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First Read: Jacksonville Zoo Ranks In US Top 25

The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens is celebrating recognition as one of the Top 25 Zoos in the United States. A faculty member from Jacksonville’s Edward Waters College won an award for his medical research on asthma and allergies affecting African Americans. A police task force in South Florida helped criminals launder $70 million but didn’t make a single arrest.

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 7 stories you don’t want to miss.

Jacksonville Zoo Named In Top 25 Best Zoos In US

TripAdvisor has named the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens (JZG) as one of the Top 25 Zoos in the United States. TripAdvisor has highlighted the world’s top attractions based on the quantity and quality of reviews and ratings for zoos and aquariums worldwide, gathered over a 12-month period.

Jacksonville Researcher Wins Award For Study On Asthma In African American Community

The Historically Black College or University Awards presented Dr. Brian Seymour with the award at a ceremony held at Hampton University in Virginia. Seymour is the research director for the Edward Waters College Center for the Prevention of Health Disparities.

Enrollment in Pinellas County Summer Learning Program Swells

During a time when many Florida counties were cutting back on summer school due to a lack of money, Pinellas County started expanding theirs using a combination of federal and state funds. And attendance over the past three summers has more than doubled.

South Florida Task Force Helped Criminals Launder $70M

An investigation found that the task force had withdrawn hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash without any real explanation where the money went. And, perhaps most disturbingly, found that the task force had helped criminal organizations launder those millions of dollars without ever making a single arrest on its own.

Will New Embassies Tamp Down Or Ramp Up The U.S.-Cuba Spy Game?

Espionage is a central feature of U.S.-Cuba relations. “The United States has always been very concerned about Cuban intelligence and Cuban counterintelligence,” says Frank Mora, who heads the Latin American and Caribbean Center at Florida International University and is the former Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Western Hemisphere.

5 Years Later, Legacy Of Financial Overhaul Still Being Weighed

Five years ago Tuesday, President Obama signed into law the massive overhaul of U.S. financial regulations called Dodd-Frank. But there's still a battle over whether the law has helped stabilize the financial system or whether it has harmed the economy and should be rolled back.

IRS: 7.5 Million Americans Paid Penalty For Lack Of Health Coverage

About 7.5 million Americans paid an average penalty of $200 for not having health insurance in 2014 — the first year most Americans were required to have coverage under the Affordable Care Act, the Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday.

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Photo credit: “Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens 6-1-14” by Rob Bixby is used under CC BY 2.0.

Ray Hollister can be reached at rhollister@wjct.org, 904-358-6341 or on Twitter at @rayhollister.