• Jacksonville claimed two of the six nominations that are being forwarded to President George W. Bush as a replacement for the late U.S. District Judge Ralph Nimmons. They are Circuit Court Judge Waddell Wallace and Christine Milton, a trial lawyer with McGuireWoods. Other candidates are Edward LaRose, an attorney with Trenam Kemker in Tampa; U.S. Magistrate David Baker of Orlando; U.S. Magistrate Douglas Frazier of Fort Myers; and Judge Virginia Maria Hernandez Covington, from the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Lakeland.
• A resolution changing the way the City Council president is elected was pulled from the agenda for Tuesday night’s meeting. Introduced by Council member Art Shad, the resolution was approved unanimously by the Rules committee last week. However, it was returned to the Rules Committee for a third time, where further discussion is expected.
• As evidence of the downtown housing market’s increasing viability, Mayor John Peyton notes four of his staff members live in 11 E. “We call it the mayor’s office dormitory,” said Peyton. “I just don’t want to know what they talk about at night.”
• The Equestrian Center isn’t scheduled to open for another month, but several events have already been scheduled, including the North Florida Arabian Horse Show, Ham Jam and the Florida Stallion Showcase. A grand opening is expected March 20.
• Attorney Shannon Shafer is returning to the General Counsel’s Office. After a brief stint with Rogers Towers, Shafer will take over for Theresa Rooney, who left in December.
• City Council member Art Graham is getting serious about developing bicycle trails throughout Duval County. According to Graham, he may be able to lobby for a federal grant while in Washington, D.C. this week.
• The best lunch in town? It could be at the Clara White Mission where chefs in the culinary program create daily meals for the homeless.
• The University of North Florida, which recently served as the practice site for the University of West Virginia when it was in town for the Gator Bowl, will be the practice site for one of the Super Bowl teams next year. The other: Bartram Trail High School in St. Johns County.
• Scott D. Richburg has been promoted to partner at Foley & Lardner. Richburg is a member of the Litigation Department.
• New York’s director of library services warned the mayor in an e-mail about cutting back too far on graduate–level library staffers. “If all librarians did was check out books, then running the library with ‘smart college grads’ would probably work. That, however, is not the case at all,” said Barbara Beverley. Librarians also need to be able to guide children, adults, historians and business people through research, helping them separate good information from bad, she said.