First Coast Connect

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

• ICE agents are involved in three deaths in just one week — including one in St. Augustine.
• The governor steps up his already record-setting pace of executions, scheduling two on the same day.
• The courts stop STOP WOKE — again — on college campuses.
• Duval County School Board candidate Clarence James just can’t quit AI.
• The “Harvard of the culinary world” agrees to make Jacksonville its Southeast home.

Guests:

• Christina Burgess, reporter, First Coast News
• Jack Webb, attorney and former Jacksonville City Council president
• Obi Umunna, attorney and political consultant

The Art Center Cooperative Inc. has hosted more than 100 exhibits since its inception in 2005, but its newest exhibit is a look-ahead at the future. Titled “Temperature Rising,” the exhibit inside the Jacksonville Main Library explores the central question as temperatures rise: “Is it just hot outside, or is it climate change?” Featuring pieces from 22 artists, the show is open through Aug. 17, with a free reception Aug. 5 during Art Walk. Local artists have a chance to participate in the group’s next show, called “It’s In The Books,” which asks artists to create a piece inspired by their favorite book. The deadline to submit a piece is Tuesday, and the exhibit will be on display from Aug. 17 to Oct. 5. Both exhibits are supported by a Cultural Services grant, which could see impacts in the forthcoming city budget. We ask the group’s grant coordinator about the possibility of funding cuts and the value of financing community culture.

Guest: Ed Malesky, wood artist, secretary and grant coordinator, Art Center Cooperative Inc.

Well, that escalated quickly. Just hours after a new state law took effect offering a fast track to develop Florida’s farmlands, four large-scale developers applied to take advantage of it. Senate Bill 686 allows property owners to develop their land at least as intensely as adjacent properties without going through any additional rezoning process at the county level. The streamlined procedure also places a 30-day timetable for county approval, meaning longstanding agricultural lands could become massive residential developments without any input from the public or local lawmakers. As reported by the Jacksonville Business Journal, of the four properties in question the largest by far is a 4,426-acre parcel situated west of the Intracoastal and north of Nocatee Parkway. The land is owned by Sonoc Co., the holding company associated with The PARC Group, which developed Nocatee. We explore the practical implications of accommodating the new law in an increasingly growth-strained county, as well as the political debate that is already emerging among growth-averse residents.

Guests:

• Stuart Korfhage, managing editor at the Jacksonville Business Journal
• Noah Hertz, St. Johns County reporter at Jacksonville Today

A new drug for high blood pressure could make treatment far easier for patients — and its final trial is happening on the First Coast. A Phase 3 clinical trial will examine the effectiveness of a twice-yearly injection that’s designed to lower blood pressure at its source. During previous trials, the drug was shown to block the liver’s production of angiotensinogen, which in turn reduces levels of a hormone known to increase blood pressure. Researchers say the goal of the multiyear trial is to identify whether lowering one’s blood pressure through this new injection reduces the likelihood of stroke, heart attack and cardiovascular death.

Guest: Dr. Mitchell Rothstein, principal investigator, ENCORE Research Group

Ever wonder what Jacksonville newspaper headlines or cartoons looked like back in the day? The Jacksonville Library’s newly expanded digital database includes local newspaper collections, from The Florida Times-Union and the Jacksonville Journal to the Beaches Leader. The archive includes newspaper pages, photographs, graphics and ads from papers dating back as far as 1883. We sit down with two special collections librarians to hear how online archives are bridging a historical gap and connecting a new generation to traditional news sources.

Guests:

• Claire Manos, special collections librarian, Jacksonville Public Library
• Tatyanna Brash, special collections librarian, Jacksonville Public Library

A local songwriting competition invites songwriters to perform original songs inspired by a select theme — in this case, obstacles. The Songwriter Competition is hosted by local musician and songwriter Joyce Whorton at The Inkwell Art Bar in Fernandina Beach, described as an “intimate listening room setting.” Participants are judged on the quality and creativity of their lyrics, melody and structure. The event also highlights the Art Bar’s weekly Open Mic Nights, which gives local musicians a welcoming space to perform. The event is at 6-10 p.m. Monday. Participants can register here.

