The events and trends of 2022 will play out at the ballot box, in the courthouse, on the football field, atportdocks, in curbside recycling bins, at Confederate monuments, and in the air where the spread of the COVID-19 virus is still with us and fireworks will celebrate Jacksonville's bicentennial.
Here are somechanges to watch for in the year ahead.
Recycling resumption
Pressure is mounting on the city of Jacksonville to resume curbside recycling pickup that has been on holdsince a "temporary pause" started Oct. 4 because waste collection companies hired by the city were severely short-staffed.
City leaders have said repeatedly it's a matter of when, not if, the service will come back.
City officials originallyused a figure of six months for how long the pause might last, which would put the resumption of recycling sometime in April. But that has just been a target date, not a hard and fast schedule. Clay County has been trying to get its curbside recycling resumed since suspending it on Aug. 16.
Messy start:Jacksonville's drop-off sites for recyclables start with crammed bins and trashy overflow
Clay County suspension:Jacksonville area's garbage woes spread as Clay County will halt picking up recyclables
Complaints intensified when the holiday season disposal of recyclable items at drop-off sites around Jacksonvilleresulted inbins at city parks being crammed and overflowing.
The lack of curbside recycling has become fodder for candidates on thecampaign trail and even spurred a sign-waving rallyoutside City Hall organized byCo2nsequences, a non-profit founded by Fletcher High School students Grant Tucker.
City Council member Matt Carlucci plans to have a public meeting at City Hall in mid-January to "shine a light on this issue"and then have two town hall meetings at locations on the Westside and East Arlington later in the month and in February about restoring recycling service.
Key question: When will waste collection companies have enough workers to fully staff collection routes without backsliding to sub-par service?
COVID-19 pandemic
The winter virus season brought COVID-19 cases roaring back. Early indications from theOmicron variant have shown symptoms are milder than the Delta variant that badly strainedNortheast Florida hospitalsduring thesummer surge.
What to do:COVID and omicron variant in Florida: What to know if you're exposed or test positive for coronavirus
Jacksonville kept a handful of testing and vaccinations sites in place even when infections plummeted in the fall. The city will decide how long it will keep those in operation as an added layer of access beyond pharmacies.
School classes will resume after winter break without any abilityat the school district level to require mask-wearing in classroomsor on school buses. A new state law that went into effect in November forbids such mask mandates and also prevents schools from requiring quarantines for students who do not show any symptoms.
School districts haven't postponed the start of classes, butthe virus will challenge school administrators when teachers and staff catch the virus and quarantine at home.
Public health officials sayat some point, the COVID-19 pandemic will become "endemic," meaning the virus still exists but vaccinations and infections provide enough immunity that the virus causes much less hospitalization and death.
The winter viral season will show whether Northeast Florida is closer to that next stage in COVID-19.
Key question: What impact willrising cases have on hospital bed capacity?
JEA grand jury
A federal grand jury met throughout 2021 investigating the attempted sale of JEA in 2019. Based on witnesses who appeared before the grand jury, the grand jury has been hearing about acontroversial "performance unit plan" that could have delivered huge financial windfalls to JEA executives if the city had sold JEA.
The controversy sunk the sales attempt even after JEA killed the lucrative compensation plan.
A house-cleaning replaced the JEA board and its top executive team, bringing in a new leadership roster that has touted the benefits of Jacksonville having a city-owned utility for electric, water and sewer service.
More:Nate Monroe: What's the status of the federal JEA investigation?
These days, JEA customers are more focused on the month-to-monthincreasesin their bills caused by the soaring cost of natural gas, which is a main fuel used by JEA for its electric generating stations.
But the federal investigation still is hovering over what happened in 2019.
Key question: Did JEA executives in 2019 violate any federal laws during the sales process?
Confederate monuments
Jacksonville City Council decided to take the fateof Confederate monuments into its own hands when the council withdrew legislationfiled by Mayor Lenny Curry to move the "Tribute to the Women of the Southern Confederacy" monument out of Springfield Park.
Summer deadline:Jacksonville sets summer target of decision on Confederate monuments
City Council set a goal of summer 2022 for having its ownplan for handlingConfederate monuments and markers that are on public land. That would enable any plan to be funded in the 2022-23 budget.
Council will debate the monuments against a backdrop of a city divided on racial and party lines about them.
A University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Lab poll in Mayshowed 51percent of respondents strongly or somewhat supported removing Confederate monuments from public spaces.
Eighty-one percent of Black respondents and 71 percent of Hispanics supported moving Confederate monuments. But 64 percent of white respondents opposed it.
Democrats and Republicans were mirror images of each other. Eighty-twopercent of Democrats backed moving Confederate monuments off public spaces, but 81 percent of Republicans voiced opposition.
