The Florida Times Union

Byline: LIZ VAN HOOSER The ambitious and eclectic restaurant 1171 in Murray Hill closed last week after 1 1/2 years in business. Owner Fernando Silveira said there just wasn't enough business to keep the doors open. "For many months we were...

Byline: LARRY HANNAN The Sunset Limited Amtrak route from Orlando to New Orleans has been gone since Hurricane Katrina damaged the CSX train tracks in 2005. But after almost four years of inaction, politicians and various community groups in...

Byline: JEFF ELLIOTT It was conceived to be one of those get-rich-quick schemes when Peter Bragan Sr. invested just over $330,000 to purchase the Jacksonville Suns in 1984 from Lou Eliopoulos. But today, when the Suns open their 2009 season against...

Byline: TIA MITCHELL The Jacksonville City Council will meet in its chambers today to discuss Mayor John Peyton's plan to give Waste Management a contract extension to continue operating the city's landfill. The contract is estimated to be worth...

Byline: JEFF BRUMLEY A blogger critical of First Baptist Church Pastor Mac Brunson wants to know why his Web site was investigated by a police detective who is also a member of the minister's security detail. Thomas A. Rich also wants the Jacksonville...

In tough times, you tend to get closer to home, emphasizing the basics. Churches are filling up. Family values are more important. And local businesses need support. That is why a new program to encourage people to buy locally has been...

Byline: DANA TREEN Four former employees, including a husband and wife, who worked for Jacksonville-based Lee and Cates Glass Co. are accused of filing almost 1,000 false insurance claims for about $775,000 to install replacement windshields, according...

Byline: Mike Bennett As chairman of the Florida Senate Committee on Community Affairs, I have the job of moving legislation on issues that affect our communities. Among those issues this year is a bill that addresses newspaper advertisements...

Byline: MATT COLEMAN It was yanked from a school production, but a lawyer representing a pair of St. Johns County parents who say their third-graders were taught a religious-themed tune wants a legal promise the song won't be resurrected in the...

Byline: DAVID HUNT Utility-bill relief may be more of a roller coaster this fall. JEA is considering decreasing its monthly customer fuel charge by nearly $8 in October if commodity prices stay down. But a 2007 vote to help pay down the city-owned...

Byline: GENE FRENETTE AUGUSTA, Ga. - On a normal weekday morning, Steve Wilson would go to one of his two BP filling stations for a couple of hours on the Mississippi Gulf Coast near Biloxi, account for all the money and take care of any maintenance...

Byline: GARRY SMITS AUGUSTA, Ga. - Seve Ballesteros, battling a brain tumor in his native country of Spain, couldn't make it to the Augusta National Golf Club on Tuesday for the past champions dinner. But he was there in spirit, thanks to a letter...

Byline: MICHAEL DIROCCO GAINESVILLE - Perhaps the only football player to arrive on Florida's campus in the last decade with more hype than Omar Hunter might have been Tim Tebow. That's kind of expected for a quarterback. Hunter, though, is a...

HIGH SCHOOLS BASEBALL BALDWIN 10, FORREST 5 Forrest***020***030***0-***5***5***2 Baldwin***124***021***x-***10***7***4 W: Ford. L: Clark. 3BH: Lynn (B). 2BH: K. Clark (B), Krawcezyk (B). Records: Forrest 6-11, Baldwin 6-11. ...

Byline: FRANCINE KING During last week's Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Venus and Serena Williams met for the 20th time in WTA Tour singles play. Ukrainian sisters Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko were watching - and sympathizing. "We understand...

Byline: ANN J. KELLEY Jasmine rice is a staple in Asian cooking, and the thing that makes it different from your everyday long grain white rice is its rich aroma. The first time I ate the rice was at a local Thai restaurant, where it was brought...

BAD MANNERS Breaking wind apparently is a no-no in soccer. A player on a British Sunday league team accidentally did that recently, and he was hit with a yellow card for unsportsmanlike behavior. According to BBC News, the Charlton Villa player...

Tasting events in Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia for the next week. Prices vary. TODAY Anjo Liquors: 9928-1 Old Baymeadows Road, 5-8 p.m. (904) 646-2656. The Grotto: 2012 San Marco Blvd., 6-8 p.m. (904) 398-0726. Tangled Oaks Winery...