• The Supervisor of Elections Office on East Monroe Street had no water Thursday morning due to a broken pipe between the street and the building. The staff was forced to go to the church across the street to use the facilities, which “really had an effect” on them, according to Deputy Supervisor of Elections and Chief of Policy Bennie Seth.
• If you noticed a group of about a dozen young people looking around Hemming Plaza and taking pictures Wednesday afternoon, they weren’t inspecting the area without a purpose. It was a landscape architecture class from the University of Florida that needed to observe installations in a “big city,” according to professor R. Terry Schnadelbach. He said Jacksonville was the closest place to Gainesville that met the requirement.
• Inside Golf owner Mary O’Donnell has decided the second story of a building on Monroe Street is not a good place to put a golf course. She is moving her two computerized simulators to a storefront on Hendricks Avenue and has most of her furniture and other fixtures up for sale.
• The Jacksonville Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates recently inducted its 2007 officers at its annual dinner. In addition, Circuit Court Judge Waddell Wallace received the group’s “Judge of the Year” award; Former Circuit Court Judge Bill Maness got the “President’s Lifetime Achievement” award; and the late attorney Gary Pajcic was selected “Lawyer of the Year.” ABOTA’s 2007 officers include: President Grier Wells, President-elect Charles Sorenson, Treasurer Michael O’Neal and Secretary Hugh Cotney.
• Gold & Associates, a full-service marketing communications agency based in Ponte Vedra Beach, has earned a Davey Award from the International Academy of Visual Arts in the radio category of the 2006 competition. The winning spot, “Kiddie Pool,” featured Captain H2O, the mascot of the City of Cape Coral’s Sun Splash Family Waterpark. More than 3,500 entries were received. The campaign also took Best of Show honors in the budget category of the 2006 Flagler Awards, presented at Florida’s annual Governor’s Conference on Tourism.
• Owners of Native Sun, an all-natural and organic supermarket with several locations in Northeast Florida, have announced the store will not stock items from cloned animals, including meat and dairy products. Owner Aaron Gottlieb said Native Sun “will be verifying its sources to be ‘clone free.’ ”
• Ever wonder exactly what a conductor does? Or maybe why classical pieces are broken up into sections? “Symphony Secrets Revealed,” presented by the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra Jan. 21 at the T-U Center, will unveil some of the answers to those questions. Preconcert activities for the 3 p.m. show begin at 2 p.m. Tickets are $7 a seat. For more information, call 354-5547.