After the Legislature’s decision to put the future of property tax cuts before voters in November, we look at the potential blast radius of the revenue loss. In our monthly Ask the Mayor segment, we also ask Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan about her new blight abatement efforts, community blowback after a traffic-plagued Ironman event and the incoming City Council president’s view that Jacksonville deserves to be fined $5 million by the state attorney general for keeping an illegal gun registry. We also take your calls and questions. You can reach the mayor on air at 904-549-2937, via email at firstcoastconnect@wjct.org or go to firstcoastconnect.org to find our social media links.
Guest: Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan
Classically new
From Rachmaninoff's 1st to Beethoven's 9th, the Jacksonville Symphony announces its upcoming season in a newly renovated performance hall. The orchestra’s 2026/27 concert season includes classical stalwarts like Mozart, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Mahler, but includes a pops series featuring songs from stage and screen, as well as by artists like Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Buffet and Paul McCartney. Of particular local interest is a one-night-only performance of an original musical score written to accompany the 1926 silent film, The Flying Ace, which features an all-Black cast and is the only full-length surviving "race film" produced by Norman Studios in Arlington. The performance marks the film’s 100th anniversary. We ask the orchestra’s director how the performances were chosen and what he’s looking forward to after this summer’s extensive acoustic renovations to Jacoby Symphony Hall.
Guest: Courtney Lewis, music director, Jacksonville Symphony
Topics and guests subject to change.