Childhood friends wear crowns at rival colleges
Emily Galant, of San Marco, and her lifelong friend, Devon Leasure, met in Sue Rosner’s kindergarten class at Assumption Catholic School in 2001. After graduating from the St. Nicholas-based grade school, Galant headed to Episcopal School of Jacksonville and Leasure to Stanton College Preparatory School, both graduating in 2014. The childhood friends were each crowned […]
Magnet school students show off knowledge with museum exhibit
Ortega Elementary School, a museum magnet school since 2011, held its annual Museum Exhibit Night Dec. 7 when students proudly showed off their knowledge in many subjects, including science, social studies, biology and geography. The 94-year-old neighborhood school transitioned seven years ago to a magnet when the Duval County Public School District used a $1.2 […]
The Way We Were: Bill and Dottie McLear
Retired now, and living quietly in the Lakewood high-rise where they have resided for 27 years, Bill and Dottie McLear have many memories of shared adventures over their 41 years of marriage. “I was working as the office manager for Bill’s private practice of orthopedic surgery on the Southside when we fell in love,” recalled […]
The Way We Were: Dr. Maria Acosta-Rua
Dr. Maria Acosta-Rua and her late husband, Dr. Gaston Acosta-Rua, have never forgotten their past even as they contributed so much to their Jacksonville community. Theirs is truly an international tale, in which they have intertwined their Spanish and American lives to the benefit of both. Gaston Acosta-Rua and Maria Victoria Pol Gimenez met in […]
As Overland Bridge projects wraps, Fuller Warren Bridge expansion begins
Whether you travel by car, bicycle, Skyway or on foot, there’s a transportation project in 2018 that will affect your life. The good news for motorists is the Overland Bridge project, which started in 2013, is coming to a close this spring. The $159.2 million project to widen Interstate 95, replace aging overpasses and reconfigure […]
Urban core buzzing with development
It might look as if nothing is going on at The District, but looks can be deceiving. The legal infrastructure is being laid for the 30-acre riverfront development on the Southbank, according to Michael Munz, who is a partner in the project with developer Peter Rummell, managing partner of Elements Development of Jacksonville LLC. If […]
Southbank mega-development inching closer to project start
“It’s not cast in concrete” seems to be the ongoing status when discussing the sale of Jacksonville Energy Authority land on the Southbank for the development project known as The District. Although Elements Development of Jacksonville LLC had won the bid in 2014 to purchase the 30-acre property for $18.5 million and were scheduled to […]
2017 Year In Review: City officials share their noteworthy events
If you were to ask the question “What event had the biggest impact on Jacksonville during 2017?” most residents, if not all, would answer Hurricane Irma. Without a doubt, a storm that caused the highest level of flooding in the city since the mid-1800s is nothing to discount. Even now, nearly four months later, residents in […]
