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Life is different for everyone – including those in government
Jacksonville residents who have visited the nation’s capital in the past might be shocked to see it today. Hordes of people, including lobbyists and tourists used to keep the Capitol and government office buildings packed. “It is very different,” U.S. Rep. John Rutherford of Jacksonville told Eye on Jacksonville. Rutherford, like most other members of…
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Local lawyers say something stinks about fancy maneuvers in a judicial race
Illegal, unethical or just a shrewd political move? That’s what everyone in courthouse circles is asking after Michael Kalil, a well-connected local lawyer, slid into a judge’s seat amid a last-minute bit of paper-shuffling. The only other person in the race withdrew the same day Kalil filed his papers. Tyrie Boyer was the circuit judge…
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Breaking News: Local developer recognized nationally but not locally
Yesterday April 23rd Dana Perino, host of “The Daily Briefing”on Fox News, interviewed one of our local, home-grown developers and supporters of small business. Sleiman Enterprises was recognized as one of the “good guys” who is sacrificing for others during the COVID19 crisis. Sleiman recently announced that 1,000 small business tenants will receive coronavirus rent…
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Put the money meant for small business where it is needed
Small businesses are the lifeblood of the U.S. economy. They have been swiftly and drastically affected by the furor over the Chinese virus. Yet, all indications are that the bulk of the money government has thrown at the problem is going to larger, well-endowed businesses. There are 30.2 million small businesses in the United States,…
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Is the SBA rigged against moms and pops in a crisis?
One thing is certain, never let a crisis go to waste has found its way into COVID19 and the same ones who always win — are winning again. And the reason they are winning is because they know how to play the game — how to rig the system — and how to cheat those…
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Opening Jax beaches pleased many local residents but offended liberals here and nationwide
By re-opening the local beaches, Mayor Lenny Curry triggered a lot of liberal snowflakes, but it was the right thing to do. The simple action made national news. It also spawned what appeared to be fake photos of jammed beaches and anger from the left. It simply illustrates the national divide between those who support…
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Job of selling a new tax just got a lot more difficult
School officials kept insisting on putting a proposed tax increase on the ballot in November, and finally prevailed. That might have been a big mistake. It was looking like a slam dunk. Using the old, reliable “for the kids” line, they seemed to have people convinced that school officials needed $1 billion to catch up…
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Red vs Blue approaches by governors from two states and two parties is educational
Liberal newspapers throughout Florida are berating Gov. Ron DeSantis for the way he is handling the pandemic in the same way they are besmirching the president, who belongs to the same political party. But the measured response of Florida’s governor is perhaps best gauged by comparing to the knee-jerk response of Gretchen Whitmer, governor of…
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Sleiman Enterprises gives back to their tenants in a big way!
For years I watched as the City maligned Sleiman Enterprises and the media was the vehicle for slamming a wonderful company. The Sleiman family grew up in Jacksonville, attended schools here and returned from college to run their family business. They love Jacksonville and behind the scenes and in front of our faces, they have…
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Coughing on cops will not be tolerated in the Jacksonville area
State Attorney Melissa Nelson is taking a non-nonsense approach to assaults upon police officers that are connected with the current virus threat. Underscoring the pivotal roles the police and other first responders play during a worldwide medical emergency like the pandemic, Nelson’s office said in a memo that she is taking a “zero tolerance” stance…
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Eye’s Teen Editor shares her thoughts on COVID-19
“Welcome to your first day of distance learning,” read students around the globe. Suddenly computer monitors were switched on, iPads got unplugged from chargers and desks became replaced by pillows and couch cushions. Coronavirus disease 2019, coined COVID-19 by the World Health Organization, is a respiratory illness that was first identified during an investigation into…
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Bill Gay set an example in everything he did
There is a void in the city after the loss of Bill Gay, who died this week quietly, as he did everything. Gay never got much fanfare but he was always working behind the scenes to make Jacksonville a better city and help those in need. He was a leading businessman, active in church and…
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Rutherford shares his views on the virus threat and the actions by Congress
U.S. Rep. John Rutherford of Jacksonville thinks the relief bill Congress enacted will help in the effort to stop the onslaught of the Chinese virus but that Florida and other places in the nation were harmed by the delay. Rutherford gave Eye on Jacksonville an insider’s point-of-view rundown on the bill’s passage this week. He…
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The thousand cuts have finished. Now we heal.
I have been speaking these words in my head for the last month, “Death by a thousand cuts,” each time we heard about one more executive order regarding what we could and could not do. Each little cut meant one less piece of liberty we could enjoy. Each little cut hurt — and the hurt…