Jacksonville Bold 9/24/25

This news roundup covers Florida politics, a cybercrime arrest, and Jacksonville business and sports. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

From: Extensive Media Enterprises  Thursday finds the leadership of the Florida Democratic Party and the Republican Party of Florida holding dueling events in Orange Park. The Democrats' Nikki Fried will lead off with remarks to Clay's Women Empowerment Council, where she will talk about her history as a political lobbyist and how women drive action in policy. The sold-out event starts at 11:30 a.m. at Club Continental. Nikki Fried leads a Democratic event; Evan Power and others hold a Republican one. Media that might be on hand won't have to leave Orange Park for a second story, though. RPOF Chair Evan Power will appear with Clay County Party Chair Rhonda Jett, County Commissioner Alexandra Compere, and School Board member Erin Skipper. "Republican leaders will expose the truth: Democrats don't put women or families first. They can't define a woman, let boys play in girls' sports and try to strip parents of their right to choose the best school for their child. Our event will set the record straight and stand up for women, parents and families," Republicans promise. That event starts at 2 p.m. at the Clay County GOP Office. Clay County is strongly Republican, but Democrats have made plays there despite the GOP advantage. Clearly, Republicans aren't taking their advantage for granted.

Cyber Sleaze   Attorney General James Uthmeier has charged another suspect, he says, connected to sexually charged content on the internet and the social media platform Snapchat. A First Coast man was arrested and accused of three felony counts of possession of child sexual abuse material, along with three other counts of unlawful use of a two-way communication device. James Uthmeier announced charges against Luke Sedlock for possession of child sexual abuse material. Image via the Florida Attorney General's Office. Luke Sedlock of Green Cove Springs in Clay County is in that county's jail on a $600,000 bond. He's also prohibited from contact with anyone under the age of 18. He cannot have access to any devices with internet access, according to a press release issued by Uthmeier's office. Uthmeier said Sedlock was arrested Sept. 11 following an initial investigation launched by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). Investigators with the FDLE received several tips about Sedlock in August from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. "Over and over again, our office is prosecuting predators who are using Snapchat to trade disgusting content and victimize children. Protecting our kids is my utmost priority," Uthmeier said. "Our statewide prosecutors will ensure that this predator is held accountable for his abhorrent behavior." Officers with the Green Cove Springs Police Department executed the search warrant at Sedlock's Northeast Florida home. Law enforcement personnel seized Sedlock's electronic devices. Uthmeier said they contained material that involved sexual abuse with young children and animals. Uthmeier's office has stepped up charging what he calls sexual predators since he took over the Attorney General's Office after being appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis when Ashley Moody was elevated from the top prosecutor in the state to U.S. Senator to replace Marco Rubio, who advanced to Secretary of State in President Donald Trump's administration.

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Democratic donnybrook   A recurring Democratic candidate for Congress is considering another run, and a significant reason for this is her opposition to someone who just filed this week. L.J. Holloway says she's "strongly considering" becoming the fourth candidate in a crowded Primary race in Florida's 4th Congressional District, which includes Clay County, Nassau County and part of Duval. L.J. Holloway considers a congressional run, motivated by her opposition to candidate Michael Kirwan. A significant reason for her political comeback is her aversion to Michael Kirwan, a retired Jacksonville lawyer who was a partner at Foley and Lardner and once chaired the Jacksonville Ethics Commission. A lawyer herself, Holloway predicates her argument on his work in real estate transactions, mergers and acquisitions. "For years, Michael Kirwan has made a living helping the rich get richer — whether it's Wall Street investors buying up our neighborhoods or Big Pharma hiking drug prices," Holloway said. "He's not just out of touch with working families — he's actively working against them." Holloway contends that Kirwan has materially prospered while the people he would serve in Congress have not. Holloway has been the Democratic nominee against incumbent Republican Aaron Bean in the last two elections. In 2024, Bean won by a margin of nearly 15 percentage points. Her path to a third try in the General Election doesn't come without obstruction. Two Democrats, Ricky Knoles and Brittney Robinson, already opened campaign accounts before Kirwan's entry. Knoles has raised just over $4,000, while Robinson has yet to report any fundraising activity. Meanwhile, the incumbent's political machine is humming along. As of the end of June, Federal Election Commission records showed Bean with more than $830,000 cash on hand. The district comprises 41% Republican and 34% Democratic voters.

