First Coast Connect With Melissa Ross
Summary: Hosted by Melissa Ross, First Coast Connect is an hour-long call-in program that features local newsmakers, civic and community leaders, arts, activities across Jacksonville and Northeast Florida, along with spot news features and a weekly roundtable of local journalists.
Podcasts:
On Thursday’s First Coast Connect we spoke with Ken Burns . The legendary filmmaker is in Jacksonville for a Thursday night screening and discussion panel of his latest documentary The Mayo Clinic Faith - Hope - Science at UNF (01:21). Watch The Video We heard about the musical performance Tropical Depression coming to the Cummer Museum on Friday. It was inspired by Hurricanes Matthew and Irma. We spoke with songwriter Corey Driscoll and co-producer Aaron Garvey (43:13). The Jacksonville Film
It’s National Suicide Prevention Week . On Wednesday’s First Coast Connect we talked about the suicide crisis among veterans and what is being done locally to combat it with Katherine Eicher , the lead suicide prevention coordinator for VA in North Florida and South Georgia and Daniel Henry, Public Information Officer for the region’s VA (01:10). We spoke with Barbara Goldstein . She has spent over 30 years engaging communities on the importance of public art. She’s the keynote speaker at this
Our Friday Media Roundtable on First Coast Connect featured Andrew Pantazi of the F lorida Times Union , blogger Fred Matthews , A.G. Gancarski from Florida Politics and Jacksonville Daily Record reporter David Cawton. Topics included, Gubernatorial nominees Democrat Andrew Gillum and Republican Ron DeSantis select their running mates. Duval County Public Schools will show videos to students on how to react to an active shooter on campus. The State Attorney’s Office launches an investigation
Thursday on First Coast Connect we spoke with Darcy Richardson. The Jacksonville resident is the Reform Party candidate for Governor (01:16). Related: Florida Gubernatorial Nominees Announce Their Running Mates Our Art Attack gang talked about how Jacksonville’s art and culture scene is heavily influenced by the region’s LBGTQ community Our guests included: Lee Hamby of the 5 and Dime Theatre Visual artist Elaine Hosking Theatre and film actor Eric Yarham Filmmaker Keagan Anfuso PS27 Ventures is
Wednesday on First Coast Connect we spoke with Jeff Weaver , campaign manager for Bernie Sanders in 2016. He was in town for a book signing of How Bernie Won: Inside The Revolution That’s Taking Back Our Country (01:18). We learned about a new program that brings online access to veterans in Jacksonville . Senior Executive VP and Chief Diversity Officer for Comcast for Comcast David Cohen explained how it works (35:49). Some people run into financial trouble is by not living within their means.
On Tuesday’s First Coast Connect our topics included prison reform, heart health and St. Augustine’s Sing Out Loud Festival.
Our Friday Media Roundtable on First Coast Connect featured Florida Times-Union reporter David Bauerlein , radio host Angela Spears , WJCT contributor Charles Griggs and Jacksonville Business Journal editor Timothy Gibbons . Our topics included: After a bloody weekend in Jacksonville with shootings at a Raines-Lee High football game and at The Jacksonville Landing local officials and community activists called for more changes aimed at reducing gun violence in the city. In a major upset
Thursday on First Coast Connect, on the heels of the deadly weekend in Jacksonville there are more calls to address the roots of Jacksonville’s gun violence . We spoke with Ben Frazer from the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville, Wells Todd from the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition and Atlas Rankin , pastor of the New Life Community Church (01:10). We heard about the root causes of instability in the workforce with Louis Hyman . He’s the author of the new book Temp: How American Work, American
Wednesday on First Coast Connect we spoke with Florida Politics reporter A.G. Gancarski about the results of the Florida Primary Election including wins by Democrat Andrew Gillum and Republican Ron DeSantis in the race for Governor (01:16). As the body of the late Senator John McCain lies in state Wednesday ahead of five days of memorial tributes we spoke with fellow formal navy officer Gordon Law who served with McCain for several years at NAS Cecil Field in Jacksonville (23:38). In our most
Tuesday is Florida Primary Election Day . On First Coast Connect we spoke with University of North Florida Political Science Professor Mike Binder about the races and what we might expect heading to the general election (00:39). Our latest edition of Moveable Feast with Leigh Cort with the Women’s Food Alliance featured Scott Meyer and his chef Ryan Randolph from Congaree and Penn farm (28:44). Pet Paradise was founded in 2002 in St. Augustine and now has 35 pet resorts around the country. In
Monday on First Coast Connect we discussed the shooting Sunday at The Jacksonville Landing that left three dead, including the gunman, and 11 wounded. Sunday’s violence came on top of a shooting Friday at Raines High School that left on dead and one wounded. We spoke with WJCT reporter Lindsey Kilbride , UF Health emergency medicine physician Dr. David Caro, Dr. Marie Crandall who was the attending trauma surgeon at UF Health Sunday and Ryan Thompson, who is the founder of the local gaming
Our Friday First Coast Connect featured Florida Times-Union reporter Tessa Duval , Folio Weekly editor Claire Goforth , Jacksonville Daily Record reporter David Cawton and WJCT reporter Ryan Benk . Topics included Florida’s Primary election is on Tuesday . We discussed the state and local races, including the governor’s race and 5th district Democratic Congressiona l primary. Controversy erupts when most Supervisors of Elections say they won’t be placing early voting sites this fall on college
Thursday on First Coast Connect we spoke with bestselling author Craig Unger . He’s written the book House of Trump, House of Putin: The Untold Story of Donald Trump and the Russian Mafia . The book looks into Trump’s alleged long history connecting his real estate dealings with the Russians (1:00). A stunning mural depicting the story of Ax Handle Saturday is now complete on Jacksonville’s Eastside. The event happened in August 1960 when local whites beat a group of students trying to integrate
Wednesday on First Coast Connect: In the wake of Tuesday’s conviction of President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort on eight federal counts and the guilty plea of Trump’s formal personal lawyer Michael Cohen we spoke GOP strategist Rick Wilson. Wilson is a longtime critic of the president and author of the best selling book Everything Trump Touches Dies , (1:30). Early voting is underway and the August Primary election is on Tuesday. We spoke with Republican candidate for
Tuesday on First Coast Connect we spoke with outgoing We Care Jacksonville Executive Director Dr. Sue Nussbaum along with her successor Susan King , the former Executive Director at Beaches Emergency Assistance Ministry. They discussed the Affordable Care Act and the need to provide healthcare for Jacksonville’s poor and homeless (01:13). We spoke with Dr. Seth Baum , a cardiologist based in Boca Raton . He has been working to help patients with high LDL cholesterol receive the PCSK9 inhibitor
