• JEA’s rates may have gone up but City Council member Daniel Davis isn’t finished asking questions. Davis has asked the Council auditors to compare JEA kilowatt-hour charges with other utility service providers dating back three years. Once the necessary data is compiled, Davis said he wants quarterly reports that demonstrate how JEA operations compare to those service providers.
• Thanks to City Council member Lake Ray, Terry Parker’s varsity baseball team should have no problem replacing materials that were lost in a fire last year. Ray has plans to donate more than $18,000 to replace those items.
• Why all the UFO stuff on TV? It’s ratings month, that’s why.
• Both the mayor and Council President Elaine Brown are out of town. Council VP Kevin Hyde is the acting mayor until Brown returns on Monday to take his place. The mayor is on vacation until March 7 and Brown is attending a leadership class in Tampa.
• The Mayor’s Rally Jacksonville! literacy program received a nice boost yesterday. During a Jacksonville Bankruptcy Bar Association monthly luncheon Thursday, the JBBA donated $675 to the program while attorney Gordon Jones made a private donation of $500. Chad Burns, community relations specialist for the City, said the new funds will allow the literacy program to buy more than 1,000 new books.