• Election Day started off without a bang – fortunately – even though a bomb threat was phoned in to the Pretrial Detention Facility on East Bay Street shortly before 8 a.m. The call was traced to a grocery store in Clay County but proved to be a hoax.
• A package deal is available for people wondering how they can help communities affected by the hurricane season. A $100 donation to the Salvation Army will feed a family of four for two days, provide two cases of drinking water and one household cleanup kit, containing mops, brooms and other cleaning supplies. Donations can be made at www.salvationarmyusa.org or 1800-SAL-ARMY.
• Thursday, the Southern Habitat Design Center will host the third quarterly Business After Hours from 5-7 p.m. Register for the event online and receive free admission. Show up without registration and pay $5 for Chamber members and $25 for non-Chamber members. The Southern Habitat Design Center and Flooring is located on Beach Boulevard. Contact Kelly Gerlach at 366-6646 for more information.
• City Council president Ronnie Fussell has agreed to serve on the board of directors of the Jacksonville Symphony Association. He’s got orientation early next month and the first board meeting of the new symphony season is set for Sept. 11.
• The University of Florida College of Medicine-Jacksonville will hold an open house for its newest pediatric center today. It’s on St. Augustine Road and includes the Center for Autism and Related Diseases and Florida Diagnostic and Learning Resources System.
• City Council member Kevin Hyde is sponsoring legislation that would declare the week of Nov. 16 “Family Week in Jacksonville.” The legislation urges “residents to spend quality time with family members to strengthen relations between parents, children and loved ones.”
• The City’s legal action against the proposed four-mile pipeline Georgia-Pacific intends to use to dump wastewater into the St. Johns River in Putman County has officially reached the legislation stage. Council will begin the process of passing the bill tonight. It’s sponsored by Council member Jack Webb.
• Speaking of the river, the City would also like to see the creation of a specialty license plate that would help generate funds to support the St. Johns River Alliance.
• Finally from the Council agenda, the mayor’s office is sponsoring several bills that would create cooperative agreements between the Duval County Medical Examiner and six local counties. Those counties are Suwanee, Lafayette, Hamilton, Columbia, Nassau and Clay.