• Check out today’s New York Times for a story on Jacksonville’s Super Bowl preparations. The article details the City’s rush to get construction done and provide entertainment for game visitors. The Times calls it “the grandest physical transformation,” since the 1901 fire. Another highlight: Mayor Peyton describing the City’s past as “the town of smells and odors.”
• City Council president Elaine Brown told the Finance Committee to prepare to “really scrutinize” Mayor John Peyton’s soon-to-be-released budget. Peyton will present the budget to the full Council Tuesday.
• According to a Downtown Vision, Inc. study, downtown loft apartments are primarily rented by singles, with 50 percent of the tenants in the 26-35 age bracket. Over 40 percent own pets, and less than 45 percent work downtown.
• Former Florida State and Green Bay Packer star LeRoy Butler offered Mayor John Peyton his help in increasing child literacy. He thinks his book, “The LeRoy Butler Story . . . From Wheelchair to the Lambeau Leap,” could motivate area middle school students. He offered to sell copies of his book to area middle schools and said he would do book signings and talk to youngsters about the value of reading. The mayor’s office said it would defer the request to the Jacksonville Children’s Commission.
• Clarifications: In a recent City Note we misidentified The Community Foundation as the Jacksonville Community Foundation. Also, we identified Mark Middlebrook as the executive director of the Preservation Project. That’s his former title. He’s currently consulting for the City on the project as vice president of the Middlebrook Company. Middlebrook said the City has so far acquired about 81,000 acres of park land, not 88,000 as reported.
• U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Corrigan is accepting applications for a judicial law clerk. The position will be available for a term of 20 months or more. For details, see the JBA’s Bar Bulletin in Monday’s Daily Record.
• FDOT Secretary Jose Abreu told U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown that dumping debris from the Fuller Warren Bridge demolition into the St. Johns River would be the safest, cheapest way to dispose of the concrete. Abreu said the FDOT “is proposing to use environmentally sound practices in placing inert broken concrete in the river,” and said concrete is frequently dumped in other bodies of water to protect against erosion and provide marine species with artificial reef habitats. The FDOT will have a representative at this morning’s Jacksonville Waterways Commission meeting to answer questions and “address the extensive and increasing misinformation revolving around this issue,” Abreu said.