• The Mayo Clinic Campus in Florida, based in Jacksonville, has agreed to a research agreement with SK Biopharmaceuticals of Seoul, South Korea, to develop new treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease. Leonard Petrucelli, chair of the Department of Neuroscience Research at Mayo Clinic in Florida, is leading Mayo’s effort.
• The new Wells Fargo signs are scheduled to be installed by helicopter Sunday on the former Modis Building Downtown. For safety reasons, several streets will be closed from 6 a.m.-2 p.m., including Independent Drive from Laura Street to Newnan Street; Bay Street from Ocean Street to Hogan Street; and Main Street from Adams Street to Prudential Drive, including the Main Street Bridge. Motorists trying to cross the St. Johns River will be detoured to the Acosta and Hart bridges.
• The Wyndham Hotel auction begins Oct. 4 on www.auction.com at a starting bid of $5.25 million. The hotel, at 1515 Prudential Drive on the Downtown Southbank, has 322 rooms and was built in 1980. It sits on 5.81 acres along the St. Johns River. The website says occupancy as of March 31, 2009, was 57 percent and the property carried a value of $17.2 million as of August 2009. It carries a nonperforming loan status. The auction for the Days Inn property along Cagle Road begins Oct. 3 at a starting price of $250,000.
• On Tuesday, representatives of Baptist Health of Northeast Florida took part in a meeting organized by the White House Office and Department of Health and Human Services to explore models for improving the health of Americans through collaboration by community-oriented health care systems and faith-based organizations. Representing Baptist Health were President and CEO Hugh Greene; Director of Community Health Lynn Sherman; Community Health Committee Chair Cleve Warren; and Audrey Moran, who joins Baptist Health Oct. 3 as senior vice president for Social Responsibility and Consumer Advocacy. Baptist Health said it was one of only 15 health systems nationwide asked to join in the conversation.
• Bubba Burger opened two more Original BUBBA burger Grill restaurants in Jacksonville. The chain is now open in the Point Meadows Shopping Center at Florida 9A and Baymeadows Road and in the Normandy Village Shopping Center at Normandy Boulevard near Cassat Avenue. The first grill opened in Jacksonville at Beach and Hodges boulevards. Another will open in the next several weeks in Fleming Island across from the Carmike Theaters and several other locations are in development in Jacksonville.
• First Coast No More Homeless Pets is in negotiations to operate the Mandarin animal adoption center that the City plans to close Sept. 30. Tentative plans are to reopen the center on Oct. 15. The organization’s Oct. 8 Dogtoberfest fundraiser at Metropolitan Park will help raise money to continue to operate the center. A silent auction at the event will include a painting made for the event by attorney Susannah Collins.
• JEA named Walette Stanford as the independent authority’s ethics officer Tuesday. She is the director of Emerging Workforce Strategies for JEA and has been employed at the authority for eight years.
• It may be September, but it’s never too early to start thinking about the Florida vs. Georgia Football Classic. Giveaways start today for the event’s Facebook friends and Twitter followers.
• Award-winning journalist Cynthia Barnett will lecture at 7 p.m. Oct. 11 at the the University of North Florida University Center as part of the tour for her new book, “Blue Revolution: Unmaking America’s Water Crisis.” Her book looks at how the nation’s green craze largely missed water — the No. 1 environmental concern of most Americans. The lecture is free and open to the public and is followed by a book sale and signing by the author. For more information, call the UNF Environmental Center at 620-5804.