• The City of Jacksonville’s “Starry Nights” concert scheduled for tomorrow evening at Metropolitan Park has been canceled. Under her doctor’s care, LeAnn Rimes has been ordered to rest her vocal cords for the next seven days, resulting in the inability to perform with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. Ticket holders will be contacted by the symphony’s box office for a full refund. For details call 354-5547 or 630-3690.
• Another partner has stepped up to contribute to the 2009 Jacksonville Jazz Festival. During a meeting with the City’s Special Events staff, JTA officials agreed to waive the 50-cent fare on the Skyway Memorial Day Weekend. That’ll make mobility convenient for jazz fans who park in the Kings Avenue Garage, at the Osborn Center or those who wish to use the Skyway to move around the festival site from Hemming Plaza to the Omni Hotel.
• If you’re traveling around Kernan Boulevard south of J. Turner Butler Boulevard today from 1- 9 p.m. and see a traffic accident, it could be staged. The North Florida Transportation Planning Organization, Florida Highway Patrol and Florida Department of Transportation along with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department are teaming up for a mock traffic accident video shoot to demonstrate key steps and guidelines for responders. The video will be part of a series of training videos.
• The health fair inside Independent Square Thursday drew plenty of folks but the most popular table may have been the free, five-minute massages courtesy of Massage Heights. There’s a Massage Heights in River City Marketplace and a second location coming this summer to St. Johns Town Center.
• Republican Clayton Junkins has filed to run for mayor, joining Dan Newman, who is not affiliated with a party, as the only two candidates so far to file with the Supervisor of Elections Office.
• Speaking of elections, Richard Piat (R) and Dave Smith (D) have filed to run for City Council Dist. 13, the seat currently held by Art Graham, who has filed to run for State Sen. Jim King’s seat.
• The City’s Ethics Commission meets May 26 at 3:30 p.m. in the Don Davis Room at City Hall.
• One sign the housing market may be improving is the number of warranty and mortgage deeds listed in the Daily Record. Over the past several months, there have been days where there only a handful of each. Tuesday, there were several dozen of each.
• Looking to add some international flair to your lunch? The Apple A Day stand at The Landing food court will be offering freshly baked Burek, Zeganica and Gibanica. All are dishes from Bosnian culture. They are baked pastries with, respectively, meat, spinach and cheese baked inside. The pastries will be available upstairs in June, but some have appeared at the stand on the first floor.
• Don’t literally fling your food across the room during it, but the 19th Annual Jacksonville Foodfight to benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank is June 4 at the Crown Royal Touchdown Club inside the stadium. More than 50 local and national restaurants will participate and serve up signature dishes for attendees to sample while raising funds and awareness to Second Harvest. In its history, the event has raised nearly $1 million. Tickets prices start at $50 and for more information, go to www.jacksonvillefoodfight.org.
• The Commercial Real Estate Women Jacksonville will be visited by State Rep. Mia Jones during its June 2 luncheon. Jones will be giving the professional development group a recap and update from the legislative session.
• The Jacksonville Port Authority and the Jacksonville District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are co-hosting a May 28 public workshop to talk about the proposed widening and deepening of the Jacksonville Harbor. It’s at the University of North Florida’s University Center at 2:30 p.m.