• FreshMinistries received an early Christmas present Monday. Tom and Betty Petway made a $1 million donation to the Springfield-based organization.
• Lewis, Longman & Walker senior attorney Steve Manning has been appointed counsel to the executive committee of the Duval County Republican Party.
• Mayor John Peyton will join the City’s Library Board of Trustees on Jan. 8, to celebrate the groundbreaking on the new South Mandarin Branch Library. The new branch is located at 12125 San Jose Blvd., just north of the Marbon Road intersection.
• The new terrorist threat level has security at downtown’s most prominent buildings on high alert. Security guards are patrolling Independent Square’s perimeter and asking to see identification from anybody who looks suspicious.
• A recent request by Council member Pat Lockett-Felder to attend the Super Bowl in Houston has been turned down. Instead, Council president Lad Daniels will go to the game. In a letter to Lockett-Felder, Daniels wrote he would use his time in Texas to “investigate and analyze... business opportunities available to locally-owned, primarily small and mid-sized companies.” He then wished her a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
• A deal may close soon for the remaining commercial space at the W.A. Knight Building. The interested business visits the building “practically everyday,” with a tape measure. You’ll remember the interested business is a popular restaurant just outside of Jacksonville, which is looking to open a second store.
• Jeanne Miller, formerly of the General Counsel’s Office at City Hall, may have gotten her own parking space now that she’s working for the JEDC, but it’s not all she dreamed of. It’s right under a large bird’s nest in the parking garage.
• More parking: the mayor’s office is finding novel ways to deal with downtown’s parking shortage. They’ve contacted public parking about getting a parking permit that would allow policy chief Steve Diebenow to park in different spots around downtown for his day–to–day business.
• The Grinch went to a lot of trouble for little return when he broke into the Bay Street Cafe over the weekend. The thief shattered the glass in the front door around 4 a.m. Sunday and made off with a radio.
• The Salvation Army is hosting its community Christmas meal Thursday at the Towers Social Services Center, 900 W. Adams St. from noon-2 p.m. Jags defensive back Kiwaukee Thomas, Tonya Washington of the WNBA’s Seattle Storm and comedian Roland Powell will assist in serving the meal.
• You may have Christmas day off but the Jaguars won’t — they’ll practice as usual.