• Plans for a new YMCA on Riverside Avenue now rest in the hands of a developer. The Y has taken a $250,000 check and agreed to hold off a year so the developer can put together a retail/office complex that would include a rebuilt Y. The agreement expires next summer.
• The most hotly-contested race on the Aug. 26 primary ballot is among the most obscure. There are 13 candidates for Republican State Committeeman and only one will win.
• Biggest football fan in local government? Might be the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission’s Paul Crawford, who says he’s the city’s No. 1 Louisiana State booster.
• The Zoe’s restaurant chain is expanding and, though you might not know Zoe, you know one of her relatives: she’s the mother-in-law of Underwood Jewelers owner Clayton Bromberg.
• Mayor John Peyton scheduled a visit to the City’s Planning & Development Department this week. In preparation, Planning Business Manager Susan Saltsgiver sent all employees a memo pointing out, “This opportunity doesn’t come along often so let’s be ready for him by cleaning the clutter from our offices and desks, arriving to work on time that day and dressing appropriately.”
• Speaking of Peyton, last Wednesday he went on the record as opposing the planned discharge of wastewater by Georgia-Pacific into the St. Johns River from Rice Creek. Friday, State Rep. Joe Pickens of Dist. 21 (the Palatka area) fired back. In a letter to Gov. Charlie Crist, Pickens said Georgia-Pacific has invested millions of dollars in upgrades and asserts that “it is a scientific fact that Georgia-Pacific’s relocated entry point into the St. Johns River has environmental benefits.”
• Atrium Windows and Doors has decided to close its doors in Jacksonville. According to Robert Ratcliffe, eastern region president, the closing will affect 131 people. The office is on Port Jacksonville Parkway.
• The Jacksonville Transportation Authority and the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO) Jacksonville chapter will host the Third Annual Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE)-COMTO Networking event Thursday from 5:30-8 p.m. at the Osborn Center. More than 300 guests are expected as the area’s prime contractors and vendors are connected with DBE owners in an effort to foster a better mutual business environment. The goal of JTA’s program is to ensure a minimum of 15 percent of government contracts are awarded to disadvantaged small businesses.
• The Supervisor of Elections Office reported that of the 495,324 registered voters in Duval County, 11,895 had cast their ballot either in person or by mail at the close of the first day of early voting Monday. Of the total, 11,186 had voted by mail and 709 had voted at the 10 early voting sites. The Regency Square Branch Library led the list with 131 early voters the first day.
• Community First Credit Union has partnered with the Jaguars to launch a new “Teacher of the Week” program this season. The program will offer a way to recognize an outstanding educator in Northeast Florida and features a drawing for two free Club Seats to each Jaguars home game. The sponsorship also includes a $1,000 donation to the Jaguars Foundation educational programs for the first touchdown the Jaguars make on a first down at each game. The “Teacher of the Week” program is an on-line contest and nominations may be submitted at www.communityfirstfl.org.
• Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin stopped by Monday to talk to the Jaguars at coach Jack Del Rio’s request. Both Del Rio and Irvin played for the Dallas Cowboys.
• The Jacksonville Bar Association will hold a candidate’s forum at Florida Coastal School of Law Thursday from 6-7:30 p.m. Candidates scheduled to attend include those running for Circuit Judge in Group 11, Mark Hulsey and Adrian Soud and Group 28, Rick Buttner and Virginia Norton; State Attorney, Angela Corey and Jay Plotkin; and Public Defender, Matt Shirk and Bill White.