• The City may have purchased the Ed Ball Building, but its downstairs tenants don’t have to worry about getting kicked out. “People that are there now should see no disruption of any kind,” said Marcy Cook, a public works spokesperson. She said the City has no plans to alter the rental spaces of Downtown Vision, Inc., Ray’s sandwich shop and Knott & Co. Jewelers. In fact, there might be more available soon.
• Planning to get a haircut at the recently-opened Don’s Barber Shop in the Carling? You might need to wait a while. A sign on the door informs customers that Don’s is temporarily closed and “looking for suitable barber.”
• If couldn’t attend last night’s City Council installation ceremony but would like to see it, Ch. 7 will replay the event Sunday at noon.
• Speaking of Council, summer break starts today. No official meetings until the week of July 17. The next full Council meeting is July 25.
• Interesting show coming to the Arena Aug. 3 when the Blue Man Group takes the stage. The band is made up of three bald guys who paint their entire heads royal blue. Their show is as much vaudeville as it is music. Think Dadaist art meets “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and you’ll get the picture.
• Casa Dora is adding a deep fryer to their kitchen soon. The restaurant will continue serving mostly Italian food, but this will allow them to serve things like French fries, fried fish and other foods. Owner Sam Hamidi said he has seen a demand for those kinds of foods by his customers.
• The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens will be closed Tuesday for the 4th of July. This also means the museum will not be open for the BellSouth Free Tuesdays. The museum will reopen Wednesday at 10 a.m.
• The State Attorney’s Office has opened a branch in Jacksonville Beach. It’s in the Jacksonville Beach city hall and it’s open every Wednesday from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
• Big gathering at the Hyatt in August when the Florida League of Cities holds its 80th annual convention Aug. 10-12.
• Talk about a big request. Mayor John Peyton has been asked to help find the new superintendent of schools for the Los Angeles Unified School District. A gentleman named Edward Hamilton is chairing the group leading the search for someone to oversee the 727,000-student school district that includes 846 schools in a region larger than the entire City of L.A.
• Wednesday’s ArtWalk will feature a new stop, “Thieve in the Knight” with work from local artists Shaun Thurston and Mark George. The stop is, appropriately, in the W.A. Knight building on Adams Street between Laura and Hogan.
• The ‘Fishin’ Chix,’ a Pensacola women’s fishing club, are getting a lot of national attention after showing up on NBC’s Today show this week. But one local lady thinks the ‘Chix’ are all hype. Miriam Bell, owner of Miriam’s jewelers and president of local female fishing club the ‘Blue Diamond Girls,’ said her crew represents real anglers. “The ‘Fishin’ Chix’ are a bunch of wimps,” she said after catching their act on NBC. “They weren’t even hooking their own bait.”
• The only active duty U. S. Army unit in Jacksonville, the 832nd Transportation Battalion, will hold a change of command ceremony Friday when Lt. Col. John Reich will turn command of the 832nd over to Lt. Col. Manuel Meno July 14. The eight soldiers and 37 civilians attached to the unit carry out the battalion’s role as the single port manager for the United States Southern Command, coordinating the movement of Department of Defense cargo through all ports in Florida, Latin America and the Caribbean. The unit is the only Surface Deployment and Distribution Command Terminal located within a Strategic Port. A Strategic Port is a commercial port that ensures its docks are available to move military cargo in times of national defense. The Jacksonville Port Authority’s Blount Island is one of 13 Strategic Ports in the United States.
• Desperate to see Babs? For just $752.75, you can purchase a lower level ticket – not the floor, mind you – for Barbra Streisand’s Oct. 28 performance in Sunrise, Fla. It’s the closest she’s getting to Jacksonville on this tour. The cheapest ticket still available for the concert? $202.75 buys you an upper level seat with a “behind stage view” warning on Ticketmaster.
• Looking for a unique venue to watch Saturday’s launch of the space shuttle? Try the Museum of Science & History. Seating begins at 3:30 for the 3:49 launch and it’s free with a paid admission to the museum.
• If you’ve walked under the awning at The Carling this week and heard a commotion, it’s because there are baby birds inside. A storm knocked out one of the panels and before it could be replaced, pigeons had built a nest inside the awning and began to raise a family. Management decided not to repair the hole until the babies learn to fly, which should be in about a week.