Melissa Ross, Author at Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Melissa RossJune 22, 2015

Arguing that Jacksonville is becoming an increasingly diverse community, city activists who’ve long pushed for “inclusive prayer” to open city council meetings say they’ll make their voices heard again at Tuesday night’s session. Under the leadership of outgoing Council President Clay Yarborough, a Christian invocation typically has been recited to open the government meetings. That […]

Melissa RossJune 19, 2015

New Jacksonville mayor-elect Lenny Curry won’t be sworn into office until July 1, but some of his very newest constituents enjoyed a swearing-in ceremony of their own on a sweltering June morning at the city’s downtown main library. Jacksonville’s World Refugee Day celebration began with a Naturalization Ceremony at the library, followed by a children’s […]

Melissa RossJune 18, 2015

With some calling the killings “domestic terrorism,” and others sharply disagreeing, callers to WJCT’s First Coast Connect were sharply divided in reactions to Wednesday’s mass church shooting in Charleston, S.C., that left nine people dead. “It is fair to call it domestic terrorism,” said JeffriAnne Wilder, professor of sociology at the University of North Florida. Wilder […]

Melissa RossJune 17, 2015

The parents of epileptic children in Jacksonville say they’re prepared to pack up and move to Colorado to treat their kids if the Jacksonville City Council doesn’t reverse course on its new moratorium on Charlotte’s Web dispensaries. “I hope the city will change its mind, because there are lots of families who don’t want to […]

Melissa RossJune 16, 2015

Calling the 2016 battleground in Florida “utterly fascinating,” University of North Florida’s Matt Corrigan says Jeb Bush‘s official entry into the presidential race will put to the test Bush’s gamble that he can “lose the primary to win the general.” “Jeb will talk about his policy differences with the base on immigration and Common Core,” […]

Melissa RossJune 15, 2015

Could the iconic downtown Jacksonville Landing be torn down and a rebuild started from the ground up? That question will be on the table Tuesday night at a workshop on the Landing’s future sponsored by the city’s Downtown Investment Authority. “We are starting from scratch,” DIA board member Doris Goldstein says. Goldstein spoke during an […]

Melissa RossJune 12, 2015

Later this month we’ll learn U.S. Supreme Court decisions on two of the highest-profile cases in years, maybe even decades: Obergefell v. Hodges, the same-sex marriage case, and King v. Burwell, the decision about whether to uphold or invalidate a provision of the Affordable Care Act. High court watchers tell FloridaPolitics.com that the odds of […]

Melissa RossJune 12, 2015

Saying he’s putting his money where his mouth is, Orlando trial lawyer John Morgan has sent an email to supporters announcing he’s writing a “big check for the patients who need medical marijuana.” “I’m doing it because the Legislature has ended their Session and again failed to deliver access to the suffering patients who need medical […]

Melissa RossJune 12, 2015

During his successful campaign for Jacksonville mayor, Lenny Curry made public safety a key campaign issue, and repeatedly pledged to bring back the city’s Jacksonville Journey anti-crime initiative. The “Journey,” as it was known, began under former mayor John Peyton as a response to Jacksonville’s skyrocketing violent crime rate. A series of interlocking initiatives focusing on […]

Melissa RossJune 9, 2015

An on-air discussion of the McKinney, Texas, viral video making the rounds this week quickly turned into an impassioned debate on criminal justice, with one participant’s calls to confront institutional racism set against another’s plea to evaluate police use-of-force incidents case by case. “We have to look at the institutionalization of racism in America,” activist Wells […]

Melissa Ross

Activists to Jax City Council: Go back to “inclusive prayer”

New citizens join Jacksonville community at World Refugee Day celebration

Argument follows labeling of Charleston church slayings “domestic terrorism”

Jax mom on Charlotte’s Web flap: Families will move to Colorado if moratorium stays

Matt Corrigan: Jeb Bush is “really gonna have to earn it”

City “starting from scratch” on Jacksonville Landing, downtown investment board member says

SCOTUS and the ACA: “The scramble in Florida will get even more intense”

John Morgan writes “big check” for new medical marijuana push

Under Lenny Curry, Jacksonville Journey anti-crime effort set to make comeback

The McKinney video: a Rashomon