• Sounds like the Bahamas is keeping ambassador, and former Vestcor chairman, John Rood busy. He invited Mayor John Peyton to Nassau for a visit and told him, “Don’t wait for things
to slow down as I have a feeling they may not
do so!” Rood’s summer arrival in the Bahamas coincided with the arrival of four consecutive hurricanes.
• Despite delays in construction on the new County Courthouse, Coffman, Coleman, Andrews and Grogan law firm is looking to expand their presence in LaVilla. Partner Patrick Coleman notified the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission of his firm’s plans to buy a City-owned, 60,000 square-foot lot next to the firm’s West Adams Street offices. Coleman admitted that the Courthouse delays have “slowed the inertia a bit” of LaVilla development, but still views the purchase as a good investment. He pointed out that the firm moved to the area before anybody knew where the Courthouse would be built. “People thought we were perceptive or that we had inside information,” he said. “But it was really neither. We were just fortunate.”
• Local attorney Anthony Perrone has taken a new position in St. Petersburg. Starting on in two weeks, Perrone will be the executive director and general counsel of the Pinelass County Police Benevolent Society.
• The Adam’s Mark is a hit with Downtown firemen — the hotel served Thanksgiving dinners to three firehouses.
• Jacksonville Jaguars defensive back Kiwaukee Thomas has been named the December honoree for the Jaguars/Morgan Stanley Community Leader Award, presented monthly during the NFL season to the Jaguars player that demonstrates exemplary community involvement. In partnership with Morgan Stanley, a $500 donation will be made to the I.M. Sulzbacher Center for the Homeless on Thomas’s behalf.