• It seems everyone has ideas for how to address the courthouse construction budget. State Rep. Stan Jordan suggested that approximately 80 percent of all civil cases be handled at regional facilities throughout the city. “Several community facilities currently stand empty, which could be made suitable with upgrades and minimal costs,” he said. Jordan added that the new 100 percent criminal/20 percent civil courthouse could be constructed “to some degree” as planned.
• JM Family Enterprises chair Pat Moran will be the featured speaker at the June 24 Cornerstone Luncheon at the Adam’s Mark Hotel.
• Barnes & Thornburg, a law firm with offices in Washington, D.C., is taking time out from an Amelia Island retreat to get involved in a team-building exercise today and Friday at the Dignity U Wear warehouse. Team members will sort and inventory items and fill orders. The firm’s headquarters is in South Bend, Ind., and is one of the largest firms in the Midwest.
• If you like to enjoy a few minutes in Hemming Plaza, beware. Security personnel in the Plaza say a mother blue jay has been dive bombing people who get too close to her baby birds, and more than one person has been hit.
• The City will celebrate the 50th anniversary Friday of the Brown vs. Board of Education decision, which led to the desegregation of public schools, with a ceremony at the Osborn Center from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
• There will be special presentations from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Landing in celebration of Armed Forces Day. Dan McCarthy, director of military affairs for Jacksonville, will be a featured speaker. There will be 50 display tables from many organizations, including veterans’ groups; a small-scale F-16 fighter jet; and a Kingfisher Coast Guard cutter docked at the Landing. Mission Harvest Ministries will collect nonperishable items in CARE packages to send to soldiers in Iraq.