• Some quick library facts: the Pablo Creek Branch, which opened just last year, is now the busiest branch in the library system. The Western Regional Branch, which will open later this month on Chaffee Road, will be the largest branch in the library system at 50,000 square feet.
• The Jaguar paw prints on Bay Street will look a little brighter by the end of the month. The Downtown Council will sponsor its annual project to repaint the paw prints Aug. 20 at 8 a.m. Volunteers should meet at the corner of A. Philip Randolph and Bay Street.
• Talk show host Andy Johnson’s Down to Business can now be heard on the internet. Log on to www.wymm1530.com to hear the show streaming live.
• The Republican Executive Board of Duval County has rescheduled its meeting from Monday, Sept. 19 to Tuesday, Sept. 20. The reason? The new night is expected to give more members a chance to attend the “Evening with Newt” (former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich will be in town) event at the University of North Florida.
• Where did Latheria Shavers, an aide in Mayor John Peyton’s Office, go? Not very far. Shavers, who was with the mayor’s office for about two years, now works over in the City’s Public Information Office on City Hall’s third floor.
• The Jacksonville Regional Chamber’s third quarterly Cornerstone Luncheon is set for Sept. 13 at noon at the Osborn Center. David Lawrence Jr., president of the Early Childhood Initiative Foundation, is the guest speaker. Lawrence is a professor at the University of North Florida and a retired publisher of the Miami Herald.
• The City’s Victim Services Division recently picked up a Victims of Crime Act grant worth $144,140 from the State.
• Current homeless numbers are out and in Jacksonville the homeless population went up 4 percent in 2004. According to a study released by the Emergency Services and Homeless Coalition of Jacksonville, Inc. there were 18,360 homeless adults and children in Clay and Duval counties last year. On Jan. 25 of this year, the count was 2,931.
• The First Coast Metropolitan Planning Organization has compiled its prioritized list of Florida Department of Transportation road projects for the year 2010-11. Topping the list is the St. Johns Connector which will connect Branan Field Chaffee Road and I-95. Next is design work on a new Mathews Bridge.