• If you flipped back and forth between TV-4 and ESPN during the Jaguars game Monday night you may have noticed the two broadcasts didn’t coincide. Despite being an ESPN feed with ESPN announcers, the game on TV-4 was about 3-4 seconds ahead of the ESPN broadcast.
• The Arc Jacksonville is asking for donations of old prom, homecoming or bridesmaids dresses for “An Evening in New York” Sept. 30 at the Garden Club in Riverside for all disabled individuals in the Jacksonville community. The Arc Jacksonville is a charitable non-profit organization dedicated to helping people with development disabilities. To donate a dress call 355-0155. All donations are tax deductible.
• Last week, a Senate subcommittee looking into the “housing bubble” and its implications on the economy heard from experts representing the National Association of Home Builders, the National Association of Realtors, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. NAHB’s Chief Economist David Seiders calls growth in 2004-05 “unsustainable” and predicts the market will stabilize by mid-2007 and move up late in 2008. Seiders said the reduction in new starts is in line with the inventory created during the boom period. He told the subcommittee, “The housing market correction should be of limited depth and duration.”
• In a City Note Monday, we had the incorrect date for the next meeting of the Chamber’s Downtown Council. It’s Oct. 6.
• BB&T may have hung their new signs a couple of weekends ago with a helicopter, but they will officially open their new building on West Forsyth during an Oct. 12 cocktail reception and it’ll be on the bank’s Plaza Deck.
• The mayor’s office has made several appointments in its environmental department. Robin “Shorty” Robbins is the new chief of park development for the Department of Parks, Recreation, Entertainment and Conservation; Ebenezer Gujjarlapudi is the new director of the Environmental Resource Management Department; Chris Pearson is the new chief of Solid Waste; and John Shellhorn is the new chief of Mosquito Control Division.
• Jags owners Wayne Weaver certainly has his hands full with a 2-0 football team, but he’s also getting involved in what become a tricky matter over in Riverside. A company called Riverside Square, LLC bought the 1906 Dutch Colonial Revival house at 1662 Stockton St. back in May and plans to move the house to another Riverside location in order to make way for a surface parking lot. Weaver, who recently moved to the neighborhood, has petitioned City Council to deny the homeowner’s request.
• It’s back to the formal attire for members of the Office of General Counsel. From Memorial day through Labor Day, it’s OK – especially for the men — to dress a little more casually. That means no ties or jackets.
• The United Way is holding a big fundraiser next month and this one’s a little different. Its “Power of the Purse” luncheon is Oct. 12 and it’s aboard the Celebration, one of Carnival Cruise Lines’ ships docked at Talleyrand. Magician John Ekin will perform and Jags radio announcer Brian Sexton will host a live auction.
• Would some storm troopers enhance your viewing pleasure? Movies won’t be the only entertainment at this week’s Manhattan Short Film Festival in Springfield. The “First Coast Jedi Knights” will be playing Stars Wars characters. There will also be art and live music, but not of the intergalactic variety.
• Tiara Shoes & Accessories on Laura Street is holding a benefit night for the Chance Foundation and Camp GLAM (Giving Life a Makeover) from 5-8 p.m.Thursday. The event will feature free foot soaks and massages, refreshments, raffles and a silent auction.