First Coast Connect

6/24/19: State Of Duval Schools; First Coast Success; SailTime NE FL; Cole Pepper

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The Duval County School District Headquarters
CYD HOSKINSON / WJCT NEWS

A report in The Florida Times-Union shows Duval County Public Schools paid more than $9 million in air conditioning-related maintenance and repairs in just one year.

The Times-Union's story, using data from the school district, revealed thousands of A/C incidents between April 2018 and March 2019.

It's another illustration of the mounting problems plaguing Duval's aging schools.

The story broke as the School Board urges City Council to let voters decide on a half-cent sales tax for school repairs. Emily Bloch, Education Reporter for the paper, joined us for a closer look.

Mike Bowling at WJCT
Credit Heather Schatz/ WJCT

First Coast Success

Pound Puppies were one of the top-selling toys of the 1980s - and even made it onto Time Magazine’s “All-Time 100 Greatest Toys” list. And now they’re getting a reboot.

Pound Puppies creator, Mike Bowling, lives in Northeast Florida. Karen Mathis of WJCT News partner the Jax Daily Record spoke to him for this month’s First Coast Success story.

Sailtime Northeast Florida

Rose Ann Points is a local business owner helping other women take the helm in their lives. She overcame a patriarchal upbringing and now uses her company - SailTime Northeast Florida - to empower other women through the sharing economy. And she’s doing it - at sea. She joined us with more information.

Cole Pepper

Cole Pepper joined us to discuss the banner week being enjoyed by the US Men's and Women's National Soccer Teams.

Heather Schatz can be reached at hschatz@wjct.org, 904-358-6334 or on Twitter at @heatherschatz.

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Heather is the senior producer of WJCT 89.9 FM talk shows including First Coast Connect with Melissa Ross, the Florida Roundup and What's Health Got to Do with It?