• Johnston & Hammond P.A., and Arthur Hernandez, P.A. law firms have moved to the Oak Street Professional Center in Riverside.
• Downtown Vision, Inc. executive director Terry Lorince thinks the widening of Riverside Avenue could be a negative for the road but a positive for the Brooklyn neighborhood. Lorince said Brooklyn could be designed as a pedestrian and bike-friendly neighborhood to offer a haven from speeding traffic on Riverside.
• Former Jacksonville Transportation Authority spokesperson Marci Larson has joined the First Coast Metropolitan Planning Organization and plans to help “raise the visibility of the organization.” The MPO has a new office on Prudential Drive in the old JTA headquarters building and they’ll have a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday at 9:30 a.m.
• The City’s upcoming Battle of Midway Commemorative Dinner could be a plus for the City’s efforts to keep its local military bases. The dinner’s speaker, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense Raymond DuBois, is an important Defense Department figure in next year’s base closures. The dinner will host 15 veterans of the battle, which is seen as the turning point of World War II in the Pacific Ocean. The evening may also pay tribute to reservists based in Jacksonville who were killed in Iraq last weekend.
• Apologies to mayor’s office receptionist Alice Newman if we made it sound like she was ungrateful for being recognized as one of the City’s most valuable employees. She says she is honored and humbled to receive the recognition.
• Clarification to our story Thursday on downtown parking garages. City Council member Art Shad says the Council will not vote Tuesday on a resolution asking the mayor to reconsider the deal. Shad says the resolution is still making its way through committee.
• Lisa Rowe has taken a leave of absence from her job as communications director for the Better Jacksonville Plan to oversee the the Jacksonville Film Festival. Marcy Cook is filling in for her until May 20.