founded by attorney and civic champion Bill Brinton, worked to pass two key citizen amendments to the city’s governing charter. The Billboard Charter Amendment prohibited new billboards countywide and led to the removal of more than 1,600 signs to date. The Tree Protection Amendment required replanting or replacing trees removed for development and established guidelines for protecting the area’s most significant “specimen” trees. We sit down with the new leader of the longstanding group to find out how they’re planning for the future in a changing political and environmental landscape.

Guest: Litsa Dawkins, executive director, Scenic Jax

A four-generation journey through systemic abuse ends on stage 150 years later, when a playwright finds her voice and tells her story. Silence Unraveled tells the history of Bobbie O’Connor’s great-grandmother Emma Jane, grandmother Trudie and mother Willie Audrey, before working its way down to the author. Along the way, it touches on difficult topics often muted by silence, including physical and sexual abuse, domestic violence and loss. We talk to O’Connor about what it means to confront familial misogyny and, hopefully, destroy the template.

Guest: Bobbie O'Connor, playwright, performer and social justice advocate

An annual grassroots event created to connect the public with free health and wellness resources kicks off next weekend. Wellfest, founded in 2019, serves as a space for the community to learn about healthier lifestyles through mental, nutritional and physical education and outreach. This year’s event features local businesses, a coffee crawl, collaborative yoga, a clothing swap, live music and more. Partnering with Here Tomorrow, a local mental health provider, the event also offers suicide prevention information and resources. The 8th Annual Beaches Wellfest will be May 2 at Johansen Park in Atlantic Beach. The event is free and open to the public.

Guests:

• Tracy Marko, president of Meraki Wellness and director of WellFest
• Mary Mullahey, health educator and coffee crawl director

Each Friday, our media roundtable dives into the biggest stories of the week. Among our topics this week:

• Extended drought, with a rainfall deficit of 25 inches, kindles conditions for widespread and dangerous wildfires. 
• The timing of a campaign video release creates political headaches for Mayor Donna Deegan.
• City officials put a nearly $4,000 price tag on a request for public records related to the JEA investigation. 
• Attorney General James Uthmeier investigates an AI chatbot’s role in last year’s mass shooting at FSU.

Guests:

• Robert Brown, news director, WJXT News4Jax
• Frank Powers, former assignment manager at News4Jax
• Randy DeFoor, attorney and former Jacksonville City Council member
• Jake Stofan, state and local government reporter at Action News Jax

A local high school is headed to Washington, D.C., after being invited to perform in the National Memorial Day Parade. The Sandalwood High School Band is still working to raise funds for the trip and is asking the community for help to make the opportunity a reality. The event is expected to feature 5,000 participants from all 50 states, including dozens of high school bands. We ask the band’s director what it means for students and the First Coast to be recognized on a national stage.

Guests:

• Samantha Maltagliati, band director, Sandalwood High School
• Adelina Millian, saxophone, Sandalwood High School Band
• Sophia Peugnet, Sandalwood band president and drum major
• Jeremiah Gadson, Sandalwood band percussion captain

Ongoing wildfires across the First Coast and Southern Georgia are a stark reminder of the very real devastation caused by giant infernos — like the one that destroyed almost the entire city of Jacksonville in 1901. This year marks the 125th anniversary of that dark time, but the first of what’s anticipated to be annual events recalls not just the widespread destruction, but the citywide rebirth that followed. We talk to the head of the Jacksonville History Center about the inaugural Great Fire Gathering and how the fundraiser aims to help the group prepare for the future as it commemorates the past.

Guest: Alan Bliss, CEO, Jacksonville History Center

What does Virginia’s vote on Tuesday in favor of redistricting tell us about Florida’s prospects to reshape the midterms? We discuss the upcoming special session in Tallahassee with attorney and government expert Chris Hand. We also look at prospects for a state budget deal, the official start of Jacksonville’s 2027 mayoral campaign and the latest on the Hope Florida grand jury investigation, which officially remains under wraps.

