• Jack Daniels, the former head of the Professional Association of City Employees (PACE), has filed paperwork to run for City Council Dist. 11. The seat now is held by Warren Alvarez, who can’t run in 2007 due to term limits. Daniels claims to already have $100,000 in his campaign account. Proof of that will come July 11 when the next financial reports are due.
• JTA board member Donna Harper is running for mayor of Atlantic Beach. Incumbent Mayor John Meserve is not seeking reelection and the list to replace him is growing. The primary election is Oct. 4 and the general election, if needed, is Oct. 18.
• Congresswoman Corrine Brown has sent her regrets regarding the City Council President and Vice President installation ceremony this Thursday.
• According to an accountant with “Lonely Hearts” — the new John Travolta movie shot around Jacksonville — the filming of the movie had a $3.3 million direct economic impact.
• The Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Government Affairs Committee has canceled its July 12 meeting. Citing an already hectic schedule during the month of July, the committee will reconvene on August 9. City Council President Kevin Hyde (he will be president by then) will be the guest speaker.
• Speaking of Hyde, it appears he won’t be making too many waves after his June 30 installation. Unlike past presidents, Hyde is allowing each Council member to keep the same office they’ve been using for the past year. The only moves are Vice President Michael Corrigan, who is moving into Hyde’s old office and outgoing President Elaine Brown, who will move into Corrigan’s former digs. Obviously, Hyde will move into the president’s office that is currently occupied by Brown. Hyde said making drastic changes was an “unnecessary and costly expenditure.”
• Free samples at Panera aren’t bottomless anymore. For years, patrons waiting in line at the San Marco eatery have been generously helping themselves to a basket of bagel slices and cream cheese at leisure. A sign reading “one sample per person please” was added this week.
• Those fire trucks at the courthouse Thursday afternoon? A light fixture flared up in Room 103.
• The Northbank Riverwalk will be closed at times today to accommodate competitions in the Police and Fire Games.