• Apparently not all the cable TV systems within the Jaguars viewing area adhered to the NFL’s blackout policy. Last night’s game , which was not a sell out and was blacked out in Jacksonville, was seen in St. Augustine, Palatka, Starke, Daytona, Gainesville and Orlando.
• Renovations to Friendship Fountain on the Southbank may be happening soon. Legislation that would appropriate $75,000 to do the work was introduced at this week’s City Council meeting.
• At a recent Rotary Club of South Jacksonville meeting, it became apparent that the volunteer group’s search to find donors for an upcoming blood drive has apparently been a difficult one. President Jay Plotkin even said he was only joking that attorney Hank Coxe would be drawing the blood.
• A replacement search for outgoing City Council aide Matt Jackson, who will work for Councilman Reggie Fullwood through the end of next week, has ended. Rupal Wells should be on the job soon.
• U.S. Senators Mel Martinez and Bill Nelson recently announced the formation of a statewide federal Judicial Nominating Commission and some local names have made the cut. Among them are attorneys W.C. Gentry, Bill Smathers and Wayne Hogan and City Council member Glorious Johnson.
• Apparently we’ve caused a stir at Public Works Director Alan Mosley’s house. In a recent Workspaces profile we failed to give Mosley’s wife Renee and middle daughter Chase their proper due. Sorry about that.
• As soon as the chilled water line repairs at the new Main Library are finished, the block of Laura Street in front of the building will be converted for two-way traffic.
• The City is planning an event to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the passage of the Better Jacksonville Plan. Details are still being finalized but you’ll recall Duval County voters approved the half-cent sales tax increase on Sept. 8, 2000.
• The continuing presence of an algae slick on the St. Johns River hasn’t affected plans for this weekend’s Take Me to the River event. Organizers researched possible health effects and concluded the events, which feature art and performers designed to draw people to the river, are safe. They are considering passing out information on the algae this weekend.
• If the Virginian-Pilot’s, a newspaper in Virginia’s Tidewater area, circulation has gone up lately the paper can thank Jacksonville’s City Hall. The online edition has been flying through the e-mails of the mayor’s staff as the Base Relocation and Closure Committee nears a decision about closing Virginia’s Oceana Naval Air Station. The move could lead to the reopening of Cecil Field.