Support for firs goes Connect is provided in part by Baptist Health and North Florida TPO.

Opinions expressed on the First Coast Connect week in review are those of our panelists and do not reflect the views of WJC News 89 nine.

And good morning.

I'm Dan Scanlon, filling in for N Schindler.

It is Friday and that means it's time for our first coast week in review.

Our topics include a lega complaint following accusations that one candidate is first fraudulent voter guides school district working to crack down on bus driver shortages and truancy amid backdrop of heated school board races.

We've got a breakdown of the latest on the city's Stadium of the Future payment plan.

And two local sushi restaurants are rated as part of an ongoing federal investigation.

Let's talk about all that and much more.

I'm joined by Annette Gutierrez, reporter at Action News.

Jax, hello and welcome.

We've got Rick Anderson, Reporter with the Jacksonville Daily Record.

Rick Good morning.

Dan Hey there.

Nketia Williams, author columnist and contributor here with Jacksonville today.

Hey, good morning.

Good morning, Jacksonville.

And the person who sits right next to me in the newsroom, Meghan malco, education reporter with Jacksonville today.

Good morning to all of you.

Good morning, Dan.

Thanks for being here.

And let me tell you, we've had another busy week.

So let's start with the political dustup from earlier this week that has ruffled some political feathers.

I did watc at the news conference Nketiah.

So let's talk about Corrine Brown and her news conference in front of the Duval County Courthouse and her daughter standing with her to say that there's a fraudulent voter guide out there.

And the one in Duval, not the one that also cropped up in Saint John's.

Let's talk about what happene with the former congresswoman.

So Congresswoman Corrine Brown, former Congresswoman Corrine Brown was known for years, decades even for doing these quick picks for voters who would normally vote for her in her community, in her district about how to vote on all the races and who she was selecting.

And she has endorsed Brenda Priestly Jackson in the lower House race, that District 13.

I think this you know, District five, don't quote me on the Day District edition, but she's endorsed Brenda Priestly Jackson over the current incumbent, Angie Nixon.

And a quick pick one out that had Angie Nixon as a selected quick pick voter with Corinne Brown's name attached.

And so she's suing and they're going to court today.

And I understand that you don't want your name and likeness attached to something that you don't support.

That makes sense to me.

However, at this point in the political game and with former Congresswoman Congresswoman Brown's fall from grace and conviction and prison stay and appeal and then conviction and what it is now, I feel like it's a power grab and it's unnecessary.

Like you don't have to prove that you still have the power that you used to have or tha you're trying to insert yourself into a race that you don't really have a stake in.

Just like show who you are, who you used to be, and like, feel that power thing.

Like, that's power and it's ego and it's unnecessary and now it's ugly and it's in court.

And it didn't have to get this way.

Who published this this alleged fraudulent voter guide and or maybe better, what's the allegation of who published it?

The allegations is that it came from the from the Nixon campaign.

And the Nixon campaign has come back and said that it wasn't them and that they have, you know, subsidiaries in other business groups that are working with them and that it may be a gotten mistaken.

It came from there, but it is just a mix up and no one's taking clear responsibility.

But at this point, the primary election is next week.

And so we're going to court today about election that people are already voting and people have pretty much made their minds up in.

And it's really nasty an unnecessary and a distraction.

And, you know the thing that I started doing with all the political TV ads as I'm looking at the bottom at the end to see who it's paid for.

Yeah.

Because if I'm thinking, Wow, this is a little irrational, usually it's a PAC who' doing it and not the candidate.

Let's open it up to the pane about some of the other issues that are happening with elections as we are less than a week away.

Anybody?

Well, I just want to say, you know, with those voter guides, as a first time voter, you know, an 18 year old who just got their ticket, they look at those guides and they may not have done all of their research.

So I feel like it could be misleading for any of those people who, you know, I was like, okay I came in for this one and now, well, I'm just going to d everything that they suggested.

So I think it's dangerous, especially for those voters who are a little bit new to the system.

They didn't do their research and they're looking to those guides and now they're being misled.

And there is a St John's County voter guide that's also apparently coming out that is not that looks like the one that th party sent out, but it is not.

And that's another issue.

And I seem to remember seeing that it was a little off center like it wasn't cut too well, but you or I might notice that the average voter may not notice.

And I've done some election advertising work back in my past.

I know how to make sure you have a good mailer and a good door hanger.

And so.

But, Nikita, you talk about the powerhouse that Karen used to be, having been a reporter here for 40 years, I worked with Karen Brown.

I covered those news conferences.

I that the force that she was, that she still is she still that force in the community that she wa when she was a congressmember?

I think she definitely has deep support in the community that goes a long way and a long way back and will always have that publi good will, that public goodwill.

I remember being a producer at action and covering the when she came back, flew in from D.C. for the first hearings in the federal trial, and our reporters in meeting her at the airport and talking to her one on one as she walked all the way through an outdoor car and being there and covering the case.

