• Naval Air Station Jacksonville contracted with Goodwill/Sodexo to provide laundry and linen services for its military hospital and three outpatient clinics. The contract will generate 500,000 pounds of hospital laundry annually and allow Goodwill to hire eight more laundry technicians. Goodwill’s Jacksonville commercial laundry operation began in October 2007. It expects to eventually employ 150 people.
• Correction: In Wednesday’s story about Hillwood and Cecil Commerce Center, Hillwood Vice President Preston Herold’s name was misspelled.
• Jacksonville’s Downtown is experiencing effects of the Nashville flooding. The American Academy of Professional Coders moved its national convention from Nashville to Jacksonville’s Osborn Center June 6-9. The Hyatt is reporting about 5,000 room nights booked for it. The group consists of “physicians, practice and office managers, coders, billers, auditors, payers, and anyone else involved in the business side of medicine.”
• Mayor John Peyton will release the latest volume from the Mayor’s Book Club collection during a 10:15 a.m. ceremony Monday at the Veterans Memorial Wall. “We Salute the Military” was written by Ginger Peacock Preston and Donna Peacock Hanczaryk and illustrated by Ethan Long. This is the 13th book release as a result of the Rally! Jacksonville initiative to provide books and backpacks to area 4-year-olds.
• Speaking of Peyton’s book club, it’s now in its sixth year and more than 53,000 children have received books.
• Look for the auditing firm of McGladrey & Pullen LLP to serve as the City’s outside auditor for the next three fiscal years. The firm was selected over several firms that responded to the request for proposal sent out several months ago. The firm has been approved by the Office of General Counsel, the City’s CFO and Treasurer.
• JEA is hosting a town meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the cafeteria at Woodland Acres Elementary during which JEA officials will talk about the Oakwood Villas septic tank phaseout project. City Council member Bill Bishop will also be on hand.
• Speaking of JEA, look for the Taxation, Revenue, and Utilization of Expenditures Commission to create a committee that’ll look into bringing a private utility to town to compete against JEA. TRUE Commission member Robert Jones will chair the committee.
• The Council Auditor’s Office recently released an audit of the Jacksonville Port Authority’s dredging procurement. The report looked at all dredging procurement and contract payments from Oct. 1, 2006, through Sept. 30, 2009. Overall, the auditors were pleased with JPA and only noted a couple of internal control issues.
• A stroll through the clubhouse at TPC Sawgrass reveals that the first swing at the course resulted in a mulligan. At a formal ceremony to mark the beginning of construction at TPC Feb. 12, 1978, PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beman took a ceremonial first shot, which skidded off the tee into some brush. He grabbed another ball and connected “right on the screws.” Both balls are on display in the clubhouse.
• City Chief of Staff Adam Hollingsworth agreed to serve on the Northbank Redevelopment Task Force, a small group focused on following through on Jacksonville Economic Development Commission plans for the Northbank. It’s headed by Preston Haskell and includes Steve Halverson, Ceree Harden, John Rood and John Welch.
• Next month the Spanish Navy Training Ship, Juan Sebastian de Elcano, will be here for five days. From June 5-9, the ship will dock at Naval Station Mayport. Mayor John Peyton has been invited by the Consul General of Spain, Santiago Cabanas, to a private lunch in the quarters of the ship’s commanding officer.