Guest: Joyce Whorton, local musician and songwriter

Connor Cauley, one of the “City Hall Three,” was recently released from jail after serving a 60-day sentence for battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer without violence. The case grew out of May 2025 pro-Palestine disturbance at a meeting of the Jacksonville City Council, during which Cauley and two others were arrested. Although he lost his case at trial, his defense rested on a claim that he could not be held liable for resisting, because the officer “was not lawfully executing a legal duty.” The Florida Legislature eliminated that legal defense this year in a bill that greatly expands protections for law enforcement officers. Under the new law, resistance is unjustified even if the officer is acting illegally or using excessive force. We ask Cawley about the jury verdict and his time served, and ask his lawyer how the new law will affect defendants in the future.

Guests:  

• Conor Cauley, protester arrested, one of the “City Hall Three”
• Melinda Patterson, criminal defense attorney

An Oceanway community group formed to fight blight in the Northside neighborhood has evolved into an alliance that is about connection as much as cleaning up. The founder of Collect & Connect — Keep Oceanway Beautiful was inspired to take action after seeing increased dumping and “a ton of trash everywhere.” The group, which now has about 300 members, and a smaller core group of regular volunteers, has been recognized twice by the Jacksonville Litter League, an inter-neighborhood competition for prizes and bragging rights. We ask two volunteers about the appeal of dirty work.

Guests:

• Susan Shinego, co-founder, Collect & Connect — Keep Oceanway Beautiful
• Jolie Levene-Pryor, volunteer member, Collect & Connect — Keep Oceanway Beautiful

Murray Hill makers, bakers and movers & shakers gather for the annual Midsummer Market. The twilight celebration includes a curated list of vendors, including florists, artisan bakers and handmade crafters selling their wares to a soundtrack of live jazz. The community event will be held from 7-10 p.m. Saturday at Spruce, 3644 Post Street. We sit down with the owner of the host venue to discuss the appeal of a neighborhood market on a hot night.

Guest: Ida Vera, owner of Spruce and founder of Midsummer Market

Should Jacksonville adopt a data center moratorium? And what does a potential lawsuit by the Jacksonville Aviation Authority against the city mean for the future of consolidated government? We ask Mayor Donna Deegan about that, as well as how newly proposed Jacksonville Housing Authority job requirements could affect her plan to address homelessness in the city.

Guest: Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan

Then, a Northside bakery expands its family-owned footprint to West Jacksonville. We ask the “The Cookie Man’s” daughter-in-law about carrying on his sweet legacy with an expansion of Arble Baking Co. The bakery has served cakes, pies and handmade cookies from its Dunn Avenue location for years, but before that, the family business was built around the reputation of Willis “The Cookie Man” Anderson, who made and sold cookies from his home kitchen for the better part of four decades. The new location opens later this year at Community First Credit Union’s new Murray Hill branch — former site of Edgewood Bakery.

Guests:

• Teia Anderson, co-founder, Arble Baking Co.
• Sam Inman, president and CEO, Community First Credit Union

What began as a community coalition evolved into a community development group and ultimately a vehicle to access much needed federal housing funds. The Historic Eastside — defined by the neighborhoods of East Jacksonville, Fairfield, Oakland, Campbells’ Addition and Phoenix — celebrates a decade in the business of growth and transformation with an evening devoted to history and storytelling. Al Letson, a Jacksonville native and Peabody Award-winning host of the podcast Reveal, returns to town to celebrate one of the city’s most important historically Black neighborhoods at Always Been Here: An Evening with Al Letson. The event will be held at WJCT Studios at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Guest: Suzanne Pickett, CEO of Historic Eastside Community Development Corp.

