• Bring your walking shoes if you plan to attend the next Downtown Vision Inc. stakeholder meeting May 6. Sheriff John Rutherford will be a special guest and lead a walk through Downtown while discussing the area’s safety issues. The meeting is at 3 p.m. at the garage at 116 N. Pearl St., followed by a reception with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office leading up to the evening’s monthly ArtWalk. To attend, contact Amy Harrell at 634-0303 ext. 224.
• Speaking of JSO, former ATP tennis player MaliVai Washington was recently recognized as its “Citizen of the Year.” Washington retired from competitive tennis in 1997 and is founder of the MaliVai Washington Foundation, which has awarded more than $250,000 worth of college scholarships over the years.
• The 39th Annual Earth Day & Ecology Fair is at the Landing April 18 from 10 a.m.– 4 p.m. Last year’s event had 75 area companies and the City participate and featured more than 100 educational and environmental booths on display and was attended by more than 5,000 people. Admission is free; for more information, go to www.jacksonvillelanding.com.
• If you read Florida Trend magazine, you probably noticed that group publisher Lynda Keever officially retired April 2. Keever announced her intention to step down after 18 years with the state business magazine a few months ago.
• Speaking of retirement, Shirley Nulf of the City’s Legislative Services Division is retiring April 24 after 32 years with the City. Among many things, Nulf served as the legislative assistant for the Jacksonville Waterways Commission. Thursday’s Waterways meeting was Nulf’s last and Marilyn Allen will take over for now. For more on the meeting, see page 5.
• Correction: JSO Chief Assistant Bobby Deal’s rank was wrong in a Thursday cutline.
• March Madness might be over, but “Transportation Madness” is still running strong. As part of incorporating more public opinion in its Envision 2035 Long Range Transportation Plan, the North Florida Transportation Organization has launched a bracket pitting different varieties of transportation improvements against each other for voting. Fill out your bracket at www.northfloridatpo.com/envision2035.
• Journalist, Dreams Come True executive director, official coin tosser. By the end of this weekend, Karen Brune Mathis can lay claim to all three, as she’s the official coin tosser for the championship round of The MPS Group Championships Sunday at Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra. “I guess I’ve got to start practicing,” Brune Mathis joked Thursday, while mimicking the coin flip motion.
• Who knew he was a foodie? Spotted in the audience at the 10:30 seating of the “Top Chef Tour” Thursday at Hemming Plaza was none other than Todd Roobin, chief of the City’s Film & Television Office.
• “Child Care Exchange” has named Jacksonville one of its “Top 30 Metros Most Amenable To Child Care.” The magazine evaluated the 100 largest metro areas in the United States and ranked them based on factors including parent education, population growth, childhood education enrollments and poverty. Jacksonville is one of two cities from Florida on the list and ranks 16th. Cities listed behind Jacksonville include Omaha, Orlando, Phoenix, Chicago, Cincinnati, Nashville, Memphis and Charleston.
• The Chamber Music Society of Good Shepherd presents Mozart’s “Cosi fan Tutte” performed by the by Jacksonville University Opera Theatre April 18 at 7:30 p.m. and April 19 at 6 p.m. at the Church of the Good Shepherd on Park Street in Riverside. Admission is free and open to the public.