• Sometimes the direct approach is the best approach. Given the chance to tout one of his bills during Monday’s Finance Committee meeting, Council member Art Graham said simply “Just pass it.” After the bill passed, Council member Lad Daniels said approvingly, “You’re a smooth-talking son of a gun.”
• Agricultural Commissioner Charles Bronson is running for re-election and has started seeking campaign contributions in a very direct manner. In a letter to area leaders, Bronson also included a credit card form that donors could use to contribute the $500 maximum.
• Overnight visitors attending The Players Championship last month generated a total of 11,429 hotel room nights during the event, with Duval County hotels receiving over 70 percent of the reported bookings, says the convention bureau.
• Episcopal priest Barnum McCarty, who led the powerful St. Mark’s for years and also served as interim dean of the Downtown cathedral, is back in the vestments. He’ll take over Grace Episcopal in Orange Park when that congregation moves on due to intra-church squabbles.
• If a Russian winter appeals to you, you’ll find one at the The Cummer’s big ball on April 29. The theme is seasons of the year and the Russian winter is in the lobby.
• More on the Cummer Ball: you’ll remember Heather Surface as the JEDC publicist who was “temporarily” assigned to the Super Bowl Host Committee and then found herself out of a job because the JEDC had trimmed staff. She’s running her own p.r. agency and co-chairing the ball, too.
• The EverBank team is expanding. Amy Johnson has joined as the business development manger of the Florida Mortgage Division. Johnson was formerly with Wachovia’s Mortgage Division. She has a BA degree from Flagler College and an MFA from the University of Florida.
• A new Lowe’s store will soon be underway at I-95 and City Center Boulevard. The store is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2006. A store this size represents an average investment for the company of $18.5 million and creates up to 175 new jobs for the area.
• Mark S. Cissell has joined PBS&J’s North Florida Transportation Design program as a senior transportation engineer. He will be responsible for roadway design, plans preparation and drainage design.
• Kids Kampus will be closed this weekend for the Jazz Festival.
• Theatre Jacksonville in San Marco is holding open auditions for Seussical the Musical April 23 at 6 p.m. Several leads and supporting roles as well as a large chorus of all ages are available. For more information go to www.theatrejax.com.
• Spark, Inc., a local advertising agency, announced the signing of the company’s first two national accounts: HealthFair USA and Skyrise Properties. The company already holds accounts with the Jacksonville Landing and the Loop Pizza Grill.
• Hunter Valmont Public Relations has relocated from Ponte Vedra Beach to 103 Century 21 Drive, which is in the same building that serves as the headquarters for the Northeast Florida Builders Association. This is the second move in the same number of years for the firm which specializes in residential, commercial and resort real estate public relations.
• Atkinson Realty Group Inc., is also expanding. Jennifer Tetlak and Suzanne Oken have joined as sales associates. They’ll be working out of the group’s Historic District office at 2099 Park Street. Joan Howard is a new sales associate with the group at the Ortega office at 4230 Ortega Boulevard.
• Mother’s Day is May 14 and T.A. Ridgell, president of First Coast Romance Writers Association, has a tour set up for the special day. Ridgell is bringing together published authors of romance and suspense for the 2nd annual Romantic Inns and Writers Tour in St. Augustine. It’s May 13-14 from 2-5 p.m. and costs $20. For more information call 829-3295.
• Harold Fine, owner of Discount Pro Wear at the Landing, had a half-dozen customers waiting at his door Tuesday morning hoping to be the first to get a Gators National Championship T-shirt. The phone was also ringing off the hook and Fine was answering it “How ‘bout them Gators!” He said high-speed presses had been running off shirts all night and he was waiting for a courier to deliver the product. He added that hats should arrive Thursday and that in two weeks, he’ll have commemorative souvenirs from shot glasses to key chains to baby clothes. “We’ve got some of everything they make on the way,” said Fine.
• Juliette’s restaurant inside the Omni may soon be a little more noticeable outside. The restaurant will get new signage Thursday.
• Speaking of the Omni, have you walked through it lately and smelled the sweet scent of lemon grass? For the last three months the hotel has installed air machines releasing the fragrance. Apparently, all Omni hotels are playing on the senses — 37 Omni hotels release the same scent.
• One more: If you stay at the Omni, you’ll be able to take your tunes with you. All of the guest room’s alarm clocks have a port for iPod or MP3 players.