• A dispute over veteran’s tracking software between the City and the Florida Department of Veteran’s Affairs has ended amicably. The City was concerned that the VA’s Veteran’s Administrative Tracking System mimicked too closely the City’s copyrighted Lebanoff Allen Veteran’s Administrative Tracking System. Assistant General Counsel Virginia Norton said the VA settled the dispute by promising to credit on its website title page the City’s LAVATS software.
• Susie Wiles, a spokesperson in the mayor’s office, is getting a new office. Wiles will be between Chief of Staff Scott Teagle and COO Lynn Westbrook when construction on the office is complete.
• Mayor John Peyton will welcome the Caribbean Mercy Ship during a reception Thursday at the Adam’s Mark Hotel. Guided tours of the ship begin Friday and continue through Nov. 30.
• The NFL’s sports channel debuts this week but it’s only available on DirectTV. Most cable providers haven’t signed up for the service yet.
• You’ll see plenty of military at Alltel Stadium Sunday. The Jaguars will have the Navy Southeast band in the pregame show and have invited veteran organizations on the field at halftime.
• The Springfield Preservation and Restoration Council is working to refurbish Fire Station #2 on Main Street. It’s the oldest working station in the city and those behind the plan — which should take about a year to complete — want to restore it to the original look and design.
• Miami–Dade County is starting a governmental ethics program based on Jacksonville’s own Ethics Commission. Miami–Dade used Jacksonville’s training materials and brought in City Ethics Officer Carla Miller to train 50 new ethics officers.
• Opponents to the proposed 1661 Riverside project questioned, in a letter to Midland Development Group attorneys, whether the construction would “unnecessarily destroy [owl] nests” in the area. However, the attorneys replied that “the most common owls in this area are barred owls and screech owls, neither of which are endangered or threatened.”
• Several big names in local real estate are participating in the Urban Land Institute’s breakfast program, Back to the City: Rediscovering Urban Living. It’s set for Nov. 14 from 7:30-9 a.m. at the St. Joe Co. on Riverside Avenue.
• Terry Lorince, executive director of Downtown Vision Inc., has been elected to the board of directors of the International Downtown Association. Lorince has more than 20 years of experience in economic and community development with eight years of specializing in downtown revitalization. Lorince has also served as deputy executive director of Downtown Pittsburgh (Pa.) Partnership.
• The Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra will perform works by Berlioz, Franck and Richard Rodney Bennett at 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday at the T-U Center. Principal Percussionist Charlotte Mabrey will take the spotlight in Bennett’s Percussion Concerto. Words on Music begins at 7 p.m.