• Erik Kaldor has been named manager of media and public relations for St. Vincent’s HealthCare. He will manage interaction between the organization and media outlets as well as implement public relations programs based on the goals and objectives of the health system. Kaldor spent the last seven years as a public affairs consultant with Mayo Clinic Jacksonville and prior to that worked as a television news videographer and producer. St. Vincent’s HealthCare includes St. Vincent’s Medical Center, St. Catherine Labouré Manor, Consolidated Laboratories, Mobile Mammography, St. Vincent’s Foundation, Advanced Patient Transportation, Seton Pharmacies and Consolidated Pharmacies. In April 2008, St. Luke’s Hospital will become part of St. Vincent’s HealthCare.
• End zone ticket prices for the ACC Football Championship to be played this year in the former Alltell Stadium have been reduced to $70. For the third straight year, Jacksonville will host the game, which determines what ACC team goes to the Bowl Championship Series.
• Retiring. Elizabeth Means, the vice president of community affairs at Shands Jacksonville. Means has been with Shands (formerly University Hospital) for more than 40 years. The party is set for April 12.
• This year’s Leadership Florida annual meeting is June 28-July 1 at The Breakers in Palm Beach and it’s a big one for the organization. To mark the 25th anniversary, annual meeting chair Geisha Williams and Leadership Florida chair Jeffrey Bartel have secured guest speakers that include former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, former Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell and Gov. Charlie Crist.
• Duval County School Superintendent Joseph Wise is the speaker at the April 26 lunch and learn at Jacksonville Community Council Inc.
• Speaking of Wise, in an e-mail to policy chief Adam Hollingsworth, Wise said he has “engaged legal counsel to explore defamation and false light claims as a result of this latest round of attacks” from the Delaware school district where he worked before coming to Jacksonville. “It is the only way I can think of to stop this madness.”
• Kevin Holzendorf of the mayor’s office is spearheading this year’s Heart Walk campaign on behalf of the City. Last year City employees raised $28,000 for the American Heart Association. This year, as company leader, Holzendorf has set a goal of $45,000. The Heart Walk is Sept. 15 at Metro Park.
• United States District Court Judge Timothy Corrigan is hosting a swearing in ceremony for all new Florida Bar members. It’s April 17 at 4 p.m. in the federal courthouse.
• Speaking of Bar associations, the deadline to nominate someone for the Jacksonville Bar Association’s board of governor’s is Friday at noon.
“People who refuse to rest honorably on their laurels when they reach ‘retirement’ age seem very admirable to me.”
– Helen Hayes