News

Wanted: Olympic portraits by kids

Submitted by Rachel Leitao, First Coast News Staff

Monday, July 16th, 2012, 12:06pm

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- We're counting down to the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.

As we get closer to the games, we want your kids to get involved. Have your child draw and color his or her favorite Olympic Portrait. Portraits can include the rings, the torch, a favorite athlete or even the new Olympic Stadium in London.

Beginning July 23, 102, we will feature a different portrait each day on Good Morning Jacksonville though the closing ceremony on August 12th.

Simply email your child's photo to olympicportraits@firstcoastnews.com and be sure to watch Good Morning Jacksonville at 5:20 a.m. and 6:20 a.m.

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Last day to register to vote for primary election

Submitted by FirstCoastNews Web Staff

Monday, July 16th, 2012, 11:57am

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Today is the last day to register vote if you want to participate in Florida's August 14 primary election.

Monday is also the last day you can change your party affiliation. Since Florida is a closed primary state, voters may only vote for candidates from the political party in which they are registered.

All registered voters are eligible to vote in nonpartisan and primary offices.

Although today is the final day to register and be able to participate in the primary election, registered voters can update his or her signature, change the address of his or her legal residence or submit a name change up until and including primary election day on August 14.

To check your voter status, view a sample ballot, check early voting locations or request an absentee ballot click on your supervisor of elections office.

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Choosing the right limo will maximize the ride

Submitted by Ken Amaro, Ken Amaro, Community Reporter

Wednesday, July 11th, 2012, 6:56pm

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Whether it's prom night, a wedding or just a trip to the airport, your limousine experience can be one you remember or one you would like to forget. During the prom season, ten teenagers hired a limo service for prom night and now say it was horrible.

"I could have ridden in my mom's van if I wanted to do that," said Victoria Canady.

Canady said each of her friends paid fifty dollars for a 10-passenger limo and that was the first problem.

"When it came up to the house, it did not look like it would seat ten," she said.

The driver was on time, but Canady said the limo was smaller than expected and it was hot.

"The air conditioning didn't blow out cool air. It only blew out hot air," she said.

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Is there a glitch in the child support system?

Submitted by Ken Amaro, Ken Amaro, Community Reporter

Monday, July 9th, 2012, 7:33pm

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Trucking is Donnie Connolly's livelihood; losing his driver license will put him in the unemployment line.

He said the thought of it happening terrifies him.

"It started last year. They said they would fix it at the end of the year and it is still going on," said Connolly.

Connolly at one point got behind on his child support payments, but said that was in the past.

"I have been paying," he said, "I have the receipts. It comes out the second of every month."

So why did the Florida DMV suspend his driver's license on June 20, then reinstate it, only to threaten to suspend it again?

"They have a pending on my license that they're going to suspend it the 23rd of this month," said Connolly.

Connolly has received notices from the Florida Department of Revenue and the DMV and they have left him puzzled.

"The only thing they would tell me is there's a glitch in the system," he said.

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Westside sinkhole swallows shed, tree

Submitted by Erin Hawley on Thursday, June 28th, 11:11 pm

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Two Westside families no longer trust the ground beneath their feet after a sinkhole swallowed part of their backyards.

The shed was on Margie Molina's yard on Joffre Road.

"It's an unbelievable thing," Molina said.

The tree was in Sharon Bryant's yard. That's where the sinkhole started overnight Monday.

"I called the city and they sent the fire department out and they said it was okay," Bryant said.

The next day, Molina watched as as the ground crumbled from beneath the shed, just 13 feet from her porch.

Molina and Bryant said they both reported the sinkhole to the City of Jacksonville.

"We need someone to come here immediately and stabilize the dirt before it reaches our homes," Molina said.

As of Thursday, they'd heard nothing, so they contacted First Coast News.

We measured the sinkhole to be at least 12 feet deep at the edge.

After we saw the sinkhole, we called the city.

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Camp for Children Coping with Homicide Receives Support from Community First Credit Union

Submitted by rdaigle on Monday, June 25th, 12:34 pm

JACKSONVILLE, FLA. – Community First Credit Union awarded a $1,000 Investing in You grant to Compassionate Families, Inc., to benefit Camp Maddie, its therapeutic camp that provides grief recovery and support services to children affected by homicide. Camp Maddie serves as a living memorial to Maddie Clifton, an eight-year-old Jacksonville girl who was brutally murdered by her young neighbor in 1998.

Sheila Clifton Delongis (back row, far right), mother of Maddie Clifton, and Glen Mitchell (to left of Delongis), co-founder of Compassionate Families, Inc., recently accepted a $1,000 grant from Community First Credit Union’s Investing in You contest to support the organization’s dedication to helping children cope with homicide.

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JEA fuel rates will decrease July 1

Submitted by FirstCoastNews Web Staff

Tuesday, June 19th, 2012, 1:34pm

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Fuel rates for JEA customers will indeed be decreasing on July 1 and the scheduled water/sewer rate increases will not go into effect.

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