• Pittsburgh Steelers fans in town for last Sunday night’s game against the Jags brought a little extra holiday cheer to Landing merchants, who say the influx of fans contributed to what may be the best December sales in recent memory.
• Reminder: the Jacksonville Historical Society Book Fair is scheduled for Monday from 4-8 p.m. and Tuesday from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. at the society’s headquarters next to the baseball stadium.
• Richard Glass of the City Rescue Mission, along with a current resident of CRM, will be the guest speakers at the Christian Legal Society’s luncheon. The luncheon begins at 12:15 p.m. Thursday at Drayton’s in the Seminole Club. For reservations, contact Jane Arnold at [email protected] or by calling 387-5400, Ext. 34.
• The Arthritis Foundation of Northeast Florida received a $101,000 donation this week from Jim and Kathy Minton of Welaka, Fla., the largest personal donation in the history of the regional organization. The previous largest personal donation was $25,000 in October 2004. Jim Minton was a senior vice president of marketing and operations for Ben Franklin stores in Chicago before he and his wife retired. Both Jim and Kathy are Jacksonville natives.
• If you want a Club Seat for the Jan. 1 Gator Bowl game, better find a friend with an extra. All sold out.
• City Council member Lad Daniels nearly pulled a fast one during the Council’s Finance Committee meeting. Hoping to rescind the funding on three downtown parking garages, Daniels made a plea to take emergency action during the meeting. Reggie Fullwood, who chairs the committee, allowed Daniels to speak openly as to why the funding should be pulled. Action, however, was delayed because no one from Metropolitan Parking Solutions, the project developer, was present.
• It might have a different name or structure, but the International Development Commission will continue to have a home at the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission. A JEDC spokesperson said the IDC “will continue to exist in some form.”
• Five lofts are currently available at the W.A. Knight Building. Rents range from $725 to $1,090 per month.
• “American Justice,” a national news magazine, will run a story tonight on a Jacksonville murder trial that played out on national television. Producers for the show came to Jacksonville in June to conduct interviews for the upcoming story about the Linda Jones trial. Jones, a Clay County woman, was convicted of having her husband killed because he took a teenage lover.
• The American Cancer Society’s Children’s Holiday Party is scheduled for Friday from 6:30 -8:30 p.m. at the Riverside Presbyterian Church.
• The Jacksonville Bar Association’s Bench and Bar Party is Thursday from 5:30-7 p.m. at The Aetna Building.