Community, goodwill and political power are not the same thing.

And so while you do have the ability to persuade your community to vote in a certain manner, that does not actually equate to the power to change legislatio or effect legislation in the way that she once did, or policy in that way.

It does give you an ear to the people, which is always important because you do want the people to go to the polls.

You want the people to go to the polls and vote for someon that not only the person that's that's doing the endorsing, but that the people believe is going to do the best job in the office that they are seeking.

And so that is important.

That is is in itself a kind of power.

But I wonder for those who are running for office, do they want Karen Brown to be that voice for them?

And I think that's where yo kind of have to know your role and know when to hold them in No.

One vote.

Okay.

We've got some phone calls already cropping up.

Let's go to Curtis on the north side.

Curtis, your comment?

Good morning, everyone.

My comment is, does our agree with Ms.. Williams assessment and is said to me that we see this going on right now and playing out before us when all someone had to do was to reach out to the accused party verbally and personally and ask them what is going on instead of going to the court and getting i front of the media to sell this.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you.

What about that reaching out across the table versus bringing it to a news conference in front of the courthouse?

Any thoughts?

I can see on benefit is obviously you make it a news item and you get your point across maybe quicker than otherwise.

Yes.

I like obviously there seems to be some bad blood between the Brown famil and maybe the Nixon operation, which is why Brown has endorsed Brenda Priestly.

Jackson And I guess there's bad blood between Brenda Priestly, Jackson and Nixon.

I don't know.

And I don't really care because I'm sure they all have each other's phone numbers in so they can take us out to group chat like we are seeing this play ou in a way that we don't need to because whatever the bad blood is, whateve the differences in opinion are.

You're from a similar community.

You're vyin to represent the same community, to speak for that community and to help that community.

So whatever your differences are, even if you have fundamental differences that have caused Brenda Priestley Jackson to run against the incumbent rep, state rep. Angie Nixon That's fine.

Debate that and let the voters decid who they want to represent them.

But at these other shenanigans, take us out the group chat we don't need to know and now like you're going to court for way Well, there are those who say any publicity is good publicity, right?

Well, I mean, when you hold a media press conference, you're going to get people talking no matter what, whether it's good or bad.

That's what they want, especially when your name is Corrine Brown.

All right.

Let me go to Stanley on the north side.

Stanley, you're on the air.

Yes.

Thank you very much.

First of all, Miss Brown is not the power half in the African-American community.

That's an opinion.

But my name's Stan Scott, and I've been dealing with this for some years.

He's a not a powerhouse.

Now, what is taking place is a tragedy when it comes to Miss Brown in this.

Peter Jackson, Mrs. Brown, not Miss Brown, but Nixon represen the African American community.

He's engaged in the community.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you.

Engagement is the big question, Angie.

Obviously still involved.

Very much involved is occasionally a speaker on on this roundtable.

So we hear her opinions.

Is this the way a election campaign should be run or assisted or nudged?

Well the part that rises to the top for me and I'm new to this market, so I don't know all the backstory on these two candidates, but the part that rises to the top for me is the campaign funding.

Perhaps it's because it's what I've been spending all week looking at in the room with regards to the school board funding.

But we've seen PACs come into these races and spend a lot of mone trying to influence the results.

And you don't always have a clear picture of who's paying for it much like in the cases of these, you know, voter guides, you can see who paid for it.

And I commend you damned for always looking at the bottom to see what you would.

You have to squint.

You really do.

You do because they make i as small as they possibly can.

And then that doesn' always tell the complete picture either, because Florida's campaign laws allow for that.

We can have PACs that aren't.

It's a little bit unclear as to see who's actually funding them.

And even in the cases when you go to look up the money that's behind it, you still don't always know exactly where the donations come from.

So it's and I commend the news media in the city for taking some of these claims and doing a verify and going point by point to see who's doing what.

I mean, Rick, you just noted I mean, well, Dan, you were talking earlier about engagement.

And, you know, I would take this as you all as a voter, you have to engage in the process, too.

And you almost have to be your own advocate.

Act like a reporte if you get something in the mail and it looks like it's an official document, maybe call your supervisor of elections and say, hey, did this come out really come out from your office?

Or if it comes out from somebody you know, a source, another source, try to call that campaign and say, did this really come out from your office?

I seem to remember there was a tenant that that if you were the candidate for that ad, you had to have I am Joe Blow and I, you know, support this, that your voice has to be in that radio or T spot to prove that it's yours.

If you don't hear the candidate saying that and you're hearing tha with the presidential campaign right now with Donald Trump, then you have a right to question whether or not that actually came from the candidate himself or herself.

So, again, for thos who don't remember Corrine Brown like I do, she she was a powerhouse, but she had some missteps as a congresswoman, including some claim with her daughter and a lobbyist and a Lexus.

