• Fraternal Order of Police president David Stevens has resigned, just months before his term was to expire. Stevens, a lieutenant with the sheriff’s office who recently received a letter encouraging him to apply for a job with Sheriff-elect John Rutherford, said he quit because “it’s the right thing to do for me and for the membership.” Current FOP vice president Nelson Cuba will be installed as president at 3 p.m. today.
• Members of Mayor-elect John Peyton’s transition team met with Kirk Wendland, executive director of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, Wednesday morning. Wendland gave an overview of what the commission does and what it has accomplished since its creation in the late 1990s, while also fielding questions from the team.
• The beach law firm of Gaglione & Dumas is moving this weekend from Neptune Beach to Jacksonville Beach. Monday morning they’ll be in their new offices at 408 4th St. N., behind Dick’s Wings.
• Mayor-elect John Peyton is taking a brief respite. He’s in California with his fiancee.
• Attorney Edward Garland is the speaker at the next Jacksonville Bar Association luncheon. It’s set for June 12 at the Omni.
• The London Bridge Pub is hosting the Ales Around the World beer tasting tonight. For $15, you’ll taste all 12 beers on tap, plus get a pint of your favorite. Appetizers and door prizes are also included. Funds raised benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
• The Downtown Development Authority agreed to introduce legislation to City Council seeking $89,020 from the Historic Preservation Trust Fund to restore the Maeco Elk’s Lodge at 712 W. Duval St. Built in 1914, the building served as Young Men’s Hebrew Association headquarters.
• Former Downtown Development Authority head Frank Nero sent a letter to Mayor John Delaney, congratulating him for landing the UNF’s president’s job. Nero, the current president and CEO of The Beacon Council (Miami-Dade’s JEDC), wrote, “I have no doubt that the fact that I did not send a letter of recommendation contributed greatly to your selection.”
• Following a 75-point inspection by industry professionals, the Distinguished Restaurants of North America has named Bistro Aix as one of this year’s 59 recipients for the 2003 Award of Excellence.
• Before Tuesday’s City Council meeting, all of Jacksonville’s past Council presidents since Consolidation gathered for a special ceremony in which their portraits were unveiled. They will become a permanent display in Council Chambers.
• Mayor John Delaney still hasn’t sat for his official mayor’s office portrait and apparently it’s not even on his calendar.
• Big ceremony set for Tuesday at the future site of the new Jacksonville Children’s Commission Campus on A. Philip Randolph Boulevard. It’s at 10 a.m. and Toni and Andy Crawford will present a gift of $1 million to the Don Brewer Center for Early Learning. The new Campus is expected to open by 2005.
• City Council members Elaine Brown and Reggie Fullwood will meet with representatives of the DDA and JTA June 5 at 2 p.m. in JTA’s boardroom to talk about the LaVilla Convention Center Subdistrict Plan.
• ESPN.com has released its first college football poll and things don’t look good for the local teams. Ivan Maisel has Oklahoma No. 1, Florida State at No. 15 and UF isn’t ranked. And ESPN Magazine is reporting the San Francisco 49ers will release wide receiver J.J. Stokes July 1 and the Jags are THE team after him.