'Dependency and control'   U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack says she doesn't expect the federal government to be shut down for long. But if the "short-term" pause happens as it has many times over the years, she believes the opposition party is to blame if a spending deal isn't struck by the end of the month. Kat Cammack blames Democrats for a potential government shutdown over disagreements on insurance subsidies. "Democrats want to shut down the government so they can give $40 billion to insurance companies. That's what this comes down to. They don't want to put more money in people's pockets? Of course not. Their agenda has always been about dependency and control, and so what they want to do is subsidize insurance companies," Cammack said Monday on "Mornings with Maria." At issue: Democrats want an extension of insurance subsidies, one in doubt since the passage of President Donald Trump's One Big, Beautiful Bill. Republicans, such as Cammack, are considerably less enthusiastic and in her case, she draws analogies from the Roman Empire to describe their alleged intransigence. "They've already kind of crossed the Rubicon, so to speak, on this. So, I anticipate we will see a government shutdown, but it's simply because the Democrats want to subsidize their buddies in big insurance," Cammack claims. Despite the current loggerheads, Cammack thinks Democrats will cave due to the strength of the executive branch in Washington in this "fight that the President is willing to have." "I think it would be a short-term shutdown because Democrats recognize that they're not playing with the same old GOP of yesterday. This is Donald Trump's America, and he is not scared to take the fight to every single media platform across the country and explain directly to the people what is really going on," Cammack believes. "Legacy media no longer controls the narrative that Democrats are the heroes." Republicans, she added, are "going to take this fight on because we're not going to continue to garnish the wages of our children by spending us into oblivion on top of the 37 trillion in debt that we currently have."

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Port plus   Northeast Florida's preeminent port is trumpeting enhanced export-import business to start the week. JAXPORT says Enstructure Auto Logistics has inked new deals with Mazda North America and Toyota Logistics to "provide finished vehicle logistics" at Talleyrand by the end of the year. "Mazda and Toyota have been valued JAXPORT customers for decades and are two of our longest-standing automotive partners," said JAXPORT CEO Eric Green. "We are pleased to see them continue to grow their businesses in Jacksonville by leveraging Enstructure's capabilities, which further strengthens our position as one of the nation's top vehicle-handling ports. Together, we are building on JAXPORT's role as a gateway to Florida and the U.S. Southeast, one of the nation's fastest-growing automotive markets." Eric Green celebrates new vehicle logistics deals with Mazda, Toyota and Enstructure Auto Logistics. Enstructure, which leases 114 acres at Talleyrand under an agreement running through 2054, notes the deals "establish EAL as Mazda's premier port processor in the southeast region for imports from Japan and Mexico and ensure a seamless transition for TLS's shipments bound for Puerto Rico." Co-CEOs Matthew Satnick and Philippe De Montigny herald a "best-in-class finished vehicle logistics business" as "a strategic priority for Enstructure," with the two new deals representing a "major step" in that direction, developing domestic and international supply chains.

Dolphin Safe   Jacksonville University had the best performance of any private school in the state on the July Florida Bar. Jacksonville University's College of Law had 91.7% of its first-timers getting through the test, albeit with a small sample size of 12 sitting for the Bar, meaning just one Dolphin didn't make it safely through the net. Jacksonville University College of Law celebrates a 91.7% first-time pass rate on the Florida Bar. Good luck next time. Only one school could boast a better number. The University of Florida's Levin College of Law set a torrid pace, with 92.8% of the 138 test-takers passing without needing a retake.

On the dole   The Jacksonville Daily Record reports the "unemployment rate in the Jacksonville metropolitan area of Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties rose from 4.2% in July to 4.6% in August, the Florida Department of Commerce reported Sept. 19." The Jacksonville metropolitan area unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in August, a pandemic-era high. Image via AP. To find numbers this bad, you have to go back to the dark days of the pandemic. The state of Florida's unemployment rate is up overall, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, to 3.8%. Uber, Lyft, and Instacart drivers can expect increased competition if this keeps up.

