City Notes

News

• The Elks Building on Laura Street has landed a new tenant. Cannon Architects, which is currently located in Independent Square, will renovate and lease the top floor of the Elks Building. The firm, which is the architect for the new Duval County Courthouse, would like to move in by the end of July.

• Retired Florida Supreme Court Justice Major B. Harding has a new job. He’s joined Upchurch Watson White & Max Mediation Group as a mediation specialist. The firm has three offices in Florida — Daytona Beach, Maitland and Miami — and one in Alabama.

• Cindy Laquidara, chief deputy general counsel in the General Counsel’s Office, was named the Jacksonville Women Lawyers Association Woman Lawyer of the Year during the annual judicial reception Thursday night at the Museum of Modern Art. Laquidara was chosen because of her continuing work on the Capt. Scott Speicher case.

• After living all over the world, retired four–star admiral Bob Natter said he was recently wondering whether Jacksonville was the right place for his family to settle. However, his mind was made up on a recent house-hunting trip when he reached into his glove compartment looking for a map and pulled out an ice scraper.

• Ch. 12 anchor Donna Hicken has written a book, “The Good Fight,” about her battle with cancer. She’ll have a book signing June 18 at 7 p.m. at The Book Mark in Atlantic Beach.

• Jacksonville was recently ranked by Money Magazine as one of the top seven cities to retire in. The mayor’s military liaison thinks the ranking could help the city keep its military bases when the Pentagon considers base closures next year. Dan McCarthy pointed out that Jacksonville ranks above all other military communities as a desired retirement spot. The city is home to about 50,000 retired veterans.

• The Avenues Mall has some renovations planned and they’ll have a groundbreaking ceremony June 22 at 9 a.m. at Center Court to get them started.

Mudville Grille will open a downtown location in the Schultz Building on West Adams Street in the coming weeks. For details, pick-up a copy of Downtown This Week, which is available today at various locations.