Marriage equality, gang activity, and Rep. Joe Garcia 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.
State reopens aid for underwater homeowners: Florida housing officials are reopening a program to help homeowners who owe more on their mortgages than their houses are worth. (WJCT)
Jax lawyers file federal suit against Florida gay marriage amendment: Two Jacksonville lawyers have filed suit in federal court on behalf of some gay couples challenging the constitutionality of Florida's law defining marriage as between a man and a woman. (News4Jax)
Gang activity in discussed at meeting: A Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office detective met with teachers, school administrators and parents at William Raines High on Wednesday to talk about spotting gang signs, clothing, tattoos and other behaviors that point to gang involvement. (Forida Times-Union)
Police looking for endangered Jax Beach man: Police are asking for information on the whereabouts of Eric John Gattes, a missing Jacksonville Beach man with a medical condition that requires medication that he does not have with him. (First Coast News)
Florida health inspectors turned away from VA facilities: Following reports of delays in patient care at U.S. Veterans Health Administration facilities, inspectors from the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration were told they had no right to inspect records at VA facilities. (Bloomberg Businessweek)
Florida Rep. Garcia picks ear during committee hearing: Florida Rep. Joe Garcia tweeted that hangnails were to blame for what appeared to CSPAN viewers to be him picking earwax and eating it during a House Judiciary Committee meeting. (TIME)
Today on First Coast Connect, Cecka Rose Green, communications director for the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, and Jacksonville foreclosure defense attorney Chip Parker on the state of state's housing market. And later in the hour, I Dream of Jeannie star Barbara Eden.
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.
