St. John & Partners has appointed Lisa Beatty as a consumer strategist and hired Chris Wodja as an account planner. Beatty has been with St. John & Partners for 14 years while Wodja brings eight years of experience to the company.
• The latest Jacksonville Community Council Inc. study will be released today and it’s on the air quality in Jacksonville. The 43-member study was chaired by Dr. Quinton White of Jacksonville University. There are 14 recommendations and the top one is for the mayor to appoint a “Sustainability Officer” who would co-ordinate efforts to improve air quality. This is the 66th study conducted by JCCI going back to 1977.
• Ch. 12/25 has promoted “Good Morning Jacksonville/Saturday” co-anchor Victor Blackwell to weekend anchor. Blackwell, who joined the station two years ago, will anchor the 6 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts. Blackwell is taking the place of Charlene Shirk who left the station a few months ago for a job with the PGA Tour.
• All the recent rain has helped with the forest fires and put a dent in the year-long drought, but Duval County needs more. According to data released by the St. Johns Water River Management District, Duval is 15.5 inches below normal for the past 12 months. The area averages 50.03 inches, but has only gotten 34.53. It could be worse. Clay County is 22.45 inches below normal.
• City Council member Lynette Self may be leaving office soon, but may find herself reappointed to the Jacksonville Waterways Commission where she served as chairman for several years — this time as a “general public” appointee.
• Speaking of appointments, look for current Council President Michael Corrigan, Council member Art Graham and Council member-elect Stephen Joost to receive appointments to the First Coast Metropolitan Organization.
• Regions Bank has named Denise Arp as the new branch manager of its Neptune Beach branch.
• Big props to the San Jose Rotary Club for raising $53,000 for several area non-profits. Last week, the money was awarded to 12 different groups during the club’s “Night of Giving” at San Jose Country Club.
• Five attorneys, all from the law firm of Zisser, Robinson, Brown, Nowlis & Maciejewski, were added to the 2007 Florida Super Lawyers list produced by the publishers of “Law & Politics.” They are aviation attorney Donald Maciejewski, marital and family law attorneys Barry and Elliot Zisser, civil rights attorney Howard Talenfeld and construction litigation and personal injury attorney John Eversole III.
“Every diminution of the public burdens arising from taxation gives to individual enterprise increased power and furnishes to all the members of our happy confederacy new motives for patriotic affection and support.”
– Andrew Jackson