• If the City is getting serious about enforcing its downtown master plan, then JEDC commissioner Charles Appleby sees four downtown parcels in need of a better use. The City Hall Annex, County Courthouse, jail and Maxwell House factory should all be moved off of prime land on the downtown riverfront, he said.
• JEDC commissioner Zimmerman Boulus compared Jacksonville’s Riverwalk to the riverfront district in Vancouver, one of his favorite cities. Boulus has jogged on both riverwalks and noticed one glaring difference. In Vancouver, the high-rise condos are built off the river with public space in between. On Jacksonville’s Riverwalk, the development is within an arm’s reach.
• On Oct. 3, Mayor John Peyton officially opened his reelection account. That same day, he received nine $500 contributions. The first person listed on the 247-page report is City Council member Art Shad.
• New face in the Supervisor of Elections Office that many will recognize. Robin White has moved over after a few years as the receptionist for City Council. Same job with the elections office.
• Speaking of the elections office, the huge filing cabinets that used to line the entire back wall are gone. For years they held voter registration information for over 400,000 registered voters in Duval County. It took about a year — and it was all done internally — but the information has been downloaded and saved electronically.
• Former British Prime Minister John Majors will be here on Jan. 30 to speak to a joint meeting of the Rotary Club of Jacksonville and the Meninak Club.
• If you’re wondering who bought Jaguars Coach Jack Del Rio’s home, wonder no more. A Gainesville neurosurgeon bought the Ortega Boulevard biggie.
• Friends Working to Free Scott Speicher will host a ceremony honoring the Navy Captain Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Firefighter’s Hall on Stockton Street. Speicher was last seen Jan. 17, 1991 when his jet took off from the USS Saratoga which was in the Red Sea at the time.
• The Jacksonville Public Library in association with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra will present Music Notes with Fabio Mechetti, JSO music director and principal conductor. Mechetti will discuss the JSO’s February production of Giacomo Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, and their new recording of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. The event will be held Feb. 7 at noon in the conference level auditorium of the Main library. The event is free and open to the public, no reservations required.
• Bishop John J. Snyder High is holding an auction Feb. 25 to raise money for its athletic facilities and Mayor John Peyton has gotten in on the effort by donating for auction the use of the mayor’s office sky box to a Jacksonville Suns game this year.
• The Kesler Mentoring Connection is celebrating January as National Mentoring Month during the “One Minute Mentors” event Jan. 25 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Landing. The purpose of the event is to inform the public, especially the downtown business community, about how mentoring dramatically improves lives, the great need for more volunteer mentors in Jacksonville and to encourage attendees to sign up to become a mentor and/or start a company-based volunteer mentoring program for their employees. Contact Dane Fountain for more information at 224-2400.
• The Jacksonville Symphony Young Professionals is looking for volunteers to help staff the Family Concert Series Instrument Zoo Sunday from 12:30-2:30 p.m. at the T-U Center. For more information call 354-9240.