After 28 years in operation, the Jacksonville Maritime Heritage Center says it will decommission its museum inside the Jacksonville Landing by the end of the year. Mental health professionals, county officials and law enforcement officers have started planning to create a centralized facility meant to keep people with mental illness out of jail. A target was placed on at least 320 black bears Wednesday as the once-threatened species will be hunted across Florida next month for the first time in more than two decades.
It’s Friday, September 4, 2015. 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 might have missed.
Jacksonville Maritime Museum Headed To Salvage Yard
Paul Ghiotto, a Navy veteran and curator of the Jacksonville Maritime Heritage Center, said the museum’s board began sending a distress signal to the city a year ago about dwindling funds.
Collaborative Begins Planning For City-Wide Mental Health Facility
The Duval County collaborative hopes a central receiving facility helps treat people with mental illness before they’re booked in jail. Duval Circuit Judge Karen Cole said the state of Duval’s mental health services is unacceptable.
Jacksonville City Council Districts 7, 8 Holds Town Hall Meetings Wednesday Night
Jacksonville City Council districts in the Northwest parts of the city held town hall meetings, Thursday. Councilwoman Katrina Brown represents District 8 on the Westside. She says after a lot of people called her office, she wanted to get the community together.
Florida Sets Quotas For October Black Bear Hunt
A split Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission approved quota numbers that represent about 10 percent of the bear population in four regions of the state — there are seven regions — where the hunt will be allowed. Commission staff called the regional and overall quota numbers "conservative."
Judge Jails Kentucky Clerk For Refusing Marriage Licenses
A federal judge ordered a defiant county clerk to jail for contempt Thursday after she insisted that it would violate her conscience to follow court orders to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.
S.C. To Seek Death Penalty For Dylann Roof In Charleston Shooting
The white man accused of murdering nine people at a historically black church in Charleston, S.C., in June will face the death penalty, according to court documents filed Thursday. South Carolina Solicitor Scarlett Wilson spoke to reporters shortly after filing the court paper announcing she would pursue the death penalty for Dylann Roof, according to the Associated Press.
Coast Guard: Tow Boat Collision On Mississippi Causes Oil Spill
In a statement, the Coast Guard said "The collision caused damage to at least one barge containing clarified slurry oil, rupturing the cargo tank and discharging an unknown amount of oil into the Mississippi River." The barge was carrying about 1 million gallons of the clarified slurry, according to the Coast Guard, which says it believes the spill involves a maximum of 250,000 gallons.
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