• Still no word on whether First Lady Laura Bush will be on hand for the grand opening of the new Main Library Nov. 12. Gov. Jeb Bush and other State officials are on the invite list.
• Speaking of the library, security guards have been posted at the Main and Laura street entrances to assure that only construction and library workers get in.
• Towncenter in Atlantic and Neptune Beach is having a Hurricane Katrina fund-raiser Saturday from noon until 6 p.m. There will be live music, food and a silent auction.
• One of Springfield’s most unique eateries is relocating downtown. Performance dinner theater Boomtown is moving into the Park Place building just off Hemming Plaza (into ImprovJacksonville’s old digs). Owner Stephen Dare said to look for a more “upscale” supper club atmosphere featuring live jazz, although performance art will still be a staple.
• The mayor’s office and certain members of the City Council’s Finance Committee squabbled this week with both sides arguing for more autonomy for a favored commission. The Council members wanted to keep the Jacksonville Children’s Commission autonomous, while the mayor’s office wanted the City Council to keep its hands off the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission’s budget. The comparison didn’t work for Council member Reggie Fullwood. “That’s not a fair comparison,” he said. “I almost laughed when I heard it.”
• The City’s new Neighborhoods magazine is out. The cover story is a look at the Better Jacksonville Plan five years after it passed.
• There’s a bogus fax floating around the mayor’s office that says the Jacksonville City Council is planning to rename Jacksonville International Airport Henry Fonda International Airport.
• A fund-raiser or campaign kick-off? Perhaps. Sheriff John Rutherford is holding a private VIP reception at Mussallem Fine Art Gallery next Thursday night.
• Ju’Coby Pittman-Peele is the recipient of this year’s Jessie Ball duPont Fund Award. Pittman-Peele, the president and CEO of the Clara White Mission, will be recognized at a ceremony on Oct. 6.
• Clarification to a recent City Note about Compass Bank donating money to the Red Cross Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief Fund. Compass is actually doubling the donations from customers, not matching them.
• Another new fire station. The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department will cut the ribbon on station No. 57 on Beaver Street Tuesday at 4 p.m.
• Several law school students from Loyola and Tulane are attending Florida Coastal School of Law thanks to damage done by Hurricane Katrina. For more on those students, see page 4.