We heard from reporter Amy Walters of Reveal, which airs Thursday and Saturday on WJCT. She is in Jacksonville working on a story about the future of the Black Lives Matter movement after the election. Baptist AgeWell’s annual conference is coming up Saturday at University of North Florida. We spoke by phone with keynote speaker Dr. Diane Meier, director of Palliative Medicine from Mount Sinai hospital in New York, and Dr. Andrew Daigle from Baptist Health joined us in studio. We also spoke with local attorney Eddie Farah from the firm Farah and Farah about a program they are running this week offering military personnel and veterans free cab rides through Veterans Day.
Amy Walters
Election Day is Tuesday. There will be lots to watch for on election night, as both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump hope for victory. Walters joined us with a look at the future of the Black Lives Matter movement after Election Day. She’s focusing on an interview with Ron Davis, father of slain 17-year old Jordan Davis.
Baptist AgeWell Conference
The event targets seniors and their caregivers. The conference theme is “Palliative Care: Any Age, Any Stage.”
Many people do not understand what palliative care is and that it can help older adults with the symptoms, pain and stress of a serious illness, even if curative treatments are underway. Meier and Daigle spoke about the importance of Palliative care and what can be expected during the conference.
Farah and Farah cab rides
The free cab rides are part of the Keep Jax Safe initiative, which started in 2015. After calling the cab, participants will provide a unique code to their driver, as well as providing their military ID.
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, veterans are twice as likely as non-veterans to have a fatal motor vehicle crash, which is the leading cause of death for veterans in their first few years back from deployment. This can be attributed to factors like post traumatic stress disorder, and often veterans are anxious to drive right away.
This program provides veterans a safe way to get to doctor’s appointments from Monday through Friday of Veterans Day week. From Thursday through Saturday, veterans will be able to use the cab rides to go anywhere in the evenings. The program will also offer veterans rides to and from the Veterans Day parade in downtown Jacksonville on Friday.
For more information, visit www.keepjaxsafe.org.
Producer Kevin Meerschaert can be reached at kmeerschaert@wjct.org, 904-358-6334 or on Twitter at @KMeerschaertJax.
