• Foley & Lardner LLP announced Tuesday that all of the attorneys and staff of Friedman, Wang & Bleiberg P.C., a premier litigation boutique in Manhattan, will join the firm effective Thursday. The new office in New York is part of Foley & Lardner’s strategic plan to increase its presence in key markets consistent with its national practice strategy. Foley also has offices in five Florida cities — Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach.
• According to research by Worksource, a State partner in workforce research, about 18,000 students graduate from college in a 100-mile radius of Jacksonville, but only about 2,000 of them stay in the area. Worksource vice president Candace Moody told a JEDC advisory committee Tuesday that graduates are more attracted to the cultural climate in Tampa, Orlando and Miami.
• Looks like the City’s negotiations with the Shipyards are firmly in the hands of the General Counsel’s Office. JEDC executive director Kirk Wendland responded to a public records request by saying he hadn’t spoken to developer TriLegacy since April 1. “To my knowledge, all correspondence has been through the OGC,” he wrote in an e-mail.
• In addition to top-shelf drinks and food during the games, the Jags premium season ticket holders get a free jersey and a gift certificate to Morton’s Steakhouse. They get to choose among Byron Leftwich, Jimmy Smith, Fred Taylor, John Henderson and Hugh Douglas for the jersey.
• The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is saying goodbye to its oldest active police officer. Sgt. Douglas C. Mangum, 74, is retiring Friday after 43 years with the department.
• Business is calling Jim Moseley Jr. out of town, so he won’t be here Thursday when Reginald Luster officially replaces him as president of the Jacksonville Bar Association. He’s already feeling “kind of sad that it’s over. I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
• The Jacksonville Suns and local firefighters are joining forces to help the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The firefighters will seek donations before the July 10 game against the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx.
• The sign says “by February 2005,” but negotiations on The Barnett residential development are moving too slowly to meet that goal. Lead developer Mike Langton said talks with Mayor John Peyton’s office about different financing options haven’t started, and they aren’t at the top of Peyton’s priorities right now. “He’s having to work things out with the Landing and the courthouse,” said Langton. “Until those deals are finalized, we’ll have to wait our turn.”