First Coast Connect: Ask the Mayor

After the Legislature’s decision to put the future of property tax cuts before voters in November, we look at the potential blast radius of the revenue loss. In our monthly Ask the Mayor segment, we also ask Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan about her new blight abatement efforts, community blowback after a traffic-plagued Ironman event and her working relationship with incoming City Council president Nick Howland. Guest: Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan Classically new From Rachmaninoff's 1st to Beethoven's 9th, the Jacksonville Symphony announces its upcoming season in a newly renovated performance hall. The orchestra’s 2026/27 concert season includes classical stalwarts like Mozart, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Mahler, but includes a pops series featuring songs from stage and screen, as well as by artists like Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Buffet and Paul McCartney. Of particular local interest is a one-night-only performance of an original musical score written to accompany the 1926 silent film, The Flying Ace, which features an all-Black cast and is the only full-length surviving "race film" produced by Norman Studios in Arlington. The performance marks the film’s 100th anniversary. We ask the orchestra’s director how the performances were chosen and what he’s looking forward to after this summer’s extensive acoustic renovations to Jacoby Symphony Hall. Guest: Courtney Lewis, music director, Jacksonville Symphony Philippines Independence Day As the city with the largest Filipino population in Florida, Jacksonville undertakes a celebration of Pinoy pride at the weekly Riverside Arts Market under the Fuller Warren Bridge this weekend. The event features multiple food vendors selling Filipino favorites like lumpia, pancit, halo-halo, adobo, sisig and much more. The event also features a Manila streetwear fashion show, a performance of the traditional Tinikling dance, a kids zone and more than 50 Filipino retailers and entertainers. The event commemorates the 128-year anniversary of the Pacific island nation’s independence from Spanish rule. The Philippines Independence Day Celebration runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 13. RAM is free and open to the public. Guests: Nique Dayrit Davis, board member, Jax Filipinos SJ Osborne, market manager, Riverside Arts Market See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.