Key question: Can the 19-member council reach consensus while facing organized groups that oppose and supportConfederate monuments.
Home prices
The red-hot housing market will probably cool off some in 2022, but it still will be a seller's market, according to projections from analysts.
In Northeast Florida, typical home prices rose by 23.6 percent from November 2020 to November 2021, a dramatic gain that the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors called one for the history books.
Going up:Jacksonville-area home prices climb to $325,000 median; short supply seen lasting into '22
The Realtors group said the shortage of home inventory will carry over to 2022, keeping demand high.
The National Association of Realtors released a forecast for 2022 that anticipates housing prices nationwide will rise by 5.7 percent. The outlook is tempered by expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates, but even with those occurring, mortgage rates will still be lower than before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The bottom line for home sales is 2022 still will be a good year for people putting their homes on the market, but not a repeat ofthe bidding wars for homes in 2021.
Key question: Can the housing market avoid the downturn that rocked the economy after the last big surge in home prices 15 years ago?
Deeper water for JaxPort
The years-long quest for deeper water serving big cargo container ships will reach the Blount Island terminal in summer 2022.
JaxPort officials officials say the 47-foot depth will enable them to compete for more ocean-crossing cargo ships at a time whenGov. Ron DeSantis has been touting Jacksonville as an alternative to ports where those big ships face more congestion.
Cargo wanted:Florida ports can help USA's holiday shipping backlog, DeSantis says in Jacksonville
The $380 million deep dredge started in 2018 and has been working its way toward the Blount Island terminal, but the pursuit of deeper water actually dates back to 2005 when JaxPort convincedMitsui OSK Line to build what's known as the TraPac terminal west of the Dames Point bridge.
Ironically, the funding for the river deepening stops east of the bridge at the Blount Island terminal and, at least for now, no money exists to continue the dredge to TraPac.
JaxPort also is preparing to welcome backCarnival Cruise voyageswith a target date of March for the Ecstasy's resumption of sailings, two years after it stopped when the COVID-19 pandemic ground cruise travel to a halt.
Key question: Can JaxPortchangelong-standingchoices by cargo shippers to use other ports, particularly Savannah, Ga., and make a big gain in moving that cargo across Jacksonville's docks?
Jaguars head coach search
For the second time in two years, team owner Shad Khan must pick a new head coach after firing Urban Myer.
The Jaguars continue to be bottom-dwellers in the NFL and are on track to get the No. 1 pick in the draft for the second year in a row, creating more interest in draft night than Sunday afternoon kick-off.
Decision point:Shad Khan's spokesman says decision to fire Urban Meyer was made Sunday after Titans game
Khan will decide whether the team is best served by a head coach who already has filled that role in the NFL or going with an up-and-coming assistant coach.
The city and the Jaguars are splitting the cost of a $120 million football performance center that will start construction in early 2022and have two outdoor fields, and indoor practice field, and fan-friendly amenities such as grandstands and concession sales.
The Jaguars want to finish the performance center before the start of the 2023 season. Myer, who advocated for the center, won't be around to coach the team in it.
Key question: Can a new head coach build a winning team and fill empty seats at TIAA Bank Field on game day?
Downtown Jacksonville riverfront
A piece of the downtown Jacksonville's waterfront that's mostly empty now will have a lot of moving pieces in play during 2022.
The state Department of Environmental Protection will decide whether it will let the city swap part of The Shipyardsas replacement park land for a piece of Metropolitan Park that used to have Kids Kampus on it. The former Kids Kampus is where Khan wants to build a planned Four Seasons Hotel and Residences.
Land swap stakes:New park and MOSH relocation coming closer for The Shipyards in downtown Jacksonville
The land swap would let the city move forward with plans to turn the western half of The Shipyards into a top-flight park. The site has ground contamination but the city would cover it with several feet of new dirt.
The eastern side of the Shipyards would become the home of a new Museum of Science and History, provided the city finalizes terms for a leasing land to MOSH.
Finally, the verdict will soon come in whether the USS Orleck, which is undergoing drydock inspections and repairs in Port Arthur, Texas, will make the trip to Jacksonville and become a floating museum docked at one of the piers on the western side of The Shipyards.
Key question: Can the city convince DEP that the replacement land will be a better park for recreation than what exists now?
On the road: Highway projects
Six years after construction started on a new interchange for Interstate 295 and Interstate 95 on the Northside of Jacksonville, the construction zones that have greeted motoristswillfinally be ending in late 2022. Until then, drivers can expect traffic shifts for bridge workand some construction-related detours.
