• Slight delay for the opening of Japanese restaurant Ieyasu in the W.A. Knight Building. Some scheduling problems with their contractor have owners eyeing a mid-to-late June opening.
• Today is Lisa Rowe’s first day back with the City. Rowe, a Better Jax spokesperson, took a leave of absence to direct the Jacksonville Film Festival.
• A bit of misinformation had City Council member Lake Ray steaming last week. Ray caught wind of Mayor John Peyton’s office possibly installing an Intelligent Transportation System on the Hart and Mathews bridges. Ray, a long time ITS advocate, wanted to know why he wasn’t consulted or informed. Peyton reps later said Ray had the wrong idea. They said he was probably confused by their plans to install video surveillance system downtown. There have no immediate plans for ITS right now, they said.
• The City is helping set up a silent film exhibition at the Cummer scheduled for sometime in October. Dustin Hoffman has been mentioned as a possible presenter for the films, which have also shown at the Cannes Film Festival.
• The mayor’s office is putting together a list of priority transportation projects it wants finished before the Super Bowl.
• The state’s top military lobbyist for the upcoming round of base closures continues to search for a Jacksonville residence. Retired four-star admiral Bob Natter said he’s looked downtown but he’s leaning toward the beach.
• DVI Executive Director Terry Lorince told the DDA board that her downtown ambassadors have gained reputations as fearsome crimefighters among downtown’s panhandlers. She said the ambassadors have become particularly effective at alerting police to nuisance crimes. “When panhandlers see our ambassadors they just leave, because they know the police will be there soon,” she said. “With our help they’ve been arresting people left and right.”
• daniel, Florida’s oldest child-serving agency, has received an $8,000 grant from the Medtronic Foundation that will go toward the agency’s Project Prepare program. The project is an independent living program serving homeless youth between 16 and 21.
• A Brass Band Pops Concert will be held June 6 at the Seawalk Pavilion in Jacksonville Beach. The free concert starts at 7 p.m.
• PBS&J, a Florida-based engineering firm, donated 385 phone cards with 120 minutes each to the 55 members of the 125th Civil Engineering Squadron that left for Operation Iraqi Freedom on May 26. The squadron is part of an Air Force Aerospace Expeditionary Unit. The mission will last 90 days.