WJCT News Now

After the Legislature hastily approved a ballot initiative to slash property taxes, Florida is just beginning to reckon with the costs. If approved by 60% of the voters in November, the measure would almost instantly slash the budgets of cities and small towns by more than $8 billion, according to a new nonpartisan analysis by the state’s Revenue Estimating Conference. That loss would compound over time, as additional property tax cuts — including for business and out-of-state homeowners — are phased in. Though the Revenue Estimating Conference is supposed to evaluate the cost of state proposals before they’re approved, the after-the-fact analysis is the first detailed examination of local impacts. Investigative reporter Jason Garcia breaks down the story behind the numbers, including the service cuts and fee hikes that would likely result.

Guest: Jason Garcia, investigative reporter, publisher of the Seeking Rents website and podcast

Miracle workers

A nascent partnership between First Coast Crime Stoppers and Jacksonville’s animal welfare agency, Animal Care and Protective Services, led to the arrest of a dog owner on animal cruelty charges earlier this year. In part inspired by that success, Crime Stoppers is expanding its animal cruelty tip line to include Nassau County. Though the great dane “Miracle” didn’t survive after it was discovered injured, emaciated and abandoned by a Jacksonville roadside, the case helped raise awareness of the anonymous animal cruelty tip line and the cash rewards offered for information leading to an arrest. We discuss how the partners hope the expanded effort helps stem animal abuse and neglect across the region.

Guests:

• Chase Robinson, executive director, First Coast Crime Stoppers

• Steve MacKinnon, director, Nassau County Animal Services

250 plus 4th

Two days of celebrations mark Independence Day in Jacksonville this year in recognition of the nation’s semiquincentennial. On July 3, from 5:30-10 p.m., Friendship Fountain on the city’s Southbank will be home to Freedom Fest, an event featuring live music, food trucks and free apple pies to the first 1,000 guests. On July 4th, the city’s Riverfront Plaza will feature local art, live bands and the largest fireworks display in Jacksonville's history. The event runs from 4 to 9:30 p.m., with fireworks getting underway at 9 p.m. We talk to organizers to get tips on viewing, parking and celebrating safely.

Guests:

• Alex Alston, executive director of sports and entertainment, city of Jacksonville

• Garrett Callis, parks community programs manager, city of Jacksonville

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A new pilot program in Jacksonville between the city and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development aims to expand affordable housing through modern manufactured homes, with the first site planned for the city’s Northside. Also, a wide range of new Florida laws take effect as the state begins its new fiscal year.

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A series of secretive proposed land swaps involving private property owners and the National Park Service have raised alarms that Georgia's largest barrier island could be facing more, and more intensive development. The swaps involve trading publicly held land for environmentally strategic, privately held parcels — something the Park Service says will allow the agency to conserve more vulnerable lands, but which advocates fear will permit private landholders to build larger projects on bigger properties. We discuss the often fraught relationship between land advocates and its federal and state stewards, as well as what a new administration’s priorities mean for an island required to be preserved in a “primitive” state.

Guest: Kelly Cox, senior policy specialist, National Wildlife Refuges and Parks Program, Defenders of Wildlife

Not My City

Stopping domestic violence by putting the onus on men. We discuss a new prevention initiative that aims to instill in boys and men both the skills and the sense of obligation needed to effectively combat domestic violence. The program is an outgrowth of Hubbard House’s volunteer program Men Against Violence Against Women. Titled “Not My City,” the effort focuses on ways men can effectively support girls and women, while fostering empathy and engagement among their peers. An organizational meeting will be held from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Cox Media Group Jacksonville’s Farah & Farah Performance Studio (11700 Central Parkway). Registration is requested.

Guests:

• Stephanie Brown, director of community education, Hubbard House

• Stephen Dackiewicz, board president, Hubbard House

In the Limelight

For the past 35 years, St. Augustine’s only year-round community theater has provided a stage for amateur and rising professional artists alike. Whether staging broad, campy productions like the musical “Hairspray,” or thoughtful absurdist pieces like last year’s “Rhinoceros,” Limelight has proven itself a key fixture on St. Johns County’s cultural landscape. The theater also hosts a monthly open mic night for local performers, comics and artistic upstarts to test drive material in a welcoming, experimental atmosphere. We discuss the theater’s evolution on its path to the the 35-year mark and what its upcoming season will bring.

Guest: Missy Schmotzer, interim executive director and director of education, Limelight Theatre

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The Baldwin Middle-Senior High School principal is facing a felony charge after an allegation that he failed to report child abuse. Also, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed the state’s new budget while using his veto power to cut more than $800 million in proposed spending.

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Decades of industrial manufacturing has polluted both ground and water in Brunswick, Georgia, and surrounding Glynn County, which is home to four federally designated Superfund sites and 12 state-regulated hazardous waste sites. That pollution is showing up in the bloodstreams of residents. Research into the health effects of chemical exposure dates back to 1997, when a local health department said the toxic legacy was due to “dirty industry … cheap labor … [and a] lack of enforcement of regulations.” A 2023 Emory University study found the presence of one chemical, produced exclusively in Brunswick, present in the bloodstream of 40% of study participants at levels higher than 95% of the U.S. population. That research prompted a new, long-term study and the creation of the inaugural Coast Superfund Research Center, funded by a $15 million grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health. We talk to a study participant and a social justice advocate about what the project means for residents’ health and efforts to clean up the lingering contamination.

