Shows / WJCT News Now
WJCT News Now
Stay connected to Jacksonville and Northeast Florida with WJCT News Now — your free, daily news podcast from WJCT Public Media. Every morning, anchor Steven Ponson breaks down the headlines you need to start your day informed. Then go deeper with First Coast Connect — the show, hosted by Anne Schindler, is where local newsmakers, civic leaders, artists, and community voices come together to talk through what's happening in your backyard. Subscribe and make WJCT News Now part of your…
Episodes
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: JTA’s Budget Shortfall Solution and New Name Enters The 2027 City Council Race
The Jacksonville City Council has approved a no-interest loan of up to $30 million to help the Jacksonville Transportation Authority address a $39 million…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Conservation Bonds Question in St. Johns and No Debates in the FL Governor's Race
St. Johns County voters will decide in November whether to authorize up to $100 million in bonds to purchase and preserve environmentally sensitive land, with…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Edward Waters Expansion and Hurricane Isaias Recovery
Edward Waters University plans a $33 million campus expansion, including a new dormitory, renovated laboratories and a track and field facility that will also…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Book Removals in Duval County and Local Impacts from Isaias
Four more books will be removed from Duval County Public Schools libraries following a school board vote. Plus, Hurricane Isaias is expected to make landfall…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Duval School Suspension Appeal & Hurricane Isaias Forms
Jacksonville City Council member and Duval County teacher Tyrona Clark-Murray plans to appeal a 10-day unpaid suspension from the school district. Also…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Duval Schools HQ Sale, Again, and Downtown Publix Incentives Uncertainty
The Duval County School Board approves the sale of its Southbank headquarters to a local developer for more than $15 million, giving the district three years…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Rainy Days and Data Center Moratorium Proposal in St. Johns County
A wet day is ahead for Northeast Florida, with heavy rain, coastal flooding and possible flash flooding prompting a flood watch through this evening. Also, the…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Jacksonville Mayor’s Race Taking Shape
The race for Jacksonville mayor is growing, with state Rep. Wyman Duggan becoming the latest candidate to enter the contest. Today is also the find day for…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Domestic Violence Deaths Up in Duval and Florida’s Early Bear Hunt Begins
A new report finds domestic violence-related homicides in Duval County increased in 2025, as local agencies mark Domestic Violence Awareness Month and…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Duval Schools Gun Policy Discussion and Higher JEA Rates Begin
The Duval County School Board is set to discuss a proposed policy allowing adults to keep guns locked in vehicles on school property, including during…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: JTA Subpoenaed and St. Augustine City Manager Change
The Florida Attorney General’s Office is investigating the Jacksonville Transportation Authority, seeking records related to its tuition reimbursement…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: No Re-Election Bid for Kevin Carrico and St. Johns Growth Debate
Jacksonville City Councilman Kevin Carrico says he will not seek a third term as he turns his focus to a new advisory firm with his wife. And St. Johns County…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: New Rules for E-Bikes in Jacksonville and New Florida Laws
Jacksonville is adding new rules for e-bike riders, including a 15-mile-per-hour speed limit on sidewalks and requirements to follow traffic laws. Also, new…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Jacksonville’s Rising Dog Bites
A sharp increase in reported dog bites in Jacksonville is raising questions about how the city’s no-kill shelter policy handles dogs with aggressive…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Snapper season extension and Carrico leaves Boys & Girls Club
Florida anglers will get another chance to catch some red snapper when the state reopens waters next month. Also: following controversy over a proposed board…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Jacksonville’s $2 billion budget and homebuilding on public lands?
After hours of debate, the Jacksonville City Council has OK’d the city’s $2 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year, and a controversial…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: A local dancer will head to the big leagues and no debates in governor’s race?
Hear from a 14-year-old St. Augustine High School student is headed to Portugal next year to represent the USA and Florida at the Dance World Cup. Also: will…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: A new tool for renters and a step forward for St. Johns County’s future Black History museum?
