• Before Thursday morning’s Tourist Development Council subcommittee meeting, TDC member Fred Pozin noted how easy it was to find parking around City Hall — which can be a trick — and attributed it to Mayor John Peyton’s press conference at the Times-Union Center, which also started at 10 a.m. “There are lots of parking meters available,” he said.
• FM-89.9 is expanding its music programming including the addition of “Performance Today,” a two-hour classical music program that will air weekdays at 7 p.m. beginning Monday. The public radio station is bringing back “Performance Today” in response to community requests for more classical music programming. Several new locally-produced programs have also been added to the broadcast schedule. For a complete listing, visit www.WJCT.org.
• Chris Hagan is the new government affairs director for the Northeast Florida Builders Association. His duties include serving the governmental affairs needs of members in nine counties, including Duval, Nassau, Clay and St. Johns. Hagan can be contacted at 725-4355.
• On the mend, Beth Fleet of the Supervisor of Election Office. She broke her leg on the last day of her vacation to Israel.
• The First Coast Tea Party will hold another “Freedom Rally” Thursday at the Landing. This one’s from 5:30-7 p.m.
•Farmers markets are popping up all over: Jacksonville’s latest showcase of locally-grown fruits and vegetables debuts this weekend. The Mandarin farmers market will be open next door to Whole Foods on San Jose Boulevard every Sunday from 2-6 p.m. In addition to produce, sellers will also offer fresh-roasted coffee, fresh-baked bread, local honey, arts and crafts and live entertainment.
• This year’s Carrabba’s Summer Beach Run is set for Aug. 22 at 6 p.m. The five-mile race starts and ends at the Seawalk Pavilion in Jacksonville Beach.
• Americans for the Arts, a national arts organization, selected Jacksonville International Airport’s “Gotta Go” as one of the best public arts projects in the U.S. at its annual conference in Seattle this past weekend. Artist Gordon Huether of Napa, Calif. was commissioned by the JIA Arts Commission to produce the installation for the recently completed concourses A and C. Currently, there are 11 pieces of large-scale permanent art throughout JIA and two have been recognized: “The River” in 2006 by artist Peter Hite and now “Gotta Go.”
• Now open: The Oral Explosions Food Court at 1402 San Marco Blvd. The venue features JP Lee’s Gourmet Chinese & Sushi, Ray’s Pizza, Flavor’s Essence of India, Coffee Roasters and Deli Deli. Hours are advertised as 6:30 a.m.–9:30 p.m. For more information, go to oeejax.net.
• As a preventive action, the City has temporarily closed approximately 4,500 feet of the beach at Huguenot Memorial Park to vehicular traffic. The closure is meant to protect a larger than usual number of birds nesting and foraging in the northern part of the park. Vehicles pose a threat to flightless juvenile birds that have left the dune nests. Because their wings are not yet fully developed, they are unable to quickly escape potential vehicular threats.
• The University of Central Florida’s Institute for Economic Competitiveness has released its U.S. forecast for 2009-12 and, according to the report, the economy is slowly rebounding. After an 18-month recession, things should pick up by the end of the third quarter of this year. Unemployment will peak at 10.1 percent next year (that equates to 7.1 million payroll jobs lost) but drop to 8.2 percent by the end of 2012. The report also suggests that President Barack Obama immediately reappoint Ben Bernanke as chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.