Jax

A.G. GancarskiApril 27, 2016

The Players Championship, a Jacksonville sports tradition since 1974, starts May 10 in Ponte Vedra’s Sawgrass resort. On Wednesday, the Jax Chamber provided a well-timed reminder of its economic impact on the Jacksonville area. The estimate for this year’s impact on the five-county Northeast Florida area: $151 million, from 191,000 attendees. And beyond the tangible […]

A.G. GancarskiApril 27, 2016

Jacksonville is headed into a lean budget year, according to most City Hall observers. Yet the man in charge of budget, CFO Mike Weinstein, is being honored with an award for his budget prowess. The Government Finance Officers Association sent a letter to Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry informing him that Weinstein won the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award. The award, […]

A.G. GancarskiApril 27, 2016

Fourth Judicial Circuit State Attorney candidate Wes White had a federal tax lien from the 2005 filing year that took until 2007 to resolve, FloridaPolitics.com has learned. The “unpaid balance of assessment” totaled $47,125.94. White, in a conversation Tuesday, called it “old history” and said that he “paid it within 60 days.” The issue was a […]

A.G. GancarskiApril 27, 2016

“Lyin’, Cheatin’, Stealin’” [Wednesday 3 p.m.] Wednesday brought opening statements in the federal fraud trial of former U.S. Congresswoman Corrine Brown, who faces 22 counts related to a non-performing charity, “One Door for Education.” Federal Prosecutor A. Tysen Duva’s 41-minute argument, rooted in the twenty-two counts, boiled down to three words: “Lyin’, cheatin’, stealin’.” These […]

A.G. GancarskiApril 26, 2016

A controversial bill, 2015-519, changing guidelines for city donation of vacant, buildable lots owned by the city after tax reversion for affordable housing inventory purposes, was passed by Jacksonville City Council on Tuesday. The bill doubles the permissible value of properties that can be dispensed to CHDOs and other affordable housing non-profits from $25,000 to […]

A.G. GancarskiApril 26, 2016

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry addressed the City Council Tuesday evening, regarding 2016-300, the ordinance setting an August referendum for the pension tax. Curry noted that with Council support, “we now have the opportunity to save our city from financial ruin,” by extending the half cent sales tax, before speaking to “critics” who want a new sales tax, saying […]

A.G. GancarskiApril 26, 2016

In classic Jacksonville City Council fashion, a simple, well-intentioned bill mandating anti-human trafficking signs in massage parlors and adult entertainment establishments has led to committees tabling it and to the second of two public notice meetings on Tuesday. Councilman Tommy Hazouri‘s original bill got pushback from Councilman Danny Becton, among others, and now the two Council members […]

A.G. GancarskiApril 26, 2016

State Senator Travis Hutson will have a general election opponent after all. Curtis Ceballos, the CEO of GabRy Inc., filed last week for the Democratic primary. Ceballos’ company develops apps for mobile phones, including secure payment applications such as Digitz (“the first fingerprint purchase system”), and apps that permit voice posting to social media platforms. As one […]

A.G. GancarskiApril 26, 2016

The first poll of the Democratic primary race in Florida 5th Congressional District between incumbent Rep. Corrine Brown and former state Senate Al Lawson shows Brown with a slight edge. When 524 likely Democratic voters were asked who they would vote for, Brown was the choice of 42 percent with Lawson at 37 percent; 21 percent of […]

A.G. GancarskiApril 26, 2016

One of the byproducts of Jacksonville’s unique consolidated government is that some parts of town do as well as anywhere, and other parts have issues that are rooted in poverty and unresolved historic inequities. One jarring example of those inequities: the issues in Health Zone 1, which are heartbreaking. Half of all children live in poverty. […]

Jax

Why this year’s Players Championship will be bigger and better than ever

Jacksonville CFO Mike Weinstein receives national award for budget prowess

Tax trouble for Wes White? 4th Circuit State Attorney candidate says “No”

Opening statements in Corrine Brown trial

Jax Council finally passes property donation bill

Lenny Curry pitches August pension tax referendum to Council

Jax Council members discuss human trafficking sign legislation

Curtis Ceballos, Palm Coast Democrat, challenges Travis Hutson in SD 7

Corrine Brown leads Al Lawson, 42%-37%, in new poll of CD 5 race

GE commits $250K to health screenings in Jax