A lawsuit challenging the limits of city power is taking shape. The Jacksonville Aviation Authority is preparing to take the city to court for allegedly "pickpocketing" the authority's cash reserves and quashing its state-granted autonomy. Animosity between JAA and the city, which has been brewing for years, recently accelerated with the ascension of council President Nick Howland, who has pushed for greater influence over airport budgets, particularly development of Cecil Field. We speak to the executive editor of the Florida Trib whose reporting details why this is happening now and what’s at stake.

Guest: Nate Monroe, executive editor, the Florida Trib

In the 460 years since it was established, the city of St. Augustine has had just a handful of Black lawmakers. Before Commissioner Cynthia Garris took office in 2022, there were just five: Commissioner and Vice Mayor Errol Jones (who served from 2002-’12), Commissioner and Vice Mayor Henry Twine (who served from 1983-’92), Commissioner Richard White (served from 1990-1994), Commissioner Arnett Chase who was was elected in 1973 and Alderman John Papino (who served during Reconstruction before being shot in the face by a white marshal in 1902). Coupled with the city’s tortured civil rights protest era, during which the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. called the city the “most lawless” he’d encountered, the historic paucity of Black leadership makes the recent election of a Black woman mayor a momentous occasion in the Ancient City. We sit down with the mayor-elect to discuss its significance, as well as what mark she hopes to leave during her term in office.

Guest: Cynthia Garris, mayor-elect, city of St. Augustine

For more than a decade, the River City Chorus has performed uplifting, spiritual and patriotic tunes at churches around the First Coast. During their summer performance series, they typically donate ticket proceeds to a local charity. We ask the chorus director about the charity selection process and what’s included in their summer songbook. River City Chorus has three upcoming performances: July 17 at Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church, July 18 at Arlington Presbyterian Church and July 19 at Riverside Park Methodist Church.

Guests:

• Dale Choate, director, River City Chorus
• Chelsea Weise, Young Lives director, River City Chorus

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

• Election season starts with a bang as three St. Johns County lawmakers are charged with an unauthorized voter guide.
• A new law increases penalties for mandatory reporters who don’t report suspected child abuse. 
• A grand jury is digging into Douglas Anderson’s history of teacher sexual misconduct, even as the school district finds leaders “knowingly failed” to report abuse allegations. For a deeper dive on the topic, see Megan Mallicoat's four-part investigation, The Show Must Go On, which won the Best Investigative Journalism award from the Institute for Nonprofit News.

Guests:

• Frank Powers, former assignment manager at News4Jax
• Megan Mallicoat, education reporter at Jacksonville Today
• John Daigle, political consultant, former reporter
• Noah Hertz, St. Johns County reporter, Jacksonville Today

Bridging the gaps between jazz, folk and comedy is no easy feat, but singer songwriter Vance Gilbert has stitched it up across a 30+ year career. After being tapped to open Shawn Colvin’s tour the year she broke into the Top 10 and won two Grammys for her song Sunny Came Home, he’s opened for such varied musical artists as Anita Baker and Arlo Guthrie. But he also suits a lighter style, warming up crowds for legendary comic George Carlin at more than 150 performances. Gilbert takes the stage at Amelia Island’s Story & Song Center for Arts & Culture on Friday, and at The Back Room at Ronan School Of Music in Jacksonville on Saturday. We ask the artist about his many hats, his musical roots and the inspiration animating his current tour.

Our election season coverage continues with 4th Congressional District candidate Brit Robinson. The self-described Democratic Socialist is positioning herself as the voice for young, working class voters, calling the current administration “fascist and authoritarian” and accusing her incumbent opponent of being “complicit” in an anti-democratic agenda. Robinson faces fellow Democrats Michael Kirwan and LaShonda Holloway in the Aug. 18 primary. If successful, she would face Republican incumbent Aaron Bean. First Coast Connect will be covering a range of local races and election-related topics between now and Nov. 3. You can find detailed information about upcoming elections, including information about candidates and ballot initiatives in your specific district, at the nonpartisan League of Women Voters website Vote411.org. The deadline to register to vote in or change your party affiliation ahead of the August primaries is July 20.

