• City bus operators could begin a process to strike Sunday if the latest proposal in negotiations with the Jacksonville Transportation Authority is rejected. A news release by JTA says the bus operators union, the Amalgamated Transit Union, is seeking a 17 percent pay hike, an additional week of paid leave, an additional 20 percent for health insurance and an additional 28 percent in pension contributions. Larry Allen, local ATU representative, calls the claims “totally unfounded,” but did not specify the union’s requests. He said JTA is looking to “gut our contract” and affect the drivers’ health insurance and overtime pay. If rejected, the vote for a strike would go to the national ATU for approval, a process Allen says typically takes three weeks to a month. If approved, the organization must give JTA a 48-hour notice of the strike.
• Down to just over 3,000 tickets to go. With the first home preseason game just eight days away, the Jacksonville Jaguars need to sell 8,024 season tickets to lift a television blackout for the season. They expect to sell 5,000 in group sales.
• The first pre-season game is tonight. The Jaguars play the Philadelphia Eagles at 7:30 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field. It’ll be shown on WTEV CBS 47.
• The Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce is pushing members to plug the Jaguars ticket sales gap. Chamber leaders are thanking businesses that bought tickets and reminding others that they can make it easier for their staffs to buy tickets through a payroll deduction plan.
• Chamber Cornerstone President Jerry Mallot says the Jaguars have an annual economic impact of more than $200 million a year in Jacksonville.
• Need more proof that the chamber is serious about supporting the Jaguars? “No other entity has done more for Jacksonville in terms of economic development, national exposure and community pride,” said Mallot, the chamber’s chief economic development executive.
• Mayo Clinic received a more than $43 million bequest from the late Juanita Kious Waugh of Brookston, Ind., the third largest estate gift in its history. Ms. Waugh, who died at 87, and her parents were patients of Mayo Clinic for more than 60 years. Her gift will assist Mayo’s three campuses, in Jacksonville, Rochester, Minn., and Phoenix/Scottsdale, Ariz.