• Nelle Flanders, assistant to Mayor John Peyton’s Chief of Staff Steve Diebenow, is leaving the mayor’s office, according to Sheri Piner, office manager and executive assistant to mayoral spokesperson Susie Wiles. Flanders will be replaced by Chris Sutton, who was with the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission and Bailey Publishing before returning to the City.
• But where does he stand on the environment? Handbills touting Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul’s position on taxes have been displayed all over Hemming Plaza. Unfortunately, they were affixed to the trees with roofing nails. A police officer was trying to pry a nail out of one of the trees in front of the Main Library Friday and was heard commenting, “This is City property. If I could catch anybody doing this, I’d arrest them for criminal mischief.”
• The City’s Planning and Development Department is hosting a meeting tonight to discuss the City’s Artificial Reef Program Construction Grant. It’s at 6:30 p.m. at the Cuba Hunter Community Center on Bedford Road.
• Tickets will go on sale Jan. 25 for “Serving Up Aces,” an exhibition tennis match at Veterans Memorial Arena between Pete Sampras and Todd Martin. Sampras holds 14 career Grand Slam titles and was ranked No. 1 in the world for a record 286 weeks. Martin finished in the top 100 for 12 consecutive years and was a member of the winning 1995 Davis Cup Team. The match will take place March 8. Tickets start at $30 and will be available at the Arena box office and Ticketmaster outlets, or charge by phone at 353-3309.
• The City of Atlantic Beach is officially on record as being opposed to Central Florida diverting hundreds of millions of gallons of drinking water a day from the St. Johns River. Atlantic Beach Mayor John Meserve signed resolution 08-01 last Monday.
• The International Visitor Corps of Jacksonville is hosting a delegation of 10 Muslim leaders from Western Africa. The group arrived in town yesterday and will spend five days in the area including stops at Stanton College Prep School, the University of North Florida and Green Cove Springs where they will examine “small town government.”
• Quite a descriptive job title: The first person you talk to on the phone or meet in person at the offices of Visit Jacksonville will be either Susan Hisgen or Marianne Limkeman. The organization’s mission is to “create visitor demand resulting in measurable economic growth” and the ladies share the title of “Director of First Impressions.”
• If you see this phrase – YCJCY5BFJK — around town, don’t ask, or be prepared to reach for your wallet. It stands for “Your Curiosity Just Cost You 5 Bucks For Jerry’s Kids.” The saying is part the annual Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy drive.
“The only medicine for suffering, crime, and all the other woes of mankind is wisdom.”
– Thomas Henry Huxley, British biologist and educator.