And there was also the live news conference from the Capitol where she said something about how terrible situations were in a fictitious country that the Marx Brothers used in a film, I think was Fredonia.

Hmm.

And those were missteps in her time as a congresswoman, notwithstanding the fact that she was very involved in the community.

She was very involved in the community.

She had very public missteps.

She was parodied often for misspeaking the way she spoke, where she was from, how she presented herself at the end of the day.

She's no longer a sitting congresswoman.

She is a civilian.

And at this point I'm going to defer to Stanley, who called i and say she's not a powerhouse because he lives in the community, that she would take a ride with what the community says.

And I think that in terms of this specific state representative election between Andy Nixon and Brenda Priestly Jackson, the community needs to decide who they want, b who they want to represent them.

Brenda Priestley Jackso was a former city councilmember.

Angie Nixon comes up through the community organizing and organizing spaces.

They both have deep ties to the city of Jacksonville and perhaps to their own community.

But the community and the people there need to decid who they want to represent them and what kind of representation they want.

And we'll find out on August 20th and we'll see what happens after today's first court hearing.

We're talking about the week's biggest headlines.

Join the conversation.

You can call us at 9045492937.

Or send an email to First Coast Connect at WJCT, dawg.

You can also watch our program livestream now on Facebook and the WJCT YouTube page.

So let's let's go on to the next the next part of our discussion.

And it's an elephant i the classroom, some might say.

Meghan you recently did a piece Friday on the major issues at the forefront of a very increasingly partizan school board race here in Duval County.

And that's just the tip o the school board news this week.

Yes, it's funn how these nonpartizan elections have turned into some of the most partizan races in the area, isn't it?

Yes.

So the Republican party and I had talked with Dean Black.

Oh, it's probabl been last month at this point.

But I was talking with him about how it just kind of seems that way.

And he said, yes, absolutely this is intentional on our part.

You know, we want to make it partizan because school board elections matter.

So the Democratic Party, however, was a little bit more reluctant to get in and make it a partizan thing.

They have candidates, you can see on their website that they suppor that they want you to vote for, but they're not coming out with endorsements per se.

Now, that's changed this week because the state Democratic Party has issued, I'm going to use the word endorsements loosely because they're being very careful to not use that word.

But I talked with Nikki Fried, I think was yesterday or maybe the day before, and they have a take back local program that they're supporting, thinks she won't use the word supporting 11 candidates across the state, including one here in Jacksonville, a ceremony and in District seven.

And so they're providing support through, I think, phone banks and strategy support and some mone and things like that to try to take the politics out of the school board elections, of course, by using their, you know, their own politics, basically.

Well my cell phone is getting blasted for the past few weeks with a lot of Partizan or apparently Partizan school board affairs, essentially.

And certainly they're popping u on my social media feeds a lot and they're very well done.

Again, as as I go back to my day 40 years ago doing campaign ads.

These are very pretty.

These are well done and they'r catching the eye of people.

And that' just that the tip of the issue.

I mean, we've been talking for a year or more about unwanted or unwanted influences on the school board.

Who's behind some of this or who do you want or who do they want or not want?

Right.

Well, I think in Florida, you first saw it happen with DeSantis decision to endorse candidates in the last election cycle for school board.

I think that almost opened up the floodgates of, yeah, you know, let's make this a partizan kind of plan.

And so the Republican Party has picked they would tell you three, but it's you could possibly mak an argument for four candidates and they're so in because there's four seats up for grabs right now.

But District thre has two Republican candidates, so they're not officially endorsing a candidate in the Distric three race, both Becky Nathanson and Sandy Pierson who are registered Republicans.

So they're not endorsing, although Dean Black is endorsing Nathanson in his capacity as a state representative.

So they are the chairman of the Republican Party for Duval County and running for state committeeman for that party.

Yes, but only as representative is he endorsing.

Okay.

Just but but mincing words.

But his power in his titles will influence.

He's a wel spoken Republican Party member and he is out there.

And then there's Moms for Liberty, which has been cropping up here in Duval County for over a year.

And is there any active influence to get their candidates?

Well, sure there are supporters candidates for the party's candidates, Yes, basically.

And so I talked with Beck Nathanson a couple of weeks ago, who used to b the chair of Moms for Liberty.

I believe she brought i to Duval a couple of years ago.

She's no longer the chair.

She's running for school board.

But yes, absolutely.

You can see the Moms for Liberty have picked the same candidates.

They've endorses same candidates.

They are also no officially endorsing Nathanson.

But I don't think it's too much of a stretch to to figure out where her priorities align and that she's, you know, speaks with a lot of the same talking points as the Mums for Liberty type of candidates.

But you see tha this across the state as well, because the people who are the groups who push things like parents rights, for instance, are the mom for liberty types of candidates.

So they believe the parent should be the ultimate decider in the classroom.

