• As of Tuesday, the City Council meetings can be seen live on the Internet via streaming video. Log on to http://media.coj.net/COJCouncil. The meetings begin at 5 p.m.
• This year’s Kesler Mentoring Connection Telemachus Awards are set for Jan. 29 at the University Center at the University of North Florida. Brian Sexton, the voice of the Jaguars, will emcee the event while City Council member and former Council President Michael Corrigan will get the Delores Kesler Community Mentor Award.
• Former Jacksonville University basketball star Otis Smith will unveil the Otis Smith Scholarship Fund during the Nov. 28 game between JU and Georgia State. These days, Smith is the general manager of the Orlando Magic.
• Legislation is working its way through Council that would appropriate $114,200 from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to acquire laser and radar speed measuring devices.
• North Florida college students fared well at the recent Associated Schools of Construction Student Competition and career fair held at the Embassy Suites of Jacksonville. The event, organized by the Associated General Contractors of Greater Florida, drew top senior design, engineering and mechanical students from Auburn University, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Georgia Southern, Western Carolina and others. University of Florida earned first-place honors in the design-build competition and finished second in the commercial competition behind Auburn. University of North Florida finished second in the heavy/civil competition behind Clemson. According to Jacksonville-based Stellar Corp., a design, engineering and construction firm, the event also served as a recruiting opportunity for companies seeking fresh talent.
• Bonnie Upright, the former executive director of the defunct Otis F. Smith Foundation, has a new avocation in the not-for-profit community. She is the new project manager for the Mike Peterson Foundation. Her first project was Tuesday when Peterson’s “Just Read It Star of the Month” initiative hosted 12 Duval County public school students in grades 3-8 for a tour of the Jaguars locker room, the press box and a luxury suite at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.
“Beware of rashness, but with energy and sleepless vigilance, go forward and give us victories.”
– Abraham Lincoln