• Speaking of Tuesday’s luncheon, it was a farewell for Mike Shalley of St. Joe, who finished his one-year term as head of Cornerstone, the fund-raising and development arm of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce. The next in line: Hugh Greene of Baptist Health.
• The Port Authority’s annual holiday barbecue is Dec. 12 at 11:30 at the cruise terminal. It’s the 27th gathering and many of Jacksonville’s elected officials and business leaders attend.
• Only two J-bills were filed for consideration by the Duval Delegation and one has been pulled. The mayor’s office has asked that J-2 (which also filed as City ordinance 2006-1297) be pulled from consideration. The bill dealt with how appointments to the Police and Fire Pension Fund are made.
• A breakfast/press conference is set for next Wednesday at the Arena to help promote March’s gymnastics event, the Tyson American Cup. Among those coming are longtime gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi (think Nadia Comaneci, Mary Lou Retton, Kerri Strug and others). Karolyi made his name as the coach of the Romanian team before leading the United States team in the 1988, ‘92 and ‘96 Olympics.
• Duval County School Superintendent Dr. Joseph Wise has invited several to serve on the Joint Planning Commission. Among them: City Council member Reggie Fullwood, University of North Florida professor Matthew Corrigan, developer Jim Gilmore and School Board member Kris Barnes.
• Christmas cards are starting to arrive in the mayor’s office and one of the first came from Pres. Bush and his wife Laura. The card includes a quote from the Bible — Psalm 119:105.
• City Council will hold its annual holiday gathering Dec. 14 from 5-7 p.m. at City Hall.
• The Florida Association of Realtors just released its October home sales statistics. Statewide, sales dropped 22 percent from October of last year: from 16,407 to 12,773. In Jacksonville, sales dropped 25 percent: from 1,504 to 1,131.