Jay Solomon

During this election season, it can be easy to forget the real people behind the issues. Our occasional commentator Jay Solomon rips a story from the headlines in this edition of With All Due Respect on Wednesday's First Coast Connect.

February may be the shortest month, but from Groundhog Day to Presidents Day it doesn't lack for special days of recognition. WJCT's occasional commentator Jay Solomon examines one of the observances in this edition of With All Due Respect.

Happy Canned Food Month. Surprised? Were you expecting American Heart Month? Well, it's that too, along with eight other "months" in February. Including, of course, Black History Month.

I've never heard any complaints about Heart Month or even Canned Food Month, so why do I hear negatives about Black History Month?

What does the worst urban fire in the history of the southeastern U.S. have in common with The Jacksonville Landing? In a word: opportunity. WJCT's occasional commentator Jay Solomon explains in this edition of "With All Due Respect."

Within two weeks of the great fire that gutted 146 blocks of Downtown Jacksonville in 1901, reconstruction was underway. Architects, drawn by the blank canvas the smoldering ashes represented, came to town and created the future.

I get it. I truly understand and empathize with the uproar and outrage concerning the two teenaged girls who tortured and stomped to death a gopher tortoise on July 16 in Clay County.

Can you hear me? Can you hear me now?

A two-wheeler was the object of much longing when I was a kid. I got mine around grade five and more than 60 years later I'm still at it — riding between 40 and 50 miles a week.

Have you traveled somewhere with expectations of what you would find only to discover that you were off base? First Coast Connect contributor Jay Solomon has just returned from a trip like that, and has these thoughts.

Raised with newsreels, many of my memories of contemporary history are colored grey. So, my expectations were of Soviet era drab as my wife Joanie and I landed in St. Petersburg, Russia, earlier this Fall. The city's tired old airport definitely supported that notion

Veteran broadcaster Jay Solomon is an occasional contributor to First Coast Connect.

Expect delays. The city was doing road work in our neighborhood, and had placed a flashing sign by the road, where traffic was backing up in front of me.  “Expect delays,’ it blinked.  No word on how long or a detour, thus making the message not only a warning but a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Last year, veteran broadcaster and occasional First Coast Connect contributor Jay Solomon introduced us to his 14-year-old Labrador retriever, Sam. A year later, he has this update. 

Sam was just about to celebrate his 14th birthday when I brought him to your attention. Being a big old yellow Labrador retriever means he had a lot more mileage on him than the typical family teenager, and I recounted how his loyalty, affection and protectiveness remained constant despite the growing list of physical issues challenging him.