WJCT News Now

“The air and sea of this ancient, fortified, dilapidated sand-bank of a town are really delicious” — a little-known appraisal of St. Augustine by Ralph Waldo Emerson — is among the treasures unearthed in Rachel Knox’s new book of essays, which simultaneously skewers and venerates the state of Florida. Both a naked examination of personal history and collective trauma, and a paean to the flora, fauna and cultural timbre of the state, Anywhere Else brings native Floridians (and true converts) on a harrowing road trip to the final chapter and the question it poses: “My god, Rachel, how can you live here?” We ask the author what it means to love a place enough to hate it and why she finds a perfect metaphor for state residents in the broken, regenerative claw of a stone crab.

Guest: Rachel Knox, author of Anywhere Else: Essays on Florida

Congressional District 4 candidate Michael Kirwan

A plan to oust the Republican incumbent of Florida’s 4th Congressional District will first require winning the primary Tuesday. Eleven months after he announced his candidacy on First Coast Connect, local attorney and civic leader Michel Kirwan returns just five days ahead of Tuesday’s decisive Democratic primary. We ask him about recent polling that puts him behind opponent LaShonda Holloway despite his significant financial advantage and how he plans to use the final days to convince voters he’s the best qualified opponent to challenge Republican incumbent Aaron Bean. First Coast Connect is covering a range of local races and election-related topics between now and Nov. 3. You can find all of our election coverage here and detailed information about upcoming elections, including information about candidates and ballot initiatives in your district, at the nonpartisan League of Women Voters website Vote411.org. Additional candidate coverage is featured in Jacksonville Today’s political section.

Guest: Michael Kirwan, Democratic candidate for Florida’s 4th Congressional District

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The Jacksonville City Council has approved plans allowing for a 110 home development to move forward at the former Kings Trail Elementary School, despite concerns from nearby residents about traffic, wetlands and mature oak trees. Also, a Florida House candidate says she and her husband were assaulted at a St. Johns County polling place, leading to an arrest.

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A known quantity in the pro bono legal arena and the nonprofit community, attorney and community advocate Leslie Jean-Bart is less familiar as a political entity, though she has run for office before. We ask the candidate about her endorsement from current District 13 Rep. Angie Nixon, her plans for the district if elected and what differentiates her from her Democratic opponent, Audrey Gibson. First Coast Connect is covering a range of local races and election-related topics between now and Nov. 3. You can find all of our election coverage here, and you can find detailed information about upcoming elections, including information about candidates and ballot initiatives in your district, at the nonpartisan League of Women Voters website Vote411.org. Additional candidate coverage is featured in Jacksonville Today’s political section.

Guest: Leslie Jean-Bart, Democratic candidate for Florida House District 13

Renner's run

Florida gubernatorial candidate Paul Renner returns to WJCT’s Studio 2 to discuss what has become an increasingly ugly Republican primary. Though Renner has largely remained above the fray, he is seriously underwater in fundraising and in recent polls, lagging well behind frontrunner Byron Donalds, but even behind increasingly longshot candidates like investor James Fishback and Lt. Gov. Jay Collins. We ask the former speaker of the Florida House what keeps him running just one week out from the Aug. 18 Republican primary, and whether an apparent nod from Gov. Ron DeSantis might help fill his political sails.

Guest: Paul Renner, Republican candidate for Florida governor

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Romanza-St. Augustine is ending its annual Celtic Music & Heritage Festival and St. Patrick’s Day Parade, due to a lack of state funding and difficulty finding volunteers to carry on the events. Also, despite recent storms, rainfall across the St. Johns River Water Management District remained below average in July, with the region continuing to face drought conditions.

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In presenting her $2 billion budget proposal, Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan repeatedly stressed the return on investment the city derives from every dollar spent. In her July 20 speech to City Council, she estimated returns of 3 to 1 (from the the physical activity engendered by city parks) to 20 to 1 (from investment in arts and culture). We ask the mayor about subsequent critiques of the administration’s math, as well as first responder pushback to a proposed property tax cut.

Guest: Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan

Guardian of the Golden Gate Bridge

A highway patrolman credited with preventing more than 200 suicides during his time patrolling the Golden Gate Bridge speaks on the First Coast on Wednesday as part of the Zero Suicide Summit in St. Johns County. After spending 23 years in the role, now-retired Sgt. Kevin Briggs travels the country as an advocate for suicide prevention. One of Briggs’ most well-known interventions was in 2005 when he talked 22-year-old Kevin Berthia from the ledge. Berthia now serves as a mental health and suicide prevention advocate and speaker himself. We sit down with the former patrolman to discuss why he thinks his words have saved so many lives. If you or someone you know is considering suicide, you can call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.

