• Florida Coastal School of Law recently completed the final phase of its renovation of the school on Baypine Road. The renovations were being done on the fifth floor of the building and include more classrooms, offices and a multipurpose room that fits over 150 people. The multipurpose room can be used by outside groups as well.
• School starts today for many in Duval County and plenty who went to the 9A/Monument Road Wal-Mart looking for Crayons struck out. Apparently the 20 cents for a box of 24 sale was popular.
• City Council member Mia Jones has asked the mayor’s office for rent forgiveness for the Housing Partnership of Northeast Florida’s use of the conference center at the Main Library which uses the room for their monthly round table meetings. The forgiveness agreement would be for the next 12 months.
• Mayor John Peyton is the guest speaker at the Sept. 17 Leadership Jacksonville annual reunion luncheon at the Hyatt. Peyton, a member of the 1991 Leadership Jacksonville class, will talk about the impact of property tax reform on Northeast Florida. The 2007 Leadership Jacksonville class will also be recognized.
• City Council member Bill Bishop is meeting Tuesday at 1 p.m. with fellow Council members Stephen Joost, Mia Jones, Jay Jabour and Glorious Johnson. The group will discuss the proposed Atlantic Boulevard/Kernan Road interchange. The ordinance in question would change the overpass to an at-grade median U-turn. They’ll meet in Conference Room B in the Council offices.
• Retired professional tennis player-turned-Realtor MaliVai Washington has been named a finalist for Realtor Magazine’s 2007 Good Neighbor Award. Washington, who founded the MaliVai Washington Kids Foundation, is one of 10 finalists in the country. The top five receive a trip to the Realtors Conference & Expo in Las Vegas in November,
• Last Thursday’s meeting of the Tourist Development Council was canceled and rescheduled for this Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. in Council Chambers.
• Chris Hand, an attorney at Terrell Hogan, is becoming a leader in the state as well as here in Jacksonville. Both the Florida Justice Association and the Jacksonville Bar Association Young Lawyers Section have selected him for prominent leadership positions. He has been named the Florida Justice Political Advisory Committee Trustee for North Florida. Hand was elected to the JBA’s Young Lawyers Section Board of Governors.
• Some of golf’s biggest names attended Saturday’s service for golf course architect Ed Seay. Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman were all in town to pay their respects to Seay, who passed away last week.
“You can, if you wish, think of it like the universe: Each case is a sun, and all the judges, lawyers and administrative personnel represent planets revolving around the case in fixed orbit, never getting closer.”
– Sol Wachtler, former Judge, New York State Court of Appeals