• The Jacksonville Bar Association’s Bench and Bar reception last week drew raves from judges and lawyers alike, but the consensus in the legal community is that law firm Harris, Guidi, Rosner, Dunlap, Rudolph, Catlin, Bethea P.A. threw the swingingest affair of the holiday season. In fact, one JBA member joked at the Bench and Bar: “They could have stocked the bar here with the leftover bottles from Harris, Guidi’s party.”
• Qualifying officially opens after the first of the year for the spring elections and one of the first in line for the City Council will be Jay Jabour, a close loser last time (to Art Shad) who’ll be after the at-large seat being vacated by the term-limited Elaine Brown.
• The highlight of Sunday’s 10-9 Jaguar win over San Francisco? A chorus line of fat guys orchestrated by mascot Jaxson De Ville during a first-quarter timeout.
• Sunday evening’s luminaria display in the Avondale-Ortega area was dedicated to retired pharmacist Bill Carter, who once represented the area on the City Council and the School Board.
• Looks like the Gator Bowl’s matchup of Louisville-Virginia Tech may leave a few empty hotel rooms. Best guess now is that the game will get between 65,000 and 70,000.
• Prize Gator recruit Tim Tebow hasn’t played a down for the University of Florida, but he’s already given fans a reason to like him. Gator fans who watched the ESPN special on Tebow’s recruitment Wednesday night had to like the scene where he almost immediately eliminates the University of Tennessee from consideration. The documentary is supposed to reair tonight at 11 p.m.
• Anthony E. Jones, director of Global Diversity for the Convergys Corporation, will be the speaker at the Martin Luther King Breakfast on Jan. 20 at the Osborn Center.
• Word is former senior City staffer Richard Bowers, also a recent retired PGA Tour executive, and former City Council member Dick Brown, also Mayor of Neptune Beach, are planning to announce the formation of a governmental affairs consulting firm. Details to follow after the first of the year.
• Mayor John Peyton got a Christmas card from Isaac Hayes. Yes, the singer Isaac Hayes.
• The case of a high school basketball player challenging his eligibility at a local school has ended up on Judge Jack Schemer’s desk and that’s an appropriate place: he was an all-city player at Wolfson High.
• Due to the holiday, this week’s Hemming Plaza Farmers’ Market will be held Thursday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. The Wednesday Southbank Farmers’ Market schedule will not change.
• Seen walking around Independent Square Friday afternoon: former Jaguars offensive tackle Tony Boselli.
• In a City Note Wednesday we incorrectly stated that a drawing for a Simon Mall gift card was held at Saturday’s “Driven to Read” event at Jacksonville Chrysler Jeep Dodge. Actually, the $5,000 gift card went to whomever guessed how many books fit into a Dodge Magnum.
• Iluka Resources, Inc. on Riverplace Boulevard — a producer of titanium minerals for paint and protective coating and zircon used in ceramics — is closing its Jacksonville office. The company, which is based in Perth, Australia, was formed in 1999 when Westrailian Sands and mining company RGC merged. Approximately 20 employees will be affected when the office shuts down completely by the end of 2007.
• City Council member Lad Daniels is recommending the appointment of Ron Jackson to the Housing Commission. In a letter to Mayor John Peyton, Daniels said Jackson “is extremely knowledgeable about issues related to affordable housing and is a person of highest integrity. I have found that he exemplifies the true Rotarian spirit of service above self.”