Guest: Sgt. Kevin Briggs, retired California highway patrolman and suicide prevention advocate

'And Then There Were None'

The world’s bestselling murder mystery of all time gets new life on stage in Amelia Island. Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None tells the macabre and mystifying tale of 10 people summoned to a remote island, where they begin being killed, one by one, in accordance with the words of a chilling nursery rhyme. As with all Christie crime novels, everyone is a suspect, but unlike the others, everyone also ends up dead — making finding the true culprit a sleuthing master class. Amelia Community Theatre presents its take on the classic from Aug. 14-29. We talk to the director and three principal actors about why the story remains vibrant nearly a century after it was published.

Guests:

• Jayme Tipton Taylor, director of And Then There Were None at Amelia Community Theatre

• Melissa Coon, actor playing Vera Claythorne

• Anthony Pierce, actor playing William Henry Blore

• Carlos Semidei, actor playing Dr. Edward Armstrong

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School is back across Northeast Florida, with Duval County students returning to class as the district works to improve literacy rates that remain below the state average. Also, heat advisories are in effect across Northeast Florida today as heat index values could reach up to 110 degrees through the middle of the week.

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From her first election in 2002, to her years in the state House and Senate, to her unsuccessful bids for Jacksonville mayor and City Council, Audrey Gibson has acquired more campaign experience over three decades than almost anyone in state politics. We ask her what she hopes to bring to the District 13 House seat and what distinguishes her from her fellow Democratic opponent in the Aug. 18 primary, attorney Leslie Jean-Bart. First Coast Connect is covering a range of local races and election-related topics between now and Nov. 3. Jean-Bart will appear on the program Aug. 12. You can find all of our election coverage here, and you can find detailed information about upcoming elections, including information about candidates and ballot initiatives in your district, at the nonpartisan League of Women Voters website Vote411.org. Additional candidate coverage is featured in Jacksonville Today’s political section.

Guest: Audrey Gibson, Democratic candidate for Florida House District 13

Active voice

A 40-year-old chorus gets a new leader — one who literally wrote the book on how to succeed as a choral singer: The Choral Singer's Survival Guide. Ahead of both a new season and regional auditions for vocalists, we sit down with incoming director of the Jacksonville Symphony Chorus to discuss what it means to start anew after his predecessor’s decade and a half tenure and how his own musical experience, from Europe to Carnegie Hall, brought him to the First Coast.

Guest: Tony Thornton, director, Jacksonville Symphony Chorus

Solo show

For nearly four decades, the names Charlotte Mabry and Robert Arliegh White were as synched as their eclectic performances — a duo known for pushing the bounds of performance art, verbal percussion and sheer absurdity. Mabry’s death last year put an end to that collaboration, but White is continuing his work on stage. An upcoming show at Babs’Lab is his first as a solo performer without Mabry (principal percussionist for the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and music instructor at UNF). We preview his upcoming RAWtalk as he reflects on his 40 years of Jacksonville performance and 70 years circling the sun.

Guest: Robert Arleigh White, actor, storyteller and arts advocate

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School bus drivers in Duval County are not on strike as the new school year begins after a late-night agreement was reached between Teamsters Local 512 and Durham School Services.  Also, part of the Main Street Bridge is set to close later this month as construction on Riverfront Plaza continues.

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

• First responders sound the alarm over a proposed property tax cut, even as a court-ordered change to ballot language could affect its chance of success.

• A man accused of a sexually explicit act in public will not be punished by police, leaving the victim calling for a change to the law.

• Jacksonville police respond to community outcry over the controversial arrest of a 14-year-old using a police K-9.

Guests:

• A.G. Gancarski, reporter at Florida Politics, columnist for Jacksonville Today

• Deja Mayfield, reporter/weekend anchor, Action News Jax

• Robert Brown, news director at News4Jax

• Tiffany Salameh, anchor and investigative reporter at News4Jax

Enclave outrage

Revelations that a new state law could open up more than 6,000 acres of agricultural land to intensive new development in St. Johns County has sparked anger among residents already feeling the pressure of uncontrolled growth. It’s just one issue facing incumbent state Rep. Kim Kendall, who voted for SB 686 and is now getting “a lot of questions” about her vote. We talk to her Republican challenger about what she’d do now that the law is in place, as well as her position on the future use of state parks, a proposed property tax amendment and criminal investigations over a fake voter guide. (First Coast Connect has reached out to Kendall multiple times to appear on the program but have not yet received a response.) First Coast Connect is covering a range of local races and election-related topics between now and Nov. 3. You can find all of our election coverage here, and you can find detailed information about upcoming elections, including information about candidates and ballot initiatives in your district, at the nonpartisan League of Women Voters website Vote411.org. Additional candidate coverage is featured in Jacksonville Today’s political section.

Guest: Diana Patrice Jordan-Baldwin, Republican candidate for Florida House District 18

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Early voting begins today in Duval County for the Primary Elections and for a special Jacksonville City Council race, with polling locations open through August 16. Plus, we examine the growing use of Flock license plate reader cameras, why local law enforcement uses them, and the controversy behind the technology.

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