• If you were one of the 1.1 million cruise ship passengers who paid a retroactively imposed fuel surcharge, you could be entitled to part of an estimated $40 million refund. Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum announced Monday a resolution was reached with Carnival Cruise Lines and subsidiaries Holland America, Princess, Costa, Cunard and Seabourne. A similar settlement was reached last month with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises resulting in $21 million in consumer reimbursement. To register a claim, call 1-866-966-7226 or visit myfloridalegal.com.
• The Navy is giving serious consideration to expanding its fleet at Mayport and is seeking public input. According to correspondence to Mayor John Peyton from the United States Fleet Command, the Navy is looking for additional surface ships at Mayport with the earliest by 2009. A public hearing on the matter is set for April 16 at the Deerwood Campus of Florida Community College of Jacksonville in building B-1204. The information session is from 4:30–6:30 p.m., followed by a two-hour public hearing.
• Speaking of Peyton, his Jacksonville Journey initiative is winding down. The committee co-chairs meet today with Peyton staffers, and April 24 the steering committee will make its final recommendations at the Main Library at 1 p.m.
• Monday’s meeting of the Rotary Club of Jacksonville had several guests in attendance, including District Governor Cecil Gibson, who represents the North Florida Rotarians in Dist. 6970. The club also welcomed two new members: Attorney Rebecca Berg of Berg Bowers & Associates and David Boree, president of W.W. Gay Mechanical Contractors.
• Don’t forget, the City’s Downtown “Movies in the Park” series starts Friday with the showing of “Madagascar” in Treaty Oak Park in San Marco at 8 p.m. The next is “Ghostbusters” on April 11, “Hook” on April 18 and “Goonies” on April 25. Parking in the Suddath garage is free and attendees can bring food, lawn chairs and blankets, but no alcohol.
• Correction: A story Monday incorrectly identified Judge Mallory Cooper. She is a circuit judge.
“We’ll never know the worth of water till the well go dry.”
– 18th-century Scottish proverb