• Two weeks after his chief of staff received a preliminary briefing, Mayor John Peyton is preparing to get involved first-hand with downtown’s parking problems. Downtown Development Authority managing director Al Battle is scheduled to meet with Peyton Monday to present problems and possible solutions. Battle has said that Peyton’s involvement will be necessary to make substantive changes to the City’s parking policies.
• The Jaguars won’t get in the way of President Bush’s visit to the stadium today for a $2,000-a- plate luncheon. They’re taking the day off. And the presidential motorcade might want to avoid the Arlington Expressway, where a Daily Billboard has a message ripping Bush’s economic policies.
• Former T-U sports columnist Mike Bianchi is in a bit of a pickle at the Orlando Sentinel, where he now works. Seems some of his clever one-liners were lifted from the Internet site of a California comedian.
• The Episcopal squabble over the election of a homosexual bishop in New Hampshire may cause a split in the church and one congregation here is already moving away. St. Peter’s on the Westside has repainted the sign in front of its building; it now calls itself St. Peter’s Anglican Church.
• Not all bigshots fly private jets. Yes, that was U.S. Open golf winner (and Ponte Vedra Beach resident) Jim Furyk in the airport this weekend waiting for his commercial flight to Pittsburgh. He’s a big Steelers fan and has season tickets.
• Happy birthday to airport director John Clark. Today’s the day.
• Rotary Club District Governor Ken Smallwood is from Alabama and told the Rotary Club of Jacksonville that he has some dumb cousins. “When they heard I was elected governor,” he said at Monday’s meeting, “they called to see if I could commute their sentences.” More on his visit, page 6.
• T-U police reporter Jim Schoettler had local sportswriters grumbling Monday afternoon when he asked Jaguars Coach Jack Del Rio repeated questions about some of his players’ visits to an alleged drug dealer. Schoettler interrupted sportswriters’ questions several times, even after Del Rio repeatedly said he wouldn’t comment. Finally, Del Rio told Schoettler that “I’ll visit with you privately about this” and did so after the football questions ended.
• The Super Bowl Host Committee will present a progress report at the start of tonight’s City Council meeting.