MICHAEL SMITH

President Joe Biden has told a packed Broadway theater full of big-name stars hosting a fundraiser in his honor that he is running for reelection because Donald Trump was determined to destroy the nation.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he plans to protest a two-point loss to Golden State after a confusing sequence led to an uncontested basket for the Warriors.

It was a 1-2 punch to the gut for Atlanta’s sports fans.

The secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services stopped in Jacksonville on Friday to discuss the coronavirus pandemic and efforts to combat it.

Police on Wednesday morning arrested a man hours after another man was set on fire in downtown Jacksonville, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

The chief executive of a Christian youth home in rural Alabama says the community is working toward healing after eight of its children were killed in a fiery crash during the rains of Tropical Storm Claudette.

The chief executive of a Christian youth home in rural Alabama says the community is working toward healing after eight of its children were killed in a fiery crash during the rains of Tropical Storm Claudette.

Eight children in a van from a youth ranch for abused or neglected children were killed in a fiery multi-vehicle crash on a wet interstate over the weekend — the most devastating blow from a tropical depression that claimed a total of 13 lives in Alabama.

Children ages 12 and older can now get COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S., offering parents and schools a chance to relax their pandemic precautions.

Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn stands with Atlanta Falcons Owner Arthur Blank before the first half of an NFL football game between the Atlanta Falcons and the Carolina Panthers, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2020, in Atlanta. Quinn was hired by the Falcons in 2015 after a highly successful run as Seattle’s defensive coordinator, highlighted by two straight trips to the Super Bowl. After going 8-8 his first season, Quinn guided the Falcons to one of the greatest years in team history. The Falcons made the playoffs again the following year, losing to eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia, but never seemed to fully shake their Super Bowl debacle. Dimitroff kept his job when Smith was fired at the end of the 2014 season after two straight losing campaigns.

TEDxJacksonville continues a series of free, virtual Small Great Conversations on Racism this Saturday featuring Pastor Michael Smith, a TEDxJacksonville speaker the talk Black Murder Is Normal. (Event link)This series highlights previous TEDx speakers and their ideas for confronting the challenges currently facing our community and the world. These events bring TEDxJacksonville speaker alumni to our audience in an online conversation on topics that cover systemic racism, activism and public policy debates. Those talks are now shared via the TEDx Talks YouTube channel with more than 20 million subscribers. At a TEDx event, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.

(Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)ATLANTA Mayors in Atlanta and other Georgia cities deepened their defiance of Gov. He went so far as to say local governments couldn't order masks on their own property, which would include Atlanta's airport. Kemp's stance not only shying away from a statewide order but trying to bar local governments from instituting their own leaves him standing virtually alone. In the South, Republican governors in Tennessee, South Carolina and Florida have resisted calls for a statewide mask mandate but allow local jurisdictions to implement them. Republican governors in Alabama and Texas and Democrats in Kentucky, Louisiana and North Carolina have issued statewide mask requirements.

Among the places people paid their respects locally was the Jacksonville National Cemetery. “It’s in everybody’s heart, it’s no different, you just do it a different way,” explained Michael Smith, a member of the support committee at Jacksonville National Cemetery. It still has the same meaning, it’s just done a different way," said Smith, who was honoring Staff Sgt. At just 29-years-old, Dahlke is the first KIA to be buried when Jacksonville National Cemetery opened that same year. “There’s things in life that change your life, and this man right here, what he did for our nation, changed my life,” Smith said.

Merritt was convicted in June of the murders of his former business associate Joseph McStay, McStay's wife, Summer, and their 4- and 3-year-old sons, Gianni and Joseph Jr. But after Friday's hearing stretched on for more than seven hours, Smith continued sentencing until Tuesday. “Joey, Summer, Gianni and Joey Jr did nothing to you,” the older man told Merritt. Authorities said they believed Merritt killed the family as McStay was cutting him out of his business making and selling custom water fountains. They said McStay told friends Merritt was doing shoddy work and pilfering money from him.

This year, volunteers with "Wreaths Across America," hope to lay holiday wreaths at 12,000 gravestones at Jacksonville National Cemetery, but they need your help to meet that goal. The goal is to have the wreaths ready by Dec. 14. The Jacksonville National Cemetery is arguably one of the most peaceful places in the city. Willen is retired a retired Navy commander, and will soon take over responsibilities with Wreaths Across America Jacksonville. Michael Smith is the location coordinator for Wreaths Across America Jacksonville.

Michael Smith/Getty Images(CNN) - Burger King UK is removing plastic toys from kids' meals in a bid to reduce its environmental impact. Some 320 tonnes of single-use plastic will be saved each year, according to Burger King. The company will also install containers in UK stores so that old plastic toys can be recycled and used to build play areas. Burger King was responding to a petition from Ella and Caitlin McEwan, aged 9 and 7, who wrote: "It's not enough to make recyclable plastic toys big, rich companies shouldn't be making toys out of plastic at all." Burger King said it intends to remove non-biodegradable plastic toys from other markets by 2025.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - After a large fire, dozens of residents at the Calloway Cove Apartments told News4Jax they were told to leave the complex and are staying at a Northside hotel. Many of the residents said they were bused to the Travelodge Inn near the airport on Wednesday night. Residents told News4Jax they were evacuated because of potential gas leaks in other buildings. When asked for comment Thursday about the potential gas leaks, a spokesperson for Millennia Housing Management, the property owner, said she could not comment because of an ongoing investigation. It's unclear how long the residents will be staying at the hotel.