• Mayor John Peyton is in Washington, D.C. seeking help fighting violent crime locally. He met with Bill Behrens who handles intergovernmental affairs for the White House on Tuesday. Peyton meets with Paul McNulty, the deputy attorney general, today. According to mayoral spokesperson Misty Skipper, Peyton is seeking federal funding to help combat crime in Jacksonville.
• The new security measures at City Hall start Dec. 26. All visitors will have to use the Duval Street entrance, pass through metal detectors and all bags will go through an X-ray machine.
• Might be a big crowd for today’s Christian Professional Resource of Jacksonville luncheon meeting at Epping Forest Yacht Club. Former super model Kim Alexis is the guest speaker.
• The Supervisor of Elections Office has started mailing out new voter registration cards for the Jan. 29 presidential preference primary election. A new feature of the cards is a tear-off form that will allow voters to request an absentee ballot for all elections through November 2010. The last day to register for the Jan. 29 election is Dec. 31.
• The Downtown UPS Store is now offering valet curb service for customers. For more information, call 355-4190.
• Stephanie Acosta is leaving the FCCJ Artist Series effective Jan. 2. As of Jan. 3, Acosta will be the assistant community director for the March of Dimes, Northeast Florida Division. Christine Sundberg will handle Acosta’s duties for FCCJ on a temporary basis until her replacement can be found.
• The Jacksonville Symphony Chorus is holding auditions Jan. 5 starting at 10 a.m. in the Phillips Fine Arts Building on the campus of Jacksonville University. The chorus is all volunteer. For more information, call 354-5479, ext. 221 or log on to www.jaxsymphonychorus.org.
Jacksonville Bar Association members, don’t forget you have all week to get your photo taken for the 2008 Professional Directory. Stop by our studio on Bay Street between Newnan and Ocean any time between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.