Top Writing Clips

Bowl week beacon for escorts
(Feb. 3, 2005)
A far-reaching web of trade is expected to come to Jacksonville for the Super Bowl -- one police wish wouldn't but can do little about. The so-called oldest profession is expected to invade hotel rooms across the city throughout the week. Men have been lining up women -- and some men -- for weeks, some for more than $2,000 an hour.
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The Missing
(June 5, 2005)
Every year, hundreds of people are reported missing in the Jacksonville area. Most are teenagers. The majority are found within days. During the first three months of 2005, 977 people were reported missing in Jacksonville alone. About 70 percent of those were between 13 and 17 years old. And 460 of those had been reported missing at least once before, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. But sometimes, searches don't turn up anything. Authorities are baffled. Families are left wondering.
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2 dead, 1 hurt in eviction shooting
(July 10, 2005)
Less than 12 hours after a triple shooting across the street from his Jacksonville home, Leonard McPherson had grown tired of talking about it. All that was left at the house from the shootings at 2552 Lewis Street Saturday was a pool of blood and a ventilator authorities used to try to revive the three.
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1976 case gets new look as sleuths disagree: Was it murder, or suicide?
(Oct. 3, 2005)
The death has been classified one or the other five times over the years. Nearly 30 years after Kevin Witherspoon's death, Jacksonville police again have reopened the case because his family continued to question the suicide ruling.
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A friendship fed by crime
(June 24, 2004)
Kimberly Brodasky says she was turning her life around when she met Jacqueline Forcier. Now Brodasky is in jail, and her friend is nowhere around.
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New president for University of Florida: Utah candidate is trustees’ choice
(Oct. 9, 2003)
Bernie Machen is expected to take over UF on Jan. 5 after leading the University of Utah for six years. He will replace President Charles Young, who is retiring after nearly four years at the helm of the state's flagship university.
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King's stance puts him in tough role
(April 26, 2003)
State Senate President Jim King has been known as a compromiser, the guy who can sum up legislative action with a one-liner, and as a rebounder. The Jacksonville Republican's skills have drawn praise from colleagues and rivals. But King's moderate stances and penchant for bridging divides are making him the odd man out and an unlikely opponent for fellow GOP leaders Gov. Jeb Bush and House Speaker Johnnie Byrd of Plant City.
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Education tour visits states pivotal to Bush
(May 17, 2004)
As they promote one of the most dramatic education reforms in a generation, Education Secretary Rod Paige and his top deputies have spent most of their 2004 travel time in states with no formal complaints about the No Child Left Behind law. They frequently have flown into the so-called battleground states, where the president's re-election campaign is working hardest to win the November vote, according to Education Department records reviewed by the Houston Chronicle.
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