• Looks like our war among sports talk shows may get personal. Dino Costa, the afternoon host on the new AM-1570, says he doesn’t want to steal listeners from competitors Mike Dempsey and Frank Frangie because “they’re like the hosts, they’re just local yahoos who don’t know anything about sports.”
• Those old Chevys in the CSX building? Part of the company’s celebration for being named “Supplier of the Year” by General Motors, and biggies from both companies were among those celebrating with a hot dog luncheon for employees in the lobby.
• The Riverside YMCA’s renovations are on schedule and the men’s locker room may be ready in three weeks.
• Happy birthday, ex-Mayor Ed Austin.
• Willard Payne presided over his first meeting as president of the Rotary Club of Jacksonville Monday and introduced the other 2003-04 officers: architect Jack Diamond, secretary; private investigator Sean Mulholland, assistant secretary; Citrus Bank’s Cindy Stover, treasurer; developer Carlton Jones, assistant treasurer; Museum of Science and History director Margo Dundon, sergeant-at-arms; and retired Adm. Jonathan Howe of the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation, president-elect. More, page 3.
• Avondale’s Casbah Cafe is still smoking despite the recent voter-imposed prohibition. They have a special license that allows patrons to smoke tobacco in a variety of flavors out of the cafe’s trademark hookahs. Cigarettes have been banned.
• Chief Operating Officer Sam Mousa may be staying until the end of July, but his administrative assistant, Mary Stumph, cleaned out her desk last week.
• City Council member Kevin Hyde is already finding out how demanding the Council can be on one’s schedule. Hyde, an attorney with Foley & Lardner who had been appointed floor leader for the year, is scheduled to be in court in North Carolina and won’t be able to make it to tonight’s meeting. Council president Lad Daniels will have to select a temporary replacement unless the parties can settle out of court by this afternoon.
• At Monday’s Meninak Club meeting at the Radisson, club president John Godfrey suggested that those in attendance make the speaker, Jags offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave, more comfortable by removing their coats. Godfrey joked that Musgrave, who arrived wearing a collared shirt, must have forgotten the dress code. For more, see page 3.
• With only a few minor construction items remaining on The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville, Barton Malow will start removing their trailers from the site in the next two weeks.
• The Murray Hill branch library will close Saturday for Better Jacksonville Plan renovations. It is scheduled to re-open in early 2004.
• Director of Intergovernmental Relations Brad Thoburn told Mayor John Peyton’s new policy chief Steve Diebenow to keep a close eye on State Legislature interim projects dealing with Internet sales tax, convention centers and school readiness. Thoburn said in an e-mail last week the projects will provide insight into the legislature’s priorities next year.