• The Police and Fire Pension Fund is installing a ring of lights around the perimeter of the roof on its building at 1 W. Adams St. Executive Director John Keane said the latest project is part of the effort to improve the area and that the lights will, “Tie in with the mayor’s and the (City) Council’s vision for a better Downtown.” He said there will be red lights for the firemen and blue lights for the policemen and that the display will debut the evening of July 4.
• Roy’s in Jacksonville Beach will celebrate its third anniversary June 29 by hosting a fundraiser for The Monique Burr Foundation for Children. Roy’s owner Roy Yamaguchi will be on hand as will chefs Matthew Medure and Pom Souvannasoth. Costs $95 per person and it’s invite only.
• If Mayor John Peyton’s press secretary Misty Skipper ever needs a second job, she may be able to land with TV-30/47 helping out with interviews. She posed as a reporter Monday holding the microphone for the station while her boss talked about the City’s summer jobs program.
• It’s national home ownership month and the Florida Association of Realtors is pushing to raise the home ownership rate in the country by 5.5 million by 2010. The current home ownership rate nationwide is 68.5 percent.
• The Supervisor of Elections is staying put in its Downtown office on Church Street. Responding to our Friday story that said the City might move the office into the Ed Ball Building, Supervisor spokesperson Cindy Warner said that possibility ended when the office opened up its Gateway branch and training facility.
• President Bush may be pushing hard for economic sanctions against Iraq due to Iraq’s alleged nuclear weapons research, but that won’t stop an Iraqi delegation from visiting Jacksonville June 19. The International Visitor Corps of Jacksonville is hosting the group who will get a tour of Armor Holdings, Inc.
• This week’s workspace features Philip Green, perhaps best known as the TV-17 frog. For more, see the Workspace feature article.
• The new Tax Collector’s branch office near 9A and North Main Street came fully equipped with the latest technology, but the office did overlook one small detail for the grand opening: nobody brought a ribbon to cut. A quick trip to a nearby store remedied the problem but City Council member Warren Alvarez had a back-up plan. “We could always use your tie,” he told Tax Collector Mike Hogan.
• Mayor John Peyton has an interesting week lined up. In addition to many meetings and lunches, he’ll spend Friday afternoon in a kayak with Times-Union columnist Ron Littlepage.
• ImprovJacksonville at the Landing has closed. The owners said support and crowds were improving, but “not consistent and quick enough to make the theater possible.” No word on what will occupy the space.