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First Coast Connect

Mother’s Day 5K 'Permitgate'; ‘Buffalo Girl’; supporting local journalism; Sleeping Giant festival

The Donna Mother's Day 5K races through Riverside.
News4Jax
The Donna Mother's Day 5K races through Riverside.

Outrage erupted on social media after WJCT News broke the story that the city of Jacksonville is asking the Donna Foundation to move its annual Mother’s Day 5K to another date that isn’t so close to the mayoral election to avoid the “appearance of improper election influence.”

The event is scheduled for May 13, three days before the runoff between Donna Deegan, the Donna Foundation’s founder, and Daniel Davis, CEO of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce.

Guest: Donna Deegan, Democratic candidate for Jacksonville mayor.

‘Buffalo Girl’

April is National Poetry Month, and University of North Florida professor and author Jessica Stark is out this month with a new book of poetry that is part text, part photographs and one that is getting rave reviews.

Buffalo Girl” is the story of Stark’s mother’s experience immigrating to the U.S. at the end of the Vietnam War. In the story, she remixes the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood in a new way, considering what she calls the multicultural affinity for “stories about little girls in danger.”

Guest: Jessica Stark, UNF professor and author.

Supporting local journalism

Florida Times-UnionNewsGuild members will continue their fight for local journalism by rallying with supporters at noon Friday in James Weldon Johnson Park in Downtown Jacksonville.

The Guild formed in 2018 to give its award-winning journalists a voice not only for themselves but also for their readers who deserve strong coverage of the Jacksonville metropolitan area now and for years to come.

The Guild says it has been bargaining for a fair contract that ensures when readers pay Gannett for subscriptions, their financial support will help journalists keep up with inflation so they can afford to live in the city they cover.

Guest: David Bauerlein and Hanna Holthaus of The Florida Times-Union.

Sleeping Giant festival

Sleeping Giant, the popular film, music and performance art festival, returns to Sun-Ray Cinema this weekend.

Guest: Shana Massett, co-owner of Sun-Ray Cinema.

Stay Connected
Special Projects Producer Brendan Rivers joined WJCT News in August of 2018 after several years as a reporter and then News Director at Southern Stone Communications, which owns and operates several radio stations in the Daytona Beach area.