Guest: Brit Robinson, Democratic candidate for Florida’s 4th Congressional District

The unifying power of food is the organizing conceit of a new undertaking by Jacksonville Today. The nonprofit newsroom recently held the inaugural meeting of its Dinner Club, a group created to celebrate food and friendship by helping strangers connect over meals. The club hosts monthly meetings at restaurants, matching like-minded diners with menus that appeal to their palate and pocketbook. We talk to the WJCT minds behind the concept about what they’re hoping to achieve, and ask a Dinner Club participant about how the first iteration of the experiment went down.

Guests:

• Katie Sims, nutritionist and Jax Today Dinner Club participant
• Jessica Palombo, editor, Jacksonville Today
• Pete Havens, director of revenue and business management for Jacksonville Today and WJCT Public Media

The former producer of Harlem’s legendary Amateur Night at the Apollo brings the competitive vibe to the “Harlem of the South” — Jacksonville’s historic LaVilla neighborhood — and the stage of the Ritz Theatre. Once graced by performers like Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles and Duke Ellington, the restored Ritz now plays host to aspiring First Coast performers of every stripe. The upcoming Puttin' on the Ritz talent competition will be held Friday at the theatre at 829 North Davis St. We talk to the organizers about cultivating the next generation of artists through healthy competition.

Guests:

• Deborah McDuffie, artistic director, Ritz Theatre & Museum and creator and producer of Puttin’ On The Ritz
• Dr. Shaun Powell, community development and outreach, Ritz Theatre & Museum

The Mayo Clinic calls it addictive, unsafe and ineffective. Opponents call it “gas station heroin.” But for Patti Wheeler, it’s the tragic cause of death for her 27-year-old son Robert “Wyatt” Wheeler, who suffered a fatal seizure just six weeks after he began taking Kratom. With the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announcing July 1 that it is implementing a temporary, emergency ban on synthetic, concentrated forms of the drug — a compound called 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) — we talk to Wheeler about her years of advocacy work and why she believes the ban needs to be broader and permanent. We also speak to a local recovery expert about the unique threats and challenges posed by ever-evolving formulas of synthetic drugs.

Guests:

• Patti Wheeler, author, film producer, founder of A Beautiful Life Stolen
• Nick Padlo, founder and CEO of Sophros Recovery

The Jacksonville Housing Authority is poised to implement new work requirements and eviction guidelines that would be among the strictest public housing rules in the nation. The story broke in a series of reports by Jacksonville Today’s newest reporter, who found that JHA has crafted a local version of federal Housing and Urban Development guidelines, even though the rules are optional and still face a variety of legal challenges. Among the changes: JHA tenants would be required to work at least 30 hours a week and have just three months to find employment if they lose their job. We discuss the story, as well as her earlier work on an investigation that led to the release of a 72-year-old woman imprisoned for life after a shooting in self-defense.

Guest: Elizabeth Caldwell, investigative reporter, Jacksonville Today

The Lufrano Gallery at the University of North Florida is the backdrop for an artistic recycling project that shreds traditional expectations. Artist Zakriya Rabini uses hundreds of damaged and destroyed skateboard decks to create surprisingly haunting artistic installations that he’s dubbed “Divine Decks.” The artist drops in for a freewheeling discussion about his rise from grom to gallery director, and why the board provides a perfect launching pad for larger discussions about society and the scars that come with human experience. The exhibit opens July 13 and runs through late September.

