In a city grappling with looming budget woes and pushing to reanimate Downtown, Jacksonville faces two serious new challenges: federal DOGE efforts and other factors threaten to hollow out Downtown buildings full of workers, and Gov. Ron DeSantis is pushing to end local property taxes—which last year made up more than 40% of the city’s annual revenue. We’ll ask the mayor about those issues and take your questions for the mayor in our monthly “Ask the Mayor” segment. Call (904) 549-2937 or email firstcoastconnect@wjct.org.
Guest: Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan
Then, we catch up with the acclaimed author of Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, a New York Times-bestselling novel named the best adult fiction in the 2010 Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature. The book tells the story of a Chinese-American just after the U.S. entered World War II and later as a widower trying to reconnect with is adult son. The book spent 2 1/2 years on the NYT Best Seller list.
Author Jamie Ford will be in Jacksonville at the Southeast Regional Branch Library on Wednesday, March 12, at 7 p.m. for a Lit Chat, audience Q&A and book signing sponsored by the Jacksonville Public Library.
Guest: Jamie Ford, author, Love and other Consolation Prizes and Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
And, from the science of magic to workouts for “brainiacs,” Jacksonville's Museum of Science and History rolls out its 2025 Spring Break Discovery Camps. Find out what’s on offer and why kids will want to sign up sooner than later.
Guest: Anthony Mortimer, vice president of education and exhibits at MOSH
