EverythingJax

As his chief opponents are claiming victory, state Sen. John Thrasher says the race to lead the Florida Senate starting in 2014 is far from over.

Thrasher had been supporting Andy Gardiner in what has become a heated Senate president battle.

The Orlando Republican cut an unexpected deal with the man seen as his main rival, Jack Latvala, after Thrasher, Joe Negron, and incoming Senate President Don Gaetz pulled their support from Gardiner after they said he did not have the votes to win.

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Thefts

Feb. 15

A cell phone was stolen after being left unattended on the ground at the OakLeaf Plantation Amenity Center gym.

A cell phone was stolen after being left unattended near a basketball court at a business on Moody Avenue, Orange Park.

An unlocked bicycle was stolen from the bike rack at the Middleburg branch library on Aster Avenue.

Feb. 16

A cell phone was stolen after being left unattended on a display at the Kangaroo Station on County Road 218, Middleburg.

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Florida State finally found an opponent to replace West Virginia on its 2012 football schedule.

The Seminoles will play Savannah State on Sept. 8th at Doak Campbell Stadium. The Tigers, who will receive a guarantee of $475,000 to play the game, were not the Seminoles' first choice, but their only choice. West Virginia backed out of the game earlier this month.

The Tigers, an FCS member, finished 1-10 last season in their first year in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. 

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Several Jacksonville students were taken to hospitals with minor injuries following a school bus accident this morning.

It happened about 7:15 a.m. at Roosevelt Boulevard and Collins Road. The Sheriff's Office initially thought there were no injuries, but eight youths later needed minor treatment, fire department spokesman Tom Francis said.

The students were on their way to Chimney Lakes Elementary School, said Duval County schools spokeswoman Jill Johnson.

Further details were not immediately available. 

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A proposal to give the University of Florida and Florida State University the ability to set their tuition rates passed its first committee stop Tuesday.

The bill comes after university presidents testified before the House Education Committee earlier this session that tuition increases are their top priority. The hike is needed, they argued, to help remain competitive with other states.

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JEA’s governing board approved a 3 percent pay raise and retirement changes for 175 workers at the St. Johns River Power Park, though it’s unclear if the workers will agree to that.

Unlike five labor agreements the utility asked the City Council to approve this month — only to be rejected — the board is the final authority on agreements governing the power park, which is owned jointly by JEA and Florida Power & Light.

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Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown’s pick for the city’s next budget officer stayed in contention for the $125,000-a-year job Tuesday because of a last-minute deferral by a City Council panel.

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A 23-year-old man is at Shands Jacksonville hospital in life-threatening condition after being shot in the doorway of his Logan's Pointe apartment Tuesday night.

The victim was shot multiple times in the torso by an unknown shooter, according to Sgt. Dan Janson of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

"We don't know any motive behind this shooting at this point, but we are looking into it," Janson said. 

The victim is not being identified by the Times-Union because the shooter is not in police custody.

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A pet dog alerted a Middleburg family to their burning home Tuesday morning, saving them but the rest was a total loss.

Clay County Fire Rescue responded with about 20 firefighters about 5 a.m. at 4047 Lightning Lane near Thunder Road.

The three residents had evacuated and no injuries were reported.

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When you hear them speak together, it was all “good times.”

Whether kept from entering a courtroom or kicked out of a bar, they look back now and laugh.

But the reality of the 1970s in Jacksonville was that they were five young lawyers whose challenges against the establishment were as unpopular as they were dangerous.

Sheppard, Fletcher, Hand & Adams, eventually adding now-Circuit Judge Hugh Carithers as a partner, was the first racially integrated law firm in Florida.

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