Jacksonville Local News – Jacksonville.com and The Florida Times-Union
See the latest news from Northeast Florida and on the First Coast.Law & Order: Man killed at Baymeadows residence
Sep 26, 2016 08:59 PM EDT
A man was shot to death in the doorway of his Baymeadows Road home Sunday night when he responded to someone banging on his front door, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
The victim, who appeared to be in his 40s, was shot multiple times about 6:45 p.m. at The Boxwood at Baymeadows condominiums at 4915 Baymeadows Road, said Sgt. Jay Farhat.
Dog reunited with Jacksonville woman after disappearance, 1,100-mile journey home
Sep 26, 2016 06:56 PM EDT
There were moments after Cynthia Abercrombie’s dog, Apollo, went missing last month that she feared he might not come home.
She put those fears to rest about 9 p.m. Friday when her Pyrenees mix, who was found 1,100 miles away from Jacksonville, came clambering out of a stranger’s car to greet her.
It had been six weeks since she saw him last, and she was grateful to everyone who played a role in making sure Apollo got home safe.
“It’s a big relief just having him back, knowing he’s OK,” an emotional Abercrombie said.
Sep 26, 2016 04:47 PM EDT
ST. SIMONS ISLAND | A man who was at the helm of a shrimp boat that hit the island’s pier late Saturday was arrested and remains jailed on boating under the influence and interference with government property charges, police say.
The High Tide, a shrimp boat out of Darien, Ga., struck the western leg of the T-shaped pier about 6 p.m. Saturday, said Cpl. Kate Hargrove of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
“It is a local vessel,’’ but it has Port Royal, S.C., listed on its stern as the boat’s hailing port, Hargrove said.
Sep 26, 2016 04:27 PM EDT
John Olsen is sure his invention of a briquette that is dropped into a pond and turns into a fungus that kills mosquito larvae is a good bet on developing his newly formed Jacksonville business Cree Industries.
He’s just not certain how to get the funding to take his startup business to the next step.
Olsen was among some 60 local entrepreneurs to attend the first JAX Chamber and SCORE crowdfunding workshop Monday to help startups learn how to gain more capital in hopes of making their businesses grow.
Basketball star Grant Hill campaigns for Hillary Clinton in Jacksonville, urges students to vote
Sep 26, 2016 04:04 PM EDT
Many of the students Grant Hill spoke to Monday at Edward Waters College were not alive when he led Duke to two basketball national championships in the early 1990s.
But he told them the outcome of this presidential election means more for them.
The retired basketball great spoke at the college about the differences between Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, whose campaign brought Hill to Jacksonville.
Mega Adoption Event set for this weekend at Jacksonville Fairgrounds
Sep 26, 2016 03:35 PM EDT
About 1,000 dogs and cats from area animal shelters and rescue groups will be available 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday at the latest Mega Adoption Event at the Jacksonville Fairgrounds.
Parking and admission are free. Adoptions are $20 for the general public; free for active and retired military. Each animal will be spayed or neutered, microchipped and current on shots and have a city license.
The event is hosted by First Coast No More Homeless Pets, sponsored by Petco Foundation. For more information, go to fcnmhp.org.
Tampa company receives contract worth about $23 million to repair stretch of pier at Mayport
Sep 26, 2016 03:12 PM EDT
A construction company based in Tampa recently received a contract worth about $23 million to repair a 1,950-foot stretch of pier at Mayport Naval Station.
Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southeast awarded the contract Thursday to Orion Marine Construction Inc., and construction is expected to be complete by September 2017.
The section of the pier in need of repair is called Wharf Bravo and was built in 1970. It is at the western end of Mayport’s turning basin.
Valdosta State faces Kentucky State Saturday in first ever Okefenokee Classic football game
Sep 26, 2016 03:03 PM EDT
Waycross wants people to think of a real swamp, not the University of Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, when it comes to college football Saturday.
Division II teams Valdosta State and Kentucky State will face off Saturday in the first Okefenokee Football Classic at Memorial Stadium in Waycross.
Duval board agrees to hire mediator, disagrees on how high to set academic goals
Sep 26, 2016 03:02 PM EDT
Duval School Board members made progress Monday by deciding to hire a mediator to help the Board and Superintendent Nikolai Vitti improve their working relationship.
But it’s unlikely a mediator will help the Board on its other point of impasse: whether district leaders should set academic targets linked to other Florida districts’ performance or whether they should set “aspirational” goals with much higher performance objectives for students.
Proposed trauma center rule again draws criticism from Florida hospitals
Sep 26, 2016 02:09 PM EDT
TALLAHASSEE | University of Florida Health Jacksonville and other hospitals are once again criticizing the state for not listening to their concerns as new trauma center rules are crafted.
The Department of Health has spent five years trying to come up with new guidelines for how and where it approves new trauma centers to treat the most severely injured patients. Several hospitals lined up at a hearing Monday to say the process, as well as the new rule, are flawed.
One of Us: In new book, Amy Quincy writes about living a good life with disabilities
Sep 26, 2016 02:06 PM EDT
A lot of people would have considered what happened to Amy Quincy in October, 2006, devastating.
Quincy doesn’t share that view. In fact, she says, she resents it.
“My life’s well lived,” Quincy said.
3 teens, 2 of them brothers, killed in Atlanta area crash, police say
Sep 26, 2016 01:59 PM EDT
UNION CITY, GA. | Authorities say three teenagers, including two brothers, were killed in a crash in South Fulton County.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s office says 16-year-old Jaylen Mumford, his brother, 18-year-old Jerrett Mumford and 18-year-old Ibrahim Sankoh, all of College Park, were killed Sunday in the 5800 block of Buffington Road in Union City.
Authorities warn Georgia boaters near Kings Bay ahead of Wednesday training drill
Sep 26, 2016 01:18 PM EDT
Residents and boaters near Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in Georgia will notice an added presence in the water during a training exercise involving the U.S. Coast Guard and the Navy in the area Wednesday.
The maritime exercise, named Resolute Guardian, is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will run south to the entrance of the St. Marys River, according to the Coast Guard.
Corrections officer arrested after bogus drug test, undersheriff says
Sep 26, 2016 12:56 PM EDT
A Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office corrections officer was arrested Monday after she tried to fool a random drug test by providing a bogus urine sample, Undersheriff Pat Ivey said.
Lisa Lynn Davis, 40, a nearly seven-year veteran with the Sheriff’s Office, has resigned from her job in the Duval County jail, according to Ivey, who said Davis is charged with unlawful to willfully defraud (or attempt) a lawfully administered urine test.
Man in 9-hour standoff now charged with aggravated assault, false imprisonment, jail records show
Sep 26, 2016 12:31 PM EDT
BRUNSWICK | A Glynn County man arrested Sunday morning after a nine-hour standoff with police is now charged with aggravated assault, battery and false imprisonment, Glynn County jail records show.
The standoff began about 10 p.m. Sunday night after Glynn County police were told a man was holding his wife against her will at a residence in a rural area of the country.