WJCT News Now

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

Supper club

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

Talent show

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

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Thousands of Duval County Public Schools students are experiencing homelessness, and a local nonprofit is turning to basketball to raise awareness and support before the new school year. Plus, Colorado State University has lowered its Atlantic hurricane season forecast.

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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

Lived experience

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

Deck the halls

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

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A Heat Advisory is in effect across Northeast Florida as forecasters warn that feels-like temperatures could reach up to 110 degrees. Also, Fernandina Beach approves new regulations for e-bikes and other personal mobility devices, setting speed limits and penalties aimed at improving safety.

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A Jacksonville landlord’s real-life squatters nightmare drew local and national attention for dramatically highlighting the maddening legal hurdles some homeowners face when trying to evict these unwanted and illegal tenants. Now, her story is just one of several featured in a new Hulu docuseries — and isn’t even close to being the worst. We ask her about the path from crime victim to legislative advocate and how she continues to hear from the vandals who occupied her Springfield rental for more than a month. We also get a local real estate lawyer’s advice on how to squat-proof your home and how tactics for fighting illegal occupation are evolving in step with the strange practice.

Guests:

• Patti Peeples, Jacksonville homeowner featured on Hulu docuseries Squatters: Get The F*** Out of My House 

• Zach Roth, real estate attorney, Ansbacher Law

House call from Dr. Joe

A study showing seismically better success rates with morning cancer treatments proved too good to be true. We discuss why the much-publicized study in the journal Nature Medicine has now been retracted after its Chinese authors acknowledged it did not meet the rigorous standards of a “high-impact journal.” We also discuss the role that inflammation may play in the treatment of depression and the explosive resurgence of a stomach ailment that should persuade everyone to wash your damn hands. 

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

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Charges have been filed against five people, including two sitting St. Johns County commissioners and a St. Augustine Beach city commissioner, in connection with an alleged fake Republican voter guide distributed during the 2024 primary election. We'll also look at the future of Jacksonville's Riverfront Plaza, where European Street Cafe has been selected to operate the park's café as the downtown destination continues to expand.

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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

Paper trail

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

Collective memory

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

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A judge has ruled that a Libertarian candidate can remain on the ballot in Jacksonville’s upcoming City Council special election, setting up a three-way race for the open seat. Plus, Jacksonville Transportation Authority CEO Nat Ford announces his retirement after leading major transit projects, including the launch of the nation’s first autonomous vehicle public transit system.

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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

Hard at work

A Murray Hill hardcore club reopened last weekend 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

Order up

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

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The Jacksonville Housing Authority is proposing a new policy that would give many housing assistance recipients three months to find a job under a pending federal housing rule, though some residents say that timeline is unrealistic. Plus, Jacksonville is preparing for its two-day FreedomFest celebration, with officials urging attendees to arrive early, expect traffic and bridge closures, and take precautions against the summer heat.

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