When you talk with these candidates, I spoke with Melody Bolduc and Becky Nathanso and several of these candidates, their take is that parents should be the ones, the driving force behind what happens in the classroom, from everything from curriculum to the way that the school is run.

Now, some have differing opinions.

For instance, Bill Duke would tell you, in fact, she told me to use the words something to the effect of the parents don't need to rule what's going on in the classroom, but they need to have complete transparency and things like this, which I thin is where it gets a bit sticky, because I don't think anybody would tell you that it's a good idea for schools to not have transparency.

I think everybody from both sides would agree the parents need to know what's going on in the classroom.

But the Moms for Liberty push it with things like socio cultural issues that you don't see as commonly with the democratically supported candidates.

Well let's move on to another issue that's affecting my family, and I'm sure many others.

Our grandson has had to be taken to school in a car because the school bus is not showing up.

And then last night at 5 p.m., he gets off a bus that should have been there an hour earlier.

Now we see our superintendent making a plea for community groups, churches to supply some of the 90 some odd vacancy positions.

So let's talk about school busses and any comment from his table is welcome.

Yeah, my son definitely got off the bus an hour late Monday and because the bus was late getting to the school and it's the same driver tha he's had the last three years.

So and it's not their fault.

It's not their fault.

Two extra kids got added t my grandson's school bus route.

So that's an extra who knows how many minutes to go to those neighborhoods.

But this has been an issue not just this school year, not just last school year, but since school returned post-pandemic in the fall of 2020 when schools were open in the state of Florida, there has been a bus driver shortage.

And while I applaud the superintendent for basically Collins to the Collins to the court, you know, church groups and community members and retirees and anybody who can basically get behind the wheel and drive the bus to get these kids to school.

I applaud you for doing that.

But you also have to look at maybe why you have the bus driver shortages in the areas that you do, because all of the issues feed one another.

So perhaps in the areas where you have a more urban population, you have more truancy, you have higher poverty, higher crime, you also have higher COVID infections.

You also have, you know higher rates of co-morbidities such as diabetes or high blood pressure, high cholesterol that make people unable to do some of the jobs that you are asking them to do that made them more susceptible to COVID.

That made the families more precarious.

They kept the students out of school, which is why you might have a high truancy issue.

All of these things feed one another.

So, yes, ask for volunteers.

Ask for volunteers in the neighborhood so that they don't have to go that far.

But then also try to be understanding about why you have the issues that you do, let alone the fact that, you know, Duval County only having less than 100,000 schools, is popular this school year.

More and more students being siphoned off to charter schools and private schools and the loss of funding in-state public schools.

All of this is part of the same problem.

And so just calling people to come fill the position, to do so, to do a job and then to support another program to to reduce truancy, you're still not getting to the heart of the issue, and that's also a problem.

Annette, any thoughts?

Yeah, well, I know that the city is even stepping in to try and help this problem.

I mean, kids can get on busses and there was also that new rule, I mean kind of new rule, but what about the two mile rule where now anybody who lives within two miles or maybe it's a mile is still my mile was 1.52.

Yes.

So some people who are taking the bus now, they have to walk to school two miles.

So there there's all these different ways they're trying to find solutions.

And this week, your station was among many who talked about the fact that some of these kids have to walk across a six lane road to get to school and there's no crosswalk.

So they there's a danger issue there.

You know, when I was a kid back in the dark ages, I had a subway and bus pass to get to school and indeed I rode the subway.

But that was a different time.

Now, between walking or taking a JTA bus, maybe some parents don't feel comfortable and parents will make that walk with the kids.

I mean, I did the stor last year when it was a problem.

And I mean, it really is a danger.

I mean, six lanes I can't even like.

And Dan I mean, you grew up in New York.

I grew up in Chicago.

I took two busses and a subwa to get to school in high school.

But you also have to thin about it that a lot of students, once they become a certain age, are responsible for getting themselves to school.

And my mom worked, s she was up if it was a teacher.

So she was up in the house by five in the morning and I had to get myself to school.

I had to make sure I got on the school bus when I was in middle school and I caught the city bus when I was in high school.

So then how many students have the hav that same responsibility place?

And then you set your alarm, you get up, you get yourself to go, get ready to go, and you have to get yourself to school.

And then the bus is like something you just don't end up there in.

The parents are doing their best, but they also have to work like all of these things work together.

And I don't think that we are understanding the pressures that families are under, that parents are under, that students are under for the shortfalls and for the missiles element of priorities.

That is happening not only within the school district but within Florida education as a whole.

You know, there are some kids who aren't going to school.

That's the next and final issue about schools.

Duval leads the state in habitual truancy to the point with the chronic absenteeism for many reasons trauma, poverty, neighborhood crime.

That City Hall stepped in this wee with a show up to shine program to recognize goo and improved attendance, etc..

So anybody want to talk about what this might have as an impac on getting more kids in school?

All eyes on me.

They're talking about it.

