• Maria Coppola, the senior vice president of The McCormick Agency public relations firm, got a little too close to the action at a recent Suns’ game and was beaned by a foul ball when her escort ducked and she didn’t. She emerged with a sore head and an autographed ball.
• Property Appraiser Jim Overton is a pretty good athlete and apparently his son, Will, is coming along, too. He was one of the winners in the big River City swim meet over the weekend.
• The Museum of Science & History will mark the 30th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s first moon walk Saturday. A “Day of Total Luna-See” gets underway at 10 a.m. with moon-related activities all day including the chance to look through the museum’s telescope.
• If you were along the river on Saturday night, it may have looked like the 4th of July. No, the fireworks weren’t left over — they celebrated the wedding of Winn-Dixie scion Jed Davis and his bride at a club on the river.
• Taurus Southern Investments, LLC is giving the Kuhn Companies a run for its money in the purchase of Jacksonville-area office buildings and parks. Through Addison Commercial Real Estate, Inc., Taurus recently bought four Southside office parks for $72 million. The parks consist of 15 buildings and 700,000 square feet of Class A office space. Taurus also bought the Emerson Office Center, a seven-building, 50,024 square-foot office/medical/retail complex.
• Clockwork Marketing Services President Maxine McBride will conduct “Handshakes, Small Talk and What Not to Wear” etiquette and attire workshops July 24-25 at the Hilton Garden Inn near Tinseltown. The July 24 workshop will cover business and dining etiquette while the July 25 session is called “Dress Like You Mean Business.” Each session costs $75 or attend both for $125. Proceeds will benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Call 280-7960 or visit www.clockworkmarketing.com for information.
• If the folks at City Hall seem a little preoccupied counting things this week, there’s a good reason. It’s inventory verification and certification time and every piece of furniture, equipment and miscellaneous item must be accounted for.
• The SPAR Council will host a “Meet the Candidates” political forum at 7 p.m. Thursday. All candidates running for federal, state or local office in the Sept. 5 primary election have been invited to participate and the public is welcome to attend. The forum will be held at the Springfield Woman’s Club and admission is free.
• Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Byron Leftwich has gotten himself into hot water with his neighbors in Queen’s Harbour, one in particular. According to Queen’s resident Sharon Balmforth, Leftwich shot a “bazooka-like” fireworks launcher for 55 minutes on the Fourth of July. Balmforth filmed the entire display and sent a DVD to the mayor’s office and Jags owner Wayne Weaver.
• The law firm of Margol & Pennington has moved to an office on 1st Street in Jacksonville Beach. Rodney Margol and C. Rufus Pennington III are both Board Certified civil trial attorneys who specialize in medical negligence, pharmaceutical products, personal injury and wrongful death litigation.
• SRG Homes & Neighborhoods, the company that came to Jacksonville from Atlanta and is now the largest developer of single-family homes in Springfield, is building three new Craftsman-style homes in Riverside. Two of the homes are going up near the corner of King and College streets and the third is being built on Dellwood Avenue at Stockton Street. The mid-$300s homes will be done by the end of the year.
• Proper dress is apparently toughening up at some Downtown night spots. Mark’s on Bay Street has posted a very specific dress code on the club’s front door. It reads: “Items not allowed include (but are not limited to): ball caps/bandanas/skull caps or other headwear, plain white t-shirts, extra long T-shirts, tank tops, athletic wear, oversized jeans, extra baggy pants.”
The new Downtown This Week is out and the cover story is about The Landing all the changes the riverfront mall has gone through since opening in 1987.