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First Coast Connect

2/24/2017: Media Roundtable; Mira Nair; Women With Heart

Our weekly Media Roundtable on Friday featured Tessa Duval from the Florida Times-Union, Florida Politics reporter A.G. Gancarski, WJCT Business Analyst John Burr and WJCT reporter Lindsey Kilbride. We also spoke by phone with award winning movie director Mira Nair and CEO of Volunteers in Medicine Mary Pat Corrigan and Lisa Weatherby from Wells Fargo joined us to talk about the Women with Heart fundraising campaign. 

    

Media Roundtable

Our panel discussed protests around the country at Congressional town hall meetings and at the offices of members of Congress, including one in Jacksonville on Thursday in front of the office of Rep. John Rutherford. They also talked about the announced leadership changes and 1,000 layoffs at CSX Transportation, City Councilman Garrett Dennis’ bill to help ex-offenders find employment and the local Fraternal Order of Police agreeing to the city’s pension reform plan.        

Mira Nair

Nair has earned acclaim for directing “The Namesake,” “Monsoon Wedding” and “Salaam Bombay.”

The book “The Namesake” is the focus of the Jacksonville Public Library’s Jax Reads program. It features discussion groups and screenings of the movie. Nair will appear at a discussion of the book and movie at the Jacksonville Main Library, March 11 at 1pm. It’s free and open to the public.       

Women with Heart

It’s a novel fundraising idea. Every month this year, a different local woman will be chosen to wear a heart-shaped diamond necklace to start conversations about the nonprofit Volunteers in Medicine. Honorees were chosen based on their contributions to health and wellness in Northeast Florida. Weatherby is the February honoree. Next February, the necklace will be raffled off. Cost of a raffle ticket is $100, and tickets are limited to 150. Volunteers in Medicine is a free medical clinic in Jacksonville for the working uninsured in northeast Florida.       

Producer Kevin Meerschaert can be reached at kmeerschaert@wjct.org, 904-358-6334 or on Twitter at @KMeerschaertJax.

Kevin Meerschaert has left WJCT for new pursuits. He was the producer of First Coast Connect until October of 2018.