• Mayor John Peyton’s office has been inundated with petitions as of late. First, 86 residents signed forms petitioning for the removal of a posted ordinance at the fishing dock behind Metropolitan Park, saying “people have been fishing there for years without breaking any rules or causing damages to the property.” The letter sites the ordinance as “ordinance 28.515.” Also, 20 residents sent letters opposing the proposed management plan at Huguenot Park, where officials are trying to balance wildlife concerns with public access. “Please do the right thing and eliminate all proposed restrictive measures presented,” it states. And lastly, nine people have asked Peyton to support Florida Hometown Democracy and its effort to place an amendment on the November ballot that would allow voters to decide if the comprehensive land-use plans in their respective counties can be changed to allow new development.
• Speaking of the mayor, he’s been invited to a meeting with Department of Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez to discuss U.S. trade. The meeting is Wednesday at the White House in the Roosevelt Room and will focus on pending free trade agreements with Colombia, South Korea and Panama.
• Jacksonville Community Council Inc. is holding a lunch learn on the foreclosure crisis Jan. 29 from noon-1 p.m. at the JCCI offices on Atlantic Boulevard. Guest speakers include Jacksonville Area Legal Aid consumer law attorney Lynn Drysdale and SunTrust Bank vice presidents Scott Stevens, commercial real estate, Georgia Reed, residential mortgages, and Teresa Campbell, consumer credit counseling services.
• Among the 285 voting precincts in Duval County, 22 have changed locations since the last election was held. The Supervisor of Elections Office published the changes on the sample ballot that has been arriving in mailboxes since Jan. 11. If you didn’t get one or didn’t look at it, don’t worry. The old voting precincts will be staffed from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Jan. 29 to provide maps and directions to help affected voters get to their proper polling sites. New locations are also available at www.duvalelections.com or by calling 630-1414.
• Matthew’s Restaurant in San Marco is marking its 10th anniversary with an invite-only party on Thursday. Chef Matthew Medure is hosting the event in his “newly refashioned restaurant” and is offering hors d’oeuvres and cocktails.
• The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens new exhibit, “A Kiowa’s Odyssey: A Sketchbook from Fort Marion,” starts today and will run through March 22. The 32-page sketchbook is a collection of drawings by Kiowa warrior Etahdleuh Doanmoe and chronicles the experience of 72 Native Americans of various tribes who were captured by the U.S. Army during the Plain Wars.
• Times-Union Tallahassee bureau writer J.T. Rushing is leaving the paper. He’s headed to Washington, D.C. where he’ll work for “The Hill” newspaper covering the U.S. Senate.
“Democracy means the organization of society for the benefit and at the expense of everybody indiscriminately and not for the benefit of a privileged class.”
– George Bernard Shaw, Anglo-Irish playwright and critic.