EverythingJax

Peter Weber stood at the podium and read the names. After each one, a bell rang. When it did, Weber saw their faces in his mind.

The annual memorial ceremony for the men who lost their lives when the USS Stark was attacked May 17, 1987, took place Thursday at Mayport Naval Station.

As their names were called, everyone in the crowd, one-by-one, stood. It was easy to make out the men who were aboard the Stark when it was attacked 25 years ago. They saluted.

In all, 37 sailors died in the surprise attack. The Stark was on patrol in the Arabian Gulf at the time.

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Jacksonville’s City Council rejected Mayor Alvin Brown’s veto of a $750,000 appropriation for furnishing seventh-floor hearing rooms in the new Duval County Courthouse.

With no debate and only a few questions, the council decided the issue 15-2 in a special meeting Thursday. Richard Clark and John Crescimbeni voted against the override.

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Middleton-Burney Elementary School is one of the smaller schools in Putnam County, which is among Florida’s smallest public school districts, but the elementary is a big winner in health and nutrition according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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Florida State has announced starting times for its first three football games of the 2012 season.

The Seminoles' opener against Murray State on Sept. 1 and Week 2 game against Savannah State on Sept. 8 will kick off at 6 p.m. at Doak Campbell Stadium. Both games will be televised on ESPN3.

FSU opens ACC play the following week against Wake Forest at noon on ESPN or ESPN2.

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Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney continues his Florida campaig today in Jacksonville with attacks on President Barack Obama’s record of job creation.

The former Massachusetts governor said if he’s elected, his leadership would reinvigorate America’s sense of “can-do entrepreneurship.”

“This president doesn’t understand that,” Romney said at a fundraiser at the Epping Forest Yacht Club. “He’s building a government which is slowly but surely smothering the economic freedoms that drive us.”

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A Palm Coast Bank was robbed about 11:15 a.m. Thursday by a man suspected in other heists, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.

A white male, approximately 35 years of age, 6 feet tall, with short, light-brown hair and wearing a beige cap, white T-shirt and khaki shorts robbed the Bank of America at 4850 Belle Terre Parkway in Palm Coast, authorities said.

Investigators said the man handed the teller a note demanding money. No weapon was seen, but the robber implied he was armed.

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SATURDAY, MAY 19
Jacksonville Farmers Market, dawn to dusk daily, 1810 W. Beaver St. Features local, organic, ethnic and specialty produce, along with other foods and agricultural products. (904) 354-2821 or jaxfarmersmarket.com.

Plant sale, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Nassau County Extension Demonstration Garden, Nassau Place, Yulee. Features herbs and plants that attract butterflies and hummingbirds. (904) 879-1019.

Fernandina Farmers Market, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays, Centre Street and Sevent Street North, Fernandina Beach. No pets. fernandinafarmersmarket.com.

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MONDAY, MAY 21
Job Fair, presented by Congresswoman Corrine Brown, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Prime Osborn Convention Center, 1000 Water St. (904) 354-1652.

Ponte Vedra Woman’s Club, 10 a.m., Sawgrass Country Club, 10034 Golf Club Drive, Ponte Vedra Beach. Program: Performance by Outta Sight, a student band from the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind. Reservations, (904) 708-8509.

Beaches Business Association, noon, Jacksonville Beach Public Golf Course clubhouse, Penman Road. Speaker: Nick Rosado of Smart Home. $8, lunch. (904) 241-0838 or jaxbba.com.

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The Queen of Disco has died, TMZ reports.

Donna Summer died after a fight with cancer in Florida at the age of 63. Sources told the entertainment news outlet the singer wanted to keep how bad her illness was under wraps.

Summer won five Grammy awards and became famous with hits like "Bad Girls," "She Works Hard for the Money" and "Last Dance."

Check back with Jacksonville.com for updates. 

A Jacksonville man has been arrested following the beating death of his girlfriend, whose children witnessed the attack and said the assailant was "slinging" their mother around.

Rolanda Michelle Harrell, 28, was found dead about 4 p.m. Wednesday at her apartment at 6457 Fort Caroline Road. Police said they were told she was slammed against the kitchen counters and stove. When rescue workers arrived, she was found slumped inside the kitchen door.

She was declared dead at the scene.

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