• David Downs, executive director of the USA Bid Committee which is looking to bring either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup to the United States, was in town Tuesday. He met with Mayor John Peyton and took a tour of the stadium. According to Mike Bouda, director of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission’s sports and entertainment division, the visit “went well.” Jacksonville is one of about 30 cities across the nation that has made the cut to host matches if the U.S. is awarded the World Cup by FIFA, soccer’s international governing body.
• Speaking of the JEDC, the Film & Television Office’s 9th Annual Jacksonville Film Industry Reception is Oct. 15 at PRI Productions in San Marco.
• Chris Pearson, chief of the City’s Solid Waste Division, has retired. He’ll be replaced on an interim basis by Fred Forbes of the Environmental Compliance Division.
• If you have ever called Animal Care and Protective Services you are not alone. According to Division Chief Scott Trebatoski, since 1998, the division has responded to 57,534 calls about dogs or cats. That’s 5,230 a year or 14 a day.
• Attorney Bryan DeMaggio of Sheppard, White, Thomas & Kachergus, has filed a public records request for a list of the “agencies to which the City of Jacksonville and/or Duval County has distributed funds obtained from ‘Choose Life’ license plates.”
• Mayport Village Development Corporation is looking to have the area considered a “Preserve America Community.” According to Ronda McDonald, interim director of the organization’s board, that designation would allow the community to apply for federal grants and tout its inclusion as a Preserve America Community in press releases, on its Web site and in other ways.
• A recent article on Edward Waters highlighted progress the historically black university has made over the past year, and it continues next month. The school is hosting a ribbon cutting ceremony for its Baker Suite facility in the John Hurst Adams-Jimmy R. Jenkins Sports & Music Center Oct. 14 at 11 a.m.