• Learn to Read Jacksonville has set its sights on training 25 new tutors this spring. A volunteer organization with the goal of improving adult literacy, Learn to Read will hold training sessions Feb. 5 from 5:30-9 p.m. and Feb. 7 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. The registration fee is $20 and covers tutor manual, food, tutor instructional materials, etc. Call the LTR office at 399-8894 and request a tutor information packet to register for the training or e-mail [email protected].
• Jacksonville-based Landstar System recently recognized 80 of its employees nationwide who have driven 1 million miles without incident. In total, the drivers honored have covered 92 million miles. Four of the drivers are from Florida, but none are from the Northeast Florida area.
• Jacksonville’s Safe Harbor Boys Home is the subject of a Hallmark Channel TV movie that will air Memorial Day weekend. The two-hour drama tells the story of Doug and Robbie Smith, founders of the residential and educational program for at-risk teenage boys. The home is located on the St. Johns River near Blount Island on land leased from the Jacksonville Port Authority for $1 per year.
• The Hyatt is the state’s 23rd biggest hotel with 987 rooms. The top three in the state are all Disney resorts in Lake Buena Vista led by Disney’s All-Star Resorts with 5,761 rooms.
• This year’s Guns ‘n’ Hoses event is set for March 7 at the Arena. It’s the 11th time our police and firefighters have taken it to the ring in the name of charity.
• Dignity U Wear needs your underwear and you can help them out March 15 and 16 on Undie Sunday and Undie Monday. The organization is taking new underwear for children from faith-based groups March 15 and the local corporate community and schools the next day. This year’s title sponsor is Deutsche Bank and Ch. 4 meteorologist Richard Nunn returns as the spokesperson for the annual campaign. For more, call 636-9455.
• The City may have passed irrigation and fertilizer legislation last summer, but the St. Johns River Water Management District has amended its irrigation rules that also affect this area. Effective March 8, lawn watering isn’t permitted more than twice a week during Daylight Savings Time and only once during Eastern Standard Time. There are also rules regulating odd and even addresses and no one can run their irrigation systems between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
• St. Nicholas based Fogle Fine Arts & Accessories is now known as Fogle Fine Arts & Consulting. The change, said owner Leigh Fogle, is to better represent one of the company’s main services.
• New Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce Chair Mike Hightower is recovering after minor surgery on his knee Tuesday. He said doctors told him a timetable for full recovery would be three days or so — if he stayed off of it. Hightower was on his feet Wednesday, though, as a presenter of the Jacksonville Community Council’s Inc. annual “Quality of Life” study release. “I didn’t know if Blue Cross Blue Shield would cover it (the surgery),” joked Hightower, following the presentation. Hightower serves as vice president of governmental and legislative for the insurance provider.
• The groundbreaking for Jacksonville University’s new Marine Science Research Institute was originally scheduled for late last year, but center executive director Dr. Quinton White said he hopes for the ceremony to take place sometime in the middle of February. White said he’s looking to get both U.S. Reps. Ander Crenshaw and Corrine Brown to take part in the ceremony.
• Casa Dora Italian Cafe on Forsyth Street near the Florida Theatre now offers WiFi.