• Bill and Kim Prescott intend to resume their “Dine with Us Downtown” series in January after the holidays. Prescott is the Jacksonville Jaguars CFO. The couple has organized four monthly Downtown dining events, making reservations at a restaurant and asking people to do the same. Prescott said more than 400 diners have joined the dine-in movement. The fifth will be next month.
• Gov. Rick Scott announced the appointment of Dr. Valerie Rao as District 4 Medical Examiner, serving Clay, Duval and Nassau counties. Rao, of Jacksonville, is a forensic pathologist. She succeeds Dr. Margarita Arruza and is appointed for a term that began Monday and ends July 1.
• Scott also appointed Suzanne C. Wilhoite, of Jacksonville, to the Board of Cosmetology. She has been a licensed cosmetologist since 1978. Her term began Friday and ends Oct. 31, 2014. The appointment is subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate.
• The Jacksonville Aviation Authority will open Economy Lot 3 at Jacksonville International Airport from Thursday afternoon through Jan. 3, or until the lot fills up, for a flat fee of $20. The fee is payable with cash or credit card upon entry. Free shuttle service is available during the time the lot is open. Vehicles that remain in the lot after Jan. 3 will be towed at the owner’s expense.
• On Tuesday, Mayor Alvin designated 12 area park sites for water enthusiasts to access the St. Johns River and its tributaries. “These launches will enable residents and visitors to get out on the water and enjoy,” Brown said in a statement. The newly designated sites include shoreline launches, boat ramps and docks. The addition brings the number of public launch sites to 44. The sites can be found online at www.jaxparks.com.
• The Jacksonville Fair was honored as the “Best of Show” at the 2011 International Association of Fairs and Expositions Hall of Honor Communications awards in Las Vegas for its “Holy Cow the Jacksonville Fair is Here” advertising campaign promoting the 2010 fair. Gayle Hart, vice president of marketing for the fair, also accepted the award for “Best Advertising Campaign for Fairs with attendance between 250,000 and 500,000.” The campaign was designed by Bryant Hardwick, with additional creative support by Hart, Jason Ramsey, Eric Leffler, Charles Robinson, Karen Brashear and Eve Ross.
• Jacksonville Community Council Inc. will be observing the holidays. Its office will be closed from Friday through Jan. 2 and will re-open Jan. 3.
• The City issued a permit for Dagasa Inc. to handle interior build-out for American Care at 1918 Blanding Blvd. at a cost of $300,000 and for Flagler Construction Corp. to renovate space for ValueOptions at 10199 Southside Blvd., No. 300, at a project cost of $236,295;
• FirstAtlantic Bank has announced that effective last Friday, it has assumed all of the deposits and purchased a majority of the assets of CenterBank of Jacksonville, which has served Jacksonville customers since 2001.
• The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens offers its “Countdown to Noon Year’s Eve” special admission offer next Monday-Friday, leading up to the Zoo’s annual Noon Year’s Eve event. Children ages 3-12 will save 50 percent off regular child’s Zoo admission with a “Countdown to Noon Year’s Eve” coupon from www.jacksonvillezoo.org.
• At 4:30 p.m. Thursday, the Jacksonville Jaguars wide receivers plan to take 35 children from the Sulzbacher Center shopping at Toys R Us at the St. Johns Town Center. Each child will shop with a player and will receive $100 to buy gifts.
• Not that you’d know it with daytime temperatures in the 70s, but winter begins at 12:30 a.m. Thursday. The day will have the fewest hours of sunlight during the year. The Old Farmer’s Almanac reports the sun will rise at 7:19 a.m. in Jacksonville and set at 5:31 p.m., for 10 hours and 12 minutes of daylight.
• Pegine Echevarria, CEO and founder of Team Pegine Inc., visited the Pentagon on Dec. 9 for a presentation to the Department of Defense about diversity and inclusion in the federal workplace. “We are honored to be one of only two diversity organizations in the country who were invited to present at the first meeting of the Department of Defense Diversity and Inclusion Working Group,” said Echevarria. Team Pegine Inc. is headquartered at the Beaver Street Enterprise Center business incubator.