• Valentine’s Day had an unusual effect on the City Council’s Finance Committee Monday. Halfway through their meeting, Finance chair Reggie Fullwood halted the proceedings to present Mia Jones, the lone woman on the committee, with chocolate covered strawberries. “You should feel loved,” Fullwood joked. “That’s more than many of us got for our wives.”
• Downtown Development Authority managing director Al Battle has gone to work in Fort Lauderdale and it appears a replacement won’t be hired for some time. JEDC spokesperson Jean Moyer said the Commission’s new executive director, who could be hired by as early as April to replace Kirk Wendland, would lead efforts to hire Battle’s successor. JEDC deputy director Jeanne Miller is handling many of Battle’s DDA duties until then.
• Professional bull rider B.J. Kramps will be signing autographs at the Jacksonville Landing Friday. He’ll be there with a bull from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
• The Florida Bar president, Kelly Overstreet Johnson of Tallahassee, is here Thursday to speak to the Jacksonville Bar Association. They’ll all lunch at the Radisson.
• Another big turnout expected for the Guns ‘n Hoses boxing matches between our police and firefighters. It’s on Feb. 16 at the Arena and they’ve already sold out the lower-level tables at $1,000 each and a goodly number of tickets at $29.
Expected to attend are boxing expert Bert Sugar, who had such a good time last year that he almost passed out, and football great Herschel Walker, who doesn’t drink.
• The local sports shows which were dumped when AM-970 was sold may end up on AM-1010.
• One more Super Bowl tale: a prominent local contractor bought 10 tickets through a broker for his family at premium prices. They got to the gate and the scanning machine rejected them — counterfeit.
• Catching up on the Addy Awards, which were given over the weekend. Husk Jennings Galloway Robinson took the most followed by The Dalton Agency. A special award went to Melanie Husk for her work in the advertising field.
• The City is working hard to spread its branding campaign. “Jacksonville. Where Florida begins,” can now be found on the caller ID screens of every City phone.