• Jacksonville’s Coastal Cleanup received its best participation to date with 922 volunteers contributing to the collection of 21,060 pounds of litter. The volunteers also collected 109 tires. Hosted by the City of Jacksonville’s “Clean it Up, Green it Up/Keep Jacksonville Beautiful,” the 2010 Jacksonville Coastal Cleanup event Sept. 25 provided volunteers with an opportunity to help beautify the city’s shorelines as part of the Ocean Conservancy’s 25th Annual International Coastal Cleanup.
• Free time will be at a premium for City Council member John Crescimbeni, soon. As a local franchisee of Hickory Farms, he expects the holiday business to crank up in another week.
• Jax India Fest 2010 will give Jacksonville a taste of India Saturday at Metropolitan Park from 3-11 p.m. The event will feature over 50 booths from a variety of regional Indian organizations and businesses. The booths will contain authentic Indian cuisine, traditional Indian dresses, traditional Indian jewelry, and Indian art. Also, traditional Indian folk and classical dances will be performed.
• The regularly scheduled monthly meeting of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission Thursday has been canceled. The next meeting will be Nov. 10, a Wednesday, due to Nov. 11 being Veterans Day.
• Problem solvers: The Association of Corporate Growth is hosting a panel discussion, “Tough Deal Issues and How to Solve Them,” during its Oct. 21 meeting from 11 a.m.– 1 p.m. at Morton’s The Steakhouse. Panelists include Don Wiggins, Heritage Capital Group president; Howard Serkin, Heritage Capital Group chair; Ray Driver, Driver, McAfee, Peek & Hawthorne partner; Peter Reynolds, The Griggs Group partner; and Mike Sullivan, of Fletcher Stein. Tickets are $35 for members, $45 for member’s guests and $60 for nonmembers. For more information, call Vickie Corder at 268-0045.
• One more for Oct. 21: Downtown Vision’s next quarterly operations meeting is scheduled for Oct. 21 at 9:30 a.m. in the Conference Center at the Main Library. It’s an opportunity to learn about what’s happening Downtown in the areas of development-related issues, traffic, events and safety. All interested persons are invited to attend. RSVP to 634-0303, ext. 224.
• They’ve had green events in the past, but the University of North Florida will host its inaugural Green Week from Oct. 25-29 in an effort to make the campus “greener.” The weeklong event will kick off a tree planting ceremony Oct. 25 and conclude with a St. Johns River boat expedition led by the St. Johns Riverkeeper Oct. 29. The week will also feature the return of the “Garbage on the Green” event that will reveal how much garbage the University patrons throw away during its fourth trash and recycling audit, with a campus cleanup event before the audit.
• Steve Diebenow, formerly of Rock Creek Capital, has joined Driver, McAfee, Peek and Hawthorne as a partner. Diebenow is a former chief of staff for Mayor John Peyton and worked in the mayor’s office for five years before leaving to join Rock Creek Capital.