• There may be a new tenant moving into the space formerly occupied by Cafe Athena. Realtors marketing the space say they’re close to a deal with an “interesting tenant,” but added it isn’t a national franchise. A deal could be made by the end of next week.
• With the City Council’s approval, JEA’s contribution to the City each fiscal year is expected to slightly increase and Council president Lad Daniels says there may be even more good news coming out of the legislation once it passes. Daniels said he hopes that with an increased JEA contribution, the City’s bond rating my also get a boost.
• Speaking of the City’s bond rating, Council auditor Richard Wallace and City CFO Walt Bussells are traveling to New York City next week to meet with a rating agency. They’ll discuss the City’s current and future financial status.
• Fans arriving in town for Saturday’s Florida-Georgia contest already know that vacant hotel rooms are as scarce as $2 tickets to the game. However, a handful of last-minute cancellations have created some vacancies at the Adam’s Mark Hotel.
• Five downtown restaurants have joined in a promotion to encourage customers to give them a try. Every 500th food order will receive a three-day, two-night family vacation. Participating restaurants are The Bayou, Happy Chefs, Casa Dora, Danny’s Southern Paradise and Larry’s Giant Subs. Call 294-BIKE for details.
• Council president Lad Daniels, along with representatives from the mayor’s office, Fire & Rescue Department and sheriff’s office are in Boston to get a first-hand look at some new security technology. Daniels said an MIT professor has developed a new system with the ability to detect terrorist patterns by collected data from several sources. He wants to use Jacksonville as a model city to try it out. Pro bono, of course.
• Though there has been some discussion about naming the new Main Library after Haydon Burns, Property Appraiser Jim Overton points out that a local ordinance prohibits naming government buildings after people, living or dead. Overton suggests keeping Burns’ name on the current Haydon Burns Library as long as it remains a public building, and because the building’s architecture represents the era in which Burns lived.
• For those who missed the Comcast broadcast of Tuesday’s City Council meeting because of technical problems, Comcast is planning to replay the meeting in its entirety at a later date.
• According to security guards outside of AmSouth Bank, the City may want to think about putting in bigger signs to alert vehicles which way they can and can’t turn at the intersection of Bay and Laura streets. One guard said he sees at least 12 cars a day make wrong turns into oncoming traffic.