• The Landing is looking to close the southernmost block of Hogan Street for a couple of months this summer. According to Landing GM Janice Lowe, the space is needed to park construction vehicles that will be present when work on Club Paris begins. The City’s traffic engineering department is not cooperating with Lowe’s request, however, so she has solicited the help of the mayor’s office.
• Brooks Rehabilitation is expanding into the health and fitness arena. They’ll open a brand new, state-of-the-art fitness center on Centurian Parkway May 10 with a cocktail reception and tour.
• According to the Health Planning Council of Northeast Florida, Inc. 33,843 patients were admitted to the emergency room in January in seven Duval County hospitals. Tops was Shands with 7,432 while Baptist Medical Center was second with 6,942.
• Mayor John Peyton scored a touchdown - Touchdown for Reading that is. Peyton with First Book, along with Delores Barr Weaver and the Jacksonville Jaguars Foundation, will donate 100,000 children’s books to low-income families May 2 in the Alltel Stadium East Club. The event starts at 10 a.m. with a press conference and book distribution will immediately follow. Guests can participate in a “fire line” to hand out books to children.
• Chief Judge Don Moran will hold his swearing in ceremony for those attorneys who recently passed the Florida Bar Exam. It’s Thursday at 4 p.m. in Courtroom 4.
• Speaking of Davis, after he mistakenly referred to Council member Lad Daniels as “Councilman (Warren) Alvarez,” he got a quick lesson from Daniels on how to tell the difference: “I’ve got more hair than he’s got,” said Daniels.
• The “Phantom of the Opera” returns May 17 but the setup starts the week before. Milt Russos, who runs the Florida Community College Artists Series, says the play is one of the most complex and there actually are two sets of the proscenium arch and the chandelier, one for the production in progress and one to take to the next site. The Phantom cast, by the way, comes here from a run in Kalamazoo, Mich.
• The huge Nocatee development along the Intracoastal will have its own zip code: 32081.
• Ever feel like Michael Bolton from the movie “Office Space?” In the film, frustrated cubicle-dweller Bolton can’t figure out the meaning of the “PC LOAD LETTER” message on his printer. Neither could we. Luckily, Wikipedia.org has it all figured out: “ ‘PC’ stands for ‘Paper Cassette,’ or the part of the printer that holds paper. Letter is the standard paper size (8.5x11 inches) in the United States and Canada. ‘Load,’ in this context, is roughly synonymous with ‘refill.’ In short, the phrase means that there is no letter-sized paper in the paper tray.” Wikipedia explains Bolton’s plight, as well: “Frustrations such as this led the main characters of the film to take revenge on the malfunctioning printer by destroying it in a vacant field.” Indeed.
• Mark’s Club & Lounge on Bay Street has new hours. It’s open Tuesday - Friday 4:30 p.m.-2 a.m. with Happy Hour from 4:30-7:30 p.m.; Monday and Saturday from 8 p.m.-2 a.m.; and closed Sundays.
• When Council member Warren Alvarez spoke as a private citizen during a Monday City Council committee meeting, it didn’t take long to figure out his take on the Jacksonville Aviation Authority’s real estate deal with Majestic and on JAA Executive Director John Clark. “I didn’t come to bury Caesar,” said Alvarez after Clark left the podium. “Just to chop him up a little bit.”
• Clark also took some abuse recently from Council member Gwen Yates, whose district extends to the area around JIA. Yates said she “took John to task,” but not because she didn’t like his deal with Majestic Realty to develop airport land. Rather, she said she didn’t like being left out of the loop on key aspects of the deal. “It was a lack of information, not the way the JAA is being run. Don’t let us get caught off guard on these things,” she told Clark Monday.
• It may be a while before there’s a spaceport at Cecil Field. Florida Space Authority Executive Director Winston Scott has informed the City that the FSA is going to hold off on any plans for Cecil until at least after the current legislative session draws to a close and June’s FSA board meeting. Scott said by mid-summer, the FSA “will have a better understanding of how it will pursue space-related initiatives like the Commercial Spaceport.”
• If you are a Jaguars season ticket holder, this weekend is your chance to upgrade your tickets or pick new seats. Season ticket holders were notified by the team through the mail about what times Alltel Stadium will be open.
• Speaking of the Jags, the team is holding the Budweiser Draft Day Fan Fest at the Landing April 29 from noon-7 p.m. The Jaguars have the 28th pick in the first round, so it will be close as to whether the event is over before the team makes its first selection. Players, members of the Roar and Jaxson de Ville will be there.
• Wal-Mart filed plans with Neptune Beach Monday to build a supercenter at the old Food Lion/Big Lots site. The City of Neptune Beach’s planning board must approve the plans first. According to one NB Council member, about 250 letters from residents have come in about the store and only about are in favor of it.