A new tool from the City of Jacksonville and a local legal aid organization seeks to arm renters with more information, and a new investment from St. Johns…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: JTA Cuts and Florida’s Minimum Wage Increasing
The Jacksonville Transportation Authority plans to lay off nearly 200 employees and reduce bus service as it works to close a $39 million budget gap. The…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Flock Camera Friction in St. Johns County and the USS Jacksonville Comes Home
Today, the future of Flock license plate reader cameras on St. Johns County roads are debated between the sheriff and commissioners. And, parts of the USS…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Accountability Demanded Following Investigation into Volleyball Match
Faith and civic leaders are calling for accountability from the Nassau County School District following a racial misunderstanding at a volleyball match between…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Downtown Incentives Discussion and Everglades Detention Center Findings
Jacksonville officials are set to consider more than $70 million in incentives for two Gateway Jax projects downtown, including a proposed Riverfront Plaza…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Alleged Racist Volleyball Incident Investigation and Cyclospora Outbreak Over
Nassau and Duval County school officials are investigating reports of an alleged racist incident at a high school volleyball game involving Fernandina Beach…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Jacksonville’s Changing Skyline and Remembering 9/11
Two major projects that could reshape Jacksonville’s downtown skyline are moving closer to construction, after receiving conceptual approval from the…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Affordable Housing Trust Fund & A Quiet Hurricane Season So Far
A Jacksonville City Council member is pushing to restore $4.9 million for an affordable housing trust fund that was removed from the city's proposed budget…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Duval Teachers Union Membership Update and Rising Fuel Costs
Jacksonville’s teachers union is facing a recertification election after failing to meet a required membership threshold. Also, fuel prices have spiked…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Questions Surrounding Private Jet Trip for City Council President and New Proposed Rules for Private Colleges
Jacksonville City Council President Nick Howland’s trip aboard a developer’s private jet to a Tampa Bay Rays game is raising questions. Howland…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: A Call for Accountability and Community Healing in JAX
The family of 22-year-old Asia Bennett is continuing to seek accountability after she was fatally shot by Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office officers during a…
WJCT News NowFirst Coast Connect: Concrete concerns
A proposed heavy industrial facility in Northwest Jacksonville is drawing pushback from the surrounding community, which has raised concerns about health…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: More Communities Drop License Plate Cameras
St. Johns County law enforcement will remove license plate reader cameras from state roads after the Florida Department of Transportation revoked permits for…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: JEA CEO Resigns and MOSH’s Progress
JEA CEO Vickie Cavey says she will retire later this month. Interim CEO Jody Brooks will continue leading the utility while officials search for a permanent…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Florida Backs Away From Flock Cameras
Florida is revoking permits for Flock cameras and other automated license plate readers installed along state highways, prompting law enforcement agencies…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Regency Demolition Could Begin Soon and Weather Preview For The Week
Demolition could begin this week on the east wing of Jacksonville’s former Regency Square Mall, clearing the way for apartments and new retail space…
WJCT News NowFirst Coast Connect: Week in Review
Each Friday, our media roundtable dives into the biggest stories of the week. Among our topics this week: A grand jury finds the DeSantis administration…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Bringing a new big game to Jax and potential school vax changes
The City of Jacksonville wants to bring the annual Army-Navy football game to EverBank Stadium, and Florida health officials are moving toward removing school…
WJCT News NowFirst Coast Connect: Jimmy Buffetted by fate
It was a 24-hour cocktail party, an extended drug trip and a time of unbridled creative and sexual abandon. Nineteen-seventies-era Key West was also a…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: First 2022 Jax Beach Murder Verdict and Hope Florida Investigation Unsealed
The first person charged in the 2022 ambush killing of Jared Bridegan in Jacksonville Beach has been found guilty of first-degree murder. Mario Fernandez faces…
WJCT News NowFirst Coast Connect: Keeping Watch, from Flock cameras to powerful new space telescopes
