• As the Downtown Trolley pulled into the St. Andrew’s Station recently, the rains started, a prelude to the daily deluge. The trolley driver could have stopped in his normal spot in front of the station building. But he didn’t. While a considerable number of passengers pointed out where their cars were parked, he drove as close as possible, keeping them as dry as possible.
• CSX vice president Randy Evans, a member of Mayor John Peyton’s JEDC subcommittee, asked Wednesday whether there was any way to streamline the City Council’s review of downtown development incentive packages. However, Assistant General Counsel John Germany said it boils down to arithmetic: three Council meetings required for approval plus at least one week in committee equals six to seven weeks minimum.
• Interim Chief Operating Officer Lynn Westbrook told members of Mayor Peyton’s executive staff that the City may need to upgrade building security as a result of recent terrorist threats. Westbrook said a major concern was how to balance security with ease of access to public buildings.
• Speaking of Westbrook, he showed up late for a meeting with Chief Policy Adviser Steve Diebenow, but he had a good excuse. He was donating blood for Taye Brown, the Better Jacksonville Plan project manager for the Equestrian Center who is still in a coma after a severe auto accident.
• There’s been a change in the policy regarding public record copies. All requests exceeding 50 pages cost 15 cents per one-sided copy and 20 cents for a two-sided copy.
• The D.W. Perkins Bar Association is hosting its Scholarship Awards Banquet Oct. 4 at the Omni. Former Florida Supreme Court Justice Leander Shaw is the speaker.
• We misidentified Jenny Farrady, City Council member Sharon Copeland’s assistant, in a recent City Note as the wife of Jacksonville University associate athletic director Dave Farrady.
• Joanelle Mulrain, aide to U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, is hosting the documentary “An Untold Triumph” Aug. 14 at the Florida Theater. The film documents Filipino-Americans participation in World War II.
• A new art exhibition at Gallery L in Independent Square features the work of young minority artists. The show runs through Aug. 20.
• St. Vincent’s will break ground on a Family Medicine Center during a ceremony today at 10 a.m. The center is the first part of an expansion that includes St. Vincent’s Heart & Vascular Center and St. Vincent’s Cancer Center.