• A peek of Mayor John Peyton’s proposed 2008-09 budget shows an increase of almost $30 million, from $937.2 million for the current fiscal year to $966.6 for next year. While there are plenty of line-items that show cuts (most notably state shared revenues which may be down $12.3 million), the biggest increases are franchise fees ($39.2 million) and utility service tax ($8.26 million). Personnel-wise, there’s an increase of four employees, from 9,934 to 9,938.
• An informal poll of City Council Wednesday revealed that Council member Art Graham’s answering machine was the only one with a machine-generated greeting. All others had a human voice instructing callers where and how to leave a message. “I figured this is the 21st Century and people know how to leave messages on answering machines,” said Graham.
• Be careful what you ask for. U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Corrigan asked for questions Wednesday after he introduced law students and undergrads to the federal court system. One student asked if the judge was going to buy him lunch. Corrigan agreed and took his son, Brian, to lunch.
• Oddities abound at The Gas Knob Restaurant and Pub on A. Phillip Randolph Boulevard across from the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. The beer taps look like they have porcelain Heineken beer steins wrapped around them, but the product from. The Knobberz-style wings are prepared with a creamy hot sauce and the vapors from the heat did cause a few coughs before they were devoured.