• Miles A. McGrane III of Coral Gables, becomes The Florida Bar’s 55th president when he takes the oath of office today during the Bar’s annual meeting in Orlando. McGrane, who heads the firm of McGrane and Nosich, will be sworn-in by Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Harry Lee Anstead. Kelly Overstreet Johnson of Tallahassee will be sworn-in as the Bar’s president-elect.
• Attorney Tom Donahoo has been elected president-elect of the University of Florida Gator Booster Board. He joins a long line of locals in that position including Tiger Holmes, Bryant Skinner and Steve Melnyk.
• There’s a new magazine called Style circulating in Springfield. Loosely described as a multi-cultural, urban fashion magazine with a downtown focus, the first issue hit the streets earlier this week.
• Bruce Cooke, quality control guy for nGen Works computer web development and technology company in San Marco, is getting his 15 minutes of fame in an unusual manner. A reporter from Smithsonian magazine is writing a piece on the history of Post-it notes and, out of a nationwide search, selected Cooke’s designs and commentary to include in the article.
• Mayor-elect John Peyton’s inaugural schedule begins at 8 a.m. Tuesday with an open-to-all interfaith service at St. John’s Cathedral. The inaugural ceremony begins at 7 p.m. at the T-U Center, followed by a reception in the lobby. Both are open to the public.
• You know the Batteh men from their downtown eateries (Bay Street Cafe, Atrium.) One of the family ladies is a journalist, and she’s the editor of the T-U’s new health magazine, which comes out soon. She’s Joy Batteh-Freiha and her first issue is coming mid-August.
• Following the Coliseum’s implosion, well-wishers lined up to congratulate Mayor John Delaney, but he didn’t push the button as originally planned. His 7-year-old son Jimmy brought the house down instead.
• Director of Public Works Lynn Westbrook gave the implosion his stamp of approval and he should know. He said he “blew up all kinds of things” as an Army engineer. Unlike Westbrook, Mayor Delaney had never seen an implosion. He called it a sign of the city’s progress.
• The Peyton transition team’s literacy policy paper recommends the establishment of an Office of Early Literacy and Education, which would focus on collaboration between public schools and private entities to expand early literacy programs and provide them grant money.
• Quiznos Subs has expanded its hours of operation. They’ll now be open Saturday from noon-3 p.m.
• Gordo’s Cuban Cuisine on West Adams Street has acquired a liquor license.
• The Florida Department of Transportation will host a Public Kick-Off July 10 at Jacksonville University to discuss improvements to the SR-10A /Arlington Expressway /Mathews Bridge corridor between Liberty Street and Southside Boulevard. One topic will be the possible widening of the Mathews Bridge to eight lanes.