Susan Burns, a Fishweir Elementary School teacher, will receive the Community First Innovation Prize during the Jacksonville Public Education Fund’s 26th annual Eddy Awards in February.
The Community First Cares Foundation, the charitable arm of Community First Credit Union, presents the award.
Burns will receive the cash prize for the creativity of her project, “One Teacher’s Trash …” aimed at reducing classroom waste while encouraging entrepreneurship.
She recently was surprised in her classroom by representatives of Community First and the education fund.
She also was one of 20 Duval County public school teachers awarded $500 PowerUp grants.
The PowerUp and EDDY Awards are part of a larger strategy of the fund to elevate and celebrate Jacksonville’s public school teachers.
The awards will be Feb. 24 at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront.
Stellar design in Pennsylvania earns magazine distinction
Jacksonville-based Stellar received an honor from Food Engineering magazine for the design-design build of a project for Bell & Evans.
The company's Fredericksburg, Penn., poultry processor plant was named the “Fab Food Plant” of the year by the magazine. The publication looks at processors that focus on lean manufacturing, sustainability and food safety.
Bell & Evans’ 160,000-square-foot chicken packaging, storage and frozen processing facility embodies those ideals, according to a news release.
The project is a $50 million facility that broke ground in March 2014 and was completed in 2015.
Stellar is a fully integrated engineering, construction and mechanical services firm.
Land Trust acquires another Big Talbot property
North Florida Land Trust received a land donation on Big Talbot Island from Charles Chupp.
The 6.43-acre environmentally sensitive area is located on the northern tip of the island and at the edge of Big Talbot Island State Park around the Nassau Inlet.
Wildlife such as migrating shorebirds, sea turtles and the piping plover — one of the rarest bird species in the U.S. — can be found there.
Chupp is a real estate investor and developer. He’s the second developer recently to reach a deal with the trust, which bought 206 acres of land from Fletcher Davis Management Co. in St. Johns County.
Isaiah Rumlin elected JTA chair
The Jacksonville Transportation Authority board of directors selected Isaiah Rumlin as board chairman for 2017. He succeeds Scott McCaleb.
Rumlin is the managing member of Rumlin Insurance Agency, the oldest minority-owned property and casualty agency in Duval County.
He also serves as president of the Jacksonville chapter of the NAACP, where he expanded the group’s issues to include education, crime and the economy.
Other officers elected by the JTA board are Kevin Holzendorf as vice chair, Ari Jolly as secretary and Denise Wallace as treasurer.
City Hall holiday open house tonight
Jacksonville residents are invited to “Celebrate the Holidays at City Hall” starting at 4 p.m. today.
The annual event will have hors d’oeuvres, hot chocolate and coffee for guests who can tour council offices and meet their elected representatives.
Call (904) 630-1451 to RSVP.
City offering counseling for veterans
The city’s Military Affairs and Veterans Department is hosting two opportunities for veterans to receive free counseling on legal and career issues Thursday at City Hall.
It is partnering with Three Rivers Legal Services at 9 a.m. to provide assistance with issues including limited family law, Social Security, discharge review assistance, Veterans’ Affairs pension, guardianship for the disabled and unfair collections. Call (904) 630-3680 for information.
At 3 p.m., the department and Jacksonville Military Veterans Coalition will host their free monthly career and employment counseling seminar for veterans and transitioning military members along with National Guard and Reserve members and their families.
North Florida TPO re-elects officers
The North Florida Transportation Planning Organization board of directors re-elected its executive team for the 2017 year.
City Council member Doyle Carter will continue as chairman, Clay County Commissioner Diane Hutchings will continue as vice chairman and Nassau County Commissioner Danny Leeper stays on as treasurer.
The organization is the independent regional transportation planning agency for Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties. It leads efforts in planning, funding and mobilizing resources to develop and maintain the region’s transportation system.
Brightway opens 4 more offices
Brightway Insurance recently opened four offices in Florida, Arizona and Louisiana, the latter two being new markets for the company.
The local office is The Jason Wells Agency at 14985 Old St. Augustine Road, Suite 118. The other Florida office is The Megginson Agency in Port St. Lucie.
The first office in Arizona is The Flake Agency in Tucson, Ariz. The first in Louisiana is The Concord Agency in Baton Rouge.
The national property and casualty insurance retailer is based in Jacksonville and is the seventh-largest privately held personal lines independent insurance agency in the U.S.
Jags player kicks off ‘Hour of Code’
Duval County Public Schools this year is launching a districtwide Hour of Code program to give students a basic introduction to computer science programming.
Recently the initiative kicked off with students, teachers and Jacksonville Jaguars tackle Kelvin Beachum during a worldwide event held in conjunction with National Computer Science Education Week.
The coding movement is happening in more than 180 countries. It is projected 109,000 related events will take place around the world.
Duval County Public Schools has launched new computer science initiatives in such areas as a gaming and cyber-security magnet at Andrew Jackson High School and increased accelerated courses at other high schools.
JTA extending hours for TaxSlayer
The Jacksonville Transportation Authority will provide its Gameday Xpress for those attending the TaxSlayer Bowl and related festivities New Year’s Eve.
The game between Georgia Tech and the University of Kentucky kicks off at EverBank Field at 11 a.m.
Shuttle service begins at 8 a.m. and continues for one hour after the game ends.
Single-game passes from the Downtown locations are $7 and shuttles originate from:
• Prime Osborn Convention Center lot, 1005 Forsyth St.
• Kings Avenue Parking Garage, 1003 Kings Ave.
• Jacksonville Landing on Hogan Street between Water and Bay streets
The suburban service costs $12 for the single-game pass and starts from:
• Wingate Park (Beaches), 277 Penman Road S.
• Philips Highway and Butler Boulevard (Southside), 7020 Philips Highway.
In addition, the Skyway will operate until 2 a.m. Dec. 30 and from 8 a.m.-3 a.m. New Year’s Eve.