• A quorum shouldn’t a problem for the 19-member City Council as it votes on Mayor John Peyton’s proposed $972 million budget, but there will be at least four empty seats tonight. Council members Art Graham, Stephen Joost, Daniel Davis and Kevin Hyde are all excused from Council business tonight.
• Speaking of Council, a new ordinance that will be introduced tonight will rename the Council Committee Room A in the Council offices after the late State Rep. Don Davis. It’ll be called the Don Davis Room if passed.
• Word from the beach is the long-closed Taco Bell on Third Street in Neptune Beach will become a Mexican restaurant complete with outdoor seating.
• Mike Garber is the new news director at Ch. 12/25. he’s from South Carolina and succeeds Marty Vanhousen.
• Chamblin’s Uptown on Laura Street now offers Wi-Fi Internet service for its customers.
• Chip Skinner, father of Wake Forest quarterback Riley Skinner, chartered a bus and took a big group over to Tallahassee for the FSU-Wake Forest game Saturday. While the game went well for the Skinner family, the ride home didn’t. Seems the bus broke down and they couldn’t get another until about 5:30 a.m. They got home about 7:30.
• Baptist Health will be featured as one of the “100 Best Places to Work in Healthcare” in the October issue of Modern Healthcare magazine. The list is based on a national survey of employers and employees and was open to health care-related companies with at least 25 employees. Employers answered survey questions about policies, practices and benefits while employees responded to questions about leadership and planning, role satisfaction, working environment, relationship with supervisor and pay and benefits. Only six health care organizations in Florida made this year’s list and Baptist Health is the only one recognized in North Florida.
• The Ivy Ultra Bar on East Bay Street between Ocean and Newnan streets is hosting a “Tally in the Alley” party before Saturday’s FSU-Colorado game. The party begins at 12:30 p.m. behind the club in the alley shared with the Florida Theatre. A flyer in the window says the club is Florida State football headquarters this season in partnership with AM-1320.
• Jaguars owners Wayne and Delores Weaver have been selected to serve as Honorary Chairs of the Angel of the Arts campaign that will benefit the Cathedral Arts Project. The reception will take place on Oct. 23 at a private residence in Ortega, Fl. The event will be for those who contributed over $1,000 to the organization. Cathedral Arts was established in 1993 and offers afterschool programs for over 1,200 youths in at-risk Duval County neighborhoods.