First Coast Connect

The changing media landscape is forcing existing news outlets to think creatively. It has also made for some surprising foxhole alliances, as onetime competitors begin working together on reporting projects. Such coalitions are visible in the strategic collaboration of the Miami Herald and the Tampa Bay Times, or the joint investigations of Pro Publica and dozens of smaller newsrooms around the country. Locally, the newly formed Northeast Florida News Collaborative unites a broad mix of local media representing distinct, sometimes divergent audiences. The collaborative includes the Baker County Press, the Jacksonville Business Journal, the Jacksonville Free Press, Jacksonville Today, WJXT News4Jax, the Florida Times-Union and The Tributary, and its first joint reporting focus is affordable housing. We ask four members what the confederacy will look like in practice and the promise of the new partnership.

Guests:

• Robert Brown, news director at WJXT News4Jax
• Deirdre Conner, publisher and CEO at The Tributary
• Jessica Palombo, news director, WJCT News, and editor, Jacksonville Today
• Paul Runnestrand, executive editor at the Florida Times-Union

Can a floral arrangement convey political priorities? According to a former chief White House florist, it can do that and more. Laura Dowling spent six years creating displays, wreaths, bouquets and centerpieces crafted to communicate official policy positions, welcome foreigners and set the table — quite literally — for important strategic discussions. Dowling is the keynote speaker of the Garden Club of Jacksonville’s 2026 Designer of Distinction fundraiser on Wednesday and Thursday.

Guests:

• Laura Dowling, floral designer, author and former chief florist at the White House
• Sonja Jones, CEO, Garden Club of Jacksonville

And, a three-day festival celebrates the power of live performance. The third annual Festival of Stories & Songs brings nationally acclaimed storytellers and musicians to Amelia Island, from folk duo Flagship Romance to humorist/singer-songwriter/storyteller Andy Offutt Irwin, reporter/author Craig Pittman and Carmen Agra Deedy, award-winning writer and host of the Emmy-winning children's program Love That Book! The festival also features a storytelling workshop and children’s story hour. The first performance kicks off at 7 p.m. Thursday at Story & Song Center for Arts & Culture.

Guests:

• Donna Paz Kaufman and Mark Kaufman, co-founders of Story & Song Center for Arts & Culture

Being one of the fastest-growing counties in the country presents huge opportunities — rising tax revenues, private investment, community vibrancy — along with enormous challenges. This year, St. Johns County celebrated the completion of 61 capital improvement projects totaling more than $820 million. But meeting the need for new infrastructure and managing the effects of growth remain a tall order. We get an update from the county administrator about how it started and how it’s going.

Guest: St. Johns County Administrator Joy Andrews

Then, Americans love their pets, and nearly 100 million households — more than 70% of us — live with one. That, coupled with the pandemic pet ownership surge, ever-evolving treatment options and increased spending on pet care have generated huge demand for veterinarians. But vet school is as time-consuming and expensive as medical school and, like new doctors, vets need years of practical experience. To meet the need, EveryPet (formerly First Coast No More Homeless Pets) is offering a veterinary student training center at its Norwood Spay/Neuter Center & Community Clinic. In addition to teaching vets-in-training surgical techniques for spay and neuter services, the program teaches diagnostics and preventive care, while using the partnership to support the organization’s mission to provide affordable veterinary care.

Guests:

• Jennifer Barker, CEO, EveryPet
• Dr. Brian DiGangi, director of professional development, EveryPet

And, 52 shows in 52 weeks. Friends and music lovers Jason Roth and Heather Schatz made a pact in 2023 to see a band for every week of the year. That promise grew into a tradition. And this year is no exception. From Afrojack to Vampire Weekend, we get a report on the year that was, including performance highlights, earplugs and how new Jacksonville venues have figured into their annual commitment.