Guests:

• Anita Collins, Healthy Coastal Neighborhoods community consultant, chairperson, Urbana Perry Park NPA

• Josiah "Jazz" Watts, community consultant, Healthy Coastal Neighborhoods

Building Downtown

For the past 10 years the Jessie Ball duPont Fund has opened its doors to other nonprofits, community groups, arts organizations and ordinary folk — part of its mission to provide “social purpose real estate” in the heart of Downtown. The national charitable foundation occupies the most striking instance of mid-century modern architecture in the core city, the old Hayden Burns Library, designed by the late, visionary architect Taylor Hardwick. We talk to two fund principals about their decade Downtown, the importance of promoting art and architecture and how they balance nonprofits needing affordable workspaces with the costs of maintaining a desirable Downtown address.

Guests:

• Mari Kuraishi, president of the Jessie Ball duPont Fund

Art Cart Mart

After the closure of Jacksonville’s oldest art supply store, Reddi Arts, in 2025, two longtime crafters wanted a new space where creatives could shop and swap sustainably. The result is Art Cart Jax, a free, secondhand art and craft pop-up, designed with the goal of reducing the environmental impact of new supplies and providing a community-supported craft store. With 100% of the inventory composed of donated materials and contributions growing, the group moved into a new studio space at Margaret Street Studios and dubbed it “The Mart.” The space opened June 21 and is open from noon to 5 p.m. every Sunday. We ask the group’s founders about taking the leap of faith to open the new space and how the community is responding.

Guests:

• Jessica Grist, co-founder, Art Cart Jax

• Blake Riley, co-founder, Art Cart Jax

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JEA’s Board of Directors is set to consider proposed rate increases for electricity, water, and sewer service as the utility addresses projected revenue gaps. Also ahead, a new section of the First Coast Expressway opens in Clay County, expanding the toll road network and bringing new traffic changes as the larger project moves toward completion.

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

• Text messages the city refused to release are now public. What do the once-secret documents tell us about a criminal investigation sparked by City Council President Kevin Carrico?

• The governor formally brings an end to the Alligator Alcatraz era.

• JEA’s current CEO testifies before the City Council, while its former CEO takes his fraud conviction back to court.

• The city misses out on a $1 million grant after an untrained staffer fumbles the application. 

• Nascent trillionaire Elon Musk buys the assets of a Jacksonville energy company in what could be a billion-dollar deal.

• A prominent personal injury lawyer creates a new political party in Florida, the Common Ground Party.

Guests:

• Laura Pellicer, fellow, Florida Trib

• Mike Mendenhall, City Hall reporter and associate editor at Jacksonville Today

• Robin Lumb, former Jacksonville City Council member

• Obi Umunna, attorney and political consultant

Hot dad walk

As temperatures rise and the kids are out of school, a new walking club invites dads and their children to connect with their counterparts in Jacksonville. After becoming a parent, Augie Watson said he realized how difficult it can be to connect with fellow dads. Inspired by other walking groups in Jacksonville, he founded Dads Walk Jax, where dads are invited to BYOB (bring your own baby), chat and stroll through the Avondale neighborhood and nearby parks. The walks are a family affair. Watson’s wife, Marissa, owns The Bunny Hive Jacksonville, a space for parents and kids to play and socialize, and the monthly dads’ walk stops there along the way. The next meetup is scheduled for 9 a.m. Sunday at the Southern Grounds in Avondale.

Guest: Augie Watson, founder, Dads Walk Jax

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Newly released text messages shed more light on discussions involving Jacksonville City Council President Kevin Carrico, a nonprofit executive, and a proposed JEA land deal and board appointment. Plus, a former St. Johns County teacher has filed a federal discrimination complaint, alleging he was removed from his position because of his gender identity and intersex condition.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Commemorating the Confederacy through streets or community names like “Dixie,” “Rebel” and “Plantation” carries clear connotations for some. As noted in a social media post referenced in a new research study, “The developer might as well [put] a sign at the entrance saying, ‘Whites Only.’” Titled Confederates in the Cul de Sac, the scholarly paper explores how racial demographics are affected by Confederate tributes or signage in both urban and suburban communities. According to the report’s first-ever inventory of such neighborhoods, Florida has more than any other state. We talk to the study’s authors about their sometimes surprising findings and what it says about what they call “America’s identity crisis over white supremacy.”

Guests:

• Pamela L. Morris, associate professor of communication studies, Indiana University

• George Towers, professor of geography, Indiana University Columbus

Good on paper

Bucking the national publishing trend, two local print newspapers are launching at the Beach. The weekly Beach Gazette launches online Thursday with plans to begin a print edition within a year and features a lead story focused on the history of local news at the Beaches. The paper’s backers are also launching Beach Buzz, a free monthly arts and culture publication in the model of Folio and Void, targeting visitors and residents alike, but with a specific Beaches focus. We sit down with the founders at a time when the overall newspaper industry is in a period of retraction to ask who, what, when, where and why?

Guests:

• Jennifer Ashley, editor and co-founder, Beach Gazette

• Georgette Dumont, publisher and co-founder, Beach Gazette

Pitch perfect

The U.S. men’s national team takes to the pitch against Türkiye on Thursday night as the 2026 FIFA World Cup continues. After a historic performance for the team — winning consecutive World Cup matches for the first time since 1930 — the men head to the knockout round of 32 next week. Though Türkiye has already been eliminated, the game will be another test of team fitness after solid performances against Paraguay (4-1) and Australia (2-0). The match may also feature some play time by star attacker Christian Pulisic, who has been sidelined with a calf injury. We sit down with longtime sports reporter Will Brown to discuss what the USMNT can expect in the coming round, how the games are going so far and whether record-breaking Lionel Messi could lead Argentina to a second World Cup victory. The game Thursday gets underway at 10 p.m.

Guest: Will Brown, reporter for Jacksonville Today, publisher of Official Florida FC

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A Jacksonville neighborhood transforms via a long-awaited transition from septic tanks to city sewer service, with the Christobel Septic Tank Phase Out Project expected to bring improvements to nearly 500 homes.

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