• If you missed the City Planning & Development Department’s annual Halloween chili-cook-off and costume contest to benefit the United Way, there’s a reason: it wasn’t held this year. Instead, the department has created a new annual United Way fundraiser called “Penny Wars.” The Community Planning Division, the Current Planning Division and the Office of the Director are competing to see which office can collect the most pennies in a jar. For every penny deposited, the team will receive one point. For any other coins, the team will be penalized points based on the value of the coin and if a $1 bill is placed in a team’s jar, 100 points will be deducted. (The strategy is to sabotage the other teams’ jars by adding anything but pennies.) A cease fire will occur Dec. 12 and the team with the most points will take custody of a trophy.
• The start of November is a signal that the holiday season will soon be near, and Anheuser-Busch Breweries received an early gift Oct. 13. The brewery was able to knock Pabst Brewing Company from the top spot at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver and brought home “Large Brewing Company of the Year” and “Large Brewing Company Brewer of the Year” awards. Pabst Brewing Company has won the “Large Brewing Company of the Year” award the last two years. Anheuser-Busch last won the award in 2005. The Great American Beer Festival is the biggest beer brewing competition in the U.S.
• The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (ABT) is cracking down on underage drinkers at football games. Last weekend, agents attended the University of Central Florida vs. East Carolina University game in Orlando and the Georgia-Florida game at Municipal Stadium. While only 17 underage drinkers were apprehended in Orlando, 125 people were arrested in Jacksonville for possession of alcoholic beverages by an underage person and obstruction by a disguised person. ABT Secretary Charles Drago said it was the largest number of underage drinkers arrested this year.
• Violinist Augustin Hadelich will perform on Nov. 16 at the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens as part of The Concert Series. Show time runs from noon– 2:30 p.m. The series started in October and will run through February, showcasing a variety of artists.
• Open and ready for business, according to its banner outside: The San Marco Regions Bank location.
• The City’s Public Works Department recently released its quarterly report for all design and construction projects and several pertain to the immediate Downtown area. On the design side, the Bay Street Town Center Phase II project is 45 percent complete with bids going out next month; the Downtown traffic improvement plan (to include turning one-way streets into two-way) is 50 percent done; and nothing’s been done yet on the Laura Street landscaping, but bids are expected out in May. On the construction side, the Hogan’s Creek Bridge project is 85 percent complete; the Brewster Hospital renovations are 90 percent done and the new roof on the Police Memorial Building is 15 percent done.