But I knew we were going to talk about it today.

So, you know, again, I applaud the effort to get the children to school.

But let's think about this habitual truancy is not just a Duval County issue.

It's the highest in the state of Florida.

But it's not just a Florida issue.

It's a national issue.

Schoo attendance rates have plummeted.

post-COVID, north and south, east and west.

This is not about which districts opened and which states were open.

As soon as you know, we decided that we were going to send the kids back to schools in which schoo districts and cities and states waited a year and a hal because they were cautious about the virus.

This is an issue that is affecting the entire country and so show up to shine.

I applaud the measures in making sure that they're going to reward students not just for perfect attendance, but for improved attendance and reaching out to the parents in the families to make sure they're getting there and calling for community members to drive the busses.

But then you also have t understand the systemic factors that are preventing the students from showing up to class.

And we're not talking about that in nor do we ever talk about that.

And so poverty and crime in education, they all feed one another.

So as one goes up, so does the other.

And we have to get to the root cause of what's happening in these communities.

Correct.

All right.

We've had two patient caller here, Charles, on the west side.

You have a comment?

Yes.

Good morning.

As a childless cat, dude, that's going to do it.

I just wanted to say that it seems to me that all this parental rights is just code words for, yeah, we want to have our homeschooling agenda, but we want to do it in your facilities.

But, you know, I love the way the lady ties it all together into systemic problems.

It's across the country.

I love how intelligently she ties it all together.

Thanks a lot.

All staff.

Yeah, we do have some very intelligent people on this panel, usually smarter than me.

So let's go to Jonathan on the south side talking about the bus shortage.

Hi.

Thank you for taking my call.

I just have a couple of things to say.

Number one, I think it's disingenuous for the superintendent to ask people to volunteer when he had to be when his salary was so much higher than anyone was really expecting it to be.

As far as the community, I also think that is that the homes.

But if you don't want the school to determine some aspects of your child's education, maybe you should homeschool.

And I thin that when you're homeschooling, you have to have an expectatio that there's going to be things expected of you that you may not necessarily agree with, that the same may be the same expectations of the school.

So I just wanted to say those things and have a great day.

Thank you.

Yeah, You have a curriculum.

You have to follow and you have to prepare your child for the world that they will enter when they're 16 or 18 years old.

And maybe keep your personal beliefs.

Let's move on to the next topic this week.

And I guess I've been so busy that I haven't had a chance.

Rick, you wrote a hell of a story about all the stuff in the stadium of the future.

So, you know, I'm jus going to take it handed to you.

What?

Well, okay, what is what is?

Bring us up to date on what you talked about and where we sit right now.

Well, so I had been writing a lot of stories about the stadium deal and the owner of our company had been reading them.

And he said, you know, I've been reading all your stories and there are so many moving parts to this and a galaxy of numbers with this.

Can yo do something to help explain it?

So what we did in our last edition, there's nothing new there.

What we did was we took a timeline approach to all of the different elements, all the different parts of the stadium deal, and laid that out and hopefully simplified things a bit.

So we went back to 2000 when the better Jacksonville Plan tax increase was passed and then walked it through all the way to 2045 to 2050, when eventually the pensions will be paid down through the next tax increase that's also involved in this stadium deal.

So a lot ther and and we're still discussing the council is still discussing some parts of this deal.

We still have a committee that's working on the community and of this.

And there's still questions whether or not that actually works and helps the east side or some of it gets cut to me as I talked with the mayor earlier this week.

It's logical for me to have a Philip Randolph, which is steps away from a bar and all the other sports complex parts as part of the picture, not just stadium parking, but a place you want to walk befor and after the game and tailgate.

Have some fun.

So what ar we looking at there right now?

Well, the so th the community benefits agreement that was attached to the stadium deal initially calle for $150 million from the city that would be matched by $150 million from the team.

The council approved only $56 million of the city's contribution, which would go toward developing riverfront parks and the flexfield which is attached to the stadium.

They put aside the other part of that to discuss through the special committees, Dan, that you were talking about.

And I don't know I don't know exactly how that money will be spent.

And I think that's what the special committees are trying to decide.

But what we know is that it will go toward workforce development, affordable housing and homelessness services.

Now, the Jaguars themselves are paying a fai chunk of community development.

But there's been concern, obviously, that this separate community agreement could be somewhat parsed out and maybe be not as strong.

So let me open it up to all of you.

What are you hearin as journalists out on the street or bloggers or community members as to whether or not this thing might be weakened and hurt the community that's very much supporting this team?

You know, I've done a lot of stories out east.

They're calling it now on the east side.

And they are working hand in hand with the Jags.

They say no matter what, whether the city is stepping in or not, they have confidence that the Jags are helping them and they have been.

There are a lot of nonprofit organizations also stepping in to help, you know, just fix the the fronts, the window fronts and the just I forget the word of it, but just making it look prettier.

