• The River City Showdown Sept. 28-29 brought in more than $7.4 million in visitor direct spending and over $17.6 million in total economic impact according to the Jacksonville & the Beaches Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB). The CVB also said with 83 percent of the 116 CVB hotel partners reporting, the football game between Florida State and Alabama produced 16,864 room nights at hotels in Duval, Nassau, Clay and St. Johns counties.
• Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Sole said the DEP is carefully reviewing a proposal by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regarding issues of water supply between Florida, Georgia and Alabama. Last week, governors of each state met in Washington, D.C. to discuss current drought situations and how the drawing off of surface waters, such as Georgia’s Lake Lanier that is a source to the Apalachicola River, could affect the environment across the states. “It is anticipated there will be a biological opinion from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by Nov. 15 to ensure protection of Florida’s threatened and endangered species,” Sole wrote. “We encourage all stakeholders to review the opinion and provide feedback to safeguard the ecosystem as well as the people and the economy.”
• Speaking of water withdrawal, the St. Johns River Water Management District on Monday launched pages on its Web site dedicated to informing the public about proposed withdrawals from the St. Johns and Ocklawaha rivers. The water alternatives, which also include utilizing seawater, brackish ground water and reclaimed water, are being considered to meet the increasing demands in Central Florida. The District estimates that more than 150 million gallons of water per day can be safely drawn from the St. Johns. The Web page can be accessed at www.sjrwmd.com/surfacewaterwithdrawals.
• The Jacksonville Symphony’s Young Professional Group, OPUS, will host “Hotel California” Pre-Party from 5-7 p.m. Nov. 25 before Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra’s “Music of the Eagles” concert at 7:30 p.m.
• The Brooks Bandits wheelchair rugby team, sponsored by Brooks Health and Fitness, is hosting a rugby clinic at the Jacksonville Indoor Sports Arena on Emerson Street off I-95 from Friday to Sunday. Instructors include quad rugby champion Kevin Orr and 1996 Paralympian Dave Ceruti. Spectators are welcome. For more information, contact Alice Krauss at 910-9738 or [email protected].
• Audio Visual Innovations, headquartered in Tampa, has added two new sales engineers to its Jacksonville regional office. Charles Baxter brings past experience in integrated billing and professional training consultation within the mortgage banking industry, while Steven Pollack brings an extensive financial and sales background. Both will assist the Jacksonville office in implementing clients’ audiovisual and presentation solutions from start to finish. For more information, visit www.aviinc.com.
“Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentiment in mankind; so that the power of a wafer or a drop of wax or gluten to guard a letter, as it flies over sea over land and comes to its address as if a battalion of artillery brought it, I look upon as a fine meter of civilization.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson, U.S. essayist, poet, philosopher.