• The search for a new Jacksonville Airport Authority board member has been narrowed to six candidates: William Blackard, John Falconetti, James Lanahan, Pete Johnson, Sol Brotman and Tomas Jimenez. The slot opened when real estate executive Linda Sherrer resigned.
• Police and Fire Pension Fund administrators are getting a little antsy waiting for the City inspectors to approve their plans to fix up the Marble Bank building. The Fund wants the two-week project done before Super Bowl crowds arrive. The Fund plans to spend $20,000 to pressure wash and light the historic Laura Street bank’s exterior and to build a temporary cover for the broken skylight. The Fund is also putting a fresh coat of paint on its Monroe Street parking garage.
• Wachovia’s Florida CEO Bob Helms said he wasn’t sure he wanted to leave his native North Carolina when he was assigned to Jacksonville five years ago, but he was quickly persuaded. “My boss called me in and said that my paycheck soon would start arriving in Jacksonville,” he said. ‘He suggested I be there to get it.”
• The Dignity U Wear charity, which provides clothing to those who need it, recently got $33,000 worth of good stuff from Blair Woolverton’s upscale Avondale shop.
• The local Girl Scouts chapter needs a sponsor for its big annual fundraiser, the Women of Distinction event this spring.
• Ralph Laughton has been named vice president of the Florida region serving the Jacksonville, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale and Miami offices of Special Counsel. He’s based in Ft. Lauderdale but will oversee the office here in Independent Square.
• About 50 Homeland Security officers were seen at the Arena this weekend, but they weren’t looking for terrorists — they rented a suite for one of the Jacksonville Barracudas hockey games. The officers were in town for the American Society for Law Enforcement Training’s national conference held at the Adam’s Mark. About 450 officers from around the country came to town for the conference.