• The Cornerstone Regional Development Partnership of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce is holding an regional partner economic development forum Nov. 15 from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in Chamber’s Hadlow Boardroom. Panelists include Bill Claytor of The Haskell Company, Alex Coley of Hallmark Partners, Inc., attorney Wyman Duggan of Rogers Towers and Cornerstone President Jerry Mallot.
• Levitt and Sons, an active adult community builder, has announced it is closing several Florida plants and laying off dozens of employees. Nineteen Jacksonville employees are being laid off from the company’s Deerwood Park office.
• Country artist Phil Vassar will play at this year’s ACC FanFest. It’s Nov. 30 at the Pepsi Plaza by the stadium and Vassar goes on at 8:45 p.m. The FanFest precedes the Dec. 1 Dr Pepper ACC Championship game the next day.
• Caribbean Sunrise Bakery on North Main Street will start delivery service as of Thursday. There are plenty of traditional Caribbean menu items and a couple that are off the beaten path including oxtail and curry goat.
• Speaking of Thursday, the Jacksonville Waterways Commission meets at 9 a.m. in Council Chambers.
• Correction to a Friday City Note about the Riverside Wine Festival. This is the fifth annual festival, it’s set for Nov. 17 and it’s $30. For more information, call 354-1001.
• The law firm of Holland & Knight is hosting former Gov. Bob Martinez at a Nov. 14 luncheon at the firm’s offices in the Bank of America tower. Martinez will talk about a variety of issues including tax reform, growth management, alternative energy and Hometown Democracy.
• Several City officials got invites to the grand opening of The Capital Grille in St. Johns Town Center. The restaurant will make a donation to the United Way of Northeast Florida in the name of everyone who attends the lunch.
• The Gator Bowl Association meets Thursday at 5 p.m. at the Hyatt. Executives from Konica Minolta — the game’s new title sponsor — will be on hand and those who attend have been asked by GBA Chair Kelly Madden to “refrain from wearing any Toyota Gator Bowl items going forward.”
• Jan Stringer, the former membership director at the Chamber, now has her own accounting firm in Springfield.
“A city is the pulsating product of the human hand and mind, reflecting man’s history, his struggle for freedom, creativity, genius—and his selfishness and errors.”
– Charles Abrams, former chairman, Department of City Planning at Columbia University.