• Local commercial Realtors gather Wednesday at the Marriott Southpoint for a dose of politics — the speaker will be Blue Cross Blue Shield lobbyist Mike Hightower.
• The Fair hasn’t filled its entertainment menu but it certainly will be heavy on country music acts. Booked so far for the Nov. 1-12 Fair are Gary Nichols, Josh Turner, Phil Vassar, Andy Griggs, John Corbett and Heartland.
• Jacksonville U. is making an effort to attract tailgaters for its football games and there’s an area near Milne Field called the “Grove” that they hope becomes a place to gather before games. No, they don’t mind if you pop a top, either. And yes, you’ll be able to buy a beer when the basketball team plays in the Arena this year.
• There isn’t much left of the American Heritage Life Insurance Company — it was sold to Allstate — but that doesn’t mean they can’t celebrate the 50th anniversary of its founding. It’s next Thursday at the Allstate building out on Butler Boulevard and the co-founders, Ash Verlander and former Gov. Claude Kirk, will be honored.
• The Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art shop is having an annual pre-inventory sale for the month of September. Select merchandise, from household items to jewelry, is marked 30 to 50 percent off.
• Former Jaguar player Tony Boselli’s foundation and City Council member Glorious Johnson are establishing a Youth Life Learning Center at Simonds-Johnson Park and Community Center at 3738 Moncrief Rd. The center will aim to improve academic performance and provide positive activities and role models for young people.
• Speaking of Boselli, he’ll be the first Jaguar inducted into the team’s “Pride of the Jaguars” and on Oct. 7 owners Wayne and Delores Weaver are hosting a reception for him in The River Club.
• Former Jacksonville Sheriff Nat Glover had been selected to serve on the Police and Fire Pension Fund Board of Trustees. He replaces Hastings Williams, Jr., who resigned from the board earlier this year.
• The Emergency Services and Homeless Coalition of Jacksonville was one of 22 agencies in the state to receive the Challenge grant award from the Department of Children and Families, Office of Homelessness this month. ESHC will use the $150,000 grant to fund five agencies in Duval and Clay counties for prevention and intervention services, as well as services that promote involvement of homeless and formerly homeless persons in program design and delivery.
• Gov. Jeb Bush will be back in town Oct. 6 as the guest speaker at the Chamber’s third quarterly Cornerstone luncheon. It’s at 11:30 a.m. at the Hyatt.
• Teams of certified arborists are taking inventory of the city’s trees in Historic Springfield. Although it’s been more than two years since Jacksonville’s tree canopy sustained extensive damage as a result of the 2004 hurricane season, the city is taking steps to better prepare for the next major storm. The city committed $25,000 worth of in-kind serves to match almost $75,000 received from the 2005 Emergency Hurricane Supplemental Urban and Community Forestry Grand Program. The project is expected to take two months.
• The Chamber’s Military Appreciation Luncheon has been rescheduled to Nov. 13 at the Hyatt from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
• Parking rates change for about 600 City employees at several Downtown garages. As of Oct. 1, the new flat monthly rate will be $80. However, City employees will get a 30 percent discount for the 2006-07 fiscal year. The bottom line is that at seven Downtown garages, City employees will go from paying $53.93 a month to $59.92.
• City Council members headed to New Orleans for this year’s leadership trip won’t have to dip into their annual allowances to do so. All 19 Council members have a $3,000 allowance, but the 2006-07 fiscal year budget dictates that enough funds are available that none will have to tap that account. They still have until Friday to register for the trip.
• The Inaugural Isle of Eight Flags Policemen Ball is Sept. 23 at the Grand Pavilion of the Amelia Island Plantation from 6-11 p.m. The black tie event is open to the public. Proceeds benefit the Barnadas Center, an organization supporting families in financial crisis in Nassau County. Tickets are $125 per person and $200 per couple. More info at 277-7342, ext. 233.
• If you would like to help remove trash and debris from the beaches, you’re invited to join the Nature Conservancy for International Coastal Cleanup Day on Sept. 16 from 8:00 a.m. to noon. Volunteers are asked to meet at Alamacani Preserve at 11080 Heckscher Dr. The Conservancy will provide rakes, garbage bags and plastic gloves. For information, call 598-0004.
The new Downtown This Week is out and the cover story is about tailgating for Jaguars games. The magazine is free and available all over Downtown.