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Hologram hurrah   Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan is defending a much-criticized holographic image of herself at the local airport, saying her counterparts in other cities offer functional equivalents. The "new, cutting-edge holographic communication platform," as described in a press release from the city, was added in 2024. Deegan said at a town hall this month that "people love it" and that the expenditure is not an example of wasteful spending, as Republicans maintain. Donna Deegan defends her airport hologram from criticism by Blaise Ingoglia and Ron DeSantis. "It's the one thing they keep going back to. She spent, you know, $50,000 or whatever it was on a photo box," Deegan said. "If that's your example of government waste, I think we're probably doing OK." Deegan added that "at every airport in the country, the Mayor greets people when they come into the airport, either on a monitor or over the loudspeaker." CFO Blaise Ingoglia was one of many prominent Republicans mocking the device. "I considered doing this presentation as a hologram. But I wanted to save taxpayers' dollars," Ingoglia quipped when he came to town to claim the city could cut property tax by 1.19 Mill and not "skip a beat" as it cut $200 million of spending or 1/10 of the roughly $2 billion budget. Gov. Ron DeSantis said the city had room to cut as well and likewise couldn't resist Deegan's doppelgänger as an example of fiscal waste. "I do know they spent tens of thousands of dollars to create a hologram of the Mayor to put at Jacksonville International Airport. Do you want to pay property taxes to fund that? I mean, probably not, I think most people would say," the Governor said in Apalachicola.

Jaguars key early road game   What a difference a week makes. After beating the Houston Texans 17-10 on Sunday, the Jacksonville Jaguars find themselves in a position to put together a contending season as they travel to San Francisco to face the 49ers. Only three AFC teams have a better record than the Jaguars' 2-1 mark after three weeks. Those teams, the Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Chargers and the Jaguars, AFC South rivals, the Indianapolis Colts, lead their divisions. The Jacksonville Jaguars and Trevor Lawrence prepare for a key road game against the 49ers. Image via AP. While the Jaguars' defense has been opportunistic so far this season with nine takeaways, the team is tied for the league lead in turnover margin (+5). Jacksonville is fifth in the NFL in rushing. Those two facts should dictate the way head coach Liam Coen and his staff game plan for the foreseeable future. The Jaguars are currently built like an old-school team that should run the ball and win the turnover battle. They are not a team that must put the entire game plan on the quarterback. Trevor Lawrence is currently 29th in the NFL in quarterback rating at 70.3. He is tied for second in the league in interceptions. Through three games, the numbers indicate that he has not shown improvement as a quarterback under the new coaching and a new system. But the numbers don't tell the whole story. Lawrence has been given more responsibility to check out of plays at the line of scrimmage. He did so on several occasions on Sunday, including on the 46-yard connection with Brian Thomas Jr. that set up the game-winning touchdown. While the Jaguars have not enjoyed great success in games on the West Coast, they will face a San Francisco team dealing with key injuries. Quarterback Brock Purdy missed last week's game with a toe injury. His backup, former Jaguars quarterback Mac Jones, a Bolles school alum, is day-to-day with a knee injury. And star defensive end Nick Bosa is out for the season after tearing his ACL. Still, San Francisco is one of three unbeaten NFC teams. They lead the NFC West after winning three close games this season. They opened the year with a four-point win at Seattle, then a five-point victory in New Orleans. Last week, they survived a 16-15 game against Arizona. The game figures to be a pivotal game on the Jaguars' schedule. If Jacksonville can beat the 49ers, they would have some momentum heading into a home Monday Night Game against the Kansas City Chiefs on October 6. After that, it's a home game against the Seahawks, who have to cross the country to play in Jacksonville. Then, the Jaguars head to London. If the Jaguars can accept their personality and play to the team's strengths, this could be an interesting season. If not, they could be looking at a losing record before they cross the Atlantic.

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