• If you ride the Downtown trolleys, you might want to add a few more minutes to your commute time. Starting May 1, the Sunflower trolley line will pick up passengers every 15 minutes instead of 10 and the Azalea line will pick up every 20 minutes instead of 15. The reasons? JTA’s Mike Miller said Downtown traffic often makes the Sunflower trolley late. “They couldn’t make it in the scheduled amount of time,” Miller said. For the Azalea, Miller said more disabled riders have been using the trolley and it takes a few extra minutes to help them get on and off.
• Want more information about the Downtown trolley schedules? JTA’s customer service line may not help. When called about the Sunflower schedule, a representative gave out the information for the Azalea line. When told the timing didn’t sound right, the representative responded with the time of day (10:29 a.m.). More questions elicited similarly irrelevant results.
• JEDC Executive Director Ron Barton is apparently getting a little weary of the media. Approached by a reporter before giving a presentation to the City Council, Barton crossed his index fingers to form a cross and said, “Stay back, get away.”
• “DIY To The Rescue” — a TV series on the sister network of Home and Garden network — will be taping in Jacksonville through Tuesday. The Paul Davis Restoration Inc., has been selected to serve as general contractor and will coordinate work on the four separate shows to be taped in the Springfield and Ortega areas. The shows will feature tips to viewers on a variety of home repair projects that have been left unfinished or gone wrong. You can look for them on the tube in late 2006 and in 2007.
• The quest for an official Florida state pie continues. The American Pie Council and the Georgia-based Edwards dessert company are hosting a “Please Pass the Pie” campaign at the APC’s annual Great American Pie Festival. The festival is in Celebration, Fla., this weekend. The highlights of the campaign include an Internet podcast, “Pie Day” at the Capitol and mock ballot boxes for the public to vote for the state pie. The designation of any state pie is all that matters to Edwards and APC – not the flavor. A recent press release describes them as “non-partisan” and quotes an Edwards representative: “Which pie becomes the state pie is for local pie-lovers to determine. But the act itself is historic.” Apparently, Vermont is the only state with an officially designated pie right now.
• A bit of India is coming to Jacksonville. The Hindu Society of Northeast Florida will be a festival of tents representing several States of India April 29, which will include Indian cuisine, art and Henna tattoos. The gates open to the public at 10. A Visa camp organized by the Consul General of India — the first of its kind in Jacksonville — will be at the event. Another attraction is the raffle for a new BMW with Navigation system, for a suggested donation of $1000, and a chance of one in 200 to win the car. The festival is open to all.
• Three of our area’s business leaders — Ed Burr, Lawrence DuBow and Dr. Reza Vaghefi — will be honored May 17 at the Ninth Annual Prime F. Osborn III Distinguished Business Leaders Luncheon. It’s sponsored the University of North Florida’s Coggin College of Business and set for noon at the River Club.
• JTA has promoted Jacquie Gibbs to chief of staff/director of administration. Gibbs has been with JTA for two-and-a-half years and prior to that she was chief of procurement and supply for the City of Jacksonville.
• The Otis Smith Foundation is well on its way to reaching its goal of 50 “Big Cats for Kids” sponsorships. They have cracked the 40 mark. The project involves placing oversized jaguars around town similar to the manatee project two years ago.
• This year’s Jacksonville Marine Institute’s 7th Annual Barefoot Classic is set for April 30 at Queen’s Harbour. One of the stops is the home of former Jacksonville Jaguar linebacker Kevin Hardy.