• City Council President Richard Clark has made a couple of additions to the Finance Committee. Council members Denise Lee and Johnny Gaffney will join the committee, making it a 9-person committee this cycle. Clark cited “the complexity and difficulty of the task before us” in reference to the proposed 2009-10 budget as his reason for adding two to the committee.
• Henry Fonde is up for reappointment to the Duval County Tourist Development Council for a third term that would expire June 30, 2013. Fonde represents the tourist accommodation industry on the TDC.
• Certainly there isn’t anything in stone yet, but later this month Rayonier officials are hosting a delegation from China to talk about “mutual economic/business development opportunities,” according to Charles Hood, vice president of public affairs for Rayonier. The Chinese delegation will be led by a gentleman identified as “Mr. Lui” who is also on the executive team of China Tobacco — the largest industrial company in China.
• The closed Harry’s location in Jacksonville Beach next to the Mellow Mushroom won’t stay empty long. Greg Saig, whose family owned the original Harry’s restaurants in town, is putting in a new place. No word on what it’ll be called.
• The City’s “Go Fourth & Rock” celebration included public ice skating sessions at the Arena and the cool event proved to be a hit. The City’s Office of Special Events reported over 7,000 glided across the ice throughout the July 4 weekend.
• Land Use & Zoning Chair Ray Holt has moved the LUZ agenda meetings from 3:30 to 3:45 p.m. LUZ meets every other Tuesday at 5 p.m.
• Wolfson Children’s Hospital and The Women’s Board is holding its annual Art & Antique Show Dec. 2-5 at the Osborn Center and they are looking for some help from the City in the form of rent forgiveness. According to three of the event’s organizers, including president Mary Pietan, rent for the show was $10,900 in 2002 and is $22,000 this year. The group is asking for $3,000 in forgiveness.
• Jacksonville Waterways Commission Chair and City Council member Reginald Brown has moved the Aug. 13 Waterways meeting from Council Chambers to the Lynwood Roberts Room since there will be budget hearings going on in Chambers. He has also canceled all Waterways agenda meetings for the rest of the year.
• Money Magazine’s “Best Places to Live 2009” for America’s best small towns recently came out, and though Jacksonville has been called a “big city with a small town feel,” it didn’t meet the criteria, namely being between 8,500 and 50,000 people among other points. Only two Florida cities — Lake Mary, No. 96, and Oviedo, No. 100 — made the top 100 list. Both are new additions, as Weston, Coral Springs and Miramar dropped from the rankings from last year.
• Longtime radio personality David Lamm is returning to the airwaves Monday on FM-105.3/AM-1010, but he isn’t leaving his most recent endeavor behind. He’ll still be heavily involved in the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Florida with its “Sports Buddies” program that will help match children and their big brothers/big sisters through a common interest in sports.