• Janet Crozier was appointed to the Department of Elderly Affairs Advisory Council for a term that began Tuesday and ends Sept. 30, 2011. She is succeeding Mario Rubio and is a marketing manager with Blue Cross Blue Shield. There are 17 members on the council and a majority of the members are required to be 60 years or older.
• Miller’s Alehouse plans to open their newest location in Jacksonville in August near the corner of Hodges and Beach boulevards. The fourth Alehouse in Jacksonville plans to have a trailer on site at the beginning of August to conduct interviews with potential employees.
• Attorney Hamilton “Ham” Cooke recently returned from a tour of Europe that included stops in Holland, Luxembourg and Belgium. The trip included a boat tour of Holland and a rental car to see the country side in Luxembourg and Belgium.
• Local engineering design firm Reynolds Smith & Hill was recently named No. 81 in the 2009 annual edition of Engineering News-Record’s “Top 500 Design Firms.” The publication provides business and technical news for the construction industry.
• The property at 118 N. Main St. has been condemned by the City’s Code Compliance Division. A sign posted Monday says the building is “unsafe and unfit for human habitation.”
• As of July 1, Mayor John Peyton will become an ex-officio member of the Jacksonville Symphony Association’s board of directors. His term ends June 30, 2010.
• If you’re along Bay Street May 14 and see a large crowd coming toward you, it’s not a protest or riot: it’s the 2009 local “Take Steps for Crohn’s & Colitis” walk, part of the largest fundraising event for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America. The local walk will be a two- to three-mile walk Downtown with the pledged benefits going toward research for Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis cures. Jaguars quarterback David Garrard will serve as honorary chair of the event. Around 300 people have pre-registered, said Molly Wahl, development director, but expectations are for more than 750 with a local goal to raise $100,000 or more. The walk will begin in Metro Park at 7:30 p.m. and end at the same location. For more information call Wahl at 646-201-6468 or go to www.cctakesteps.org/jacksonville.
• The City’s Housing and Neighborhoods Department is teaming up with the Housing Partnership of Northeast Florida all this week for “Paint the Town 2009: Make Change Happen” community service effort in the East 21st neighborhood of town. More than 850 volunteers from 60 businesses, nonprofits and government agencies will paint and rehabilitate the interior and exterior of more than 30 homes in the area. The City appropriated $1.25 million in State Housing Initiatives Partnerships funds for the neighborhood.
• The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has informed the City it intends to terminate the subsidy payments and contract for Oakland Terrace Apartments. Seems the owner has not addressed conditions deemed “unacceptable” and scored a 39 out of 100 on a recent inspection. Representatives from HUD will meet with officials from the Jacksonville Housing Authority to discuss vouchers for residents and relocation assistance.
• The St. Johns River Water Management District has scheduled three meetings to discuss the 2008 District Water Supply Assessment and the 2010 District Water Supply Plan. All three meetings are open to the public, but none are in North Florida. For information on the meetings, cal Dr. David Hornsby at (386) 312-2371.