Local activists say more young adults need to vote on name-change process for Duval schools
Not everyone is eligible to cast a ballot. You must be a teacher, parent, student, alumni or community member living in the schools attendance zones. Author: First Coast News Staff Published: 11:31 PM EDT April 30, 2021 Updated: 11:31 PM EDT April 30, 2021
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. While community balloting on name changes has ended for five Duval County schools, only the first week of voting has wrapped up for the last four named after Confederate leaders or those responsible for killing or removing Native American populations.
Local activists in favor of the name changes say Jacksonville’s participation in the process, especially at Robert E. Lee High School has been steady.
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There are dozens of local 5-kilometer races, many raising money for good causes. So that alone doesn’t make what will happen Saturday morning stand out.
But the Ribault River 5K is a bit different, partly just because of where it will be run. The majority of Jacksonville’s road races are on the Southside, downtown or at the beaches. This one will be on the Northside, along Ribault Scenic Drive, with a turnaround not far from Restlawn Memorial Park.
That’s the cemetery where Anthony Stinson Jr. is buried.
The backstory to this race involves one of the lingering stories in this city. Our murder rate.
Guest column: Don t betray Jean Ribault
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Guest columnists
Our ancestor Jean Ribault (1520-1565) is currently being betrayed by Florida – and by Jacksonville in particular.
In recent months, the Duval County School Board initiated a name change process that includes two schools named after him. If this process reaches completion, Jean Ribault High School and Jean Ribault Middle School would change names.
Other schools included in the process are named after Confederate generals or slavery proponents. Clearly, this amalgam is detrimental to Jean Ribault, of whom we are proud in France, and we wish to defend his memory.
Obviously, there is a misunderstanding about who Jean Ribault was and what he did in Florida in the 16th century. French sailor of great renown, Jean Ribault was the first to recognize Florida in the name of the King of France in 1562. The aim of his expedition was to find, in the New World, a safe harbor for French Huguenots persecuted in France because
After his usual morning meditation, Seth Langner stepped outside into the front yard of his house in the historic Springfield neighborhood, just north of downtown Jacksonville. Earlier he had noticed the thick, dark fog that smothered the city, but by now at 8 a.m. the fog had become suffused with beautiful light.
Langner is a professional photographer, so he pays attention to such things. And he had a hunch.
He hustled inside his house, grabbed his camera drone, and sent it up through the fog in his front yard. On his cellphone screen, which captured what the camera saw, the images were gray and murky until the drone popped up over the fog.