• Hottest ticket in town: As part of its ownership of Veterans Memorial Arena, the City receives tickets at no charge to certain events. Tickets are usually distributed to non-profit organizations and community leaders in appreciation for their efforts or distributed to employees as part of the City’s internal recognition program. The mayor’s office announced Friday all of the City’s 16 tickets as well as use of the City’s skybox for the “Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds” concert Wednesday evening have been donated to the PACE Center for Girls. The organization is a non-profit that provides non-residential delinquency prevention programs for at-risk girls age 12-18.
• The MPS Group-sponsored Jacksonville University men’s basketball game Friday was a success off the court, according to Joel Lamp, assistant athletic director of media relations. The free-admission game drew a crowd of 6,873, the largest crowd since a Dec. 17, 1985 game against North Carolina in the old Jacksonville Coliseum.
• If you can’t vote in today’s primary due to a prior felony conviction and are not sure how to restore your voting rights, the Supervisor of Elections office can offer help. A Restoration of Civil Rights workshop and job fair is scheduled for Feb. 9 from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Supervisor of Elections Gateway office. For more information, contact State Rep. Audrey Gibson’s office at 353-2180, State Sen. Tony Hill’s office at 924-1646 or City Council member Mia Jones’ office at 630-1684.
• Chief Assistant State Attorney and state attorney candidate Jay Plotkin has hired Katie Kight as campaign manager. Before joining Plotkin’s campaign, Kight was an independent marketing and communications professional and the former director of marketing and communications at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens.
• Speaking of the Zoo, Director of Development Diane David has asked City Council President Daniel Davis to appoint two members of Council to the zoo’s board of directors. So far, Council member Kevin Hyde has expressed interest. David has asked Davis to appoint “someone who would be an active member and who supports the Zoo.”
• The Urban Land Institute of Jacksonville will kick off it’s 2008 breakfast series Thursday at The St. Joe Riverfront conference room. The speaker will be attorney Doris Goldstein, whose practice focuses on new urban development. For 20 years Goldstein has represented the developer of Seaside, Fla., a planned community in the Panhandle that was also the shooting location for the film “The Truman Show.” She is set to discuss what went right and wrong with the project and what other developers can learn.
• Traffic alert: Forsyth Street between Ocean and Newnan streets will be closed from 1-11 p.m. Thursday when the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce holds its annual meeting at the Florida Theatre. The block will also be closed Feb. 7 when the United Way of Northeast Florida holds its annual Victory Celebration at the venue. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office will reroute traffic and assist with both events. For more information, visit www.floridatheatre.com.
“A lawyer’s dream of Heaven: Every man reclaimed his own property at the resurrection, and each tried to recover it from all his forefathers.”
– Samuel Butler, British author.