Open letter to the mayor leads to story about Soutel's struggling business corridor
Good morning,
Last summer, I saw an open letter to Mayor Lenny Curry from a resident of the Soutel area in an edition of The Florida Star.
Resident Eunice Barnum had offered to take Curry on a tour of the Soutel business corridor.
I thought it would be great for reporter Katherine Lewin to reach out to Ms. Barnum to hear her concerns about the struggling businesses in the area.
Ms. Barnum ended up taking Katherine on that tour, which lasted a couple of hours. But that was only the beginning of Katherine's time in the community. She spent weeks visiting with residents and business owners about their frustrations. She also reviewed city records and talked to city leaders to better understand the efforts to help the community and why some of those efforts have fallen apart.
You can learn what Katherine found here: Soutel residents rejected a road diet. Now they're calling on the city to help revitalize businesses.
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The story of Raines High School graduate Rashaud Fields is heartbreaking.
Just hours after he graduated from high school, 18-year-old Fields was shot and killed.
Our public safety editor Scott Butler tracks homicides, and he noted that Fields was the ninth homicide victim between the ages of 17 and 19 in Jacksonville this year.
His mother was incredibly excited about his graduation, so much so that she said on social media the day before his graduation that she couldn't sleep.
Fields, who played football at Raines, was planning to attend Keiser University in West Palm Beach, according to this story from Scott with additional details from sports reporter Clayton Freeman.
You can read the story here: Hours after graduating, Raines High's Rashaud Fields became another Jacksonville shooting victim.
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The hot housing market means some extra money into city coffers.
Reporter David Bauerlein tells us that the city expects to generate about $90 million more in property taxes this year, double the amount of growth it had been seeing in recent years. It's not because the tax rate is increasing — it's not. But David explains how the taxable value of homes plays a role.
What's not clear yet is how the city might want to spend the money. But David and his colleagues will follow the city budget process to let you know how city officials want to spend your tax dollars.
You can read David's full story here: Booming real estate market could make Jacksonville flush with cash from property taxes
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Reporter Steve Patterson continues to cover the saga of the efforts to retire Naval Station Mayport's existing littoral combat ships, so it was odd to see him pitch an idea of the commissioning of a new LCS, the USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul.
The new ship will be based in Mayport, but Steve explains the plans for the other ships in his story, Newest Mayport littoral ship commissioned as future of other ships hangs in budget balance
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School is out for some and almost out for most. That makes it a great time to enjoy some barbecue with the family. This is a new guide to some of our favorites from all over Jacksonville, pulled from our staff reports and restaurant reviews: Best BBQ restaurants in Jacksonville: From brisket to ribs, landmarks to newcomers.
Or maybe you'd prefer a great burger. We have some suggestions for you on where to get those in Jacksonville, too.
Have a great week!
Mary Kelli Palka
Executive Editor
The Florida Times-Union/Jacksonville.com
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Open letter to the mayor leads to story about Soutel's struggling business corridor