• SMG, the management group that manages the City’s entertainment venues, received some good news recently in Venues Today, a concert industry reporting trade magazine. From October 2008-09, the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena ranked fifth in the U.S. and 10th in the world in gross ticket sales for venues with a capacity of 10,001-15,000. The arena ranked one notch higher than Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
• Speaking of the Arena, the scaffolding constructed on the back of the building is being used to repair the soffit section of the Arena roof. Heavy winds from past storms caused large sections of soffit to break away from the building. Bob Downey, SMG general manager, expects the repairs to be completed by March.
• Correction. In the Commercial Real Estate Women Jacksonville photo from last Thursday, the people in two pictures were incorrectly identified. It should have been Leland Edward and Susan Verbeck, both of Community First Credit Union; and Josh Calandros of CSX with Kara Wimble of Tetra Tech.
• England-Thims & Miller CEO Doug Miller has thrown his hat into the ring for a spot on the St. Johns River Water Management District board of directors. He’s seeking an at-large seat that opens in March.
• Jacksonville Community Council Inc. celebrated its 25th Quality of Life Progress Report with a public release Tuesday, which provided a good opportunity for one of the organization’s newest employees to meet numerous members. Tonya Gleason was recently hired — Tuesday was her second day — and will serve as the organization’s development director.
• Speaking of the report’s release, numerous City Council members and their executive assistants attended the event but it was a little tougher for one. Sporting crutches due to his broken leg, Council member Don Redman had a front row seat and said he can bear some weight on the leg. He’ll know more Friday when he visits the doctor, he said, but while the crutches are better than a walker, “I’d love to get rid of these, too, though.”
• The world’s largest beer brewer is tapping into its production capabilities by sending drinking water to the people of Haiti. The day after the earthquake, Anheuser-Busch parent company AmBev shipped nearly 350,000 cans of fresh drinking water from a brewery it operates in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, about 160 miles from Port-au-Prince, to Haiti. In addition, the brewery in Cartersville, Ga., is working with the American Red Cross to ship another 600,000 cans of water. Also, the Anheuser-Busch Foundation and Labatt’s will match donations made by North American employees and its network of U.S. wholesalers to the American and Canadian Red Cross organizations, totaling up to $300,000.
• Speaking of Haiti, the law firm of Foley & Lardner recently announced it will match 50 percent, up to $100,000, of all contributions made by firm personnel to any of the relief agencies providing support to the people of Haiti.
• The state of emergency declared by Gov. Charlie Crist to assist farmers dealing with crop damage from the recent freeze was extended Tuesday. Executive order 10-07 extends previous order 10-01, which directs the state Department of Transportation to extend the lifting of weight, height, length and width restrictions for commercial vehicles transporting vulnerable crops to processing sites.