• Jerry Moran, owner and executive chef at La Cena Ristorante on Laura Street, has lured one of Jacksonville’s most famous cuisine artists back to town. Chef Wilfried Hausy’s influence on local dining began when he opened The Left Bank in 1979. His other accomplishments include Sterling’s Flamingo Cafe, Rhumb Runners and 24 Miramar. Hausy has been working in Orlando, but he wanted to return to Jacksonville and called the moving vans when Moran offered him the opportunity to bring his saute pan to La Cena. Moran said he’s excited to be able to bring Hausy home, but promised La Cena’s menu won’t divert from gourmet Italian. “We won’t be serving wiener schnitzel,” he said.
• PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem and his wife Holly are co-chairing this year’s Players Championship Benefit for the Arts. Set for May 23, the first-time event will include a performance by the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra at TPC Sawgrass.
• The Downtown Ambassadors have a new accessory. In addition to their signature bright orange shirts and stylish pith helmets, they are now all sporting a whistle on a chain around their neck. They will be used to get people’s attention, particularly people who drive their cars the wrong way on one-way streets.
• Jack Gilrup, who retired as the City’s chief of the Disabled Services Department last year, hasn’t been just sitting on the porch resting on his laurels. He has been doing quite a bit of consulting on issues facing disabled people. Gilrup’s latest project will have him working on the implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on the new County Courthouse project.
• Shugar Shack in The Carling is temporarily closed. A sign says it’s due to a family emergency. No word on when the store will reopen.
• The Landing Bookstore & Newsstand is relocating from its current space to a unit just down the hall across from the Visit Jacksonville Welcome Center. The prime corner location won’t be vacant very long, however. Sundrez is expanding its operation again, this time to almost 4,000 square feet of gifts, cards and fine cigars.
• Tonight at 7 p.m., Jim Citrano of CB Richard Ellis will assume the role of commodore at Epping Forest Yacht Club. He replaces outgoing commodore Ed Grey.
• Gasper Lazzara has informed Mayor John Peyton of his intention to resign from the Jacksonville Journey’s crime subcommittee. Lazzara, who retired about 10 months ago, hadn’t attended a meeting and apologized for the “communication breakdown” between his office and the mayor’s office which resulted in him never getting a meeting schedule. In his letter, Lazzara did offer a couple of suggestions, including a dramatic increase in patrol officers in high crime areas and the use of cameras, instead of patrol officers, to catch speeders.
“Your real statesman is first of all, and chief of all, a great human being, with an eye for all the great fields on which men like himself struggle, with unflagging, pathetic hope, toward better things. He is a guide, a counselor, a mentor, a servant, a friend of mankind.”
– Woodrow Wilson, U.S. president