Guest: Chris Hand, local government expert, attorney and co-author with the late Sen. Bob Graham of America, the Owner's Manual

A secret no more, the lives of a group of Flagler County resident writers are the focus of a new collaborative publication. We meet three of the 24 contributing authors behind The Secret Lives of Flagler County Wives, and discuss how a nascent Facebook group evolved into their new “tell-all” book. The tongue-in-cheek title belies a real camaraderie built among coastal Florida transplants who aligned to share very different stories and life trajectories.

Guests:  

• Judy Cherry, contributor, The Secret Lives of Flagler County Wives
• Rachelle Edrozo Paulk, contributor, The Secret Lives of Flagler County Wives
• Jessica Anderson Fagonde, contributor, The Secret Lives of Flagler County Wives

The move to greater LGBTQ equality and visibility gets a push at the 15th Annual Strides for Pride 5K. The fundraiser benefits the work of the Jacksonville Area Sexual Minority Youth Network, or JASMYN, a local LGBTQIA+ youth organization focused on supporting teens and young adults aged 13-29. The organization celebrated three decades of youth advocacy in 2024, and while it has been in a period of leadership transition, the group hired new CEO Ashley Coleman in February.

Guest: Issis Alvarez, JASMYN board chair

Feral cat colonies in the U.S. have been the target of strategic “trap, neuter, release” programs for more than three decades. But unlike surrounding counties, St. Johns County’s animal control unit offers no official support for the practice. Instead, volunteers tackle the work — and shoulder the costs — of transport, surgeries and vaccinations. Feline advocates want the county to take a more active role, but officials say there’s no evidence TNR has significantly reduced the feral cat population, and some research even suggests euthanasia is a more humane approach. We discuss the issue and take your calls and questions.

Guests:  

• Adrienne Arnone, cat activist and volunteer based in St. Johns County
• Katelyn Smith, shelter operations coordinator, Clay County Animal Shelter
• Noah Hertz, St. Johns County reporter, Jacksonville Today

After her departure from City Hall, we sit down with the mayor’s former Hispanic outreach coordinator to talk about her new role managing the emerging Phoenix Arts and Innovation District. The mixed-use Springfield property aims to become a destination for creative minds, cutting edge businesses and culinary excellence, including hundreds of new Downtown housing units. We talk to its new general manager about her professional transition back to the private sector while working to transform the former industrial parcel into a thriving arts district.

Guest: Yanira “Yaya” Cardona, general manager, Phoenix Arts and Innovation District

Back-in parking has become the subject of a surprisingly contentious — and not inconsequential — debate. Buoyed by recent articles in The New York Times and USA Today, as well as online challenges by social media influencers, the question has thrown the issue in stark relief. We talk to a local urban planner about the science behind the controversy, including the history, safety and previous efforts to mandate the practice in several Western municipalities.

Guest: Fred Jones, urban planner at Haskell, Downtown Development Review Board member

A committee created within the Florida Department of Health to monitor cases in which mothers die during and after pregnancy went virtually dark after the appointment of Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, who oversees the department. According to a new report by the Florida Trib, the data lag also tracks with post-Dobbs Florida, where abortions are effectively prohibited after six weeks, frequently before a pregnancy is detected. We talk to the reporter behind the investigation about the increasingly secretive work of Florida’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee at a time when other states with near-total abortion bans have seen an increase in maternal mortality rates.

Guest: Kate Payne, state government reporter, the Florida Trib

The writer behind Oscar-nominated films In Bruges, Three Billboards and Banshees of Inisherin is also the author of a deeply dark comedy taking stage in Jacksonville. The Pillowman, which opens this weekend at Lumen Repertory Theatre, tells the story of a writer of gruesome fairy tales, who is interrogated over his stories' resemblance to several child murders. A black comedy spiked with allusions to Kafka and The Brothers Grimm, the play is also an exploration of totalitarianism and the cost of censorship. We discuss the psychological thriller with the play’s director and the theater's artistic director.

Guests:

• Joshua Andrews, director, The Pillowman
• Brian Niece, artistic director, Lumen Repertory Theatre