Tony Williams joined the Salvation Army’s Batterers Intervention Program in 2025 after an argument with his girlfriend turned violent. He was arrested and charged with domestic violence, and a judge offered him a choice: Go to jail or get intervention. That intervention came in the form of a 29-week program designed to educate domestic offenders on the Duluth model Power and Control Wheel, which focuses on identifying patterns of abusive behavior as problematic and holding offenders accountable for their actions. The program was established 30 years ago and is one of the First Coast’s longest-standing domestic violence initiatives with an 83% non-re-offense rate within the past three years, according to the Salvation Army. We sit down with Williams and the program’s manager to discuss how taking responsibility for his past behavior changed his life for the better.

Guests:

• Cle Wilkerson, program manager, Salvation Army’s Batterers Intervention Program
• Tony Williams, graduate, Batterers Intervention Program

Arts investment

Last Monday, Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan revealed her $2.03 billion budget proposal, boasting a fiscally modest 1.1% increase over last year’s budget. Ahead of the council Finance Committee’s first budget hearing Aug. 13, some council members expressed their intentions to aggressively slash spending in preparation for the passage of Amendment 3. If passed in November, the property tax phaseout would substantially reduce ad valorem revenue beginning in the 2027-28 fiscal year. Historically, arts and culture programs are first on the chopping block when city budgets are trimmed. We talk to the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville’s chief luminary about the economic importance of the arts in Jacksonville and how return on investment is affecting the city, not just in cultural spaces but in multiple sectors including retail, hospitality and tourism.

Guest: Diana Donovan, executive director of the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville

String Beans

Butler "String Beans" May was a comedian, showman and provocateur. The 23-year old was described as the “the greatest attraction in African American vaudeville” and his performances blended humor, vernacular dancing and blues piano playing. His untimely death in Jacksonville remains an unsolved mystery though some speculate it was the result of a Freemasonry initiation ceremony that went terribly wrong.

Guest: Tim Gilmore, author, educator and historian at JaxPsychoGeo