Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
First Coast Connect

09/10/15: Syrian Refugee Crisis; Recovery Month; Free To Breathe 5k; Kerry Speckman

US military intelligence sources say there is evidence Russia is now sending troops and military hardware to bolster the forces of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. The United States is fighting an air war against the Islamic State group in Syria but also opposes the Syrian government. Meanwhile, Jacksonville’s large Syrian-American community is watching closely as the refugee crisis in the region spirals out of control. We hear from two local men who have ties to the region: Jacksonville attorney Fadi Chakour and Rev. Nicholas Louh of St. John the Divine Greek Orthodox Church.

National Recovery Month is a national observance held every September to educate Americans that substance use treatment and mental health services can help people with a mental and/or substance use disorder to live a healthy and rewarding life. We discuss Recovery Month with Dr. Philip Hemphill, Chief Clinical Officer, and Gina de Peralta Thorne, Vice President of Marketing at Lakeview Health. 

The Free to Breathe 5K race takes place this weekend at the Jacksonville Landing. All proceeds from the event support Free to Breathe, a lung cancer research and advocacy organization dedicated to doubling lung cancer survival by 2022. Participant Marylee Lewis, who lost both her mother and husband to lung cancer, joins us.

And we look at this weekend's biggest events with Kerry "The Specktator" Speckman.

Subscribe to the First Coast Connect podcast in iTunes.

Sean Birch joined the WJCT team in late 2011 and was with the company until 2016.