• City Council has changed the set time for its agenda meetings, which are held prior to the full Council meetings. Starting Aug. 14, the agenda meetings are at 3 p.m. in Conference Room A on the fourth floor of City Hall.
• The Fernandina Beach City Commission recently adopted a resolution urging the State Legislature, the City of Jacksonville and all other “appropriate organizations” to fund the St. Johns River Ferry.
• The Homestead restaurant on Beach Boulevard is shutting its doors forever this weekend. The widening of Beach Boulevard and the new bridge project have hurt business badly and ownership has decided to close.
• Interesting request from John Barcroft of Manchester, England. Barcroft is researching for a book based on the 1958 Munich Air crash in which many members of the Manchester United soccer team were killed. Among the survivors was former Jacksonville U. soccer coach Dennis Viollet, who died in Jacksonville in 1999. Barcroft is seeking information about Viollet’s service. If you can help him out, the address is: 14 Beresford Rd., Stretford, Manchester, M32OPZ, England.
• The Clara White Mission’s annual Back to School Jamboree will be held Saturday from 2-6 p.m. at A Philip Randolph Park, where donated school supplies will be provided to at-risk youth in the community. As of Monday, 500 backpacks were still needed to attain the goal of distributing 1,000 kits to students for the upcoming school year. In addition to backpacks, all other types of school supplies are also needed. To find out how to contribute to the event, call 354-4162.
• The Museum of Science & History will hold its annual salute to man’s best friend, “Dog Days of Summer,” Aug. 18 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Invited guests include Brandon the termite-sniffing dog, Suns mascot Southpaw, Southeastern Guide Dogs and Florida Service Dogs. Dachshund Adoption Agency, Greyhounds as Pets and the Jacksonville Humane Society will also participate. Only special guest dogs will be admitted to the event, so visitors are asked to leave their pets at home. Admission is $9 for adults, $7.50 for senior citizens and military and $7 for children ages 3-12. There is no admission fee for children 2 and under or Museum members.
• Al Gore’s documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth” will be shown Wednesday at the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville’s theater. The film directed by Davis Guggenheim gave Gore, a longtime advocate for the environment, a way to present the facts about the earth and how we can protect it. The film begins at 7 p.m. and is a part of MOCA Jacksonville’s Summer Cinema.
“There is an enormous chasm between the relatively rich and powerful people who make decisions in government, business, and finance and our poorer neighbors who must depend on these decisions to alleviate the problems caused by their lack of power and influence.”
– Jimmy Carter