• Darla Wilson, coordinator of the Duval County Legislative Delegation Office, has resigned her position effective Nov. 30 to go to work in State Sen. Jim King’s office. No word yet on her replacement.
• If you’re driving by Stanton College Preparatory School Tuesday morning, don’t be alarmed if you see smoke and the Trauma One helicopter. The Jacksonville Firefighters Association, in partnership with Duval County Public Schools, Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Jacksonville Fire & Rescue, will conduct a mock car crash on the school’s football field to increase students’ awareness of the consequences of driving under the influence of alcohol.
• Award-winning economist Dr. Arthur Laffler will speak at an alumni dinner for Jacksonville University’s Executive MBA program Monday night in the Davis College of Business on the JU campus. Laffler is known as “The Father of Supply-Side Economics” and was a member of Pres. Ronald Reagan’s Economic Policy Advisory Board from 1981-89. Dr. Frances Bartlett Kinne, chancellor emeritus of JU, will also be honored for founding the program.
• Debra Igou is retiring after 22 years with the City. Igou started in Building & Zoning, but has held several positions over the years. Her latest is as an auditor for the Mayor’s Office of Performance Auditing and Management Accountability. Igou’s last day is today.
• Florida’s school transportation system is the fifth-largest in the country, with more than 1 million students traveling 303 million miles each day. In Duval County 985 buses take 51,000 students back-and-forth each day and travel 22 million miles each year. Duval County has one of the newest fleets in the state, with an average bus age of 3.7 years.
• Starbucks at the Landing has a basket next to the counter full of packaged coffee with a little note card. The coffee shop is offering to pay for postage and mail the coffee with a card to soldiers in Iraq if a customer buys the coffee. Customers can personalize the note card if they wish to do so.
• Dr. Mary Jeanette Howle, a music teacher at Mamie Agnes Jones elementary School, has been named Outstanding Educator for the state of Florida by the Florida Music Educators Association. Howle is president of the Duval County Elementary Music Teachers Organization and an adjunct faculty member at Jacksonville University.
• Brent Williams is the guest speaker at Monday’s Rotary Club of Jacksonville meeting at the Omni. Williams is the district governor for Rotary and a past president of the Rotary Club of Gainesville.
• The Jacksonville Economic Development Commission’s Infrastructure Task Force is meeting Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. in the Main Library in Conference room G-4. The task force is one of four created by the JEDC to improve every facet of Downtown living and working.
• Lucy Bravo, the assistant marketing manager at SMG Sports & Entertainment Facilities is leaving SMG — sort of. Bravo will serve as the Arena’s event and operations coordinator until January. Nan Coyle, SMG’s director of marketing, will cover for Bravo until then.