And then they're also helping with the front porches so that they can have better looking houses.

And, you know, with al the people that I've talked to on the east side, they said they're not worried because they know that now they are seen and now people are coming in to help, but they also don't want to get washed away from the city.

You know the Jags are coming in to help.

They have nonprofit organizations.

They have a whole communit coming together to make change.

And they hope tha the city can step in.

But again, they know that there's a lot of funding coming in.

You know, I'm the guy that's waiting for that drone shot that actually shows our waterfront without the landin and with the brand new fountain so that somebody at Fox Sports or CBS Sport takes the time to show our city, as it is now under construction, a vibrant new fountain.

Really cool stuff that is happening.

I'll admit I'm a little bit of a cheerleader when I look and see.

After 40 years of journalist here, it's finally slowly happening in places that were shipyards with rotting old tankers and stuff.

But that said I drive down a Philip Randolph and it's empty slot.

Empty slot.

There's a laundromat, There's maybe a bar, there's some tailgate parking.

I don't see a lot of development.

And I think that's necessary fo when that sports network does.

A drone shot down that and wants to show people having fun at some street fair location.

You know th same thing that's happening it now in the live in the neighborhood with the Emerald Trail and the historic district and all of that cultural resurgence after it was basically razed in the nineties.

Right.

You know, the same thing needs to happen on the east side.

There are deep ties, historical ties at East, as you said, and that, you know, Florida's first black millionaire, Abraham Lincoln Lewis, lived on the east side there.

And as you mentioned, the community is coming together.

Nonprofits that started in th community are coming together.

You know, the melanin market happens several times a year on April Randolph.

Lots of local business owners and businesses come together and you see the vibrancy of the community.

And so I think it's disingenuous for the city council to set aside the other 94 millio that was supposed to be part of the Stadium of the future deal, which is why so many were supportive of the stadium deal because of the expansive community benefits package.

And then to say we'll decide later what to do with this money for community that needs it now and has been old for decades.

Hey, we've got Jim in Mandarin.

He's been waiting a long time.

Jim, you got a comment on the stadium, don't you?

Yes.

I just wanted to ask any safeguards about the $1.5 billion cost.

Any any safeguards to recoup that maybe from metastasizing into a much large figure for the city to pay for?

Thank you.

Well, Rick, you know, costs go up, building costs go up.

We see that when we build a house, I'm expecting they'll be something, right?

Right.

But the Jaguars have agreed to pay for cost overruns as part of the stadium deal so the city will not be liable for those.

Okay.

We are talking of course, about the top stories of the wee with our panel of journalists.

Join us at 904 or 5492937.

Email at First Coast Connect at WJC talk the other topic and I've covered this many times in my year now it's happening at the Kamya 86 restaurants in Ponte Vedra Beach and Jacks Beach.

They were federal raids this week.

One of them stayed open that first day.

The other one closed.

And then I think yo were out there for some of that.

I guess my guess is illega immigration, maybe trafficking.

What?

Since they never say anything, but I've been through this before, Right?

What's happening?

Here's what I can tell you, because I don't want to speculate right now.

What we know are there were vans at both locations at the one in Jackson Beach, agents.

We're looking inside the van.

We're talking to some people, and they ended up towing away two vans, one that parked every day in the parking lot.

And according to the neighbors, the businesses nearby, they would say that every day the people from here would transport men.

And they said specifically Hispanic men, they would come in to work at this Asian restaurant.

So let that be what it says.

I have no idea.

I can't speculate here because Homeland Security, they're investigating.

They're the lead investigators.

They said this is an active and ongoing investigation, so they can't comment on the case.

But there's vans, there's me that come into work every day.

And when I went in to talk to that restaurant that remained open in Jacks Beach, they were like We're fine.

We're not worried.

We told all the truth to these agents.

And I was like, Well, what did they ask about?

Was it, you know, was it some type of traffickin or was it illegal immigration?

And then all she said was paperwork.

You know, we're all family, we work hard.

And she's like, paperwork is big problem that we want to get.

So, again, I don't know what that means.

Let it be what it says.

And then over when we went to Ponte Vedra, I spoke with a guy who said that they heard agents screaming at one of the drivers of that van to get out of the van.

And and then they had a conversation he said he ended up going back inside.

And we don't know if he was arrested or not, but there was a lot of other people that came out of the van, too.

But basically a whole disruption of the day.

When agents come to your restaurant, you know, there's something's going on.

Well, back in 2017, I covered the Fujiyama Restaurant up on the north side, where there basically was the claim that they were doing the same thing.

And in fact, the paperwork when it came ou was that the family was renting a home where their employees were sleeping on the floor, living room, dining room and then were being brought in and ended up with the husban and wife being convicted on some illegal immigrant charges.

So my guess i this is not an uncommon thing.

I'm guessing nationwide thoughts about this from this panel as you just as a as a journalist involved in this.

