• The postal service says that the Jacksonville area has 586 of their customers who fled New Orleans. The USPS analyzed figures of those who had requested forwarded mail, based on zip codes. Overall, there were about 200,000 tracked by the post office.
• The Oct. 5 real estate and construction trade show at the stadium is almost sold out. There are 100 booths available and over 80 have been taken. The annual trade show is sponsored the Northeast Florida Builders Association and the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors. The booths feature the individual companies, but also include plenty of games and giveaways.
• Organ transplants aren’t funny but the Nielsen Organ Transplant Foundation hopes you’ll join them for some laughs at a benefit at the T-U Center on Sept. 9. They’ll bring out local stand-up comics.
• The City’s Clean it Up, Green it Up department is holding a citywide cleanup day Sept. 16. There will be nine gathering sites all over town and the event is part of something even bigger. Sept. 16 is 2006 Florida Coastal Cleanup day and the flyer encourages people to be part of “the world’s largest one-day cleanup effort.” For info on how to participate, call 630-3420.
• Local attorney and Circuit Court judicial candidate Jeff Morrow is featured on a National Geographic Channel show this week. “Hooked: Monster Fish!” airs at 9 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Monday, 6 p.m. Thursday and noon on Sept. 3. Several months ago, MSNBC, ESPN and other news media aired footage of Morrow catching a 150-pound sailfish with a fly rod from a kayak.
• Chew, the restaurant in the Knight Building on West Adams, could be getting closer to opening. There are signs on the windows advertising job postings. They are seeking servers, baristas, line cooks and dishwashers.
• Accolades for the University of North Florida from US News & World Report. The Southside school was recently ranked 47th among schools in the south offering master’s programs. Jacksonville U. fared well also at No. 59. Overall, the magazine ranked 557 schools nationwide.
• Couple of promotions at On Ideas, the Bay Street ad and PR agency. Maris Brown is a new assistant account executive and Tiffany Biziewski has been promoted to art director.
• Prior to Hurricane Katrina, Winn-Dixie operated 43 stores in New Orleans and six in the Biloxi and Gulfport, MS area. In the last year, 32 of the stores in New Orleans have re-opened and two more are scheduled to be back in business this fall. All six of the Mississippi stores were open again within three weeks following the storm.
• If you were around the BellSouth Building yesterday morning and were wondering what all the commotion was about, it was the building’s annual fire drill.
• Single-game tickets for the Jaguars games that are not already sold out go on sale at 9 a.m. Saturday. Tickets are still available for the Oct. 8 game vs. the New York Jets, the Nov. 5 game vs. Tennessee, the Nov. 12 game vs. Houston, the Dec. 10 game vs. Indianapolis and the Dec. 24 game vs. New England. Log-on to www.jaguars.com, call 633-2000 or visit the ticket office on the west side of Alltel Stadium.
• In newsstand copies of Thursday’s Daily Record, we incorrectly attributed a Friday press conference to the Northeast Florida Builders Association. The “Move the Vote” press conference is being held Friday by the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors at the NEFAR building in conjunction with area Supervisor of Elections offices to encourage those who move to also change their voter registrations. The “Move the Vote” campaign has nothing to do with Tuesday night’s City Council vote against consolidating local elections with federal elections as we referenced.
• The City will hold a ribbon-cutting for the Camp Milton Historic Preserve Sept. 9 at 9:30 a.m. The northwest Jacksonville preserve is part of the City’s Preservation Project.
• Tickets go on sale today for the All American Rejects concert at 7 p.m. on Nov. 11 at the Arena. They are $25 and can be purchased at the box office, online or at Ticketmaster locations.
• Saturday the new African American Collection will be dedicated at 2:30 p.m. at the Main Library. The collection features an 8,000-volume collection that showcases the African Americans in Jacksonville. The collection highlights the historical, social, civic, religious, economic and cultural life of African Americans. The keynote speaker is author and educator Bettye J. Sessions.
• The Copper Cellar Grill and Tavern currently has two different menus for lunch and dinner, but not for much longer. In two weeks, the Landing restaurant will combine the two menus into one that will be used during lunch and dinner. The full menu will also be used in the bar area.