• Baptist Medical Center Beaches has named Ernie Bono Sr. as the new chair of its board of directors. Bono succeeds John Anderson, managing partner of Bott-Anderson Partners Inc., who served as the Baptist Beaches board chair for the past nine years. Anderson will remain as a board member. Bono is a retired executive of the Prudential Insurance Company and has been a member of the Baptist Beaches board of directors for eight years.
• Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland confirmed that Ray Holt won the three-man race to keep his City Council District 11 seat and that Bill Gulliford prevailed in the four-candidate race for the City Council District 13 seat. Both Republicans led their races with just over 50 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s election, but had to wait for provisional and absentee ballots to be counted to confirm they could avoid a runoff.
• Baptist Medical Center Beaches also announced the election of Peter Ghiloni, senior vice president of marketing at Swisher International Inc., as vice chair and Sonny Bhikha, owner of Quality Suites Oceanfront, as secretary.
• Gov. Rick Scott will sign the teacher merit pay bill at 9:15 a.m. today at the charter KIPP – Knowledge Is Power Program – School on McDuff Avenue North, according to The News Service of Florida, citing his schedule. The measure (SB 736), which ties teacher pay in part to their students’ test scores starting in 2014, was the first bill sent to the governor this year by the Legislature. The bill’s Senate sponsor is Republican Sen. Steve Wise of Jacksonville.
• While fans are still left guessing if there will be an NFL season this year, they are at least guaranteed an NFL draft and the Jacksonville Jaguars Jacksonville Jaguars will host the 17th Annual Bud Light Draft Party presented by PRI Productions at 6:30 p.m. April 28 at The Markets at Town Center. Visit www.jaguars.com for more information.
• From March 26-April 2, U.S. District Judge Harvey Schlesinger and the International Visitor Corps of Jacksonville Inc., in partnership with the Open World Program, will host a delegation of five judges from the Republic of Tatarstan, part of the Russian Federation. The delegation will meet with the faculty and students at the Florida Coastal School of Law and local judges, attorneys and representatives from bar associations. They also will tour a federal correctional facility and observe court proceedings.
• The law firm of Jimerson & Wilson will host a mock foreclosure trial by the Mock Trial Team of the Florida Coastal School of Law April 8 at the Florida Coastal campus. The trial is hosted with the First Coast chapter of the Risk Management Association. The trial will run from 1-5 p.m. Tickets are $20. A majority of proceeds from the event will benefit the Florida Coastal Mock Trial Team. To register, contact Steve Sprecher at [email protected] by April 6.
• The Jacksonville Women Lawyers Association is collecting candy and small gifts to fill 100 “Spring Baskets” for the children at Community Connections. Donations can be dropped off at Naugle & Smith, 810 Margaret St., or call Katherine Naugle at 366-2703 to arrange to have the donation picked up.
• Closing: Starbucks at the Landing. A statement from the Seattle-based coffee company said the location would be closed in April. The statement also said the company uses several criteria to identify stores for closure as a standard course of business.
• Downtown governance is the topic of the “Downtown In-depth Series” by the Urban Land Institute North Florida district council that continues March 31. Jacksonville Economic Development Commission Executive Director Ron Barton will join Downtown advocate Ed Burr of GreenPointe Holdings and Jim Cloar, interim president of the International Downtown Association, for the event at River City Brewing Co. Registration and networking start at 5 p.m. and the program follows from 6-7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25. Call 800-321-5011 to register. For information, email [email protected].
• The Urban Land Institute also plans a breakfast presentation about “The Greater Jacksonville Mobility Plan” at 7:30 a.m. April 7 at The St. Joe Building riverfront room along Riverside Avenue. Speakers Bill Killingsworth, T.R. Hainline, Alex Coley, Tom Ingram and Brad Thoburn will discuss the proposed mobility plan for the City of Jacksonville. Killingsworth is director of the City Planning and Development Department, Hainline is with the Rogers Towers law firm, Coley is with Hallmark Partners and Ingram is with the Ingram & Van Rooy law firm. Brad Thoburn, Jacksonville Transportation Authority director of strategic planning and research, will moderate the discussion. For costs and information, email Carolyn Clark at [email protected] or call 486-8256.
• Gov. Rick Scott appointed Kelvin L. Lawson of Jacksonville to the Florida A&M University board of trustees. Lawson is a national client services director for Acosta Sales and Marketing and succeeds R.B. Holmes. His term began Wednesday and ends Jan. 6, 2016.
• Downtown Vision Inc. announced a $100,000 grant program to provide matching grant funds for the enhancement of Downtown facades on Laura Street from Monroe Street to Independent Drive.