• Ghyabi & Associates on Prudential Drive is hosting a big re-election fundraiser for Mayor John Peyton next Wednesday at noon. According to the invite, Peyton is supposed to discuss his plans for his second term.
• Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland is looking for polling locations in 25 precincts across town for next fall’s primary and general elections. He’s asked the mayor’s office to approve using park recreation centers and senior centers.
• Rink Design Partnership Inc. wants to strengthen and maintain its identity. To do so, the firm has hired graphic designer Lisa Chelini. She graduated from the University of Florida and is an active member of the Jacksonville Chapter of American Institute of Graphic Arts. She’s also currently the conference co-chair for the third annual Regional Design Conference.
• Whenever Mayor John Peyton and Wachovia Florida CEO Bob Helms get together, you can be pretty sure the height jokes aren’t too far behind. That was the case again at Monday’s Cornerstone luncheon at the Hyatt. First the towering Helms offered to get Peyton a chair to stand on while the pair was posing for a picture. Peyton then told Wachovia CEO Ken Thompson on stage that he was “surprised you hired somebody that tall.” Helms said he’s heard worse from Peyton. “He cleaned it up a little bit this time,” said Helms. “He referred to me before as ‘freakishly tall.’”
• Speaking of Thompson, he tallied up Jacksonville’s advantages in the corporate recruiting game. Most of Florida is growing fast, he said. But Jacksonville has geographic advantages over in-state competitors that could be particularly decisive in the wake of the last two hurricane seasons. “Jacksonville has the advantage of being the one place in Florida that doesn’t get hit by hurricanes,” he said.
• Walter Lorenz Surgical Inc. was honored by Cornerstone as Jacksonville’s International Trader of the Year. The firm specializes in surgical implants, but Mayor John Peyton told the crowd at the Cornerstone Luncheon that there’s one area of medicine that the firm doesn’t touch. “This is not a competitor to Viagra,” said Peyton.
• Bulletin board material? Perhaps. ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit says Virginia Tech and Ohio State will meet in the FedEx Orange Bowl on Jan. 2. He’s assuming the Hokies are going to beat Florida State in the ACC Championship game here next Saturday night.
• Times-Union columnist Ron Littlepage is the winner of this year’s Carol and Bob Grimes Environmental Award. Littlepage will get the award Dec. 9 at The Civic Round Table luncheon at the Radisson. The Law Office of Hugh Cotney is hosting the lunch.
• U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw is on the record as opposing a rezoning ordinance currently under consideration by City Council. The ordinance involves 110 acres near the end of runway 11 at Whitehouse Field. Crenshaw says the No. 1 reason military bases close is encroachment and the ordinance would change the zoning in the area from one single family home per acre to seven per acre.