Guest: Zakriya Rabani, artist, director of fine arts operations and gallery director at Jacksonville University

With the passing of July 4th, election season gets underway in earnest, along with our candidate interviews. Firebrand First Coast lawmaker Angie Nixon joins us to discuss her bid for U.S. Senate, in which she faces Republican incumbent Ashley Moody and fellow Democrat Alex Vindman. Nixon comes to the race with a funding disadvantage but with a reputation as a fighter (albeit one with few legislative victories), as well as a vocal foe of the governor. We ask her why she chose to leave a “safe” seat — and what would have been her fourth and final term in the state House — in order to run for a seat in the upper chamber. First Coast Connect will be covering a range of local races and election-related topics between now and Nov. 3. You can find detailed information about upcoming elections, including information about candidates and ballot initiatives in your specific district, at the nonpartisan League of Women Voters website Vote411.org. The deadline to register to vote in the August primaries is July 20.

Guest: State Rep. Angie Nixon, candidate for U.S. Senate

The world’s largest private collection of historic documents returns to Northeast Florida. Although the Jacksonville Karpeles Manuscript Museum in Springfield closed in 2023 as part of a reorganization by its parent company, a new St. Augustine location will serve as the internationally known museum’s flagship. The Karpeles Manuscript Library features an array of rare manuscripts and artifacts spanning centuries of history from Civil War records to writings by Albert Einstein to Disney animation sketches. We talk to the museum’s director about the history of the collection, their mission to make historic documents accessible to future generations and what visitors can expect during their soft opening as America celebrates its 250th birthday.

Guest: Wayne Jackson, director, Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum

Jacksonville’s newest community theater stages its inaugural show with a nod to the musical version of the 1982 classic film Victor/Victoria. The Arts Collective Theatre is a joint project of longtime First Coast performers Lee Hamby and Julie Harrington and aims to broaden local theater offerings while serving as “a sanctuary for artists of all backgrounds.” We discuss how the first show of what the team is calling “Season Zero” fits the creators’ vision and what challenges have come with the maiden production. Victor/Victoria opens July 10 and runs through July 26.

Guests: 

• Lee Hamby, artistic director, Arts Collective Theatre
• Josh Waller, actor playing Toddy in Victor/Victoria
• Joshua Bond, actor playing King in Victor/Victoria

The dividing lines created or reinforced by segregation and redlining sustain a toxic tide, according to a new report in The Florida Trib. Intensive flooding from recent hurricanes, and increasingly, during ordinary rainstorms, carry a range of pollutants. But in historically Black communities in Jacksonville, those floodwaters carry an additional hazard. Trib investigative journalism fellow Trinity Webster-Bass writes, “More than half of Jacksonville’s vulnerable industrial sites are situated in neighborhoods near or in the heart of downtown Jacksonville, known as the Urban Core, home to some of the oldest majority-Black parts of the city.” The story explores why the legacy of the region’s most polluted places disproportionately affect communities of color in ways that residents, health experts and scientists are just beginning to grapple with. We talk to Webster-Bass about why these threats are increasing as the planet warms and what the city is doing to address the issue.

Guest: Trinity Webster-Bass, investigative journalism fellow, Florida Trib

A Murray Hill hardcore club reopened after it was forced to shut down over permitting issues. A new report by Jacksonville Today reporter Noah Hertz examines how the club’s operating ethos — and even its temporary closure — fit into the historic continuum of Jacksonville's enduring punk music scene. We also preview the grand reopening of Hard Love, including which bands will take the stage to break the loud fast rules.

Guest: Noah Hertz, St. Johns County reporter, Jacksonville Today

Getting plant-based offerings on the menu is the focus of the annual Vegan Chef Challenge, which asks restaurants to either temporarily or permanently expand their meat, dairy and cruelty-free offerings. The fourth annual event will be held throughout the month of August, but organizers are currently seeking restaurants and chefs of any stripe to participate. The only requirement is adding one to three items to menus during the event. We talk to a co-organizer about making gradual progress to a diet that is healthier both for individuals and the planet. Chefs have until Friday, July 10 to apply.

Guest: Raquel Little, co-organizer, Jacksonville Vegan Chef Challenge