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  Well, that was fun. Back about six months or so ago, I announced that I had chosen so seek a seat on the Jacksonville City Council.  And I chose an enormous mountain to climb in the process… challenging a well-known incumbent in a county-wide race. We now...

It was just two years ago that the punditocracy was writing obituaries for the Republican party. And indeed, the GOP was in disarray. Democrats held solid majorities in the House and Senate, and had just won the White House. Tuesday night, the pendulum...

For years, driving across the Matthews Bridge, I’d look down at the old Ford assembly plant and think about what a great location it has on the river, and wondered how it appeared inside. The photographer in me had always wanted to have an opportunity...

I recently met someone who had a very compelling story to tell, and in some ways could be considered a metaphor for today’s economy. Let’s call him Joe. Joe had been a manager at a fast food restaurant, it doesn’t really matter which one. Long before...

There has already been a lot written about the state of the nation’s employment picture following this Labor Day. With one out of every 10 Americans out of work, and another five to seven percent underemployed or just not looking, there is a lot for...

The vote on Amendment 4, which has been called “Hometown Democracy” but which will appear on the ballot as “Referenda required for adoption and amendment of local government comprehensive land use plans,” will be held in November. This amendment,...

Have you noticed? There’s an election Tuesday. Probably most readers of The Jacksonville Observer understand that there is an election this week, and that is a very good thing. But what about all those other guys? At the Tiger Bay Club meeting Friday,...

I have decided, after a great deal of thought and reflection, to enter the race for a seat on the Jacksonville City Council, running in the At-Large, Group 2 race. And the question I’ve most often been asked as I’ve gone through this process is “why...

Three jobs per unemployed person. That’s an impressive statistic, isn’t it? The online job aggregator Indeed.com has determined that, based on the job listings for Jacksonville, there are three job postings available for every unemployed person in...

I was reminded again on Saturday just how lucky we are to have the river that runs through our city. I spent a couple of hours, as I am lucky enough to do from time to time, just cruising from the mouth of the river up to Clapboard Creek, and in just...