Today on “First Coast Connect,” our weekly media roundtable included Florida Times-Union columnist Ron Littlepage, Folio Weekly Editor Claire Goforth and Timothy Gibbons, editor of the Jacksonville Business Journal (01:12). We heard about the upcoming TEDxJacksonville event with director Sabeen Perwaiz and Dr. Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa, or “Dr. Q,” who will be one of the speakers (35:04). We head a preview of this weekend’s China Cat Sunflower Festival with organizers Christina Parrish and Brenda Walker. Christina’s daughter, Hadley Parrish-Cotton, will perform at the festival and gave us an in-studio musical preview (43:37).
Media Roundtable
Our panel discussed Sheriff Mike Williams’ announcing he’ll turn off the city’s red-light cameras when the contract expires later this year. City Council Finance Committee budget hearings, beginning this week, include an outside request for increased funding for libraries. They talked about this week’s emotional re-sentencing hearing for child killer Joshua Phillips and the sale of the Florida Times-Union and St. Augustine Record by Morris Publications to GateHouse Media.
TEDxJacksonville
The theme for this fall’s TedXJacksonville talks is We the People. It’s the sixth year for the event, which will be held Oct. 14 at the Florida Theatre, with 13 speakers and three musical performances. Along with “Dr. Q,” speakers will include Jacksonville attorney and co-author of “America, The Owners Manual: How to Fight City Hall and Win” Chris Hand, K9 for Warriors founder Shari Duval and U.S. Olympian Jeff Galloway.
China Cat Sunflower Festival
The 22nd annual China Cat Sunflower Festival will be held 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday at Klutho Park in Springfield. The festival is a celebration of the free-spirited ways of Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead. It features music, drum circles, food trucks and local craft beer.
Kevin Meerschaert can be reached at kmeerschaert@wjct.org, 904-358-6334 or on Twitter at @KMeerschaertJax.
