• Michael Sullivan, director of the sports & entertainment division of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, has been appointed to a two-year term on the Florida Sports Foundation’s board of directors. The foundation’s board has 30 members and is the official sports promotion and development organization for the State of Florida.
• Volume spoke louder than words for Mayor John Peyton during his 2006-2007 proposed budget meeting Wednesday. He started the speech by welcoming City Hall employees who were using the first live Web-cast to watch the presentation. Unfortunately, the mike was not picking up Peyton’s voice until he was four pages into his six-page speech. By that time, City employees came down to Council Chambers to see Peyton in person.
• National ethics educator Character Counts! has moved its Jacksonville branch from Arlington to Stockton Street in Riverside.
• The Florida budget that was recently signed by Gov. Jeb Bush included more than $31 million assigned to improve and expand parks across the state. Duval County will receive $200,000 for nature trails, a canoe landing, fishing pier, observation platform and picnic facilities at Cradle Creek Preserve in Jacksonville Beach. Clay County will have $100,000 to spend for picnic facilities, nature trails and a walking and biking trail at the Green Space Project in Penney Farms. St. Johns County will receive $512,000 for three projects: Davis Shores Park and the second phase of the Joseph Pomar Jr. Recreational facility, both in St. Augustine, and for beach access walkovers and boardwalks in the county.
• Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford was in town recently and indications are the ACC football title game could become a permanent fixture in Jacksonville. Jim McCollum of the Gator Bowl Association said as long as the game continues to sell out, it’ll stay.