• Six months ago, Duval County Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland predicted a record voter turnout, as much as 85 percent, for tomorrow’s General Election. If Early Voting totals are any indication, Holland’s prognostication may have been on the low side. Of the 536,588 registered voters in the county, 249,036 had cast ballots by 7 p.m. Sunday (65,665 by absentee ballot and 183,371 at early voting sites). That’s 46.4 percent of those registered.
• Edythe Abdullah, president of Florida Community College at Jacksonville Downtown Campus, is one of more than 25 education leaders from across the country named to the first-ever national Education Council focused on expanding and enhancing the manufacturing workforce. The Council held its inaugural meeting Wednesday in Washington, D.C. The Manufacturing Institute, which established the Education Council, is the research, education and workforce arm of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).
• If you are looking for something different to do on election night, try the Wine Bar. The Southbank establishment will have half-price red and white wine, Pabst Blue Ribbon and Blue Moon and free appetizers. And, there are two big TVs for watching the election coverage.
• And if that doesn’t appeal to you, pictures and biographical material from prominent elected African American officials will be on display Tuesday when The Ritz Theatre and LaVilla Museum host an election night viewing of History in Motion: 2008 Presidential Election. The event is free and is hosted in partnership with the Jacksonville Free Press.
• The Landing lights its Christmas tree Nov. 28 at 7 p.m. It’ll be a 50-footer and this is the 22nd tree lighting.
• In its first year of participation, Stellar recently won the 2008 YMCA First Coast Corporate Games. In winning the VyStar Corporate Cup, Stellar topped seven other local corporations. The competition started in mid-July and wrapped up in mid-October.
• The Jacksonville Port Authority moved 656,805 autos, trucks and other vehicles in fiscal year 2008, a record for the Port, far exceeding the previous record set six years ago.
• The Florida Bar is asking its members for comments on how budget cuts are affecting the court system. Members can respond by going to www.floridabar.org and logging on. Comments will be accepted until Dec. 20.
• One Jacksonville resident has big plans for the city and has passed them on to Mayor John Peyton. Adrian Holmes thinks Peyton should submit a bid to the International Olympic Committee for Jacksonville to host the 2020 Summer Games.
• The Jacksonville Latino Film Festival will take place Nov. 14-16 at the new Jacksonville Landing Cinemateque. For more information go to http://filmfestival.jacksonville.com.
• Nemours BrightStart! will be offering free on-site screenings for four-year-olds at the Family Art Festival and Salute to the Troops Event at Midtown Centre in Historic St. Nicholas from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The process takes about 10 minutes and the screenings are child friendly. Also on hand will be the Nemours BrightStart! mobile classroom for parents and teachers to discuss supporting budding readers.