Marissa Alexander, Obamacare, and Tim Tebow are in the headlines today.Welcome to WJCT First Read, your daily weekday morning round-up of stories from the First Coast, around Florida, and across the country. We'll also preview some of WJCT's upcoming news programming.
Marissa Alexander to remain jailed pending January hearing: Jacksonville resident Marissa Alexander will likely remain in custody at Duval County Jail until at least her next pretrial hearing, scheduled for Jan. 15. (WJCT)
Few Floridians signed up on state health exchange: Numbers released Wednesday show slightly more than 3,500 Florida residents have signed up for health insurance using the state's federally administrated marketplace, the highest among the three-dozen states using federally run exchanges. Only 106,000 people across the country have signed up since the exchanges opened last month. (Jacksonville Business Journal, Tampa Bay Times)
State lawmakers talk healthcare at JU forum: The leaders of both houses of the Florida State Legislature and local officials reiterated their positions on the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion at Jacksonville University's 2013 Healthcare Policy Conference. (WJCT)
Jax Beach has highest crime rate in Duval County: Stats show Jacksonville Beach has a crime rate of 5.6 percent per capita, the highest in Duval County, with the city of Jacksonville coming in second at 4.8 percent. (News4Jax)
Tebow launches Haiyan relief efforts: The Tim Tebow foundation has activated a donation link to help those affected by Typhoon Haiyan and has made the Philippines one of the primary beneficiaries of his outreach programs. (Washington Times)
Sinkhole swallows home: A sinkhole destroyed a home, a tree, and a small boat in Dunedin on Thursday. (CNN)
Today on First Coast Connect, we'll discuss the latest update in the Marissa Alexander case with Florida Coastal School of Law professor Rod Sullivan.
You can get all the latest headlines online at WJCTNews.org, on our Facebook page, and on Twitter @WJCTJax. You can follow Patrick Donges on Twitter at @patrickhdonges.
