• Duval County School Superintendent Ed Pratt-Dannals is looking to create an ad hoc committee to examine the school system’s employee health benefits and ways to trim those costs while maintaining the same level of benefits. He’d like to start the process before the winter break for students and teachers and wrap it up in February.
• Tonight’s City Council meeting is the last scheduled meeting of the year for either the full Council or any of the committees. They’ll pick up again with committee meetings the week of Jan. 4.
• Charter Revision Commission Chair Wyman Duggan has some heavy-hitters coming to Thursday’s meeting to talk about a touchy subject: appointed Constitutional officers. Sheriff John Rutherford, University of Florida President and former Mayor John Delaney and UNF political science professor Matt Corrigan have confirmed they’ll attend.
• The Taxation, Revenue and Utilization of Expenditures Commission is already thinking about the 2010-11 budget. It’s the main topic of their meeting Thursday afternoon at City Hall. It’s at 4 p.m.
• A group of six candidates will be interviewed by the Governor’s Office of Legal Affairs Dec. 17 to fill a vacancy on the bench of the Fourth Judicial Circuit. County Judge Roberto Arias and attorneys Thomas Beverly, Alan Chipperfield, Corinne Hodak, Harvey Jay III and Don Lester.
• Interviews will be conducted Dec. 14 for the vacancy created by the Feb. 1 retirement of Circuit Court Judge Michael Weatherby. The Fourth Judicial Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission will begin the interviews at 8:30 a.m. at the Duval County Courthouse and the interviews are open to the public. There are 28 applicants, but 24 previously interviewed for a vacancy created by the passing of Circuit Court Judge Peter Fryefield, so the JNC will interview those applicants that have not appeared before it for an interview previously. For more information contact JNC Chair Ava Parker, 356-8822.
• HabiJax has been named one of the top 25 affiliates by Habitat for Humanity International for its 2009 participation in the organization’s international tithe program. As a result of U.S. affiliate donations this year, there are more than 3,300 additional global partner families living in affordable shelter. Founded locally in 1988, HabiJax is the largest non-profit affordable housing provider in Duval County.
• The next meeting of the Jacksonville Journey Oversight Committee is Dec. 15 at the University of North Florida’s University Center at 6 p.m. Normally the meetings are in the Ed Ball Building beginning at 4 p.m. Graduating students who took a course on the Journey under UNF’s Dr. Michael Hallett will present their findings and the venue change and time will accommodate both the parking and class time.
• Better news for education: Duval County’s high school graduation rate rose 3.2 percentage points to 64.5 percent. While it might seem low, it’s based on a new formula that no longer includes GED recipients as graduates. Under the formula, last year’s rate would have been 61.3 percent. “Regardless of the formula used, we are continuing to see an increase in the graduation rate in Duval County,” said Superintendent Ed Pratt-Dannals in a release.