• Bo Reed, formerly of the Jacksonville Jaguars and SMG, has joined the staff of PRI Productions as general manager. Reed was the director of special events and promotions for the Jags.
• Construction along Hendricks Avenue has narrowed traffic down to one lane in each direction from San Marco Square to downtown and backups have been a daily occurrence. But proprietors along the corridor aren’t losing their sense of humor. One put up a sign along the southbound lane that reads, “Slow, no wake zone.”
• The Clerk of Courts office has discontinued counter services at its Kernan, Wesconnett, University, Main Street and Mandarin branches. That means transactions like payment of traffic citations will no longer be accepted at those offices. The office is keeping a full-service office open within the Southgate Plaza shopping center at 3470 Beach Blvd. in addition to the downtown branch.
• The Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce’s leadership trip to Boston will examine the Massachusetts capital’s approach to waterfront development and minority business development as well as public school reform and its use of its colleges and universities. Boston has more than 60 public four-year colleges, which feed labor into the city’s high-tech industries.
• The City is preparing to spend $120,000 for a piece of downtown property on Houston Street. The City sold the parcel to Sally Industries in 2003, but according to the contract the animatronics company signed, the City agreed to buy it back if it remained undeveloped for more than two years.
• The Duval County Courthouse is planning to spend $178,000 to purchase new recording and transcribing equipment. That equipment will likely be paid for by using revenue generated in the court’s recording department.
• The Jacksonville Historical Society and the Jacksonville Maritime Museum Society are both in the process of renewing agreements to lease space on the Southbank Riverwalk Pavilion. Each would be required to pay annual payments of $1 through 2008.
• The hottest high school football prospect in the state is the Nease High quarterback, Tim Tebow, but he wasn’t always the star. When he played youth ball at Lakeshore, he was a tight end because teammate Alex Hepler was the quarterback. Hepler will quarterback The Bolles School this year.
• We keep sneaking up in population. Jacksonville just passed Memphis as the nation’s 48th largest radio market.