Guest: Jason Roth, owner of Castaways Vintage to Modern, music enthusiast

Another ICE killing and a weekend of sustained protest in Minneapolis, despite frigid temperatures. Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old VA nurse, was shot and killed by federal ICE agents Saturday while filming them on a Minneapolis street. His killing comes less than three weeks after ICE officers killed Renee Good, prompting mass protests by residents and opposition from state officials and local law enforcement. Residents once again took to the streets, demanding an end to the ICE enforcement surge that brought some 3,000 agents to the area. Political expert and attorney Chris Hand explains how what’s happening in Minneapolis has become the focus of international scrutiny and a possible political pinch point for the GOP.

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

Guiding the redevelopment of a struggling downtown can be a daunting task: Where to begin? Our guest says to start with the streets. And the trees. For nearly four decades, Victor Dover has worked with developers and municipalities on planning and street design, whether in town centers of New Urbanist communities or existing cities in need of revitalization. He was named among “the country’s best urban designers and architects” by Architecture magazine and is the keynote speaker at the sixth annual Great Cities Symposium on Feb. 5. Dover joins us to share what Jacksonville can learn from the streets — and trees — of the world’s thriving cities.

Guests:

• Victor Dover, principal, Dover Kohl & Partners Town Planning
• Nancy Powell, executive director, Scenic Jacksonville

And, local artists join nationally recognized muralists at the second annual Jacksonville Mural Festival. The event, which runs Jan. 26 to 31, plans to flood the zone in Murray Hill, installing 15 new murals on neighborhood buildings. The event also features panel discussions about the value and economic impact of public art. Featured national artists include Lucas Aoki, David Swartz and Phoebe Joynt. They will be joined by acclaimed local artists Marie Eljera, Mike McIntire and Patrick Maxcy.

Guest: Jason Tetlak, muralist, executive director, National Mural Awards

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

• State Rep. Angie Nixon declares for U.S. Senate and introduces a bill to require ICE agents to show their faces.
• Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announces on MLK Day that he will no longer enforce 80 “race-based” laws.
• A Clay County School Board member is reprimanded by state officials for his racist comments about Black people.
• The state’s chief financial officer targets Fernandina Beach in his latest broadside on “wasteful spending.” 
• And, could the NAVI be rolling toward the Beaches?

Guests:

• Randy DeFoor, attorney and former Jacksonville City Council member
• A.G. Gancarski, reporter at Florida Politics, columnist at Jacksonville Today
• David Bauerlein, metro reporter at the Florida Times-Union
• Tricia Booker, author and journalism professor at the University of North Florida

And, the historic Norman Studios Silent Film Museum screens its first film of the new year, focusing on a favorite genre of the studio’s namesake. Richard Edward Norman, who produced silent films featuring African Americans at the Arlington site from 1919 to 1928, was a fan of Westerns. The short film Wild (1921) screens at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the Rita F. Reagan Set Building followed by Sky High (1922), starring Tom Mix. The screening is free, but registration is required.

Guest: Barbara Wingo, president, Norman Studios Silent Film Museum Inc.

State Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville, formally announced Thursday morning that she is entering the race for U.S. Senate. The announcement puts the Florida House District 13 Democrat in an uphill battle against the existing Republican senator, Ashley Moody, whom Gov. Ron DeSantis handpicked for the job after Marco Rubio left to join the Trump administration. Moody is the only significant GOP contender for the seat. Before facing Moody, Nixon must first square off in an August primary against other Democratic candidates, including former Brevard County School Board member Jennifer Jenkins. We spoke to Nixon from her office in Tallahassee to find out why she’s in.

Guest: State Rep. Angie Nixon

Though it’s her eighth published book, Jacksonville author, podcaster and journalist Nikesha Williams’ The Seven Daughters of Dupree is her first with a “Big 5” publishing house (in this case, Simon & Schuster). We talk to her about the power of self-publishing, the rigors of writing, the quest for work-life balance and what it means to make it to the majors. We also discuss the book’s multigenerational exploration of trauma, systemic racism and the eternal pull of family.

