• Speaking of the Chamber meeting, in the program the keynote speaker was listed as Dr. Robert Payne. As he began speaking it was learned Payne was a made up name and the speaker was really Durwood Fincher, also known as “Mr. Double Talk.” Fincher turned out to be a comedian that travels all over the country doing shows. He poked fun at Jacksonville dignitaries, Chamber employees and the 2006 Board of Directors, providing a good half hour full of laughs.
• The Chamber’s new board of directors isn’t taking long to get busy. The first meeting of the new group is Wednesday at 8 a.m. in the Chamber’s Hadlow boardroom.
• Rumors about the YMCA purchasing the yet-to-open downtown Gold’s Gym location can be put to rest. Trigg Wilkes, local CEO of the Y, said there are no plans in the works for purchasing the location. He said the rumor most likely started because the YMCA had once expressed an interest in the Forsyth Street location before the current owners purchased it. He said the site originally required repairs that would be too costly and time consuming for the YMCA’s needs.
• John Culbreth, the City’s new director of Parks, Recreation and Entertainment, is in the process of setting up individual meetings with all 19 City Council members.
• The Jacksonville Suns delayed their Wednesday press conference because the television cameras were elsewhere. The Suns, unaware that the Jaguars had set a 1:45 press conference for Coach Jack Del Rio, scheduled their announcements for 2 p.m. but then realized that they wouldn’t get much coverage, so they moved it to 3. Del Rio was a no-show at his press conference but the cameras stayed in the stadium to interview players.
• Among the writers here to cover the Jaguars this week is Clifton Brown of the New York Times, who knows his way around town. He doubles as the newspaper’s golf writer.
• Attorney General and candidate for governor Charlie Crist announced his gubernatorial campaign had topped $7.25 million as of the quarter ending Dec. 31. “Never has a campaign in Florida raised so much money so fast,” according to Meredith O’Rourke, campaign finance director. Since its inception, the Crist campaign has raised an average of nearly $30,000 per day. Final numbers will be released shortly after Tuesday when final fundraising reports are due to the State Division of Elections.
• Apologies to Florida Bar Association President Alan Bookman for misspelling his last name in a legal note in Monday’s paper.
• The Jacksonville Human Rights Commission is getting its race relations study circles going again. The round table meetings bring together five to 20 people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds to discuss race relations. For more information, including a meeting schedule, e-mail [email protected].
• Neighborhood activists in the Kernan Boulevard area were upset that recently reported Better Jacksonville Plan schedules for 2006 made no reference to a Kernan expansion scheduled to start this year. But Public Works representatives assured them that the expansion will begin this spring.
• Jackie Brown, the outspoken activist who was arrested at a recent City Council meeting while dressed as Aunt Jemimah, has retained an attorney. Brown was issued a restraining order that, according to the record of trespass warning, bans her from Council and land use zoning meetings and all of City Hall. Attorney William Sheppard has taken up Brown’s cause and was informed last week by the Office of General Counsel that the ban was intended to extend beyond Council meetings and that as long as she has the letter with her, Brown is permitted in City Hall.
• The Duval County Health Department, Radio Disney, Episcopal Children Services, Wal-Mart, YMCA, the Bridge of North East Florida, the City of Jacksonville and Dasani Water are preparing for the second annual Good Health By the Numbers 3-5-30 initiative. Ronald McDonald and friends will be at the campaign kickoff Jan.9 at the Main Library at 11 a.m. Good Health By the Numbers 3-5-30 promotes physical activity and encourages children to select nutritious food choices and learn proper portions sizes. The term “3-5-30” is a recommendation of three servings of dairy products, five servings of fruits and vegetables and at least 30 minutes of daily exercise.
• Southern Construction Group, LLC, an Orlando-based organization with satellite offices in Jacksonville, has been selected as design-builder for the new Construction, Engineering and Finance (CEF) Complex administration building for the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority at Orlando International Airport. The $10 million, three-story building will feature 53,000 square feet and is scheduled for completion in December 2006.