• Good chance to mingle and network with other businesses who are members of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce at their annual Trade Show at the beach. The Trade Show is next Monday from 5-8 p.m. at the Sea Turtle Inn at Atlantic Beach. Tickets are $5 per person.
• Jacksonville U. gets TV exposure for its basketball team when the Dolphins play Florida State in the Arena Saturday. It will be televised on the Florida Sports Network.
• Burke Island is that attractive little island underneath the Dames Point Bridge. But don’t let its peaceful look for you, it’s not the place you want to camp out at or even hike around. Word is it’s totally infested with red ants — so bad that you can’t stand still without getting swarmed — and rattlesnakes, lots and lots of rattlesnakes.
• The U.S. Small Business Administration will provide free training to small and minority contractors who are interested in contracting opportunities which they may not normally bid. The event is Tuesday from 2-4:40 p.m. at the Small Business Center. Info:443-1900.
• The Dalton Agency added two new members to its staff. Media Director Gene Johnson manages all media planning and buying with a focus on strategic planning for media usage. Business Manager Jo Ann Stephens now oversees all business operations including office support staff, facilities management and financials.
• New JEDC Executive Director Ron Barton will celebrate three months on the job this week and admitted his first 90 days have been a bit hectic. “I had my moments the past couple of months. I had to stop and take a couple of deep breaths,” he said.
• Circuit Judge David Gooding, in accordance with November being National Adoption Week, is inviting folks to join him Saturday at 9 a.m. in Courtroom 3 when dozens of children will be officially adopted in an hour-long ceremony.
• We’re good hosts. The limousine bringing Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisiciotti, his family and a big dog to Sunday’s game got a siren-blaring escort of three motorcycle policemen and two squad cars.
• The World Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony is tonight and one past inductee has been in town working with kids. Charlie Sifford, the Hall’s only black member, has been helping out at The First Tee facility off Golfair Boulevard.
• The University of North Florida has applied for a prestigious Phi Beta Kappa chapter and one of the school’s professors, Dr. David Courtwright, will speak to the local PBK alumni association this Thursday at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Riverside. The program begins at 7:30.
• The Jaguars got some bad publicity last week for letting fans into the room where the media interviews Coach Jack Del Rio, so there were burly guards at each door Sunday checking credentials.
• You’ve heard about the “electrical problem” that burned a hole in Del Rio’s dock recently. We hear there’s a lot more to it, and that the mishap, which took place when the Del Rios weren’t home, wasn’t an accident.