• If you believe enjoying a frosty, cold adult beverage with foam on the top and watching a baseball game in person is a perfect combination, here’s some good news about the May 21-25 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Championship at the Baseball Grounds: Beer will be available in the Sundowner Lounge and in the Club Suites.
• The games start Wednesday, but the festivities aren’t limited to just baseball during the ACC Baseball Tournament. Mayor John Peyton and members of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission will join ACC representatives at a banquet in Metropolitan Park at 7 p.m. to welcome all the teams to Jacksonville while members of some teams will be visiting children at Wolfson Children’s Hospital on Thursday and Friday at 10 a.m.
• Effective June 6, the Downtown Council of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce will no longer meet for breakfast on Tuesdays at the University Club. The locale will remain the same but the group is returning to the practice of meeting at 7:30 a.m. on the first and third Fridays of each month. The guest for June 6 will be Mayor John Peyton, who will discuss the details of The Jacksonville Journey Steering Committee’s final recommendations which will be released on June 5.
• While some insurance companies aren’t faring well these days, there’s at least one that’s bucking the trend. Jacksonville-based Brightway Insurance has completed the acquisition of Mathis Insurance of Amelia. In the past year, the company has added 10 new offices in seven Florida cities. The full-service agency was founded in 2003 and offers auto, home, business and life insurance. It represents more than 25,000 policyholders and $40 million in premiums.
• Correction: In Friday’s City Notes, it was reported that the Museum of Science and History had been dealing with funding cuts. In fact, the Museum is only in danger of dealing with funding cuts. Also, the museum’s Web site is www.themosh.org.
• The Jacksonville Symphony Association will hold its big annual meeting June 19 at the Davis Gallery inside the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts. The meeting starts at 4 p.m.
• Shipyards developer LandMar has made good on a debt shortfall that was pointed out in an April 16 letter from Steve Emery, chief of finance and compliance for the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, to the developer. LandMar Sr. Vice President Margaret Jennesse sent a check for a little over $3.038 million.
• Looking to put a “reality check” on the area’s real estate market, the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors has launched a new “Put Your Money Where Your Life Is,” campaign. The hope is to put out a realistic residential real estate outlook backed by expert analysis with free online resources, surveys and housing studies and articles on the local market. To see the campaign, go to www.nefar.com.
• Thomas Gibbs has joined the practice of Fowler White Boggs Banker. Gibbs is a member of the International, Florida, American and Jacksonville Bar associations and is experienced in corporate acquisitions and mergers, private equity, insurance and banking and is currently a director of Florida Bank Group.
“American public opinion is like an ocean—it cannot be stirred by a teaspoon.”
– Hubert H. Humphrey, U.S. politician and vice president