• The City has received a $20,000 grant from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for a Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program. According to the correspondence from the FDLE, the funds “shall be utilized to implement Florida’s Domestic Security Strategic Plan.”
• Funding for renovations to the City’s Juvenile Assessment Center were approved by the City Council Finance Committee Tuesday. The center is in Committee member Mia Jones’ district and the nearly $225,000 is coming from the Sheriff’s Federal Forfeiture Trust and the City’s Public Work’s capital projects budget. “We have been talking about this for two years,” said Jones.
• Also from the meeting, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is in line to get a grant in excess of $1 million from the U.S. Department of Justice so its Police Executive Research Forum can study gun violence and repeat offenders. The goal of the study is to reduce street violence and create a model that can be duplicated across the country.
• The Clara White Mission and Mayor John Peyton were recently informed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that the Mission is the winner of this year’s HUD Secretary’s Opportunity and Empowerment Award. In a letter to Peyton, HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson said, “HUD and the American Planning Association believe the Mission’s program exemplifies successes that can be accomplished through neighborhood revitalization and rehabilitation.”
• It’s getting close to time for the annual Greater Jacksonville Prayer Breakfast, which is scheduled for March 12 at 7:30 a.m. at the Hyatt Regency Riverfront. This year’s guest speaker is Dr. Lloyd John Ogilvie, former chaplain to the U.S. Senate.
• It looks like the proposed renovations to the Michael Scanlon boat ramp in Mayport won’t happen. According to Jody McDaniel, the City’s planning and grants coordinator, the matching funds of $200,000 from the City aren’t going to be available. “This one will slip away,” said McDaniel at last week’s Jacksonville Waterways Commission meeting.
• JEA has moved the date of the opening of its 65 remote payment locations to March 3. Also, as of March 31 the hours at JEA’s Customer care offices on West Church Street will be 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Angie’s Subs on Beach Boulevard in Jacksonville Beach is now serving breakfast. The popular eatery used to just open for lunch and private gatherings in the evening.
• Teresa Eichner is now with Access Public Relations as senior vice president where she’ll be responsible for expanding the firm’s client list. Access is a partnership between John Finotti and Marty Fiorentino, who’s also a partner in Fiorentino & Hewett. Eichner is also the principal in an independent political consulting firm. Before joining Access, Eichner was a vice president at The McCormick Agency.
“In our brief national history we have shot four of our presidents, worried five of them to death, impeached one and hounded another out of office. And when all else fails, we hold an election and assassinate their character.”
– P. J. O’Rourke, humorist