• Wells Fargo will throw a parade next week, including its iconic horse-drawn carriage, to celebrate this weekend’s conversion of 62 Wachovia banking offices in Northeast Florida into Wells Fargo stores. The parade starts at 10 a.m. Wednesday Downtown, ending at the former Modis Building, which will become Wells Fargo Center later this year. Mayor-elect Alvin Brown and Wells Fargo North Florida Regional President Scott Coble will headline the festivities. Look for the Florida A&M University marching band and the presentation of $80,000 to local charities.
• The Duval Republican Party said local State Committeewoman Cindy Graves, who also serves as the statewide president of the Florida Federation of Republican Women, was among the five finalists announced Thursday by the National Federation of Republican Women to be in the running to receive the Ronald Reagan Leadership Award. The party said the award, presented biennially, “honors a state Republican Woman’s president who has provided extraordinary leadership and inspiration to her state and to the NFRW.”
• Friendship Park will be officially re-opened June 18. Mayor John Peyton, City Council members Don Redman and Warren Jones and others will take part in a dedication ceremony, planned from 9-11 a.m. The $3.1 million restoration project replaced broken concrete with natural grass surfaces, added seats and installed new lighting, sidewalks and trees. A news release for the event also touts it as one of Peyton’s last personal appearances as mayor.
• The northbound lanes of Florida 9A between Philips Highway and Baymeadows Road will be closed from 11 p.m. Tuesday until 5 a.m. Wednesday for construction at the Florida 9B interchange. Motorists will be detoured onto Philips Highway to Southside Boulevard and then east onto Baymeadows Road to return to 9A. Meanwhile, southbound Florida 9A will remain open.
• Gayle Hart, vice president of marketing for the Greater Jacksonville Fair, and Pete Sutton, general manager of the Clay County Fair, have been named to the executive committee of the Florida Federation of Fairs. Hart was named second vice president and Sutton was named secretary-treasurer. The annual state convention was May 19-21 at the World Golf Village in St. Augustine.
• The Early Learning Coalition of Duval has designated $900,000 to local child care teachers for their contributions to providing quality early-learning services in Duval County. To receive funding, teachers, assistant teachers and directors must work at a child care center in the Guiding Stars of Duval program or Jacksonville Journey for at least a year. Each center must have a star rating and workers must meet eligibility guidelines based on employment status, training and educational requirements. The wage incentives are funded yearly through the School Readiness program, which is administered in Duval County through ELC of Duval.