As the state Department of Transportation pushes to finish that interchange,it will be starting construction in late 2022 on a new bridge over the St. Johns River between Clay and St. Johns counties.
The river crossing will continue the march of work on the First Coast Expressway that eventually will run from Interstate 10 on Jacksonville's Westside all the way to I-95 in the middle of the St. Johns County.
The new four-lane bridge, which will be built just south of the Shands Bridge,is slated for completion in 2029 at an estimated cost of $334 million. The last leg of the expressway through St. Johns County could start construction in 2023 and finish in 2030.
Key question: Will weather disruptionor unforeseen construction delays push completion of the Northside interchangeinto 2023?
Election (and pre-election) year
The marquee match-up in Northeast Floridaraces for state Legislature will be between Jacksonville City Council member Reggie Gaffney and state Rep. Tracie Davis.
The Democrats will be running to fill the Senate seat that Audrey Gibson will be vacating because of term limits. A Republican who hasn't raised any campaign moneyalso filed for the seat. That will close theAugust primary election between Davis and Gaffney to just Democratic voters.
City elections won't be until spring 2023, but the coming year still will be busy for those candidates, starting with a special election in February to an open seat on City Council left vacant by Tommy Hazouri's death.
More:Tracye Polson and Nick Howland head to runoff election for Jacksonville City Council
Tracye Polson, a Democrat,and Nick Howland, a Republican,will decide who fills the City Council seat left vacant by the death of Tommy Hazouri.Withvoter turnout expected to be low, they'll be working to mobilize the respective bases of their parties in a preview of turnout strength in the 2023 contests.
Mayor Lenny Curry and Sheriff Mike Williams cannot run again because of term limits.Five candidates have announced for sheriff and no one has broken out of the pack.
In the race for mayor, JAX Chamber Daniel Davis and City Council member LeAnna Cumber,both Republicans, lead the campaign fund-raising and will make announcements in 2022 about officially becoming candidates. They would joinCity Council member Al Ferraro as Republican contenders.
Donna Deegan is a well-known candidate on the Democratic side.
Key question: Will any other candidates announce for mayor or sheriff and scramble the field?
Homicide watch
After escalatingto an alarming levelin 2020, the number of homicides in Duval County dropped sharply in 2021 but still remained high, defying goals byCurry and City Council to bring down violence in a city that has long been one of the most dangerous in Florida for gun crimes.
Curry won election in 2015 by pledging he would fix the city's long-standing problem of violent crime and make the city safe. When murders went up, he said in his re-election campaign that the city should stay the course on his strategies and would see positive results.
City Council enacted a five-year strategic plan in 2018 with aspirations for Jacksonville to becomethe “safest urban center in the country" by 2023.
Jacksonville has turned to prevention programs such as Cure Violence while also ramping up the size of the police force in recent years. An update to the City Council's five-year plan calls for creating a pilot program to reduce crime focused on the Durkeeville,Eastside, Newtown, Justina and Arlington neighborhoods.
Key question: Will the decline in homicides continue in a way that shows the city's strategy is working?
A trial and a retrial
Former Clay County Sheriff Darryl Daniels and former Congresswoman Corrine Brown are headed to trials in 2022.
Daniels has a Feb. 21 jury trial date on charges of destroying evidence and knowingly giving false information to deputies.
Daniels, who pleaded not guilty on all counts, was suspended as sheriff in August 2020 after authorities arrested him inasex scandalwhere he had ordered deputies to arrest his mistress for stalking. He then lost his re-election to Michelle Cook for Clay County sheriff.
Brownalso saw her political career end with a cloud hanging over her. She lost re-election after a federal grand jury indicted her on charges revolving around misuse of a sham charity. She later served time inprison after a jury convicted her, but in another twist, a federal appeals court overturned those convictions in May and ordered a new trial.
Key question: Will Daniels or Brown negotiate any plea deals with prosecutors or will their cases go before juries?
Jacksonville celebrates bicentennial
The city will mark its 200th anniversary in 2022, a milestonethat will offer some big-picture reflections on where Jacksonville has been and where it's going.
More:'Jacksonvillage': Frontier city was slow to grow but will mark its bicentennial in 2022
The festivities for the bicentennial year will include unveiling of a "These Truths" outdoor art sculptureon the Duval County Courthouse lawn.
A task force is making plans for a fireworks show,a street festival, and a regatta when the bicentennial getscelebrated in June.
Jacksonville is a newcomer compared to St. Augustine, which will be marking its 457th anniversary in 2022. But Jacksonville's growth has been tied in significant ways with the growth of Florida, which became a territory of the United States a year before the founding of Jacksonville.
Key question: What dignitaries will come to Jacksonville for the bicentennial celebration?
