• The Northeast Florida Regional Council is asking elected officials and chief administrative officers in the area to submit their legislative priorities for the 2009 session. They have until Aug. 15 to submit them to Florida Regional Council CEO Brian Teeple. Last year, the top three priorities in Duval County were protecting local revenue, transit oriented development and river restoration and water access.
• Monday, the City Council Finance Committee approved a bill that will extend the City’s current health insurance contract with Aetna for one year, but that may be it. Based on the discussion, it was apparent the committee members were not happy with being asked to pass the bill on an emergency basis and with basically no other options for health care. “There is no way we should have waited three years to bring this up,” said committee member Daniel Davis. As part of the deal, Aetna has agreed to a waive any cost increase to the City. However, emergency room visits will go up from $150 to $200 and the coinsurance premium will increase from 80/20 to 70/30.
• Rachel Nudge is back at the Landing as its director of public relations. She was out for several weeks on maternity leave.
• The Florida Bar has set up a toll-free hotline for people facing foreclosure. The goal, according to the site, is to pair callers with attorneys offering their services pro bono who will negotiate with lenders. The hotline, 866-607-2187, is available Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.– 4 p.m.
• In the recently released “Federal Grants to Florida’s Local Governments” report, Jacksonville is tops in expenditures of the Department of Health and Human Services Grant Funds – by a lot. From 2002–06, Jacksonville’s cumulative expenditures were $26.8 million. Next in line was Miami at $1.2 million. The report attributes the large differences to Jacksonville representing characteristics of a county more than a municipality as the rest are simply municipalities.