• Today is the 187th anniversary of the founding of Jacksonville. It’s not known if June 15 was the exact day Isaiah Hart tied a rope around a Bay tree near where the County Courthouse sits today to map out the first streets. However, the 15th has been the accepted date in terms of official history, according to Emily Lisska, executive director of the Jacksonville Historical Society.
• The First District Court of Appeals Judicial Nominating Commission will meet July 7 at 9 a.m. to select its list of candidates to interview for the vacant seat created by the retirement of Judge Edwin B. Browning, Jr. Those candidates will be interviewed July 23-24 in Tallahassee.
• U.S. District Court Judge Henry Lee Adams Jr. will reach Senior Judge status next April and this transition will create an opening on the U.S. District Court Bench, which Middle District Magistrates James Klindt and Monte Richardson and Circuit Court Judge Brian Davis have applied for. Applicants will be notified after June 30 if they have been invited to Orlando for an interview on July 21.
• State Rep. Charles McBurney recently met with the Jacksonville Bar Association’s Sole Practitioner/Small Law Firm Section to discuss new legislation passed of interest to lawyers, being one himself. This discussion included SB 926, which would allow a space for a mausoleum to be created at Florida Field for University of Florida fans to be buried.
• Those who go on this year’s Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce Leadership Trip are heading to Kansas City, Mo. Chamber Chair-elect Kelly Madden, North Florida market president for Wachovia Bank, picked Kansas City. The trip is set for Oct. 6-8.
• Speaking of the Chamber, Valerie Chritton is now heading its finance department as a full-time contractor. She took over for former Finance Director Susan Dugan. Chritton is both a CPA and an attorney and was with Holland & Knight before joining the Chamber.
• It may be a while before the Jacksonville Port Authority is able to start the dredging project that will deepen the river at Talleyrand from 38 to 40 feet. The project was estimated to cost $31 million, but bids came in at $45 million.
• The Jacksonville Aviation Authority is asking for a $10 million federal earmark to build a north access road at Cecil Commerce Center. According to JAA spokesman Michael Stewart, the Authority should get word on the funding within the next 10 days.
• Speaking of JAA, all of the construction on Concourses A and C at JIA is done and all of the tenants are out of the old Concourse C. Demolition of that concourse will begin this week.