• People who travel from Mandarin to work Downtown have a new transit option. JTA has established an express route from and to the Park-N-Ride lot at the corner of Marbon Road and San Jose Blvd. Called the SS50 or the “Mandarin Express,” the bus leaves the lot each morning at 7 a.m. and arrives at the Rosa Parks-FCCJ Station at 7:36 a.m. In the afternoon the bus leaves the station at 5 p.m. and arrives in Mandarin at 5:55 p.m. For more information, visit www.jtafla.com.
• Attendance at the Make a Scene Downtown “Raise the Rooftop” party Thursday at the Water Street Parking garage doubled compared to the inaugural event the previous week. There were more than 400 people up on the roof for round two. Based on the large increase in participation, after one more date on the roof Thursday the City’s Officer of Special Events is moving the Thursday after-work party with live music and food and drink to Hemming Plaza effective June 5.
• Area Taco Bell Restaurants raised more than $23,000 for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida (BGCNF) during the 8th Annual “Bells for Kids” fundraiser that ended May 6. For three weeks, the restaurants sold paper bell icons to customers for a donation of $1 or more with all proceeds benefiting BGCNF. Over the past eight years the program has raised more than $173,000, making Jacksonville one of the largest supporters of Boys & Girls Clubs in the entire Taco Bell system. Some numbers: BGCNF programs serve more than 8,000 young people annually while Taco Bell serves more than 35 million consumers each week in more than 6,500 restaurants.
• On Ideas, a Jacksonville-based advertising and public relations agency, has appointed Allison Scott as assistant account executive and Alex Smith to junior Web designer. Scott graduated from Florida State University while Smith is a recent graduate of Full Sail Real World Education in Winter Park, Fla. On Ideas was formerly Husk Jennings Galloway & Partners.
• International Baler Corporation (IBC) has named Roger Griffin president and CEO. He has 14 years experience in manufacturing and was previously vice president of operations at Schaefer Interstate Railing in Salisbury, N.C. IBC’s principal business is the manufacture and sale of machines used to compress and compact waste materials like paper, cardboard, textiles and scrap metal. In May 2007, City Council approved a $250,000 loan to IBC from the Northwest Jacksonville Economic Development Trust Fund to help finance an expansion of IBC’s facility on Rio Avenue.
• Clarification. The Web site for the group hosting the chess games at the Main Library on Saturdays at 2 p.m. is www.section8jax.com.
• It’s all about infrastructure when the Urban Land Institute hosts ULI Senior Fellow Tom Murphy on Thursday at the Marriott. Murphy will be presenting “Infrastructure 2008 – A Competitive Advantage,” an in-depth research and data-based report that shows infrastructure’s importance to a city and country’s success. Tickets are $45 for ULI members, $65 for non-members. Attendees also will receive a copy of the presentation.
“If to be venerated for benevolence, if to be admired for talents, if to be esteemed for patriotism, if to be beloved for philanthropy, can gratify the human mind, you must have the pleasing consolation to know that you have not lived in vain. And I flatter myself that it will not be ranked among the least grateful occurrences of your life to be assured that, so long as I retain my memory, you will be thought on with respect, veneration, and affection by your sincere friend.”
– George Washington, U.S. general, president, in a letter to Benjamin Franklin