• Mayor John Peyton thanked outgoing Chamber government affairs committee chair Mike Hightower for his work but Peyton said Hightower’s efforts went beyond lobbying in Tallahassee and Washington, D.C. In a resolution read at the committee’s holiday breakfast this week, Peyton noted Hightower’s contributions to the fashion industry — he almost always wears blue shirts and yellow ties — and the “domestic wine industry.” New chair Jim McCollum said Peyton was so impressed, he wanted to offer Hightower a job managing the Duval County Courthouse project.
• In announcing their “downsizing” of Alltel Stadium, Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver said the seats “won’t be covered with tarps like some say.” He said the team is working with a design firm to produce more attractive coverings and yes, they might carry ads. The “downsizing” will drop the capacity to 66,000 in hopes of avoiding blackouts and T-U reporter Bart Hubbach disputed the figures to the point that he and Weaver got into a shouting match in the hall after Wednesday afternoon’s press conference.
• Taking emergency action was the name of the game at Tuesday evening’s City Council meeting. Typically reserved for legislation needing immediate funding or recourse, 14 bills got the Council OK. Half of those had just been introduced, including a bill sponsored by Art Shad that authorized the give away of 316 square feet of San Marco park land. Shad said the land would be given to a resident who wanted to construct a wall between his house and a pump station at Landon Park.
• Due to a reporter’s error, yesterday’s story on Kirk Wendland said employees at the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission learned of the executive director’s departure through the news. Wendland told his employees he was leaving at a Tuesday afternoon meeting. “We called the meeting exactly so they wouldn’t hear about it through the news,” said Wendland.