United Airlines Inc. filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification with the state Monday saying it intends to cut 66 jobs in May at Jacksonville International Airport.
The cuts are part of a plan announced in January to possibly eliminate up to 2,000 jobs at 28 U.S. airports to reduce expenses.
“We need to ensure our costs are competitive,” United spokesman Luke Punzenberger said Tuesday.
Punzenberger said the cuts will come in a range of positions at JIA, including baggage handlers and customer service personnel.
He said the job cuts will not impact the number of flights in and out of JIA.
Workers who are affected will have the opportunity to apply for United positions at other airports, Punzenberger said.
FSCJ to host dance performance
Florida State College at Jacksonville’s Dance Repertory will perform its 18th annual spring dance contest Thursday and Friday at 7:30-9:30 p.m. at the school’s South Campus on Beach Boulevard.
The repertory, called danceWORKS, comprises students performing a range of dances from nationally recognized choreographers, dance faculty and other students.
Choreographer Pat Graney set an excerpt of “Faith,” her 1991 piece for the contest. The work received funding from “American Dance Masterpieces.”
Reserved seating is $10 for the general public and $5 for FSCJ students and faculty with valid identification.
For more information or to purchase tickets, call (904) 646-2354.
BBQ, brews in Hemming Park on Sunday
Hemming Park will host a “Brew B Que” from noon-4 p.m. Sunday at the Downtown venue. Attendance is free and open to the public, food and beverages sold separately. Visit hemmingpark.org for more information.
Young Men’s Chorus looking for singers
The Young Men’s Chorus of Jacksonville is auditioning young men grades six through 12 for the second half of its 2014-15 season. The chorus serves young men from all Northeast Florida counties with changing or changed voices who have the desire to sing.
Prior musical training isn’t necessary, but an audition is required and only by appointment. Prepared audition pieces are not needed. Instead, conductors will listen for a singer’s ability to match pitches, learn simple tunes and hold voice parts against others.
For more information, visit youngmenschorusjax.org or call (904) 353-1636 ext. 1.
Basketball legends to headline next JAXSports luncheon
It’s March Madness time, with Jacksonville hosting second- and third-round games for the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship on March 19 and March 21.
Between the two days of madness, though, basketball fans can hear from some of the former greats at the next JAXSports speaker series.
Artis Gilmore, Christian Laettner and Chris Richard will be the speakers for the “Legends of March” event at 11:30 a.m. March 20 at the Prime Osborn Convention Center. Tickets are $50 for the public, $45 for JAXSports members.
The luncheon is the third in the speaker series, following ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit and College Football Playoff Chairman Bill Hancock.
For more information, visit jacksonvillesportscouncil.com.
Nickelback delays Jacksonville concert to Sept. 1
Due to scheduling conflicts, the Nickelback concert scheduled March 25 at the Veterans Memorial Arena has been moved to Sept. 1.
Tickets purchased for the March show will be honored at the event. For more information, visit livenation.com.
Palencia builder starts new 345-home community
Hines, the Dallas-based developer behind Palencia, has begun construction on a new 345-home community, Markland, in St. Johns County.
The community is off International Golf Parkway, just east of the Interstate 95 interchange.
Markland will provide residents with resort-quality amenities including a zero-entry pool framed by cabanas and lounge areas, a fitness center and yoga studio, a gathering and entertainment room, tennis courts, a children’s playground, and an interconnected network of parks and walkways. Homes on oversized lots will initially be offered from the low $300,000s to more than $600,000.
The Markland Manor House, the amenity centerpiece of the community, will be designed in a classic Greek Revival style and accompanied by formal gardens. The amenity center will be linked to a community-wide network of trails and parks.
Hines is in the process of engaging a team of builders to create the community’s diverse, yet complementary, offering of homes.
For more visit markland.com or call (904) 513-5740.
Jacksonville University to host state Geographic Bee
Young geography whizzes across Florida will be in town March 27 at Jacksonville University to compete in the state Geographic Bee. The winner earns a spot in the national championship in Washington, D.C.
The university has hosted the state competition for 16 years.
Up to 100 fourth- through eighth-graders in each state and Washington, D.C., the U.S. Atlantic and Pacific territories and Department of Defense Dependents Schools have qualified for each state bee.
Local entrants for the Florida competition this year are Julianne Owen, St. Joseph’s Catholic School; Robert Smalls, Providence School; Phillip Nacoste, Jacksonville Country Day School; and Will Weinbecker, Assumption Catholic School.
Preliminary rounds begin at 1:30 p.m. in JU’s Gooding Auditorium.
Each state winner also receives $100 and an all-expense-paid trip to the nation’s capital for the finals May 11-13, with the winner receiving $50,000, among other prizes. It will be televised at 8 p.m. May 15 on the National Geographic Channel and NG Wild.
University of North Florida launches ozone sensor during balloon flight
A University of North Florida physics professor and his student team recently launched an ozone sensor payload as part of a high-altitude research balloon and parafoil flight. It was done in conjunction with World View, a commercial balloon space-flight company, and United Parachute.
The flight was to the edge of space at a record-breaking height of 102,200 feet.
The UNF group comprised UNF senior Ken Emanuel, junior Matthew Linekin, junior Joseph Silas, junior Brittany Nassau, junior Bernando Craveiro and Nirmal Patel, UNF senior lecturer in the physics department.
“The accomplishments of this flight further our two main objectives of manned spaceflight and advancing research,” said Taber MacCallum, World View’s chief technology officer. “The successful flight of the parafoil at this altitude brings us closer to flying private citizens safely to the edge of space and also allows us to continue our research and education program by providing safe access to the near-space environment.”
The payload was launched from Tuscon, Ariz., in mid-February and contained experiments from UNF and Montana State University. UNF’s part flew experimental technology to measure the ozone gas profile in the stratosphere using a nanocrystaline gas sensor array.
It landed in the New Mexico desert undamaged. Patel is analyzing the in-depth data recorded during the flight.