• Lots of bridge painting going on in Jacksonville. The Dames Point Bridge project wraps up this summer and the Hart Bridge repainting just got started. And, the Florida Department of Transportation plans to paint the Mathews Bridge starting in 2011 at a price tag of $14.4 million.
• City Council member Michael Corrigan has declined to serve as the chair of the North Florida TPO Regional Authority Committee. Corrigan cited his appointment Monday as chair of the Council Special Committee on City Pension Reform as his reason for being unable to serve.
• Speaking of the Pension Reform Committee, Lt. David Kilcrease has been added as vice chair and will lend his pension expertise when it comes to corrections officers plans.
• Mayor John Peyton welcomed a delegation from the Democratic People’s Republic of the Congo Wednesday. The delegation was in town as the guests of City Council member Johnny Gaffney.
• Speaking of the mayor’s office, with this week’s departure of Planning Director Brad Thoburn, the only person left in the mayor’s office who also worked for former Mayor John Delaney is receptionist Alice Newman. A few others from Delaney’s administration are still with the City, but only Newman is still in the mayor’s office.
• Officials of UNF’s Coggin College of Business recently selected local entrepreneur David Hayes as the Linda Carter and Tom H. Slade III Entrepreneur in Residence. Hayes serves as president of Serendipity Business Advisors and will provide entrepreneurship assistance, have class visits and lead panel discussions with students among other duties in his new role.
• The list of candidates for Learn to Read’s 2009 “Kiss the Pig” contest has grown. Florida State College at Jacksonville President Dr. Steven Wallace and Roger Dodd, senior partner at Spohrer & Dodd, have signed on for the campaign. This year’s goal is to raise $45,000 for LTR’s adult literacy programs and the candidate who secures the most donations will kiss a pig at a May 3 Jacksonville Suns game.
• In association with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown has announced the availability of college scholarships for students in the Third Congressional District. Several types of scholarships are available for graduating high school seniors, current undergraduates or those pursuing graduate studies. For more information or an application, visit www.cbcfinc.org or call Brown’s Washington office at 202-225-0123. The deadline to apply is April 1.
• The inaugural MPS Group Championships (formerly the Bausch & Lomb Championships) are April 6-12 at Sawgrass Country Club and semifinals and finals will be televised live April 11-12 on The Tennis Channel. The telecasts will be available in Jacksonville on Comcast cable television if you subscribe to a sports package and also on DirecTV and Dish Network.
• City of Jacksonville Deputy General Counsel Shannon Eller is now the coordinator for “Legal Issues Facing Jacksonville,” the OGC’s public access show on Comcast.