An administrative law judge has cleared a Duval County middle school teacher suspended for 10 days without pay for allegedly using the N-word in front of students last year.Judge James H. Peterson III ruled the Duval County School Board failed to prove the allegations in support of its suspension of David Swinyar, a Kernan Middle School teacher. The decision filed Friday at the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings in Tallahassee closes the case.Peterson said there was [... […]

Dear Call Box: I read about the Children’s Christmas Party of Jacksonville, the successor to the Dorcas Drake Christmas giveaway, and wondered what you could tell me about her.S.R., JacksonvilleDear S.R.: Known as “Mother Christmas,” Dorcas Drake reigned over the toy giveaway dressed in a fur-tipped Santa hat and red pants suit until 1992.Drake, granddaughter of former Florida Gov. Napoleon Bonaparte [... […]

The former fiance of a Navy chief petty officer slain in her Jacksonville home nearly three months ago has been charged with killing her, records show.Danny Ray Beard II, 36, is charged with murder in the killing of Andrea Lea Washington, 37, who was found dead Sept. 17 inside her Northside home.A judge Saturday ordered Beard to remain without bail in the Duval County jail, records show.Beard smiled, looked back and winked in the direction of television news cameras as [... […]

Online retail giant Wayfair Inc. has selected Jacksonville for a new 1 million-square-foot distribution center and warehouse.The project was dubbed “Project Empire” by Jacksonville city officials, who were negotiating for months to land the deal. The project was approved by the City Council in November and will be located at Alliance Florida within the Cecil Field Commerce Center, according to the city.Wayfair has become an online retailer that offers more than 10 [... […]

Bill Offill has been named publisher of The Florida Times-Union. Offill was named group publisher of The Times-Union, St. Augustine Record and Daytona Beach News-Journal, all GateHouse Media properties, in September. He will continue to serve as group publisher.On Friday, Offill said he is relocating to Jacksonville in January to take over the day-to-day oversight of the Times-Union. Former Times-Union Media President Mark Nusbaum retired last week.“I look [... […]

Applying for a job can be a scary prospect.Surely having a chorus of earthly angels appear at your side — strangers who listen to your story, pray for you, occupy your 3-year-old and cheer for you when you succeed — would ease the stress. That's the idea behind the "Better Work" component of Better Together, a Florida nonprofit that, among other things, collaborates with churches to plan job fairs in underserved communities.Only 2 percent of U.S. [... […]

Three years after construction concluded on the massive Duval County Courthouse complex, the temporary construction trailers used during that work are finally getting hauled away from a city-owned lot that looked more like a salvage yard than prime real estate.The sloppy condition of the lot, which the city purchased years ago for several million dollars, stands in contrast to the improvements that other property owners in the vicinity have financed so they would come into compliance [... […]

The Cultural County of Greater Jacksonville appointed Joy Young as its new executive director effective in February. Young is currently director of administration, human resources and operations for the South Carolina Arts Commission in Columbia.Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Network Realty welcomed Rich Seal to the St. Augustine office with locations in St. Augustine Beach and Murabella at World Golf Village and welcomed Alex [... […]

LUMBERTON, N.C. — Police have arrested and charged a man with killing a 13-year-old girl who was kidnapped last month from a North Carolina mobile home park.The FBI said early Saturday that Michael Ray McLellan has been charged in connection with the kidnapping and murder of Hania Noelia Aguilar. The announcement comes the same day that a memorial service for Aguilar is set to take place at a local high school.The 34-year-old McLellan faces first degree murder, rape and [... […]

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says chief of staff John Kelly will leave his job at the end of the year.Trump isn't saying immediately who will replace Kelly, a retired Marine general who has served as chief of staff since July 2017. But the president says an announcement about a replacement will be coming in the next day or two.Trump spoke to reporters at the White House before departing for the Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia.He calls Kelly [... […]

A criminal complaint obtained by Times-Union news partner First Coast News paints a portrait of a dirty U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency agent who traded inside information for bribes and helped facilitate massive drug shipments to the streets of Jacksonville.According to the complaint, former Jacksonville-based Special Agent Nathan Koen used his position to assist large-scale drug transactions, warn dealers of pending investigations and otherwise enable shipments of heroin, cocaine and [... […]

Five teachers were pleasantly surprised to learn that they are finalists for Duval County's Teacher of the Year during surprise announcements at their school.The finalists are Sarah Pasion at Sadie Tillis Elementary, Nakeisha Tinsley at Matthew Gilbert Middle, Danisha Love at Raines High, Rachel Duff at DuPont Middle, and Joshua Diaz at Hogan-Spring Glen Elementary.One of the finalists will be named the Florida Blue Duval County Teacher of the Year at the 28th Annual EDDY [... […]

A Duval County Public Schools assistant principal is facing termination and a criminal record after being charged with two counts of grand theft.Jamall Collins, 34, was arrested without incident at School Police headquarters, not in the presence of students, according to the school district.The charges stemmed from fraudulent bank account activity reported by an Ortega orthodontist who regularly makes donations to Stockton Elementary School, where Collins works. The business [... […]

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump inched closer to his long-teased major White House shake-up Friday, gearing up for the twin challenges of battling for re-election and dealing with the Democrats' investigations once they take control of the House. The biggest piece of the shifting picture: Chief of Staff John Kelly's departure now appears certain.Trump announced he was picking a new U.S. attorney genera l and a new ambassador to the U.N. , and at the same time two senior [... […]

Police arrested three employees at a Sonic Drive-In in Taylor, Texas, after an 11-year-old girl found an ecstasy pill Thursday in a meal for her 4-year-old brother, said Taylor Police Chief Henry Fluck.The girl was unwrapping the child’s meal ordered for her younger brother at the restaurant at 1700 N. Main St. when she found the pill in a hamburger wrapper, Fluck said Friday. “She thought it was candy,” he said.Her parents were suspicious and brought [... […]

A Rockford Register Star story about 10 Byron football players who were suspended for their part in an “Oreo run” has not only been republished by news outlets across the country, it’s become late night talk show fodder.On Tuesday, the story wound up on "Late Night with Seth Meyers." Meyers makes a joke at timestamp 1:18 about what [... […]

Trump calls Rex Tillerson 'dumb as a rock' after fired secretary of state says he kept having to say 'You can't do that' […]

The power of bacon is on display at the Animal Science building at Ohio State University.A table inside the lobby is covered with free snacks: a tub of pretzels, a dozen or so granola bars, some gummy fruit snacks. It’s finals week at the school, but all of it was untouched. Beside the free snacks was a line of people taking photos and videos as they plunked quarters and fed dollar bills into a vending machine that sold nothing but bacon.There are bags of bacon bits and [... […]

A Jacksonville man has been indicted in the August death of his girlfriend who was shot in the drive-thru of a Southside McDonald's.Rasheed A. Karreem, 35, was charged with first-degree premeditated murder in the slaying of 32-year-old Jamie Marie Roqu, [... […]

Last Saturday about 260 runners and walkers participated in the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Jacksonville’s Light Up the House 5K.The race started at 8 a.m. in front of the Ronald McDonald House on Children’s Way in San Marco with the participants wearing Santa hats and holiday colors. The race course went through along the St. Johns River and through historic San Marco. Santa and Mrs. Clause led a children’s 1-mile Fun Run in a red-and- [... […]