• City Council President Kevin Hyde will be honored as the recipient of the 2006 Character Counts! Golden Rule Award at a noon banquet Feb. 16 at the FOP headquarters on Beach Boulevard. The keynote speaker at the banquet will be Hyde’s second-in-command, Council VP Michael Corrigan.
• Jaguar Marcus Stroud may be the only player headed to Honolulu for the NFL Pro Bowl Feb. 12, but he’s not the only member of the organization. Mascot Jaxson de Ville and second-year Roar member Aubrey are also making the trip.
• Speaking of the Roar, the deadline to register for tryouts for the 2006-07 squad is March 1. Anyone interested can call cheerleader manager Christy Stechman Zynda at 633-6203. According to Zynda, due to the growth of the area, the talent pool for the squad is getting better and better each year.
• United Way will host Community Champions — the super heroes of the 2005 Campaign, at a luncheon Feb. 7 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Arena. The program will recognize and pay tribute to companies, organizations, community leaders and volunteers that helped make the United Way’s campaign a success. Cost is $20 per person. RSVP by Friday to (904) 390-3260.
• Former pro football coach Leeman Bennett has moved to Orange Park. He once was head coach of the Atlanta Falcons and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
• What does the City spend on a 32-gallon garbage can these days? How about $323 and that’s with a 5 percent discount. At least the can is galvanized and comes with a domed lid.
• Now that the Snyder Memorial Building across from Hemming Plaza is essentially open for development, a few ideas are already being tossed around for the building. City Council members Suzanne Jenkins, Lad Daniels and Lynette Self are open to the idea of converting it to a visitor’s bureau and Self wants a museum of nautical history included. No matter, Council member Elaine Brown wants to make sure it’s available for public use, an idea contrary to that of Council member Art Shad, who wants it put on the open market. “Sooner or later I would hope that we will realize that when we are involved with or partners in the development/use of a building it usually goes badly,” said Shad. “Ironically, the JEDC involvement with this very building and those poor results have led us to the current situation. I certainly hope we sell it and let the market determine the highest and best use.”
• The Big Lots in Neptune Beach has closed and that leaves the strip mall it was in pretty bare. The Food Lion closed several months ago and an outlet mall is also closed. The only businesses left are a credit union, a dry cleaner and a salon.
• Anthony Tersigni, president and CEO of Ascension Health, the largest Catholic health system in the country, will visit St. Vincent’s Medical Center Thursday to discuss the strategic direction of the health care ministry. He will discuss the future of Ascension Health during meetings with Jacksonville area health care leaders in a special town meeting with associates of St. Vincent’s.
• Jacksonville Public Library staff still working in the old main library building on Ocean Street will finally be moving. Charles McMorran, library assistant director of support services, said the personnel will move to the University Park Branch in Arlington — which opened in October 2004 — next Wednesday.
• Elizabeth Baldwin has been appointed director of federal and agency relations for Florida Community College by its District Board of Trustees. As director, she co-ordinates FCCJ’s relations with congressional offices and federal government agencies as well as serving as a liaison between the college and federal agencies and departments in pursuit of grants, directed appropriations and participation in federal programs.
• Hurricane Katrina’s effect on gasoline prices has been well-documented, but apparently the storm’s aftermath has driven up prices in another area: fresh produce. Ed Carter, owner of San Marco Produce on Hendricks Avenue, said prices on fresh fruits and vegetables are higher because of a dwindling supply from California. The reason? The Federal Emergency Management Agency apparently has several hundred trucks tied up for the relief effort along the Gulf of Mexico.