As the 2020 presidential campaign heads into its final stretch, activists in Duval County are demanding increased access to mail-in ballots.
In the August primary, a record number of Floridians voted by mail. A majority of voters around the country are also using the U.S. mail to avoid in-person voting, despite health precautions election supervisors are taking during the pandemic.
On Tuesday, a coalition of more than a dozen local voting rights groups assembled outside the Duval County Supervisor of Elections office.
The group is askingSupervisor of Elections Mike Hogan to send all voters vote-by-mail applications prior to the registration deadline for the Nov. 3 election.
We spoke toPastor R.L. Gundy ofMt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church prior to the assembly. He is the Florida director of African American Ministers in Action, one of the groups taking part in the picket.
Jewish Community’s Role in St. Augustine's Founding
September 8 marks the 455th anniversary of the founding of St. Augustine. Spaniards are closely associated with the nation’s oldest city, but they are not the only group who settled in St. Augustine.
We spoke with Rabbi Merrill Shapiro of theSt. Augustine Jewish Historical Society about the Jewish community’s role in founding St. Augustine.
Rabbi Shapiro explained the historical evidence and why the city’s Jewish residents in the mid-1500s are not better known to historians.
FCC Book Club
Manhunt byJames L. Swanson is the September selection for theFirst Coast Connect Book Club.
The book is a historical account of the chase for Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth, which FCC Book Club facilitator Stacey Goldring said reads like a novel.
WJCT IS #1 in the 904 Poll
The results are in forVoid Magazine’s #1 in the 904 Poll. Thousands of voters selected their favorites in categories from food and drink, people and places, health and fitness, shopping and services, and more.
WJCT won Best Radio Station, and Melissa Ross was named the Best Radio Host. Void Editor Matt Shaw spoke with us about the results and what we can expect from Void for the rest of 2020.
Katherine Hobbs can be reached at newsteam@wjct.org or on Twitter at @KatherineGHobbs.
