• The Chamber’s Downtown Council is planning another Hard Hat tour of Downtown housing but it may go on without its founder. Ann Shea, who was a key organizer when she was with the CVB, is leaving town soon to join family in Wisconsin.
• Back in town, briefly: Rick Korch, who was in the Jaguars’ public relations department before losing his job in a cutback three years ago, is now a publicist with the University of Miami and he’s here for the Atlantic Coast Conference meetings.
• Leave it to the NFL. The Jaguars don’t make it a secret that their main goal is to be the best in everything they do. That even extends to restrooms. After you wash your hands in a restroom in the administrative offices, just wave your hand in front of the motion-activated automated paper towel dispenser and your towel is automatically dispensed. (You have to tear it off yourself, though.)
• Speaking of the Jags, head coach Jack Del Rio and running backs coach Kennedy Pola were dining together at Chizu in Jacksonville Beach Sunday night. Both played for the Southern California Trojans in the 1980s.
• The Springfield Woman’s Club has pushed back the date for the dedication of the new fountain in Klutho Park to sometime in September, according to club member Chris Farley. That will give the ladies time to get the new bleachers installed at the softball field and all the commemorative bricks placed around the base of the fountain. The gazebo bandstand renovation should also be finished by then, said Farley.
• Public broadcasting isn’t just for dry land. “About a third of our signal hits the water,” said Gary Saltsgiver, TV-7’s director of facilities marketing and contract productions. “Unfortunately, fish aren’t particularly good with the pledges.”
• Speaking of TV-7, the station has received some pledges from unexpected places, though. “We have gotten some from yachts,” said Saltsgiver. “We’ve also gotten some from prison. Collect.”
• City Council candidate Jack Capra will have to put his personal campaign on hold for a while. Capra’s a JAG Corps Commander in the U.S. Navy and he’s mobilized for active duty and assigned to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for up to a year. Capra, who is running for the Group 3 at-large seat, plans to be back by the April primary.
• The Elections Advisory Panel will meet Thursday at 4 p.m. at the Supervisor of Elections Office. The nine-member panel was formed by former Mayor John Delaney and former City Council President Matt Carlucci. Henry Thomas is the current chair of the panel which examines activities associated with the election process.
• Remember Tamarick Vanover, the former Florida State wide receiver and kick returner? These days he’s the athletic director at Lake City Christian Academy. The small private school will field its first football team this fall.
• The City and the Northeast Florida Veterans Council are teaming up Aug. 7 for a Purple Heart trail dedication ceremony. It’s at 7:30 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Wall. Led by Purple Heart recipients, participants will dedicate a trail in honor of all veterans who were wounded or died in combat.
• Mark Hemphill opened Mark’s Club & Lounge on East Bay Street in February and now he is expanding his operation. Renovation is underway at the former Eclate location a couple of doors down. Hemphill said the new watering hole will have a different theme than his first club and that he wants to create some synergy in Bay Street Town Center.
• Canceled: The Design Review Committee meeting scheduled for Thursday at 2 p.m. at the City Hall Annex.
• Fan count has never been hotter with the Jacksonville Suns. For the fourth straight season, the Suns have eclipsed the 300,000 mark in attendance. The Suns have consistently led the Southern League in attendance and have ranked at the top of all Double-A teams for four years running. Through 49 official openings, the Suns have drawn 313,652 fans, averaging 6,401 fans per game. That’s nearly 100,000 fans more than the next closest team in the Southern League.
• Mayor John Peyton’s pre-school book club, RALLYJacksonville!, may be expanding. The United Way in Martin County has asked the Jacksonville Children’s Commission about creating a similar program there.
• Speaking of RALLY, the program might discontinue its newsletter, the RALLY Record. The Children’s Commission has asked the mayor’s office to approve the decision to stop producing the Record, which is written for the kindergarten-age alumni. The club already gives the kids a book and final letter, so JCC said the Record is “somewhat redundant” and the kids don’t usually read it.
• Condolences to City Council member Lynette Self, whose father, “Monty” Timblin, passed away Friday.