Neighborhood News

All the latest news from the neighborhoods in our coverage areas.

Pearson wins school board seat by overwhelming margin

Pearson wins school board seat by overwhelming margin

A familiar volunteer who has worked tirelessly for San Marco’s public schools bested three educators to win Duval County’s District 3 School Board seat Aug. 18. Cindy Howell Pearson of San Marco collected 10,933 of the 19,588 votes cast in the primary contest to win the seat outright with 55.56% of the vote.  She will […]

Lakewood and Ortega stores to close as Stein Mart files for bankruptcy

Lakewood and Ortega stores to close as Stein Mart files for bankruptcy

After several years of struggling to find its financial footing, Stein Mart, a discount department store whose headquarters is a fixture on Jacksonville’s South Bank, fell victim to the COVID-19, as the pandemic caused it to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Aug. 12. Included in the bold move is the company’s plan to permanently […]

A stunning statement of resurrection

A stunning statement of resurrection

Everything is coming up sunflowers now that two local artists have finished the AIDs Memorial mural on the side of the Park Street bridge over Willowbranch canal.  Keith Doles and his assistant, Zac Freeman, both artists with workshops in the Cork Studios, painted the bright, cheery mural on the historic bridge in late August. “We’re […]

Developer, city win first round in San Marco lawsuit

Developer, city win first round in San Marco lawsuit

Although it may not be over yet, the folks at South Jacksonville Presbyterian Church have received good news from a Florida administrative law judge in Tallahassee and are one step closer to being able to sell nearly three acres of their San Marco Square campus to an Alabama developer so that an apartment complex and […]

Alumni forms committee to save name of Robert E. Lee High

Alumni forms committee to save name of Robert E. Lee High

What’s in a name? Quite a bit. Just ask the alumni of Robert E. Lee High School.  Built in 1927 to meet the needs of a growing city, Lee High School in Riverside joined Andrew Jackson High and Julia E. Landon High as three Jacksonville high schools constructed the same year to replace Duval High […]

RAP, city officials discuss removal of 75 trees from Willowbranch Park

RAP, city officials discuss removal of 75 trees from Willowbranch Park

Many Riverside and Avondale residents were shocked to learn recently that the city project to restore the Willowbranch Creek canal could mean the removal of 75 trees from Willowbranch Park, which prompted Riverside Avondale Preservation to seek a meeting with city officials.  The plans for the canal restoration along Willowbranch Creek between St. Johns Avenue […]

San Marco Crossing to sport two new identities

San Marco Crossing to sport two new identities

San Marco Crossing, the large housing development near the intersection of Kings Avenue and Route 1, has been divided into two separate communities each with a new name and identity. Renamed The Exchange and Barlow, the multi-family apartment complexes will offer luxury apartments in close proximity to San Marco Square but each with its own […]

Residents debate need for name change of Robert E. Lee High school and others: Part 2

My wife Betty and I are writing in opposition to changing the name of Robert E. Lee High School as alumni of the classes of    1966  and 1967 respectively. We met at Lee, married and have been married 51years. As graduates of Lee, we are true Generals as are so many of the young […]