First Coast Connect

Monday on First Coast Connect we discussed the shooting Sunday at The Jacksonville Landing that left three dead, including the gunman, and 11 wounded. Sunday’s violence came on top of a shooting Friday at Raines High School that left on dead and one wounded. We spoke with WJCT reporter Lindsey Kilbride , UF Health emergency medicine physician Dr. David Caro, Dr. Marie Crandall who was the attending trauma surgeon at UF Health Sunday and Ryan Thompson, who is the founder of the local gaming

Our Friday First Coast Connect featured Florida Times-Union reporter Tessa Duval , Folio Weekly editor Claire Goforth , Jacksonville Daily Record reporter David Cawton and WJCT reporter Ryan Benk . Topics included Florida’s Primary election is on Tuesday . We discussed the state and local races, including the governor’s race and 5th district Democratic Congressiona l primary. Controversy erupts when most Supervisors of Elections say they won’t be placing early voting sites this fall on college

Thursday on First Coast Connect we spoke with bestselling author Craig Unger . He’s written the book House of Trump, House of Putin: The Untold Story of Donald Trump and the Russian Mafia . The book looks into Trump’s alleged long history connecting his real estate dealings with the Russians (1:00). A stunning mural depicting the story of Ax Handle Saturday is now complete on Jacksonville’s Eastside. The event happened in August 1960 when local whites beat a group of students trying to integrate

Wednesday on First Coast Connect: In the wake of Tuesday’s conviction of President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort on eight federal counts and the guilty plea of Trump’s formal personal lawyer Michael Cohen we spoke GOP strategist Rick Wilson. Wilson is a longtime critic of the president and author of the best selling book Everything Trump Touches Dies , (1:30). Early voting is underway and the August Primary election is on Tuesday. We spoke with Republican candidate for

Tuesday on First Coast Connect we spoke with outgoing We Care Jacksonville Executive Director Dr. Sue Nussbaum along with her successor Susan King , the former Executive Director at Beaches Emergency Assistance Ministry. They discussed the Affordable Care Act and the need to provide healthcare for Jacksonville’s poor and homeless (01:13). We spoke with Dr. Seth Baum , a cardiologist based in Boca Raton . He has been working to help patients with high LDL cholesterol receive the PCSK9 inhibitor

Monday on First Coast Connect we spoke with former Jacksonville Mayor and Democratic 5th Congressional District candidate Alvin Brown . Incumbent Congressman Al Lawson was to appear with Brown but cancelled citing a scheduling conflict (01:27). Author Tim Gilmore joined us to talk about his latest book Goat Island Hermit: The State of Florida vs. Rollians Christopher. He has a book signing and reading event at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Jacksonville Historical Society (36:07). Cole Pepper told us

Our Friday Media Roundtable on First Coast Connect featured Mark Woods from the Florida Times-Union, WJCT contributor Fred Matthews , Folio Weekly reporter Madeleine Peck Wagner and Jacksonville Business Journal Editor Timothy Gibbons . Issues discussed included Amidst a wave of violent crime, Mayor Lenny Curry appears to place most of the blame on the previous administration . Controversy erupts after Florida Times-Union Editorial editor Mike Clark was interviewed this week on PBS Newshour

Thursday on First Coast Connect Melissa read an editorial from Thursday’s Florida Times-Union , which was one of many published by over 300 newspapers across the country promoting the freedom of the press and the need to end the war between President Donald Trump and the media. We asked the audience to respond (01:15). We discussed the trend of people’s leaving the suburbs and moving back to main cities with urban development consultant and lecturer with the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at

Wednesday on First Coast Connect we heard about the upcoming Florida Refugee Cup soccer match, held to highlight the importance of refugees and immigrants to the Jacksonville community, with ANSL League Director Josh Kimball , Coach of the Jax Eagles and Florida Eagles soccer teams Henry Howard, and Florida Immigrant Coalition refugee organizer Basma Alawee (01:05). The Land and Water Conservation Fund , created by Congress in 1964, is scheduled to sunset on Sept. 30. We spoke with Florida

Tuesday on First Coast Connect we talked about the fate of the Blekic family, who, despite following all the rules while living on the First Coast for 10 years, were denied asylum status and deported back to Bosnia . We spoke with Florida Times-Union columnist Mark Woods, who has been following the family, and Professor Ericka Curran, who runs the immigration clinic at Florida Coastal School of Law. A GoFundMe account has been opened for the family to raise enough money that would allow them to