Flock together Growing protests over the seeming omnipresence of Flock surveillance tools have focused largely on their use by police and their ubiquity on…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Flock Camera Questions and Remembering The Dollar General Shooting Victims
A Flock camera installed near a Jacksonville apartment complex pool is raising questions about privacy and how footage can be accessed and shared. We’ll…
WJCT News NowFirst Coast Connect: Textbook case
The educational landscape of climate change is itself changing dramatically after key deletions from Florida's science textbooks. A new report by WUSF News and…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Improving Teenager's Mental Health
Two childhood friends are riding from Fernandina Beach to Maryland on jet skis to raise money for Active Minds, a mental health organization serving teenagers…
WJCT News NowFirst Coast Connect: A bad time for ‘America’s best idea’
National Parks Week arrives amid growing concern over the future of funding and land use plans, following deep cuts, staff reductions and unprecedented…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Duval Schools A/C Issues and Main Street Bridge Closures
Duval County Public Schools is apologizing for air conditioning problems at several campuses during a stretch of extreme heat. Also, lane and sidewalk closures…
WJCT News NowFirst Coast Connect: Week in Review
Each Friday, our media roundtable dives into the biggest stories of the week. Among our topics this week: A local lawmaker dominates national headlines after…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: New Affordable Housing Fund for Jax and Duval Schools HQ Discussion
Jacksonville’s affordable housing efforts get a boost with a new $20 million investment fund designed to help finance $80 million in rental housing…
WJCT News NowFirst Coast Connect: Diplomatic ties
The upcoming Ukraine Fest Jax is a chance to celebrate the country’s iconic cultural offerings, from the intricately embroidered blouses, known as…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: St. Johns Development Moves Ahead and a Jacksonville Council Change Happening Soon
More than 1,000 acres in St. Johns County are cleared for potential development, with two projects near I-95 and State Road 207 that could eventually bring as…
WJCT News NowFirst Coast Connect: Rabbinical resistance
More than 60 years after he traveled to St. Augustine in response to a summons from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Rabbi Allen Secher returns to town for a…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Florida Governor and U.S. Senate Races Take Shape
The stage is set for Florida’s November general election, with Republican Byron Donalds facing Democrat David Jolly in the governor’s race…
WJCT News NowFirst Coast Connect: Black beauty school
At a time when opportunities for female Black entrepreneurs were constrained by gender restrictions and Jim Crow, one Jacksonville businesswoman built a…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Primary Election Day is Here
Florida voters head to the polls today for the primary election, with results expected to offer clues about the state’s political direction. Also…
WJCT News NowFirst Coast Connect: ‘A Land Remembered’
What was required reading for many Sunshine State middle schoolers is now a TV series currently in production, much of it in and around the North Central…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: JEA Board Backs CEO and New Property Tax Amendment Wording Released
The JEA board is backing CEO Vickie Cavey after reviewing investigations into allegations about her leadership, while recommending management training for…
WJCT News NowFirst Coast Connect: Week in Review
Each Friday, our media roundtable dives into the biggest stories of the week. Among our topics this week: State House candidate Diana Jordan-Baldwin says an…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Jacksonville Grants on Pause and School Safety Locks in Florida
The Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee is holding back millions of dollars in funding for local nonprofits and the Cultural Council as lawmakers weigh…
WJCT News NowFirst Coast Connect: Hitting close to home
“The air and sea of this ancient, fortified, dilapidated sand-bank of a town are really delicious” — a little-known appraisal of St…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Controversial Development in Jax Moves Forward and Local Candidate Attacked
The Jacksonville City Council has approved plans allowing for a 110 home development to move forward at the former Kings Trail Elementary School, despite…
WJCT News NowFirst Coast Connect: State House candidate Leslie Jean-Bart
A known quantity in the pro bono legal arena and the nonprofit community, attorney and community advocate Leslie Jean-Bart is less familiar as a political…
WJCT News NowThe Morning Report: Celtic Festival Ends In St. Aug. & Drought Persists On The First Coast
Romanza-St. Augustine is ending its annual Celtic Music & Heritage Festival and St. Patrick’s Day Parade, due to a lack of state funding and difficulty…
WJCT News NowFirst Coast Connect: Ask the Mayor
In presenting her $2 billion budget proposal, Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan repeatedly stressed the return on investment the city derives from every dollar…