• The First District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission sent a list of six candidates for Gov. Charlie Crist to consider for a vacancy created by Judge Ricky Polston who was selected for the Florida Supreme Court. All of the candidates are from Tallahassee and include, Nikki Ann Clark, Lynn Colby Hearn, Simone Marstiller, Charles Stampelos, Jessica Varn, and Kent Wetherell II. The governor has 60 days to make an appointment.
• In the latest Florida Trend, Bruce Faulman is introduced as the new publisher. He’ll succeed Lynda Keever who’s retiring in April after 17 years with the mag.
• Speaking of Florida Trend, Matthew’s at San Marco was the only Jacksonville restaurant to make its “Hall of Fame” list and Restaurant Medure in Ponte Vedra was the only area restaurant to win a “Golden Spoon” award. Both are owned by chef Matthew Medure.
• Sister DeSales Wisniewski, a member of the Daughters of Charity and vice president of mission integration at St. Vincent’s Healthcare since 1992, is leaving Jacksonville to join the ministry of St. Agnes Health Care in Baltimore, Md. While in Jacksonville, she helped develop the on-campus health clinic at the I. M. Sulzbacher Center for the Homeless and the Volunteers in Medicine clinic that serves the working uninsured. Wisniewski also serves on the boards of Volunteers in Medicine and Community Hospice of Northeast Florida. She will be honored at a reception Friday at 5 p.m. in the Terry Conference Center at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Riverside. The public is invited.
• Rojan Varghese, a 2008 Stanton College Preparatory graduate, has been named Duval County’s 2008-09 Bright Futures Academic Top Scholar. Now a freshman at the University of South Florida, he will receive an annual scholarship in the amount of $1,500.
• The Planning and Development Department will present an international food festival on Dec. 10 in the 7th floor studio of the Florida Theater Building. Sample foods from places like Asia, Germany and Syria along with a multitude of other locations will be available. The lunch and beverage will cost $5 per plate along with a baked goods sale. All proceeds benefit United Way. For more information contact Brian Small at 630-7093.
• Jacksonville-based Firehouse Subs has named Meg Rose director of company operations for its corporate operations division including direction of 30 restaurants in Jacksonville, Gainesville and Ocala. There are currently 348 Firehouse Subs locations and the company won the National Restaurant Association’s 2008 “Restaurant Neighbor Award” for community service.
• A few Downtown establishments have shut their doors. Lucky’s barber shop in The Carling, Bread & Butter at the corner of Laura and Adams and Mongo’s at the Landing have all recently closed.
• It has been several years since a vehicle safety inspection was required to renew your automobile registration in Duval County, so if you’re concerned about the road worthiness of your ride, this one’s for you. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has organized a “Comprehensive Roadside Safety Checkpoint” Friday between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. at 3563 Phillips Hwy. According to the announcement issued by JSO, “It is the policy of this department to ensure that everyone using the highway and roadway system may do so securely, free from any harm or personal danger, and to provide a deterrent for those who violate the laws contained in the State Statutes . . . Accordingly, this agency seeks to safeguard all drivers through the use of nonintrusive checkpoints to ensure the vehicles operating on the roadway are in a safe condition.”