Jacksonville City Council fights against “zombie” houses and to keep the river taxi running. A One Spark juried award winner begins expansion plans. Businesses are dropping voice mail, and Apple is aiming to disrupt the the news industry.
Welcome to WJCT First Read, your daily weekday morning round-up of stories from the First Coast, around Florida, and across the country.
Here are 6 stories you might have missed.
'Bumped' Florida Budget Issues Include Key Hospital Program
One of the largest issues "bumped" from lower-level negotiators to the House and Senate budget chiefs was how to structure payments from the state's Low Income Pool program to hospitals and other health-care providers that care for large numbers of low-income patients.
Innovative Teaching Program Wins One Spark Education Award
Growin’GEERS, an innovative engineering teaching program for elementary students, is expanding after winning an education award at the One Spark Festival. Growin’GEERS allows children to explore engineering concepts using critical thinking and problem solving skills.
Jacksonville City Council Considers Funding To Keep River Taxi Afloat
Lake Shore Marine Services Co-owner Heather Surface says the goal isn’t just staying in business. She envisions adding sunset cruises, more private tours, and other events that would keep people downtown after hours.
City Council Passes Bill To Help Fight ‘Zombie’ Houses
Owners are told their home is going into foreclosure, so they move out. Then, sometimes years later, the bank decides they don’t want the home. It’s what’s called a zombie foreclosure, and Jacksonville has a lot of them.
How Apple Hopes To Take A Bite Out Of The News Business
Instead of making a home for news apps, as Newsstand did, Apple is partnering with publishers including BuzzFeed, CNN, Conde Nast, The New York Times, Time Inc. and more, displaying their content within the News app in a customizable wrapper.
Businesses Are Hanging Up On Voice Mail To Dial In Productivity
A few short years after voice mail was developed in the late 1970s, it quickly became an essential business tool. But in the past few years, its use has been in decline. And some offices have opted to get rid of it altogether.
You can get all the latest headlines online at WJCTNews.org, on our Facebook page and on Twitter @WJCTJax. You can follow Ray Hollister on Twitter @RayHollister.
Photo credit: "WJCT First Read / Abandoned House" by Ray Hollister, a derivative work of "Abandoned House" by Lee Cannon, is used under CC BY-SA 2.0.
