• TD Bank named John Schmitt as senior vice president – North and Central Florida middle market manager in commercial lending. He will be based in Jacksonville and cover a region stretching from Jacksonville to Stuart, Orlando and Tampa Bay. He previously served as regional president at SunTrust Bank in North Florida.
• Condolences to the family of former Circuit Judge William Durden, who died Saturday at the age of 89. He was the legal counsel to the consolidation movement in the late 1960s. He is survived by his wife and five children, including Circuit Judge Mallory Cooper.
• The law firm of Jimerson & Wilson relocated from Park Street to the nearby Riverside Center at 701 Riverside Park Place. All phone and fax numbers remain the same.
• The White Oak Conservation Center in Yulee will host its annual fundraising event April 10. It’s open to the public at $200 a person. It starts with a Cheetah Lure Run, which allows guests a close view of cheetahs running at full speed. Guests will receive a tour of the center and a gourmet dinner at 5 p.m. under the Pavilion along the St. Mary’s River. White Oak is a wildlife facility spanning 600 acres and surrounded by 6,800 acres of pine and hardwood forest and wetlands. For information, visit www.whiteoakconservation.org.
• City Council President Jack Webb called a news conference for 11:30 a.m. today on the City Hall front steps to announce his appointment of an ad hoc committee of council members to research savings strategies for the fiscal 2011-12 City budget. “Since there will be some turnover on the City Council and a new Finance Committee will be in place come the first of July, it will be prudent for the council to take advantage of existing experience and knowledge and to get the budget consideration process started as early as possible,” he said.
• Stein Mart costume and sterling jewelry buyer Lori Cassidy was named to the 2011 Merchants Hall of Fame by Accessories magazine. She’s been buying for Stein Mart for 15 years. With 28 years of retail experience, Cassidy has prior experience buying for Dillard’s, Bueno Handbags, Sag Harbor and Uptons.
• This year’s 2011 Women’s History Month honorees are Debbie Buckland, executive vice president, SunTrust Bank; Barbara Harrell, immediate past president, Women’s Giving Alliance; Keri Kidder, communications chair for the Citi Pride Network and a member of the Citi Women’s Network; and Dr. Shahla Masood, medical director of the Shands Jacksonville Breast Health Center and the chief of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Shands Jacksonville. They were selected by the Mayor’s Commission on the Status of Women. A reception is planned 5:30-7 p.m. Tuesday at the University of North Florida Thomas G. Carpenter Library, where a commemorative poster will be unveiled.
• Zisser, Robison, Brown, Nowlis, Maciejewski & Cabrey partner Brian Cabrey, vice president of Florida’s Children First, attended the group’s 8th Annual Broward Awards event in Fort Lauderdale. More than 200 people attended to recognize former Department of Children and Families Secretary George Sheldon and other honorees for their advocacy and contributions to protecting Florida’s youth.