Let's see, I I don't know.

I've been in this market for two and a half years, and I don't know how common this is.

I guess, Dan, you said there was in two.

Well we have seen numerous episodes that we have found in checking the archives.

And I myself covered that federal case in 201 with that North Side restaurant where I had actually eaten prior to this just because it was a brand new shopping center and where they used to be a mud pit.

And it was importan to have that development there.

And I had friends up there, so I went ate dinner and lo and behold, the husband wife are convicted of bringing in illegals and actually finding a place for them and then transporting them to and fro, which is what it sounds like.

But sounds like back to your question about whether this is, you know, common, more common nationwide.

I came here from Las Vega and it was fairly common there.

In fact, there was a place in my neighborhood where the neighbors strongl suspected this exact same thing was happening.

And I, you know, obviously you do see these stories come up quite frequently nationwide of essentially trafficking workers in and.

Yeah.

And then being raided for it.

And the concern is trafficking for employees is trafficking, but there's other trafficking issues.

And Florida apparently ranks third for human trafficking, with over 2100 reported cases in 2023 majority involving children.

MM Immigration is a national issue, just as trafficking is a national issue.

It's happening everywhere.

And because of the failure at the border by both parties.

So I'm not being political here for decades 40, 50, 60, 70 years.

We are seeing the confluence of issues taking place in our cities.

Slavery still exists.

It was abolished by the 13th Amendment, sure, but it has just transforme as it exists in different ways.

So there is labor trafficking, just as there is se trafficking, just as there are immigration rings that bring undocumented workers across the border and allow them to go into businesses where they are able to work and make a living which is what most undocumented immigrants are trying to do anyway for less money than a business owner would have to pay as a citizen or a green card holder.

Right.

And this is America.

Most businesses want cheap labor.

Let's just call a spade a spade.

And so howeve they can get that cheap labor, they're going to d so is the reason why we saw laws passed in the largely last legislative session that loosened restrictions on the age limits of people, of children who would be able to work like we don't have a child labor crisis in the United States or in the state of Florida, where you get your strawberries and your fresh vegetables and fruits and produce.

That's where that undocumented some of the undocumented labor is happening and where we are seeing trafficking of children as well as adults for labor and other nefarious reasons.

So this issue is one that extends beyond the restaurants, the camera restaurants in Jacks Beach.

I'm sure there are other businesses that have not yet been found or may never be found.

And it's an it's an issue that states are frustrated with, cities are frustrated with.

So they're making laws against the unhoused and tent cities and things like that, but that there really needs to be a top down leadership no matter who president of the United States no matter who sits in Congress.

There was a immigration bill in Congress that was shot down for political expediency of this election.

We'll se if it's brought back up in 2025.

So there does need to be progress.

There does need to be work.

There need to be more judges in the asylum course.

It needs to be faster asylum hearings.

There need to be more ways for people who are seeking asylum to surrender.

There needs to b more protections at the border.

There need to be a host of so many things beyond just the building of detention centers to housed undocumented undocumented immigrants and holding them as prisoners until they can be deported back to their home countries.

Because the solution that we have now is not.

One is making the problem even greater.

And just building a wall.

I'm gonna show you a ladder, right?

So this issue, we're seeing just a bit of it in the raid that are at Tacoma restaurants.

But like so many other issues, there are long tales that go back to leadership that has been lacking.

Will Ultimately, we'll see a department of Justice news release that will indicate that there have been som indictments, maybe, maybe not.

That will be the first.

But there's other federal raids that you and I, we all know have happened an we never see a word about that.

I'd still like to know what happened at Devonte Crystal United a year ago when the boxes were carried out by the FBI and the public records request then.

But they haven't come.

Right.

And so we don't know.

And again it's it's it's law enforcement.

It's up to them to tell us.

We'll find out eventually.

You know, I want to thank you guys, but here's a little traditio we'd like to do, and we call it, Oh, we're not doing that.

Okay.

So I guess I shall wrap up.

I want to thank the Keesha Williams, Rick Anderson, Meghan malika and that guitarist.

Thank you for all being here.

And up next, a live summit piano concert under the stars may be the perfect way to end this very hectic week.

See you later.

Thank you.

Thanks.

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Only in Jay-Z t News 89 nine Jacksonville on the next Florida round up back to school means backpacks, school books and new pencils, but no cell phones in some of the largest public school districts in the state.

From Fort Lauderdal to Orlando, the Treasure Coast to the Gulf Coast, students are banned from using phones during the school day.

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And we are back.

It's a more relaxing rendition of a silent disco as where people dance to music broadcast through wireless headphones.

Joining me to talk about tonight's Mind Travel, Live the headphones silen piano concert that's interesting is happening at the beach.

Composer, artist, entrepreneur Marie Heydari.

Welcome, Marie.

Thank you, Dan.

Great to be here.

