Local

A.G. GancarskiAugust 17, 2015

Last week during the Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee budget review process, the public service grants process was described as a “broken system.” The grants committee, which has 13 slots, has seven mayoral vacancies. Vacancies are not the only problem. Questions were raised during a Monday public notice meeting to examine the PSG process about […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 17, 2015

An ordinance increasing the fine for unlicensed contractors from $250 to $1000 per count, which moved through the Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee earlier on Monday, moved through the Transportation, Energy, and Utilities committee on Monday afternoon. Additionally, $185K was approved by the same committee to be appropriated from FDOT monies for a Timucuan National […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 17, 2015

During Monday’s meeting of the Finance Committee of the Jacksonville City Council, a discussion point was the so-called forensic audit of the Jacksonville Police and Fire Pension Fund. Councilmen Crescimbeni and Matt Schellenberg raised concerns about the record keeping over at PFPF. Council Auditor Kirk Sherman mentioned that no one anticipated, including the independent investigator, the burdens […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 17, 2015

In a Monday afternoon news release from the office of Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry containing a letter to Drew Bartlett of the Central Florida Water Initiative Steering Committee, the administration’s opposition to water withdrawals from the St. Johns River was made official. Curry has asked that water withdrawals from the upper and middle basins of the […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 17, 2015

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The phrase “pre-9/11 mentality” is usually uttered as a foreign policy pejorative. Yet in Duval County, one thing that hasn’t changed since before Sept. 11, 2001 is the pay of substitute teachers, which has withstood the test of time since March of that year. This doesn’t sit well with one group, apparently: longtime substitute teachers. […]

Melissa RossAugust 17, 2015

As former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush continues to take heat over calling Common Core education standards “poisonous,” Duval County’s superintendent is taking a more positive spin about the new state curriculum being unveiled this fall. “We’re going to see another level of instruction at the elementary level, especially when it comes to writing and reading,” Superintendent Nikolai […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 17, 2015

“August is a tough month if you’re on Finance, because you’re keeping up with your regular council work and the Finance Committee meetings,” Greg Anderson said Monday, providing a preamble to the regular Finance Committee meeting. There will be a special committee on public service grants, Anderson said, and in about two weeks there will […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 17, 2015

One Spark is one of Jacksonville’s cornerstone events, and the man behind it, Peter Rummell, is also one of the key behind-the-scenes supporters of the Lenny Curry administration, as has been amply documented. With that convergence in mind, it’s perhaps inevitable that Curry’s City Hall would be considered as a platform for art at the 2016 One Spark […]

Frank TorresAugust 17, 2015

Central Florida lawmakers are praising a proposal that greenlights the southbound expansion of SunRail sent to Capitol Hill late Friday. Submitted by the Federal Transit Administration, Congress received a full funding grant agreement, authorizing $93 million for SunRail Phase II South, the stretch of the commuter rail system extending from the Sand Lake Road station […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 17, 2015

Last week, during the Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee budget review sessions, a point of controversy revolved around whether or not the Lenny Curry administration was devoting sufficient resources to UF Health. The discussion of the hospital, referred to in the block quote as Shands, lasted about a quarter hour: 11:14 a.m.: Still on Shands. Money […]

Local

Jax public service grants process under scrutiny

Jax TEU committee greenlights bike trail, unlicensed contractor fines

Jax PFPF fund forensic audit draws scrutiny

Lenny Curry: No to St. Johns River water withdrawals

In Duval, substitute teacher pay is old-school

Nikolai Vitti: Florida Standards will be “another level of instruction”

Council, Curry administration joust in Jax Finance Committee

Jax City Hall to be One Spark art gallery?

Congress receives Sunrail Phase II South funding agreement

UF Health gives Lenny Curry vote of confidence