Eye on Jacksonville Heads to Capitol Hill for the Whistleblower Summit
For nearly two years, Eye on Jacksonville has been reporting on guardianship and probate abuse in Florida. We now have 24 articles documenting the families, court battles, financial devastation and heartbreaking stories connected to a system that was created to protect vulnerable people—but too often fails them. Readers can find the entire collection by searching […]
Postal preference is puzzling
The supervisor of elections sent out more than 26,000 vote-by-mail ballots, and half went to Democrats. By party affiliation: Democrat – 13,459 Republican – 8,109 Other – 4,504 What is it Democrats have against going to the polls on Election Day, as Americans did for decades? They demand weeks of voting, and mail-in ballots for […]
Aviation authority does not need a declaration of independence
Just how independent an independent authority can be in Jacksonville could be a question the courts have to answer. It shouldn’t be, however. Cooler heads need to prevail in an argument that has been brewing between the City Council and Jacksonville Aviation Authority for years. From 1963 to 2001 the airports were under the Jacksonville […]
Will Garbage Trucks Soon Be Spying on Your Home?
Keep your eyes on Cape Coral, Florida. City leaders there are considering equipping garbage trucks with AI-powered cameras that could scan homes for possible code violations, including damaged roofs, broken windows, construction materials and renovations that may have been completed without permits. In other words, the truck collecting your garbage could also be collecting information […]
Flock Cameras, Part 2: Catching Criminals — and the Cops Who Misuse Them
As it happens, I accidentally grasped an electric wire of controversy this week, when I had a shockingly fun time dashing off a throwaway piece about Flock surveillance cameras and heroic anti-Flock vigilantes armed with cordless saws. You might remember it. Well, reader reactions were swift, with some appreciating my sense of humor, and others […]
Probate Purgatory: When Banks and Contractors Move In Before the Heirs Do
Just when you think you have heard every disturbing story from the guardianship and probate world, another door opens. Sometimes literally. Here is the latest “aha” moment families need to understand: A parent dies and leaves you the family home. You are grieving, gathering documents and waiting for probate to move forward. Meanwhile, the mortgage […]
Round and round we go
Roundabouts have become commonplace in Jacksonville, and indeed throughout Northeast Florida, but when first imported from Europe in the 1990s they were a source of confusion to some drivers. Once Americans learned that they are safer than regular intersections and speed up traffic, initial reluctance subsided. There are more than 10,000 traffic circles nationwide. Wisconsin […]
Flock Cameras Are Watching — But Definitely Not Watching You
It has come to my attention that a small number of misguided citizen vigilantes in Houston, Texas; Rutherfordton, North Carolina; and New Bern, North Carolina have been cutting down and damaging Flock Safety license-plate-reading, AI-powered cameras recently installed on public streets throughout their communities without notice. Yesterday, ABC-13 Houston reported, “More Flock cameras cut down in […]
Andrew Gillum: The political grift pipe
Remember Andrew Gillum? Former golden boy of the Florida Democrats, who got caught in 2020 puking his guts out in a Miami hotel room alongside a half-dead male escort and bags of crystal meth? Yeah, that guy. The one Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan predicted would become president one day. According to police, he never actually […]
Clean Up Our Mailboxes: Campaign Dirty Tricks Just Hit a New Low
For years, we have warned readers about the campaign trash that lands in our mailboxes every election season. You know the pieces. The glossy mailers with scary photos. The twisted headlines. The half-truths dressed up as facts. The political hit pieces designed to make a good candidate look sordid, unethical, corrupt, or dangerous. And once […]