First Coast

The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are returning to full capacity.

A total lunar eclipse this week promises to be visually stunning.

Jacksonville’s city-owned utility and its transportation agency are in talks that could lead to the electrification of the city’s entire bus fleet.

Atlanta-based developer Jeff Fuqua, with experience building grocery-anchored centers in Brooklyn and Riverside, has a contract to buy the former Florida Times-Union property to create a $250 million retail, office, restaurant and apartment project.

Sunday was the last day that COVID-19 testing was offered at the state-run Regency Square Mall site, the Florida Department of Health in Duval County said.

Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan announced May 21 he is donating $1 million to LIFT JAX to support the “holistic revitalization” of the Eastside neighborhood north of TIAA Bank Field.

The Jacksonville City Council has a busy week ahead. Here are three big items on the agenda:

Can you picture this? You and a friend are deciding where to meet for lunch near Downtown Jacksonville, and she says, “Hmm, how about somewhere in SoBa?”

SoBa, as in the Southbank. It’s one of the rebranding options on the table as the public Jacksonville Downtown Investment Authority works with a consultant “to attract more residents and visitors to live, work and play in these areas.” A survey about the new branding is part of an update to the DIA’s Business Investment and Development Plan.

Edward Waters College in Jacksonville announced Thursday that it will establish the A. Philip Randolph Institute for Law, Race, Social Justice and Economic Policy in the coming months thanks to a multi-year, six-figure grant from Jacksonville’s Jessie Ball DuPont Fund.

For more than 50 years, the Edge City retail store has been a landmark in the Five Points shopping and entertainment district at 1017 Park St. between Riverside and Brooklyn.

The CDC has changed its COVID-19 guidelines to no longer recommend fully vaccinated people wear masks in most scenarios, but with children under 12 still not eligible for vaccines, and many teens still unvaccinated, here is how local school districts’ COVID-19 policies stand after the change:

The Jacksonville Jaguars have signed Northeast Florida native and former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow as a tight end, the team announced today.

The Jacksonville City Council has voted 5-13 against an amendment that would have required voter approval for a proposed 6-cent gas tax increase.

The head of the advocacy organization that represents Florida’s hospitals at the state and federal level says as COVID-19 hospitalizations reach near record lows across the state, the mental health of both residents and health care workers is becoming a major concern.

Students, alumni and community members of six Duval County schools want to change their names, and three schools’ communities want to keep their names. Those are the result of Wednesday’s ballot tallies at the county Supervisor of Elections Office.

UPS is the latest in a string of Jacksonville area employers to announce hiring plans or job fairs.

Residents of a Southside Jacksonville neighborhood are worried about a proposed Waste Pro garbage transfer station planned for their area. 

The St. Johns Board of County Commissioners approved an economic development incentive agreement 4-1 with the PGA Tour on May 18 with an estimated value of $16,778,760.

A program by Planned Parenthood of South, East and North Florida (PPSENFL) is offering virtual mental health counseling sessions for people struggling because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Genpact has informed the state it will be permanently laying off approximately 489 workers at its Deerwood Park location on Jacksonville’s Southside on August 31.

The Jacksonville Transportation Authority announced Tuesday afternoon it is increasing the capacity of its buses from 25 to 30 passengers as COVID restrictions ease across the country.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has announced it is closing the Jacksonville vaccination center at the Gateway Town Center next week. Its final day in operation will be Tuesday, May 25.

After a year of virtual events, small gatherings and social distancing, concerts are returning to Jacksonville in 2021! Here are some of the biggest artists coming to the 904 this year and the next. 

The First Coast is lagging behind the nation when it comes to the percentage of residents who are vaccinated against COVID-19.

Florida Coastal School of Law is disputing the findings released May 13 by the office of Federal Student Aid in the U.S. Department of Education denying the school’s reinstatement into the loan program.