• Tree Steak House in Atlantic Beach is closed. Last Monday the signage was gone and there’s an eviction notice on the door from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. The phone has also been disconnected. In the same strip mall, The Fish Co. is going in the space formerly occupied by Poboys Creole Cafe.
• Kristi Ballinger is the new special events manager for the Jacksonville Humane Society. She was previously at the Museum of Science & History as its communications and public relations manager.
• The St. Johns Riverkeeper is hosting its 6th annual oyster roast Nov. 16 at the Garden Club of Jacksonville at 7 p.m. Tickets are $100 and includes food, music and a silent auction. For more, call 256-7591.
• Cafe Nola at the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville will begin serving dinner on Thursdays and Fridays effective Nov. 1. They have been serving dinner on Wednesdays. Chef Kathy Collins is preparing some special selections for the debut of Thursday dinner service including truffle frites, curry cauliflower salad, asparagus panini and New South chicken & dumplings. For reservations, call 366-6911.
• PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem has invited Mayor John Peyton to join The Players Council. The group will be comprised of “50 or so community leaders in an advisory role” by assisting tournament organizers with local and national sales and elevating the stature of The Players.
• The tennis court dedication ceremony at the new MaliVai Washington Youth & Education Complex on West 6th Street is set for Oct. 30 at 3:30 p.m.
• Lara Diettrich, former City planner and redevelopment specialist with the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, is now with Kimley-Horn and Associates as a planner in the firm’s Baymeadows office.
• The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Jacksonville raised $100,000 – about $20,000 more than its goal – during the recent Kickoff to a Cure event held at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. In its eighth year, the tailgate party and silent auction raised funds to support a nationwide network of more than 110 specialty care centers for cystic fibrosis, research and gene therapy at major universities and research grants for investigators.
• Mayor Peyton has nominated Andrew Fogerty and David Kulik to serve on the board of the Jacksonville Port Authority. Fogerty is a special assistant to CSX CEO Michael Ward and will replace Thomas Jones while Kulik, president and CEO of Ceva Logistics, will replace Jerry Davis.
• Speaking of Peyton, tonight’s Council agenda is loaded with his appointments. Many of those are for the chiefs and deputies positions created by the reorganization of City government.
“A liberal is a person who believes that water can be made to run uphill. A conservative is someone who believes everybody should pay for his water. I’m somewhere in between: I believe water should be free, but that water flows downhill.”
– Theodore H. White