• The City is accepting nominations for the 2010 Jacksonville Jazz Festival Hall of Fame which serves to recognize festival pioneers, city leaders, musicians, educators and patrons of the arts who have made significant contributions to jazz in Jacksonville. Deadline for nominations is Feb. 19. Nomination forms and biographies of current members are available at www.jaxjazzfest.com.
• Clarification to Thursday’s story on the City’s Assistant Management Improvement Officers. According to the mayor’s office, the City’s 164 AMIOs are not tabbed for civil service; they are being re-titled to appointed positions authorized in the City Charter.
• A few local notables are up for appointment, or reappointment, to various City boards or commissions. Former PGA of America President M.G. Orender has been nominated by City Council President Richard Clark for appointment to the Duval County Tourist Development Council. Orender would replace Jim Ewing. Also, Scott Shine is for appointment to the Waterways Commission and would replace Susan Grandin. Penny Thompson is up for reappointment to the Waterways Commission.
• Speaking of Waterways, Council member John Crescimbeni will chair Thursday’s meeting in the absence of Waterways Chair Reggie Brown. The meeting is at 9 a.m. in Conference Room A of the Council offices.
• Speaking of Crescimbeni, he’s sponsoring a bill that recognizes the Jacksonville Humane Society for 125 years of service in Jacksonville.
• One more about the Waterways Commission. A handful of Council members are sponsoring legislation that honors former JSO member and longtime Waterways member John Lowe.
• BB&T Wealth has hired Matthew Anderson as a wealth management advisor serving the North Florida market. He earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from Florida State University and holds the Series 7, 63, 65 securities licenses and the Florida life, health and variable annuities license. BB&T’s Wealth Division manages more than $17 billion in assets. As of Dec. 31, 2009 BB&T Corporation had $165.8 billion in assets and operated more than 1,800 financial centers in 12 states and Washington, D.C.
• Mayor John Peyton has been invited by Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard Casaubron to participate in November’s World Congress of United Cities and Local Governments. Mexico City is hosting the Nov. 17-20 event that’s the third for the organization.
• Speaking of Peyton, according to his schedule the groundbreaking for the Laura Street project is Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.
• There will soon be a new opportunity to mingle and network Downtown over a cocktail after work. The Skyline on the 42nd floor of the Bank of America Tower is debuting a twice-a-week get-together Feb. 19 with a cash bar and free appetizers. After the inauguration, the social hour will be every Wednesday and Friday from 4:30-7:30 p.m.
• The Riverside-Avondale Historic District got some international press over the weekend when the neighborhood was featured in Saturday’s edition of the London Financial Times. The article described the area as “one of the largest collections of early to mid-20th-century residential architecture in the country.” It also quoted Sheron Wilson, a broker with Prudential Network Realty, describing housing prices in the district ranging from $155,000 for a renovated bungalow to a restored riverfront mansion for $3 million.