• If you are a You Tube fan and you have checked out any of the videos in a nationwide contest associated with the upcoming presidential election, you may have seen a recognizable name among the entries. Richie Mullaney, son of General Counsel Rick Mullaney, submitted an entry in You Tube’s “Why I’m proud to be a Republican (or a Democrat)” contest. Last week, the family was informed Richie was one of five national finalists. Voting ends Wednesday and the winner gets to spend a day with the candidate during the convention and have their winning video shown. To see the video, log on to youtube.com/gopconvention and scroll down to find Richie’s video. Oh yeah, vote also.
• Speaking of elections, State Attorney candidate Angela Corey raised another $35,250 during the last reporting quarter (July 19-Aug. 1) giving her a total of $481,438 in contributions. Corey’s opponent, Chief Assistant State Attorney Jay Plotkin, raised $13,775 during the same time frame.
• U.S. Sen. Bob Graham will make a Jacksonville appearance. He’ll be the guest speaker at the annual meeting of the Jacksonville Community Council Inc. Oct. 8. The meeting is from noon-1:30 at the Hyatt.
• The North Florida Transportation Planning Organization (formerly the First Coast MPO) has released its list of priority projects for the fiscal year 2013-14. No. 2 on the list is a new Mathews Bridge. There’s no price tag on the project, but according to the list the right-of-ways from University Boulevard to MLK Parkway will have to be acquired. One of the biggest projects on the 19-item State project list is the relocation of Race Track Road to the Duval County/St. Johns County line. The price? How about $551.1 million?
• The law firm of Pajcic & Pajcic has been retained by the family of Duong To, who was killed in an April 23, 2007 wreck at the intersection of McCormick Road and Kernan Boulevard. According to the suit, the intersection was littered with construction equipment, barricades and offset traffic lanes, all of which had contributed to five accidents within just a few days prior. The suit names the City, JEA and JTA as codefendants.
• Konica-Minolta Gator Bowl fans will be happy to hear “The Patch” is back. This year’s patch costs $5 and assures discounts all over town including four golf courses, Adventure Landing, McDonald’s and others.
• The Jacksonville Fire & Rescue Department is getting a new thermal imaging camera thanks to a $10,000 donation from Aon Risk Services, Inc. and Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company. The camera’s allow firefighters to “see” through smoke and darkness and locate anyone trapped in a building during a fire. JFRD will demonstrate the new camera today at the JFRD headquarters at 11 a.m.