Tuesday on “First Coast Connect,” WJCT reporter Lindsey Kilbride told us about the Duval County School Board’s decision to join a lawsuit against the state over a new education law (01:06). The latest segment of “Moveable Feast” featured St. Augustine chef Sherry Stoppelbein (23:59), and Jacksonville attorney and former Secret Service agent Michael Stanski talked about the financial problems that agency is facing (34:06).
Duval Schools Join Lawsuit
Duval school board members voted 4-to-2 Monday to join 10 other districts suing the state over the major education law the Florida Legislature passed this spring. The law, passed as House Bill 7069, contains a number of measures that lawyers for school districts around the state say are unconstitutional and will hurt school districts but benefit charter schools. One legal target could be the new law’s “schools of hope” measure, which sets aside more than $100 million to incentivize charter schools to open in place of failing public schools. Opponents of the law say it removes the oversight school districts have over charter schools, which are privately run public schools. Duval County has more than 30 charter schools.
‘Moveable Feast’: Sherry Stoppelbein
In Tuesday’s “Moveable Feast,” our look at dining and culinary trends across the First Coast, Leigh Cort of the Women’s Food Alliance talks with Sherry Stoppelbein, owner and executive chef of Hot Shot Bakery & Cafe and the Datil B. Good Hot Sauce company in St. Augustine.
Secret Service Funding
The Secret Service is dealing with a bit of a crisis these days. It can no longer pay hundreds of agents it needs to carry out an expanded protective mission in large part due to the sheer size of President Trump's family and the manpower needed to secure their multiple residences up and down the East Coast. Secret Service Director Randolph "Tex" Alles, in an interview with USA TODAY, said more than 1,000 agents have already hit the federally mandated caps for salary and overtime allowances that were meant to last the entire year. Alles said the service is grappling with an unprecedented number of White House protectees. Under Trump, 42 people have protection, including 18 members of his family. That's up from 31 during the Obama administration.
Kevin Meerschaert can be reached at kmeerschaert@wjct.org, 904-358-6334 or on Twitter at @KMeerschaertJax.