Guest: Nikesha Elise Williams, host of the Black & Published podcast, author of The Seven Daughters of Dupree

And, a local event honors the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. for authors and book enthusiasts alike. The JAX Urban Book Festival launched with the intention of promoting community engagement through literature and social progress. Inspired by King’s work, the event is part of the MLK “week of service” observances. Now in its third year, the festival at James Weldon Johnson Park focuses on Black stories and authors and includes master classes for aspiring writers and appearances by authors from Jacksonville and across the county. The event is free, but registration is required and volunteers are still needed.

Guests:

• Natasha Slaughter, festival chair, JAX Urban Book Festival
• Valecia Brooks Dunbar, author and founder of DREAMWEEK INC.

From negotiating the future of rocket reentry to safely defusing explosive political debates, the work at Cecil Spaceport is an ever-expanding universe. We talk to the man helming the spaceport about ongoing development, management challenges (both logistical and interpersonal), and why priorities have shifted away from becoming the East Coast’s first-licensed commercial horizontal launch spaceport.

Guest: Matt Bocchino, director, Cecil Airport and Spaceport

Then, a deep dive into the science and history of Jacksonville’s oldest national park. The 11th Timucuan Science and History Symposium on Friday will feature authors, researchers and professors discussing the history, archaeology, ecosystems and unusual inhabitants of the Timucuan Ecological and Historical Preserve. Attendees will hear updates on continuing projects, including the status of wetland elevation and shoreline movement and a study on American Beach becoming a National Historic Landmark.

Guest: Fred Richards, executive director of Timucuan Parks Foundation

And, one of the earliest musicals to incorporate the omnipresence and pressures of social media, the Tony and Grammy award-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen dominated Broadway throughout its nearly six-year run. Now, it comes to Players by the Sea, one of the first community theaters in the country to stage it. We talk to the director and star about the show’s messages of connectivity, consequences and the complexities of individual mental health.

Guests:

• Bradley Akers, managing director of Players by the Sea
• Chad Boyd, actor playing Evan Hansen in Dear Evan Hansen

ICE came to Jax for real last week, with widespread reports of immigrant (and non-immigrant) detentions, roadblocks and arrests. A city employee was placed on leave for suggesting fellow Hispanics prepare for the possibility of being stopped and comply if they are. And a woman was arrested after she was accused of punching a state trooper working with ICE. We get perspective from a local civil rights attorney, a local organizer and a religious leader from Jacksonville who experienced firsthand the aftermath of the fatal Minneapolis ICE shooting.

Guests:

• Matt Kachergus, criminal defense and civil rights attorney
• Maria Garcia, Jacksonville Immigration Alliance 
• The Very Rev. Kate Moorehead Carroll, dean of St. John’s Cathedral
  

Then, a wind quintet focused on faith and representation. Imani Winds was created with a goal to broaden both the diversity of performers and the pool of available music. The New York-based musicians perform globally and have commissioned more than two dozen songs by performers of color and with diverse backgrounds as part of its Legacy Commissioning Project, created in 2008. In addition to offering a free, public master class at the Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts on Jan. 27, the Grammy-award winning quintet will perform a program titled The French Connection later that day at the Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island, as part of the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival.

Guests:

• Nathaniel Efthimiou, music director of the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestras
• Robyn Lamp, executive director of the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival

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

• The Jacksonville Transportation Authority scales back plans to abolish its paratransit service after community backlash.
• State lawmakers move to block public participation in development matters, even as residents opposed to a local development are told to “move."
• A city employee’s advice for dealing with ICE leads to suspension.
• A local reporter makes her own headlines for effusive praise after the Jags lose.
• Murray Hill residents opposed to local stench gain traction in a lawsuit against a Westside fragrance factory.

