State Attorney challenger Melissa Nelson enjoys big war chest in fight to...
New campaign fundraising numbers highlight just how much of a money advantage state attorney candidate Melissa Nelson has, despite her last-minute entrance into the race. Nelson and her political...
View ArticleExcitement over Donald Trump rally makes Wednesday a day-long event for some
Austin Roberts, wearing a “Farmers for Trump” shirt, was one of the first in line for a Donald Trump rally Wednesday evening that drew a capacity crowd of 10,000 people to Jacksonville’s Veterans...
View ArticleAfter extensive testing, Gov. Rick Scott says Zika zone in Miami's Wynwood...
Gov. Rick Scott said Friday that no Florida mosquitoes have yet been found to carry the Zika virus and that the one-square-mile Zika transmission zone in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood has been reduced...
View ArticleJacksonville's never seen a primary like this one, so who will come out on...
The Aug. 30 primary presents a rare opportunity and a challenging conundrum for anyone who wants to make predictions. Voter turnout in these primaries are always low. In Duval, Clay and Nassau counties...
View ArticleCarlos Beruff, who hopes to beat Sen. Marco Rubio on Aug. 30, visits...
In one of Jacksonville’s most Democratic strongholds, U.S. Senate hopeful and Manatee County homebuilder Carlos Beruff drew an audience of 10. Beruff, a Republican challenger hoping to knock off Sen....
View ArticleFact Check: Did Angela Corey offer "an almost identical offer" to Cristian...
At debates, candidate Melissa Nelson has said State Attorney Angela Corey should’ve met with 12-year-old Cristian Fernandez’s defense attorneys — including Nelson — to reach the eventual plea deal...
View ArticleHUD officials tell Eureka Garden residents they will see increased security
Eureka Garden’s owners must hire a security consultant this week, and in the meantime the apartments will have more police patrols following the shooting of seven residents last week, federal housing...
View ArticleAfter frequent scandal, is Jacksonville ready for a new Public Defender?...
Charlie Cofer stood in a corner of a smoky room counting the strangers. The men in leather vests were potential voters, and the voters beckoned. Whenever he did an event like this – a Rotary Club, a...
View ArticlePublic Defender Matt Shirk has moved on from scandals and hopes voters have too
FERNANDINA BEACH | Matt Shirk bounced out of a white luxury car and marched up to a red truck. With a stack of flyers and a list of voters, Shirk and his friend scoured Nassau County, hoping to retrace...
View ArticleState Attorney Angela Corey calls new Harvard study about death-sentencing...
Duval County is again among a handful of U.S. counties that most frequently send convicted criminals to their deaths, according to a Harvard University study released Tuesday.read more
View ArticleMatt Shirk's top assistant has been 'ineffective' four times, raising...
Four times in as many years, courts have called Refik Eler, Jacksonville’s chief assistant public defender and the office’s death-penalty director, ineffective. He ignored evidence, failed to properly...
View ArticleLawyer who said growing marijuana was legal now faces lawsuit accusing him of...
A local lawyer who told people they could legally grow marijuana despite a federal law saying the opposite now faces a lawsuit accusing him of profiting off crimes. Ian Christensen’s law firm told...
View ArticleFormer judge Charlie Cofer topples Public Defender Matt Shirk with three...
Charlie Cofer, a 64-year-old former judge who’d spent his working life outside the limelight, trounced Public Defender Matt Shirk, once a rising Republican star who saw the political and legal...
View ArticleJohn Legend, yes that one, is happy State Attorney Angela Corey lost Tuesday...
A string of voices — law professors, former prosecutors, criminal defense attorneys and John Legend, yes that John Legend — celebrated the defeat of State Attorney Angela Corey on Tuesday with public...
View ArticleKenny Leigh plans to drop out of State Attorney race, making Melissa Nelson...
State attorney candidate Kenny Leigh said Wednesday he is withdrawing from the November general election, which would ensure Melissa Nelson will be Jacksonville’s new elected prosecutor. Nelson beat...
View ArticleDay after losing re-election, Public Defender Matt Shirk fires 4 employees,...
The day after Public Defender Matt Shirk lost re-election, his office confirmed, he fired four employees. The Public Defender’s Office provided copies of termination letters given to Jerry Coxen,...
View ArticleAs celebrities celebrate, legal experts assess the reasons for defeats of...
As voters around the country decided the fates of Sens. Marco Rubio and John McCain and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schulz, at least a few observers focused on the primary for Jacksonville’s elected...
View ArticleWhat does Angela Corey's loss say about the changing politics of prosecution?
The election bid and overwhelming defeat of State Attorney Angela Corey attracted the type of national attention that would’ve seemed out of place just a few years ago. But in today’s world, voters who...
View ArticleState Attorney Angela Corey gives jobs to some fired by Public Defender Matt...
State Attorney Angela Corey has offered new jobs to some of those fired last week by Public Defender Matt Shirk the day after he lost re-election. Joe Frasier, Shirk’s former IT director, and Angela...
View ArticleCensus data: Jacksonville's unemployment down, income up, and we're still...
Of all the good news the latest census data can give, let’s start with the best of it: Jacksonville is still the nation’s 12th most populous city, thanks to San Francisco’s slowing growth. But give it...
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