Ability Housing, tornadoes, and Jameis Winston are in the headlines today.Welcome to WJCT First Read, your daily weekday morning round-up of stories from the First Coast, around Florida, and across the country. We'll also preview some of WJCT's upcoming news programming.
Springfield residents talk safety at homeless housing meeting: Dozens of residents of Jacksonville's Springfield neighborhood voiced their concerns Thursday night with a planned 12-unit housing complex for the homeless slated to be opened about a block away from an elementary school. (WJCT)
Tornado uproots trees near Lake City: A small EF1 tornado touched down in Columbia County on Thursday, bringing winds of up to 95 miles-per-hour and uprooting trees. (News4Jax)
Bank drive-thru collapses: The center section of a 10-foot-high drive-thru portion of the Wells-Fargo Bank in Jacksonville collapsed Thursday evening, scattering plaster and long pieces of wood across the parking lot. (Florida Times-Union)
JSO talks Jax gangs: The head of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Gang Investigation Unit said there are almost 50 documented gangs in Jacksonville, with a total of about 800 members, but said they were not a "major issue." (First Coast News)
Florida woman guilty of killing her teenage children: Julie Schenecker, a former Army linguist from Tampa, was convicted Thursday of two counts of first-degree murder for shooting her 16-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son in 2011. (TIME)
El Niño could spell easy storm season: An El Niño forming in the Pacific Ocean could be good news for Florida by potentially breaking apart storms before they strengthen to hurricanes. (Florida Today)
Video shows Winston leave Publix without paying for crab legs: The surveillance video of FSU star quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston walking out of Publix without paying for crab legs has been released. (Sports Illustrated)
Today on First Coast Connect, we start the show with our regular Friday local media roundtable.
You can get all the latest headlines online at WJCTNews.org, on our Facebook page, and on Twitter @WJCTJax. You can follow Patrick Donges on Twitter at @patrickhdonges.
