• Another Springfield property is on the market: the renovated old house that is home to the café Epicurean Market is for sale, listed at $449,000. A landscaper and an antique dealer also do business in that building, which is at 1610 Main St. Tim Jenkins, the Bo Bridgeport Brokers agent handling the sale, said the tenants’ leases will be negotiable depending on the buyer.
• More development for Palencia, this time mainly commercial. The Joyce Development Group will turn 6.3 acres into retail and office space. It’ll be called The Mercado Walk at Palencia Commons.
• The Ace Hardware on Third Street in Jacksonville Beach is no more. It was razed earlier this week to make room for Pier Point, a new five-story multi-use building. The new Ace opened in early June in Neptune Beach at the site of the former A&P grocery store which was closed for nearly 20 years.
• The local talent on AM-930 was off the air for about two hours Wednesday morning. Seems someone locked Joe Cowart and the Dominator (David Lamm’s in Scotland) were locked out of the studio.
• Duval County Circuit Court Judge David Gooding says the County is facing a severe lack of families willing to adopt children as well as foster families. That shortage plays a significant part in keeping 400 children on the County’s adoption rolls. Also, families thinking about adoption might want to act quickly to beat a December rush. December is the deadline for families to act if they want to claim tax benefits in April. In fact, Gooding compared the December crowds in his courtroom with the post office on tax day.
• Good news for Grateful Dead fans. The 10th China Cat Festival is set for Aug. 7 at Memorial Park in Riverside from 4 p.m. until the sun sets. The festival features bands doing Grateful Dead covers, a picnic and a VW show.
• A manager at the Southend Brewery at the Landing said the place was packed with a couple hundred revelers July 1 for Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick’s birthday bash. And, Vick did show up.
• Jacksonville Community Council, Inc. will formally release its next study — “River Dance: Putting the River in River Dance” — on July 26 at the T-U Center. It’s a breakfast gathering, costs $10 and the public is invited. Call JCCI at 396-3052 for more.
• Spohrer, Wilner, Maxwell and Matthews will announce today a suit against Guidant Corporation, the maker of various models of implantable cardioverter defibrillators. The firm is representing victims and families who claim malfunctions in the device led to death or injury.
• Springfield developer Craig Van Horn unveiled his plans for the four corners of 8th and Pearl streets at a Thursday press conference at 9th and Main streets. Architect Robert Taylor’s design for the complex can be viewed at www.thenewspringfield.com.