• Speaking of The Players, you’ll have to pay to park if you want to be close to your car next year. The tournament will charge $20 per day or $50 for the week to use the parking lot off County Road 210. If you don’t want to pay, there will be free parking and a free shuttle from the University of North Florida.
• Starbucks coffee is going from grande to venti in Jacksonville. Four additional coffee houses are scheduled to open by the end of the year, adding to the nearly 20 already operating in the area. Two of the four under construction will be on the Northside — one on Dunn Avenue and another near Jacksonville International Airport.
• Tom Blakely owner of Southside Cellars on Southside Boulevard was named this year’s Small Business Leader of the Year by the Chamber’s Downtown Council and he’s a nominee to win the title again in 2007.
• The Supervisor of Elections is adding a full-time security guard to the Downtown office.
• Mayor John Peyton’s schedule the early part of this week looks kind of barren, but don’t let that fool you. He’s spending most of the first two days preparing for his budget address that’s set for 10 a.m. Wednesday in City Council Chambers.
• In a list of the candidates for local office Friday, we misspelled Judge John Marshall Meisburg’s name.
• Herschel Street in Riverside is getting a little over $50,000 worth of new trees thanks to the City’s Tree Protection and Related Expenses Trust Fund. Many older trees have been damaged by storms, disease or utility trimming. Among the 198 new trees: 150 Steven Hollys, 21 Crepe Myrtles and 14 Cherry trees, just to name a few.
• The duties of the Jacksonville International Development Commission have been dispersed, and the organization will be officially dissolved by Council in the next several weeks. The JIDC’s net assets will be distributed to the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission while its international trade and relations duties were taken over by the Chamber last year.
• City Council member Kevin Hyde is sponsoring legislation that would create a 10-year plan to end homelessness in Jacksonville. It’s called “Ending Homelessness in Jacksonville: A Blueprint for the Future” and it aims to create 565 units of permanent housing. Hyde’s bill contends that Jacksonville spends $35 million annually addressing the homeless problem. Those costs include the operation of shelters, incarceration, emergency room care, hospitalization, mental health care and other issues.
• It’s early July but Universal Studios is ready for Halloween. Tickets are on sale for Halloween Horror Nights and they say it’s the “most intense” Halloween Horror Nights in the event’s 16-year history. “Each year, we take our Halloween Horror Nights event to the edge and make it more and more intense,” said Jim Timon, senior vice president of entertainment for Universal Orlando Resort. “This year, our ‘scream team’ of designers has created a twisted ‘Sweet 16’ celebration that will not be for the faint of heart.” Tickets are $59.95 plus tax. Call 877-284-GORY for more info.