• Casa Dora owner and chef Sam Hamidi hasn’t been in the kitchen at his Italian restaurant on Forsyth Street near the Florida Theatre this week. He has been getting his second location, “Casa Dora II,” at the corner of San Juan Avenue and Jammes Road open for pizza and dinners. It’s a former Sheik Sandwiches shop and the new Westside location has a drive-through window.
• The Chamber’s Downtown Council has opponents for a Congressional seat speaking but not at the same time. Jay McGovern speaks this morning at the Aetna building; incumbent Ander Crenshaw comes to the Oct. 17 meeting.
• Sign on the back of a cab going through Downtown: “God Bless America and Ethiopia.”
• Jags fans will like this. Chris Myers of ESPN radio is picking the Jaguars to ... go to the Super Bowl where he says they’ll face the Philadelphia Eagles. Myers didn’t offer up a winner, though.
• Gator Bowl Association President Rick Catlett said his initial expectations of the Sept. 27 FSU-Colorado drawing around 55,000 people look to be accurate. Meanwhile, fewer than 20,000 tickets remain for the Gator Bowl game, according to GBA Chair-elect Dan Murphy of Fidelity. One game that isn’t on our horizon is Army-Navy, said Catlett. “I’ve heard it’s an unbelievable game,” he said. “But with all the financial stipulations that come with it, we could lose anywhere from $4-5 million.” More on the opening Gator Bowl Association meeting, page 3.