• Sheriffs from five northeast Florida counties gathered on Thursday at Jacksonville Memory Gardens, a cemetery in Orange Park, to send a message to drivers to celebrate safely during the holiday season. Having the press conference at a cemetery was to remind motorists of the number of people killed in crashes last holiday season. The five sheriffs at the conference were Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler, Jacksonville Sheriff John Rutherford, St. Johns County Sheriff David Shoar, Putnam County Sheriff Dean Kelly and Bradford County Sheriff Bob Milner.
• The annual charity tournament for the kids at daniel will be March 13 at Timuquana Country Club. Organizers already are seeking sponsors. Call Madison Shelley of daniel at 296-1055, ext. 1018.
• Speaking of charity golf tournaments, David Lamm of AM-930 will host his annual tournament Monday at Hidden Hills. The proceeds go to the Lamm Foundation and the annual Santa Lamm event in which Lamm takes dozens of kids Christmas shopping.
• Mayor John Peyton will host a holiday open house Dec. 8 from 5-7 p.m. at City Hall. There will be entertainment, carriage rides and photo ops with the mayor.
• TV-47 anchor Karl Torp may pay more attention to Colorado Buffaloes football games than most around here. His little brother, John, is a punter for the Buffs and is a finalist for the Ray Guy Award, which is given annually to college football’s best punter.
• Jacksonville Day during next year’s legislative session in Tallahassee is the same as last year: March 21 and 22. That’s also the same week as The Players Championship and the Chamber of Commerce is well aware of that. According to an e-mail from the Chamber’s Amy Tuck Whitman, Jacksonville Day attendees have been assured “they can be out of there by 1 on Wednesday and be back in time for practice rounds.”
• The Jacksonville Economic Development Commission will hold its last full meeting of the year Dec. 8 at 9 a.m. on the 15th floor of the City Hall Annex.
• Prudential President and CEO Linda Sherrer didn’t send out Christmas cards, she sent out Christmas CDs. They come with a business card attached and her picture on the back of the CD.
• The third annual Willie E. Gary/ Martin Luther King Jr. Luncheon is Jan. 10 at noon at the Be The Light Conference Center on Arlington Expressway. The keynote speaker will be Bernice A. King. Tickets are $20 per person. For more information call 353-3008.
• The MaliVai Washington Kids Foundation is well on its way to reaching its goal of raising $3 million for its new Tennis and Education Complex. In fewer than six months of fundraising, the foundation has reached the $2.4 million mark. The new center is scheduled to open next fall.
• Julie O’Connor, vice president of Junior Achievement of Florida’s First Coast, is this year’s recipient of the Rising Star award for the Southern District of Junior Achievement Worldwide. O’Connor was selected over other JA staffers from cities such as Orlando and Atlanta. The Rising Star award is presented to a person within Junior Achievement who has exhibited outstanding performance. Area presidents nominated staff who have shown they are leaders within the organization and their communities, said Buzzy Thibodeauz, senior vice president of the southern region.
• The photos from Girls Inc. that have been hanging on the City Council office walls will be coming down soon and you can purchase one for $500. If interested, call Julia Burns, interim CEO of Girls Inc. at 731-9933.
• It’s a ways down the road, but the American Heart Association’s Heart Ball 2006 will be Feb. 18 at Deerwood Country Club.
• Mayor John Peyton was recently in Washington, D.C., meeting with Navy officials. Mayoral spokesperson Susie Wiles said he wasn’t there to push the Cecil Field issue anymore, but rather “to let the Navy know we still love them.”
• The City’s Chief Administrative Officer Dan Kleman has put out an edict ordering City employees with more than 320 hours of accrued leave to take at least 80 hours off before Sept. 30, 2006 or risk forfeiting some of the accrued time. Kleman said in a memo that it’s important for employees to take time off to “re-energize and to accrue a modest leave balance to ensure that employees are protected against unforseen circumstances.”