• Alltel Stadium’s parking lot U needs to be cleaned up to allow for game day tailgating, according to a hand-written petition delivered to the mayor’s office. The petition had 42 names scrawled under the heading: “U looks like a trash dump.” The petitioners were told by SMG, the lot manager, the trash was left behind by construction workers.
• Mayor’s office spokesperson Heather Murphy’s weekend trip to Amelia Island included running, bicycling and a surprise engagement. Her fiance, Capt. Dudley Capps, an Army National Guard helicopter pilot, shocked Murphy with champagne, strawberries and a diamond-and-ruby studded ring he designed himself. Murphy said he had carried the ring around for two months waiting for the right opportunity. Chief Community Officer Pete Jackson has offered to perform the ceremony.
• Former fire chief Ray Alfred is a finalist for the same position with the Atlanta Fire Department.
• The stadium’s Bud Zone sports bar opened for Saturday’s Florida-Tennessee game, but business wasn’t brisk. At the end of the first quarter, fewer than a dozen people were there.
• Christian Blalock, an attorney from the firm of Greenberg, Traurig in Miami, started her new job Monday in the Government Operations Department at the General Counsel’s Office. She was working in mergers and acquisitions in her former position.
• Marianne Lloyd Aho, a civil litigator at McConnaughhay, Duffy, Coonrod, Pope & Weaver, has been named a shareholder of the firm.
• While the dedication ceremony was being held outside last week at the new U.S. Courthouse, Judge Timothy Corrigan was presiding over his first civil jury trial inside the building. The allegation in a lawsuit between Walden Residential Properties and Genlyte Thomas Group was that a defective light fixture caused a community center fire in Ponte Vedra Beach. The jury found in favor of the defendants, represented by Tim Conner and Jennifer Mansfield of Holland & Knight.
• Happy birthday to former Jacksonville U. basketball star Artis Gilmore, who’s now with W.W. Gay mechanical Contractors. Just turned 54.
• A Pre-Black Expo 2003 Jazz Gala, featuring Will Downing, will be held at the Adam’s Mark Hotel Friday from 8-11 p.m. The second annual Expo will move over to the Osborn Center on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Appearing will be Dr. Cornel West, actress Vivica Fox, comedian Rickey Smiley and the Georgia Mass Choir.
• The Jacksonville Bankruptcy Bar Association is hosting its annual seminar Oct. 31 at the Sawgrass Marriott. For details, call Nina M. LaFleur at 358-4000.