INSIDER
Even the most friendly neighbors can have questions about the spaces where their lives overlap. Consider the trees near your property line.
The city approved James W. Brinkley’s plans for a new carousel last May. Brinkley said then that the ride could be up and running as soon as that summer. Jacksonville Today reader Greg D. wonders why it isn’t.
Jacksonville Today reader Karen F. says people in her office have been discussing the stretch of Interstate 95 in the construction zone. Several co-workers relate that they have had “dangerous close calls at a new ‘unmarked merge” while heading northbound after Emerson Street.
The site of a former JEA power station on the Southbank is being redesigned into RiversEdge, a huge mixed-use development with homes, hotels, retail, restaurants and four public parks. Jacksonville Today reader D.U. notes that many of the public roads appear done. You just aren’t supposed to drive on them, D.U. says.
Jacksonville Today reader Susan A. is curious how the local immigration ordinance works, and whether police can use it to stop anyone and demand proof of citizenship.
Mayor Donna Deegan’s AI pilot does not include the largest part of the city budget — the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. Jacksonville Today reader Johnathon A. wonders why.
There’s the long-running redesign of Interstate 95/Interstate 295 on the Northside. There’s the addition of lanes on I-95 north of Emerson Street. Then there’s the widening of Interstate 10 on the Westside. That’s the one that irritates Jacksonville Today reader Christopher N.
According to the city of Jacksonville, the Baldwin Rail Trail is part of a nationwide “Rails to Trails” program designed to turn abandoned railroad lines into “linear parks.” But Jacksonville Today reader Alan C. has noticed signs implying that something needs to be done to “Protect the Trail.”
Jacksonville Today reader Audrey M. has a question about the work on San Pablo Road. She says that new street lights on San Pablo at Drakes Point Drive — the entrance to the Villages of Pablo neighborhood — are still not working.
Q. A Jacksonville Today reader, Courtney S., wants to know whether it’s legal for political groups to hang out near polling locations and hand out pamphlets to voters.
Q: Jacksonville Today reader Alice K. has multiple questions about Jacksonville’s 3-year-old Office of Resilience. Does the resilience office have more than advisory power? she asks. If not, how serious is the mayor about actually listening to the office’s advice? And is the resilience office “part of the debate about what to do with the Downtown/river corridor?
Jacksonville Today reader Henry T. received a political mailer that caught his eye in late June. In Henry’s eyes, its message against District 3 Duval County School Board incumbent Cindy Pearson was “over-the-top scaremongering.” A second anti-Pearson card soon followed. Henry wrote to us, asking for info on who sent the mailers, which is listed on them as a political action committee called Educated Professionals for Jacksonville.
Q: Florida recently enacted a law prohibiting local governments from requiring heat protections for workers, after Miami-Dade County last year ended a push to protect outdoor workers like agricultural and construction laborers.
Q: With a deal reached between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the city on splitting the cost of an estimated $1.4 billion “Stadium of the Future” renovation, Jacksonville Today reader Paul N. asks what taxpayers are getting for their money when it comes to investing in EverBank Stadium.
