• Downtown Vision Inc. employee Karen Barnes is raising money to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and competing in her first triathlon in June. To raise money, she’s come up with two projects. First, “Downtown Turnaround,” a makeover auctioned off on e-bay and second, Martini Massages — $10 gets you a 5-10 minute massage and a drink at Twisted Martini March 29 from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
• New visitor’s badges at City Hall. They have the “Jacksonville, Where Florida Begins” logo on them.
• If the Chamber needs a Fortune 500 to go to bat for them, Fidelity National Financial would be one of the first to ask. In a letter to Mayor John Peyton, Fidelity Chairman and CEO, Bill Foley, expressed how pleased he is with his company’s decision to relocate its headquarters from Santa Barbara, Calif. in 2003. He said, “Fidelity has found Jacksonville to be everything we had anticipated and more” and volunteered to share Fidelity’s story with any other companies that may be considering relocating to Jacksonville.
• Speaking of the Chamber, they are hosting their annual open house next Thursday from 5-7 p.m. in their offices in the 550 Water St. building. Good chance to meet the Convention & Visitor’s Bureau staff.
• Ashleigh Eminisor, who was run over by a JTA Trolley Aug. 4, has hired Pajcic & Pajcic to represent her in her suit against the City and JTA. The suit claims Eminisor’s medical bills currently exceed $130,000 and her lost wages exceed $50,240. According to Pajcic & Pajcic attorney Christine Clark, Eminisor — who was carrying a baby when she was hit by the Trolley – has had surgeries and skin grafts on her right leg.
• Why is Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland looking for new office space? Part of the reason he says is the Mayor’s “Big idea” for downtown, which envisions a park on top of Holland’s current Church Street office. “We’re probably going to have to be relocated at some point,” he said. “We don’t want to operate in the trees.”
• Speaking of the Elections office, Council member Suzanne Jenkins supports moving it into the Ed Ball Building, which the City bought without her vote. Now that the City owns the building, it might as well use the building, she reasons. “They should move them (the Supervisor) over there in that building I didn’t want to buy,” she said.
• There’s a problem with the $64 fine the City charges on criminal convictions to raise money for drug court and legal aid. It turns out that many of the convicted aren’t that keen on paying the fines. As a result, the fine, which was supposed to raise about $1 million last year, raised about 60 percent that much. “I think they feel like ‘I’m going to jail anyway, why do I want to pay this fine?’” said Joseph Stelma, chief deputy court administrator.