You know, you come from a city that I actually grew up in and love fiercely because it's so multicultural and so active and so vibrant and so hot.

In August.

What's a live two headphones, solid piano concert?

I'm aware of the silent disco.

I'm also aware of going to an event where you have multiple channels that you can pick up and you can listen to your own thing.

But this is differen and it's a little more relaxed.

So yeah, so as a pianist I want to bring music to people.

I also love nature.

I love being at the beach like so many of us, especially here on these beautiful Florida beaches.

And I love being with people.

So I want to bring all those together into one experience.

And that is what a mind travel is.

It brings together music, nature and community.

And so that's what we'll be doing tonight at the beach right here in Jacksonville at sunset.

And we actually bring the piano on the sand righ by the Jacksonville Beach pier.

And then hundreds of people will bring their blankets, their beach chairs, maybe a little picnic.

And then we give them headphones because at the beach, the acoustics are really not great.

You know, you have the the sound of the ocean in the wind and it's stunning and it's beautiful but not great for a soft piano.

So we put the headphones on and then it's like I'm playing just for you.

And people put the headphones on.

They lie back or they walk around.

They could put their feet in the water.

And no matter where you are on the beach, it's like you have a front row seat.

What time is this?

6:00 tonight, 6 p.m. into sunset and into sunset.

So you have that beautiful visual.

What are you going to play?

So it's all improvised from first note to last note.

For about 75 minutes we get to just go on a beautiful journey together and using the language of emotion music to just kind of open up and just enjoy the moment.

And so, you know, I'm a trained classical pianist, but it's all original music.

It's like a soundtrack to the soul.

It's a soundtrack to the ocean and the sunset.

And I put in some poetry and some kind of has a little element of some mindfulness.

And just to really connect deeply to nature and to ourselves and to everyone around us.

Give me some of your background, or apparently we do share at least one corner of the world, New York City.

Mm hmm.

Yeah.

I grew up in Brooklyn, New York, proud and went to university in Manhattan, studied music, and and then been traveling the world.

I actually traveled the worl on a bicycle when I was younger, just to see the world and take it all in.

And then I started my travel to bring music, to bring healing to bring connection to people.

And that's what I'm doing today.

I now live in Florida and we bring this experience to people in dozens of beaches all around Florida, California, northeast, about a hundred concerts like this a year.

So we're here.

Give me some of the venues because I'm, you know, we think a red rock that that's on NPR and we thin of all these wonderful places.

But maybe you don't have the budget for that, but you got to find cool places where, well, in our hometown, Central Park, that was just a week and a half ago.

Oh, yeah.

Righ in the heart of New York City.

With all the hustle and bustle, with all the madness and right on the gras in the middle of Central Park, hundred and hundreds of people gather.

We put the headphones on and we get to just go on that beautiful journey from the full coast of California.

We do everything from down in Del Mar, San Diego through Huntington Beach and all the way up.

Yeah, there's some rocky beaches in California that are coves that are surrounded by rocks and the ocean.

And it is a stunning place.

And then I saw Joan Baez sing in Central Park when they used to do concert there.

Yeah.

And that was a calming experience with the towers glistening.

That's right in the distance in the trees.

A little bit of tree noise there, the little wind through the trees.

So I agree with that.

Isn't that lovely?

And, you know, it's not just beaches here, but I also do exotic locations and we film them.

So I got to do the first piano concert an on the continent of Antarctica.

So I took my piano.

We went down to Antarctica.

It was you know, by plane than by ship.

And 150 people from the boat all landed Antarctica.

And I had my piano set up and we had 250 people and 200 penguins.

And so you want to go tonight?

6:00.

My guess is the parking your aware you got to park at the pier or one of the striking spots, but what does it cost an what should you bring with you.

Yeah so you bring a blanket beach chair.

It's about 50 bucks.

There's also a kids price.

And we also have a pay which you can for those in the community that, you know, need some financial help so they can do that, make a contribution it's all at mine travel do com or just show up at the beach right at the pier.

You can't miss us.

You'll see the piano on the beach.

That's pretty unusual site So you can't miss it.

And it doesn't matter where you're sitting.

In this case, it's not like a front row seat at a concert.

You can just pick your spot and enjoy.

That's right.

So anywhere on the beach, right around, you'll see hundreds of people in a circle around the piano, taking in the ocean, taking in the sunset and enjoying music together.

Okay.

And just again, you are it is where this is Mind travel.

My name is Murray.

I'm the creator of it and come to Jacksonville Beach, Pier 6:00 tonight.

See you there, Murray.

Thank you for being here.

And your piano concert.

That's our program.

We encourage yo to send feedback and suggestions to First Coast Connect at WJCT, dawg.

Don't forget to listen Saturday at four when neurologist Dr. Joe Servin explores the differences between behavior issues and disorders among people.

Can see you next week and have a great weekend.

Moving around Dallas.

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I can never lie to you.

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