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First Coast Connect with Melissa Ross

DeSantis campaign glitches; K9s for Warriors; Memorial Day weekend

 Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a political roundtable on May 19, 2023, in Bedford, New Hampshire.
Robert F. Bukaty
/
AP
Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a political roundtable on May 19, 2023, in Bedford, New Hampshire.

Gov. Ron DeSantis' campaign announcement on Twitter did not unfold as expected.

During his official announcement with Elon Musk, the owner of the platform, and David Sacks, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, technical problems created a disturbance.

After the event finally started, the governor centered his attention on the same culture war topics he has been emphasizing in Florida.

We discussed DeSantis' presidential campaign with Nick Seabrook, chair of the department of political science and public administration at the University of North Florida, and Mike Binder, director of the Public Opinion Research Lab at UNF.

K9s for Warriors

Jacksonville City Councilman Rory Diamond recently resigned from his $300,000-a-year post as head of the local nonprofit K9 for Warriors. The charity is known for matching service dogs with veterans who suffer from PTSD.

Diamond is currently on an overseas military deployment. He refutes allegations in a recent published news story about his leadership of K9’s for Warriors.

In a story published by the Florida Center for Government Accountability, journalist Susan Clark Armstrong spoke with veterans who alleged they were provided with aggressive and poorly trained dogs. She also found evidence, she said, of Diamond's racking up personal expenses on the charity’s credit card.

For the record, Diamond says the nonprofit's board approved all of his expenses.

We spoke with Clark Armstrong about K9’s for Warriors and Diamond’s tenure there.

Memorial Day weeked

Catalina Selvagn from Cre8Jax joined us to preview some fun-filled events for the holiday weekend.

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Kathy Waterman is a senior at the University of North Florida. She is majoring in multimedia journalism. Her love for engaging with those around her community is what drove her passion to become a journalist. Outside the classroom, she loves to create content for her online blog. For her career, she hopes to be a news anchor or host her own radio or TV show.