• Florida Secretary of Commerce Gray Swoope will be keynote speaker Sept. 29 at a joint meeting of the NAIOP of Northeast Florida commercial real estate trade association and the Urban Land Institute North Florida. The event, presented by Holland & Knight, will start at 11:30 a.m. at the Hyatt Downtown. Swoope also is CEO of Enterprise Florida Inc. Information: Visit www.naiopnefl.com or call 730-8075.
• The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5-30 endorsed Audrey Gibson for Florida Senate District 1. The seat was vacated when Tony Hill resigned to join the administration of Mayor Alvin Brown. The special primary election is Sept. 20 and the general election is Oct. 18.
• Candidates for the state Senate seat are Gibson, Ramon Day, Terry Fields and Leandrew Mills, all Democrats, and write-in candidate Andrea Felicia Austin.
• Leadership Jacksonville rescheduled its annual reunion lunch to Oct. 4, according to its website. It had been planned for Sept. 28. Same time — 11:30 a.m. Same place — Hyatt Downtown. The “Meet the Class of 2012” happy hour is still planned at 5 p.m. Oct. 13 at River City Brewing Co.
• Wells Fargo Senior Economist Mark Vitner is scheduled to speak to the St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Council at its quarterly breakfast Wednesday. The meeting is at Renaissance World Golf Village Resort and Convention Center in St. Augustine. Information: St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce at 829-5681 or [email protected].
• The Times-Union reported Thursday and today that it will cut 39 positions, or 9.5 percent of its existing workforce of 411 full-time equivalent jobs. The daily newspaper reported that Publisher Lucy Talley said another eight open positions won’t be filled, but existing openings for “mission critical” jobs will be. According to the paper, Talley said the move will cut operating costs in response to shortfalls in revenue. A memo from Talley also said that the newspaper also will review operational costs including newsprint consumption. Morris Publishing Group LLC, the parent company of the Times-Union, posted a $1.2 million loss in the second quarter, up from a $154,000 loss in the same quarter in 2010, according to the company’s report filed Aug. 16 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
• Jacksonville gas prices are trending up, reports www.jacksonvillegasprices.com. The average price of a gallon of unleaded was $3.513 this morning, up from $3.505 Thursday. The price is about even with a week ago, down almost 15 cents from a month ago, but up 91 cents from a year ago.
• Jacksonville University will host author Sonia Nazario, winner of a Pulitzer Prize, at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Terry Concert Hall at the 2800 University Blvd. N. campus. Nazario spent 20 years reporting and writing about social issues, most recently as a projects reporter for the Los Angeles Times. She won the prize for feature writing for her series about Enrique, a Honduran boy, and his struggle to find his mother in the United States. The story became a book, “Enrique’s Journey.”