• Former President Bill Clinton is expected to attend the Sept. 27 Edward Waters College football game here. The game is tagged the Willie Gary Classic to honor the black attorney who was a strong supporter of Clinton’s. What will the ex-President do here? “Watch football, just as a fan,” said EWC Athletic Director Bob Alan.
• If you hear extra noise around the stadium this week, it’s the Jaguars. They’re playing at Indianapolis this Sunday and the game is in a dome, so the team is bringing in loudspeakers and will play loud crowd noise. “We’re gonna crank ‘em up,” said Coach Jack Del Rio.
• Coney Island Joe’s, the Southbank sandwich shop, has closed. Former owner Joe Poplardo is still on the downtown food scene, though. He’s selling hot dogs by the Landing.
• A big birthday today for Mary Boyer, mother of attorney (and ex-judge) Tyrie A. Boyer and grandmom of Judge Tyrie W. Boyer. She’s 100.
• The American Symphony Orchestra League, a national service organization for over 900 orchestras in the United States, has a new conducting fellowship. In December, ASOL conductors will lead the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra through the selection process.
• Michelle Barth is U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson’s new aide in his Jacksonville office. She replaced Joanelle Mulrain, who moved to Washington, D.C.
• Downtown Vision Inc. is updating its Downtown Guide and wants to make sure every business has a mention. If you don’t get a call from DVI verifying your business’s name, address and phone number, they would appreciate your call at 634-0303.
• Reminder: the D.W. Perkins Bar Association Scholarship Awards banquet is scheduled for Oct. 4 at the Omni. Former Florida Supreme Court Justice Leander Shaw is the speaker.
• Bravo! Ristorante at the Adam’s Mark Hotel has reopened for lunch. The restaurant is offering special deals on its lunch pasta bar . . . and free parking.
• Juliana Rowland McFarland started at the Office of General Counsel on Sept. 15. She is located in the Governmental Operations Department, specializing in commercial transactions. She comes from Foley & Lardner and replaces Devin Reed, who was selected by Mayor John Peyton to head up the Purchasing Department.
• In an effort to curb panhandling in Hemming Plaza, a security guard has been stationed during regular business hours.
• City Benefits Officer Millie Reeves told Steve Diebenow, Scott Teagle, Michele Querry and Kerri Stewart their $25 City Hall gym dues would be refunded this week. The mayoral staffers took their names off the membership list when the mayor decided to kill the project last week.
• Colliers Dickinson Real Estate Services sent letters to Property Appraiser Jim Overton and Mayor John Peyton inquiring whether the City is interested in buying properties on Adams, Market and Forsyth streets.The Market and Adams properties are adjacent to the former Police and Fire Pension Building on Market and could be used for surface parking or, in the future, as a site for a parking garage according to the firm. Interim Chief Operating Officer Lynn Westbrook is looking into it.
• The City’s Planning Department won three awards from the Florida Planning and Zoning Associations’s First Coast Chapter. The department won awards for public, large-scale master planning; redevelopment; and the Large Scale Before its Time Award. The awards will be presented at the FPZA Annual Awards Reception on Saturday, Sept. 27, at the Deercreek Country Club.
• Jaguars fans, take heart, The tickets you aren’t buying are going to good use. Team owner Wayne Weaver has been giving free tickets to the families of deployed sailors and soldiers.