• A few interesting facts from the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission’s annual report: Since the JEDC’s inception in 1997, the city has added or retained 37,724 jobs, increased its annual wage from $32,220 to $38,568 and expanded its tax base by more than $100 million.
• CBS got a little carried away in its attempts to hype up the rowdy atmosphere surrounding the Jaguars/Colts game Sunday. Announcer Dick Enberg said the game “has been sold out for weeks.” The game really sold out a few days before kick-off.
• Local housing prices continue to rise. The median price of a single-family home rose 15.8 percent from last October to this October. The median price of a home in Duval, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties is $226,200. During that same timeframe, the median price of a condominium went up 10.9 percent while the price of a townhome rose 15.7 percent.
• Two Jacksonville executives, J. Thomas Ryan, president of Swisher International Inc., and Herschel Vineyard, vice president of Atlantic Marine Holding Co., were elected vice presidents of the Manufacturers Association of Florida for the 2006 term at the State Manufacturers Summit in Orlando.
• At the Mayor’s Christmas party Thursday, did anyone notice that the line to see Mayor John Peyton was longer than the line to see Santa Claus?
• Apologies to David Stevens of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. In a City Note Monday we identified him as the undersheriff. Stevens is a chief and Frank Mackesy is the undersheriff.
• Ted Pappas, president of PBV Architecture, was in Washington, D.C. last week to be installed as the 2006 Chancellor of the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architecture. Pappas has served as president of the Jacksonville Chapter, state president and national president of the AIA. He is the first Florida native to be elected president of the AIA and chancellor of the College of Fellows.
• It’ll be the symphony and the St. Johns on Jan. 6 when the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra teams up with the Jacksonville Princess for a river cruise and a performance. The cruise, complete with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, starts at 6 p.m. in front of the Hyatt and docks in front of the T-U Center at 7:30 p.m. for the JSO’s version of “Vive La France.”