Guests:

• Mike Mendenhall, associate editor and City Hall reporter at Jacksonville Today
• Jack Webb, attorney and former City Council president
• Christina Burgess, reporter at First Coast News
• Ben Becker, anchor at Action News Jax 

And, a local artist who would eventually win international acclaim for his raku-style pottery spent most of his life as an accountant in Mandarin. Charlie Moses Brown didn't turn his full attention to pottery until he was 58, in 1962, when he began harvesting his own clay from riverbanks in Green Cove Springs. Brown did all of his work by hand, eschewing the traditional wheel, creating everything from pots to jewelry. He even designed ornaments for Vice President Walter Mondale’s Christmas tree. An exhibit of his work, When the Kiln is Opened: The Art of Charlie Moses Brown, is on display at Mandarin Museum through March 21.

Guest: Brittany Cohill, executive director of the Mandarin Museum & Historical Society

Calida Rawles calls her work “a family affair,” and much of it features her own four children and other relatives. But the story she tells is of a much broader relationship, exploring Black history and identity through hyperrealistic paintings featuring partially submerged figures framed by rippling, refracted waters. Rawles’ current exhibit at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens portrays longtime residents of Miami’s Overtown community, one of hundreds of historic Black communities divided or destroyed by the nation’s interstate highway system. Her work is on display at the Cummer through March 1.

Guest: Calida Rawles, visual artist, Away with the Tides

Then, a literal growth opportunity: Greenscape of Jacksonville hosts its annual Free Tree Giveaway, distributing 1,800 free saplings to local residents to help expand the city’s tree canopy. Residents can receive up to three trees, along with instructions about where to plant and how to care for them. The group is partnering with Keep Jacksonville Beautiful to offer free paper recycling at the event, which also recognizes the University of North Florida’s new designation as a Tree Campus USA by the Arbor Day Foundation.

Guests:  

• Dan Durben, executive coordinator of Keep Jacksonville Beautiful
• Rhonda Gracie, horticulturist at the University of North Florida
• Nicole Kresse, executive director, Greenscape of Jacksonville 

And, we’re getting closer to the start of the region’s signature marathon. DONNA Marathon Weekend 2026 runs Jan. 30-Feb. 1. Besides the main and half marathon, it includes a slew of events targeted at survivors, supporters and athletes of every ability — from the 5K, DONNA Dash and Ultra 110, to the second annual fan-favorite event, the Pete’s Bar DONNA Crawl, in which runners peel off from the 26.2 after just two miles and grab a cold one at the iconic Beach watering hole. Due to planned Stadium of the Future and other Downtown construction, all events will be held at the beach this year. The Donna Foundation provides support and financial relief to those living with a breast cancer diagnosis.

Guest: Amanda Napolitano, executive director, The Donna Foundation

The U.S.'s surprise reversal on decades of accepted dietary recommendations opens the door to meat and fats and loosens the rules around alcohol. What does it mean for doctors and their (rightfully confused) patients? We discuss that, along with the significance of Mattel’s new autistic Barbie and the likelihood of resurgent measles with Dr. Joe Sirven.

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

Then, the Jacksonville' Public Library’s elegant Ansbacher Map Room this weekend will be the backdrop for a discussion called Mapping Our Past, highlighting a project by two scholars focused on telling the story of Florida’s history through maps. Beginning with the 1511 Martyr Map, the project includes modern views of Florida from space and the digitization of more than 10,000 historical maps. We meet the researchers ahead of Saturday's event.

Guests:  

• Tammy Kiter, librarian, special collections, Jacksonville Public Library 
• Rodney Kite-Powell, director of the Touchton Map Library at the Tampa Bay History Center

Finally on Wednesday's show: a preview of an upcoming concert series celebrating the legacy of St. Augustine’s Gamble Rogers. The Gamble Rogers Folk Festival features intimate monthly concerts at the St. Augustine Waterworks. This month, award-winning singer-songwriter Wil Maring and virtuoso guitarist and fiddler Robert Bowlin come together for a performance at 7 p.m. Saturday. The following months include appearances by Nashville-based singer-songwriter Sunny War, guitarist and harmonica player Pat Bergeson and renowned jazz guitarist Bruce Forman. November's featured artist, Jordan Tice, already joined the program.

Guest: Lee Hunter, artistic director, Gamble Rogers Folk Festival