JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — As 2023 comes to an end, we're looking back at the biggest stories of the year. It was a year of both unspeakable tragedy and darkness, and at the same time, a year of change, hope and miracles.
Watch part one and part two of our 2023 recap below, and find the links to all of the stories mentioned.
- Donna Deegan is elected the first female mayor of Jacksonville
- Get Covered Jax, a private health care option for people in Jacksonville, covers 25% of uninsured in the city within 6 weeks
- Winning Mega Millions $1.58 billion ticket sold at Neptune Beach Publix
- Parking garage partially collapses at Ascension St. Vincent's hospital in Riverside
- Mysterious line of yellow paint coats 20+ mile stretch of I-95 in Jacksonville
- A miracle when Charles Gregory was rescued after missing at sea for more than a day (Plus, this emotional video of Gregory reuniting with his parents)
- Three boaters go missing off the coast of Brunswick; extensive search went on for six weeks without finding them
- Sailor was marooned on Jacksonville Beach -- and lived there for weeks
- The First Coast loses an icon when the Vilano Beach Blue House is torn down
- Idalia hits Florida, the First Coast escapes the worst but sees damage, power outages
- First Jaguar cub in 10 years born in Jacksonville, plus triplets later in the year
- Heartbreak in the city after a racially-motivated mass shooting killed Angela Carr, Jerrald Gallion and A.J. Laguerre Jr. at the Dollar General on Kings Road
- Two women, later identified as Paige Pringle, 28 and Tara Baker, 53, killed while waiting for the San Marco train to pass
- Good Samaritan Kennedy Armstrong steps in during stabbing that injured mother and daughter; Ponte Vedra High softball player Madison Schemitz paralyzed in the incident
- Douglas Anderson music teacher Jeffrey Clayton arrested, accused of inappropriate conduct with a student
- Duval County Public Schools Superintendent Diana Greene retires amongst controversy
- Jacksonville in national headlines after brutal arrest of Le'Keian Woods caught on tape
- Arrests made as justice approaches for slain 13-year-old Prince Holland, who died leaving football tryouts in 2022
- Closure when baby Jane Doe identified 35 years later
- Dominoes fall in Jared Bridegan case
- Tragic chapter comes to a close when Aiden Fucci is sentenced to life for murder of Tristyn Bailey
- Ahmaud Arbery's killers attempt to appeal their sentence for federal hate crimes
- Judge rules case against former DA Jackie Johnson, accused of hindering Arbery case, will go on
- Good news this time: The magic end of the '22-'23 Jaguars season
- The Jacksonville Sharks win a third NAL title
- The Jacksonville Icemen become part of NHL's Buffalo Sabres & AHL's Rochester Americans